Interiors: A Quick Peek

I sewed some quick lace curtains for all of our windows - something I never thought I'd do! But the house came with a couple of sets of lace cafe curtains, and continuing this theme made the most sense for both the home's era, and the dark, polished wood trim.
I was rewarded with much lace-blowing-in-the-spring-breeze + feline-contemplation-of-backyard-wildlife. This made me very happy.

Design: Stuff I Want Today

Just a few delightful odds and ends that I wouldn't be sorry to own...
From FredFlare:

From Perpetual Kid:

check out this awesome solar powered lamp:

reaaaally want this lamp!:

salt and pepper cuteness!:

Goodies from ModCloth:

What I Want For My Birthday, Part 2

As simple as can be...

I want a beautiful bouquet of parrot tulips...

In an Ironstone pitcher...

Kind of like this...

Or maybe, just maybe, if you're feeling especially generous, a trip back to Holland (one of my most favorite places) to see all the bulbs in bloom again...
at a place like Kuekenhof...

that's all...

Design/Great Product: PaPaYa!

So, I just received this incredibly lovely 'Thank you' card in the mail:

(and it's got glitter! Whoohoo!)

I've seen Papaya's (or rather, PaPaYa!'s) products in little boutiques, and sent and received some of their lovely, unique stationary, but tonight I finally dove into their website.

I AM ordering THIS:
I need an address book (it's the only Luddite thing -besides my Moleskine journal, of course - that my Blackberry hasn't replaced,) and at $14, it's a beautiful steal.

This wrapping paper. There are no words. !

Almost all of their art is available in card, magnet, or art panel form. And did I mention it's cheap?

Instead of choosing, maybe I'll just wait until December, and spring for one of their delicious calendars...

Design: A Liberty Surprise!

I grew up knowing Liberty & Co. was something mythical and magical, which isn't surprising when one considers that, in our family, anyone not idolizing William Morris was immediately considered a suspicious character of questionable taste.



















If it was Arts & Crafts, or anything directly related to the era, we knew about it. I'm not sorry my mother taught me this. So imagine my surprise when, on a recent shopping trip to Target (thinking I needed to create my own cleaning solution and look up that Swiffer Wet-Jet refill tutorial again because I am running out way too often,) I glance up to notice, Le Gasp!!!, Liberty of London printed everything!

I'd never forget to water the herbs and flower pots with this pretty watering can:

I'd love a few of these (very sturdy!) bins in my daughter's room:

Love this bowl! Cereal would be so much more fun out of it!:

Daily Tea Time would be a must:

Look at the drool-worthy goodies from Liberty of London!
Gorgeous Fabrics!!!:

Loverly Traveling Cases:

How delightful would this little bag be tucked inside a tote for baby necessities?!:

Want.

GORGEOUS silk scarves!:

William Morris prints are popping up all over the place:
Prada Resort Collection 2010:

I think that's fine and dandy, but I like to see vibrant prints in smaller doses, and on little girls' clothing, especially:

Liberty of London for Target:

A cute home made dress created from coordinating William Morris calicoes:

Some beautiful William Morris or Liberty print fabric would be perfect made into little Kate Greenaway style dresses and pinafores:

And I think these adorable Douglas Co. stuffed animals, available in the kid's section of Barnes & Noble, would be a lovely compliment:

Interiors: New House Progress, Part 1

Poor blog(s), I have been neglecting you...but I have a good excuse! Setting up a new house is always time consuming, but I think doing it on an extremely limited budget is even more so.
A month into living in the new house, and most of the rooms are not what I would consider 'blog worthy' yet...sigh...
Here are a few photos anyway:

The antique copperplate shipwreck prints above my antique settee in the foyer:

I found this old slate chalkboard at Goodwill (75 cents!) and kind of fell in love with it (I'm sure that has nothing to do with the 'Made In Italy' stamped in the frame!) - I attached hardware to the back, and hung it in the kitchen. The quote was the only one I could think of in the ten minutes before our dinner guests arrived!

The blue and white collection in the kitchen:

(yes, those are speakers in the photos. I realized the best way to keep domestic peace between a girl who likes to listen to music all day and night, and a boy who likes to watch lots of TV was to just put the stereo in the kitchen)

I won't pretend that this wasn't one of Martha's ideas, but since I saw it all those years ago, I have always wanted to clear the cabinets, and have a streamlined spice drawer next to the stove. Thanks to visitors from Atlanta, we were able to import a full set of Ikea spice jars (Ikea, open a dang store in Saint Louis already!!!), and I finally sprang for my own label maker (Whoohoo!) - This one, from Target, was about $10 cheaper than the PTouch brand, and works just the same.

More to come...