Monday, June 23, 2014

All Tiled Up!

Greetings from the land of Hollywood!

This next post was influenced because we are in the process of remodeling our master bathroom and I was dragged (willingly) around town by our interior designer, Rick. 
When we were faced with this remodel I thought our designer, would take me to the hardware store and tell me to pick something.

Then it occurred to me, tiling a wall or choosing the right tile for your home doesn't mean you have to settle for what's on offer at your local hardware store. You will be surprised at the deals you can get for not that much more at a tile design showroom. Besides getting a great deal on last season's tile you can also find bigger selections on colors, styles and sizes.

Showroom after showroom after showroom. Everything looks so good all shiny and new and creatively displayed, and the grout (joint seal between tiles) so clean and perfect. I try and not get too sucked into the "I want that one" just because it looks great in the showroom. Then you take it home and it looks completely off!

We are going for glass tiles by Ann Sacks sleek, elegant and clean. Did you know you can take home tiles samples? This allows you to see the colors and tile in your home's light and it will look much different than under the elegant showroom lights.

Here's what I think when it comes to tiling:
  • Get creative
  • Don't hold back
  • Invest in tile spacers
  • Grout comes in a variety of colors!
  • Show your personality!


So without further ado, below are some beautiful tile ideas to hopefully inspire.




















Rock n Roll tile!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Digging for Antiques!

Hi Folks, what a week and end. I had to finish making some Macrame Planters to be sold at my friends store, visited my friends amazing apartment (another future post), attended BBQ's and went antiquing over the weekend.  

When I went over to my friend Yasi's apartment the other week, she had all this cool stuff, lamps, benches, knick knacks of all sorts of neat stuff that she attained all from one place.
Yasi tells me about a store she stumbled upon while she was looking for props for her work. 
Firstly, I was sold on the benches, and needed one for our outdoor space, so that was pretty much a deal maker. Secondly, I wanted to get brightly colored bottles and glassware to put flowers, succulents and display them in and around the house. 

After a bit of planning we set out for a Sunday antique vintage store hunt. With the rival, Rose Bowl Flea market also going on we had a sure shot no one would be thrifting. EEEEEERRRR WRONG! The store isn't open on Sunday...

What do we do now? Call the owner and boom! Store is opened just for us. Keep in mind I wasn't going to waste a man's time. I dove right in and started rummaging through what seemed like an endless mound of hoarding.
Yasi did forewarn me that I would get filthy and the store was not organized in any particular order. She wasn't wrong. This place definitely makes you work hard to find anything!
Piles and piles of books, bowls, dolls, bottles, statues...
There was a lot of digging and sifting through stacks and stacks of random things. It was incredible. 

10 minutes into our hunt, Yasi and I had our little piles gathered. Everything covered with a dusty film, but you could tell what we accumulated would look great with a little elbow grease and a bath. Like a fool I did not take photos.

It occurred to me that I had come specifically to get a bench, but had my focus diverted to everything else other than. So I told Carlos (the owner) and he brought me to another location two doors down that wasn't open to the public. He had larger pieces, statues, daybeds, bed frames, more glassware and mix matched dinner sets. It was a maze of odds and ends piled high untouched and covered in dust.

My glory moment was when I stopped to take a third maybe forth last look before solidifying the deal. I took one last look at the shelves of cobweb tangled bottles and spotted these genie like silhouettes, I could tell they were orange, but didn't know for sure. I climbed over a chair hitched a foot on a create and managed to reach the two bottles and gently bring them to my final stack of treasures.

Not many things had prices, you could tell that a while ago they had some sort of system and it just vanished over time. 
So, the more you gathered the better your deal will be? 
Nothing I grabbed had a price tag, so I was expecting to get a "gulp" moment. Yasi and I struck a deal with Carlos, and after four hours of hunting, digging and climbing piles of dirt encrusted and dusty who-knows-what fighting cobwebs the size of a ball of yarn and weird funky smells it was all worth it.

We came to a $500 hand shake deal for the lot. Yasi and I went halves and hope we made Carlos' Sunday worth while. 

The trip home felt like it took forever.
Have you ever gotten that feeling, when you're so excited about what you just purchased and can't wait to get it home. Yeah I was like that. Just like a kid on Christmas morning.

I unwrapped all my goodies as soon as I got home, dunked them in a soapy bath and polished them off. I haven't figured out where I will put most of the stuff. But I'm content with just staring at them in our living room for now.

Here's what I scored: Blenko Genie bottles in Tangerine, Viking glass table lighter, Murano Glass ash tray, Amber depression Diamond cut decanter, Wheaton glass bitters bottle, Joan Lea Blackamoor girl figurine, French blue glass, 70's Avon red glassware, giant Abalone shells, vintage wood pieces.

Above: My Blenko decanters cleaned and polished.
Below: Other collectable Blenko glass. Pic from the Blenko Museum NYC

 Above: Joan Lea Blackamoor figurine
Below: Wheaton bitters bottles

 Above:Polished and ready to go!
Below: Viking Glass table lighter in mint condition.

 Above and Below: Murano glass ashtray.

 Above and Below: Assorted finds from my hunt! 

All in all I had a great day and got to hang out with my lovely friend! 

Rock 'N' Roll hunting!

Friday, May 30, 2014

Wall Eyed!

Hi there! Nice to be back after being on the road over the Memorial Day weekend... Lots of inspiration and ideas have sprouted in my mind, it's hard to keep up.

Over the past week I have been inspired to create my own 'feature wall'. 
I've always wanted to have a graphic feature wall. Something with texture, print or pattern.

I think I have figured out where my graphic wall will be, but I will sit on it for a bit until I am absolutely, 100% sure! It's going to be a pretty big and tedious project. So with that in mind, I need sure on my style, colors and graphic.

Some inspirational walls to gander over!
























Rock and Wall!