In the bedroom...

I have been wanting to take pictures of our master bedroom for awhile now. It proved very hard to photograph, and that is probably the reason I don't take pictures up there very often. It is a huge room compared to the size of our house and was originally two smaller bedrooms that someone had taken the dividing wall out of. The ceiling is low and sloped and creates a very cozy atmosphere.

We don't spend a whole lot of time upstairs besides for sleeping and I'm always trying to figure out what I can do to change that.

The first photo of our bed shows the reclaimed "headboard" my husband hung for us. The matching nightstands where picked up with the gentlemans' chest shown in the second photo. I have stacked my Hartmann suitcases on top to avoid them being used as a cat scratching post( which was witnessed at one point in the middle of the night).The third photo shows my most recent craislist find, a large piece of vintage fiber art.

The little table under it was originally an ottoman that i took apart and had a piece of soapstone cut to fit the walnut base.On top of the table sits a small white ceramic Frankoma panther that we purchased at the Frankoma studio on our way through Sapulpa OK to get married in Santa Fe.

I love this handmade pillow I picked up at an estate sale, I know I paid less that a dollar for it and its all hand embroidered. I think the design has a modern feel despite its actual age.

We also have space to have a full size sofa, which i thought my oldest would like to sleep on when he sneaks in our room in the middle of the night, but he prefers the sheepskin next to the bed.

I keep some of my favorite things in the bedroom in hopes of keeping them special, tucked away from the rest of the house.

Committed

Well, I've committed to selling off my cookware collection. I have a set of Descoware cookware in the "flame" colorway listed in my Etsy shop. I will begin listing my Le Creuset piece by piece. My hope is to switch out the decor in my kitchen and begin collecting pieces in primarily white, with some black thrown in.

This is most of my collection and every piece has been well used and loved. If anyone out there has any white pieces they are interested in trading for "flame" let me know!

A few new things that have followed me home...

Brass and marble arc lamp

Jaru California ceramics

Yesterday's loot

Modernist watering can

Kobenstyle and Copco

Vintage Goodwood jars

Here are just a few things that I have brought into our house and most will be listed soon in my Etsy shop.The arc lamp was a craigslist purchase made while in Springfield IL. We had taken a little drive and I decided to check out what might interest me on their list. The lamp popped up, I send a quick email and heard back within minutes. We didn't even have to drive out of the way.
The second photo is of a great ceramic piece that stands over 20'' tall. I have seen lots of cubist type animals done by Jaru, but I can't find another similar sculpture type piece online.
The rest of the pictures are things I picked up yesterday all in fell swoop. I grabbed the watering can first, and thought the modern lines of the piece were unusual. I have found a couple of others online, but not sure about its history. The two new white enamel cookware pieces were what excited me most. The small lidded pan in marked copco and the larger teak handled pan is unmarked from what I can tell. I'm pretty sure it is Kobenstyle and have read that at one point the company didn't mark their pieces.
The set of glass canisters with teak lids are all marked Goodwood. I love this set and am really drawn to the glass and wood combination.
I love the white cookware so much that I think I am planning to sell off all of my flameware Le Creuset and changing up the kitchen some. I have been collecting the flameware pieces for years now, and It's hard to imagine changing mid-stream. But I do think that's one of the reasons I love the hunt.
Does anyone else have a collection they have worked on for years to only decide to move in a different direction?

Ask and you shall receive...

Let me start this post by saying this is usually not the case. I have been asking to find a Eames LCW in an alley for years. It still has not happened. But about a week or so ago, I did a short blog post about The pieces of Hartmann luggage I had found. I've been searching high and low to find another suitcase smaller than the one I had found, to stack together to create some attractive storage. This search only lead me to pieces that were still out of my price range. So, fast forward to yesterday, and there at a local thrift store I found the pieces I had been asking to run into. Ask and you shall receive.(sometimes)

Happy Halloween and a little DIY

 I was inspired to do a little DIY when I came across these glitter skulls at Target. I was going to make a concrete base for them, but while I was at the craft store gathering supplies, I came across these wooden boxes on sale instead. I started with weighting the boxes with plaster, since they are light weight. After letting the plaster dry for 24 hours, I drilled holes in the back of the boxes, above where the plaster stops. Then I cut wooden lids out of a separate piece of light weight wood, I also drilled a hole in the center of the lid for the rod and wiring to come through. I used a acrylic gray paint to finish the boxes, I wanted to still see wood grain, so I watered down the paint, brushed in on, and quickly wiped it off.
I had the threaded rod already, so I just used a hack saw and cut it in half. I used a long sharp object to cut through the skull enough to run the rod through. I purchased 16 feet of cloth cord from the lighting store, along with two plugs. I already had the nuts to secure the rods through the lid of the box, I just used one on either side to secure the rod. I had two brass Hubble sockets from an auction, laying around, and decided to use them since i wasn't planning on using lamp shades. They are really heavy duty and quite beautiful for a lamp socket, and design wise can stand on their own. I also top the sockets with chrome dipped light bulbs, which can be found at most hardware stores. This helps cast the light downward since there aren't any shades.
And that is it. I really easy DIY, that has a spooky look, but can be kept out year round. You can also adjust this project to your own needs if you aren't in the the glitter skull thing. You can put just about anything you want and the threaded rod and have custom lamps.

Hartmann Luggage

Vintage 1970s Hartmann Luggage

Vintage Hartmann Luggage carry-on

My new obsession. The carry-on / overnight bag was found at the beginning of the week at a thrift store close to home. I fell in love with the worn leather trim and handles, and the masculine color body of the bag. When I got a chance to do a little research on the bag I found that the Hartmann luggage company has been making luggage for the last 125 years. This luggage new is not what i would call cheap. As I was sifting through pictures of vintage Hartmann pieces, i saw some beautiful tweed suitcases with gorgeous camel colored leather trim. It was love at first sight. So, now can you imagine my surprise and excitement when while shopping a different thrift store later in the week, I found just the suitcase i had been lusting over! Crazy how things work out that way. I probably wouldn't have even spent much time digging through the luggage selection had i not stumbled upon these pieces with my google search. I am now on the hunt for one more smaller suitcase matching the tweed one i found, and this is when things get frustrating. I already lost out on one via Ebay last night. I had to hand my phone over to my husband and tell him not to return it until the auction was over, its easy to get sucked in.
Don't you wonder about the things you miss out on, just because they haven't been brought to your attention yet?

What does Adrian Pearsall, C. Jere and a wool railroad blanket have in common?



1943 The Pullman Co. railroad blanket



They are all treasures picked up in one afternoon of thrifting.



Adrian Pearsall side table



We were lucky enough to find a great pair of Pearsall side table, only after finding a 3 piece set of C. Jere wall sculptures. The wool blanket is in great condition, and after doing a little research, I found that these blankets were used in sleeping cars. This one has a number 8 on it, which indicates it was made in 1943. This piece is already listed in my Etsy shop. I will soon be listing the C. Jere pieces as well, as soon as I can get prettier pictures of them. After looking online at these pieces it seems the 2 smaller pieces aren't always found with the larger. I will also be listing the side tables in my shop, but one has a rectangle piece of glass, and I believe that these only came with round tops. Right now they are keeping our Adrian Pearsall chair that we found at auction company.

It seems that nice vintage pieces are becoming harder to find out there in the wild, and because of this I tend to feel the need to hoard. Its easier for me to let go after I have been able to enjoy them for a while, and when a new beautiful piece finds its way here. Does anyone else out there have the same problem of fighting the urge to keep all of the pieces they find, when you know you should let go?