body of work

table (which I'm actually currently using as a desk)

So, a long time ago (2009, woaaahh) I made this post. My tastes have changed a little since then (that rug! I'm cringing), and now that I'm back to working from home I figured it was time to do a little update. It hasn't even been a year since I went freelance, so I'm still working on what sort of furniture I need.. but that doesn't mean a girl can't dream!

wall mounted shelves / chair /  rug

• Things I'd like ideally:  a new chair that rolls, a rug to keep my tootsies happy, a wall mounted shelf for tchotchkes and the like, a flat file for paper and art, multiple filing cabinets for supplies

• Things I have room and the money for: a latte

Our apartment is small, so I don't have a ton of room for studio space. That's really okay since I do most all of my work from my desk. But it would be nice to have more room for storage, and the money for a fancy new chair! Gisèle d’Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht's (how's that for a name?) home is ideally what I'd love for my studio space to look like: classic, full of life but not cluttered.

table lamp / ceramic ghost / planter

I also wouldn't mind adding some new decorations to my workspace. Obviously I can never get enough plants, and maybe I could start a collection of Ahroj's Ghosts project. They are just so darling!

What does your ideal desk space look like?

winter is coming

star siblings tote by fencing & archery | mcalister wedge boots from j.crew

Yeah okay, the last post was pretty nerdy. Hopefully you were okay with that because this one might be equally nerdy, if not more. I am coming quickly to the end of the first book in the A Song of Ice & Fire series (you might know it as the tv version, Game of Thrones, which is what got me started on this whole thing). It's so good, oh man. You see the same event through the eyes of multiple characters, and it's easy to get attached to every single one of them - even the baddies.

I'm loving the overall tone of Game of Thrones, too - it's dark and cold, even though the first book takes place during a very long "summer". That tone carries over into the show, which has some GORGEOUS costume design. There's even Helmut Lang's most recent collection, also inspired by Game of Thrones.

So yeah, I figured I should do a round up of my favorite Game of Thrones-y things, for more nerdy fun. Enjoy, and remember: a Lannister always pays his debts (as in someone should buy me that antler chair post haste).

hybrid No1 by merve kahraman | vintage celluloid brooch from the greedy seagull

wishful thinking

I recently joined mint.com and proceeded to freak out about how I'm spending my money (stop going out to eat! try to drive less! you can get about five coffees a month!), so instead of shopping like I want to, I'll wait till next month and save up for presents.

But there are two new favorite things that I can celebrate in the meantime. And thus, welcome to my little blog's newest feature:





Who doesn't love a good pair of wooly socks? After discovering a great second hand store in St. Paul called Practical Goods, I am now the happy owner of this oatmeal colored pair. They are perfect for keeping my tootsies warm whilst sleeping, or wearing with my boots & some leggings to work.

We also recently acquired this new, better looking coffee table. The old one (beautiful as it was) we got by a dumpster (1) wasn't in the best condition and (2) was a lighter colored "wood" than the rest of our furniture. So out it went, and in came the NEW TABLE. After stripping the inserts of their original, terrible blue faux-mosaic contact paper, Bryan spray painted them white and they look FAB. Now I just have to never spill anything ever again.

What little new acquisitions are you celebrating?

work in progress

this is probably a combination of my just signing the lease for a little fixer-upper artists studio and then seeing this lovely nursery and thinking to myself "If I could decorate a room just for me, I'd definitely put that frickin' awesome fake alligator head in it."

And then I decided to play the "Lets Pretend You've Got Big Dollars to Spend" with my dream studio as a theme.

+It would definitely be a combination of old but architectural (like the chair & the flat file) and modern design (including the invisible book shelves and the urban outfitters couch).

+The first thing I'd buy would most certainly be that beauty of a desk, by Wintercheck Factory. It's basically perfect - room for me to put my papers and bills, and enough room to draw. I'd probably want an extra table for a printer/scanner, too...

