Silk Plants for the Home and Office

I think it is safe to say that I don't have a green thumb.  It doesn't help that I live in a condo without a balcony for a garden.  I live in a country with four distinct seasons and wild swings between freezing temperatures and baking humid summer days.  Keeping any type of greenery alive, whether indoors or out, can be quite the task.
Artificial plants are such a saviour for people like me.  Whether it is a small arrangement to place on your desk or lush trees to place around your swimming pool, artificial plants can enhance the ambiance of any environment without the ongoing maintenance of live plants.  You can even get wonderfully life like palm trees  from www.commericalpalmtrees.com so that you can create a lush tropical oasis in your home or business.

Source www.commericalpalmtrees.com

Gorgeous, huh?
 

Source www.commericalpalmtrees.com

Most wonderfully, you can also get artificial silk plants and flower arrangements for the home from www.silkplantsdirect.com.   No more watering, clipping, fertilizing or throwing away withered bunches of flowers.  I have been eyeballing quite a number of the topiary arrangements and potted bushes.

Source www.silkplantsdirect.com

  You can even order packs of stems to create your own arrangement if you are feeling particularly crafty.

Add caption

 However, with the staggering selection on offer, I prefer to just order ready made arrangements.

Source www.silkplantsdirect.com

I am such a convert now and am completely obsessed.

This is a sponsored post.

LBH Eyes On Design: Stadshem and Scandi Styling

Confession time...I am addicted to those reno shows where a hapless family cannot, for the life of them, sell their home because it is 1) cluttered 2) poorly designed 3) poorly renovated 4) badly styled or all four.  I think these shows' popularity tap into the fact that, with a bit of elbow grease and common sense, it is possible for anyone to make their house desirable and sellable.  Enter Stadshem.  It is not a reality show but a Swedish real estate company.  Just looking at the photographs of the homes on their books is a master class in how to style a home not just to sell but for every day.

via stadshem.se

Look at that living room!  It is pure Scandi style which is so very popular right now.

via stadshem.se

I am in love with the kitchen.  If I was a prospective buyer, this kitchen would have me at hello.

What I love about the styling is that it is consistent throughout the entire property.  It paints a very clear, beautiful picture of aspirational living.

via stadshem.se

The little touches almost make me believe that these are the real owners' belongings and that this is a very livable space.  Well done Stadshem!  Now I am going to go and wipe the drool off my chin.

This is not a sponsored post.

Reinventing The Copco Honeycomb Spice Rack

I think I have mentioned my crush on good design before.  My crush is rapidly becoming a full blown love affair (obsession) which is problematic when one of my resolutions for 2014 is to be more organized and declutter like nobody's business.   It is hard to resist the siren call of lovely vintage things though, as good design is not just a delight to the eyes but to the mind as well.  It stands the test of time and is as relevant today as when it was first presented to the world. Case in point is the Copco Honeycomb Spice Rack designed by Lugbe-Randall.  I was very pleased (read: frantic gasps, surreptitious glances over my shoulder and a forced air of nonchalance whilst walking rapidly to the cashier) to find not one but two of them in matching scarlet red.  Like most of us, I already have a spice storage system in the kitchen but I really wanted to incorporate them into the home somehow.  So, I started to brainstorm ways to reuse these vintage spice racks.  I think that the bright cheerful red lends itself particularly well to a little boy's room (or any child's room).  It's perfect for storing all of those Matchbox cars.

It is not readily apparent in the photographs but the compartments are slanted to prevent the spice bottles from falling out.  Clever, huh?  For the sake of the photos, I had to position them upside down but I think you get the idea.  Very useful for storing craft bits and bobs as well.

The rack would look fantastic on a dresser or night table as jewelry storage.  I've seen a lot of DIY jewelry storage ideas on the Web such as reusing towel holders and rods but they don't seem very practical to me as it involves taking everything off the rod to access the one necklace or bangle that you want.  As with anything, easy use and accessibility is crucial to me.  Perhaps I'm just a lazy lump but when you are in a rush to get dressed because you are late for that 8 am meeting, do you really want the hassle?  The rack looks stylish and the compartments are perfect for keeping your jewelry bits in view and quickly accessible.  As they are perfect for corralling clutter, I think I am justified in keeping them as they help me with my resolution to be more organized, right?

