You're So ChiChi!

Kristen is obviously one ChiChi chick!

Here we get a peek at her Boontje Midsummer Light in all of its glory. I'm loving how it positively pops with the lickable pink walls!  

As an oddball aside ~ 

Is that...  Could it be....

A girly Domo???

I...  must...  have...  one.

If there is anything I love as much as a Midsummer Light (in any color), it is bold use of color in home decor.

In this snap we see some ChiChi in the awesome yellow vintage candy dish.  

And we get treated to the stylings of someone who is emboldened in their choice of color.  The contrast combined with a subtle explosion of the unexpected hue and the melding of modern with vintage makes for one impressive entry hall.

And as if that isn't enough to delight your senses today ~ the painting shown here, if I'm not mistaken, is an original work by Kristen herself. Talented girl!

Thanks, Kristen, for sharing your ChiChi with us!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We know, we’ve seen it too. Christmas is already making an appearance in the big box stores like Costco. It may seem offensive to you, gentle reader, but as retailers we get it. We’ve already begun ordering for Christmas just to ensure we get what we want to bring to you before the holidays begin, and we are already busily treasure hunting for priceless vintage ornaments. However, something occurred to me on the weekend that I wanted to share with you.

If you’re looking for a new idea for a colour scheme or want to try something fresh and different this year that won’t break the bank I may have something for you. Whether or not you live in a snowy winter wonderland shouldn’t matter. Snow and Christmas just go together so why not roll with it (I’m speaking to you too my Vancouver compatriots).

Every few years Martha Stewart runs the same article while featuring a slightly different accompanying photo to update the article. One such article comes to mind that she has run at different times during the winter season. In this particular piece, Martha’s team cleverly sewed little white woolly pompoms to scarves, sweaters, etc. These little white pompoms always make me think of snow balls which makes me think of winter which makes me think of Christmas which led to this moment of utter genius, or madness.

We often encounter milk glass vessels and white hobnail vases and white hobnail lamps, etc. in our travels. I’m sure you or your mom has at least one piece stashed somewhere. Since there was a proliferation of them, they don’t seem to be as prized any more as we think they should be. Well, in our view they don’t need to be relegated strictly to the cottage.




The colour of white is associated with purity and cleanliness. It’s crisp and fresh and clean. Doesn’t a blanket of fresh white snow make all things in the world seem okay? Decorative milk glass or white glass trays and embossed dishes would be a nice fresh departure from the usual fare of red, green, silver, gold, santa servers we see everywhere at Christmas. And doesn’t the pattern of hobnail conjure up images of stacks of snowballs just waiting for a snowball fight?
As you plan your Christmas table picture a simple row of white hobnail vases with a single poinsettia in each running down the middle of the table. Think of switching out your regular house-hold lamp with a vintage hobnail lamp upcycled with a modern shade. Dark chocolate truffles would really pop on a sparkling embossed white dish.

Sew little white woollen pompoms to the edge of a pristine white tablecloth. Switch out the crystals on a vintage chandelier with a single white woolly pompom. String them together for garlands. Mix up the sizes. You can take this idea as far as you dare but be warned, if this idea appeals to you you’ll need to plan ahead and start sourcing your hobnail now before everyone beats you to it and dash off to Micheal’s for your pompoms, or get your kids busy whipping them up now on those rainy days when they’re climbing the walls. The key is to keep it simple and understated.

Once your dream of a white Christmas has been realized you can tuck away your hobnail and milk glass for a few months and then bring a couple of pieces back out in the spring to freshen things up. Just leave the woolly pompoms in cold storage…


Miss P

Buzzzzz

That is not an insect hovering nearby. I figured you simply must be tired of the same old "Vintage in the News" headline. Besides, the latest is more than just news. It's become buzz. And our focus today isn't really about the news.

You've heard us use the term "Up-cycled" time and again both in the store and on the blog. As much as we'd like to, we simply cannot take credit for creating the name. I first heard it in an article featured in the New York Times a good many months ago, well before we even opened our doors at our old space. It was originally coined by William McDonaugh and Michael Braugart in their book on ecologically intelligent design, Cradle to Cradle. It stuck with me and when we started giving new life to old things by renewing them with paint or a different purpose it seemed more than just a little appropriate to use it. Today the tag "Up-cycled" is commonly used in the design field and has been dubbed the buzzword du jour by both Metropolitan Home and Canadian House and Home magazines.