+LOTS of random tchotchkes. I'd want plenty of great vintage mugs and TONS of stuff by Harry Allen - especially that piggy bank.

+Grey and white walls (paint swatches are Sherwin Williams) with great colorful curtains.


of course, I'd also want my dream studio to look like it was something right out of the Selby. How great is Thomas Lelu's?

trash to treasure

wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles! Look what was sitting by the dumpsters when the boy and I came back from picking up a new tv stand (to be seen soon) and breakfast at Mickey's! It's a little beat up here and there - but this might not be a problem, as I'm now considering painting the table tops another color. Something like this, but without the yellow legs.

OH SAINT PAUL. Thank you for your glorious dumpster finds.

Also, I realize there has been a terrible lot of apartment-related photo posts... so here is my most recent blog of choice, pony and pink! A cute girl and a cute boy, posting their cute clothin'.

#4

tired of sparse photos of my new apartment yet? TOO BAD, I CAIN'T GIT ENOUGH OF 'EM!

But this one has a sad story. The tragic tale of the couple who don't have a television stand. The horrible recounting of a young man who, in desperation to play his xbox, had to fashion a tv stand out of a cardboard box - which, granted, was a stroke of genius. But this cannot last.

We're looking for a replacement, obviously. Ikea is the quickest, easiest choice... but after seeing the sweetest mid century cabinet system at Up Six we have been casting our eyes across the depths of craigslist, attempting to find something like half of this unit:


(from surfing cowboys)

house of perry

In some magical twist of fate I discovered that two amazing things that I love combined together the other day and the world almost imploded!!! Sneak peaks, my favorite section of design sponge, covered the home of Mike Perry, one of my very favorite cool artists!

The post itself is here, go gawk at it as I did. That couch first photograph is something I long for.

these are a few of my favorite things

i am a little obsessed with expensive things, like furniture. yet, i have just decided to cut down my extraneous spending to food only. OH WOE, what a bad time to love spendy things.

another thing i'm obsessed with is kate spade's behind the curtain site. It's little inspirations and behind the scenes from one of the classiest shoe, bag, and everything else designers in the world. The "things we love" section is my favorite, especially because it introduced me to sweetgifs.com, which is worth taking a few minutes of time to get lost in.

shopping

Yesterday: drove back to Minneapolis from STP, made a surprise stop at the Mall of St. Paul, a really great antique mall with the largest collection of great sellers I've ever seen. Stillwater was lots of fun, but all the antiques were like.. nice quality ($$$) and also a little old for my place. The Mall was packed full of cheap, colorful furniture, kitchenwares, clothing, etc. I wanted everything. I got a sweater with a giant fur collar and a plaid tunic.

What I actually wanted, though, was the really great leggy Danish modern couch...









After that we watched copious amounts of Six Feet Under, went to dinner with two lovely ladies from Ann Arbor, and then watched more Six Feet Under. And then I got sick and am now sniffly.

dream dream dream

I think one day I would like to be a fantastic illustrator of maps. My first attempt at such a feat is availabe for viewing on my website, but it's just not that great. I want to be better than that - I think I need to work with more colors in order to convey the vibrancy of the place I'm depicting, and I definitely need to work on the whole "here are the streets" thing.

Artists I look up to on the topic at hand:

lena corwin, better known for her work in prints and a new book thats come out with her lovely name on the cover.


mariko jesse - beautiful traditionally rendered maps. So many colors!


Last, but not least, the completely infallible and flawless M. Sasek - creator of the vintage classics in the "This Is.." series. While not a map, this is exactly the kind of personality of a city that I'd love to be able to capture. SIGH, MAYBE SOMEDAY!


In completely unrelated news, after having paged through all my issues of domino, I have come to decide that I either want to just make my own headboard or become rich and buy this bed from anthropologie. No CB2 or Pottery Barn for me - even though I'd take on of those perfectly tufted bedframes in a second if offered. Don't get me wrong!!