There is no doubt that the geometric and graphic look of the rack lends itself to an architectural or scientific display.  Above, I put together a molecule (and no, I have no idea if this molecule even exists in the natural world) from a vintage molecular model set and placed it with the racks.  The rack and/or molecular model set would make a fun gift for the scientific geek or design nerd  in your family.  Can you tell I have Father's Day on my mind and that I haven't bought a present yet?  And because  I had the great luck to find a pair of the racks, why not play around with the geometric design and stagger them on the diagonal.

Have you found anything lately that you have repurposed?  Share your ideas with me!
And now back to more exciting events...yes I can't believe I am saying that.  After all, what could be more exciting than talking about vintage finds and decor?  This, of course....

France played today (and won!).  Monsieur is ecstatic.  Allez Les Bleus!  Do you have any fans at home? Who are you cheering for?



I'm linking up with A Stroll Thru Life, Sir Thrift A Lot, A Living Space, We Call It Junkin, Me and My Shadow, Thrifter Maker Fixer Farm.

Copper Crush

Spring has finally sprung!  Are you like me and am welcoming sunny days with open arms?  Do you find that with warmer weather comes the urge to clean and organize?  I have vowed to be a lot more streamlined and organized this year and have been a lot more judicious with what I bring back home.  But when I saw this vintage Stelton carafe, I couldn't resist.  It's definitely one of my favourite thrift finds ever.

It is hard to believe that this is an MCM piece as it looks so, well, cool.  I am in love with its iconic rocker stopper.  I have said it before but clever, well thought out design always leaves me in awe. Obviously, my obsession with vintage barware continues.  I think it will pair very well with my vintage silver fade roly poly's, don't you? (And no, I still haven't figured out how to photograph highly reflective surfaces without keeping me out of the photo).

I think I must have had Stelton carafes on my mind as I happened to be in the Bay's flagship store on Queen Street when I saw the Stelton carafe on a little shelf down in the basement.  The basement of all places!  I didn't realize that well known brands like Jonathan Adler have a small space showcasing their wares down in the basement.  There are lots of interesting quirky brands housed down there as well.  Anyway, the carafe was in a gorgeous copper.  I don't think a photo really captures how pretty it looks in real life.

  

Right below it were some copper mugs.
  

As soon as I got home, I hopped on to the Stelton website.  The carafe is still being produced and is properly known as a vacuum jug and comes in lots of colours.

I have to admit that I am late to the copper bandwagon.  It doesn't have the over the top glamour of brass or the cool minimalism of stainless steel but falls somewhere in the middle.  There is no doubt that a plethora of brass in the house can read as kitschy.  There is a warm elegance to copper that is hard to deny.  Then I read on a well known decor blog that they were sick of copper and wished it would go away.  What?!  I have only just discovered copper.  I hope it doesn't go away just yet, at least not before I have found some more pretty copper things.  This mirror at Anthropologie caught my eye.

via Anthropologie.com

And recently, in an effort to move away from teflon cookware, I discovered ceramic cookware and picked up a gorgeous frypan at Bed Bath and Beyond.

via Bed Bath and Beyond

The frypan is lined in white ceramic and has a copper coloured exterior.  Let's face it, copper cookware looks dynamite in a kitchen but the cost is prohibitive.  This line of cookware from Denmark Tools for Cooks features a faux copper exterior and is much for affordable.  The contrast against the white interior is quite eyecatching.  I will be writing soon about my experience with ceramic lined cookware so stay tuned for that.  What do you think of copper?  Yay or nay?  Do you prefer brass or the stainless steel?  Or do you stay away from metallics all together?

I am linking up with Sir Thrift A Lot, A Stroll Thru Life, A Living Space, Thrifty Groove, My Romantic Home, The Charm of Home.

Anthropologie Birthday Party

I was so excited when I received an email from Anthropologie that they were throwing a birthday party for ME.  Ok, not really for me but for anyone with a March birthday.  Any avid Anthro shopper knows that if you sign up for an Anthro membership card, you get a birthday coupon to use during your birthday month.  I don't know about you but, invariably, I forget to go to an Anthro store or wait until the last day of the month and am unable to find anything that I like.  So I thought that throwing a party was a really clever idea to entice shoppers into their store and use the coupon.  And as the party was just two days past my actual birthday, I was still in a celebratory mood.  There was a pretty table with yummy treats such as mini cupcakes and cake pops.

