At Home in Blue

Jamie nailed it when she got me this blue platter from Crate and Barrel. I thought it was vintage and nearly fell off my chair when she told me where it was from.

For Girls

Gift tags, or labels, or art. However you want to use them. Had to point them out.

Look! Progress!

I bought frames! Inspired by sfgirlbybay's redesign of her living room I embraced the Ikea Ribba frame and have placed them where I think I might want them. Now I just need to find what goes inside (oh and after months of thinking I would make the deer into a pillow, I followed my mom's advice and framed it. She was right, it is better framed).

Speaking of bags...

Take a look at what's in Joy's bag from Oh Joy!. Nice presentation!
(There is so much great stuff on her blog, I might wait until you have time to thoroughly explore it before you click the link!)

Yellow!

The color choices of home owners have been a hot topic recently starting here and moving on to here. It reminded me of all the yellow I've seen in my neighborhood. It looks thoroughly modern and I wonder how much of it was inspired by the blueprint article on The Stepped-Up Stoop since I know the top house (for lease everyone!) got painted last month.

Thank you Monsieur Starck

Philippe Stark has had a huge impact on modern design, creating everything from restaurant interiors to toilet brushes to helicopters and always in a way that makes you rethink what you thought you knew about restaurant interiors, toilet brushes, and helicopters. Philippe Starck is also a Frenchman, and I thank France for him. Here is a brief recap of some of the design he has graced us with. I say, merci:

Oooooh: Home things from Peek Keep

Thanks to Sunset Magazine for the Peek Keep tip. Peak Keep is a great online store that carries scandinavian design and lots of Lotta Jansdotter!

I LOVE these Botanical Etched Glasses--especially the fern:

A set of 6 juice glasses is $72. You can also use them as votives for another outdoor lighting idea!

These Snow and Graham Candles are on sale too for $20. I would order them in lily of the valley.

Home Away From Home: Hotel Ostel

So I think I'm on a vacation kick, I can't help myself thinking about unique spots to visit (based entirely on what hotel I would be staying in and the design of that hotel). So today's trip is the Hotel Ostel in (the former) East Berlin.

"Would you like an affordable and somewhat different place to stay in the heart of Berlin? Travel with us back to the former East Germany, the GDR, …starting with the original GDR furniture to a city tour in a Trabant vehicle."

Wow, so the Ostel is a play on the german word for east: 'ost' and the hotel seeks to recreate the accomodations of East Berlin in the '70's. This is the best way to learn history. Check it out:







Prices range from 9-59 euros (range is from a shared bunkbed room to a private double room). click here to book a room.

Home Away From Home: Ace Hotel

I think I need to plan a trip up to Portland or Seattle so that I can check out one of the Ace Hotels for myself. Or I need to build one in LA.

Billed as 'How you want to travel- simple, stylish, and not too expensive.' Amen.

"We offer all the comfort of a business class hotel without the soul-killing blandness of a faceless chain or last year’s design school fads. The Ace is a small, intimate hotel that lets you feel like you are 'somewhere' not just 'anywhere.'"

I'd love to just spend the whole day reading in one of these beds, memorizing all the design tips I will apply to my own home...













A review from Wallpaper talks about owner and developer Alexander Calder's vision:

Seattle native Alex Calderwood may well be a 21st century Conrad Hilton in the making. It doesn't surprise us in the least that young Calderwood decided to launch Ace Hotel after recognizing there was an enormous gap in the market for boutique yet basic hotels. Having already found success with his Rudy's Barbershop chain and Sweet Mother Record label(collaborators on the forthcoming Wallpaper CD), Ace Hotel is a mega-chain waiting to happen.

See their myspace page

Home is Giving

I have lovely memories of my gramma teaching me the proper way to wrap a gift. Tight corners, minimal tape. I still love the ritual of wrapping presents. Here are some wrapping papers from Martha that I have my eye on for summer gifting ($5.99 for 2 sheets of 24"x36"):

Thinking about...Cake Stands

I like to use cake stands in everyday life, not just for special occasions. Case in point, I leave my favorite Martha stand on the dining room table all the time to showcase fruit, doughnuts, mail, salt and peppper, condiments, flowers, potted plants, photographs, quiches, vegetable platters, candles, the list goes on.

So I've started thinking about expanding my collection of stands and these have me swooning:

So simple, so white, so classic (from Surfas in Culver City):



From Pottery Barn--The Great White Cake Stand:


The Turned Wood Stand (I love the shape of the glass covers and I love the cheese display):


I also noticed that the all things white are now black trend has extended to cake stands: Black Lace from MOMA:


The Licorice cakestand from :
Bliss Home:



For something with a more vintage vibe there's the Victorian Pattern Glass Store with these amazing stands to offer:






Now that I'm amped on more stands I found that Real Simple has some great ideas for other cake stand uses.