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Out of the ordinary art …

March 23, 2011

I love coming across new ideas for what to hang on the walls. Here are some of my favorite yet not-so-traditional things that have been elevated to artwork-status with a simple frame.

Illustrator Alanna Cavanagh recreated this old book jacket into a vibrant piece of art. Of course, the title here has a meaningful tie-in to a bedroom, but other favorite or classic book titles could work as well. I would love to have a series of these lining a wall in my office. The hardest part would be deciding which books to feature … Hmmm.

Alanna Cavanagh via Elements of Style

I love old maps and I have always wanted to do something like this in our living room. This one is a map of Paris, but again, a favorite city that has special meaning to the family would make it that much more personal.

via Little Green Notebook

The writer in me loves this giant hand-addressed envelope turned on it’s side. Maybe it’s a long lost love letter …

My dad has boxes of the letters my grandparents wrote back and forth to each other when my Grandpa was in Europe during World War II … I would love to blow one up and frame it just like this.

via Nesting Place

I know lots of people have chalkboards or are painting walls in chalkboard paint, but this one really feels like art to me. I would have fun finding inspirational quotes to write on here.

via Style at Home

If you’re anything like me and collect swatches of fabric (I have a box full that I just like to pull out and look at … they’re so pretty) this might be a fun idea … especially in a hallway where the colors and patterns don’t have to compete with anything.

New York International Gift Fair

How about you … what have kinds of things have you deemed frameable in your house?

A New “Lady” I Love …

March 21, 2011

Yesterday was a day of family cooperation. My husband needed to drive by and take pictures of various retail sites in the city for his job, on a day when there’s not so much traffic. So we promised the boys a yummy breakfast downtown … strawberries and cream pancakes, fresh squeezed pear juice, and crispy bacon … at a place that used to be a favorite of ours when we lived downtown. Then I drove around while my husband got out at various points to take pictures. It was a gloomy, dreary morning with sudden sporadic downpours.

Then I got to do a little “work” myself. I’ve been dying to get to what is being called the Grand Ave. Design District. So many unique interior design stores have taken up shop in the old storefronts and warehouses lining Grand Ave. both east and west of Damen that it has become a destination in and of itself.

So my three boys graciously allowed me to go in a store called The Painted Lady on Grand Ave. while they sat in the car with all of their various iPad, iTouch and Nintendo DS paraphernalia.

This is the kind of store that literally makes me swoon upon entering. There is just so much visual interest … things I haven’t seen before, so many one-of-a-kind pieces. It’s like ahhh … where do I begin? I’m kind of like a dog … I have to circle the place at least 3 times … sniffing things out and making sure I haven’t missed anything.

You know how there’s a lot of stores you go in, you see something you like, you pick it up to “casually” glance at the price tag, are quite startled by what you see and then you try to just as casually set the item back down?

Well this store is so NOT like that!

Quite the opposite actually. Every time I picked something up and saw the price I thought “Really?!? Wow. I like it even more!”

Besides all of the interesting accessories and furniture, I fell in love with much of their lighting.

Especially these vintage looking lights with what I like to call Thomas Edison lightbulbs.

They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Ok, now isn’t this one just adorable?

(I don’t know if I’ve ever called a lamp adorable before.)

What a great nautical lamp. I’d love it for my son’s room.

Anyway, I did purchase a few goodies for a client I’m currently working with. (If you are reading this and know who you are, you should be very, very happy!) But after the amount of time I spent in this one store, I didn’t want to push my luck, so unfortunately I didn’t make it to any of the other stores on Grand Ave.

This will definitely have to be a future day trip for me!

What to title this post?

March 18, 2011

Hmmm. I wanted to title this post “My New Zebra Rug.”

My husband suggested “How to Introduce New Items for the House to Your Husband.”

I swear, it was a total coincidence that this rug arrived yesterday when I had already planned to make a nice St. Patty’s day dinner and open up a bottle of wine. And while my dear husband often goes upstairs to the bedroom to change out of his suit before dinner, last night he didn’t go up until after dinner and the aforementioned bottle of wine. Again, total coincidence. He was in a happy mood, and so I think the zebra rug got a little bit of a warmer welcome. (Thanks, honey!)

Anyway, if you read my Elegant Zebra post … you know I’ve been wanting a zebra rug for our bedroom for some time. When I saw this rug on Joss & Main last week and it was over half off what similar rugs I’ve seen retail for … I just had to pull the trigger. (That’s the thing about those sites … you snooze you lose!) Oh, and perhaps I forgot to mention it to my husband. Oops. I kinda knew that seeing it in person would be better that just the idea of a zebra rug coming in the mail.

Eventually we may move it over by the fireplace to anchor a little seating area over there, but for now I like how it fills in the big empty space between our bed and dresser. And it’s soooo soft. I just have to figure out how to get the creases out. I wish they had sent it rolled up versus folded up in a box. I’m going to give it a little time to see if they come out on their own as we walk on it and it gets to “breathe.”

The best thing, it totally made me swoon when I sat up in bed this morning! That’s what all new purchases should do, don’t you think?

Have a great weekend!

Pretty Plumes

March 16, 2011

When I was outside the other day, something felt different. What was it ? It took me a moment before I realized … birds were chirping! There is something about that sound this time of year that is so wonderful and hopeful. Spring has got to be around the corner. I walked out of the bank yesterday and a little robin was on the sidewalk in front of me. He cocked his head as if to say hello and the color of his red breast was striking against the gray backdrop of the chilly, gloomy day.

If you’ve been reading my blog from the beginning, you may have caught on to the fact that I love birds. In my post on pillows, I talked about the bird pillows I had made from a favorite fabric. In my master bedroom post, I talked about the bird ottoman on my wish list. I’ve got a few other feathered friends who have settled in around my house too.

There’s just something about birds … there are so many different kinds and colors. They are kind of like people with all of their different personalities … the wise owl, the cocky rooster, the diva peacock, the hummingbird soccer mom who’s always buzzing forwards and backwards at top speed.

So in honor of Spring and birds everywhere, here are my favorite ways to incorporate some plumage into your home.

I love this master bedroom of Kirsten from 6th Street Design School …

And of course, if we’re going to talk pillows, there are so many cute bird pillows.

ChicDecor Pillows

Dwell Studio

Milk and Cookies Canada

The trio of bird prints I have stacked up the wall in our house always make me swoon. Here is more aviary artwork that I love.

Wisteria

Vintage Treasure Shop

I found these tapestries from Thailand on Overstock. I think they would be stunning, framed and hung on the wall.

Overstock bird tapestry

And this canvas from Ballard is so dreamy, don’t you think?

I have drooled over this lampshade from Anthropologie forever.

And how cute is this tea towel?

Anthropologie bird towel

Of course, I mentioned the Katie Ridder bird wallpaper that was featured in Sex and the City in an earlier post. Here is another one I like from Walnut Wallpaper.