Repentant

Oh, 1st dibs; why have I neglected you so? All you want is to bring me joy!

1. Green leather wingback.

2. Bust of boy

3. Jielde wall lights

The Meaning of Classic

A Classic- serving as standard, model, or guide. Of the first or highest quality.

(Barcelona Chair via Wo and We)

Shopping Off The Beaten Path

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share the goodies I found this past weekend. As I mentioned yesterday, I spent a weekend in Dallas, wandering and finding new and interesting things. Perhaps my favorite find was the shops of the lower Greenville area, along Henderson ave. They are a funky mix of vintage furniture and decorative accessories sourced from independent designers. They are so fresh! In fact, most of these shops have been in business less than two years.   

 Our first stop was Sputnik Modern. Although, not a large shop; its packed with very cool and original mid-century furnishings. Ahh, heaven for a vintage lover like me:) I think I loved most, the collection of leather chairs. Beautiful!

 I wish I could move in here. I'm sure they wouldn't mind, right?

 If, Sputnik does not have enough mod furniture for you; go across the street to their second shop called Form. Also, both of these stores can be found on 1st Dibs.

Next, we stopped at a very unique jewelry boutique called; The Shining.  All the intriguing pieces sold here are designed by independent jewelry designers. If you gotta have jewelry like no one else, this is your place. I would have liked to have taken everything there home with me.

 The showroom is very minimal and mostly white, but very welcoming.  Everything in it has such a beautiful texture.

 I'm crazy about these rings! Check out The Shining's blog, too

Finally, we stopped at We Are 1976. 

This is such a fun store! Its like taking everything that's great about Etsy and placing it in your favorite corner store. Again, the pieces here are made by smaller independent designers from around the world. There's more cool things in this place than I have time to describe.

If you are out "last minute" Christmas shopping, this is a great place to find unique gifts at great prices. P.S. be sure and stop at The Pearl Cup Espresso bar for a very delicious cup of coffee. Trust me, you won't regret it.

What A Tease!

This morning I was scrolling through my phone and found a note I made for myself. All it said was Guy Matthews, Australia. I had no idea what that meant nor when I typed it. So, I went to trusty Google and found photos of an amazing vintage store in Melbourne. Now the frustrating thing is that there doesn't seem to be a website for the place. So I'm left with a few photos that lure me in and leave wanting more!

(Top Photos via Jesterhoax)
(Bottom Photos via The Design Files)

Intriguing, right? Any Australian readers care to fill me in a bit more? I would love that:)

What To Do With That Vintage Dresser

It seems that most people have vintage furniture pass through their lives at one time or another. For some of us, its by choice, some by inheritance, and some because its all they can afford. Given my profound love of this kind of furniture, I sometimes get questions about how to use it in a more modern way.
Apartment Therapy has a very cool home tour today. The owners used vintage furniture throughout the house, but my favorite example is the dresser used in the living room. Its used as a one of a kind entertainment center. Given the small scale of the home, the dresser is a perfect fit. This idea can also be used for bedrooms or dorm rooms that don't have square footage to spare.

The bottom compartments are used for varying media units and remotes. What more could you ask for? I'm guessing some of you are still not feeling the love for vintage, so here is another great detail. Most vintage furniture is sturdier and better built than 90% of furniture made today. I have a dresser similar to this one and know what I'm talking about. My husband cringes a little every time I ask him to help me move it again, because its built like a tank! Its difficult to find new furniture of the same quality unless you are prepared to pay for very high end pieces.
So, when asked how to best use vintage furniture, its best to have an open mind. (Perhaps, a piece can be used for other than its original purpose) Also, mix it up. Don't be afraid to throw in one or two vintage pieces with your modern furniture. Be adventurous!!!

To The Market and Back!

