Before & After: Rast Hack

After taking care of some business online today, I decided to treat myself to a surf of my favorite design blogs and came across this amazing IKEA Rast hack by Kelly of Hello Boudreau via Jenny of Little Green Notebook. I can’t stop looking at the pics! This is, in my opinion, the best Rast hack I’ve seen yet.

Kelly started out with this…

…and ended up with this! Sweet, no?

Check out more pics of Kelly’s project at Hello Boudreau: Ikea Rast Hack. For extra credit check out more of Jenny’s picks for best Rast hacks at the top of her post.

Until next time!

Vintage Modern

Literally! I love when companies take an iconic product and truly update it for the modern user. Here are two stellar examples:

First:

Polaroid’s compact instant/digital camera, the Z2300. I love the race car model designations!

The Polaroid Z2300 (yes, them again) is an awesome instant/digital camera. How much fun would it be to have all the modern conveniences in a digital camera but still be able to make those cool old school instant prints that made the company famous? You can get the best of both worlds with this slick looking 10MP looker and at only $160, it isn’t going to break the bank.

Next up:

Seriously, Singer’s 160th Anniversary Limited Edition Computerized Sewing Machine made me swoon when I saw it. Thanks, Amazon!

This gorgeous sewing machine from Singer which takes it’s styling from the vintage turn of the 20th Century machines that started it all and upends it with a fully functional computerized interface. Let me tell you, this is WAY better looking than the boring white and blue machines that litter your local Joann’s. I’d go so far as to say this machine in sexay… If you can apply that term to a sewing machine!

Last but not least:

Michelle over at Sweet Suite 10 gave me a heads up on this one… At first I wasn’t feeling the flatter shape but I think it looks sportier, don’t you?

You can’t get more iconic than a classic Volkswagen Beetle, can you? There aren’t many people, whether they are 8 or 80, that don’t know this classic car from the shape alone. Well, for the new 2013 model they have stepped back even further to an earlier, slightly flatter body style but they’ve upped the ante with a LOT more power under the hood than ever before. I could see myself zipping through town in one of these, couldn’t you?

What’s your favorite new old design?

Thrift Store Score!

So, my sister calls me up and says that she was looking for free boxes on Craigslist and that she ran across a listing for a thrift store that was going out of business and was GIVING everything away. Yeah, you read that right. Well, I was still putzing around the house and she gave me exactly 20 minutes to get ready… Do I need to tell you that I was showered, dressed, and ready when she got here?

Anyway, we drive to the Renton Highlands and it’s two store fronts away from a St. Vincent De Paul (which are my favorite thrift stores on earth) and one away from a smallish JoAnn Fabrics (my favorite fabric and craft store in earth) but I digress…

When we got there half the store had been cleared out but my sis was able to get two carts full of clothes for her and her three youngest kids, including enough name brand and designer jeans for my eleven year old niece to be able to render her recent mall purchase obsolete.

I was not doing as well… I scored a few pairs of shoes and two handfuls of CDs (including HS fave Bros., Recoil, Cesaria Evora, Underworld, 808state, Erasure, Tom Petty & The Heart breakers, The Verve, and Handel’s Messiah) but I wasn’t finding something that said TAKE ME HOME! Until…

This retails for $205 on Artaissance… and I got it for FREE!

I was wandering in the very back of the store and saw a print pinned up to the wall. It was from Artaissance. It said that it was Breakfast Treats II by Carolyn Biggio. It was absolutely gorgeous, vibrant, large (at least 2’x3′), and… FREE! So, I snagged it.

Then, I found this silver or pewter bowl-y thing with a hole in the center. It has Hotel Sorrento engraved into the outside surface. Maybe it was a dome to go over a plate and it’s missing a piece or something? I don’t know. I just think it’ll look good on my desk.

Pretty sure I’d found all that I was going to at the going out of business place, I stepped over to St. Vincent De Paul while my sister shopped for more stuff at the first place and found this:

Found at St. Vincent de Paul: a $5 lamp. You can’t beat that!

