Here & Now: Winter Light

Winter decorating is all about brightening up a dark house, and adding some glamour to a season otherwise bundled up in fleece and flannel.

I arranged my collection of apothecary jars on top of the china cabinet, where the glass and a garland of glittered fronds catch the light through our bay windows. Each vessel contains a speckled mercury glass vase (remnants from our wedding decor). In the evenings I turn on flickering LED candles and the effect is magical: golden glow and silver reflections on every surface.

Our new chandelier is dressed for the season as well, sporting candles with a gilded finish. There's certainly no rule that says you can't accessorize an accessory!

How do you add extra light and sparkle to your space?

Girl About Town: Jack London's China Cabinet

Well, Charmian London's, to be exact. This is the dining room in The House With Happy Walls, a home built after Jack's death. It currently exists, per Charmian's wishes, as a museum at Jack London State Park to showcase her husband's adventures and accomplishments. The house is a gallery of photographs, publications, and prized possessions from their worldly travels. My favorite part was the oddly extravagant dining room, with an indoor fountain, a massive bank of windows, and three walls of cabinets specifically designed to display a very special set of dishes.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the cabinet knobs are off-set.

Look closer still and you'll realize that the hardware and cabinet trim have been painted to match the china within. The floral shape of the knobs emulates the leafy ornaments on the serving pieces, and both are given an illustrative quality with green outlines.

I love the idea of decorating to celebrate an heirloom or beloved artifact. Even more, I love the significance of these plates and bowls to their owners: Jack London purchased the set from the estate of Robert Louis Stevenson, a man he greatly admired but never met. 

Today I showed you Jack's enviable kitchen sink and some of the interesting interiors on the property. Tomorrow I'll take you on a hike through the grounds...

Dare to Dream: Jacques Adnet

About my apartment are scattered humble odes to Jacques Adnet: dark leather, gold trimmings, leggy tables, faux bamboo. His designs, however, are beyond my imitation. Gracefully functional and classically handsome, these are pieces I dare to dream about...

All Images Courtesy of 1st Dibs: 1 - Bottle Carrier, 2 - Side Table, 3 - Coat Stand, 4 - Daybed, 5 - Leather Tray Table, 6 - Magazine Rack, 7 - Magazine Table, 8 - Cabinet

Our Cabinet of Curiosities

I blog so often about cabinets of curiosity, it seems only fair to share my own...

Our petite cabinet of curiosities resides in the living room. The cabinet itself was a Craig's List find, purchased for $50 in Seattle, from a very kind woman helping her elderly friend downsize. I was so in love with the uncommon greige finish and elegant shape, I made Adam take an afternoon off to help me load it into a borrowed car, back down a perilous driveway, and inch it up our steep and narrow staircase. When we finally got it inside, I found a booklet full of neatly penned notes comparing bottles of scotch tucked into a drawer. Imagining that this might have been a little old lady's liquor cabinet still makes me giggle!

We've filled it with treasures, valuable for otherwise. Beautiful art books and vintage ephemera mingle  with found objects and natural oddities. Adam's collection of laboratory glassware stands next to 20 years worth of my beach-combing souvenirs. My alligator head grins from the second shelf, with a mouthful of foreign coins. The cabinet is home to items inherently beautiful and sentimental, like my Great-Grandmother's china teacup (or a vial of kitten teeth!)

I papered the back of the cabinet with pages from a tattered old Japanese & English dictionary: yet another layer of meaning for the curious observer.

How do you display your most prized belongings and mementos?

Ikea Style

There's something about Ikea that makes me want to fill myself with Swedish meatballs and fill my trunk with flatpack furniture. I'm not really one for primary colors, so it thrills me that the Ikea aesthetic seems to have matured over the years, embracing subtlety and traditional shapes. Look at all the goodies in the new catalogue!

The Närhet glasses for dessert wines, champagne, whites, & reds are a toast to sophistication.

The Gislev rug is a lot of graphic bang for only 20 bucks.

