my own irreverent sanctuary...

yesterday i finally got around to wandering around my house with a camera and taking some pictures of my own little sanctuary. on one hand i'm proud to show it off because i love it, and on the other hand i'm slightly self conscious because i've been posting pictures of interiors that are so brilliantly and creatively done, and now mine will be juxtaposed with those. oh well. visit the full tour of my home, complete with captions, here.

my house, like my life, is always a little joyfully messy- i know i'm never going to have one of those houses with every surface bare and gleaming. on the other hand, i try not to own too many things that i have to put in storage- either it's beautiful and meaningful and out on display, or i try to let it go.

the first picture is of my desk & workspace, which i adore. i brought the tapestry home from india in 2005, and for several years i kept it carefully in storage, not wanting to use it because it's handmade and delicate. consciously working to get out of that mindset, i brought it out and put a crude frame behind it, and now i use it as a rotating display of favorite cards, pictures and ephemera.

the second two shots are of my living room; each piece of furniture has a story behind it, & as time goes by i'll try to share each of them.

this is the view over the room divider in my bedroom. it's one of those rooms that i don't feel done with, and am not sure that i ever really will. i like the elements- i was going for a light, airy, calm feel, like sleeping in a cloud. unfortunately i think it feels more bare than cloud-like, and i'm not sure yet exactly how to better it. it's also the hardest space to keep reasonably clean. lesson learned from this room: never put the laundry hamper in the furthest corner from the door- put it as close to where clothes are removed as possible, so as to increase the chances of clothes actually ending up inside, instead of on the floor.

i do have some successes, however, and my jewelry tree is one of them. when my jewelry lived in a box, i either didn't wear it or i wore the same earrings or necklace for weeks at a time. now, i actually wear something different every day.


i took this last picture while sitting in the overstuffed chair where i do almost all of my work, study, & online play. if you're wondering, i don't pose hampton- he just sneaks his way into all these shots. *sigh*... i love it here...

behind the scenes...

last night, i was channel surfing and landed on mtv's real world. i remember finding this show a rather guilty pleasure when i was much younger. today, the show itself seems pretty silly, but whoever decorated the DC house they're living in gets a medal from me. all i request is that you try to ignore the intended subjects of these pictures and focus on the fabulousness that is behind them... my favorite thing in the whole house is this yellow wallpaper above dark lilac wainscoting with white trim. here's a closeup of same.

also love this wall (and here) that's somehow both jammed with frames but restrained at the same time.

since the house is in washington d.c., there are some rooms that are pretty over the top fourth of july themed, but this coin mosaic seems to me patriotic yet tasteful.

this living room & fireplace just made my day. (see it from other perspectives here and here). i am going through an intense lilac/periwinkle/french lavender phase, and this room just seems to exemplify a style i'm trying to learn: elegant yet playful, light and open yet cozy. i read something today about how the modernists' motto was "less is more," and the post modernists' motto was "less is a bore." love it.

in the episode i watched, there was a lot of drama about various people using the phone too much, tying up the line, etc etc. if i had a little phone nook that looked like this, there would be no drama- there would be nothing but peace and harmony and joy, even during conversations with tech support people. (yes, that's scenic wallpaper- see it more clearly here and here)

finally, i'm thinking that this greek alphabet wallpaper would be cheeky and perfect in a nursery...

freecycle party...

two halloweens ago, we threw what in my humble opinion was the most fabulous party of all time. (i'll let you be the judge of whether i get out much...) in the backyard was a low-key halloween party: we bought loads of pumpkins, borrowed sharp knives from neighbors, and, fueled by a little keg of pumpkin beer, held a very competitive pumpkin carving contest. i don't remember all the entries, but there was a great sarah-palin-o'lantern, an impressive carving of the l.a. dodgers logo, and a hilariously disgusting sick-o'lantern, with x's for eyes and a mouth spewing pumpkin innards.

meanwhile, a secondary party was going on in the garage: a freecycle party! we asked everyone we invited to go through their belongings and box up and bring those items they didn't want, need, or use anymore. for example, in my case, i often have things that i don't use anymore, or that i even actively want to give away, but i'm not yet ready to drop them into that dark anonymous hole that is the thrift store drop off. when i still have a connection to something, or it has some sentimental value, i want to first try to find a home for it with someone i know. perhaps this is a disguised unwillingness to really let go, but i don't really care- if i can ease the process of downsizing for myself, i'll do it.

so, in preparation for the party, we arranged blankets and tapestries on the garage floor, and as people arrived, they unloaded the bags & boxes they'd brought onto the floor. people brought a great array of fun stuff to give away: dishware, pots & pans, frames, games, clothes, a working tv, books, appliances, etc. by the time everyone arrived, the garage looked like a thrift store, and throughout the course of the evening people would go rummage through and take things they wanted- basically it was like shopping for free. i ended up finding a fabulous stovetop cappucino maker that i use to this day, and so many of my things were able to find happy new homes.

