Darwin Jonas Print

I think one of the hardest things to accomplish when decorating a house is to find artwork.  We have been fortunate enough to come by a few unique original paintings that a friend of ours painted before leaving for Shanghai last summer.  In fact, we have 5 of his works in our house.  But as with many new homeowners, our walls are primarily empty.  We do have some other inclusions such as a laser-cut wood Frank Lloyd Wright and some pieces I have made and of course, as every family needs, some photos we have taken our selves.  But the biggest issue is the vastness of wall that unscathed.

Enter Homegoods.  I don't normally show for decor at a chain store but, I was in search of some wicker baskets for my bathroom and decided to stop in.  Alas, I came out with no wicker baskets but a Darwin Jones print that was marked down to $35!  What a steal.  Ever the fan of abstract, the print is now above our bed.

Source: newera Portfolio

And then the angels sang....

I know I haven't written in a while.  A lot has been going on and my time seems to have gotten away from me.  This is mostly due to that fact that I started a new job!  I love my new job.  It is exactly what I went to college for and the best part of all?  It's in downtown Chicago.  Ah Chicago, my love. Now my third love as my husband and son come first but, regardless, still pretty far up there in the list of love.  (Yes, I know, I am being dramatic).  The second best part about my new job is that I get to work in the Merchandise Mart!  Such an amazingly historic and awesome building. 

My second week of working in the Mart, I decided to take a walk in the building and see what is cooking.  I have always known there are studios for some major design companies in the building because my husband is an architect and has had to go to the Mart in the past for work.  Whether it was to view lighting fixtures or tile, whatever.  But, my walk around the Mart lead me to an amazing moment.

I glided up the escalator from the 2nd floor to the third and as I neared the top, I turned around and....

*Queue angels singing*

Alas, Herman Miller....

Happy 126th Birthday Mies!

Happy 126^th birthday to Mies Van Der Rohe!  Here in Chicago, he was one of the most influential architects in history citing ‘less is more’ and changing the way architecture was taught as well as the physical campus at the Illinois Institute of Technology where my husband studied architecture.  Mies’ influence pushed towards a modern era of building using modern materials and simplistic design.  Regarded as one of his best buildings, Crown Hall, on IIT’s campus that still stands and houses its school of architecture, is currently up on Google as the Google doodle in order to celebrate his birthday.  It is one of my favorite buildings in Chicago.  Not just for it’s design but, because I fondly remember picking up my husband there many times when he was studying or building models for studio classes at 3am.  When we got engaged, I even asked him if it was possible for us to be married in or around the building but, we never looked into it. 

Random Decor Around My House

I think sometimes I focus too much on mid century furniture.  Which is probably not the best bet especially since I own so much wonderful decor!  Here is just a few pieces.

Tea set my brother bought me for the Holidays a couple years back.  I love this set!

This is bookend that was my grandmother's.  I am really not sure where it came from but, it is marble and very heavy.  I suppose it is more deco than MCM but, it fits the rattan furniture I have it with.  My brother has the other one.

I just acquired this lamp from a friend at work.  It was in her grandfather's house and she asks if I would like it.  I am now in the search for a new shade for it but, it is HUGE!

This the cock (shut your mouth!).  It was my grandmother's and had a brother but, sadly he chipped because he was dropped.  I actually LOVE this piece and he is proudly displays always on my sideboard or in the center of my dining room table.

I call him Tiki and my father carved him in the 70s.  Ok so not MCM but again, fabulous and fits the room we have it in!

Mirror, mirror on the.....floor of my office?

When we bought our Kent Coffey Tableau dressers, they came with a mirror that supposedly went to the low dresser.  But in my investigations online, I haven't seen a single low dresser from the Tableau line that has a mirror attached to it.  I am starting to think it didn't even belong to that set.  We didn't want to attache it because there is a window above the low dresser in our bedroom so, we just stashed it in our office.  I really have no clue what to do with it.  I actually really like it; the wood stain, the shape.  But, where to put it?  It weighs a ton so hanging it on the wall seems really laborous.  Any suggestions?  (and yes, that is me in the photo, sans make up and hair being done.....)

Coffee Tables!

So lately, I have been in search of a coffee table to go with my sectional in our front room.  Well, really I have been in search for about a year but, my wants are so specific that finding said coffee table has become almost impossible.  I find ones that either need a lot of work or are far too expensive.  The issue is that I want a low height, round walnut coffee table.  And for some reason, this is close to impossible!  Below are some dream tables that seriously keep me up at night (ok, so not really.....but, you get the point).

