A change of month and a change in the wind have all but assured me that—though Friday was actually quite beautiful and warm—I will probably not see too many more above-50˚F days. This past weekend's frigid temps and this morning's frost remind me of a bit of a verse from "April Come She Will," by Simon & Garfunkel: "The autumn winds blow chilly and cold."
Perhaps these winds have led me to the Aura Chimes at Ladies & Gentlemen Studio. The wind chimes feature a mix of materials: brass bells, wooden shapes, leather, and metal tubes all fabricated by Ladies & Gentlemen and paired with unique ceramic pieces crafted by Nicholas Nyland, a Seattle-based artist. Each wind chime is handmade so no two will be exactly alike. The chimes are for use indoors or outdoors under cover and there are three versions, but the single ring style comes in two sizes. They are striking little works of art, even when they're not tinkling with faint metallic vibrations.
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This weekend You & Yours Fine Vintage store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn celebrates its grand opening. Owner Allegra Muzzillo grew up around antiques, learning to scout and training her eye at the side of her dealer/collector mother. She's most drawn to mid-century pieces, which you'll notice by her inventory featuring furniture, decorative accessories, and tabletop predominantly from the 1950s-1970s. Allegra started out selling at the Brooklyn Flea in 2011, which she continues to maintain (booth B30), but will now expand with her brick-and-mortar shop. Her favorite personal scores have been vintage Nambê bowls and platters and a pair of decrepit (now happily rehabbed) Saarinen Armless Executive chairs she found on the street in front of an old grammar school. "I see mid-century pieces as truly timeless and I think they can mix with absolutely anything. The furniture is so simple and clean looking, but built to last, and for tabletop, it's the pieces' cheekiness, sense of fun, and use of color that I love." Allegra says. So it's no surprise that at her shop you'll find a Pucci-esque tray, a sculptural geometric candelabra, or 1920s/30s mini planter shaped like an elephant, mixed in among mirrors, lighting, and mid-century furniture. As a freelance journalist who built her career writing and editing at shelter magazines (we worked together at Real Simple), Allegra has made You & Yours editor-friendly. The shop also caters to designers and stylists who will enjoy a 15% industry discount. But her completely affordable pieces will make everyone—especially small-space dwellers—happy.
Art and furniture are available for in-store pickup only at this time and the website features a small selection, so be sure to stop in and see what other treasures Allegra has uncovered: You & Yours Fine Vintage 240 Kent Avenue, unit #9 Brooklyn, NY 11249 917-482-4071 Open Wednesday through Sunday, 1p-7p and by appointment Happy Halloween! This morning I had my older daughter's preschool parade and party. It's raining here, so the parade moved indoors but it was still adorable and rambunctious. They were extremely excited about all the treats they were getting. Speaking of treats, today I'm excited about candy, too, and not just the kind I not-so-secretly hope there will be leftovers of: Some fun artwork inspired by candy and literally made out of gum, candy, and chocolate. Look at that crazy gum logo I made (above) using yournameingum.com! So fun! Now I'm doing some last minute decorating and handing out candy. I am going to try to add a few more images to this tonight if I can! images via junkculture, artjetset, yournameingum.com (first image and in slideshow), redesign revolution, ann's journals collection
Xx a I'm not sure why this week has felt so long, but I'm glad it's Friday! I've decided to publish the Under $50 Friday posts once a month, instead of weekly, and see how that goes, though I will always try to have a balance between inexpensive items and splurges/investment pieces in my everyday posts. I don't put a lot of stock in horoscopes, but I do like zodiac imagery. Thomas Paul's iteration: traditional zodiac motifs on dishwasher-safe melamine coasters, shown here alphabetically ($48, Home Remedy). I'm a Sag, all the way, in case you were wondering. As hard as I try, I'm more of a piler than a filer, so I need to make sure my papers are well-organized within those towering stacks. Large (2-inch) glasses-frame-shaped Specs paper clips ($7 for 10, Umbra) will get the job done in a noticeable, funny way. My cramped 1950s kitchen was able to fit very few of the things from our old house. Anything from medium-sized small appliances to all the decorative items are still packed away. But we have two empty walls (literally, no cabinets or anything) next to which my grandparents used to have their kitchen table. We have a table there for extra counter space, but eat in the dining room. As they're some of the only walls in the house not wood-paneled, I'd love to hang art like Australian artist Belinda Marshall's Possibility print ($44, Leif) to bring some life into the room. This is supposed to represent a calm meditative space. My kitchen and I both could benefit from that! I just felt like sharing my favorite clear lip balm, which is Mor Cosmetics' Lip Macaron in passion flower ($10, beauty.com). I wear it all the time, especially now that the weather is getting chilly. It's light (not sticky), I love the fruity scent, and the little tin feels more special than a regular stick of balm. This quirky plastic Kipik hedgehog toothpick holder made me smile; it can either perch on the edge of a bowl or be used freestanding. The little guy comes with 22 picks ($25, MoMA Store).
