handsome mid-century dresser(s)

i really liked this simple, clean-lines dresser.  they took an old mid-century modern style and hipped-it-up with a dark grey coat of paint and some brushed nickel knobs. you can see its matching taller partner peeking from behind on the right.  quite the handsome pair!

vintage signage table

another flea market table find: vintage signage on a vintage table base: vintage table

side view mirrors

someone took two different side view mirrors from cars, mounted them together to make one cool table top mirror.

bowling alley table

saw this at the flea market--a bowling alley made into a dining table. looks like it weighs a ton but is clever!

painted wood floor

simple design painted on a wood floor.

paint brush collection

i am not entirely sure where you might hang these in your own home but this was a clever presentation of a collection of paintbrushes as seen at an antique store.

living wall

as seen at the 2012 san francisco decorators showcase home, a fantastic living wall using a planter pocket system. not sure if this is the brand used here but it is similar to the woolly pocket.  so often you see these used within a garden area--i like that it is used at the entrance and creates a great visual barrier from the neighbors.

no parking!

oh my gosh! how awesome is this?!?! i saw this customized "no parking or you will be towed" sign on a garage in russian hill in san francisco. a picture is worth a thousand words. LOVE!

baskets!

as seen at my local antiques store, this is a lot of baskets on a big wall. they look great gathered together in one spot. this could easily be done on a smaller scale in a kitchen or family room (albeit a great collector of cobwebs and not so fun to clean...)

strength in numbers

at my local antique store, they know the power of presenting things in multiples. all of these items looked great gathered and displayed en masse.

just in time for the diamond jubilee

god save the queen and her coordinated desks and chairs.

funky cactus

i saw this at the flower market. it is petrified cactus (i forget what kind of cactus). but, i thought it was cool. it looks like wood. very funky looking.

great grate

saw this near my friend's house. i like the simple graphic-ness of it. kind of current...kind of retro.



"upholstered" box spring

i got tired of the sad looking dust ruffle on my bed so decided to dress it up a bit by "upholstering" my box spring. why the quotes around "upholster"? well,  it has the look of being upholstered but really isn't. the project was pretty easy and only took about two hours or so. and, the end result looks pretty darn good--a much more finished look. see how i did it after the jump.

victorian cow hide

i love the juxtaposition of the cow hide upholstery on this victorian-style chair. rugged sass.

my ottoman empire

i found a pair of these fun little ottomans at the flea market: $50 bucks for the pair. but, i was not too psyched about their purple and tan stripe fabric with the maroon painted frame.  so, i took them to my local upholsterer (upholstery is beyond my DIY scope)...

and this is the end result.
i love how they came out! what do you think?

with the cost of the ottomans, fabric, upholstery labor and repainting, the final cost worked out to be about $180 per ottoman.  not a bargain but i am super pleased with the end result!

chair as art

i love the idea of a simple chair becoming art.

capiz shell wall decoration

i visited the home of my new friend katherine today and she had this fabulously simple but chic wall decoration over the top of a chocolate painted wall--it looked amazing.

old asian boxes

i am such a sucker for old boxes. i fell for this stack of old asian boxes. i want them all!

fab table art

hayes valley's plantation is a great spot for fab table art: coffee table books, amazing shagreen, lacquer and other style boxes (love all of these), and a variety of random curios. here are a few:

hoard in funky style!

this charming funky piece will have you hoarding in style! I spotted it for $5400 at propeller modern (in hayes valley san francisco). ok, not exactly a bargain but they did have other funky cool things that fell in a more reasonably priced realm!

stainless (or is it tin) flooring + stairs

one of my favorite jewelry stores, lava 9 (no website so you have to check it out in person), in hayes valley (san francisco) has this really cool flooring that i have always coveted.  it is sheets of tin or stainless nailed down over the exisitng flooring.  it looks cool.

cotton candy lighting

another hit from my local cisco home.  such a fun grouping of lights in cotton candy colors. yum! although cotton candy is a bit more affordable: at $425 a pop, this cluster is about $4250.

hip fly swatter

well, if a fly swatter is a must, then this is the way to go! a leather swatter for those pesky flies!

old world charm

i saw these cute pitchers recently. i like how they have a modern aesthetic but with a bit of old-world-charm in their decoration.

vintage car emblems

a while ago, i saw a handful of vintage car emblems at the flea market. at a couple bucks a piece, i thought they could be a cool thing to collect. they are harder to come by than i would have expected but when i do find them, they are generally cheap. i'm not much into cars but these look pretty good mounted on the wall in my office above my lateral file and always get a "those are cool!" when people see them.

kilim pouffes

pouffes are so in these days. i really liked these because they are a unique mix of culture and modernity in their use of the ancient kilim style rugs (although, these certainly aren't ancient) but in a modern, oh-so-now pattern all wrapped into a great pouffe. unfortunately "pouf" is what happens to your savings account when you buy them for $275 a piece--not so bad in the world of pouffes but not exactly a bargain.

three little stools

i saw these 3 awesome little stools at the flea market recently and fell in love with their simple style.  3 for $150 but that was pre-negotiation.  i was feeling a bit cash poor and didn't have anywhere i could use them so they stayed at the flea market. but, i am worried i may regret having left them behind because i have been thinking of them ever since.

fun with fu dogs

fu dogs. my friend chris got me into fu dogs recently. they are guardians for a dwelling and are always found in pairs. symbolically, the female fu lion protects those dwelling inside, while the male guards the structure. for most beneficial effect and to ensure proper feng shui, when looking at the entrance from outside the building, facing the lions, the male lion with the ball is on the right, and the female with the cub is on the left. 

hmmm...not quite sure how to utilize this information as it relates to my fu dog book ends...

dead trees go designer-y

about the only good thing in a restaurant i went to recently was this decorative tree. it made a great statement in the corner.  too bad the rest of the restaurant made such a bad statement (mediocre food and horrendous service). they are lucky that i won't out them here...

industrial modern doors

i think this industrial modern warehouse door is fantastic! i love that this company made their standard warehouse doors a great design feature. this style door could be done on a smaller scale for a home too.

whimsical art

many years ago i saw the art of hilary pfeifer at a local, very cool gallery (velvet da vinci--check it out because they have tons of very cool jewelry too!). anyway, i decided that hilary's pieces were so fun that i would begin my own collection. now, many years and gift-giving occasions later, i have a purchased or received enough of her pieces for my own respectable grouping. hard to tell from this photo but each piece stands off the wall by about an inch and many have moving or tactile parts. fun!

small graphics get B I G

ok, don't give me a hard time about all these pics being crooked--it drives me crazy enough as it is! it's been on my to-do list to secure all of these frames so they don't get out of whack.  but, that list is l o n g.  anyway, i needed to cover a lot of wall space with big art so i took a lot of little things to make one big rectangular graphic. i like the way it came out. it always gets lots of compliments from visitors.

twinkly candle lights

hanging on a large wall at my favorite coffee joint, the coffee bar, is this handmade lighting fixture. with about 75 light bulbs, it still doesn't give off a ton of light but it makes for a great art installation. looks like it would be simple enough to make something similar.