The Starburst Mirror Round-up

Here's the high, low and medium of the ultra cool sunburst mirror. I'm drawn to these lately. I just recommended a starburst to a friend who is re-designing her living room. 

I can see these above fireplaces, above entry-way tables and above a high headboard. 

The $447.00 Horchow Starburst wins my vote. Very sheek. My favorite.

 

And then the $19.99 IKEA special -  Figgjo Mirror. Not exactly the same look but might work in the right spot.

The Ballard Design Susanne Kasler Sunburst Mirror $99. I like this one too. Not as glitzy as the first but the price is great.

Northern Delights

And oh, are they a delight! I love Scandinavian design.

This book in now at the top of my Christmas list. I love these images already. Right up my alley - simple, clean, minimalist, nature-inspired.

Sorry the images are so small. The book is coming from overseas and doesn't seem wildly popular here yet. Here's a quick write up:

"Northern Delights reveals why hardly any other interior or product design is so timeless, so functional, so aesthetic, and of such high quality as that of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. The book’s stunning selection of Scandinavian design ranges from individual products to skillfully staged living spaces. Although it also presents iconic designs, the book focuses on the work of young talents who are consciously building upon local sustainable design traditions and further developing them in a way that is consistent, intelligent, and reflects an unerring sense of style."

I underlined an important part of this passage. Local sustainable design. So important. I am trying to weave these words into my design approach as much as possible. Still exploring how to truly do this but I am just glad it's a concept that's becoming popular.

What about you? What's on the top of your Christmas list?

Geninne D Zlatkis

These watercolors are gorgeous by Geninne D. Zlatkis. I found her on Etsy but she has her own website www.geninne.com. I am so enthralled by this work. Each piece is small around 6x6 or 6x8 but each piece is also around $30. A steal.

Aren't these stunning? Love the elephant.

A few weekend things..

My house is on the market again. Been meaning to post the pictures in case anyone wants to buy it...cause you never know. It's a really lovely house. I'll be sad to leave but it's time to go. 

So I'm a wee bit behind but I want to throw out a few mini blogs I've been meaning to post.

First, have you seen the cover of Serena and Lily's catalog for the spring/summer? Here's a sneak peak of it in case you don't get it. Love the cover photo...it's stunning and makes me want to buy all of their linens.

 Love the pink rug and yellow duvet combo.

Also, I recently found a great nail polish remover called Peacekeeper that's virtually non toxic. It really works without the horrible toxic fumes. Finally! Find the whole line of eco products at www.iamapeacekeeper.com

Saving the best for last...as my husband and I work on cleaning up our diet for the spring/summer season with the help of a local Naturopath...we've been trying more healthy cleanse-type recipes. 

Here's a Healthy Rice Crispy Treat recipe I've been making from her cleanse coobook to help with sugar cravings. Mind you, it has a sweetener in it, but it's low glycemic and high in protein.

 

You need: 

3/4 cups of brown rice crispy cereal (gluten free, no sugar kind)

3/4 cup of brown rice syrup

1 cup of almond butter (no sugar kind). 

Directions:

Butter a 9x12 dish.  Heat up syrup and almond butter in a pan on low/medium heat, after it melts together, fold it into the rice crispys in a separate bowl and stir gently. After thoroughly mixed, spread the whole mixture into the pan you just buttered. Let cool for 30 minutes and they are done! So good.  And you can add anything you want - nuts, dried fruit etc. So easy, so fast!

In need of a bunkbed?

I just ordered bunkbeds for my kids. They currently share a room and it's becoming very apparent that my older child needs his own space, even if it's just a shelf at the end of his bed. He'll love it!

I started looking around, Room & Board, Modern Seed and even IKEA. As usual, the modern bunkbeds I love are way out of my price range. But I found a great local company on Craig's List called Maine BunkBeds. Not only are these well constructed and sturdy, they come in cool colors and are very eco.  They use milk paint, which is about as non toxic as you can get. And I love the photography of the beds on their site. Bunks in a pasture, bunks in the city. Clever. Check them out www.mainebunkbeds.com

Fascination

As mentioned, I love DWELL magazine.  I'm a true modernist at heart. And once in awhile there is a house to really lust after. One hit the stands this month. Lots of very interesting things about this house. Check it out.

The house was built for $320,000 and it's 4,357 square feet. Ofcourse you could say, that's because it's Mexico. Probably true. This house is built in a gated community, where there are very high gates, armed guards, barbed wires and IDs required round the clock. So as long as you never leave your house, you safe I suppose.

The architect Jorge Gracia is well-known in Mexico and Southern Calif. Gracia says he's "an architect in a city with no architecture" and if you look at the front photo of the house you can see it's stand out. In these parts, and he says it's true of Mexicans in general, they stay close to their families and are home a lot, so this house faces inward. Everything hidden and private.

I love the pool and the deck and the kitchen and the bamboo. And they have a parrot and a turtle. Easy to do I guess when you live in the lovely hot Mexican climate.

So although this modern home may be a bit too stark-modern for most, you can't deny it's very cool.

A few bits..

Cool, cheap, modern art by Etsy shop PaintSqaure. These would look great in anyone's entryway, don't you think? Especially against a bright white wall!

 

Here is a photo of the husband/wife artist team from Paintsquare. They did an interview with Etsy and seem to have a lovely life somewhere outside of a major city (they didn't diclose). This is their country house in the background. Doesn't it look interesting? I want to see more. Too bad they didn't give a house tour!

