Cute Vintage Owl Necklace

How cute is this angry owl necklace?

I stumbled upon it on Etsy. Buy it here!

Grace Home Furnishings

Check out the wonderful article by Anne Harnagel on the LA Times website featuring a beautiful Grace Home Furnishings design project in Pacific Palisades!

Pro Portfolio: A family-friendly update on traditional

Working Class Studio

I found this company / design collective through One Kings Lane and just had to share because I love their designs and found their business model quite innovative.

From their website:

"Working Class Studio is a product development venture of the Savannah College of Art and Design that cultivates and promotes the work of talented SCAD student, alumni, and faculty artists. An innovative concept for an educational institution, Working Class Studio marries function with fine art to deliver a well-curated, ever-expanding mix of original stationary and home decor lines sold in retail stores across the United States and internationally."

The bag at above is part of their "re-gift" line of reusable gift bags. They also have groovy tableware, pillows, stationary other fun items. Check out their products page and then see what stores and online merchants carry their merchandise.

Craigslist Find!

Check out this awesome mirror on Craigslist! So beautiful for only $100. I wish I had a good place for it.

Straus Family Creamery

In the spirit of summer, here's my favorite ice cream - Straus Family Creamery's Mint Chocolate Chip. I could eat VATS of this stuff. Luckily it is only available in pints at Whole Foods. :)

New Items on Etsy

I've added a few new items to my Etsy store! Click here to check them out!

Gorgeous Hollywood Regency Mirror

I found this on Craigslist and it is really COOL and BIG! (5' wide) It isn't the right look for my house (too glam) and I don't want to have to deal with storing it and reselling it, but it is a STEAL at only $50. It would look fab over a buffet in a dining room or over a console in a large foyer.

Retro-style wedding dresses for the 'Mad Men'-loving bride

I ended up with a retro-style wedding dress for my wedding, albeit somewhat unwittingly. I stumbled upon my 1960s style dress in an Orange County bridal salon of all places. Since I'm not getting married again, I can only admire from a distance the cute styles featured in this article from the LA Times:
Retro-style wedding dresses for the 'Mad Men'-loving bride

(I also like the non-wedding attire at ModCloth, mentioned in the article above and on my blog previously.)

Grace Home Furnishings Clearance Sale...

...starts tomorrow AND they're open until 9pm Thursday and Friday, perfect for after work shopping. I've seen a lot of the sale pieces and there is some really cute stuff this year. Even if you don't need a whole room of furniture, they have things you might need just to finish your design - end of bed benches, cocktail ottomans, slipper chairs, coffee tables, etc.

There are some photos of the sale merchandise on the Grace Home Furnishings Facebook Page.

Sunday Craigslist Shopping

I wish I could buy EVERYTHING cool I see on Craiglist, but I can't, so I'm willing to share my finds. I have no financial interest in these items, I just like them! :)

First up, a beautiful Danish dining table and four chairs, all for $600. You can't find new stuff that is this level of quality at this price!

Simrin

Browsing through the collection of home accessories at Saarloos this past weekend, I noticed they carried the Simrin brand. I was given some napkins and place mats from this company last year, resembling those at right. Using AZO free dyes and 100% cotton and jute textiles, Simrin makes several fun tabletop items with an "earthy mod" aesthetic.

I am enamored with their farmyard linen collection, featuring different farm animals painted in four different colors on jute place mats. I really wanted to get a set of these, shown below top, as they had them in stock at Saarloos, but they are spot clean only and we are WAY too messy to have something under our dinner plates that isn't machine washable or wipeable. However, I'm still eying the laminated fabric trays, shown below bottom. Cute, no?

You can browse and buy the entire Simrin Collection online at Velocity Art & Design. In addition to the more mod Surya and the Farmyard collection, they also have more traditional looking items, so take a look!

Happy Garp

This is neither glamorous nor green, but it makes me smile!

I present to you....my labrador retriever, Garp!

Saarloos & Sons Winery

Has someone at Saarloos been spying on me? Looking at the bookmarks on my computer? Following my blog?

Why do I have these suspicions, you ask? Because their wine tasting space and company sure does appeal to me! Let's review what they have that I like:

Fun, crisp modern elements, including flocked cameo wallpaper? - check

Groovy vintage touches? - check

Awesome tasting wine? - check

Cupcakes? - check

Fun home accessories incorporating farm animals into their design - check! Check!

Located in Los Olivos, where I would love to live on a ranchette if I hit the lotto? - CHECK!

I can't believe I missed this place the last time I was up here. It's located at the far end of the Los Olivos, near highway 154, so I guess I just didn't walk down far enough to see it. The design is Kelly Wearstler with a little dirt under her fingers. Heather Saarloos is identified as the designer, and she deserves major kudos for the picture perfect interiors! She does a fab job of mixing natural wood finishes with glossy paint and hip wallpaper. I especially love the tasting bar in the entry space, which is painted a glossy grey and adorned with polished nickel drawer pulls.

