What a Shock

I just received an email alerting me to a foreclosed home auction in Southern California from the Los Angeles Times.



Unsolicited*.

How sad.


*I'm signed up for access to their paper online, but still...

Down Savannah Way

Better Homes & Gardens, November 2006

Artist Katie Runnel's Savannah, GA home is a mixture of flea market items, antiques, family hand-me-downs and discount store items. (Hmmm, sounds familiar once you scratch that antiques part) This magazine feature on her Georgia home was written in 2006, she now lives in Columbia, South Carolina.

An obvious love of bird imagery is expressed in her artwork and collections, from the wall sculptures to salt and pepper shakers.



Her palette of colors; harvest gold and olive green, is highly individual and not influenced by a trend. I LOVE this home and apologize for just now sharing it.





Click to see details

This is the story that got me into checking out Better Homes & Garden magazine. I now flip through the pages at the newsstand every month. Features like these along with their incredibly delicious sounding and easy to make recipes make this perhaps another magazine you should consider giving a new look.

I just discovered that Katie has a wonderful site for her art and a blog full of inspiration at The Constant Gatherer.

UPDATE: She is guest blogging on Design*Sponge this week while Grace is on her honeymoon.

Images: November 2006 issue of Better Homes and Garden

Angel's Other Space to Dwell

A year ago I wrote about stylist Angel Dormer's old, old apartment here. What I did not mention is that she saw (!) my post and sent me a sweet email. I would have written about that sooner but I then sent her a follow-up email asking if she would talk about that apartment, in a sort of retroactive SHELTER Study. She had also been featured in for a more current apartment. With this space she gained some more square feet as opposed to her former studio; however, her newer space was still quite small. I wanted her to compare the growth of her style and her obvious affinity for smaller spaces. Sadly, I never heard from her again.

Adorable Angel Dormer

So, I'm going to show you those pictures of that more recent place too since I had saved them for that post. It's a little more modern than my usual taste but it's color use still appeals to me. Enjoy.





Bedroom in a closet

A peek at the kitchen

Images: H&G magazine, New York magazine

Shelter giveaway winners!

I generated the winners on Random.org at 12:10 PM Tuesday afternoon, April 21, 2009.

1st number: 2 - Marcy

2nd number: 8 - Antoinette

Congrats!!!

Ladies, all you have to do now is send your mailing information to me at metamorphpursuit(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Yay, I am no longer a giveaway v*rgin!

Excellent Advice at Any Time

While I loved the original WWI slogan and image, this cheeky update on the message really speaks to me. I mean, who can be panicky and stressed out while contemplating a luscious cupcake?

Available from the Everyday is a Holiday shop on Etsy.

Domino Giveaway Extended!

Hey, I've decided to extend the book giveaway deadline to Tuesday at Noon. So if you haven't left a comment on this post, go and do it now!

Creative Home Makeover

I love Better Homes & Gardens' special publication magazines like Creative Home and my saved copies of the now defunct Budget Style (each and every issue was worth keeping!) I want to share with you a favorite inspiration story from Creative Home. It was part of a reader room makeover. The designer Jenni Hipplewi took the reader from white walls and beige furniture to a blast of pattern and color. If I can translate this makeover to my apartment I will be a very happy woman. Using a bright and varied palette of green, orange, and blue, the decor would definitely fit in here. The furniture was recovered with brighter fabrics in multiple patterns and textures. Then more color and pattern was brought in through small amounts of bold decorator fabrics on accessories and two different paint colors on the walls. Then the artwork was created using a computer software program, PaintByNumbers (already featured here.) Ingenious idea #2 (#1 being the computer generated artwork) was covering an unwanted chandelier with a huge homemade drum shade. This is a great temporary way of dealing with this if you do not want to repaint it. The brightly painted cabinets are lined with coordinating patterned paper

Fearing The Loss

Sometimes I experience a strong fear that people will continue to buy cute little houses simply because they can get them cheap just so they can remodel the heck out of them or demolish them altogether so that none of the little details remain. I'm scared that quaint little houses like these will no longer exist where I choose to live when I finally have the money to buy me one.

Here are a few that I've saved for inspiration:


Richmond, VA and a mystery location


Austin, TX and a mystery location


Arlington, VA and New Orleans, LA


Hampton, VA and Richmond, VA

NOTE: Don't forget about the giveaway!

Images: CVRMLS; I don't have sources for the next three pictures. The last four photos were taken by me.

Ta Da, a Teal Tub and Toilet!

Before I read this whole post (via Retro Renovation) I got so excited. Oh, to have a teal blue toilet and tub set!

Alas, this wonderous place, brokenbog, is located in Surrey, England.

* In this cropped photo, the colors and shapes remind me of Russel Wright American Modern dinnerware.

Giveaway!

Still missing Domino magazine like I am?

Well, two lucky readers of my blog will receive a brand new copy of Domino's The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy.

Just let me know in the comments if there was a particular Domino story that influenced a specific design purchase or project in your own home?

I'll be picking the winners on Friday, probably using random.org.

Um...Is This Thing On?

Hellllooo?



Anyone out there? Well, I hope you are because very soon I will be asking you a few questions and I hope to find out that someone is reading this blog besides me.

Oh, and if I have to bribe you (Hint: giveaway coming on Monday!) to hear from you, well, okay then.