So as of 4am this morning, we're off on a family vacation way down south.  Can't bring my mac, and I'm thinking it will be slightly painful to try to post from my iphone, so I'll see you'all in a week! I'll miss Modish, and please enter your email so we can catch up as soon as I return! I already have a long list of fun Spring "inspirings" to share with you all!

Happy Week!

Japan....

First, I think we all have bleeding hearts for Japan right now. Here's a link to the Red Cross to donate if you feel inclined to do so. I just got done donating. What else is there to do?  Positive thoughts and giving money is all I got in my bag of tricks right now.

So this Japan disaster has inspired me to learn a bit more about this country and culture. I'll forward interesting tidbits onto you as I find them but I'll start with some fascinating facts about this country:

- Raw horse meat is a popular food in Japan.
- Sometimes the trains are so crowded railway staff are employed to cram passengers inside.
- Japanese celebrate Christmas, but it is more like Valentine's Day in the western world.
- Poorly written English can be found everywhere, including T-shirts and other fashion items.
- More than 70% of Japan consists of mountains, including more than 200 volcanoes.
- Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, is an active volcano.
- Many Japanese do not know the difference between Shintoism and Buddhism.
- A nice musk melon, similar to a cantaloupe, may sell for over $300US.
- There are four different writing systems in Japan, romaji, katakana, hiragana, and kanji.
- Coffee is very popular and Japan imports approximately 85% of Jamaica's annual coffee production.
- Japan's literacy rate is almost 100%.
- Sumo is Japan's national sport, although baseball is also very popular.
- Sumo wrestlers eat a stew called Chankonabe to fatten up. Many restaurants in the Ryogoku district of Tokyo serve this nabe (Japanese word for stew).
- Many toilets in Japan have a built-in bidet system for spraying your backside.- When you use the restroom in some one's home, you should put on special bathroom slippers so as not to contaminate the rest of the home.
- Noodles, especially soba (buckwheat), are slurped very loudly when eaten. It is often said slurping symbolizes the food is delicious, but the slurping also serves to cool down the hot noodles for eating.- Japan is the world’s largest consumer of Amazon rain forest timber.
- Vending machines in Japan sell beer, hot and cold canned coffee, cigarettes, and other items.
- When moving into an apartment it is often required to give the landlord a "gift" of money equal to two months' rent.

- There are around 1,500 earthquakes every year in Japan.
-  It is not uncommon to eat rice at every meal, including breakfast.
- Average life expectancy in Japan is one of the highest in the world. Japanese people live an average of 4 years longer than Americans.
- Japan is the largest automobile producer in the world.
- Some men in Japan shave their heads to apologize.
- Some women in Japan cut their hair after breaking up with a boyfriend.

So also, here's Part Two:

Posting about home decor seems so trivial today, but life does carry on, and no matter what, we all need some inspiration right now.

So I'm out of the baby stage, but I saved these inspiring photos awhile back because I just loved how put together and sweet these rooms are. If these don't apply to you, maybe forward Modish onto someone you know who could use an idea or two!

Happy Thursday!

I meant to post this yesterday. Some days go by in a wink! 

Here's an inspiring bedroom for you. I love the various shades of white on the bed, the ornate antique chair on the side and the small mirrored side table. Somehow this all comes together even though there is very little color! 

Now that I am back...

So sorry for the long blog vacation!  I took a quick trip to the Cape during school break, everything got caught up, and I left without sending out my last planned post. What was I thinking?!

But it has been a nice week away. And I have lots of ideas bubbling over since I've been gone for so long. I hope you're all still here, checking in!

To start with, I thought I'd share with you a few of my Cape favorites.

Cape Weekends is located in Orleans on the way to Nauset Beach. I only recently discovered this shop, last year. It's huge. I love their collection of items. The owner has great taste and seems to find the trendiest stuff in every category - kids, clothing, home goods, art, jewelry. She carries some Brooklyn designers too which I always seem to favor. Lucky Fish for one. Love Lucky Fish. Here is a very tiny sampling. She has a website with a small online shop too capeweekend.com, but visiting is way better.

Orla Kiely ofcourse

Feisty Elle "Dhalia" felt earrings

Cate and Levi lamb

Zaishu Flower table

Cape Cod artist Wendelin Glatzel

Another favorite is Salon 16 West also in Orleans. Mainly because they carry a great line of skincare products called Welstar, that are all natural, totally organic and essential oil based.  They are a made in very small batches using only pure, raw materials. Visit their website to see the whole product line www.welstar.net. I love how pure these products are and she even carries a sun protection line that's essential oil based.

A few others to mention.

- The semi-new French bakery and restaurant in South Wellfleet called PB Boulangerie. I must admit, I've never been overwhelmed with the restaurants on the Cape, all very predictable, but this place is truly French and very sophisticated.

- Ofcourse the Candy Manor in Chatham..

- The Chatham Bars Inn is a luxury inn but also a great place for cocktails, dinner or a bar style lunch when in the area.

- East Wind Silver in Chatham for inexpensive but good quality silver jewelry.

- I love the bookstore, Where The Sidewalk Ends, in Chatham. Not only is this a great title for a bookstore, but this place is very cozy and friendly and they offer up a great selection of interesting books, local and otherwise.

- And then there is my favorite Art Gallery in Provincetown. I'll blog about this tomorrow...it deserves it's own blog post....

I'm off to start watching the Oscars...good night!