My Happy Place

From the outside, our house looks smallish, and sort of unassuming. We tromp up and down the front porch, stuff falling out of backpacks, laughing, bickering, shuffling to and from the car. This is what it's like from the outside. When you walk through the front door you find yourself in a light-filled space, dotted with big green plants, design books, and little objects, both found and made, placed willy-nilly on the built-ins and the coffee table. This is my space. It's where my most cherished possession, my grandparent's dining room table, resides and it's where I write and photograph for this blog.  Beyond that is our home...the kitchen, the family room, the spill of toys and constant chatter; a Swedish inspired happy explosion. I love both spaces, each is an expression of my style, and while they work together, they are not the same. I feel lucky to have a quiet retreat in my own home. 
  

With this idea of retreat, and rooms of comfort and meaning, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite resources for vintage accessories. Deluxe is a small, beautifully curated collection from Southern California based interior designer, Becky Golino. She has recently relaunched her online shop with some amazing finds like mid century wall sculpture, rattan accents, lighting, and brass birds.  I'm gaga over the vintage patina on the bird candelabra that made it's way to my home last week. I think a room is so much more special when it has a few objects of meaning that can't be found in a catalog. Some of my favorite things are from small shops, flea markets, and thrift stores. It's something I need to remind myself of whenever I get restless for new things.

On that note, I'll leave you with Becky's dreamy, well-put description of her shop, which I hope you'll check out soon. Just promise me you won't buy all the birds. I'm obsessed...

I have certain possessions, my treasures, that make me happy whenever I look at them. They have various origins, but what they have in common is uniqueness, beauty and the ability to evoke a sense of delight. Deluxe provides a mix of vintage and new home furnishings and accessories, curated with an eye for these qualities. I search far and wide for hidden gems, and share my best finds with the world. I'd like Deluxe to be your first stop when shopping for something extra special to make your home your happy place. www.deluxe-furnishings.com

Cool For All

I have a confession to make. I kind of like the housewares and styling at The Land Of Nod more than I like what they have to offer at their grown-up store Crate and Barrel, or even their hipster brand CB2.  Something about having kids has given me this new perspective on design.  Scattered through out my own home you'll find little plastic figurines, tiny versions of big people furniture, happy- graphic textiles and colorful print art.  Part of being a young family means that toys might be found in the pantry, books will be strewn about the floor for belly reading, and precious pieces of construction paper art may be taped to the wall willy-nilly. I like to live this way. So when the Land of Nod catalog arrives, I give it as much attention as I might a new issue of Dwell, or a design book. Right now I'm quite enjoying their new partnership with regional artists, especially because one of them lives right here in my small town of Petaluma.

I've featured a picture of Jess Brown dolls before.  I've never met her, but I've visited her shop Maude here in town and it transports you to another time, when baby clothes were delicate and leather goods weren't made in a factory.  My friend Amy keeps one these dolls as a piece of art on her wall. Like many of the wares found at The Land of Nod, these dolls are kind of ageless.

 

Here are some of my favorites available right now, starting with these polka dot decals.  I love the idea of slapping them on an entryway wall to draw attention to a small space (they come in gold too!).  The best part, you can change your mind and just remove them.  They cost far less than wallpaper, and they take far less time to apply than stenciling.  I'm lazy like that. Another thought, what about keeping the walls white and painting the ceiling a color?  Little white polka dots would kind of make it.

Now this is a wall clock.  I kind of have to have it.  I would put it over the sink on our kitchen wall and stare at it while I did the dishes.  Something about it reads Bavarian forest or a little Scandinavian treasure. Either way, I'm in love.

I like a good pop of color. I'd stick this small scale lamp on the built-in book shelves in our family room.  I love the exposed cord wound around like so in the glass ball. It's fun, but not too childish.

I loved watching movies from inside a fort when I was little, and I think this happy, striped teepee would make for a perfect perch.  The versatile print would look great in a neutral space, spruced up with graphic throw pillows. It would add dimension too. You could put it in your formal living room to happy it up a bit.  I stash extra pillows and blankets in our little teepee.

This is probably my favorite piece of furniture in the catalog. The hairpin legs on the Ansel play table are so cool. It would be way too tall for a traditional coffee table, but here's the thing, if you placed it in front of a leggy sofa in a small house, you could pop little backless stools like these beneath to create a play surface, as well as a casual dining space. We all eat in front of the television sometimes. It would also make a beautiful window table for plants and art books after it's stint as a play table.

And this just makes me happy...but it probably belongs in a playroom.

This was not a sponsored post, but The Land of Nod is one of my sponsors, so if you do happen to pop over from my site to theirs and pick something up for your house, you will be supporting Poppy Haus. 

xo, Heather

Home At Last

Zara Home finally launches in the US today. Judging by the plaid and Union Jack in this preview, I'll be a fan... Ready steady shop! 
 

Antique Roadshow

I spent most of Friday and this weekend solo parenting, finishing up our bathroom, carting kids around to play dates and birthday parties. Fortunately one of those chores landed me in Sebastopol kid-free for 2 hours. I spent my time driving up and down the Gravenstein Hwy exploring the myriad of antique and vintage furnishing shops on the south side of town. I'd noticed them on our way to Sunday Farmer's market, lining the road, dotted in between small farms and hippie coffee shops, but antiquing is considered the most boring of all activities by my children, so this was my very first visit.

