Spaces

Source: inspired-design.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

One of the papers I'm writing this term deals with homes, with spaces that we inhabit--our bodies, buildings, and our stories.  I think everyone desires a safe space to live, physical and otherwise, a safe space in which our full selves can fully be.

I think that the physical spaces we create to occupy should be a reflection of the self, a space that moves us to be comfortable but also to dream of expanding that zone of comfort.  For me, this is a room full of books and a great big window and a soft landing place--sofa, bed, or even a pile of pillows on the floor.  Whenever my husband and I look at places to live, I analyze each room's potential to become a mini library, a little space that's in my world but opens me up to a million others.

What kind of space do you love? What space makes you feel comfortable, safe, and happy?

Friday's Fancies: A Dreamy Reading Space

Someday, I'll have a room with a deep sofa that almost swallows you, loads of soft and cushy pillows, and wall to wall books.  Until then, I'll keep dreaming.

Source: romapri.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: skonahem.com via Katie on Pinterest

I strayed a bit from the usual fashion-themed posts, but you can check out some great style today over at Long Distance Loving.  Enjoy!

Keeping it Together...

During the last three days, I've been exceptionally good at forgetting, misplacing, and generally losing track of everything--my keys, purse, phone, book(s), and the time.

Source: lindsaytheamazing.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

I'd like to think that I'd be more organized and lose things less often if I had one of these rooms.

Source: sallynstuff.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

At the very least, all my books could come out of boxes and resume their places on shelves.

Source: weheartit.com via Katie on Pinterest

That last one is just ridiculous (as in so amazing that it's ridiculous).  I wish I knew its original source.

good morning, saturday

or, rather, good afternoon.

Are you ready for some good things?  This week's links come courtesy of my wanderings around Pinterest.

{spotted here and already sold by gollybard on etsy}

Check out this terrific amazing awesome recreation of Up (which I once posted about here) by National Geographic, highlighted in the weekly Pinterest newsletter.  You should also look at this Pinterest board form Brandi of Not Your Average Ordinary, because I'm sure you will walk away feeling motivated to do something great, or at least with a smile.  I also like this stairway, pinned here and from there.  I like walls and furnishings and a lot of nontraditional writing surfaces covered in words.  Sometime last year, on a whim and in a flurry of some stressed-out emotion, I painted a quote from Les Mis on my bedroom wall at my parents' home, with just a little brush and some dripping paint.  I don't think I even covered my bed, which thankfully did not get paint on it...but I digress. I was reading Housekeeping this morning and feel full of descriptive phrases at present, which may explain my sudden interest in well-crafted phrases this morning.

Have a lovely Saturday.

dishtowels.

I just realized something silly about myself.

I really, really like dishtowels.  Pretty dishtowels.  I was busily browsing anthropologie (trying to get some creativity flowing in my brain) and looked at no fewer than four in a row.  Some of them are so lovely, and take artistic elements you'd usually find in a print and put them into a practical item.  Take this one, for example, from anthropologie:

{from here}

Or check out these from Heart of Light:

{by heartoflight on etsy}

Maybe this one will give me motivation to do the dishes (even though C. normally does them)...

{by showpony on etsy}

This one would probably get framed, not used.

{also from anthropologie}

I have got to learn more and start doing some printing on fabric myself, because I could spend a fortune if I were to indulge this pretty textile obsession that I feel growing at present...

vintage by alex keller

Well, I shared about my little bit of wonderful luck yesterday and promised to share about the shop that provided the prize, which the terrific Dottie Angel was sweet enough to share (as if I didn't already have a million bajillion reasons to love her blog already), so here it is: Vintage by Alex Keller.

Alex describes her shop like this:

"Welcome to Vintage by Alex Keller, a curation of housewares & décor that Alex would want for herself. These items stay with her for a time, are rediscovered, & make their way to new homes."

She has a bunch of fun vintage block sets, like this one.

Then there's a bunch of housewares, like this clock and these mixing bowls.

Then I found this lovely handcrafted and intricately carved wooden lidded bowl.