Both magazines, in the issues I recently acquired, focus on Green ideas, products and designs for us and our homes. The people from our generation, for the most part, do the bare minimum in order to feel eco-responsible. Some recycle. Some donate useful goods to charitable organizations which then re-sell them. Some compost and some even use energy efficient bulbs. But one has to look no further than their own back alley to see how wasteful a society we really are. The 'disposable' mentality seems to be far too alive and well and the message of reducing, reusing and recycling is apparently being lost on, or ignored by, far too many.

It is the people of the next generation(s) who have embraced the idea of doing all they can to save this speck in the cosmos we call home. They do all of the aforementioned 'Green' things and then some. Young couples who embark on custom building their homes are utilizing energy efficient solutions and eco friendly products. Individuals are choosing to spend a little more on products developed using sustainable and renewable resources. There are legitimate concerns being voiced when purchasing products from developing nations. Is the product fair trade, are the people involved in the creation of the product equitably compensated? Is anyone, or anything in the environment, being hurt in the development of the product? No longer are we content to simply have a wide range of products available to us. We are making our purchases with great consideration and consciousness. Certainly, a similar product with the seemingly omnipresent "Made in China" label might be cheaper, but more and more we are willing to shell out a few extra bucks for design with conscience. And our numbers are growing.

Canadian House and Home's May issue (still available on news stands) is full of design tips and articles featuring eco-friendly solutions. Entitled "Go Eco, Stay Chic", the 'Zine itself is not web friendly and doesn't allow browsing articles online but I found it well worth picking up and perusing. From creating a modern space in a country home to the Weekend Decorating segment featuring earth friendly furnishings, there is no shortage of Green ideas and suggestions. As you can't browse online, and the issue may not be available for much longer at the store - we are featuring some of the best here:

Bright idea:


CFLs, those compact energy efficient lightbulbs, may require only a third as much energy as a regular bulb but they still contain tiny amounts of mercury, which is not at all Eco-friendly. The Home Depot has started a service to ensure these bulbs do not inadvertantly impact the planet in a negative fashion. In Home Depot stores across Canada you will find CFL recycling units where you can dispose of your burnt out bulbs and ensure that 98 per cent of each bulb is recycled, including the Mercury.


Plastic not-so-fantastic:



Bottled water. I'm not certain when the trend began but it is a fad which has grown in intensity to the degree that, today, roughly over 22 billion water bottles hit the landfills in the US every single year. 8 out of 10 plastic water bottles become garbage and end up in a landfill. Annual production of water bottles for the United States requires more than 1.5 million (million!) barrels of oil and Americans consume approximately 28 billion bottles of water a year. Canadian House and Home recommends booting the plastic bottle and making tap water a sparkling alternative with old fashioned seltzer bottles. You can find sleek modern seltzer bottles at restaurant supply stores or pick up a vintage collectible at a store like, saaaay, ChiChi! As we don't often find pristine vintage seltzer bottles, and at present have not a one in the House, we have a solution of our own to offer; currently on order and ultimately Green, another Tord Boontje design; tranSglass. Recycled glass bottles are edited and remade into fabulous vases, drinking glasses and vessels. tranSglass is in the permanent collection of MoMA New York and has become a best selling Boontje design.




Letting it all hang out:


For purely aesthetic reasons, clotheslines have been banned for some time in Provinces/States and Cities. The disappearance of laundry lines can be largely blamed on bedroom communities across North America. Their demands for conformity and restrictive, lengthy covenants often deem line drying your delicates as unsightly a nuisance as might be a car up on blocks in your front yard. Grassroots organizations have played more than a small part in working to have such a silly law banished and their efforts are paying off. Ontario is lifting its ban this year. This allows people previously forbidden from doing so the great pleasure of snuggling in to sheets kissed by the sun and the wind - the scent of which is impossible to replicate with a dryer sheet. Besides drifting off to sweet dreams propelled by sweet scents, Mother Earth benefits as clothes dryers consume about six percent of a home's annual energy bill.



Singing the Green Blues:



Ann Mack, Director of trendspotting at ad agency JWT in New York, says the term Green is losing its lustre. "Overused and misused..." "...eco-fatigue." True, that. There are far too many products on the market claiming to be "Green" when they really aren't so environmentaly friendly after all. Sure, there may be minor changes to the overall content of some of these products, but "Green" they are not. And so, says Ann, or - rather - Ann says.... Blue. Blue, which is meant to suggest the sky and water, as well as truth and integrity, is slowly replacing green. Mercedes-Benz's latest emission reducing car is called BlueTec. In France, towns which meet certain environmental standards are awarded the Pavillion Bleu. Keep your eyes open for Blue becoming the buzz in Eco-speak. We like it.