Isn’t it sweet? I couldn’t pass up the texture and color. I’m not sure where it will go yet as I kind of love the brown lamp (that still hasn’t been projected) on my desk but I’m thinking that it may end up on the desk at some point. We’ll see!

So, overall today ended up being kind of a good day for me on the thrifting front. I mean I spent five bucks! It doesn’t get much better than that… unless you count the time that I got a vintage Henredon sofa for $35. But that’s another story!

Until next time…

Trying New Things

My sis got these chairs as freebies from her neighbor and she wants me to help her fix them up. Check out her post here:

Trying New Things.

I ran fabric paint by her:

Painted chair project via A Pinterest Addict.

And reupholstering with budget upholstery fabrics from IKEA:

Rosmarie at IKEA

Benzy Skepp at Ikea.

Premier Fabrics:

Newell in Stone/Denton at Premier Fabrics.

Barber in Stone/Denton at Premier Fabrics.

Or using Joann’s 40% off coupons to get some cool looking pleather:

Eaton Square Adrift at Joann’s.

Here’s another view of this style of chair (by complete coincidence, I pinned the exact chairs from a Craigslist ad a few months ago on Pinterest).

On my CL Treasure Hunt board on Pinterest.

I’m going to meet up with her on Friday to take a closer look at them (so far, I’ve only seen pics). I’m so excited! What would you do with these chairs?

Justin Timberlake + Estee Stanley

Designer Estee Stanley and musician, actor, fashion designer Justin Timberlake for their new home decor line, HomeMint.

I am a hardcore JT fan and I think it is beyond cool that he is (along with his interior designer Estee Stanley) launching a line of home decor items. They line will be available at HomeMint which is, from what I could see on the website, similar to One King’s Lane and other that offer specials to members.

The pictures at Elle Decor show a lot of blue items but there seemed to be some reds and other colors in the background of the website. I like what I saw at Elle Decor and I’m looking forward to seeing what else is available through the line.

The HomeMint collection will offer a selection of curated art, tabletop, kitchen, textiles, and accent furniture. Read the article on Justin and Estee’s inspirations and collaboration here. Sign up for HomeMint here.

Until next time!

Picnic Anyone?

I’m off work today so I decided to go through some magazines and catalogs that I’ve only skimmed over because I’ve been so busy with work and life stuff lately.

ACME Party Company's Picnic Basket for Four. (Image from House Beautiful via Design Scouting.)

This gorgeous picnic basket is in the market section of the April issue of House Beautiful. it is available through ACME Party Box Company starting at $150 depending on the options you choose (with or without a knife or two styles of glasses). I would totally love to own this… though I’m not sure how much use I’d get out of it. As much as I want to be a Martha Stewart type, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I probably am really not that domestic. So actually planning a picnic menu, packing it up, and then taking it and a few friends out for a spin is probably super far off the list of realistic things I would be doing in life. Especially enough to justify a over a hundred dollar price tag. Still, this picnic basket is just beautiful enough to make me dream of moving it up the list a bit. 🙂

Hope you’re enjoying your Wednesday. Until next time!

Pimp Your Patio

Yesterday I had a few minutes to spare while I waited for my sister after work. I walked around and checked the activities section at the end of the store (that’s where we put all the seasonal stuff) and textiles (only my favorite department in IKEA. It’s been about three months since I took a turn through the sections at any length and I figured by now there were some new things in… I wasn’t wrong! Here are some of the cool things I saw:

The Malin Lov pillow:

eclectic pillows design by furniture and accessories IKEA

The colors in this pillow are just amazing! I’m going to be picking up two or three of them… I’ll figure out what I’m going to do with them later!

The Hogsten chair:

This chair is cute and compact and would look really nice (and fit nicely too) on an apartment patio. There is a matching stool as well.

Pekannot plant pots:

I like the whitewashed color and the texture reminds of grasscloth a little bit (which I LOVE). I really want a couple of these too. The smaller one is $25 and the larger one is $39.

Anyway, that’s it for me today. I hope you all are having a happy Thursday. I’ll catch you next time!

The One That Got Away…

Dining room from Rue magazine (l) and chair currently for sale on Etsy (r).

