Category — Design & Decor

Just an update on a recent post about tea cup pendant lights. By a twist of fate I happened to be in San Francisco this weekend at the Renegade Craft Fair and spotted them in person. I must say they are really cool and if I had the right space for them I totally would have bought a few. I live in an apartment so I can’t get too crazy with the lighting.

And speaking of the Renegade Craft Fair, definitely check it out when it comes to your area. Renegade started out in Chicago, featuring artists in the new modern craft movement, and has since branched out to Brooklyn and San Francisco. These are not lacy, frilly, country kitchen type of crafts. The ideas are modern, innvoative, and fun. All the artists have websites, etsy stores, and blogs and many have managed to make the jump to full-time careers creating their handmade goods.

It was very cool to see artists I’ve stumbled upon on the web and get to chat with them. I was also impressed with how many artists are creating goods from recycled materials or finding new uses for old items. I could have walked away with many MANY items but I settled on two. My first acquisition were earrings from artist, Anna, who creates new modern pieces from vintage items. Then I found collage artist Lorena Siminovich of Petite Collage, whom I’ve admired on the web through sources like Design Sponge and Amy Ruppel. She uses vintage papers to create her graphic pieces. I bought a collage of an owl and bird that’s so sweet. I really wanted to purchase a piece from Figs & Ginger, who make jewelry from recycled metals, but darn it, she was sold out of most of her stuff by the time I was there on Sunday.

Renegade takes place once a year in Brooklyn, San Francisco, and the originator Chicago. Last chance to catch the fair this year will be September 13th and 14th in Chicago.

I saved this photo and now can’t remember where I found it, but I just love this fabulous disco stair idea. Here’s an easy way to really make a statement with your staircase. I like the mix of the mirrored tiles against the wood rail and wall frame to the right, totally unexpected and fun. Edgy vs. classic decor, love it! I realize this post veers a little off topic for this blog but I just really liked it and wanted to post it for you. I’ll justify it by categorizing as a “simple” but fabulous idea.

Here’s a fun, whimsical idea along the same lines of yesterday’s post. Now please don’t do this to your grandmother’s beautiful heirloom china, but how many of us have hit up the garage and estate sales and purchased those retro 50s and 60s tea cups. I HAVE, and I still drink tea and coffee out of my big Crate & Barrel mugs. Saw these today on Apartment Therapy and wanted to share it because I just thought they were so darn cute!

I am more of a clean and contemporary decor style person, but I don’t like my place to feel cold or austere. I like to throw in ethnic and natural elements to soften a modern look. I could see these used in a modern kitchen as pendant lights over an island or bar to throw a little personality into the design yet they are simple enough to blend well with modern design.

Tea light pendants created by domestic-construction.com.

Before you buy that new decorative vase on impulse at Target, dig through your cabinets and see if you can maybe turn some servingware you never use into useful organizational and decorative objects.

I have two pieces of glass servingware from Crate & Barrel, featured in my lovely pictures. (Sidenote: I need to learn how to take better pictures of glassware with a flash - not much natural light in my place.) I worked there years ago and accumulated a ton of C&B stuff. I’ve since sold much of it in my move across country. It’s not that I don’t love my Crate & Barrel goods, cuz I do, I think they’re way better than Pottery Barn and better prices. I just needed to lighten my belongings.

I didn’t want to part with these two pieces, one, because I like them, and two, cuz I used them quite frequently when I used to entertain. I figured they would become useful again. So for the time being, since I’m not doing much entertaining I decided to pull them out and make other use out of them in my living room. The divided dish (top photo) I am currently using as a valet for random items. And the chip and dip (above) is displaying my collection of rocks from beaches around the world. I’m happy to finally have them out on display. (Another sidenote: natural materials are great for decorative accessories and free!)

My pics don’t really do them justice, but they look great and I’m quite happy I didn’t spend any money!

Thanks to my lovely reader Benjy, here’s an alternative (photo above) to the $480 Talak desk lamp by Artemide I posted last week. Benjy’s alternative, the Stilo Desk Lamp, is available on Lightology. It’s a similar design and look, not quite as slim, but nice design nonetheless, and it’s $121, much more reasonable.

It’s been a week of stumbling upon cool and slim lamps. I found these beautiful prototype lamps (photos below) on Coolhunting. Can’t wait to see what the future brings in lighting design. There is so much innovation in lighting today. The “S-Lights” by Portuguese designer, Lutz Pankow, were showcased at New York’s annual “International Contemporary Furniture Fair” otherwise known as ICFF. They were part of an exhibit of emerging designers, and their prototypes, who yet to have manufacturing. Coolhunting has a nice write up on the designer and features of the slim engineering. Using magnets, Lutz Pankow is able to keep the hardware to a minimum. Interesting stuff.