I should have known I’d come upon another wonderful Panton Chair shot at Living etc.:

image via Living etc.

P.S. The architect on this project was Steven Whiting

After seeing Kristen Bell’s Hollywood home in the last issue of In Style, I decided to try and find out more about her designer, Stacey Vurduris. She has a few of her projects up on flickr, right here. Below are a few of my favorites, which feature great texture achieved through using beautiful tiles:

To see more of Stacey Vurduris’s work on Flickr, click here. Her website is here. The Kristen Bell In Style spread is here. Here’s a peek, God I miss Veronica Mars!

First three photos via flickr. Last photo by Francois Halard, via In Style via StaceyVurdurisDesign.com.

I was just reviewing some of my “faves” on flickr and came across this fabulous image that Java188 posted. It’s an old Formica ad from a 1960 issue of Better Homes and Gardens:

The thing I wonder is, if you took away the striped flooring, the curtains, and that wallcovering (is it grasscloth? I cannot quite tell), would this be a charming and modern kitchen worthy of a spread in Dwell? I kind of think so! I’d definitely hang on to those crazy Swingtown bar stools and that Gehry-for-Tiffany-esque vase on the right side of the photo. Looking even more closely, the blue open shelves hold some tchotchkes that would probably inspire Jonathan Adler today, as would that pear shaped light fixture. I think livin’ could still be easy in this kitchen. Am I onto something or am I nuts? What do you think?

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It’s rainy and gross here in Atlanta, which is good, since we’ve been a drought, but it’s the perfect day for looking through these

and to get some scanning done. I thought I’d share a few whacked out organic houses I spied in an old issue of H&G. The top one is my favorite. I think it’s in France, but now I’ve lost the page in a scanning frenzy:

This house seems like it’s for someone on ’shrooms who wants to live in a ’shroom:

These images brought to you by Blenko Glass:

Happy Weekend Everybody!

A very quick deviation from the Organization Blog Fest…

I spotted this on the SF/Bay Area Craigslist last night and just have to share:

Herman Miller Eames Chair – $75 (berkeley north / hills)

“Get it while it’s hot.”


http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/fuo/982738256.html

I just found this link in my “drafts” folder from months ago. I had totally forgotten about this bizarre find at Jayson Home and Garden. Forget buying that shipping container pre-fab house or that hip vintage Airstream trailer for the backyard; apparently, a sheep shelter caravan is what it’s all about these days:

You may purchase the caravan here for $8295. Hey James, I think you need to step up your game and find Design Public some antique outhouses, igloos, arks, sweat tents or yurts made out of twigs!

I poke fun with love. I’m crazy about retail websites with rare finds. This framing model is one of the many unique objects in the Rare Finds section of Jayson Home and Garden, and it’s definitely on my wish list:

So is this Vintage Convent Photograph:

images from Jayson Home and Garden

I found such a fun flickr set today. It’s from flickr member lunger girl, and in it she shares a bunch of images from The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement. I’m not sure what year this book was published, but I’m guessing it was the late 1960s. Oops, I’m wrong – a quick amazon search says 1971! Lunger girl is laughing at how impractical it all is, but the images are a blast to look through! As you can see, there is absolutely NO FEAR of color! In fact, I’m not seeing a huge difference between some of these rooms and the rooms in the latest “Color Issue” of Domino. I’m not sure why this room has a bath mat for an area rug, but it’s remarkable the way they have repeated the same colors all over the rooms:

From the days when sectional sofas first took over the world. I love the fireplace and the wood ceiling:

This light fixture has been copied a lot lately. Pottery Barn has a version covered in candle-shaped lights. The shelves are styled really nicely, though I’m not sure about the magic mushroom piece:

There is a wonderful collection of chairs featured in this encyclopedia:

Holy Pink! How do you even tell where the bed turns into a wall or turns into curtains?

This one has a very futuristic vibe between the fireplace, chair and ottoman, wall-to-wall carpeting, tulip side table and funky pendant:

all photos from The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement via flickr member lunger girl. Check out her entire set here – these images are only the tip of the iceberg!

Thanks to DP’s Antoi (one of the most incredible web scourers out there), I have recently become a The Selby junkie. Antoi’s description of the site is perfect: “A bit like The Sartorialist but for personal spaces.”

Great photos + tons of characters (like fashion designers, artists, musicians, librarians, magazine editors, actors, directors, grandpa cobrasnake) + modern home decor inspiration = my ultimate dream come true. I would highly recommend clicking through a featured home to see more of the space as well as creative handwritten interviews.

This changes daily, but currently my favorite space is Matthew Eikelberger’s home (boutique manager, artist and musician)…

And my favorite character/image compilation has to be Boppy (grandpa cobrasnake)…

Read the rest of this entry »

My Mom and I have been looking for fun lamps for the cottage in Maine. I picked a blue bottle lamp from Sundance, but she did much better than I did. She took a French bottle she’d bought at an antique store for 35 bucks and had it turned into this:

Since then, I realized that my Mom is quite the hip designer. Two of my favorite designers have recently been doing the same thing. For example, Tom Scheerer used this lamp:

Also, Peter Dunham used these two:

Next time you see a beautiful bottle in a shop for a steal, imagine it with a shade on top! By the way, the last picture shows one where the wire goes through the lamp, which may run you some more bucks. The others let the wires just hang down from the top of the bottle, which will save you some bucks.

• photo credits. Hmmm, I’m an idiot. I forgot where I wrote down the sources and photographer names, which sucks. I think they all came from House Beautiful, and I know the last one definitely did, via the Press section on Peter Dunham Design’s website. If anyone knows any of the information, please write in the comments so I can add these credits. Thanks!

I think perhaps I am a little too obsessed with vintage decorating books lately, but they offer such a wealth of great images. I like to see how some pieces have remained the same but their surroundings have changed, how some rooms could work great as-is today, and how some just need a few tweaks with accessories. This week I am sharing Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Ideas: New Room-by-Room Decorating Tips for Every Taste and Budget.

How great is this room? I love everything about it with the exception of a few tchotchkes. Is that a Nolli map? Which city do you think it is? I’m trying to guess with the radial streets and that big swath down the middle – is it a river or a grand boulevard? I’m guessing it’s probably Paris or Rome.

I LOVE yellow, black and white, and these sofas are perfect. I’ll leave the butterflies for Mariah Carey though:

These vintage books always have the most charming illustrations:

This bold and posh Regency bathroom is pretty chic by today’s standards:

Not sure why I scanned these, but since I did, I thought I’d share:

Cover photo from Customer Images at amazon.com. You can pick this book up for under $2 there.

All other photos scanned from Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Ideas, Meredith Publishing Company, 1960.