I bought a desk not long after I returned to the Seattle area. It is a lovely CL find that I fell in love with as soon as I laid eyes on it. It needs some TLC and a nice desk chair to make feel less lonely.

So I searched and searched and somewhere along the way I had the brilliant idea that it needed to be a more modern chair, preferably with a brass finish… And I found this:

"Modern Glam Chair" from Gallivanting Girls on Etsy.

It’s brass. It’s modern. It’s beautiful. It’s also out of my part time job price range at $180. I resign myself to the fact that I’m probably going to be a wish monster galore on this one…

A couple of weeks later, I head over to Rue Magazine and lo, and behold! There is this swank little room with not one but two of those very perfect chairs. They are chrome (and not brass) but still the lovely modernist shape and with better fabric to boot.

Dining space from the February 2012 issue of Rue Magazine.

Someone out there is like me and wants this chair badly. They saw that spread in Rue too… And they can’t get their mind off of the beauty and perfection of those chairs. They want them and they’ve been searching but they can’t find them. Well, at last here it is. Solo, yes… but one is better than none. Grab it while you can. 🙂

Color Full

A kitchen by stylist Lo Bjurulf in brilliant multicolor hues.

Spring is on the way… and I find myself looking at more vibrantly colored things for around the home. I seem to be on a kitchen kick though! So here are some pretty, colorful things to brighten up your home this spring:

These plates are very perky! I bet, if the colors here aren’t to your tasete, this this could be a fun DIY with some thrift store plain janes and a couple of bottles of Pebeo Porcelaine 150:

Chevr-on a Roll Plate at Modcloth.com.

Now, these appliances are seriously making me long for a new toaster! Whoever thought to break out of plain, boring stainless steel land is a genius!

Delonghi kMix Collection appliances. (Photo via threetwentyeight.com)

I’ve never been a fan of those horrid looking flat magnets that you get from the dentist, the local pizzeria, or your vet. You know, bad graphics? Worse slogans? I always thought that if you’re going to bother to decorate your kitchen, why not decorate down to the details? I mean, who says that magnets can’t be pretty too? I think these beautiful gems from Pigeon Toe Ceramics fit the bill nicely.

Facets magnets by Pigeon Toe Ceramics.

I have an insanely irrational love for cute kitchen lines, so these just make me super happy!

Houndstooth Tea Towel by Avril Loretti on Etsy.

If you don’t feel like buying something new for your kitchen you could always make something… Got old wooden spoons, laying around that could use some jazzing up? Then this colorful DIY is for you:

DIY spoon project from A Little Bit Funky.

I hope you all are having an awesome weekend… see you next time!

Love List

Here are some of the things I totally loved this week:

Penguin Classics has reissued books by F. Scott Fitzgerald with the snazzy, jazz age inspired covers designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. I found out about them by reading the SpaceSays blog. There are six in all; you can find them on amazon.co.uk.

I was introduced to Help Remedies by Moo Cards. Their philosophy is to make taking medicine as simple and uncomplicated as possible. To that end they offer medications for common problems in straightforward, biodegradable packaging, each with only one active ingredient, and with short easy to read text explaining what you’d take it for. Right now they have about 7 products and a portion of every sale goes to charities for children in need of medical care.

Speaking of Moo… They are an awesome outfit that gives anyone the tools they need to brand themselves with business cards, postcards, stickers, and labels. Their printing service offers something they call Printfinity, which allows the user to have a different image or design on each card in the order. Too add value to the easy to customize products they offer is the fact that it’s super inexpensive – prices start at $19.99/100 cards (shipping is extra… but reasonable). Bonus points for checking out how this crafter uses Moo to distinguish her brand.

Also, I’ve become more active on Pinterest. I’ve been signed on for a while but I’ve never really used it because of the whole Android phone as computer thing I’ve had going on for the last year or so. I recently found a third party app that lets me upload pics to my boards, so I’m having lots of fun with that!

I think I figures out part of the trouble with my images. So finally, a complete post for you… years later. Hopefully, it’ll be a long time before I have this kind of issue again. See you Monday with a new media review. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!