Okay, enough blabbing.  Enjoy the photos!

Now that the weather is getting better, I’d love to have my own mate picnic in the park.

This Cath Kidston picnic basket comes with all the accessories, just add the snacks.

Pendleton provides the perfect picnic blanket.

You don’t even want to know how long I’ve been wanting this radio!  Perfect for a picnic.

Mate cup and slotted straw for drinking the loose tea.

Hoorah for a cute Thermos!

Lately, it didn’t seem to matter how neat and tidy the bed was, it was just looking blah.  I think the trouble started with the area rug we got in December; that rug is quite the attention-getter, so the bed just looked lame in comparison.  The time had come for a new bedspread.

Before:

After:

The new bedspread is a quilt from Liberty of London for Target (no longer available).  The shams are also from Target.  I love how well the quilt and rug go together.  Hmm, the space above the headboard is looking pretty weak now…

(Image: Gretchen Lilly)

My reality is a budget that involves searching for decorating deals and hand me downs.  We’ve actually been pretty lucky with the furniture people have given us; well made, solid stuff.  Brian’s grandparents owned this dining set, and then his parents.  The major pros for this table are how sturdy it is, how timeless the design is, and that it can seat six with all the leaves.  The cons are the stains (meaning a mash up of wood stain), the upholstery, and the table legs.  The stain and upholstery are pretty easy to explain away- styles change.  The legs are what bug me the most- when you sit at the head of the table, it is impossible to stick your feet out, since the legs on this table are more like a fence.  Of course, I usually forget this after a few minutes, and have stubbed my toes too many times to count.

Inspirations for changing the dining set:

I like how this set is simple in the color palate, but the white chairs contrasting with the dark table top keep it interesting (image: Canadian House and Home).

This is a coffee table, but I lu-huv the hairpin legs.  I think this would be the simplest way to transform our table (image: tuderhoff.etsy.com).

Hairpinlegs.com only sells one thing! Image: hairpinlegs.com

Again, I’m digging the non-matching set (image: Canadian House and Home).

It’s all about the shape of the furniture and the color of the wood.  Not sure if our table has the lines to pull of something this simple (image: Canadian House and Home).

More Danish inspiration.  I could see our chairs upholstered this color and painted high gloss white (image: tuderhoff.etsy.com).

We could paint the tabletop and leave wood on the sides.  Drooling over the chairs (Image: Canadian House and Home).

I got to Target at 8AM sharp last Sunday (I remembered Daylight Saving Time and everything!) and picked up this Liberty of London teapot and mugs (among other things).  Yes, I bought three mugs on purpose.  Because groupings of three look good, that’s why!

Behold my new GurglePot.  I found it at Value Village yesterday!  I’ve seen these in shops, and I’ve (kind of) wanted one because I like the design and I was intrigued at the idea of a noise making pitcher.  I don’t know if I’m pouring it wrong (is that possible?) or because it’s a small one, but the gurgling it makes is like one second long.  Oh well, it coordinates with the fabric on the hutch (total accident) and it was only $2.99!  If you visit the GurglePot website there is an audio of the pitcher being poured.

The vegetation is starting to stir around here, thanks to the unseasonably warm weather of the past few weeks.  I want to add some more plants to my collection, but I don’t quite trust the weather around here (light snow has fallen in the past few days!) so I’m sticking with indoor plants.

I saw Tovah Martin talking about terrariums on Moment of Luxury a few weeks ago, and I haven’t been able to get her creations off my mind.  Her book, The New Terrarium, is filled with gorgeous, inventive takes on the classic garden.

Besides being so pretty, terrariums fascinate me because they are their own little ecosystem.  You add some water, place the top on, and the water evaporates and runs back down to the ground- just like the water cycle you learned about in school.

I think I’ll put some in my kitchen window; we have one of those greenhouse-style windows that stick out from the house.  It gets indirect sunlight all day, so it should be the perfect place for some mini-ecosystems.

Images: Natalie Caudill for Dallas Morning News, tovahmartin.com, Viva Terra

Since I was a teenager, I’ve loved going to the downtown library to wander the extensive magazine section.  I stopped by last Friday, and came home with a few issues of Modernism Magazine.  The Spring 2009 issue has a great biography of textile artist Cynthia Sargent.  Ms. Sargent and her husband, Wendell Riggs, moved to Mexico from the East Coast in the 1950s, and established a studio and factory.  She designed the rugs and fabrics, he handled the business aspect.