I can envision either of the new greige-stained Hemnes glass-door cabinets in my bedroom. 

Maybe to showcase a shoe collection?

I wonder if a clever crafter could customize the Florö slipcovered bedframe- perhaps with upholstery studs or ribbon trim?

The new catalogue also boasts some beautiful styling. As if I wasn't tempted enough by the low prices, they have to make everything look so magazine-fantastic.

This is exactly how a nightstand should look!

This is my favorite spread of all. The styling is so of-the-moment, and I love the over-shelf gallery. 

And look: curiosities!

Anyone else crushing on the new catalogue?

Projects

Whenever it's quiet on the blog, you can figure that things are buzzing in real life. In a few days we're headed to Hoopfest, where Adam and his tall athletic family will be playing basketball and getting tan, and I will be short, pale, and harping about sunscreen. Reeeeeeally looking forward to it.

I've got to get back to packing, but I thought I'd tantalize you with things to come.

A cabinet of curiosities...

and my mercantile-style china cabinet.

Back soon,

Elizabeth

Timeless Romance

Perhaps it's Valentine's Day approaching. Or I might be missing my fellah. Then again, maybe I'm just regretting my promise to said fellah to focus on more masculine decor in our home (oops)...

But oh, the frills and fuss in these images by Elizabeth Maxson just do me in.

Timeless.

Wonderful to the smallest detail. The knit trim reminds me of the shower curtain I've been hankering for.

Reminds me of the red doctor's cabinet that I found- but I adore this one in its chippy white finish.

Her styling is both luxurious and timeworn, like the pages of the classic novel you've read a thousand times: familiar yet treasured, fragile yet still utterly exhilarating. It's faded and romantic in the best way possible (as in, not in a Miss-Havisham's-moldy-wedding-cake kind of way).

I've been meandering through Elizabeth's blog, and I'm so impressed by how true she is to her aesthetic. Her staged shoots and her lovely boutique could be extensions of her own home. Her heirloom vignettes are a perfect backdrop for her vibrant personality- she's an inspiration to anyone trying to make their way in the world of design. Thanks for letting me share, Elizabeth!

Craig's List Christmas Wish List

One day after browsing through the bleak job postings in the Bay Area, I decided to cheer myself up with a quick dip into furniture for sale. Though nobody in California wants to employ me, they do want to sell me some excellent stuff.

First up, this gem- a Shiny Red Pharmacy Cabinet.  

No price, which signals that I should back away slowly, but my goodness, how lovely.

It reminds me of these cabinets from Mothology (and these from Restoration Hardware), which are definitely on my "someday, maybe" list.  

The Craig's List find has a much more appealing shape, but I'm not sold on the sporty finish- I prefer the raw and weathered look shown here. 

Certainly would make for a sassy liquor cabinet!

The seller of this antique Cast Iron Industrial Shelving was apparently entertaining reasonable offers- but not mine! Oh, misery! 

I hope he got his $395 asking price- what a deal.

Rotten luck that this one got away, as it would have been a great alternative to the unspeakably expensive Decker Bookshelf at Anthropologie.

The wheels make for practical kitchen storage, and it has a masculine edge and historical aura that would earn Adam's approval.

And lastly, this Wardian Plant Conservatory. Oh, my. I have a place for this in my heart, and also in a sunny corner of my Berkeley bedroom. I already have an elegant little plant mister and an orchid. Give me this, a sarcastic butler, and a British accent to match and I'm living in a Henry James novel. Yes please. Now let's have tea and feign aristocratic ennui. Yes please.

Only $250, quite a bit better than the retail price.

Sooooo... if anyone is really stumped about what to get me for Christmas this year, allow me to recommend a Craig's List gift certificate (also known as "cash").

In Limbo

Moving has just gotten as real as can be: on Monday we watched all of our earthly possessions rumble away on a truck. I anticipate being tense and worried until I'm reunited with my things on the 21st.

Okay. Nothing. Move.

