Besides fiber art, I’ve also been quietly hoarding a bunch of lighting ever since the dining room chandelier moved onward to a better home. None of the lighting I’ve stumbled on has been perfect and I haven’t been able to find my dream brutalist chandelier – really the closest thing I have found was this Tom Greene for Monteverdi-Young beast of a brass thing that popped up on Craigslist for a very unbrutal price.

On the other side of chandelier spectrum is that shiny 70′s bit of vintage Lightolier chrome which came into my life late one night when I stumbled upon a very neglected and oddly described eBay auction. So? Score.

Oh, these old things?

Yeah. We’ll get to those in a bit.

Anyway, while out and about in Orange County I stumbled on a little vintage shop and left with my very own Auro Glowbal. Yes sir THAT Auro Glowbal. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of it either, but it looks to be a handmade cotton version of those cheap paper lanterns and turned out to be a nice stand-in for the Akari light sculptures that haunt my daydreams.

Bumling to the Sciolari to the Greene.

Name dropping is what I do best and annoys my friends and loved ones much more than you’d expect. Or maybe as much as you’d expect. I can be pretty unbearable.

The Bumling I’ve had for awhile, but the Sciolari is a new acquisition from a little trade I did with Ellen over at Amsterdam Modern. I imagine it will end up in one of the bedrooms? Maybe? I don’t know.

No, I haven’t forgotten the Nelsons.

I swear.

Anyways, we installed the Auro ball thing in the den, but Mr. Lightolier, Mr. Sciolari and Mr. Bumling are all still floating around totally homeless. It feels impossible to decide where they should go.

I have a raging case of decision fatigue.

But at least the glowbal was installed after sitting on the floor for months…and it looks like there’s only this image as proof since someone forgot to take after pictures. That someone being me.

I failed. I’m a failure.

Good thing I overuse instagram.

OK. So, lamps. Once. Twice. Three, no, four times a Nelson.

I was out in LA working with Laure on some photo shoots during the day and then cruising Craigslist at night, per the norm, when I stumbled on a listing for a crap ton of huge bubble lamps. I emailed them, they emailed back, I was so happy and then realized I couldn’t pick them up while doing awesome photo shoot stuff, so I begged Summer to grab them and promised to split the lamp haul between us. The end.

OK, these things are HUGE and I have four and perhaps I dove into this adventure without much of a plan. With nothing to lose I tried out something that initially felt nuts; I tried the saucer.

The Nelson bubble lamp over the dining table thing feels like it might be the biggest cliche around. Classic design icon? For sure. Ubiquitous lighting choice for mid century interiors? Sure.

Despite this obvious snobbery, these lights beefy scale made me curious about how one might look hung up in the dining room. I loosely strung one up (without fully installing) and stepped back to find that, well, I…sort of…liked it.

Now everything I believe in is in shambles.

I can’t decide if this super size saucer works or if a more unusual lighting choice is a better fit. Does large scale forgive ubiquity? Is this becoming a classic design convention? I’m not sure, but it feels kind of nice?

Hold on. There’s one last factor to consider – no big deal – just forgot to mention the amazing custom built dining table coming soon. Boom.

Everything. Shambles.

So this sucker is going to get a little test run until the new table comes and then we’ll see if it should be installed for real. Who knows! The only certainty is that I change my mind constantly.

I know. I KNOW, DAMMIT.

This fiber thing has gotten fully out of control.

Whatever.

You heard that right. I’ll say it.

What – to the – ever.

At least I can admit to being powerless against fibers. Fully powerless. Power – to the – less.

I’m turning into such a cliche since we all know this story: girl goes on eBay, girl searches for textiles, girl stumbles on a listing for a “Southwest Tapestry Weaving”, girl bids a couple dollars and one day a box shows up full of fiber art. The end.

I wasn’t even trying to find this thing. I was being good! I was just looking for rugs or maybe blankets? It’s all such a blur.

That pusher eBay just waved it this in my face and I gave in to the temptation and now it looks like the kitchen has a shaggy addition. What was I supposed to do? What could any person do? Show restraint and NOT buy old weird woven wall hangings via internet auctions?

I’m not made of that kind of steely discipline. I’m a human being.

This is the last time. The. Last. Time.

It has to be. I’m running out of wall space.

On the plus side, this stringy minx looks uncannily like the one and only ultimate piece of fiber art. See that? My new little fiber could easily be mistaken for a younger and more naive version of that massive beauty. Like that one birthed a wee fiber baby? Oh, yeah. Total fiber baby.