I don't know about where you live, but it's been pouring here in CNY (as it pretty much did all weekend), with a tornado advisory thrown in for fun. Rain can sometimes be a total drag, but I love this creative idea I saw on Brit + Co. It reminds me of the interesting pictures or slogans I'd see spray painted randomly on the sidewalks in New York, but with a sort of Invisible Ink quality. It's a surprise for when you might need an extra smile. Rust-Oleum has a product called NeverWet, which is a two-step moisture repelling system. Introduced as clever Home Depot contest entries (here, with tutorial and here), the idea is to use NeverWet and a stencil to spray your sidewalk, porch, or anywhere really, with a design that will only appear when the rest of the ground is saturated with water. The original idea was to create street art, but if you're feeling less public, it could be a great project to do with kids on a driveway or back patio. Rain puns are an obvious choice, but I wonder what I would stencil. Probably something cryptic and silly to make myself laugh—like the first half of a coded phrase from the original Get Smart: The blue sun melts the red snow. The snail image is adorable. The fun is that it can be as simple or elaborate as you want it to be.
It also occurred to me that if your child is into spy stuff as much as I was (am), you could do something like this as part of a spy-themed party or activity. And if you don't want to keep it forever, when the top coat finally wears off and the water no longer beads you can skip reapplication, or according to Rust-Oleum's site, you can wipe the surface with mineral spirits. What design would you spray on your sidewalk? If challenged to choose a handful of only neutral colors and design a room around them, most people would probably not end up with something as moody and glamorous as this. I think we'd see a much lighter room, a lot more creams, browns, tans, greige, maybe some grey, or black, or white—but not this mix and not in this way. This image is actually from ZGallerie's fall look book (which can easily be accessed from their home page or clicking the above photo).
I was immediately drawn to it, not simply because I'm obsessed with moody rooms, but because the concept seems like it shouldn't be too difficult to pull together using an image such as this for inspiration. Essentially, the designers used black, an off-white, green, and a metallic—all of which are neutrals. But the genius is in the pairing. Using more black than white, particularly on the walls, carpeting and mantle creates a very different feeling than if the proportion were the other way around. The sofas balance the darkness and give your eyes a place to rest. The vibrant malachite green acts as an accent color and all of the gold provides additional light and reflection to keep the room from being too heavy and dull. The use of pattern is also fairly restrained, so the mix of shapes and materials is what provides the depth here. Bringing in glass objects, some chrome, and other accessories in these same shades adds interest to the room, and I love the large format framed canvas on the mantle which ties it all together seamlessly. This is also a good example of using a trendy color (emerald) but in a way that's easy to move around if you're someone who likes to switch out accents each season or as trends come and go. Another nice point of balance is the use of a round coffee table and curved sofas in front of the symmetrical very square/rectangular built-ins. I think it all came together brilliantly. What do you think of this room? Does it work for you? image via zgallerie Xx a Late last night, our closest friends from New Jersey gave birth to their second son. We were pregnant at the same time during the first go-round, and it was so nice to have someone to experience everything with since she was only a few weeks ahead of me. In their honor, I rounded up a few cute baby gifts. Welcome to the world DJM, can't wait to meet you!! Xx Though I'm really not a monogram person, I do sometimes make exceptions. I love these precious personalized embroidery and felt hoop art pieces (above), $20-$27 each, from bluewithoutyoukids at Etsy. I can get a little touchy about overly gender specific items (don't get me started on all the pink), so I love the cute unisex robot blanket from Little Auggie, $78. This teether (with too-sweet app icons) won't fool them for long, but at least in the early months, it is nice if the phone they're chewing on isn't yours! Canadian maple laser-engraved teether, $12, 3PrincessesStore at