Faux Bois Box, Baby!

     

SO my pictures are a bit crooked? But you get the idea, right? A super cute little faux bois (fake wood) bill filing box. A thrift store find for a buck 99 (she says huffing on her nails and rubbing them on her lapel)! Anyway apart from these Dahlias I found (not hard to discover) at the farmer's market recently this lil' bois box is a super score as far as i'm concerned. Have an incredibly long weekend - soaking up every modern moment - and I'll catch up with you in September. This coming month we will be focusing on decorating the T.V. and master bed rooms. I'm going to need lots of input so study up on modern design on a budget because I'm going to need it. Note that I said "decorate" and not "re-decorate" we haven't touched them at all other than to dump too much furniture in. Typical story, right? The bedroom is always left for last. . .  Cheers!

 

marimekko for the Mr.

Mr. Monkey has a new mouse pad and it is oh! so! modern! Check out this super cute marimekko mouse pad I found at one of my best stores in Eugene - Modern - across from the 5th St. Public Market. They are truly the only store in Eugene dedicated to modern furnishings - which include hot items you find in the back pages of Dwell and in the MoMA catalog. I have another marimekko mousepad that I purchase at Modern a couple of years ago with the oh! so! familiar!(.) blue (and sometimes red) Unikko flower pattern. I almost thought about buying a second one of these leafy mousepads - at less than $20 they are a cheap and easy way to dress up a drab office. Plus the green in the mousepad connects to the Jay Ryan Modest Mouse Concert Poster (each one of these is a separate link - the last one being a picture of the poster itself). You can see a picture of the poster hanging in our office with the marimekko mousepad HERE at the before and after of the office. Okay modern dwellers, we are off to L.A. for a modern marriage but before I go I will post the faux bois thrift store find that is overdue. . .

Before and After: Office

BEFOREAFTER
The short story is that we had this room that was ambiguous. It had no real purpose other than to store books and to walk through to get to the patio. Well now that we have this fabulous wall unit it's the office and hang out space. I'm pleased with how it's functioning - not too big, cozy, and best of all it still works as a pass through to the patio but one that we linger in much longer. The 3 seater proved to be a bit longer than we thought but we like the combo so much it's staying put! The purchase of the 3 seater and wall unit at Hawthorne Vintage in PDX are documented HERE. Another great little thing about the 3 seater is that the velvety material on the seat is a cinch to remove cat-hair from; that meow meow monkey cat is furry and sheds and this 3 seater doesn't pay it any attention. The backs of the 3 seater are leather and oh so comfy! We're off to a wedding in B.C. for the weekend so I hope this before and after will hold you over a spell.

In other news I had a birthday recently and Mr. Monkey was so smart and thoughtful! For one of my birthday gifts he gave me a gift certificate to my favorite EUGENE vintage shop - Oak Street Vintage. Yippee! I have yet to go on my shopping spree - and if that's not teaser enough for you then how about this? Next week I have a faux bois thrift store score to share!

Live modern. Be well. Or is it?  Be Modern. Live well. In any case I wish some combination of those words for you . . . .

More Modern Patio

So one little piece of modern living that I'm proud of and that I have to show off whenever we have visitors is our patio table. Check it out. The whole set was purchased from Bring Recycling. First we found the pocket door that looked like surplus - new but never been used. Then we started looking for legs and found the yellow metal sawhorses. Then we found the chairs. Add an ikea light fixture and you're all set for less than $50!  The "art" on the wall is leaving thanks to a deal I made with Mr. Monkey. The "art" has sentimental value for him  . . .  The rocking chair in the corner was a thrift store find. I'm thinking about painting the sawhorses and nice shade of blue or green. Plus we're on the lookout for newer chairs. These are not bad but I'm not a fan of the golden yellow hue and it's too much work to reupholster 3 dollar chairs - not worth it. What do you think about tulip chairs? Hope you find yourself sitting in a modern patio soon!

Big Flashy Signs in Nashville

So I've got a lot of travel pics that I have yet to post including these pics of fun and flashy signs in Nashville. I consider them mostly eye-candy for the font and sign obsessed amongst you - you know who you are . . .  Hatch Show Print of course is the famous design and print shop for music concert posters - one of their most famous of course being for Johnny Cash.   They started way back in 1879 and are one of the oldest continuously running letterpresses in the country. Also below are some pictures of Hatch Show Print posters, from Hank Williams to Laurie Anderson they've made posters for them all. My favorite sign though in all of Nashville had nothing to do with excellence in the art of signs and fonts no, this sign has a much more modern appeal . . . scroll down to check it out yourself. Let's just say I have never seen this combination of words on any sign anywhere together. Enjoy!

 

Eames Molded Chair - Hiding Spot

I don't know if you knew this but . . . these chairs are hiding from us. They are hiding out in the open - in places where people walk by them unknowingly and unappreciatively thinking, "I wish the boss would get rid of those old chairs." Case in point - the picture below. Excuse the quality of the picture I only had my cell phone on hand. I was working hard at my day job and I happened to be visiting the central office of a local school district and what did I spy with my little eye? 3 - you got it 3 - Eames Fiberglass Armchairs - they are old and authentic and have probably been hanging around this building since it was built in the 50's. So as I'm leaving I take a picture with my cell and more chairs start jumping at out me from behind a door or next to a table in the hallway. In total I counted 6! A friend suggested I make a donation to the school district of 6 gorgeous new chairs and I unload them of those ancient burdens. Hmm . . . any other ideas?

Adventures in Craigsland Fizzling Fast

Se we had 2 inquiries on the desk. One was very promising - one not so much. Instead Mr. Monkey junior (the cat) has taken to sitting on the desk. For the last two days I come home and ask the cat, "Well, have you sold the desk yet?" And for two days the cat stares at me blankly - once he blinked at me - possibly to say, "You're in my sun, beat it." So I've concluded that I'm a horrible sales person and Mr. Monkey - the man, not the cat - has concurred. Apparently it's not a good idea to tell your potential buyer that no one else is interested in your highly desirable item. Also it's not a good idea to tell people that they shouldn't feel obligated and then go on to say something like they can have it for $5 cheaper. Also be advised that you should not say it will probably end up at Goodwill. Make note - these are all bad things to do when trying to sell your highly desirable piece. Let's just say I'm into learning the hard way. Anyone want a desk? It's highly desirable, really . . . 

My Adventures with Craigslist

Well Mr. Monkey and I are trying our hand at selling furniture on Craigslist. For our first attempt we have a desk that I painted in order to have it live in our house a little longer. We ended up keeping the desk for another year - so the $10 dollar investment in paint was worth it. Here's the desk. I posted it yesterday and so far I've had only one inquiry.  

Our office feels so much larger now that we no longer have this desk in there. I really do like the colors but had hoped for a darker chocolate brown instead of a milky latte brown. We're only asking $20 bucks for it so I'm still hopeful that someone may want it. Fingers crossed.

This year my big hope has been to not buy new furniture as a matter of principle. Our environmental interests are not congruent with the idea of purchasing new furniture. Often we don't know where it comes from nor who made it. So in an effort to reuse more and recycle more our involvement in Eugene's Craigslist has been very handy. I've always been on the buying end though and not the selling end. I have to say I think I prefer the buying. 

Also in an effort to follow some of the guidelines offered by the Apartment Therapy book we're overdue to get rid of a few things since we have purchased a few items. We must make an exchange otherwise our house will overflow with stuff and it simply doesn't matter if it's recycled or not. 

That's the little monkey in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. He's fearlessly guarding the desk. We're keeping him for the time being.