A Warm & Cozy Event - DWR

Who cares if it's summer? Design Within Reach is hosting what looks like a really cool evening of vintage fashion next Thursday evening, August 9. Ohio Knitting Mills is a Brooklyn-based shop that carries unique virgin, vintage knitwear made from 1947-74. Made at their historic Cleveland, Ohio mill, this is a rare vintage collection of never worn and one-of-a-kind (and really cute!) sweaters, which now have become fashion design artifacts. The exhibit will be shown for the very first time in the Bay Area at the Fillmore Street Design Within Reach. The sweaters look very Urban Outfitters to me, and should be fun to view up close.






Design Within Reach is hosting a preview reception, followed by a three-day trunk show. OKM provides "an authentic tradition of hard-working Midwestern American honest craftsmanship," and their pieces are a great complement to the mid-century modern classics of DWR. Ohio Knitting Mills head, Steven Tatar will be on hand to answer any questions. The sweaters look amazing - could one just throw one over the back of a chair permanently?

Refreshments will be served during the preview reception, including Trumer Pils beer. Hope to see you there!

RSVP by August 7.

Ohio Knitting Mills Trunk Show
Thursday, August 9, 6-8pm, Preview Party
Friday-Sunday, August 10-12, ongoing event


And should you live in Brooklyn, you're lucky enough to be able to visit Ohio Knitting Mills' store.

Two Quick Pix.

Some of you had been wondering where poor Rico got to, and oh you never need fear, he is always here, above the armoire, gazing lovingly at the new Emma Lou. Also, here's a quick snap of the new dinner room chairs. Better pix to come!

Well, well, the talented Miss Wells!

I spent this Saturday having one of those good old, hanging about the city, urban-adventure, girly days with a new friend of mine, and very talented illustrator Leigh Wells (another thing I love about blogging - we met through sfgirlbybay). Our good intentions were to drop some money at the Modern Economy sample sale at Fort Mason, but holy cow - it was a mob scene! Lines wrapped around the inside perimeter of the gallery space, and there was some very cute stuff on sale, so I'm guessing they had an extremely successful day.


Since the sale lines were so long, we opted for food and headed over to the Polk Street Boulangerie for some lattes and the best french toast, this side of France. I-kid-you-not. Afterwards, Leigh was kind enough to share her art studio with me, the place she creates the amazing illustration work she does, for the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, Chronicle Books and too many ad agencies to count. These two beautiful images are illustrations from Leigh .




One big white wall in the studio is decorated very simply, and has really cool color aesthetic - there's something very soothing about it. It's a big letter 'L' for you know what, and framed book cover (which Leigh modeled one of her best 'assets' for) by another incredibly talented artist, Ruth Marten.

I loved seeing all Leigh's sketches and messy brushes, covered with ink and paint. It even inspired me to paint something other than my walls this weekend, and I got out my long-closeted paints and canvases and had some fun.

Her space was filled with light and so much inspiration. Leigh also creates some amazing fine art drawings, which I hope we see more of. I love these! She has lots of work produced, and hopes to have a site of them up by the end of the year.



In another bit of creative genius, Leigh took these old musical instrument templates (like for creating a violin!) and mounted them to another wall of her studio, creating a beautiful wooden, almost Mosaic effect with the templates. I never would have thought of this, and it looked so cool.

Thanks so much for the tour, Leigh and all the inspiration!

Music to inspire.

The Designer's Mixed Tape invited designers all over the world

to share with us their musical taste. Unique, brilliant and inspiring.

So Groovy...

I love these prints of Steven Harrington's. So mod.
You can order them in his You & I online shop. Right on.

Swingin' New Hammock.

I just want to hang one of these from my ceiling and sleep and read and daydream all the live long day. Le Beanock is a modern twist on the classic beanbag/hammock designed by UK fashion model to expert sailmaker to qualified welder, Tracie Herrtage. Made of sturdy sailcloth, it can hang from any height and at any angle and comes to two generous sizes at is priced at $500 - $1,000.

Photo Fabulous at ATSF.

I love how photographs of family, friends and special places add a really personal and sentimental touch to your home. With that in mind, Apartment Therapy SF has teamed up with Northern California photographer Nancy Nguyen-Wong to give away a $500 gift certificate that can be applied towards a photo session and prints/products with her studio bug & bean.

Click here to read more and enter the contest. All you need to do is leave ATSF a comment by Thursday 8/2, letting them know: What's your favorite photo in your home and why?

Nancy's photos capture natural light beautifully, as well as a very candid look, resulting in really beautiful photographs. bug & bean is a small children's photography and design studio based in Elk Grove and San Jose, California. bug & bean also offers on location photography services and custom birth announcements to the Sacramento and San Francisco Greater Bay Area.

Photos by Nancy Nguyen-Wong.

Thank my lucky stars!

