Leopard clutch

I know, I'm trying to ease you off the house-related posts. So happy Friday, with this delicious clutch. Kind of fun and vintage, no?  Have a lovely weekend!

Drinks Carts

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Even though we're supposed to be focusing on getting the essentials for our house at the moment (read: very boring and necessary things like hallway runners and a bed), I have been inexplicably drawn to super fun and completely indulgent bar carts. I'm not even a huge drinker, but the Pal and I have become obsessed with the idea of having one, and entertaining our friends in every room of the house. (Friends: a bar cart has wheels!) They're not inexpensive, and I think you'd probably need to buy the cart first before all the accessorising,  but gosh I've been dreaming about these ones.

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Muji Owl

Well aren't you just gorgeous, Cardboard Muji Owl? A little severe in the face, perhaps, but cardboardy and lovely nonetheless.

Dining Chairs

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So we've had a radical thought on dining chairs. I've had lots of suggestions - all of them excellent. But I'm thinking of getting five of these black Thonet chairs. Oh, and one hot pink one. And they'll go with our teak table on a plain-ish rug, maybe something like the one below. Crazy? Maybe, but it's feeling more and more right. It'll either be disastrous of visionary and likely nothing in between. Wish me luck! (The Pal is not convinced on the pink one. I tell him he can sit on the black ones, and he is sort of assuaged.)

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House Progress III

(Sorry - the light makes it almost impossible for my limited photography skills to get a good picture in this room!)

Managed to scrub down and polish the sideboard we bought and my oh my - it came up beautifully. You couldn't see any of this lovely grain when we bought it, and it had waterstains and marks on the top. I followed Morgan's excellent restoration guide to the letter, and it honestly looks like new. I have been oiling it every few days and the old wood is drinking it in. Feel like a beneficent motherly figure when I do. Go figure.

Not much else to report on the progress front this week. Work is getting busier and house things are invariably pushed aside for things like "earning money". Lame. Promise to get on it this week.

To-do list: (I'll be posting this weekly as a personal reminder of where we're up to - please feel free to ignore or to play along). Obviously much of this will cost a lot, so we'll do it over time, starting with the most urgent.

Kitchen
-Get a new plug for the sink
-Line cupboards with non-adhesive mats
-Possibly get an eat-in table and chair or a centre butcher's block/workspace. (Going to wait a bit on this one)

Butler's Pantry
-Line shelves with non-adhesive mats
-Maybe get curtain to block the pantry from the kitchen? (or go crazy with a beaded curtain?) (Mixed responses to this last time! I'm leaving it in just for the record.)

Bathroom
-Put up shower curtain cotton liners
-Think about towel warmer/dryer? (Arrived! Toasty, toasty bathroom with dry towels).
-Get extension cord for towel dryer

Mudroom
-Buy a sideboard to house linen and to use as more bench space for the bathroom.
-Buy a washing basket
-Buy a clothes rack
-Maybe buy a plant for the sideboard when we have it. (Got one for my birthday! Thanks AB!)
-Buy a mirror for the sideboard
-Polish up sideboard (pictures soon)

Bedroom
-Buy a mattress
-Buy a bed base
-Buy new, darker curtains
-Buy wall hooks for the picture rails
-Buy a mirror for the back of the door
-Buy a rug

Closet
-Line drawers with paper liners

Dining Room/2nd Bedroom
-Research and buy an airbed and linen and guest towels
-Buy dining table (more on this later this week!)
-Buy dining chairs
-Buy rug (this is a lease condition)
-Placemats for hot things on dining table
-Polish up dining table
-Buy thicker curtains for the front windows

Lounge room
-Buy couch (ordered but not arrived)
-Buy coffee table
-Buy rug
-Buy a large plant - maybe a Fiddle Fig?
-Buy a lamp

Study nook/Entraceway
-Buy small desk for this space
-Buy a chair/stool, too
-Buy a desk lamp

Hallway
-Buy a rug (runner style) - this is a lease condition

Misc
-Vacuum cleaner/Mop + bucket
-Sewing machine (eventually!)
-Braun kitchen blender/chopper
-Iron

Perfect Yellow

Had a long Skype with my sister two nights ago who, as luck would have it, is not only totally awesome, but is also an interior architect. We were talking about how great yellow and grey are and then I saw this and I was sold. What a great room in every way. I need to be a little more daring when it comes to yellow. Here's to trying.

Rugs: Part I

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I've never really invested in rugs. They were never a priority, but now we need to buy some and I feel very much out of my depth! Here are a few I'm contemplating - I'll let you know how we go.

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Perfect Ikea bedding

IKEA! Please, please PLEASE make this in King Size! Goodness gracious - couldn't imagine a cuter bedspread if I tried. (And if you have a double or a queen bed - buy this!)

Honeycomb Love

Wow! Love the colour and the honeycomb feel to this space - such a bright, bold colour statement. Happy Tuesday!

House Progress II

For years I have pined after this Eames armchair. Initially I thought it would be a great way to commemorate the end of my thesis, but of course, we never lived in a place that could fit it!