after everyone left, there was still a ton of stuff in the garage, so we boxed everything up, put it out on the driveway, and called salvation army the next day to come pick it up. it was every bit the success i'd hoped, and i wanted to share the idea with all of you. it's a fun way to shed stuff before a move or after a big spring cleaning, and i'll take any excuse to throw a party...

dream decor...

a few years after we graduated from college together, my friend lalena called me out of the blue and said, "emily, i had the coolest dream about you last night. you had a giant closet, the size of a room, and your clothes & shoes & everything were just perfectly organized & beautifully hung around the walls, like a boutique. the best part was that you had a bunch of mannequins placed around the room, and whenever you were in a creative, stylish mood you would assemble amazing outfits on them, & then in the mornings you would have fully fabulous outfits all prepared without having to think about it..."

well, let's just say that her dream became mine; someday i'm determined to have a boudoir just like she described, a room that just reeks with femininity and indulges every vanity i have. i'm thinking pure white flokati all over the floor, and a clawfoot bathtub filled with gorgeous silky pillows next to a silver table stacked with design and fashion magazines. i'm envisioning an entire section of wall dotted with funky knobs and hooks for jewelry, belts, hats, & scarves. oh, and i'd like it to be a round room, at the top of a little turret, with stairs leading up to a private rooftop patio...

a girl can dream, right? another friend of mine ended up buying a secretary desk because she saw it in a dream, fitting perfectly in her kitchen. i'd love to hear more stories about people being similarly inspired or solving design dilemmas through dreams; if you have one, please share!

house crush: anahata katkin, ashland, oregon

last may i was with my family up in ashland, oregon- we go every year for the oregon shakespeare festival. the town has the most fun and unusual little boutiques you've ever seen, and it was in one of them that i came across my first anahata katkin piece. anahata is the creative force behind the increasingly popular (and deservedly so) company papayaart, which sells cards, magnets, wall hangings, etc...

i bought the piece in the boutique without a moment's hesitation, and ever since have been just in love with the wild exuberance that characterizes her art. in addition to coveting each and every item papayaart sells, i follow anahata's endlessly inspiring blog, and when she posted these pictures of her new home in ashland i fell in love with her creative vision all over again. the question she poses after describing her home resonates with me on such a deep level: "How does your inner perspective and love of Earthly goods translate in your home?" that is eloquently and precisely the question i'm hoping to explore through this blog...

friendship, or best offer...

i love, love, love craigslist. i love the wild wealth and variety of furniture that’s available, love negotiating over prices, love to be able to change the pieces in my house around without spending much money, love the environmentally friendliness of it, love that it forces you outside your usual circle of people… i love craigslist.

about a year ago, i had just moved into a new house and i was looking for a little dresser for the powder area next to my bathroom. i’d been scouring craigslist for a few weeks, & finally found one that looked about the right size. i emailed the seller, T, & he emailed me back right away, suggesting that i meet his wife J that evening at their house to take a look at it. he was asking $150 or so for the dresser, and i wasn’t sure from the picture whether i loved it or not, so on my way to their house to meet his wife, even though i only had $30 in my wallet, i didn’t stop at the ATM. i wanted to give myself an excuse to leave their house and think about it before buying it- a little pre-purchase, cool-off period.

i arrived at their house (which was only a few miles down the road from mine), and rang the doorbell. J answered the door… and i immediately fell in love with her. i don’t know what it was, but there was something about her that made me start plotting to convince her to be my new best friend. it turned out to be easy- we realized within seconds that we both volunteered for the same dog rescue, and we spent about an hour chatting about our experiences with fostering and people we knew in common.

finally we turned to the business at hand- the dresser. my instincts from the picture were right- i didn’t love it. but i wasn’t about to risk losing my new bff just because i was picky about my furniture! so… i somewhat pathetically told her that i very much wanted to buy it, but i hadn’t brought enough money. we negotiated a little, pretty halfheartedly on both ends, and ended up agreeing that i would give her the $30 in cash that i had, and give her a check for the remainder… when she and her husband came over for dinner the following saturday night.

now, a year later, J & T are two of my favorite people and closest friends- they are the type of people you can’t get enough of. only recently, i confessed to them that i hadn’t really cared for the dresser, & that i was actually pathetic enough to buy it just because i wanted so much to be J’s friend. in hindsight, buying it was totally unnecessary- i’m sure we would have become close anyway. but on the other hand, this otherwise boring little dresser has such wonderfully happy associations that it’s grown on me. it’s perfectly useful, & while it may not be beautiful per se, the friendship that grew out of it certainly is…