I've long fantasized about having a tiny kit house studio out back, ala Modern Shed or Modern Cabana, but they are not really all that tiny in price, and I do sometimes question whether or not I'd like to have a super modern design behind my not so modern home. When I was poking around Etsy this week, I was thrilled to find this shop that makes backyard studios/greenhouses using some reclaimed materials, clean lined, but not particularly modern. They are handmade by Seattle based, and aptly named Schuan Carpenter of Little Mansions Designs. Pricing is in the $2-3K range, with free delivery in the greater Seattle area, but he ships anywhere in the US and Canada. It's funny, I tend to think of Etsy as a place to find handmade gifts and vintage pieces, but it can be so much more than that.
I discovered these dreamy paintings by Clare Elsaesser in an Etsy treasury this morning and I'm blown away by the vivid color and romantic subject matter. She's local to me, from the coastal town of Jenner, and many of her paintings use the Pacific as a backdrop, so they feel very personal to this native Northern Califorian. See all her work at Tastes Orangey. There's more. Her husband Kai Samuels-Davis is also an amazing painter. His work is moody and dark, and like his wife, he paints portraits, objects and coastal landscape. Windylane Studio.
I love this warm ballet pink with mustard, black and ivory palate, and I super love the campers. Are campers the new foxes? I think so. These art block prints by Red Tile Studio are available from $29 on Etsy (they have all your favorite forest animals too).
I'm on the hunt for some original portrait style paintings and illustrations to fill out an art/picture wall in my family room. I scoured Etsy, which can be kind of a rats nest, and finally found these two shops by Israeli artist, Tali. Her collection at TUSH TUSH features her original paintings and pastels available on tiny canvases or larger art prints, while TOSYA is her collection of cheeky illustrations. Bingo.
I moved into a home with a formal living room and a family room. Coming from a smaller open plan house, I didn't have and enough furnishings for both. This formal living room has sat mostly vacant, save for a few boxes, for the better part of a month while I cobble it together on a budget. The majority of our home is kind of "modern farmhouse", not my first design choice, but ultimately what works best with the architecture and our location. We reserved the formal space, along with the dining room, to be kid friendly, but for adults, with more of a mid century influence. This is where we will host our swanky holiday parties, if we ever meet any new people up here. I was really excited when the giant Dwell Studio circus stripe rug finally arrived, but nothing will ever compete with the restored Eames rocker that I found on Etsy. It wasn't free, but I know I will have it forever. The parchment color is timeless and will always work even as my tastes change. I highly recommend CoMod.
Their work is flawless. They also design their own collection, and I will be visiting their Etsy shop again when it comes time to decide on a coffee table.
Father's Day is coming up and it has me thinking. In this DIY-craftster blogging bubble I write in, I don't run across too many dudes. When I look at pictures from Altitude Design Summit I see a lot of bangs and loose knot buns. That's why Joel Henriques is so especially cool. He's a dad, designer and blogger. He put out his book "Made To Play" last September, which features his original paper projects and DIY toys and his work making paper cities is just amazing.
I stumbled upon his Father's Day recommendations on Etsy's blog today and I thought I'd share some of them with you. Click here for the full article...
Beauchamping's "Tribe" just makes me smile. It would make for a nice kitchen wall reminder when an entire bowl of cereal gets dumped on the floor. Find it on Etsy.
Confession. I sold my cupcake paper chandeliers in successive transactions on Etsy last month, and because I was going out of town when the orders were placed, I literally sold the pair hanging from my ceiling. I meant to replace them, but I also wanted to try out a new idea I had for a larger, single chandelier for our new dining room space in Petaluma. Using the same technique as the Anenome version, this time using 3" deep wrapped parchment paper baking cups, I paired the chandelier with a red fabric cord and ceiling fixture from West Elm. I left off the center papers on this piece, because the light is much more diffused. To tell you the truth, I like this one more, and I think it looks more like the Rhododendron chandelier from Anthropologie. For the tutorial, just reference the original post.
I just spent far too long putting together my first Etsy treasury. Etsy is a non-curated creative marketplace, and to put it bluntly, there's a lot of crafty crap to dig through to find the great housewares and art I assume will pop right up. I usually jump to the member curated "treasuries" if I'm looking for something specific. The best treasuries tell a story and convey a specific mood. My first treasury features things I might take along with me for a day out in Golden Gate Park including this lovely iPad case by Stash.
I somehow talked my friend Coco into letting me do a little kitchen makeover at her house. She has one of those 1950's spaces that was semi-updated at some point between then and her with no specific design style in mind. It's kind of a functional blank slate. She has some Latin folkloric influences in the rest of her home, but the kitchen has pale pink and white linoleum flooring, which will have to stay for the project, so when I saw this poster on Etsy I thought it was a great starting point. Check out the ever growing board I've made for the redo on Pinterest and stay tuned for the results in the next couple of months. To purchase the poster (also in midnight blue for my new house) visit One Little Bird Studio on Etsy.
A mason jar. Is there anything more functional or charming? Our family uses them as glassware. They make great vases, luminaries, pickle houses and bathroom spider terrariums. This week's Etsy find is from Ann Arbor based Boots N Gus. Go Blue! They have a series mason jar lights and upcycled pieces made from vintage bowls, including a mint green Tupperware bundt pan lamp. When I saw this chandelier it made me think of lazy backyard dinners on long farm tables, with little kids running around catching lightening bugs. Today's the first day of Spring and I'm already excited for Summer.
I probably have moving on the brain. This week's Etsy find is the MB1 Modern Mailbox by Austin Outdoor. Having suffered with a fairly ugly, "hand-painted with purple flowers" style mailbox for the past few years, I find myself experiencing a bit of modern mailbox envy. They also make amazing planters and house numbers. Now all I need is a home to hang them on.
I'll never get over yellow and gray. They belong together like peanut butter and jelly. This week's Etsy pick is a tote from Milloo, a husband + wife team from Athens, GA. The bag is made from cotton canvas with Italian leather trim (also available in orange). Mother's Day is right around the corner. Enough said.
I took a ceramics class at the Sharon Art Studio in Golden Gate Park shortly after I graduated from a great school for design with a degree in psychology. I learned how to throw clay and play with glazes, but I was no Jonathan Adler. Today's Etsy find is from ceramicist Heather Dahl's shop Dahlhaus. I think I first spotted her vases at this little store called Anthropologie, but a fuller offering is on her Etsy site. I want one in every color!
Just in case you were wondering, this is my brand of humor. So, I am super duper bummed that I can't go to the West Elm/Etsy event curated by SFGirlByBay this Saturday in Emeryville. I love West Elm and want to sleep there at night. More importantly, Etsy is eventually going to figure in to my "empire" strategy and I want to become better acquainted with successful local Etsy artists. I also really wanted to meet Victoria, the prolific local blogger putting this group of designers together. Whatcha gonna do? In honor of the collective, I am featuring one of the local artists as my Etsy find of the week. This print is by Drywell. The artist behind the pig is Alyson Thomas, whose bio says she is an attorney turned artist with no formal training and a love of meat. She's my kind of gal.
Poppy Haus is becoming my place to curate, and as I've started to approach this more seriously, part of my daily routine is to troll Etsy for inspiration. I'm going to start doing a weekly feature on my favorite Etsy finds. As I'm such a sucker for nesting dolls, modern folk art and happy colors, for this first week I'm featuring this print titled Matryoshka Dolls by San Francisco based mixed media artist Melanie Mikecz of twoems.
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