I made a quick stop in town to Retrospect, a vintage modern furnishing shop.  Artist in residence/owner, Gregory Odle has a beautiful collection of mid century and large canvas paintings.  The space is quite small, so selection is somewhat limited, but a treasure trove for the mid century enthusiast. 104 Petaluma Avenue. 707-291-7058 

I began my driving tour at Trader Bucks, an antique shop with a bit of a Grandpa's garage feel to it.  I spotted a leather sling chair, slat bench table and some interesting art.  Shop here for vintage flags, mismatched kitchen chairs and curiosity pieces like mounted antlers.1140 Gravenstein Hwy So. (707) 829-7722

My next stop was at Windmill Antiques.  This place had a range of early 20th century furniture, collectibles, and depression era housewares.  I did find a pretty mint colored typewriter, beautiful mixing bowl sets and a blue velvet occasional chair.  The highlight of this pop in was meeting Billie, the owner.  She was so chatty and welcoming. 2830 Gravenstein HWY So. 707-823-7945 

Last stop, and my favorite find, was FFT Antiques. The large space is curated into vignettes by era. I found several mid century pieces I would LOVE to bring home. They had a vast selection of art, tchotches, lighting, and furniture. Shop for good: Proceeds benefit FOOD FOR THOUGHT, the Sonoma County AIDS foodbank. 2701 Gravenstein HWY So. (707)823-3101   

 

 

The Shops

Yesterday, I whipped up some blueberry pancakes, got them on the table and ran out the door to check out The Shops at Target, which debuted an offering from one of my favorites, the Curiosity Shoppe.  For me this stuff is way more exciting than Missoni; I've always had reservations about the quality of the designer clothing for Target. But yesterday I stood, apologetically, with a small group of like minded gals waiting for the boxes of the Curiosity Shoppe to be unpacked. My favorite things are these pretty party props ($5) with glasses, lips and mustaches, a pair of wooden arrow salad spoons, and this set of stamps in fonts looking a lot like Alexander Girard, Eames, and helvetica, something you'd never be able to cobble together on your own, especially for $10. 

Also in The Shops is a housewares collection from Patch NYC.  If you like vintage looking forest creatures, this is for you.  I snagged this deer cookie jar in a pretty mushroom color for $29.

Go West

There are some great neutral pieces now on sale at West Elm. I like to use neutrals with a bit of an organic, apothecary feel to fill out a room without adding too much of a statement. I spotted this pillow cover in the current edition of Martha Stewart Living and scooped up a couple today.

1.Knotted Felt Pillow Cover $29.99, 2. Sillhouette Table $99.99, 3. Home Botanical Vase $9.99, 4. Kids Scoop Back Chair $29.99, 5. Tall Driftwood Tablelamp $134.99

The Source

I finally stopped by Urban Home, a warehouse style mid century modern focused consignment store in Berkeley.  We had a leather chair left over from garage sale that was too valuable to donate, but couldn't stick around for a craiglist sale. This is the place to go for vintage lamps, dining tables and accent chairs by Knoll, Eames and Noguchi, all in very good condition. They also had an art room with paintings and wall sculpture by C. Jere which I will be visiting after we make our move next week.  Bay Area readers, this is a must visit.

Scavenger Hunt

Did you know that Apartment Therapy has a classifieds section within their Marketplace where you can find local hidden treasures like Eames chairs, Room & Board sofas and things that you didn't even know you wanted until now, like this Scandinavian planter?

San Francisco's offering isn't very robust, but New York and LA have a lot to offer, and other regional locations like Madison, Portland and Chicago do not disappoint.  Check it out before weeding through the mislabeled hodgepodge on craigslist.  

 

The Weekender

CB2 has been hosting DIY Saturdays at select stores for the past few weeks. This free event, open to the public (RSVP) features DIY's for container gardens, design projects, and drinks + tastings. I am bringing along a friend to the Berkeley store.  We plan to hit up Tacubaya (it's Cinco de Mayo after all) and I'll hop across the street to the Crate and Barrel Outlet.  That place is a treasure trove of castoff floor samples, discontinued items and Marimekko fabric by the yard. 

On Sunday, on the other side of the bay in Hayes Valley, I'm hoping to check out the carefully curated Urban Air Market.  I used to participate in a version of this event back when I was with Jasper Hearts Wren. Tents line the square and surrounding alleys filled with regional independent designers, selling their work. 11am-6pm. While I'm there, I'm getting a scoop of Smitten ice cream!

Cheap Thrills

From top left: colored pencils with sharpener lid, 3 minute timer, flat folding straw hat, French pencil case, Japanese eraser and capped wood pencils, neutral folding reusable bag (recycled).  Pictured below: toy trumpet, library bookends, clear plastic umbrella.

I am not really a dollar store kind of person.  I am however, a Japanese dollar store kind of person.  Here in the Bay Area we have a local chain called Ichiban Kan.  It was recommended to me a few years ago by a couple of girls in the know, so I gave it a shot.  Over time I've picked up some great things like brightly colored plastic elephant watering cans for the bathtub, fun notebooks, art supplies and adorable chopsticks. I took Wylie on little adventure today which included a trip to Ichiban Kan in El Cerrito.  He got a toy trumpet. I got a clear plastic umbrella and some teal library style bookends as well as all the fabulous loot above for under $25.  My favorite find was the hour glass for a stylish "time out". http://www.ichibankanusa.com/