Oh, David Weeks!

I like what you do. Again.

And again.

I still mourn the fact that I wasn't given the go ahead by Mr.Man to have one of your fab chandeliers. One would have been so perfect in my house. So perfect. Yet so out of reach. (And this one wasn't even around then, so it's probably, really, a good thing I didn't get Tri Boi, because by now I would have been crying over Kopra Burst)

Then there's this. I like this bench. I saw it on my FB page when you gave a shout out to Design Milk

It would have looked great in my house, too. But there's no decorating dollars for it. I did just revamp some dining room chairs doing bare wood and black, slick "leather" so I'll have to be satisfied with rockin' that vibe that way. (Not even close.)

Thank you for all that you do. You makes lots of cool shit that's fun to look at.

That's stunning stuff right up there. Just too bad I can't have it.

Auctioning with the pros

Just 20 short minutes from my Philly area home, there is what must be something of a Mecca for used, vintage, antique and MCM furniture dealers. I was turned on to this country block long strip with two auction houses and one vintage furniture store by Naomi @ Design Manifest. I’ve previewed and observed a couple of live auctions and was excited to be attending one again today. I did a quick run-through after spending 4 hours lurking on the fringe of the bidding crowd at the other one yesterday. Today’s trove, overall, seemed better to me and there were definitely more lots I could be enticed to spend my money on.

So, this morning I set off with Mr. Man, who had a day off of work, and was anticipating a fun-packed adventure at the auction. I will just say, it didn’t turn out to be as long a day as I had hoped and only slightly as much fun. Now, Mr. Man is a swell and usually game for new things, but he’s a guy who people like to talk to and it became quite a distraction. I was trying to pay attention to the fast-moving action, waiting for some Paul McCobb-esque etegeres to be on the block, while chatting up some local dealers and getting the scoop on furniture auctions. It finally became evident that the mister was annoyed and not enjoying the spectacle of an auction so we bugged out, but only after I watched the faux McCobbs fetch 450 bucks apiece!
 
There was a Pierre Cardin lamp I told my new friends I wanted to get in on (my dad repped some PC licensed home goods lines) and I watched it with one eye, while catching Man’s ‘get-me-the-fuck-out-of-here’ look out of the other eye. I snoozed and never even got my hand out of my pocket before it had sold for 240.

Of course, when we got home I waved a couple 1stdibs listings for the same lamp under Man’s nose and pointed out the 800 – 1800 dollar price tags.

Freakin’ non-bidding remorse – it’s real, people.

The best part of the day was running off some of my fave vintage dealers – Steven Sclaroff, Las Venus, ABC Home – and these dudes saying, oh yea, they’re one of my customers and even producing email proof on the smart phone. I was impressed and determined that I will go back at every opportunity. By myself or with a gal pal. It is for sure, my new high.

I’m warming up my right arm.

SOLD!

Auction on Sunday and I'm hoping to be the lucky bidder on something. It's loaded with every style imaginable, plenty of junk, and a few treasures. I checked this place out a couple of weeks ago and it's a riot! There's a few auctioneers going at once, starting outside, then on to the loading dock and inside - where the "best" stuff is.  It moves quickly - bidding on a piece can be over in 30 seconds and you can be left wondering what the hell happened! There's plenty of dealers there that know what's up. I'll have to figure it out if I'm gonna get me some of it.

randomness

bertoia chair, hand pump, lawn jockey, gnome, dr's scale

stacked high and moves fast

 

really, randomness

disco ball

stacked

i'd like to get this mirror

i think this is the good stuff

these chairs are nice

porter's chairs!

it's all a jumble

i wanna be there for those geometric print chairs

not for my house, but i'm liking this mirror

auction in the middle of nowhere

 

What about this lucky blogger?

So, there’s a girl in NYC with a blog, sketch42, and she goes out to LA and does Disneyland, maybe with the fam, and meets up with some other bloggers. One of the other bloggers is Emily Henderson who won Design Star and got her own show – Secrets of a Stylist (which I gotta say, I only watched twice and, for me, the format of the show stunk-up so bad it annoyed me). Emily’s a huge talent and seems to be a lovely gal and all, and it’d be cool to chat her up, but I wouldn’t be vibrating if we happened to hang out (just as, I wouldn’t cause a blip on her screen).

But for this lucky-ass blogger, that was just a walk in the park compared to the lush excitement of going to KWID and fuckin meeting KELLY WEARSTLER!! Are you kidding me? First of all, you’re being charged by the molecules in the studio of this brillz designer, but the next thing ya know, you’re standing cheek-to-cheek (more like cheek to forehead cuz this blogger’s maybe a little person) and hip-to-hip and having your picture taken with the goddess. And who cares if your pose is slightly awkward. You earned the right to be there by blogging like a champ and making cool shit. YOU ARE THERE.

Now that’s a day for you, folks. HELLS. YEA.

I’m never tired of zebra print

My favorite way to layer a zebra hide – genuine and over vintage kilim.
I really wanted zebra hide in my living room, but what I got was zebra print wool in my library because Mr. Man thought that look was more becoming. I was just becoming sad that, now, there will be no place in my house for the genuine thing. (You see a wee peek at the zebra in the library below) But life goes on.

And so does zebra print – on and on and on. And on one hand, I think it’s the most fab black and white pattern and works positively anywhere, and on the other hand, I don’t necessarily want it dotting about at Casa Blanca. But surely, one small bit of it in the master bedroom wouldn’t hurt, right?