During a recent visit to the Ace I created some indisputable Instagram evidence to drive the point home.

Try and dispute that.

You can’t. That incredible evidence is beyond dispute.

FIBERS.

I so need to find a new thing to hoard.

Hello new rug.

Goodbye old rug.

There are those few rarities that habitual Craigslist trollers like myself don’t expect to bump into on the c’list, one biggie being the legendarily elusive vintage Moroccan Beni Ourain rug. Finding one of these for a bargain feels about as possible as a unicorn farting out Kofod Larsen chairs while throwing wadded up hundred dollar bills at your face. So, when a post for a ‘white wool rug’ with a ‘subtle abstract design’ popped up, I hurriedly emailed the seller as well as a few friends and then sought out the wisdom of the internets to confirm if I was crazy or if a unicorn just knocked on the door.

Well.

I went. I saw. I bought for $150.

Not quite the perfect unicorn, but maybe this rug is like a Llama with a carrot strapped to it’s head showed up and was like, ‘hey, here’s a coupon book for all that stuff you like and a nice sandwich.’ I’m not really sure what exactly this rug is, but I like it like I like sandwiches. A bunch.

This puppy sits about 8′ x 12′ and is in great vintage condition – super thick, softly wooly and nicely hand woven. The pattern coloration of umber, ochers and black was an unexpected surprise, but luckily I’m a big fan of browntown. Considering all the uneasiness and anxiety the other colorful antique rug stirred up in me, this hot piece of minimalist tribal action slid into the room so easily that it’s almost like it’s always been here.

On an unrelated note, I finally hung up and slammed a pencil cactus in this giant geodesic planter I grabbed at the flea over a year ago. No big deal really, this huge planter has just been sitting awkwardly on the bedroom floor for most of that year…so…great job me.

*Slow design.

I also switched out the leather butterfly chairs for my black rocker.

The Eames rocker is a better fit for sure, but the coffee table is still is waiting to be exchanged and the fireplace is still calmly waiting to redone. Why? Because I’m a lazy jerk who buys rugs.

The seventies are exploding up in here. Hey now.

Time’s come to reign in this 70′s textured wackiness and bring out the industrial modernist shiny minimal bits. Plants would help as well, but I gotta start doing some real renovation projects instead of slapping a rug band-aid on everything. There’s just no willpower or energy in my body to start some big messy time consuming projects right now. I’m pooped.

Bring it on, longer days and more sunshine! Let’s do this. Let’s rip stuff out and renovate! Or maybe go source stuff on Craigslist? Shut up, lazy part of me.

What’s strange is that Craigslist has really been a wasteland of nothing but beat up Ikea chairs and gross stained mattresses for months now and then suddenly it was like, oh hey, good stuff and BOOM-rug and then BOOM-rug again and oh, what now? BOOM-rug in your face. I’ve been some kind of rug magnet and for whatever inane reason, I can’t manage to seal the deal on anything else.

At. All.

Besides rugs.

The big rug experiment has gotten pretty stupid at this point and now I’m feeling officially burnt-out on fibers and rugs and textiles in general, despite the fact that I just picked up another rug like some kind of goddamn hypocrite rug addict.

No more rugs. I’m done. This one’s a keeper.

I swear.

And this time I mean it, possibly.

As alluded to earlier, I’ve been continuing that experimentation with rugs thing by picking up this vintage kilim for the guest bedroom off Etsy for a sweet $75.

Handmade and thinly flat woven, this sassy rug has a nicely worn texture and great asymmetric pattern in a neutral deserty palette that seamlessly fits in with everything else around this place.

Duh. Of course. All things browntown are welcomed with here with open arms.

Unlike the other colorful rug I’m continuing to struggle with in the living room, this one is a definite keeper and will likely end up in the go-to rotation of props I enjoy using for styling stuff.

Too bad this blanket just ain’t working and the bed is still is a mess. I’ll eventually regret that bit of laziness seeing that internet photos live forever and occasionally come back to haunt you.

Oh well. That’s still one sexy ass rug.

Mmmmmm.

So brown. So very beautifully brown.

Hey dogs? Please don’t destroy it, you crazy unpredictable beasts!

BOOM.

Suck on that.

Dreams do come true.

So much fiber-y art has entered my life recently that it’s like a Cinderella story made of dusty yarn from the 70′s. Beautifully lush stringy old yarn.

With the loss of its chandelier, the dining room has been going through a slow transformation that includes – obviously – new lighting and just maybe a new dining table? Possibly thinking about going for some custom style action? ‘Cause I’m fancy? Or super picky? Or whatever.

Yuppers. Big dining room redo. Eventually.

Till then, this gigantically glorious wall hanging will have to hold down the fort.

Whoa whoa whoa. Slow your roll.

Tell me you didn’t think this was the only fiber art wall hanging thing happening around here?

No. Way.

Because when I get obsessed, I get obsessed. Perhaps you noticed that little ‘s’ in the post title?

DOUBLE BOOM.

In your face.

It’s like this thing is so crazy good that the frame can’t handle it! Not at all! Stupid frame!

All that beauty is overflowing with goodness. Jute-y ropey goodness.

Try to ignore the messy bed and that seemingly new ‘rug’ like rug on the floor. I’m apparently such a busy lady that I can’t be bothered to make my bed for photos or discuss this ‘rug’ situation. But don’t you fret lover, that ‘rug’ will be covered in a forthcoming post.

For now?

NO distractions from the fibers.

With these two transcendent works of aesthetic textile-ish glory installed in the dining room and the guest bedroom alike, I believe we’ve finally reached the limit of fiber art the house can safely hold. No, wait, I’m wrong. There’s still that Don Freedman piece, which now lives in the kitchen and that other simple weaving in the hall. But who’s counting? Not you.

Don’t count them.

Just. Don’t.

So. Provenance? AKA, where did these come from?

The dining room behemoth was once owned by all around super nice person Kathleen Ryan, who emailed me a few photos after reading about the great fiber search. Of course I fell instantly in love and we then worked out a mutually beneficial trade. By the way, trading vintage stuff is probably my favorite thing in the world to do. I can happily deaccession something I no longer have space for while someone else gets to do the same. Win win!

The guest bedroom’s sassy ropey weaving was found some time back during a trip to Palm Springs. We went out for a little shopping fun and stumbled on this baby at a consignment shop in Cathedral City. I grabbed that sucker off the wall and never looked back.

FIBERS!

Awhile back I posted a bit of a preview of a design project that Laure and I have been working on and after finalizing a few finishing details we headed down to Morrison Hair in Laguna Beach to do a big photo shoot of the finished space and stylish staff.

James and Rachel Morrison couldn’t be better or more talented folks to work with and we loved that their big dream was to create a salon that felt more like a warm comfortable home than a standard commercial space. In terms of the overall design, we wanted to combine a bit of modern lux, California boho, industrial and rustic details, unique vintage pieces with a nod to James Scottish roots and the buildings architectural past. The salon is located in a renovated 1920′s Spanish bungalow with fantastic original architectural details and killer ocean views. I mean really, the process of helping Rachel and James pull together a comfy and stylish interior wasn’t that much of a stretch.

Admittedly, one of the biggest perks of helping out at the salon was getting fancy haircuts. Although, now I’m ruined for all other salons seeing as I only want  James to cut my hair forever. He’s that good.

Some folks were curious about where my Adelman chandelier ended up and I’ve had a number of email offers come in to snatch it up, but the lamp now resides in the salons main waiting room. I love seeing it lit up while driving by since it looks AMAZING from the street.

There’s a selection of drinks and treats at the beverage bar for customers to indulge in that includes some seriously good coffee – loads of which we heartily partook of on those long installation nights.

We asked our friend Bianca to make us a very special succulent planting for the main waiting area and if you look closely…

…it reveals a miniature scene of two flamingos styling up some hair-dos.

These gorgeous leather strapped mirrors were sourced from Casamidy‘s AltaVista line.

They are perfect and I want them to be all over my house.

An industrial clothes rack with simple metal clothes hangers hold the salon’s robes for customers to change into. I love this solution, so simple but still sleek.

Besides the Adelman chandelier in the main waiting area we used a number of exposed bulb fixtures throughout the salon, including these simple and super budget friendly painted porcelain light sockets with extra large clear bulbs at the work stations and a Satellite pendant from Schoolhouse Electric with some half chrome beauties in the restroom.

One other custom detail that turned out better than we ever could have hoped, was the brass sheet inserts that line the top of each stylists work station. The brass adds an unexpected bit of shine which reflects a flattering warm light and ties in with the brass hardware used throughout the salon.

I grabbed a quick candid snapshot of the Morrison staff getting their portrait shot by Laure.

They all have perfect hair all the time. It is incredible.

This Tom Dixon light is the business.

Casamidy leather magazine holder is also the business.