Fools rush in...

This weekend I picked up a copy of Country Living magazine, which drew me in with its The Big Bargain Issue cover line. Flipping through it, the content and feel of the magazine seemed different. Of course while flipping through it I kept racking my brain trying to remember if this magazine was still in business or should I just back away from the magazine before I got my heart broken again.

In fact, the reason the magazine looks and feels different is that they got a new editor-in-chief and guess who it is?

Sarah Gray Miller!

Yes, THAT Sarah Gray Miller, founder of a little mag called Budget Living, the very first magazine that ended up crushing my little heart.

So SGM,** (yes, first name basis here) I expect a lot from you and your team. I like what I see so far, so I'll definitely be checking in.

Some of the treats I found in this issue:

Sweeps to win this specialty quilt kit on pg. 18
The 4th CL Women Entrepreneurs conference on pg. 23
DIY projects using discarded objects and furniture on pp. 67, 78, 80, and 86
Food "Just like Mom used to make" on pg. 134
Glorious gingham, pg. 122

So go out and "Help A Mag Today," by purchasing it on the newsstand, as those seem to be the only sales that really count!

* Don't worry, I won't be subscribing. I'll buy it on the newsstand, just so I can keep them in business.
** By the way, is she wearing a Wiksten Tova shirt in her editor-in-chief portrait?

Things that make you say...

What!?

"On November 25, 2008, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Louisiana State University announced the selection of the Mid-City neighborhood for the site of their new hospitals. The new hospitals would needlessly destroy the historic neighborhood around Charity Hospital, where residents have been rebuilding and restoring their community since Hurricane Katrina."

"the plans for new construction call for the demolition of some 200 homes and buildings constructed prior to 1880 in 25 blocks of an adjacent National Register Historic District, despite the existence of a largely vacant site nearby."


What were they possibly thinking?

This is not a completely devastated neighborhood. This is one trying very hard to get back on its feet.

Please check out the Save Mid-City page on the National Trust For Historic Preservation's website for more information and links to how you can help. Thank you.

This Place Matters...

is both the theme of this year's Preservation Month in May and also a photo-sharing campaign in which people post photos of themselves with the places that they hold important. Initiated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, they have now decided to move the program to Flickr, so that they can increase its reach and impact. From family homes, neighborhood schools, and old gas stations to vintage movie theaters, here is your chance to beam a spotlight on a favorite. By sharing those photos, you/we can spread the word and get even more people involved in the preservation movement.


The steps are super easy:

• Have a photo taken at your favorite place making sure that someone in the photo holds up the This Place Matters sign.


• Upload your photo and short story (if desired) at www.preservationnation.org/thisplacematters


• Tell your family and friends to view your special place online and of course, submit their own places.

Please join and spread the word. The more people involved increases the amount of people aware of the importance in saving the places that matter to us all.

Would you like to win FREE design services?

Who wouldn't?



Dwellings by Mail, based in San Francisco, looks like a great way for renters and homeowners to utilize professional design services for their home without the expense of full-service design services. Their consultations are done via email, fax, telephone, and postal service; so you can live anywhere.

I love these types of services for the cost and the convenience. You receive a detailed idea board, a space plan, shopping guide, and fabric & finish swatches of their ideas. From there you can choose according to your personal tastes and budget what to take from it and what to leave, if anything. Also since all items suggested by the designer are just suggestions, if you find a similar piece at a lower or higher price, then it's up to you to choose. They basically open your eyes to the possibilities in your rooms that you may not have been able to see.

Well, if that didn't already sound great; for the month of April, the company is offering a free Dwellings By Mail room makeover package! Since their services normally start at around $300, this is a truly incredible deal.

They just need a little bit of information from you, so check their blog Domicile House for more contest information. Good luck!

ThinkGeek?

I was sent a link to this by a coworker earlier this week. Check it out and then come back. So of course, as a means to goof off for a bit I checked out the rest of the site. Some of their items I've seen highlighted other places (like the All Edges Brownie pan) but ThinkGeek truly has some cool and inexpensive items for use and decoration in your home.



The Ice Orb Icemaker. I saw this a while ago and really thought about getting it. Though just like salt (outside of use in recipes) I don't use ice anymore at home. But if I did, this would be the way to go. They are easy to get to and when not in use easily contained. It also can be used as a wine holder/chiller. Sounds good to me.



And of course they are the distributer of the Dough-Nu-Matic, one of the most appetizing machines yet. First there was the Easy Bake oven and now there is this, a maker of deep-fried-mini-cakes. This is a bit more pricey at $120, but then how much is the potential of a fresh hot doughnut per minute worth to you?

Do they know me or what?

Have you tried the Sproost quiz?

It was right on the money concerning me, so you should go check it out:

50% Rustic Revival
You can take kid out of the country but you can't take the country out of the kid... or is your theme "you can take the kid out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the kid?".

Either way you play it, you are one of the unique individuals who loves a mix of modern and country. The clean lines of the modern softened by rustic/vintage elements is the perfect mix in your mind. And can we blame you? You've taken the best aspects of two popular designs and mixed them in a manner that appeals to young and old alike. A subtle background of white or light colors provides a nice canvas for all the wonderful flea market, eBay, or garage sale finds as well as the classic modern pieces that you love.

50% Cottage Chic
Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you!

You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?