Now, we're a bit crowded with our little bitty kitchen and complete lack of storage, so I know I can't go and collect a billion lovely things and fun older pieces, but I did pick a few, which I'll share upon their arrival at my mom and dad's house (hey, yeah, guys, I'm having it sent there because there's no good place to leave a box for us here).  For now, however, those little things are going to be kept solely to myself, partly for the fun of surprise, and partly because if I don't tell and I don't look at my little list of things, I'm bound to forget one or two (since I spent about two hours trying to decide on what I liked most), then be happily delighted when I open the box.

Alex also has a shop full of jewelry made from found objects.  I don't much care for bracelets, since I work on a computer most of the time and bracelets tap on the desk, which drives me crazy, but I can't help adoring this bracelet.

So you should really check out either or both of these shops, and check back later to see my choices.

happy saturday

{image by Maja Maljković, found on WeHeartIt}

You should read this post on The Storque, then venture over to Yes, Honey Chyle and follow her link to this incredible and beautiful and ridiculous time-lapse film, take a look at these pictures of New York on Honestly...WTF, then venture on over to Dottie Angel where you will see, on this post, that I actually WON something.  No joke!  ME!  I laughed out loud (yes, C., that's why I laughed), went to work (till late), then went to browse the shop for which I now have a gift certificate, and oh-my-indeed it's full of fun vintage.  I'll be sharing a few things I love tomorrow.  For now, have a happy Saturday!

a tidy workspace

 

 

workarea | Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

In the office, I'm pretty good at keeping my space neat.  Right now, it's a different story while I sort through archives, but at home, it's another story.  I try, I really do, but I'm not  so good at organizing.  Owning a dresser and a closet bigger than a suitcase (I do exaggerate a wee bit on the closet space here) would be great, but as long as we live in apartments, storage will be limited, which makes my right-brained self even less able to keep tidy.

So I always find neat and organized creative spaces to be amazing.  Like, do people actually live that cleanly? sort of amazing.  I'm sure C. wishes I was a bit more neat, but hey mister, I wish you were a little more neat yourself.  Maybe we can learn from people who keep their houses so perfectly sorted.

(meanwhile, I partly hope that these people aren't quite so neat all the time, so I can feel a little better about the not-really-folded fabric and stacks of completely unsorted paper stuck in a plastic bin at present)

To see more organized and pretty creative spaces, check out my favorite-ed photos on Flickr here or look at the "Pretty Organized" group on Flickr.  Warning: you may feel an early spring cleaning coming on.

for the home

While browsing the internet, I find such lovely spaces.  I imagine what my home could be like, knowing all the while that as much as I love old homes with a wabi-sabi aesthetic, owning one is neither wise nor probable at this current phase in my life.  Still, I do think our someday-home will be slowly but surely filled with found pieces, meaningful art, and plenty of handmade bits.

I'd love to find a piece like this one from CherryMenLove (which my bestest friend Kat shared with me), or like this one, only piled with a soft mattress and pillows and probably covered in books.

{by larajanepark on flickr, who has some other beautiful photos, by the way}

This bed is awfully pretty, too.

{by NathanaelB on Flickr, whose photostream shows some pretty interesting looking travel!}

I'd love a library as well, but with an enormous sofa instead of chair like the ones here (not quite my style, I'm afraid).

{by Stewickie on Flickr}

I'd have a china cabinet full of new pieces like this...

{by Lisa Stickley London}

...and there'd be a bunch of older pieces, like the turquoise pyrex set I picked up at Peddler's Mall a year or so ago, and there'd be the new and lovely set of cups and saucers my aunt gave me at Christmas, and I think they'd all be in something like this...

{by mvwoodworking on Etsy}

I might stick a whimsy shelf like this in a corner.

{by woodcurve on Etsy}

And maybe, just maybe, I'll have a ridiculously gorgeous and perfectly lovely home, if I don't get carried away by a few too many whims and fancies that have no hope of matching (as I am quite prone to doing).

House-hunting tomorrow...I'll let you know how it goes!

Can I live here, though, please?

a flickr adventure...

Flickr: DOMESTICITY: Artful photos from INSIDE the house.

I found and joined a new group today. SO FUN.