On Saturday morning on my birthday, the Pal surprised me with the chair. Photos soon, but for now I thought you needed to appreciate it in a perfect picture. Just because, it is really a piece of art. He really is extraordinary - thank you Pal. And thank you for my delightful birthday wishes, lovely readers! I feel super excited and happy to be in a new decade!

So we're chuffing along on this house business. Two other cheap chairs arrived this week so we have gone from the House of No Chairs to the House of Some Chairs. Our lower backs are thanking us.

Still feels a little like we're squatting - and so many things are taking time to consider. A plain rug and busy chairs? A bright, colourful rug and plain chairs? Fun, ultimately, but the impatient Kate just wants it all done already.

To-do list: (I'll be posting this weekly as a personal reminder of where we're up to - please feel free to ignore or to play along). Obviously much of this will cost a lot, so we'll do it over time, starting with the most urgent.

Kitchen
-Get a new plug for the sink
-Line cupboards with non-adhesive mats
-Possibly get an eat-in table and chair or a centre butcher's block/workspace. (Going to wait a bit on this one)

Butler's Pantry
-Line shelves with non-adhesive mats
-Maybe get curtain to block the pantry from the kitchen? (or go crazy with a beaded curtain?) (Now think this is a ridiculous idea. What was I thinking?!)

Bathroom
-Put up shower curtain cotton liners
-Think about towel warmer/dryer? (Arrived! Toasty, toasty bathroom with dry towels).
-Get extension cord for towel dryer

Mudroom
-Buy a sideboard to house linen and to use as more bench space for the bathroom.
-Buy a washing basket
-Buy a clothes rack
-Maybe buy a plant for the sideboard when we have it. (Got one for my birthday! Thanks AB!)
-Buy a mirror for the sideboard
-Polish up sideboard (pictures soon)

Bedroom
-Buy a mattress
-Buy a bed base
-Buy new, darker curtains
-Buy wall hooks for the picture rails
-Buy a mirror for the back of the door
-Buy a rug

Closet
-Line drawers with paper liners

Dining Room/2nd Bedroom
-Research and buy an airbed and linen and guest towels
-Buy dining table (more on this later this week!)
-Buy dining chairs
-Buy rug (this is a lease condition)
-Placemats for hot things on dining table
-Polish up dining table

Lounge room
-Buy couch (ordered but not arrived)
-Buy coffee table
-Buy rug
-Buy a large plant - maybe a Fiddle Fig?

Study nook/Entraceway
-Buy small desk for this space
-Buy a chair/stool, too
-Buy a little lamp

Hallway
-Buy a rug (runner style) - this is a lease condition

Misc
-Vacuum cleaner/Mop + bucket
-Sewing machine (eventually!)
-Braun kitchen blender/chopper
-Iron

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Today is my 30th birthday! It's funny - I don't feel any sense of trepidation or feeling 'old' - I just feel very happy and lucky.

Here's to fun times ahead, more adventures beginning and good friends to share it all with.

Thanks, as always, for reading. So wonderful to read your comments.

Kate xx

Bright house

Hello bright, light housie! At the moment, I am genuinely envious of the couch alone. I am really missing having a place to sit. Two cheap Amazon chairs arrived today which are both hideously ugly and simultaneously the best thing I've ever seen. We ate dinner sitting at the table! It was civilised!

Stay tuned for more dining chair discussions next week. (Oh the scintilliating tempo of my life/this blog). I've had lots of excellent recommendations via email and the blog - will share.

Favourite Podcast Update

And now for a change of pace. A while back I wrote about my favourite podcasts. And then I wrote about them again. And I realised over the years that the list keeps changing. So in the interests of maybe helping you to find something fun to listen to, and for my good friend Annie, here's what's on my current rotation. (Oh and it's in alphabetical order, so I don't have to play favourites!)

A History of the World in 100 Objects - A fabulous series from the British Museum, curated by its director, Neil McGregor. Deliciously short features, each exploring a historical object (like a jade axe, for example) and looking at the broader historical period. Excellent for: burgeoning history buffs and list-lovers.

Arts and Ideas - An always-interesting discussions of, unsurprisingly, arts and ideas from the BBC. Good for: car trips or walks up the street.

BBC Documentaries - Aural documentaries, you say? Well that's what most podcasts are, but this one actually feels like the structure of a doco, too. Thousands of topics covered here, from North Korea to the AIDS crisis. Good for: learning about new parts of the world.

Forum - A World of Ideas - An always-engaging and well-moderated panel discussion with three new panelists each week, who come from academia, the arts and science/medicine and beyond. They draw fascinating parallels between their respective fields and the topic at hand - quite delightful.

Here's the Thing - A newcomer which is Alec Baldwin's interview podcast. I didn't think I'd like this, but a gateway drug would be the excellent interview with Kristen Wiig. Whom I adore.

KCRW's Bookworrm -  Where to begin?! Not only does Michael Silverblatt have a voice like warm honey, he is a genius when it comes to books. If you need an episode to convince you, try this heartbreaking interview with David Foster Wallace. After listening to one of Silverblatt's questions, Wallace says simply, "Adopt me".