For now we're squatting in our empty apartment, subsisting on take-out food, two suitcases, a twin-sized bed, and a 10" television manufactured in 1988. I take it back: this is as surreal as can be!

This apartment and this beautiful neighborhood will always be a fond memory for me- our little urban Eden where we were so happy. Our prelapsarian flat:

Our ever-changing decor, and our beloved curiosities.

The newest addition to our dining room, an Ikea Granemo cabinet.

The glass sliding doors are an excellent preventative measure against our feline saboteur.

Foiled again, eh Matilda?

Our living room, featuring a petite sofa from Former Furniture.

Our bathroom, staged for relaxation.

The best seat in the house: our sunporch, overlooking a lovely park.

In Memoriam, Our Wallingford Apartment

Things You Never Knew You Were Looking For...

Some of you may wonder, "how does she do it? How does ShockTheBourgeois reach into the black depths of Craig's List and, week after week, find a gleaming gem??"

Truth is, there isn't much magic to it... just a little method.

When I'm looking for something specific, I don't waste time wading through the mire of really, really gross furniture, but I also don't limit my search to the point where I'm missing things in the periphery. The key is thinking like a decor thesaurus. If I want an armoire, I'll search for that. I'll also run a search for a wardrobe, a chifferobe, a chiffonier, a closet, and a cabinet. I never limit my searches by price or location- because the seller of that $1,000 sofa could be so %*@#ing sick of it that they'll sell it to me for $150 and drop it off at my doorstep. You never know.

Of course, when I'm not looking for something specific, and I have, say, 15 minutes with no immediate obligations... woohoo, the rules are out the door! Using stream of consciousness search terms is like writing Dada poetry: sometimes you get gibberish, sometimes you get enlightened. (Uh-oh, is my English major showing?)

I pulled three random adjectives out a hat, and voila- poetry.

...Blue...

Feeling all kinds of blue: a sweet vintage floral framed in gold bamboo ($60.00), or an antique Romanian sideboard that I am totally dying to possess (but can't afford for $575.00).

...$40...

For the $40.00 burning a hole in your pocket: a vibrantly green mantle (that would kick ass in my bedroom with a new coat of gray paint... hmmm), an empty antique mirror, or a chartreuse bistro table.

...Industrial...

Perfect for that factory loft vibe: a rusty metal stool ($80.00), a stainless display cabinet circa 1969 ($1,675.00), or a pair of sculptural oxen yokes ($66.00- $74.00).

Match Made in... Sweden

Craig's List and I have a very healthy relationship, but I've got to come clean.  I've got a little thing on the side... with Ikea.

When I was tired of sleeping on a floored mattress, Ikea stepped up and sent me the Hemnes canopy bed.  When my life was a mess, Ikea picked up the pieces and neatly stashed them in a Helmer drawer unit.  Ikea, you've been there for me and my wallet.  

That being said, I think it's a little weird to get exclusive with Ikea.  Ikea has been around.  Everybody has Ikea.

So I've set some boundaries to avoid the cheap furniture catalogue look.  I try to avoid large or especially recognizable pieces, like the ubiquitous Expedit bookshelf or Lack side table.  When I do cheat and bring home a popular piece (a-hem, a-Hemnes...), I usually have a major Pretty Woman-esque make-over planned.  

It's a rarity for me to peruse the Ikea catalogue and see perfection instead of potential.  But here it is.  

Perfection = The Ikea Edland Series

Edland Dresser, Chest, and Dressing Table

The Edland Linen Cabinet

How do I love these?  Let me count the ways.  The slim, curving legs!  The smoky gray finish!  The beveled drawer fronts and mouldings!  The contrasting drop pulls!  The flat packages that will fit in my Ford Taurus!

And the best of the bunch?  The Edland Wardrobe.

Oh Edland!  We have so much in common- our love of French Provincial style, our obsession with keeping clothing neatly organized!  If you are anywhere near as handsome in person as you are online... I'd be a fool to not pledge $399 and my eternal love.