.flea marketing.

Yesterday Leif and I, along with our friend Jennie (God bless her, she has been my constant companion for the last three weeks), went to the flea market.  I love flea markets.  Stalls and stalls of dioramas into peoples' minds and their inner obsessions.  Incredible collections of cutlery, long parted from their sets.  Old maps, yellowed with age.  Wooden soda crates with names like 7up or Coca Cola scripted on the side.  Salt and pepper shakers for days on end...

Last year we made it a goal of ours to get rid of all of our Ikea furniture (even though I kind of love the place, like a lot) and replace them all with pieces that were more likely to stand the test of time.  Whatever that means.  The media cabinet was the last piece that needed replacing.  Well, except for the furniture we had bought for the nursery.  Those pieces still sit in our second bedroom, ignored and neglected for the most part.  

In almost twelve months we haven't been able to find something in the style that we both like that would also fit all of Leif's audio/visual components.  Yes, I am married to an electronic geek.  However, he is married to a nerdy scientist-type so it all evens out in the end.  We really weren't expecting much after many similar unsuccessful trips, but we were given a pleasant surprise in the form of a 50s/60s smallish media cabinet being sold for $45.  

It needs work but we tend to like projects so, good for us.

We probably won't have time to finish it before we leave but we will give it a shot anyway.  It is a good way to keep myself busy.  Busy is useful.  Busy keeps me living in the real world instead of inside my head.  A dangerous place for me these days.  

.now we just need more guests to sit in them.

Our flea market chairs are finished.  Huzzah!!!  I feel strangely accomplished, even though I didn't do much of the work myself aside from choosing the upholstery and a wee bit of staining and sanding.

This is what the rocker looked like after we (by we I hope you know I mean Leif) finished most of the sanding.

I think we messed up on the measurements for the back cushion on the rocker because it is about three inches too tall.  We also want to get the base fixed with webbing so it is more comfortable but...it has taken us forever to finally get these done.  So I'm not sure if I just want to call it a day and be over with it for now.

Also on the list of things I would like to change but don't want to spend the money on it right now is a new rug.  That blue one was supposed to go into George's nursery but, well, you know the story and now we have this rug and so it is acting as a placeholder.

.my hopeful living room.

I made this through a website called olioboard. I would love to redo our current living room to look like this but at the moment, considering we aren't sure how long we are going to be in this apartment, it just doesn't make sense.  Oh well.  Dreaming is fun too.

Danish Modern lounge chairs from Danish Modern Teak Classics.
Kilim rug from Overstock.
Sofa from Room and Board.
Side tables from West Elm.
Lamps from Crate and Barrel.
Curtains from Ikea.
Pillows from CB2, Crate and Barrel, and Chiasso.
Coffee tables from CB2.

.campground chic.

Ever since Leif and I stayed at the Ace Hotel we have been kind of preoccupied with mixing some of that particular design aesthetic into our own home. I guess you could call the style...campground chic?  Maybe modern rustic eclecticism? Or perhaps vintage military modernism?  Whatever.  Its cool no matter what ridiculous term I try to give it.

The design (by Commune) incorporates a lot of, what most people would consider, cheap and mundane fabrics like canvas and linen and layers them with interesting patterns like the kilim rugs.  In our room there was also incorporated some danish modern chairs, which is another design style that Leif and I are partial to.

So how to mix up into our style.  I don't think it will be too difficult to do because our style is pretty eclectic as it is, and what's adding one more pattern here or one more texture there gonna do anyway?

I already have some ideas for the bedroom.  As it stands the room is fairly feminine and I've been slowing trying to "man it up" a little.

This is our bed and duvet (in natural):

I am going to get an Italian Army wool blanket like this one to use as a throw on the bed.  I really like the idea of mixing the femininity of the duvet with the masculinity of the wool blanket.

Today I ordered a lot of 6 vintage burlap gunny sacs from here (which, by the way is the coolest online antique site I've seen in a long time) and we are either going to sew them together to make a wall hanging to go behind the bed or we are going to make some throw pillows for the couch.

I'm leaning towards the pillows.  Something like this:

 From Etsy seller lesliejanson

I also really like the kilim rugs that are in the Ace.  I'm kicking around the idea of laying a couple of these down in our living room because right now we just have bare hardwood floors.

We'll see...

.the heart of the house.

Living in an 800 square foot apartment has its challenges.  For one thing no matter how much stuff we get rid of there just is never enough storage space.  The other biggest issue with the apartment, at least for me, is that our kitchen is pretty tiny and only has one tiny window.  When I dream about our future house the first room I always think about is the kitchen. White, bright, with lots of windows.

These are some of my favorites right now.

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

Bosworth Hoedemaker