Her life story is fascinating and inspiring.  Ardis Berghoff’s article isn’t available online, so you’ll need to track down the Spring 2009 issue to read up on Ms. Sargent.  There are some beautiful photos of the rugs from the Riggs-Sargent family collection in the article.

The ebay seller Una Vida Moderna currently has a vintage rug for sale, in addition to a reproduction.  The reproductions aren’t authorized (there aren’t any authorized reproductions), but they are made in the same factory as her original work.

These handmade rugs rugs are just as beautiful close up.  Ms. Sargent wanted people to use her rugs, not just look at them, and I can only imagine how great it would feel to walk barefoot on one.

Images: Treadway/Toomey Gallery, Una Vida Moderna blog, Una Vida Moderna ebay store

I still miss Blueprint magazine.  I own all nine issues, and I still refer back to them.  Last month, Kirsten at Simply Grove blogged about a house tour originally featured in Blueprint, that is now available at Martha Stewart.  So, I pulled out issue number three (the best issue, btw) and read the article.  My favorite picture is the one above, I love that beach scene!

The oversize photo was take by the house’s owner, Tosca Radigonda, at an Italian beach.  Ms. Radigonda is a professional photographer, but a Google search leads me to the conclusion that this work isn’t for sale.

All of my Google searching led me to the work of Massimo Vitali, who has made a name for himself with his own photographs of Italian beach scenes.

This photo is listed for 25,000 Euros at the gallery that represents him.  I don’t even want to convert that to US dollars.  Actually, it would be cheaper for me to buy a fancy camera, fly to Italy, and have my photo enlarged.  I find it so frustrating that a photograph can go for so much- was the negative destroyed?  This is why people roll their eyes at high end art.

Regardless, the photographs of beach scenes are very inspiring.  Who doesn’t want to think about a sunny day at the beach?  I wonder if the beaches of Seattle would look this good…

Photos via Martha Stewart and Bonni Benrubi Gallery

I just finished making this pendant lamp yesterday, and I’m quite happy with myself.  I keep forgetting it’s in my bedroom now, so every time I walk in, I get a nice surprise.  I’m really happy with how it looks, and not just because I made it.  It provides a lot more light than the last lamp we had in the corner AND it is helping my bedroom not look like an Ikea catalogue.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like the stuff they have to offer, I just want to avoid the too-much-Ikea look.

So, way back in March, Anna at Door Sixteen posted about globe cluster lamps, which led me to the directions on how to whip up this little number (designed by Jean Pelle) at ReadyMade.  Being the procrasinator I am, I first thought about making it, and then decided I did, in fact, want to make it, and then I procrastinated buying the supplies.  I bought all of the supplies over a two month period, and my procrastinator’s guilt finally took over, and I made the whole thing over two days.  A non-procrastinator could order the supplies online and have the whole thing made next week.  I like to spread my projects over a nine month period.

The directions are pretty clear, but here a few tips:

1. No one lists postal string by it’s width in inches.  Look for “medium” and “heavy” string.

2. If you don’t want wooden skewers taking up drawer space, look for a 1/8″ dowel at the craft supply store.

3. Don’t pay attention to the string lengths- cut all of your string at least a third longer than it says.

4. If you have access to a soldering gun, use it to fuse the wires.  Then keep your eyes peeled for white electrical tape.

5. Try to use a cord meant for a giant paper lantern instead of an extension cord.  Brian had one left over from college, and it came with a little switch on it AND little plastic loops for putting it through a ceiling hook.

Now that my attention is drawn over to this corner of the room, I’m realizing that it needs something on the walls… The decorating domino effect happens again.

When we lived in Santiago a few years ago, trips to the Jumbo grocery store were an event I’d look forward to.  First of all, it’s more than just a grocery- they carry things like coat hangers and DVDs.  They also carry American foods like peanut butter and toaster strudel that were impossible to find anywhere else.

Brian saved a bunch of the Jumbo grocery bags, and they were just sitting in a drawer, when inspiration struck.  I decided that the adorable Jumbo elephant would look great next to the deer featured on my Adelaide Fringe poster.  I cut the logo off a bag and put it in a record frame.  When we moved into our current place, Brian reminded me that there were a few more bags, so I picked out a few more to frame.  We’re now greeted by a collection of happy elephants every time we enter our place.

Bonus photo:

The mayonnaise aisle at a Jumbo.  A security guard came up to me after I took this photo.