weekend shopping

Friday afternoon I spent some time thrifting. It would be so great to be an interior designer, I know many places where I would buy unique things. I saw many cool things, here's a small sample:

Love these chairs, the large painting and the lamp. Perfect orange pops for an all white home.

Oooh, be still my heart. Perfect white West German porcelain vase. May go back for that one. Can't you hear it calling my name? Unusual blue bowl. I thought it might be Italian, but it's very light weight. Definitely has a mod look to it. Turquoise ashtray. Not sure why I dig vintage ashtrays, I don't even smoke.
Vintage glove molds. Way cool. If I had one of these, I'd hang vintage rosaries and prayer beads from it.

I like these plastic animals too. They were spotted in an antique store, but not sure what era they date to. Wouldn't these be cute in a kid's room, or as a pop art piece in an industrial loft?

And speaking of pop art, if you need some Zen for your home City Buddha has a ton! Love these Buddha prints! I think I need one. Virtual collections are the best. They cost no money, take up no room and you don't have to dust them. For more cool things I saw, click here. Hope you are having a great weekend dear readers! xxoo

color scheme: pale pink and blue

I can't stop looking at this room from House Beautiful, April 2010. Those colors are divine! I adore the soft pink with blue. Love the paintings by Leora Armstrong. The room and the painting make me think of rain. I'd love to do a room in these colors. I thought about this room as I spray painted my vases. For tips on spray painting, click here.

Here are a couple cheap pieces of ceramic I spray painted baby blue. Baby blue is my new favorite color! I love the look of the vases, I was able to get the matte finish I prefer.

Here are the blue vases with one of my new paintings. This painting is influenced by the beautiful room, as well as my love of gray. I will definitely do a gray accent wall in my next place.

Here's the vases I spray painted pink. I love them. I've been wanting modern pink vases, but have been having trouble finding them. These fit the bill nicely.

new paintings

I've been working on a new style. Not sure why, but I enjoy putting geometric images on canvas and then obliterating them. I've described how I see colors in movement many times, I'm trying to communicate that movement on cavas. And there it is too many words, attempting to describe the indescribable. Art just is. And artists, well, we do it because we have to. I humbly submit my latest works:

"My Second Full Moon Without You," 2010, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas. I finished this one upon returning from grocery shopping tonight. I shopped in the valley, aftewards I sat in the car for a long time. I was riveted by the glorious full moon. It appeared red at times, at other times orange. My painting, of course, pales in comparison. Wish I had a lens powerful enough to capture that moon. For now, it's in my memory, and I suppose that's good enough.

"Religiosity", 2010, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas. Part of a series.

Untitled, 2010, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas.

Untitled, 2010, 24" x 24", spray paint on canvas. Not sure if this one is done. This is my first attempt at spray paint on canvas. It's a lot of fun! The colors are influenced by the beautiful Lake Erie sky.

mundane details or styling indecision

I've been a renter for many years, so when it comes to decorating it's always been about accessories. As you know, my favorites are pillows, pottery and paintings. When it was time to decorate my new bedroom, I took stock of my accessories.

I have some beautiful pillows that were cheap from Old Time Pottery. I love this scheme of various blues and greens. I'd love to do a room in these colors. But for me, it's gotta be a scheme that starts with pink.I have a little corner in my bedroom, where I keep changing the accessories. Here's its incarnation with one of my favorite paintings. I adore hot pink, but it's so hot in the house already. Maybe I need to go with cooler colors for summer. Here's some previous styling of this little corner:
This is how it looked last weekend when I was playing with my new thrift finds.

And here it is with one of my spray painted vases, and my turquoise painting. This is one of my favorite paintings, it has an interesting texture to it.
You've seen this version before. This might be my favorite so far. I think the next look my bedroom will take is cool blues. Man, I'm melting.

a cute little table

The previous owner of my home had great taste and was very chic. She left behind some cute things, including this table that I am using as my bedside table (and also those fab curtains, see post below).