There was even a sweets section with plastic bags that you could fill up.  After all, what's a birthday party without a candy station and goody bags?  Refreshments included a delicious strawberry lemonade with mint.  I will have to ask next time I'm in the store whether the lemonade was bottled or made to order because it was so refreshing.

It is always so much fun visiting Anthro not just for the fashion but the fun and interesting store props and housewares.  I have heard of crafters searching for old Reader's Digest books with pretty covers and then repurposing them, have you?  Here is a display of books that have been cut into letters.  Have you tried cutting up old books?  As a former English Lit major, I am a bit leery of cutting up old books but it does make an eyecatching display.

I thought the hanging display of citrus slices was a very Spring and Summery touch.  I think this is something that could be replicated at home.

Do you notice the giant vintage hen planter at the back?  I think that it is actually from a carousel ride.  I would love to have something like that in a garden, wouldn't you?  Of course, it isn't possible to resist checking out the fashions in an Anthro store.  I fell hard for this Moulinette Soeurs dress.

The skirt is much more citrus lime in real life.  I think that it provides such a fresh contrast against the crisp navy and white lines on top.

via Anthropologie.com

I really like how the back is as interesting as the front.

No birthday cake at Anthro but, yes, I did get a birthday cake on my actual birthday.  That day was one of those agonizing work days that went on and on.  You know the kind.  I felt bad because I knew Monsieur was planning a special birthday dinner.  In fact, we didn't sit down to dinner until 9 pm by which time I was dead on my feet.  But what he did while I was tearing my hair out certainly brought me back to life.  He had decorated our home with millions of balloons, streamers and banners.  Then he cooked a lovely dinner of bavette and mashed potatoes.  I was just so thrilled and touched, all at once.  You see he had recently found out that I had never had a birthday party when I was a child.  So he was determined to throw a "First Birthday Party"  hence all the balloons and streamers.  After dinner came another surprise, a wonderful birthday cake made of red velvet and strawberry shortcake layers.

On top was written "Bonne Fete" (Happy Birthday) on a chocolate disc and a special message written around it, of which one of the most important words is "Love", which you can see. You can also see some balloons reflected in the table top.  I have to admit that I was shocked at all the little details that Monsieur put into my surprise "First Birthday Party."  Most of the time I am convinced that there is a built in filter in his brain that is labelled in capital letters "FOOTBALL" which automatically filters out anything that I tell him.  And then he pulls something like this that shows me that he does listen to me.  I think the best present of all is knowing that I have someone in my life who understands me, who just gets me.  To have someone who just understands and tries to replace sadness with happiness is, as a well known cc company would say, priceless.

I am linking up with My Romantic Home, A Stroll Thru Life, The Charm of Home, and Green Willow Pond.

Put A Horse On It

Did you know that 2014 is the Year of the Horse?  I picked up a couple pairs of vintage onyx horse head bookends recently and am in love. I had been keeping an eye out for them for ages but whenever I found them, they were usually chipped or there was just a sad, lonely single.  I think I have to stop at 2 pairs because a third makes (another) collection!

I love the translucent striations in the stone and how each piece is unique. The second pair has striations on the horizontal instead of vertical with dark tan accents.

The only problem with bookends is that, when they are fulfilling their destiny as bookends, you can't really see them in their full glory.

You see?  All you see is the front of their, albeit handsome, heads.  Do you have bookends on your bookshelves or in your decor?  How do you arrange them?  I was pondering this dilemma (I know there are bigger, more important issues in the world but it is a dilemma) when I came across 47 Park Avenue.  OMG! The extreme fabulousness!

via 47 Park Avenue

I am entranced with the hits of pink. Bold without being sickly sweet.  Do you notice the horse heads on the mantel?  I love the depth and layers on the mantelscape.   Lining things in.a.row. is a trap that I fall into over and over again.  I am really trying these days to be a bit more brave and daring with my decor.