Etsy. Illustrator Wayne Pate now brings his adorable designs to wearable items, $28, exclusively at Serena & Lily. Love the little seafaring bird with knit cap and pipe. I'm a huuuuge fan of baby and kids' toys that are made of wood or fabric. These fruits and veggies are so cute and are made and stuffed with certified organic Egyptian cotton, $8 each, Under the Nile. Even better, they are machine washable. There are so many reasons to start teaching your baby a foreign language, and of course starting when babies are young is easiest. These blocks come in Mandarin, $37, or Spanish, $34, UncommonGoods. images via bluewithoutyoukids, little auggie, 3princessesstore, serena & lily, under the nile, uncommongoods
Xx a Sometimes we need a mental health day, right? Or a day where we can look at beautiful things, not necessarily to buy, but to slow down, appreciate beauty, nature, and color, to be inspired or feel renewed. I could use a day like that, but in lieu of an entire day, I can't stop looking at this image displaying a rare selection of natural pearls on loan to London's Victoria & Albert Museum from the Qatar Museums Authority Collection for a joint exhibition.
Can you believe these are natural and not man-made? The colors are so gorgeous and the shapes are perfectly imperfect. In a way, I wish you could see pearls like this more often, but then of course, these wouldn't be as rare. Pearls, an exhibition presented by the V&A and the Qatar Museums Authority, is on exhibit at the V&A through January 19, 2014. If you can't make it to London, as I sadly cannot, there is a great deal of information on the museum's website including some history, and additional pictures of art and jewelry that are part of the exhibit. All of the jewelry pieces are fascinating either for their unique settings or the age of the gems, some as old as the Roman Empire. The V&A does have jewelry, books, and more for sale in their museum shop, as well. H/T to W magazine for making me aware of this exhibit. image via w magazine Xx a I'm on deadline for a freelance article, so forgive my brevity today (or maybe you welcome it!). Just wanted to share two excellent details from a Naples, FL beach house designed by Carrier and Company, recently featured in House Beautiful. Interior designers Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller are extremely talented, and whenever I've worked with or seen them in the past, it's been an absolute pleasure every time. Look at this insanely cool natural piece by artist Ran Adler that they chose for above the fireplace in the house's living room. I feel like at any moment it may start spinning and suck me into its vortex. I love it. Stringing, wiring, and weaving natural elements like sun-dried horsetail reeds, Adler creates undulating representations of wind and water. The unexpected material and fluidity add a great layer of texture and depth to the room. A Victorian hat rack in a vibrant lacquered red becomes a statement piece and remains totally functional. Such a lovely shape made even more special in an attention-grabbing color. I wonder if the homeowner had this piece already and they modernized it, or if the designers brought it in. Either way, wow.
I guess this was my version of brief... Click below to see the whole wonderful project. all images via house beautiful Xx a I was sitting around all afternoon trying to figure out some vaguely back-to-school or office-related post I could write for today, but I just wasn't feeling it. Then I skimmed my Facebook feed and saw two pictures that a college friend posted. He has been in Montréal for a couple days, and today went to the botanical garden there. I was amazed by what he was seeing. The feature exhibit, called Mosaicultures Internationales®, has returned to the city after a decade-long absence. Nearly 50 incredible living sculptures have been created by horticulturist-artists from 25 different countries under the umbrella theme "Land of Hope." The event started at the end of June and runs until September 29, 2013. The detail on these pieces is pretty astounding. I'll let the works speak for themselves: I wish I had time to drive up to Montréal in September to see the rest of the exhibit and gardens in person. The artistry is really incredible, and I still have yet to make it to Montréal.
I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend! images 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, & 8 via Espace pour la vie Montréal website here and here images 5 and 6 courtesy JP Hormillosa Xx a |
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