I'm thinking about painting it yellow. Whenever contemplating paint colors, I turn to my very large inspiration folder.

Love this little table. Image ATLITW.

The Parsons table in yellow! Love it. Love that chair as well. I adore a yellow pop in an otherwise all white room. Image West Elm.

These yellow floating shelves look great against the gray walls. If I paint my table yellow, I may need to do a gray accent wall. My next apartment will definitely have accent walls. Love the silver and yellow Buddhas.

A pop of yellow looks great against stainless steel.

Or maybe I should paint it white. Love this coffee table and sofa. This may be the best example of granny chic I have ever seen. What really makes this room work is those white floors. As you know, I love white floors.

I love this image from the Toast catalog. Love the turquoise blouse with the yellow beads. Love the silver pillows. Hmm. Maybe I should paint the table turquoise.

Remember Pink's turquoise table? I've been thinking about a turquoise table ever since.

I love this blue coffee table. Doesn't it look great with the red rug and yellow walls?

Look at that cute little dresser perched under that window. I am in love with painted furniture. What do you think, dear readers? Yellow or turquoise?

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All images not credited from Apartment Therapy.

a corner of my bedroom

Here's a little corner of my bedroom. I love the curtains left by the previous owner, and the light was enchanting at that time of day. I adore the juxtaposition of the old watercolor with the graphic punch of the love print. I seem to have two styles, one is soft and calm. The other is vivid. For example, the same day I put this little vignette together, I also did this very different work .... the trick is how to reconcile the two styles into one cohesive whole.

look what I found thrifting today!

Today was a beautiful day, so I decided to go thrifting. I had a great time talking with shop owners and artists, my peeps. And I got some great deals! All this loot for $32.00. Score! Here's the breakdown:

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1930s style watercolor, $8.00. Signed by the artist Kupur. Difficult to find anything about this artist. If you are familiar with his work, please email me.

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Three turquoise vases, $8.00 ($2.00 each for the small ones, $4.00 for the tall one). The tall one was really a steal. It's old, dating back to the 1800s, but there's a chip in the back. I don't mind, though, gives it character.

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Fenton satin glass vase! I've always wanted one, and I adore this color. You won't believe it - $4.00!

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Haeger vintage panther, $12.00. I've been wanting one ever since I saw Retromod and Haegernerd's homes on flickr (see previous post here). I like this one because it is small. I think it fits in well with my new edgy feminine, Asian, Bohemian style.

pink spray paint and thrifting

I'm always on the look out for pink vases. But I want modern, simple shapes with no fru frus. They're difficult to find. I've decided there's only one thing to do - short of taking a pottery class - and that is to buy a can of pink spray paint.

These lovely spray painted vases were featured in Sweet Paul. Yep, I need to spray paint some vases. Then I can get the lovely matte finish I like. Most inexpensive modern vases are glossy.

This vase by The Red Kettle is painted the perfect color. I love it, but I prefer ceramic.

I thought I'd experiment with this turquoise vase since it was really cheap. Only $2.99 at TJ Maxx.

When it comes to spray paint, there are two things to remember: Primer and Patience. It took a while to get the hang of it. It's not as easy as it appears. You have to do short quick sprays, applying only a small amount of paint at a time so that you don't get drips. The problem with this is that it takes about a zillion coats. I didn't get this vase exactly right, but I really love the color.

By the time I got to these vases, I think I had the hang of it. The simple shapes of these vases are perfection, and now they will be the perfect color. I was taking my time and putting on small coats of paint, and letting them dry thoroughly before applying another coat. Then the rain clouds came. Since I couldn't finish my project, I made the very logical decision to go thrifting.

I was kind of jonesin' because I haven't gone thrifting in a while. These three vases are part of the loot I got today, and they were cheap! The two smaller ones were $2.00 each. The taller one was a score at $4.00! It's really old, dates back to the 18th century. It has a chip in the back, which is why I got it so cheap. I don't mind, I like small cracks and chips, gives a piece character. I bought these three with the intention of painting them pink, but I kinda like them.