In addition to their physical space, Saarloos is well repped in cyber space. Check out the following for more info:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Fun Stuff In High Point

Returning from the furniture market in High Point, North Carolina (where I was working PR for Grace Home Furnishings) I am synthesizing a LOT of visual data and dealing with a head cold. I loved seeing all the showrooms and meeting so many new people!

Two trends I noticed which seem to be able to coexist together quite nicely - bold, bright color and lots of natural, washed finishes. Councill showcased a new finish that was a bold fuschia, but they weren't the only ones favoring this bold shade in their work. Julian Chichester had pops of this color in his showroom, and even Barbara Barry used it as an accent on her person.

I have to admit that I wasn't a fan of the washed / vintage look when I first saw Restoration Hardware use it. (Example here.) Who wants a whole room of drab? However, using one or two of these pieces in a room complemented by strong color I find very pleasing.

Food Inc.

Food Inc., which I reviewed here, is airing on PBS tonight!

House Beautiful - Green Living!

This is a fun article on green living from House Beautiful magazine!

Check it out: Green Living: Talk Me Down!

Forage LA Restaurant Review

Forage LA is deceptively simple in concept, favoring local produce, fresh ingredients and simple preparations. The resulting food, however, is perfection. How I wish I could consistently produce the quality of their dishes in my own home!

It is a super casual space, where you order at the counter and take a number. They have a similar set up to Koo Koo Roo or Boston Market (not a fan - don't worry!) where you can order a "main" and then select from an assortment of sides. You can also order three sides, one of their special dishes or any combination in between.

My husband and I wanted everything, but settled for starting with a plate of three sides - macaroni and cheese, farro salad with peas and mint dressing and a sweet potato, chick pea and chorizo dish. (Pictured above left. Photo courtesy of foragela.com) We then moved on to the pork sandwich and a special of gnocchi with lamb ragu. Everything was perfection! Seriously!

I was rather full after the side dish medley, so you could definitely make an entire meal out of it or any one of the main dishes. We were just a) starving, b)excited about all the beautiful food spread before us and c)worried we wouldn't be able to come back anytime soon so wanted to sample as much as possible. They had some gorgeous looking desserts, including a brown butter cake, but we couldn't possibly stuff anything else into our faces so had to pass.

I found the price point quite reasonable for the quality and freshness of the food. The plate of three side dishes was $9.75 and the mains were slightly higher. If this place was closer to where I lived, I would be all about ordering takeout on a regular basis. Here's more info on Forage:

website

facebook

twitter

yelp

WestWeek

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I am attending a few events at WestWeek at the Pacific Design Center this week in my role as PR Director of Grace Home Furnishings. In addition, I've been very busy getting some of their new design projects ready to be submitted to publishers. Very exciting stuff, but it's kept my vintage furniture finding and writing at a standstill!

Vintage Mid Century Magazine Rack - SOLD!

So fun! So hip! You know you want it: GGG Magazine Rack on Etsy

Fabulous Mid Century Modern / Hollywood Regency Wall Art - SOLD!

I just listed this fantastic piece of wall art on etsy. It looks so fabulous in my dining room I hate to give it up, but that's the way it goes. :) Check out the details and additional photos here:

Mid Century Modern / Hollywood Regency Wall Art

1stdibs Introspective - The Talent - Kishani Perera

I was browsing through 1st Dibs and saw this great profile on Kishani Perera! We share a common background at UCLA and I also helped her a few times while working as a designer at Grace Home Furnishings. She is a lovely person as well as a FABULOUS designer. Check out the article and photos here:

1stdibs Introspective - The Talent - Kishani Perera

Great Gardens!

Looking outside my family room window, I saw several ripe peppers ready for the picking. Venturing into the garden I soon discovered several lovely ripe tomatoes! Quelle surprise! Looks like I'm going to have to make some sauce this week. Luckily Jamie Oliver has a really easy recipe that doesn't require any peeling. Check it out: The Quickest Tomato Sauce

Paris Post

I just got back from Paris and thought I'd share my musings on "glamour" and "green" things I witnessed over there.

First, regarding green. There are very few places that offer "take-away" anything. If you want to eat, you sit down and eat off a plate. A REAL plate. Same goes for coffee. You sit and drink it at a table or at a "bar." Result - very little trash created and I think people are healthier for it!

Next, re: glamour. Lots of cool stuff. One of my favorites - this bed. I can't remember the name of the store, but it had a very similar design sensibility to Julian Chichester.

Final cool thing - photos of Hong Kong in the rain by Christophe Jacrot: