Cuttin' a Rug

Happy news in the Matt&Bobbie family.....we are now puppy parents! Ok, we've had Zooey over 4 months now, but that's just how behind on this blog I am.

 She is a great dog--we love her so much!

In other news, I got restless with my current pillow collection and wanted to mix things up. In a momentary fit of insanity, I almost dropped $100 on three Turkish kilim pillow covers on Ebay. Not sure if Zooey is out of her chewing phase, I realized it would be crazy to spend that much.

 So, during one of my rare (wink) thrifting outtings, I came across a very large woven rug with some very interesting colors and shapes in it. The rug as a whole I did not like, but I could see at least a couple pillows being cut from it. So, for $5, I bought the beast and proceeded to chop it up.

I could not be happier. In the meantime, I have no idea what I am going to do with the other 90% of the rug, but that's what junk closets are for.

Hip to be Square

There once was a time when I was not a crazed succulent and planter-loving lunatic. But that was before I stumbled upon an article about Molly Quan in ReadyMade magazine. The piece featured her very cool, hip Portland home and revealed her love of cacti and succulents, as well as her shop Life+Limb (now defunct) a source for all things modern home and garden. 

Not long after seeing this article, I visited a local greenhouse and bought my first succulent plant. I was instantly hooked, and simultaneously I was scouring thrift stores for pottery and planters similar to Molly's collection. I particularly was mesmerized by the aqua-glazed and textured pot in the photo above. 

Years later, I still had not come across anything remotely similar to this object despite persistent questing.  Until a couple weeks ago. 

I was casually browsing the shelves of Goodwill, when, there at the very bottom was not one, but TWO pots  remarkably similar to what I have been trying to find all this time. 

For full effect, you know I had to plant a plant in it like the one in the picture. 

So, as if finding two of these beauties wasn't enough, I scored ANOTHER one yesterday for $5 at an antique store. This one is more the color of Molly's but it has a softer more finished texture. Please keep in mind I was not greedily seeking more of what I was already so lucky to have, but the universe kept throwing them at me and I couldn't not do it.... Yeah right, I snatched that pot up like a feral raccoon. 

Matt and Bobbie's House::::::: Part 2:::::::

BEFORE: the living room wasn't in real dire need of rehab, but the sloppy paint job, dirty & rusted vents, pheasant and evergreen light switch covers, and old front door begged for some love. 

 We had new doors and windows installed throughout the house which helped matters immensely. Some nice bright white paint freshened things up and we spray-painted all the vents. 

Is this the same place? Hard to believe, I know. The hardwood floors through the whole house were worn and dirty. Step one was to rent a floor cleaner (a small version of what janitors use on gym floors) with a scrubbing pad and along with some hot water and special cleaner, we got these babies clean in one day. 

Step two was to sand lightly with a small hand-held power sander to even out the surface and remove superficial marks and scratches. We could have used a large floor sander, but didn't want to ruin the floors since we hardly knew what we were doing. 

Step three: apply one even coat of Golden Pecan Minwax stain. I was amazed by how the stain brought out the character in the wood and just made it glow. 

Once the stain was completely dry (I waited 24 hours to be sure) two coats of polyurethane went on to seal and protect and give even more silky glow and gorgeousness. 

Hmmm...I don't remember that sofa from before. That's because I just bought it! Yes, it hung 3 feet out the back of the Jeep, tied in with 10 feet of rope but I would have carried it on my back if I had to. For $100 at the thrift store, it is exactly what I have dreamed of finding for our new house. It had some ugly brown wood arms but a quick swipe with my jigsaw and they were adios. Hello, gorgeous. 

 Our Expedit now serves as room divider so the front door is not as visible from the living area. 

 The once-pink guest room now looks fresh and delicious. There are still lots of things to unpack, including art, so the pretty white walls remain blank. 

This is the air return vent in the hallway. Completely coated in a thick layer of dust. Enter ShopVac and spray paint. Fixed. 











I will be sharing more as we get more done and continue to have fun with our home. There is an entire upstairs we have grand plans for, as well as the bathroom and my studio. 

I would be remiss not to mention and thank those who have been generous with their time and helped us immensely. My sister put it several solid weekend's worth of work getting a lot of painting done (which I soon grew too tired of), along with my mom who labored over the filthy bathroom floor and in the yard chopping down a forest's worth of weed trees. My amazing in- laws have been more than generous working on anything and everything we needed help with, as well as a much-appreciated shopping spree at Menards.  We are so lucky to have our amazing family. Love you guys, and "thanks" is never enough!!

String Art

 Prints and paintings are great, but sometimes you want to mix up your wall decor. What could be more sassy than some geometric DIY string art? 

Every aspect of this project was tedious and time-consuming. From drawing the template to pounding 200 nails, then applying the string, and finally carefully peeling off the paper template from under the finished piece. A full-on weekend project for sure, but well worth it. 

I chose dark brown, gold, grey, bright orange and dark rusty red embroidery floss. Any type of string or yarn would work, depending on the intricacy and boldness your design. Next time I'd like to try a rustic slice of tree stump rather than the pale plywood. 








While we're at it, check out my new thrifty finds:  
Left to Right: a cool volcanic textured pot, chevron planter, and circle-clad vase. Lots of brown-town, but I love it.

Thrifted Lotte Lamp

This is going to sound crazy, but over the weekend, I found a Lotte Lamp (classic Scandinavian mid-century modern) for $5 at a thrift store. As you can see, there is nary a chip or scratch on the thing; it is either new or has been sitting in a closet for the past 40 years.  

The shade was only $2, so I bought it, even though I would like to snag an original Lotte shade at some point. A few years ago, I splurged and bought a brand new Lotte Lamp for $145 at The Century House here in Madison. They are fantastic. 


Who loves and amazing find? I do!

New Finds

Long time no see, blogger friends! Matt and I have been busy house hunting! I've also been going crazy (in a good way) with my Etsy shop. My stuff is flying off the shelves!

But, we have had some down time. I discovered how much fun painting Terracotta pots is. I designed the above pot specifically for my new, interesting, unusual cactus.

Let's not forget about thrifting! In the past couple weeks, we've acquired these lovely crimson treasures. The biggest and best is the wool Pendleton blanket Matt scored for $5. I adore the colors and pattern it sports.

For a few cents I snagged the 1970's Better Homes and Gardens Houseplants magazine. Below are some of my fave pages from it. See, other people have as many plants as I do in their house!

A very cool Z-shaped dish, bright orange planter, and Mexican ceramic bird round it all out. Pretty darn good. I love when all the stuff color coordinates!

Hello Happy-Chic!

I am a big fan of Jonathan Adler (I named my cat after him, for God's sake!) and his design philosophy of "Happy Chic," modern and classy meets cheerful and fun. So I kept this in mind when working on my lastest projects.

First, I found this mug on a recent thifting trip:


I have been on the lookout for a footstool to make over, and got my chance this weekend. This beauty was $5. I like this simple shape and the tapered legs--but the brown vinyl and chipped wood needed help!

Ta-da! Some white paint and Ikea fabric made for a total transformation.

Matt found a great spot for it in the living room. We can use it for extra seating when we have guests. Lovely!

Another really simple little project involves a set of white ceramic coasters (also a thift find) inspired by something similar I saw at the MoMa online shop. I cut circles of colorful felt to fit into the coasters. It's a nice pop of cheerful color on our coffee table.

While flipping through the newest issue of Sunset magazine, I came across a fabulous article on a beachy home in San Francisco.

My eye immediately went to all the plants in the window! This is so beautiful--I can't stop drooling over it, even though it looks a lot like our home!

I am envious and inspired by this print-chair-pillow combination. Simple, textural and visiually intriguing. Happy-chic for sure!

It's Hot--Like it or Not

It's a scorcher here in Wisconsin! This was the scene before we got the air conditioner fixed late last week. Poor babies! They were so hot, they were both napping laying on their backs! Cute, but sad!

Unlike the cats, however, my plants are LOVING the heat, inside and outside the house. My Euphorbia Quadrangularius that I've had maybe a month and a half has sprouted several branches--one of them almost 7 inches long! I think if I looked hard enough I could see it growing!

I can't believe I haven't posted photos of my garden yet this year! It's really looking nice and everyone seems to be very happy and healthy.

I found this fun hippo planter at an antique store recently. How cute is he?!

One of my favorite plants is this fan aloe. It's been doing very well, despite frequent re-pottings to find a good fit.

A shot of most of the garden. Adler loves to come out and chew on the catnip growing in pots.

I have an absolutely beautiful cactus bloom that just started to open last week.

Amazing--I love cactus flowers!!

In-between taking care of all my plants, I've had a little time for thrift shopping :) These are my finds over the last weekend. My favorite is the pair of vintage owl mugs I got for $.69 each. I found a really great hand-woven wool table runner, a cool book on houseplants from the '70's, an interesting book about the desert (I adore the cover design), a roll of funky paper that I can frame, and a pair of brand-new baskets that can be hung on the wall. What a haul--and it all looks so pretty together!