Turquoise looks great with pink. Here they are in my bedroom, with my new Haeger panther. What's your opinion, dear readers? Keep them they way they are, or paint them pink?

home tour

Dear readers, as you know I gave up my beloved studio apartment almost two months ago. It's been an adjustment learning to live with someone. It's all good, but I do miss decorating my apartment and fantasize about decorating my own place once again. I have a small, cozy bedroom, so I've been having fun styling it. Of course, I keep moving my pottery around. I hope one day to hit on an arrangement I love so much, I never feel compelled to move it again. I just know that Nirvana can be found in the perfect arrangement of vases. Here's a tour of my new digs.
The best part is I have a studio set up in the basement. Now I don't have to worry about making a mess! I also have an office set up. It's not very glamorous, but it is very organized. I can find anything. I'd like to have some industrial shelving to put my bins on, but I'm not sure how long I will be living here, so am not really purchasing anything.

One of the hardest things about learning to live with someone is their knick-knacks. Fortunately, my brother is very neat and lives simply. He has his collectibles centralized, and they are actually kinda cool. I'm learning a lot about Harleys and tatts.

One of the nice things my brother did for me is make room for my stuff. Here is my little corner of the living room. I let him pick out which of my paintings to hang. This is his favorite. He's very proud of the modern black lamp, which he found at a garage sale. If this place were mine, I would paint and rip up that carpet.

Here's my little, cozy bedroom. It's hard to photograph because it's so small. There's a dresser from the previous owner which I love! Since I lived a small studio, I went without a dresser for a long time. I'd love to put a fresh coat of white paint on it.

Some days it looks like this, depending on my mood.

I am constantly restyling this little corner, and this is where I display my latest painting.

Some vases on the dresser. Love print by Jessie.

This cute little table is also from the previous owner. I'd love to paint it in a funky color, like hot pink or yellow.I have my prayer beads hanging in the corner. Also the previous owner left the cutest curtains. I like living simply, but I also like beautiful things. The home is humble, but very comfy and I am grateful to my brother for inviting me to stay.

I want to meet ... Antonio Ballatore

Like many of you design lovers I was about to give up on HGTV. The shows are boring. Boring! What's up with all the real estate shows? I'll admit I might be biased by my recent bout with unemployment and poverty, but I don't care about rich young kids buying their first home. I mean, a young single woman buying in the Caribbean with a budget of $450,000! I mean get real. Okay, I have to admit that Mike Holmes is cool, but his show is just about unwatchable because of all the commercials. Then I discovered a marvelous invention called On Demand. Maybe you've heard of it. Seriously, I'm a Netflix viewer so I didn't know about this. Stumbling through On Demand one day I discovered The Antonio Treatment. Maybe I'll give HGTV one more chance.

The show is hosted by fresh designer Antonio Ballatore. Antonio is totally hot. He's a kind, laid back, down-to-earth hipster. His crew are all hipsters too. I love that his English bull dog, Chewie is on set, and I love his relationship with his artist father. Antonio's designs are fearless and fun. There's a bit of whimsy, but they are simple too. After watching him do an organic zen design for a young couple in LA (episode 1:09), I scoured the internet for videos of him. Here's a really cool one where he redesigns a shop in Silverlake (link). It's awesome. Here's one where he does an update for a couple in love with 50s style, complete with turquoise walls, pink cabinets and blue fridge (link).

Antonio and I share some of the same design sensibilities. For example, I think almost anything can be improved with a can of pink spray paint.

Even a rhino head.

Or 50s style geese. I love the use of white with hot pink pops in this room. Love the brown wall, the white art glass vases and the silver pops. And that acrylic table, drool. It's funky and simple too.

Antonio and I also share a love of organization. Here's an office he designed. Again, really cool but simple too. I am in love. I want Antonio to do my next apartment. Antonio, can I come work for you?