For the dry bar we asked the incredible woodsmith Dusty Wheeler to fabricate and install a floating eleven foot raw live edge slab of Alligator Juniper, which turned out to be smoother than glass and possibly the most beautiful slab of wood ever seen anywhere. Dusty also fabricated and installed the brass inserts for the work stations and built an amazing wood top for the shampoo room storage cabinet, which also turned out to be better made than anything I’ve ever owned.

Dude has skills and is easily the nicest fabricator to work with. I want to keep him a secret so that he remains available to work on every project I ever do, but also know he’s too talented to hoard to myself and do truly want him to stay busy and help out as many folks as possible. I can’t recommend Dusty highly enough.

*Um. I do need him for other projects, soooooo, calling first dibs.

This leather bit of heaven is from HD Buttercup.

James & Rachel are goddamn adorable.

Everyone who comes in can’t help but stroke the dry bar.

It’s that gorgeous.

The interiors of Morrison Hair turned out to be everything Laure and I hoped it would be and much more. This was such a creative and fun project to be a part of and we loved working with Rachel and James and the entire staff at Morrison to create a space they enjoy and feel at home in.

I couldn’t be more proud of how it all came together or more excited about upcoming projects with Laure and the lovely Morrison family.

Been feeling this weird need to own more rugs (that are not cowhides) and have stalked a few via Craigslist and eBay without much success for the last few months.

Apparently, rugs are hard?

Well, they can be incredibly costly when considering larger sizes like 9′x12′, so you better be pretty into investing some cash into rugs. Sadly, most the rugs I find tend to be either totally trashed or oddly sized or just u – to the – gly on all levels. When I saw this rug listed about three months ago on Craigslist (fairly close to my house) I immediately liked the worn-in threadbare quality and semi-persian / semi-kelim / semi-whatever vibe it had going for it. Plus, it was super HUGE.

Per usual. Emailed. Spoke a bit to the seller. Seller then vanished.

These things happen a lot.

About a month later I saw this thing pop up again at three times the original price and was surprised, but not shocked – since these things also happen a lot. Of course, it languished on the ‘list and over the following months would occasionally pop up and I would stalk it and send a random email here and there and offer the original price we had originally agreed on. Of course I continued to be shot down.

But I am tenacious animal.

After like the seventh relist or something crazy like that, the rug was listed again at a reasonable price and I tenaciously sent my little email again – and finally – arranged to pick it up.

Viewing it in person? Not as awesomely handwoven and perfectly vintage as I hoped or believed it was going to be from those tiny Craigslist thumbnail pics.

These things? They also happen a lot.

We did the negotiating dance and got the price down and I gave into rug ownership.

Now that I’ve gotten this puppy home and fulfilled my whole ‘maybe I should get a rug’ impulse, I’m finding myself totally on the fence about this whole getting a rug thing. I love seeing and using awesome rugs in other peoples homes and enjoy the layered texture and great bit of pattern they bring, but perhaps somewhere in this minimalist heart there’s no room for a solid patch of antiquity. Then again, I kind of love the way it changes the space and plan to pair it with my marble knoll coffee table and a freshly white fireplace. With those additions considered into the grand scheme, I can fully imagine it would be moderened up while still adding the right amount of texture to the space. For now though, I won’t commit to lugging that 1000 pound beast of a marble table in here until I feel good and sure about things.

I’m waffling. I’m a rug waffler.

The rug remains an undecided living room visitor or possible option for the den. Everyday I sleep on it in hopes of finalizing a decision and everyday my mind swings back and forth from rug! to NO rug!

These are the hardest most soul searching questions one must face at some point. Duh.

One of the big design type projects Laure and I have been working on so diligently is a very stylish (come on, obviously) salon in Laguna Beach that’s just recently opened up called Morrison Hair. Located in an older Spanish style bungalow, Rachel and James wanted the space to remain cozy, comfy and inviting like a great house, but still be stylish and modern for getting your hair did.

A particularly important and big need furniture-wise for the waiting area was a pair of chairs that were unusual, comfortable and made you desperately want to sit in them. So of course my first thought was these slingy bad bays that I have always wanted to reupholster.

Yup.

THOSE slingy cantilever bad boys. Pictured above in the BEFORE situation of upholstery hell.

For sure these were living in Ugly Town, USA and must have seemed like a complete stretch, so trust that it took a lot of convincing and begging to get anyone to believe they could be comfortable and stylish and awesome and not just a hot mess of browntown disgusting.

BOOM.

Reupholstered and reimagined.

I always knew they had a kind of Max Gottschalk or Paulistano type vibe buried deep inside their tubular chrome frames.

