decorating with signs

While I've been too timid to try anything like this in my own home, I am very into the idea of using old signs from businesses to decorate a large wall. Here are some that I've seen recently that I'd love to use in my own home. What do you think? Do they take away too much attention from the rest of the room?

vintage seamstress shop signs from willow tree antiques

the pines sign from lost & found

vintage industrial offence sign from epoch co.

vintage industrial electric fence sign from aurora mills

how to: cooling rack memo board

In an effort to appear more grown-up, I decided a while back that I wanted to take everything off of my fridge and have it be totally clutter free. However, I still needed a place to put important reminders and other randoms that had no other home.

So I created this little memo board out of two cooling racks and a cork board. There are probably many more attractive ways to hang them, but I just pounded two nails into the wall at a downward angle and used the little feet of the cooling racks to hang them. Since the nails are the same color as the racks, I think it looks fine.

Originally I was just going to do three cooling racks, vertically stacked on top of each other, but I found this cork board while I was grocery shopping one day and thought that it was pretty much the perfect size for this project. All together, the project cost about 5 dollars, 99 cents for each of the cooling racks from the Salvation Army, and 3 dollars for the cork board.

I do not actually think that this makes me look any more grown-up (note the Paul Frank mood chart), but I do enjoy how the fridge looks now.

before and after: simple redesign

before & after photos courtesy of Julie over at Simple Redesign

As soon as I moved into my new apartment, I began obsessively looking at craigslist furniture listings. While I have lived on my own for many years, it has always been in a fairly tiny space. Now I had two bedrooms and a living room to fill! While I was looking for the essentials, I came across this little cabinet that I just could not live without. I emailed the seller literally two minutes after she had posted it and went to pick it up the next morning.

Now that I'm familiar with Julie's work, it is no surprise to me that this cabinet was even better in person. Describing herself as an "obsessive DIYer," Julie takes old pieces and makes them both modern and beautiful. I'm not sure how she always finds a way to stay true to the pieces' original character, but I envy her eye for design. You can check out all of her past and present projects, along with little DIY tips over at her blog, Simple Redesign.

When I brought this piece home, I had no real plan for what I wanted to use it as, so I ended up using it as my entryway piece. Together with a vintage mirror I got from my grandmother, I have a little place to check my hair on the way out and a place to put my keys when I come in. And what do I store inside of it? Surprise, it's a record cabinet!

soap flakes

A few years ago, I got my grandfather a pair of dentures made out of soap for his birthday. I know that sounds strange but for our family it has always been a running gag that my grandfather has no teeth, and every couple of years I like to remind him. That soap led me to browsing many hand-made and organic soaps that were really appealing, except for one problem: I have never been a fan of bar soap. They are slippery and unruly and even though they are designed to clean, I always feel like they are dirty. Once they get wet they turn into an uncontrollable blob that collects dust and makes a mess of any soap dish. And while liquid soap is great, it has to be packaged in plastic, which can be refilled but in reality is often trashed. It is also extremely diluted, meaning we're transporting excess water around instead of just the necessary ingredients. 

Nathalie Stämpfli has created a solution that I am rather fond of. It turns bars of soap into little flakes that quickly dissolve in water. On top of that, the design looks great and maintains everything we love about a liquid soap pump. 

mug shot

1. coffee mug nuff said at atlas past on etsy 2. vintage striped cup with saucer at the cupcake kid on etsy 3. wickford sea cliffs strip mug at kate spade 4. spare stripe mug at terrain 5. vintage bob van allen for mikasa stone china mugs at bright wall vintage on etsy 6. old fashioned bicycle coffee mug at atlas past on etsy

dino lamp: deger cengiz

dino lamp at VOOS

I always looked forward to going back to school, just so I would have an excuse to buy school supplies. Today, this leaves me with an excessive amount of random pencils, highlighters, and at least 10 pairs of scissors.

Anything that helps me become more organized, especially when it comes to all of those office supplies, is welcome at my house. It also doesn't hurt that the design of these LED lamps is modern, yet playful, and extremely multi-purpose.

I also love the idea of using it as a planter. 

herrwolke: dreidimensionale konzepte*

more wiederverwertung (recycling) here

One of the most compelling aspects of art and design is that you can find inspiration from a piece regardless of what language you find when you go to the website describing it. In so many ways, the pieces speak for themselves.

Although I do not speak German, the work that can be found at herrwolke's website tells a story of extremely thoughtful design. Their pieces not only focus on the uniqueness that comes from using recycled materials, but also the ways in which users engage with the pieces, and how that modifies each item.

As their website indicates, their concepts are three-dimensional: changing upon user interaction and adapting to the environment.



*three-dimensional concepts

featured: cynthia vardhan ceramics on etsy

small black and red dish

Ceramics have never really been an interest of mine, but I've realized that's because I've been looking in the wrong places. Growing up, the only ceramics I ever saw were flowery bowls and paisley patterned platters. Recently, however, I've been exploring the more modern side of pottery.

Cynthia Vardhan's ceramics are just that. I love the way that the patterns are almost so perfect that they seem mass produced and yet they have that handmade quality that makes each piece refreshingly unique. In so many ways they seem to blur the line between classic ideals and more modern aesthetics.

black and white bud vase

thundercloud vase

egg egg holder

My love for this egg holder comes with a story. When I was in high school, I brought two hard boiled eggs to lunch everyday, in a brown paper lunch bag. One day when I sat down at the lunch table, I discovered only one egg and an egg-sized hole at the bottom of the bag. While I wasn't particularly upset about only having one egg in my lunch, I was a little bit concerned about where the egg had gone off to. When I got back to my locker, the egg was smashed into the carpet so thoroughly that you couldn't even tell what it had once been. Unless you were one of my friends, who got endless enjoyment out of it.

egg egg holder at the A + R Store

Anyway, I ended up having to put the eggs in a plastic lunch bag so that any moisture they gave off didn't help them escape the paper bag again. This egg egg holder, which can by found at the A + R Store, definitely would have saved a lot of plastic while looking awesome at the same time.

ice cream lamp

ice cream lamp at fredflare

I've had my eye on this giant ice cream lamp for I don't know how many years now. I've seen a few different variations of the idea but unlike some of the overly kitschy ones, I imagine that the standard vanilla gives of a warm light that would help any room feel cozy.

Anyway, I think this would be great in a way that only an over-sized frozen treat could manage.

extra virgin olive oil

Antico Frantoio Muraglia 'Intenso' Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you couldn't already tell from my previous posts and obvious obsession with housewares, I really enjoy cooking. Olive oil is one of the ingredients that I use daily and therefore it deserves to be in a gorgeous container, like this one from Dean & Deluca. Not only is the olive oil of the highest quality, but the traditional Puglian jar that it comes in would look great on any counter top. I'd even look forward to all of the ways I could reuse it once the olive oil is gone. 

milk bottle measuring cups

a slight hint of color

milk bottle measuring cups from Anthropologie

salt & pepper shakers

1. stripe salt & pepper from Jonathan Adler. 2. salt and pepper shakers - spheres - dalmatian blue spots from RouDesigns 3. salt and pepper shakers - babushka style from ArtMind. 4. salt & pepper bots at Perpetual Kid. 5. vintage striped salt and pepper shakers from The Darling Brigade. 6. rubik's cruet - salt and pepper mill at uncommongoods.