Metropolitan Home's April issue, which I picked up last week, is their "Guide to Modern Green Design". I absolutely love how some classics are intertwined with modern pieces and that they are embracing no boundaries when mixing furnishings. Done tastefully, there is no reason you cannot combine a Harvest table with chairs fashioned after mid-century Eames or Bertoia. An article I found particularly fun to peruse was "Forever Green" which features stylish wares which have withstood the test of time. There is a condensed photo gallery of featured items to browse online but to fully enjoy the article you'll have to pick up a copy of the magazine... on the pages you will find photos of classic and time tested design elements as well as dates of original manufacture. You are invited to test your knowledge by matching the dates to the items. Some design dates are entirely self evident while others are more than a little surprising. For the brief, online version....Take me there!

"Water Wiser" features an L.A. garden created to replace a water guzzling lawn. Take me there!. Now, as much as I love the idea of giant cacti and other drought resistant succulents, our temperate climate doesn't give me much room to play. However, I did find, in Canadian House and Home, an Eco-friendly new product perfect for our part of the world.

Canadian engineered Eco-Lawn is a drought resistant blend of grasses which requires little or no mowing and no fertilizer. Switching up your current lawn for the Eco version is easy as pie, simply mow your lawn as short as possible and overseed with Eco-Lawn. The grassy spaces you see below are images taken from Wildflower Farm's website. Available to order online and shipped to you from Ontario.... Take me there!




Be Blue everyone!

If Wishes Were Purses....

I'd look pretty fly!

Not too long ago I wrote of Bakelite King Matthew Burkholz and his heavenly boutique (known as Route 66) on Palm Canyon Drive and of lusting after his amazing collection of Lucite box purses. Sometimes, not always - but sometimes, you put something out there, "out into the ether" as Miss P is fond of saying, and it comes back to you.

Imagine my surprise and delight then when MM (our Vintage Santa) arrived on our doorstep with the most delightful Lucite box purse in hand. I have to add that the bag looks much better on me than it does on him, but its hard for it not to look incredible no matter who is carrying it. I haven't felt such a rush of excitement since a Christmas morning long ago when I last believed in the real Santa.


In spite of my suggesting it be gifted to myself as a belated birthday token (don't ask - it was months ago) MM steadfastly refused and so it is now on consignment at our House. And it is beautiful. Every now and again something truly rare finds its way to us. Every now and again we are able to caress and love it and care for it until it finds its way into a loving new home. In this case it will be on the arm of a discerning woman with impeccible taste and the wherewithal to spoil herself rotten.

Lucite, like many other materials which gained popularity in the Modern 50's, was developed and almost immediately put to good use as a building material during World War II. It wasn't until after the war that Lucite was used in the manufacture of handbags because the material was easy to work with and could be made in a wide array of colors both solid and opaque. The early manufacture of these bags involved master craftsmen working by hand. By the early 1960's the Lucite box purse rage was over. Newer, more modern materials and methods of manufacture made mass production of cheaper and more lightweight bags popular. Today they are incredibly collectible as they were only produced for a brief period of time and they are positively stunning in their design (they were once marketed as "sculpture you can wear"). Much like Vintage jewelry there are fairly significant variations in value. The purses created by big name designers of the time are coveted and fetch a price far more dear than the nameless bags. You will see them range in price from $200 to $600 and up. Some of the most popular and coveted designers are; Ascot, Patricia of Miami, Hardy, Kahn, Llewellyn, Wilardy and Rialto. Designer made bags were typically signed on the metal inside the bag or on a clear label. Many designer bags without their labels are floating around as the labels typically fell or wore off. If you are collecting Lucite box purses for their value, then you may want to avoid 'unsigned' bags, even if it is a well educated guess that it is a creation of a big name designer. If you are collecting for the sheer joy and love of it, then the former is of no consequence.

I haven't yet fully investigated the nooks and crannies of this bag in an attempt to establish its origins. The lovely weather has seen the House busy with many new and return customers and we have been hopping. One morning I will go in early, sit down with with our luscious box bag and a latte and see if it won't reveal some secrets.

Yes. I want it to come home with me. But I want mostly everything we bring in to come home with me. Besides, I have little room in my closet now for another bag, especially after treating myself to one from the Espe line. That, and it is keeping our gorgeous carved Bakelite bangle company until it finds a new home. Maybe they will be adopted together.



Kat

PS: We now have Matt's book in the store for you Bakelite junkies to peruse at your leisure when you are next in the House. It tells the stories of a number of avid Bakelite afficianados and features glorious photos of their amazing collections.