Christening Dress

Ok so, I am not one of those retro-loving ladies that also dresses particularly retro.  Granted, I love the modern rockabilly mom as much as the next person but, I just can't bring myself to pull off that style 100% of the time.  However, I do have one vice: vintage dresses.  I own honestly about 150 vintage dresses that I have collected for about 15 years; ever since my love affair with thrift stores started.  So, when it came time to find something for my son's Christening next weekend, naturally I turned to vintage shops.  I went to few and couldn't find anything so I eventually resorted to Etsy.  Which in all honesty, I hate doing.  Most of the stuff on Etsy is far too overpriced for the quality and of course there is the inability to try anything on.  But, I found this beauty and felt I had to have it! 

General Store Candy



My co-worker made the mistake of bringing in old fashioned candy which I gladly devoured.  I know this isn't a horrible thing.  I mean, who can resist Necco waffers and Good & Plenty?  Not this girl.  I reminds me that I need to make a trip to the General Store in the historic downtown area of our town.  I have lived in this area my whole life and always remember going there as a kid.  Its funny to think that when I was in high school, I vowed to move far away.  I did move....to Chicago for 4 and half years.  But that was only 35 miles away.  There really aren't many other places I would live aside from Paris, Boulder, and San Francisco.  Chicago is definitely the love of my (location) life.  I think even if I moved far away, I couldn't be there for more than a few years.  And out hometown (yes, my husband is from the same town as me) is just ... well, home.  Of course, our reasons for living here and not in the city were made financially; our mothers are our day care but, we live within 25 mins of the city and end up there pretty much every weekend.  I do love the fact that my son (and future children) will grow up in my hometown especially with weekend excursions to the historic district for the farmer's market and old time, General Store candy.

The Clock

A couple of years back, my brother (who I have mentioned somehow manages to find the coolest things in Boise, ID) bought me this clock for Christmas.  It doesn't keep time at all but, it is one of my favorite pieces of decor in my house.  It is solid walnut and has, in my opinion, a wonderful look to it.  Although my brother repairs old clocks and watches as a hobby, I just can stand to send it back and be without it until he fixes it.  So it sits, remaining unplugged, on my bookcase in our front room.  Part of me doesn't really care that it doesn't keep time.  Sometimes I plug it in a let it run anyways because it makes a humming tick that isn't on time at all.  I actually think that is what makes it so interesting.

The things my brother finds....

If there is anyone I know that is just randomly lucky when it comes to finding great mid century pieces, it is my brother.  He lives in Boise, Idaho and for some reason, always comes across the best mid century furniture for super cheap prices.  And buy lucky, I mean finding a Selig Z chair for $20 at a garage sale (along with some others below).

Rotating coffee table

 

Solid Ash Desk (trying to get him to send me this one)

Solid Mahogany desk

Solid Ash end tables

 

The Z Chair

Llamas

This past weekend, one of my favorite consignment shops went out of business and as a result, everything in the store was at least 50% off.  Unfortunately, I got there too late and mostly everything was picked over.  However, I found these guys in a bowl in the corner of one of the rooms for 50 cents and I had to buy them.  I really have no clue how old they are but, they are solid brass and about 3 inches tall.  I just thought they were pretty cool especially for the price.  I tried to research them but, I found nothing.

Recent Purchase: Side Table

Ok, so you have to excuse the bad picture but, I picked up this small walnut side table at a resale shop a few weeks ago for a mere $30.  I sort of fell in love with it for no real reason.  It's small but it has a magazine rack on the bottom and a cute little cabinet on top.  Right now it is in the little reading corner I have in our frontroom but, eventually I want to have it next to the piano (which we have not yet moved from my in-laws house) so I can store music books on the bottom and my metronome and pitch pipes in the cabinet (I studied voice for about 8 years).  I wouldn't say it is in the BEST shape but, I managed to clean it up a bit and fix a few scratches.  It's just one of those things I saw and had to buy!



Recent Purchase: Kent Coffey dressers

I was making my usual Saturday resale shop circulation two weeks ago when I found these Kent Coffey Tableau dressers at a local thrift shop for basically nothing.  This shop doesn't typically carry ant furniture so I was extremely surprised to see them there.  The highboy is a good shape and only had a slight chip in the walnut veneer on one side.  The low dresser needs a bit more work but I think for the price, the work is completely doable. 

We are going to be putting these in our room for now replacing some oak dressers we currently have/dislike.  Hopefully the low dresser will clean up nice and in the future, they can be for child #2!

A Momma's Dream

 

Back in September, my son Jonas was born. With him being our first child, we were overwhelmed by everything that was needed for him. We had bought an amazing modern style crib for him but, in order to try and get him accustomed to day versus night, I wanted to keep him downstairs with me during the day. This caused a problem because there was no where for him to take a nap. Enter my in-laws with a beautiful handmade oak cradle. Although it is not mid-century because it was made in 1980, it is of mid century styling. My husbands grandfather made it by hand for his grandchildren (we also have the kitchen table he made). It was truely a blessing to be able to have our son use the cradle and is a beautiful piece of workmanship.



My son just after he was born