This is an oversimplification, but here goes. Andy's brain in a thrift store: "Can I sell it?" Karen's brain in a thrift store: "Will it fit?" I am way more packratty than Andy is. I love my collections of ceramic animals and paint-by-numbers. Andy would sell anything he has if he thinks he can make some money.
Luckily, even though our favorite home decor styles can be divergent (Him: Brady Bunch. Me: 1940s cozy cabin in the woods), we are usually in agreement when it comes to decorating the house. (It helps that we are both definitely fans of mid-century modern.)
We've found some good stuff lately. Not that we need it. But we sold Andy's Eames lounger earlier this year, so there has been kind of a hole in the living room to fill. Andy brought home this great red lacquer-top folding table from an estate sale. I found the globe and the cute little enamelware Kaj Franck Arabia Finel enamel mushroom bowl while we were thrifting.
The white Eames Herman Miller bucket chair was meant to be sold. But then I saw the photo at the beginning of this How-To in the Etsy Storque blog and decided we should keep it. Andy didn't put up much of a fight--we both love Herman Miller chairs, and we already have orange and yellow bucket and shell chairs in the kitchen.
(The pillow is from Ikea, by the way, and I see it all the time as part of the styling of shoots in magazines and whatnot. It has also turned up on TV. It is a total fame whore, that pillow.)
Sorry the above photo is blurry, but I love the look of the blues of the globe and vase (from KleinReid in Brooklyn, a gift from a wonderful friend when I left NYC 10 years ago) against the red lacquer of the table. I so love this color combination that I'm thinking we should paint the floor of our aqua-walled bathroom red until we get the tiles laid. It could be horrifying, but I'm a risk-taker. (My mom always liked to do our bathrooms in tacky wallpaper. I guess that's the "go wild" room in my family. Hm, that sounds weird.)
When I picked up the mushroom bowl at the thrift, Andy pointed out it was chipped at the edges. But I loved it--all those cute little black-and-white mushrooms--and being a Scandinavian-phile (?), the "Made in Finland" on the base grabbed me. And now I've seen on the internets all the wonder that is Finel Arabia and I want to collect it all.
Not to mention, greatest thing of all--Finel Arabia makes MOOMINTROLL PRODUCTS!!! I now require a set of Little My mugs or highball glasses.
xo
k
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Is that a vase in the far right in the picture of the globe? Whatever it is, I want it!
ReplyDeleteHi, Ms. B! Yes, it's a KleinReid C-Thru vase. Here is their website: http://www.kleinreid.com/html/portfolio.html
ReplyDeleteOk so somehow you have inspired two bathroom stories from the past in a row out of me. First the green shag carpet and mushrooms and now the bat cave. The BAT CAVE!
ReplyDeleteMy Mom hired a women she knew to "faux" paint the guest bath in their house. I have never understood the term faux painting because HEY! You are PAINTING it... right? SO where is the faux part comin'in? Anyway... my Mom leaves this woman to her painterly work and goes to her office for the day. She comes home that night to find a black, brown, purple and green swirled wallscape complete with splashes of metallic gold paint in her bathroom. It was straight up nuts to look upon I tell ya. We laughed ourselves sick. The best part is my Mom ended up leaving it that way for years. It was such fun to see what sort of reaction newcomers had to the bat cave. The best was our friend David who is an old school gay guy (an interior decorator)in his 60's. He literally started howling like a deranged wolf the first time he went in that bathroom. And every time after that I think too.
So yeah! Paint your bathroom crazy! Why not? It's dumb fun.
Bethany, you have the best bathroom stories. I have to say, that paint job sounds kind of awesome! When my mom brought home wallpaper sample books I always lobbied for the silver or gold foil ones with velvet flocking.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know what the faux "faux" painting is, either!
Karen... I totally had purple flocked wallpaper in my bedroom when I was a kid... complete with silver foil background. I think we may have been separated at birth.
ReplyDeletemy husband always points out the flaws in vintage pieces, which is sort of strange as he is not at all that critical about other things in the same way. why can't they see all the potential behind the torn seams, chipped edges and battered finishes??!
ReplyDeleteBethany--I think we totally were! My mom wouldn't let me have the foil/flocked wallpaper. I am jealous. :)
ReplyDeleteM--I know! What is that all about? I'm usually relieved to find something really cool that has a flaw. Then there's less stress over whether I can keep/should sell it.
I'm catching up on lots of missed posts right now, but had to stop and comment on this one. I'm a total sucker for the red/aqua combo, too. We have a KleinReid vase (a wedding gift from my sister) in that very shade of blue, and it looks amazing on top of a red vintage cart that we picked up in New York years ago. I love the way you describe your approach vs. Andy's when it comes to shopping!
ReplyDeleteS--I love that we both have design-y pieces of NYC in our homes. :)
ReplyDelete