Not as outrageously fabulous as 47 Park Avenue, admittedly, but at least now I can enjoy the horse heads more fully.  I have quite a few thrifted vintage knick knacks on that tallboy dresser including a Royal Krona of Sweden owl and a modernist Hoselton angel that I thrifted recently.  The gigantic round eyes of the owl make me laugh and I like to imagine that the angel is watching over me.  Coincidentally, Pantone announced the colour of the year as Radiant Orchid.  So quite by chance, I've managed to cover the bases on two trends this year!  Are you planning on incorporating any purple in your decor this year!  Or do you stay away from trends?

This week I'm linking up with A Stroll Thru Life, Remnant PDX, Sir Thrift A Lot, A Living Space, and The Thrifty Groove.

Vintage Christmas Trees

I can't believe that Christmas is almost upon us!  The year has gone by with the speed of light. Sometimes I feel like I have hardly any time to breathe.   I'm still tweaking my Christmas decorations.  Somehow, quite by happenstance (isn't that always the way?) I ended up with a collection of vintage ceramic Christmas trees, all of them thrifted. So I decided this year would the year of the Christmas tree.

They are teetering on the edge of kitschy with their rainbow of bright cheery lights but I do adore them.

I held back on adding other decorations and just let them be the stars of the show.  I have promised myself not to accumulate any more as they are large and fragile so storing them for 11 months in a small home is an issue.  Let's see if I can keep that promise.  After all, who can resist a Christmas tree?  Do you have any accidental collections?

I don't have a fireplace or a mantel so a bookcase stands in for a place where "the stockings are hung with care."  I went with a white and silver theme.  Who knew that the ubiquitous Ikea Billy bookcase could look so festive?  Above is a mix of old and new.  The reindeer pyramid was given to me by my sister who was living in Germany at the time, there are various thrifted Kosta Boda snowballs (another accidental collection), a newish owl with a couple of vintage thrifted Naaman figurines.

It was the stockings, picked up during the Boxing Sales last year, and the German glitter letters from Pottery Barn that inspired the white and silver theme.  They fit in really well with the stocking holders that I've had for years.  Now what about the most important tree of all?  Picture Monsieur talking for days about how he wanted to bring home a tree slung over his shoulder like Paul Bunyan.  After all, how heavy could it be? Then deciding at the last minute that it was way too cold for that.  Now picture me getting up at 5 am to drive us to a one day only charity tree lot (all proceeds were donated to charity).  Then picture us getting this monster tree home, Monsieur coddling it for many hours in a pot of sugar water to help it "get over the shock" before finally deciding to put it up.  Then followed what can only be described as pure agony as Monsieur attempted to set up a tree along an imaginary plumb line.  The agony ended (or began) when he nearly took off one of my fingers as I was underneath the tree pushing and tugging at the base of the trunk according to his directions and he lost his grip on said tree.  Mixed in with a lot of unladylike words, I told him that he would have to mess about with the tree on his own.  Here is a photo of a naked tree as I stared at it for many days with dislike in my eyes whilst nursing my injured finger. My vintage electric tree lamps were a breeze compared to that thing, just plug them, easy peasy.

I toyed with the idea of going back to Nature with a simple unadorned tree save for twinkling lights.  Okay, maybe I was a bit fed up at this point.  Slowly but surely, little vintage ornaments thrifted over the year made their way on to the tree.  I kept with the rustic, woodland theme with a new owl from Chapters for the top. It still needed something though.  I picked up the burlap garland at Pottery Barn this weekend and after it was draped on the tree, I knew what that something was.

And where was Monsieur while all this was going on?

Yes, I know.

I wish you all a lovely Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

Linking up with A Thrifty Groove, A Living Space and A Stroll Thru Life.

Vintage Lamp Crush

I have another obsession!  Awful, I know.  As the title to this post suggests, it’s vintage lamps.  I love lamps because they serve multiple purposes.  They can be statement decor pieces and, depending on the type of lamp, they can provide different types of light such as ambient, mood or task lighting.  Total justification for snatching up a cool vintage lamp, right?  I picked up this brass, mod lamp recently.