(Peek at my booth)
Well, we did it! Over the weekend we showed at the Houston Urban Market for the first time.
I'm only now recovering enough to write about it. (I also had a kid who got sick on Monday).
It was quite an undertaking, I have to admit. Its funny that I never gave to much thought to the process of setting up a booth, whenever I was out shopping!
Both Paloma and I (and our handsome assistants) began setting up Saturday afternoon. Everyone was a little nervous because of some ominous looking skies, but we kept going. In fact, it did rain that evening, but
thankfully it mostly just cooled everything down. After that we returned early Sunday morning to finish preparing for the 9:00 opening.

Paloma's chairs were amazing! I can't believe I forgot to take more photos of the rest of them!

My two favorite guys were very helpful. Liam even set up his first display w/ his own cars! Of course I wasn't allowed to actually sell his cars. If you're wondering, Liam didn't hang out all day, Mark was a very accommodating babysitter.

Some of our blogger friends also made an appearance. It was great to see them!
Left: Lauren (Material Girls) and Paloma (La Dolce Vita) Center: Joni (Cote de Texas)
and her trustee Starbucks coffee. Right: Paloma and Courtney (Under a Paper Moon).
Unfortunately, I missed meeting Sarah of Jeune Marie. Sarah, I also missed meeting you at
Courtney's garage sale last month. Maybe we'll coordinate some day:)

I didn't have time to walk around very much, but I did find a couple interesting pieces I really loved. Including, what else; but a couple of amazing chairs!

I couldn't resist snapping shots of several interesting characters roaming around.
What surprised me was how willing they were for me to photograph them.

By the end of the day everyone was pretty worn out and I was wishing that I could be magically transported home.
I loved getting to meet several readers. I especially cracked up with a lady who called me by name to ask for a price and talked to me like we were old friends. That was fun! Thanks to everyone who stopped by and thanks to Paloma and Fabian for sharing a booth with me. Most especially I want to thank my wonderful husband for helping and supporting me. I had a great time and hope to do it again!

The Cool Room

I'm feeling inspired by an Australian furniture store called "The Cool Room".
This is a guy after my own heart. He started collecting quirky and unique
objects since childhood and now shares them with the world.

This reminds me of being a kid and begging my mom to buy vintage jewelry and 1950's dinette sets.
Not that she usually listened to me, except for the jewelry. I collected vintage earrings, rings, and
necklaces that I would wear while still in elementary school. The funny thing is, to this day;
my jewelry is collected in the exact same manner!

Good Times

Last week I had several opportunities for great shopping.
In fact, there were so many, I had to turn down a few events. First was the debut of
Barbara Hill's accessory line @ Found for the Home. It was a great deal of fun, and
there was a great turn-out. Barbara's furnishings were so witty and unique, they were a big hit.

BTW, I spoke to Barbara and told her I knew from my coffee shop.
Fortunately, I could tell she didn't remember me from the "Love your hair" comment.
So I guess that's a good thing;). Check out my Flickr site, there are many more photos of the nights events.
Also, I met a great artist named Mary Beth Woiccak. Her work is amazing, check it out here.

One event down, next was the return of the Urban Market. It was an incredibly beautiful day, and I basked in all the rusty and worn pieces. (Makes me feel at home). More photos here.

I'm Tired, I'm Stressed...Only Junking Will Help.

Junking is a real term right? If not, I'm sure you all know what I mean.
Its the act of searching through and hunting for junk!! I have yet to figure out why I love it so much, but it does my soul good:)
Many of you may have noticed that I have been slow on posting lately. I have to admit that my work has been taking all my time and energy.
I'm struggling w/ feeling any amount of creativity or inspiration.

I know, "Boo hoo".
Over the weekend we had a few rare child free hours. (Thanks to my lovely sister and brother-in-law)
So I took the time to hit some "antique" stores, to relieve some stress.
Some of my favorite Houston haunts are located along several blocks of Westheimer.
Finding so many hidden gems made me very happy. Here are a few of my favorite finds.

This is such a cool Valentine's themed window display!

Of course I must include chairs.

I feel a little better, now. Aahhh.