I spied this lovely 1920s French ice box. I love the clean lines, the white chrome! (via ebay).
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From the monthly archives:
January 2008
Check out these funky vintage fruit boxes. I want them! These would be such nice boxes to keep spices/baking stuff in.
via ebay
via ebay
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I’m in love this space. Don’t you want to move in? The light, the photo wall, the banquet, light in the kitchen. A perfect comfortable solution for small space living too. More here.
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A friend sent me these images, thinking I might be inspired by the sheer creativity and vitality of them and she was right. A dress from balloons — how wonderful and how absurd. I love the colors and the just total joy of this model. And her head-dress. More images after the jump.
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I stumbled on this image herzensart‘s Flickr. Beautiful, right? It’s the 1890s home of Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury (who has a beautiful name to match her beautiful home). Enjoy!
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I had a delicious afternoon — a pedicure with M. (beyond long overdue), followed by tea and cupcakes at a bakery, the Amai Tea and Bake House, M. had found. M. has a way of finding the perfect places and then sharing them. It is a gift, this ability.
As a working woman in NYC, I eat a lot of cupcakes — on birthdays, at wedding and baby showers, on the good days, on the bad days — someone is always walking by my office with cupcakes from a new bakery. I’ve tried them all: babycakes, sage, crumbs, magnolia, buttercup, sugar sweet sunshine, out of the kitchen. I have to say the Amai chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting was the best cupcake I’ve ever had. While cupcakes are a subjective pleasure, I judge mine on three criteria: 1) “cakiness” of the cake, 2) the quality of the frosting, 3) the ratio of said cake to said frosting. If any of these three are out of balance, I won’t rave about it.
This one had perfect frosting — creamy, full of flavor, not too sweet. And, my god, it was peanut butter frosting. Think about that. The cake was chocolaty and moist, — delicious cake in its own right. Finally, the ratio of frosting to cake was perfect. I didn’t run out of either.
The shop, Amai Tea and Bake House, is both cozy and elegant — I loved the pink Cole and Son “woods” wallpaper in the back nook, and the grey/brown of the walls.
The shop is owned by Kelli, of the blog Lovescool fame. I hadn’t ever read her blog until eating her cupcakes, but, I think you’ll enjoy both. For those of you in NYC, head to 16th and 3rd. For those of you elsewhere, her online shop is here.
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Catch more here.
PS… I finished my papers! Whoo-hoo. Boy, have I got some blog reading to catch up on!
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I’m writing, writing, writing papers this weekend, trying to wrap up last term before Spring term starts on the 22nd. Some of you have asked me to write more about what I’m studying in my program (I’m getting a Masters in the History of Decorative Arts and Design) and I promise that part of being a full time student is going to be writing more here about what I’m learning. Here’s a tiny look.
I came across this image while researching the rediscovery of French furniture/style in New York City in the 1920s (think robber barons, sexy interior designers and buying trips to France, among other things). This interior is “in the French style” — I love the detailing and the wallpaper, actually. The whole effect is a little bit cluttered, but still elegant.
A line in a 1928 article from the trade magazine “Good Furniture” caught my eye — the magazine pronounces that “Design is spreading its joyous mantel wider every day.” It’s a beautiful phrase and description of the power and importance of design. While the article was written 80 years ago I think that one might read that line in a blog some place today and it wouldn’t seem out of place — that there is this idea out there that our interest and “craze” for design is a new thing (that happened when Martha Steward did a line for Kmart or Target hooked up with Isaac Mizrahi). But, clearly not. Interesting, right?
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What is it about vintage stamps? and the number eight? I love the tiny images, so colorful, such a little bit of color and charm fulfilling a mundane task. I bought these late last night on ebay (someone stop me!) and can’t wait to frame them up. I’m loving the grey of the second set of stamps (it would be a perfect color for reupholstering the armchair). Have a good weekend, Abbey
PS for anyone looking to buy vintage stamps: a stamp collector told me that Ebay really isn’t the best place to buy them. He says they are generally overpriced and the best thing to do is to head to a local stamp store (look in your yellowpages). Here in NYC, I’ve been meaning to check out Champion Stamp, which is supposed to be one of the best. Of course, I like to browse on ebay for inspiration (and late at night, when my will is weak, I clearly buy as well).
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I stumbled across these antique miniature spanish shrines on the Horchow website (Horchow previously being notable for sending me the most number of marketing email-spam of any company, ever). However, once I went to the site I understood how they can have so many sales and thus the need to send me so many emails — their prices are high ($1600 for the top shrine). Leaving pricing and questionable e-marketing choices behind, these are just lovely.
I like to have a place to keep the messy detritus of life, a place to keep things that remind me of people I love, or places I’ve been or of my childhood. One place is key because I’m not sure I want tidbits of the past EVERYWHERE in my present life.
Here is a shot of my treasure chest — note that we have lots of picture hanging yet to do which is why that painting (an ebay find) is just sitting there. Inside my chest is a clock my father gave me when I turned 11 (it made me feel so adult), a fan from our honeymoon in Paris (which I used on the hottest day of the heat wave, as we sat under a leafy tree in a green green French garden), a tiny silver tray of my great grandmother’s (that makes me feel connected to her elegance), some silly gifts (band aids and plastic chickens) from when Tim and I were first dating. Its a bit of jumble, yes, but then again, so is life, right?
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One last treat before bed: my sister (who rocks my world) found this fabric at RepoDepot. I love that leopard! So regal. I bet that leopards are the next big design craze. This fabric would make great throw pillows too.
My sister just moved into a new apartment (much closer to me!) on the UWS and bought this bed at IKEA.
and is PAINTING her apartment all sorts of beautiful colors which impresses me no end. I’ve actually never had the urge to paint my space (which I’m sort of embarrassed to admit). Anyway, I’m thinking that I’ll be blogging her space as soon as I can get myself over there and show you the results.
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I had some kind of mid winter blues today. How much do you wish it was June with warm, golden sunlight? I remember June as a kid, lying in the grass and feeling the earth beneath me, warm and full of life. These two colorful images from the latest issue of Dwell and just make me happy — not as happy as a day in June would make me — but good enough for tonight. The lamp is designed by Fredrik Mattson and the “shipping container” tiles are by Jason Miller Studio.
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I’m not a huge new year’s resolutions person, but I do like to have a few goals for the coming year. One of mine, below the inevitable personal goals (be kinder, floss more) is to reupholster our incredibly comfortable and increasing ratty armchair. I love this charcoal faux bois fabric (pictured on the headboards above (via the always inspiring Domino galleries). The fabric is from Schumacher “Modern Moiré.” Tim isn’t crazy about faux bois and dismisses it as a fad, but I loved faux bois before it was on every decorator’s hit list and I’ll love it when it goes out of vouge, so I’m more open minded. Forgetting the actual print, I just really like the charcoal — its warm, neutral and I think it would look great next to the blue velvet couch.
Can’t you see the charcoal here? If not the charcoal then, what about a light lavender or a gray? What do you think?
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