Local Produce: design

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Design Time: Etsy

Designing your house can be so difficult and soooo expensive. Enter: the beauty of the internet and Etsy.

Etsy is a social commercial website that focuses on selling handmade or vintage items. It removes the store third-party and let's you buy directly from the artisans themselves. I love Etsy and have bought many an item from light fixtures to iPad cases to purses- all fantastic quality and craftsmanship.

I wanted to feature a few shops to aid your house designing aspirations. Because we both know you have them and who doesn't need a little help?

Furniture

1. Recycled Brooklyn - recycled furniture made to order in Brooklyn, NY. Wood, steel, coffee bags- everything is recycled. Helping the environment while making gorgeous furniture.

Recycled Coffee Sack Storage Bench

Salvaged Floor Beam Coffee Table

2. Homestead Seattle - custom upholstered and vintage furniture.

could I live on this leather chaise? why yes, yes I could.

bring me more wine please.

I love the color of these Rosewood chairs. Perfect pop for any dining room.

3. Rocky Mountain Table Company - a Denver-based furniture company. I love their pieces, industrial chic.

Inside out dining room table

Walnut Coffee Table

Lighting

1. DWVintage - vintage light fixtures. Fun, flirty, industrial.

2. onefortythree - I love their unique lights. And brass anything. Oh to live in a world made of brass.

Wood veneered pendant light

Black Powder Coated Swiveling Lamp

3. Worley's - unique pieces, handmade in Charlotte, NC

Hurricane Pedestal Lamp

Wooden Wall Sconce

Kitchen

1. Julia Paul Pottery - Contemporary ceramics. Her work is the perfect blend of art and usability. My favorite are the dark clays with easy glazes.

Breakfast Bowls

Six Pottery Tumblers

2. Oh, Little Rabbit - Eco-friendly, organic, fun hand-printed housewares

Cloth Napkins

Tea Towels

3. Wind & Willow Home - Hand-painted wooden bowls and utensils.

Wooden Mini Bowl Set

Other Home Decorating Goods

1. Linen Crafts - Blankets, bedding, table cloths and kids collections all made with linen fabrics imported from Europe.

Lavender Linen Blanket

Linen Bed Cover

2. Local Produce Design - I'll go ahead an admit some bias here as this is my mother's shop. Nevertheless, she makes beautiful pillows. Always something easy to use to decorate a room.

Blue, Black and Grey Color Block Pillow

Thomas Paul Forest Print

3. Georgianna Lane Photography - You know I love art. In addition to everything listed above, Etsy is also a wonderful place to buy affordable art to dress up your walls. Especially photography. I did a treasury list of various photographers I like on Etsy, but to focus one on here, I chose Georgianna Lane.

Yes, it is feminine, which is typically not my aesthetic. However, I can't stop staring at her work; especially, her flower series. Buy a massive print and hang it in your little girl's room. Or in your kitchen. It will brighten your day.

Pink Dahlia

Parisian Peonies

Thank you for joining me on today's journey through Etsy. We will return, don't you worry, there are too many wonderful shops to explore! For now, take a moment and have a look for yourself- I bet you find something delicious you never knew you couldn't live without.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Design Time

Due to a car forever in the shop (I will buy a new one someday, I swear) and a knee on the mend from surgery, I am stranded on the couch. With tons of work to do and no motivation to do any of it.

So I thought a day like this called for a scroll through the internet for delicious design finds I would then share with you.

You see, my brother is a real-life designer who does incredible projects all over the US: restaurants, offices, homes with his company Flags of Origin. I am not. For me it's a hobby. And happens primarily in my head. Nonetheless I like to think I inherited a certain taste-level passed on to both of us. BOTH of us. :)

Rugs

People forget about rugs. They become merely an afterthought, but they're oh so important. They tie the room together and make it feel like a true space, not just a collection of stuff. And what a nice "good morning toes!" when you step off your bed onto something soft and luxurious. Whatever your aesthetic you can always find something that will work. So stop using that excuse and go buy something already. Here are some I love.

Goa Hand-Tufted Rug
Surya on Gilt

White and Black Endless
Madeline Weinrib

Martil Blue
Decorative Carpets

Blue Chevron
nuLoom

Asan Indigo
The Rug Company

Gaelic Yellow
The Rug Company

Stripe by Paul Smith
The Rug Company

Faded Ikat Rug
West Elm

Phoenix Dhurrie
West Elm

And this rug, which makes me want to quickly befriend a pregnant lady just so I can design the nursery.

Owl
The Rug Company

i mean come on....

Wallpaper
No, it's not gauche to use wallpaper. I'm not talking about wallpaper borders, they can stay in the 80s where they belong, however real wallpaper can transform your room into something truly unique and beautiful.

But please, if you spend the money on the wallpaper, pay someone to hang it for you. No matter how certain you are you could do it yourself. Call the professional. Because when you're watching TV or reading your book and you can't help but notice that tiny bubble that never goes away or the pattern that doesn't quite match up properly, you'll wish you had taken my advice.

These are a few small wallpaper companies with skilled and unique artists. Have a look.

Hygge & West - San Francisco based wallpaper company, collecting unique prints from talented designers.

Triangles - White, Charcoal & Gold
Lisa Congdon

Bohemian Almost White/Gold
Lisa Congdon

Daydream
Julia Rothman

Flavor Paper - a hand-screen wallpaper company based in Brooklyn, NY. I was introduced to them by my brother and I have become equally as big a fan.

Scenes of Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Created for the Wythe Hotel

Wythe Toile
Dan Funderburgh

Dumbo Wall
Speed and Sherman

From Flavor Paper: "One wall of a series based upon the premise of bringing the outside inside called Rock In. DUMBO wall is just that – Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, but now it can transform a clean wall into a textured and interesting place to show off your contemporary furniture collection."

Monaco
Tibi

Harlequin London - originally founded as a wallpaper company, they have now expanded into textile design. Their wallpapers remain to be some of my favorites.