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to Tara, a long-time sfgirlbybay reader. She emailed me with a link to a craigslist posting she noticed this afternoon. I replied to the post...I waited, thinking he'll never call, he was probably inundated with calls! But he did call, less than a half hour later! So I jumped in the car and headed out to the foggy inner sunset to pick up my four 1960's star-based Burke Tulip chairs and tulip-based dining table - all for $100! I loaded them up Sanford & Son style in the convertible bug, and proudly drove home, smiling at all who met my eye, giving them the "oh yes, people, this was a score!!!" look. Sorry...don't mean to be boastful, but...wooohooo! I just feel really lucky today. The chairs will go around the farm house table, and the tulip-based table - I may use it for a funky desk/work table.

Thank you, thank you Tara. I have written to her, asking how I can possibly pay it forward. I really love moments like this. This is what being a design junkie and have such a great community of fellow junkies is all about. Thanks to everyone who's been on the lookout for me.

Good Eye, Indeed.

Good Eye is a glorious, bright yellow (submarine?) mid-century modern furniture shop in the Washington, D.C. area. What's great for us non-Washingtonians is that they also have an amazing selection of online vintage shopping, with 15 new room vignette photos of their furniture inventory to help you visualize your purchases in a in-situ room setting, and various affordable shipping options to help you get your finds home. I think their prices are really quite reasonable, as well.



Beautiful, Danish Tambour Door teak credenzas, funky rat-pack looking cocktail bars, modern floor lamps and lovely Hans Wegnner Rockers. They also have quite a few types of these unusual mid-century modern American of Martinsville Benches, with glass door or open display cabinets attached. What a cool look.





They also have an eBay Store and if you're in the D.C. area, apparently they're having their big summer clearance sale. Drop by the store this weekend to take advantage of some incredible bargains. Go on, hurry. Beat George W. & Laura to the good stuff. Can't you just see this stuff in the Oval Office? Worlds would collide and peace could finally reign in the zen-like, pure design aesthetic. Foreigners would marvel at our taste, rather than cringe at the gilded and the fluffed. And all would be happy in the land again.

Oh, and happy, happy Friday.

This week's beautiful color palette and inspiration courtesy of Kamela Cody. Let's be creative out there this weekend.

Midwest Modern.

Amy Butler's Midwest Modern, her latest book, is due out in October. But you can pre-order it now. I'm a huge fan of Amy's previous books - her wonderful collaboration with her husband, photographer David Butler on Found Style - it's a book I peruse over and over for inspiration. And her latest how-to-book, In Stitches, with easy-to-follow instructions and beautiful photographs can help even sewing-challenged me learn to whip up something stylish. I just got a batch of new Amy fabrics and I'm excited to try out a few of her patterns. I really want to make the Gum Drop Pillows...but, we'll see!


Amy's Midwest Modern is a home and lifestyle decor book with pages of cools ideas to inspire your creativity, and spark ideas about how to mix and match your home, garden, and even wardrobe, with vintage pieces with a modern twist. It's also loaded with beautiful photography that her equally talented husband, David, featuring all of her fabric collections, studio and home.

Pillow Talk.

Can we talk? I am in love with a pillow. As sad as that might seem (where is that guy, anyway?), this pillow arrived in the mail today and went way beyond my excited expectations. Not only was it sewn perfectly, with a lovely covered, tufted button, the vintage bark cloth fabric was so clean and fresh and super soft it looked brand new! I love the pattern, the colors...I know, I'm freakin' gushing over a pillow. But it is perfect.




It's another etsy find from Capnap Cottage. A CPA, by trade (she must be just wicked with the numbers), Capnap Cottage is the creation of a Georgia girl with a fondness for 1940's vintage barkcloth. I love the way she describes it: "I am so enamored with vintage fabrics, especially the barkcloth from the 1940s. Oh those bright and vivid tropicals. All the men were coming home from the war and everything was depleted, but here come the beautiful, bold fabrics and the track houses and we were again an upbeat nation. It is funny how fabrics tell our history."

Capnap Cottage finds vintage fabrics, occasionally never used, but mostly hunts down vintage draperies, removes the pleats, soaks, washes and dries them to make sure they're sturdy before designing and crafting the item. I'm telling you, pillow perfection.

You got my best side, right?

I love the come back of silhouettes as an art form. They go back to my childhood years when my mum had one made of my profile in the most perfectly coiffed ponytail. And lately I've been aching to get it from her (do you hear that, mum, it's been like six months - put it in the mail, please).

In the meantime, and in my impatience to have one in my gallery, I may have to get resourceful and have one made at Cut Arts. Really lovely silhouette pictures created by third generation silhouette artist Karl Johnson. Authentic, true silhouette cutting is an extremely rare art form (not the new digital version you see around these days), but Karl still practices this all but lost form of portraiture. I won't be getting one made of my profile necessarily, but Coop's got a really nice, dignified schnoz for this kind of portrait.

You simply submit a photograph of anything you like and each silhouette is cut out entirely freehand by Karl in the exact likeness out of black paper. Your best side captured, and no retouching involved! Think of the fabulousness!

Camp Style.