I’m stripping this little mahogany bench, and I have this zebra print, and it looks good in my bedroom. The fabric has a slight texture and nice shading and was cheap – cheap. So why not?
Well, maybe because I have this piece

It’s a dark brown burn-out velvet and I thought it was pretty with the vintage scarf pillow for the guest room. In which, btw, will be going this stellar chair I found to re-do

In green. Kelly. Emerald. Grass. GREEN.
Prolly won’t even notice the one zebra print pillow on the bed with that big ass emerald green chair postin’ up in there.
Right?

My million dollar decorating

I missed Million Dollar Decorator's on Tuesday night. Not to worry - you can always catch the clever re-cap over at My Favorite and My Best. Which I did. And I saw a couple of familiar looking pieces.

There was the ubiquitous ram's head base desk

When I found mine at Red Herring in Tampa, I thought it looked more like a gazelle

And I only have the one, so I guess it's really just a half-a-million-dollar decoration.

Then, I spied some lamps (you gonna have to click to enlarge to see what i see)

Again, I only have one

 

Mine is waiting for it's shade. A black one. It's in a unfinished room so there's not much to see with it.
(Mr. Man found the lamp for me on ebay and submitted a 'best offer'! That man love him some ebay!)
Casa Blanca looking good.  Almost like a million dollars.

'Scape this table

Things move slowly at my house. On this project. With the decorating.

While I'm still focusing on furnishings, pillows and bed covers, there is no accessorizing going on. And there is no plan or any ideas about what to do about that. I have some things - don't remember what - packed away in a warehouse and I've bought a few pieces, impulsively, that I reckoned I would like, but there is no clear vision on that level of layering. So my coffee table sits clean. A blank slate.

I'm mostly drawn to found objects, usually old pieces, and finds that I can weave a story around, but I don't rule out anything. (Except silk flowers.) Texture might be most important to me, and then size. On the bottom shelf of the table, I'm filling an old wooden bowl with brass figures, door knockers, and even tiny, figural ashtrays - I have a crab and a fly. I'd like to fill the bowl up completely with a tangle of parts. I can see that outcome in detail.

The glass top however, is a different story. I have imagined a tray of some sort and I'd like a few bigger pieces rather than a bunch of little pieces. I think I already have enough organic, woody things. Maybe some bright colors. Or woven rattan. Or stone. Or a big piece of steel sculpture. I'm not opposed to some greenery. I have plenty gold leaf and marble all about. Here's some pictures of the space to think about.

I know there's other things to be finished here. I want a white Tizio lamp for between the blue chairs, I just got the fabric to have pillows made for them, and the little rattan chair is going to have a stack of little flat cushions as soon as I find some acceptable fabric. Oh, and I have been dreaming of a floor lamp for beside the sofa.

this one

And I totes am thinking about riding the Fiddle Leaf Ficus tree trend. One in a glossy white ceramic planter beside the window on the right.

Anything else?

A hoarder never sleeps

It's becoming old. The addition of new pieces to the hoard. And I know I'm not the only one.

I'm going to have to work on organizing some Bloggerpalooza Pop-Up shops to give my cache it's chance to shine.

Here's two new projects for me to consider and add to the trove

I could go a lot of different ways with this bench. One thought is to strip it, leave the wood natural and reupholster in the black "leather" I did my dining chairs in. That could be hawt! There are even those little brass finials!

Not tremendously exciting, but still, room for a cute idea. I just haven't had it yet.

This one's all for me and it has a twin. I've got one sitting on the kitchen counter right now, leaning against the glass back splash. The other is sitting on the blue lacquer dresser in a guest room, where I think this little fellow will be joining him. They can hang out together there. More than likely.

Happy Father's Day to my design junkie dad!

my dad - retired furniture manufacturing rep, Eric W.

I may owe my love of imaginary boyfriends Paul McCobb, Paul Evans and Milo Baughman to my daddy and design junkie, Eric W. He was a furniture rep practically his whole life - he just recently retired - and in the 1960s and 70s he repped the line "Directional", among many others. 

Directional is "one of the first manufacturers to embrace original furniture design utilizing a stable of designers that today represent a who's who of furniture design talent. Kip Stewart, Paul McCobb, Paul Evans, Tom Prangle, and Vladimir Kagan were early visionaries that called Directional home". via directionalinc.com

kipp stewart for directional

milo baughman for directional

milo baughman for directional

milo baughman for directional

paul evans for directional

paul evans for directional

paul evans for directional

paul mccobb for directional

paul mccobb for directional

vladamir kagan for directional

vladamir kagan for directional

The home I grew up in was a comfortable mash-up of antiques, Danish Modern, and contemporary designs.  As a kid I loved perusing Dad's tools-of-the-trade - swatches, and tear sheets, and thick binders with glossy photos. Twice yearly trips to the market in High Point always sounded so exotic. Besides those spring and fall trips there was the Atlanta market and a salesman's life on the road calling on his accounts. The names of his lines and of his accounts were so common in our household, that even though I don't have many specific memories of them, they are ingrained in my mind and the list sounds like a roll call of old family friends. My aunt still has a Directional burl wood dining room set - parsons style table and sideboard - in pristine vintage condition, that she ordered directly through Daddy in the 70s. My heart races every time I see it!

With fantastic and impeccable taste, Daddy has lived his life with a stylistic approach to everything! I'm just a chip off the ol' design junkie block and I love him and feel a wonderful connection to him through that.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! I love you,

Moose

top photo via little bro hastings, who spent the day with Dad today

all others via 1stdibs