zzz

A friend

recently reminded me

that Z Gallery is full

of fabulous finds! Do I need to re-do my bedroom? It would be only a few clicks away....

I'm Going Soft....

They say staging is all about fluffing and the pillows...let's just say they never hurt.
These are by the Etsy designer of Maries Cosy Cushions. It was hard to choose. My white, Grizzled Gray (dark pewter), black , and silver office will need a little punch of color.

Pillow
by Li-Young Lee
There's nothing I can't find under there.
Voices in the trees, the missing pages
of the sea

Everything but sleep.

and night is a river bridging
the speaking and the listening banks

a fortress, undefended and inviolate.

-From Book of My Nights

Mad about the Set, The Costumes, The Writing...!

I am a Mad Men fan! Anyone remember the Eva Ziesel post? I love the sheer eye candy of every period perfect scene! I was glued to the DVR on Sunday night watching every scene- rewinding others, gasping at a few. Scott asked me if Jackie Kennedy really spoke like that...I wonder what she was like with her girlfriends in college? Certainly not 1/2 that poised. I was mesmerized. What an icon.

I loved the opening of Joan and her red dress, the pink sea horses on the wall...and the scene where Betty is at the stables- the braid in her hair is -call me a female drag queen for gushing- but it really is breath-taking.

The mid-century modern office furniture is spectacular. The literary references are brilliant. Such a smart show. I have no shame in my addiction-none.

Mad Men Collage

Set splendor! So fun to re-hash with other fans! Like the Sopranos you love it or hate it- rare are those who are indifferent. More tomorrow.

A Weekend and a Sale-To bat an eye about!

Fun weekend! It started with a Ridgway concert in the park with Feast, the Ah Haa Art auction , and then two days of Shakespeare in the Park!

The piece above by artist Robert Weatherford was perfect for The Passage To India theme of the auction. It was monsoon rain that night, chilly and wet! My girlfriends and I linked arms and ran through the rain, not sorry we weren't in Saris!

This stunning painting was part of the auction- I think it has a very rain-glazed aspens on a Colorado summer afternoon appeal.

Karen Weils is the artist behind this beautiful piece.

We hosted two delightful members of the No Holds Bard Shakespeare troupe at our house. They were the perfect guests, easy to please, casual, independent, and fun. What does this have to do with design you may be asking? Well I'll tell you. Dayna, one of the women who stayed at our house, brought to my attention the term " bargain bragger." Who knew there was the perfect term for me? I'm not a cheapskate or a skinflint, I just would prefer to pay below retail for the good stuff...and then BOAST! I share my tips-i.e- this blog for instance!

I mean what's better than a $478 Marc Jacobs Red Satchel? The same bag for $319 at the Nordstom sale, that's what!! On a side note, Dayna is an aesthetician by day. One of her specialties is lash extentions at Shapes Salon and Studio in Denver. So intriguing!!! Hers are gorgeous.

office furniture collage

You have to have basics before you can add detail, focal points, warmth, style, personality, and creative flourish...

Of the above, the sofa is convertible -in case we get snowed in!

My desk is already built-in. Long story short, I'm not crazy about the current desk surface. My first instinct was to find fabulous black and white fabric and then lay glass over the top. Then I spied Wilsonart's white board laminate. I decided to laminate part of the surface in a stainless looking laminate and part of it in white board! It's perfect for me-a doodler and collector of tiny pieces of paper with important information on them...I can not wait to see how it looks. The white board portion will be 2/3 of the way down the desk and then finished and trimmed with mock stainless. So functional!

Favorite Finds...every sha-lal-la-la , every whoa...

Cb2 has some of the best and most affordable accessories. These balls are down right delightful.

This darling decal below can be found on an etsy shop called Sha Nickers. I have looked at lots of decals. The fact that these aren't mass produced is very appealing. It's going to be a secret which one I order---the big reveal will be coming in a few weeks. The before and after will be muy, muy dramatico!

Just bought this waste bin for my lil' officina. And where do you think I stumbled upon it? Overstock of course- where I just blew a wad-ina on office furniture! I found some really brilliant pieces and actually saved a fortune. I'll do a little collage tomorrow-to give you a sneak peak.

I need to write the company-I peddle their wares like I'm getting paid!

Ode to the Style Maven

When asked
by Mountain Living Magazine, "What books are on your coffee table today?" architect Jane Snyder of Mosaic Architects in Boulder, CO replied, in part, "Modern Cabin." by my friend, Michelle Kodis! The interview also featured a large photo of the book.

Michelle had asked me earlier in the week if I'd tell her where I gotten my oh-so cute necklace-

Sprout online I said! That etsy.

Chalk this one up, My First Martha

Martha Stewart has a great recipe for chalkboard paint.