Cory and I are comfortably settled into our apartment even more and it's finally a home!  It'll be nice when our fridge starts working again.  At the present moment, it's just a box taking up space and smelling a bit goofy.  I'm just glad it's not the air conditioner that went out in this 97+ degree weather--and that temperature does not include humidity.  It's ridiculous, I tell you.

I'm at my parents' house for the night, returning Bernie the Buick to Abby and enjoying the central air that's not going to show up on my electric bill. Hehe thanks mom and dad:)

definitely want to do this #2: done!

I have looked for a nice comforter for our bed.

I had one that was the right weight and size, but according to Cory, it was a little bit too feminine (probably true).  So I had the idea in my head to make a duvet cover.

I finally got around to it on Thursday.  I had fabric (a gift), a king-sized flat sheet, and a twin-sized flat sheet, none of which were in use.  I followed (loosely) this tutorial from design*sponge, particularly to use the french seams.  I'm so glad I did, because the entire project looks more finished.  Now with a bit of straightening up, we'll have quite a nice looking room.

our home - a set on Flickr

I also had some fun decorating our bathroom.  More on that later...

one yard wonders: project #1

A little before the wedding, I took a trip to Barnes and Noble to use a gift card leftover from Christmas.  How it survived so long, I don't know, but it bought me a novel and it bought me this book.

It's super fun.

For my first project, I decided to make a cover for these useful but unattractive storage drawers.

[caption id="attachment_257" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I have five of the white ones you can hardly see, next to the blue unit. This was taken my old apartment."][/caption]

I used this project:

It went fairly well, though I missed a bit on the measurements (math has never been my strong suit)  and should've used a different fabric for the front.  I clothespinned some lightweight sheer something over it, and it looks better now.  It was too much of a watermelon at first.  Oops.

But, overall, I like the results.

[caption id="attachment_259" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="before and after"][/caption]

The room still needs some work, but I really like how it feels.  Once I get a desk down to this place, it'll be the perfect workspace as I finish my last undergraduate class.

why I miss Domino magazine

Interior Inspiration: Living room

Originally uploaded by ishandchi

ah, if only another magazine of such great style and fun still existed...
Maybe I'll have to put in a few extra hours of work and buy the Domino book of decorating (instead of loving the library copy so much I don't want to return it).

I mean, look at that butterfly on the wall, and those silhouette pillows.  The wallpaper could stand to go (but I guess it's pretty for wallpaper), but the furniture, the floor...I think I would feel perpetually inspired in such a room.

fun found about: creature comforts

A long time ago in a Chick-fil-a far, far away, Sunshine was my nickname.  It was relatively ironic on Saturdays, when I opened, but not so much on Tuesday nights, when they had too few people until I arrived at four.

So I posted this immediately.

One Good Thing: You Are My Sunshine Art Print - Home - Creature Comforts - daily inspiration, style, diy projects + freebies.

:)

room envy: lots of shelves

i want this room



via Made by Girl

I like shelves.  I prefer them to closets and boxes any day.  You can see what you need (or put a door on if you don't want to), they have plenty of little caddies, and you don't have to do that annoying pull-one-box-down-to-get-another stacking thing.

Plus, there's fabric on the shelves, and heaven knows I need more of that.

...

What?  I don't need more?  I should use what I have?  What is this nonsense?

(meanwhile, I'm off to resume my current project, a fabric cover for the plastic stacking drawers that my clothes will be stored in until we move into a more permanent residence where we won't mind carrying furniture up the stairs quite so much. teeheehee.)

loving: blue and white and birds

came upon this tonight: seesaw designs (via Oh, Hello Friend, a very favorite blog).



I'm in love.  Seriously.

If I had oodles of money and time, this would be my house, apart from the wallpaper.  I still hate wallpaper.  Christmas break 2003.  January 2003.  Etc. IT NEVER ENDED!  My parents' house was all done in wallpaper--lovely wallpaper, but faded and peeling--that we tore down over several months.  Someone neglected to prime under the paper, so it was a mess.  That middle school memory will forever stay with me and prevent me from hanging wallpaper in the interest of future generations.

But all that aside, wouldn't the bag and pillow found over on this post be fantastic?

Oi, I should stop already, loves.  I am getting too far ahead of myself.