For the new slings, I decided to go with a bit of an unusual material. Any guesses? Hmmmm?

Screw that nonsense since I can’t shut up about it and am way too impatient. So, these slings are actually made with vintage wildfire tarp! I know. What?!

These tarps are used by my local Park Rangers and Firefighters in the San Jacinto mountains – located just a few miles from this Brick House. When the forest catches on fire, these giant heavy duty waxed canvas tarps are used to move burning brush and burnt up timbers or whatever else is on fire and needing moving. Eventually they get beat up and decommissioned and end up in retirement with this local canvas fabricator type guy I found.

I loved that the material already had this amazing patina and color and was this super heavy duty weight that I couldn’t find with newer fabrics. Plus, who has wildfire tarp chairs? Who?! No one.

Well wait, I guess Morrison Hair does now, BUT come on, don’t you just want to sit in them?! They turned out super sexy and are shockingly comfy to boot. Like a big hug from a firefighter.

Oh man, I can’t wait to show off the rest of the salon. Sorry about these few quick snaps I tried to grab.

We have a few finishing touches and a photo shoot to do, but I’m desperate to post the rest of the space. It turned out pretty much spectacular with a few custom features that are killer and was an overall great project to work on with some truly outstanding folks.

MMMmmmmmmm. Slingy time. Sneaky sling peek. Sleaking.

Now I totally want some slings for my house again. That is not how this works, right? I can’t be jealous.

Dang.

More soon.

A few weeks ago I grabbed this handwoven vintage basket from a junky consignment shop that seemed more lunatic swap meet than viable retail store. Even though the basket was mostly hidden by a pile of fast food toys, the little visible bits of lumpy weaving and sweet triangle pattern had me sold as well as making plans to shove a large cactus inside it.

Well, eventually shove.

Neglect and certain death are about the only things a house plant can expect around here.

Despite that, I’m fairly committed to using a few chunky handwoven baskets as planters around the house and accept that many plants will be murdered in the process.

Otherwise, I’m very enthusiastic about Bowie and his bedroom eyes

Rawrrr. Gratuitous.

White dudes love auctions. LOVE.

Well, I love auctions too, even if I have to spend the whole day psyching myself up for the sizing up stares, crazy quick bidding and dollars about to be spent. This particular auction was heavily MCM, which meant the local dealers were out in force and ready to throw down cash. I almost didn’t go after spending the day obsessing about how nutty and competitive these auctions make me and the inevitable painful losing that happens.

BTW, want people to look at you with anger and suspicion? Whip out a big camera at an auction preview. It’s not awkward at all.

Their eyes. Their judgmental eyes.

Maybe somewhere in the background you can spot my big spendy purchase of the evening?

Yes?

Yes you can.

Great dining set I didn’t buy but desperately wanted to.

I forget how much they ended up selling for…a lot…

There were loads of good chairs, but the perfect pair of well worn Falcon chairs (a personal favorite – but also designed by Sigurd Resell in the 1970′s for Vatne Möbler) initially beckoned me to the auction.

FALCON ENHANCE.

Sweet, sweet Falcon action.

Only got this one terrible picture of a single chair on account of my camera shame, but trust me, they were amazing and ended up selling to some dealers for something like $1600. Not to me. NOT TO ME, dammit.

This set of Plycraft armchairs (designed by Norman Cherner and also a personal fav) got a good deal of looking over from folks pacing around them in desperate circles of desire. Clearly, they were going to be the big battle of the evening.

The auctioneer mentioned the set came from an estate in Banning – which can’t be true, right? Have you ever been to Banning? Only shame and shattered lives come from there.

Along with the mid century stuff, there was a large estate of oil cans and gas station type signs being sold that would have made those American Picker guys get wicked half chubs.

It was mind numbing sitting through the oil can auctions.

A moment of memoriam please. Let’s reflect once more on those Cherners.

As expected, they ended up being the big battle of the night – to the shock and amusement of most the crowd. The guys sitting behind me had an insightful running dialogue about how crappy all this stupid crappy crap was. Anyways.

They sold for $2400.

Goodbye you gorgeous beasts.

Well, what did I get? A few things. Above is a little preview.

DUH. It’s a rug.

Also, I might have outbid someone who reads the blog on this puppy. A fact which became clear when she told me as much as we waited to pay. It’s hard to explain the wave of guilt and anxiety that then exploded in my brain…so I apologize. I’m sorry. I looked terrible. Oh man. Auctions turn me into a monster.

More crap to come.