Custom Colors How-ToStart with flat-finish latex paint in any shade. For small
areas, such as a door panel, mix 1 cup at a time.
1. Pour 1 cup of paint
into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint
stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.
2. Apply paint with a roller or a
sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going
over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry.
3.
Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust.
4. To condition: Rub
the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a
barely damp sponge.
Easy right? Or you could just buy the silly chalkboard
paint...this just gives you color options-and small batch potential.

When we lived in our 1929 Mock Tutor in Seattle we used the Restore to buy our vintage school chalkboard. It was gen-U-ine slate from the 30's- I think. We actually cut the gigantic slate board in our driveway with a diamond blade saw and a running water hose. Scott made a white mdf frame for it and we installed it in our kitchen. We were DIY before DIY was cool, baby! The pic on the top is my friend Ginny and my daughter when she was 10 or 11 mos old posing in front of the now famous chalk board. Round as a pound, she was, round as a pound!

Plasma Parking

I love these afforadable asian designs from Greentea design. Flat screens need an anchor. They also need component storage. What better way to create harmony in a room than to mix the old and the new.

Their kitchen systems are quite clever too.

Brilliant, No Lie

Design Warehouse
in Santa Fe is a kooky little shop with with gems like these! The Pinocchio tape measure reminds me of the first tile job I went to "measure." It was about 10 years ago and, truth be told, I didn't know how to gauge 3/8 from 7/8 to save my life...I failed miserably- but learned a few things in the process. I figured out when I was getting in over my head and needed proper back-up!

This one cracks me up. How many "brilliant" designs, poems, concepts have I written on a napkin? Too many.
It's kind of like dreams, so amazing in the twilight before really awaking ... you scramble for a pen, write furiously, then upon later reading you realize it was actually kind of lame.

"On the Edge of Collapse"

Andy Goldsworthy is one of my favorite artists. I can't seem to link a youtube video of his work but almost any clip of Rivers and Tides makes me want to tithe to his religion of art, form, nature and creativity. His work stirs a longing in me that is almost indescribable. I am instantly calmed and inspired, focused and awed.

I have added a few of his books to my amazon favorites to the right of this page.

Here are a few quotes from the artist:

"I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and "found" tools--a sharp
stone, the quill of a feather, thorns. I take the opportunities each day offers:
if it is snowing, I work with snow, at leaf-fall it will be with leaves; a
blown-over tree becomes a source of twigs and branches. I stop at a place or
pick up a material because I feel that there is something to be discovered. Here
is where I can learn. "

"Looking, touching, material, place and form are all inseparable from the
resulting work. It is difficult to say where one stops and another begins. The
energy and space around a material are as important as the energy and space
within. The weather--rain, sun, snow, hail, mist, calm--is that external space
made visible. When I touch a rock, I am touching and working the space around
it. It is not independent of its surroundings, and the way it sits tells how it
came to be there."

"I want to get under the surface. When I work with a leaf, rock, stick,
it is not just that material in itself, it is an opening into the processes of
life within and around it. When I leave it, these processes continue."

"Movement, change, light, growth and decay are the lifeblood of nature,
the energies that I try to tap through my work. I need the shock of touch, the
resistance of place, materials and weather, the earth as my source. Nature is in
a state of change and that change is the key to understanding. I want my art to
be sensitive and alert to changes in material, season and weather. Each work
grows, stays, decays. Process and decay are implicit. Transience in my work
reflects what I find in nature."

"The underlying tension of a lot of my art is to
try and look through the surface appearance of things. Inevitably, one way of
getting beneath the surface is to introduce a hole, a window into what lies
below."

Belgium- Design as Delicious As Their Chocolate

Last year I discovered "Belgian design." House Beautiful ran a story and a cover about Kay Douglass and the gorgeous home she designed. The interview with her is fantastic. She really articulates the Belgium aesthetic perfectly. Her website, South of Market is full of amazing housewares and design articles.

My friend Pam, after hearing me moon about the perfection of this style- the one which marries, natural elements, industrial materials, comfort, texture and light, rustic modern elements and a classic mix of traditional pieces with the restraint of minimalism, -bought me Axel Vervoordrdt's Timeless Interiors for Christmas last year- and I reach for it often (see the my favorites widget to the right.)

I think his interiors really reflect a conviction to one strong element. His spaces are never overstuffed or 'busy." They set my mind at ease. They seem to have a dreamy yet solid

quality.

If Belgium design were personified- my husband would have cause to worry...I am in love. Axel are you listening?

The lamps, large table and mercury wine jars -on top- can be found on the very Belgian inspired sight BOBO. I could drop some serious bank here- so beautiful.

The lovely baskets can be found at William-Wayne & CO.