Apparently those Brits really know how to camp in style! When I saw this Orla Kiely sleeping bag on Apartment Therapy SF's fun post on camp gear today I just swooned. It's so cute, and it's only about $54US. I considered ordering it and cutting up to make pillows at that price! Or, maybe we should just all have a giant slumber party! I'll bring the Jiffy Pop!

The Great Wall of Ladies.

Regular sfgirlbybay reader Leigh got a bit of inspiration to re-arrange her fun vintage portraits after seeing my new gallery (thanks so much, Leigh!). She emailed me some great photos of her lovely new portrait gallery.

Leigh says she "often changes things around too, but rarely every picture I have. But I got the bug after looking at your blog yesterday. I immediately stopped working (I work form home) and pulled out the hammer! So everything came off all the walls and moved to their new homes."

I think she did a fantastic job, and I love her "wall of ladies". Bravo and thanks so much for sharing. For more of Leigh's creative talents, check out her fun site, Notes Ink.

Anyone else keen to share? I'd love to see a peek...

Artist Addendum.

Quite a few of you wondered who the artists are that contributed to my new little gallery. And quite frankly, I'm a big knucklehead for not thinking of that in the first place! So, without further ado, I give you my artists, from etsy and other talented folks:

The Dick & Jane type 'Jane' image is a long-ago received promo piece I received at work and sadly, I don't remember the artist name, but I love it. I am lucky to recieve beautiful, fun images from artists and photographers every day.

The lovely The Double Sided Vivienne Beehive Print Neato print (that is the very real and fantastic title) is from the oh-so-talented Matte Stephens, as is the darling aqua colored Owl Gocco Print. Also, across the gallery on the far right, is his madcap Giant Suburban Bear Monster print, which I first saw on Design*Sponge and had to have.

The sweet little Yellow Owl Gocco Print is from Aucklund-based Sugarloop, who has tons of great prints available in her etsy shop. I just love her work.

The Hives Concert poster is from the great design group, The Heads of State, who have an amazing collection of indie concert posters which you can order online.

The wonderful orange wood type letterpress Book Arts and Printers Fair Poster is from San Francisco-based Lizard Press, who also carries lovely letterpressed greeting cards and books.

Up and to the right, is the amazingly captured image of my dog Cooper, painted so beautifully and given to me by my good friend Casey Mooney. And just below The Hives, are the beloved drawings Casey did of me after a trip to London. She didn't know me very well before that trip, but discovered my inexplicable hatred of lint, and my extraordinary love for salt. Thus, these fab drawings of me removing lint and adding salt (in my 'braid stage')!

The sexy pink legs are another promo piece I received at work from illustrator Nicole Kaufman (sorry, but there is no link for her). Anyone know of her and how to find her?

So, that about covers it, although I have a few new pieces coming. I hope you find some inspiration here!

Diary Of A Mad Decorator.

As I mentioned, I've been busy redecorating (yes, you heard me, again) around the dining room table my mum shipped up to me. It's gorgeous, and I'm so proud to have it, but it's also been quite the conundrum figuring out how it worked into the scheme of things, until I decided to flop my living and dining areas around. Somehow, it all just worked for me.

I realize at this juncture, you are thinking, this girl is seriously wacko, given the number of times I've changed my decor around. But, please, don't hate me because I'm crazy. Things get added to the room, and wham! you've got to rethink the whole darn thing. It happens, especially when you spend as much time at the flea market as I do. And, I love beautiful things, most of them at bargain prices, so my rooms evolve around the new treasures I find. So, with all that justification and rationalization behind me, here's some pix of the new rooms.

I brightened the room up with lots of fun, new etsy artwork and a new baby Saarinen Side Table. Yummy.

Please be forewarned, I still do not have my perfect dining chairs. I got these four bent wood cafe chairs (four for $25 on craigslist and painted them white) as a temporary fix. I thought that book The Secret was a little overboard, but hey, if I visualize and will some Eames Tulip Chairs my way, and they show up, I'll finally believe that crazy little book of wishful thinking.

Thanks to everyone for all their invaluable advice (whether I took it or not, please don't be offended - remember, I'm sick in the head) and to all the talented etsy artists who have recently contributed to my new little gallery. It's all still a work in progress, but I feel much, much better about it and am no longer losing sleep. I kid you not, people, I become a woman obsessed! But, I guess you figured that out. For larger pix, click on the images, or go to my flickr flickr photostream.

Lisa's Lost & Found.

I stopped by jewelry designer and artist Lisa Coris' apartment the other night to see her recent score - a beautiful (and expandable) Danish modern dining table. It's really gorgeous, and practical, too. The leaves at either end slide in to create a smaller, more intimate dining experience.


While there, she also shared with me some of her new found, old artwork. Lisa has one heck of an eye, and is an excellent curbside treasure finder! Take a look at some of these pieces...some she painted herself, some you might recognize (Like For Ever), and some she literally found on a street corner, like the cool skateboard deck, and the amazing, and quite huge, portrait on white board.










Lisa's coffee table idea was quite smart, too. This is two Ikea tables put together with a bamboo runner across the seam to create one large, great-looking coffee table.