On its own, it has a very Studio 54 look to it.  I know that, styled right, it would look fabulous.  Do you follow Emily Henderson’s blog?  She uses of lot of brass elements paired with navy.  This lamp with a navy velvet sofa would look fantastic.  Here is a Jonathan Adler sofa that I am drooling over:

I would love a navy velvet sofa.  The problem is that I don’t have a navy velvet sofa.  I fall in love with a cool lamp, can't bear to leave it behind, then bring it home only to realize it doesn't fit with my existing decor.  Blue can read as cool but paired with the warmth of brass or gold it has a timeless classic feel to it.  Here is an inspirational photo from Coastal Living which pairs crisp navy and white bedding with brass wall lamps and accent pieces.

I do have touches of blue around my home so you can get an idea of blue with brass. Here you see I have a vintage Blenko bowl.

I have moved this lamp around from room to room and am beginning to think that it may end up joining its unwanted brothers and sisters in what is beginning to be known as “the lamp graveyard” aka as the bottom of a closet.  What do you think?  Consign to the graveyard or keep it?  How would you style it?  Do you have any information on the maker?  However, all is not lost as I picked up another vintage lamp.  It’s a Wildwood lamp.  When I first saw it, my immediate reaction was that it was so not my style.

It is completely the opposite in style from the MCM brass lamp.  But I love it!  The craftsmanship is incredible.  Funnily enough, I found the harp and finial under a pile of books nearby.  So glad I spotted them.  The finial is made of brass and is really heavy and substantial.  It would have been tricky trying to find a good quality replacement.  Part of the fun of thrifted finds is being able to play around with different styles without the guilt of huge pricetags.  

In keeping with the Chinoiserie theme of the lamp, I switched out the Blenko bowl for a vintage glass paperweight that is sitting on a Chinoiserie style stand.  You'll notice that the paperweight has inky blue swirls in it.  Please excuse the shade.  It’s a Pottery Barn shade that I pulled off another lamp as a short term fix.  I am thinking the lamp would look really dramatic with a red shade or a dark blue shade.  What do you think?   Should I go with a simple white drum shade, stick with the one that’s on it or go with a coloured shade?  Do you have any similar obsessions?

I am linking up with A Living Space, Remnant PDX, Sir Thrift A Lot, Green Willow Pond, Faith Grace and Crafts, A Thrifty Groove, A Stroll Thru Life, 

Vintage Bar Styling

Lately, I have been obsessing over setting up a vintage inspired bar.  Considering a half glass of champagne on New Year's Eve amounts to my yearly intake of alcohol, my latest obsession may be a bit ludicrous.  It's not the drinking out of vintage stemware that has me staring at beautiful photos on vintage blogs but the idea of it.  Does this make sense?  Or maybe I have been watching too much Mad Men.  Is it possible to watch too much Mad Men?  When I saw this incredibly glamorous bar cart at Williams Sonoma, I was staggered.

Do you see the collection of silver band glassware on top?  I'm not sure if Dorothy Thorpe glassware is still in production or has been reissued but they look very much like Dorothy Thorpe glassware and are banded on the inside rim as well.

Unfortunately, the approximately $1,100.00 CDN price tag for the bar cart is so not in my budget.  I decided to slowly put together a bar on a very thrifty budget.  It was not just going to be vintage-inspired, it was going to be vintage.  An Art Deco dresser tucked into a corner of the dining room stood in for a bar cart.  Without quite realizing it, I have begun collecting vintage Culver glassware.  It all started with thrifting a set of Cranberry Scroll just in time for Christmas.  There is something so over the top glamorous about Culver's patterns.

I've mentioned the brass pineapple before.  It's actually an ice bucket and, somehow, having a crazy brass pineapple lends itself to a Hollywood Regency style bar.

Only recently did I thrift the vintage bar tools and shakers.  They are all sitting on an Ernest Sohn teak bar sized chopping board.  I was thrilled to find a set of Culver Valencia glasses the other weekend.  They are just so pretty in real life.

The tall tumblers behind the Valencia glasses are Chantilly.  Oh no, I think I've started another collection!

Monsieur likes the Valencia pattern the best.  Which one do you like the best?  Or do you prefer simple, clear glassware?

Sir Thrift A Lot, Apron Thrift Girl, A Stroll Thru Life, Ivy and Elephants, Young Heart, Cottage Market, Faith Grace and Crafts, Green Willow Pond, Remnant PDX, A Living Space.