Fresh Air - Terry Gross is a wonderful interviewer who always seems to have great guests. I love her sensitivity and insight - she is part psychologist and part culture fanatic. Bonus:  a brilliant comedy video from Mike Birbiglia featuring himself and Terry. Courtesy of This American Life (see below).

Radiolab -A very unusual and highly produced show, I would recommend listening to Radiolab in a dark room on a cold night. Scintillating and sometimes heart-stopping, start with Lost and Found and tell me you are not moved by Emilie's story.

Shakespeare's Restless World - A follow-up series from the British Museum (those guys are on a roll!), this series looks at themes from Shakespeare, like food or travel, and how those would have really been in Shakespeare's time. Riveting. Good for: Literary nerds and sonnet-a-holics.

Slate Culture Gabfest - It's hard not to adore Dana, Steven and Julia. When I first started listening to this back in 2008, I had no idea they'd become my 'friends'. Too, too wonderful. I've put a lot of my REAL friends on to this one, and they all seem to still be listening. Enough said. Good for: everything.

The Moth - Always riveting. The Moth is a series of stories told by everyone from famous people to your everyday girl next door. Storytelling at its finest. Best for: short trips.

This American Life - One of the biggest and most famous shows on NPR. Hard to explain the impact this show and its host, Ira Glass, have had on me. But suffice to say this never disappoints. One of my favourites is Switched at Birth (which another friend hates!) so at least it will provoke conversation.

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me - A fun panel comedy show which talks about US current affairs and interesting topics. An interesting way into the news if you've had a week where you can't stomach real news.

Whew! Enjoy if any of these are new to you - I'd love to hear if you like them!

Dining table dilemma

Why hello new-to-us dining table! You little teak, Danish beauty! We bought this delightful table (with four leaves to make it even bigger) and it will be our dining table. Yay! Furniture!

You can see a spare bed in the background of this photo - we've had a friend staying with us. Normally this table would be in the room with the bed in it.

Now Internet - what chairs would you choose?  I'm casting about for all sorts of ideas - will promise to share them if you link to them in the comments below.

HOKUSPOKUS-BAG

Yes! Triangle bags! So, so wonderful. And called Hokuspokus? Sold!

House Progress I

Quite a lot of progress on the list in the past week, which is so nice! (Yes, I love a list, and love crossing things off it even more!) I've had a few emails from worried friends/relatives, saying "take it easy - you don't need to do this all immediately." Absolutely we don't - I am just a planner, and wanted to lock in the necessary parts (like having a bed to sleep in).

Anyway, we're loving our new neighbourhood - cafes, restaurants, book shops and bars are all a stone's throw away, as is a bus to the city and a bus to my work. So I'm reveling in being able to walk everywhere and not needing to have a car.

Above is the sideboard we bought for our 'mudroom'. The light's not great as it's under a very bright window, but we needed some more bathroom storage and figured we had a nice amount of space to use the unit as a vanity/linen cupboard/place to keep laundry detergent etc. We're loving it so far - we got it for a steal and I'm going to polish it up a little so the splotches on top will disappear. More photos soon. I also love that if/when we move again, this piece is super versatile as a lounge or bedroom piece and not just as a mini plastic bathroom shelf, which is what I wanted to stay away from.

To-do list: (I'll be posting this weekly as a personal reminder of where we're up to - please feel free to ignore or to play along). Obviously much of this will cost a lot, so we'll do it over time, starting with the most urgent.

Kitchen
-Get a new plug for the sink
-Line cupboards with non-adhesive mats
-Possibly get an eat-in table and chair or a centre butcher's block/workspace.

Butler's Pantry
-Line shelves with non-adhesive mats
-Maybe get curtain to block the pantry from the kitchen? (or go crazy with a beaded curtain?)

Bathroom
-Put up shower curtain cotton liners
-Think about towel warmer/dryer? (Ordered - it's freezing in there and towels stay damp)
-Get extension cord for towel dryer

Mudroom
-Buy a sideboard to house linen and to use as more bench space for the bathroom.
-Buy a washing basket
-Buy a clothes rack
-Maybe buy a plant for the sideboard when we have it

Bedroom
-Buy a mattress
-Buy a bed base
-Buy new, darker curtains
-Buy wall hooks for the picture rails
-Buy a mirror for the back of the wall
-Buy a rug

Closet
-Line drawers with paper liners

Dining Room/2nd Bedroom
-Research and buy an airbed and linen and guest towel
-Buy dining table (more on this later this week!)
-Buy dining chairs
-Buy rug (this is a lease condition)

Lounge room
-Buy couch (ordered but not arrived)
-Buy coffee table
-Buy rug
-Buy a large plant - maybe a Fiddle Fig?

Study nook/Entraceway
-Buy small desk for this space
-Buy a chair/stool, too
-Buy a little lamp

Hallway
-Buy a rug (runner style) - this is a lease condition

Misc
-Vacuum cleaner/Mop + bucket
-Sewing machine (eventually!)
-Braun kitchen blender/chopper

More grey walls

Oh gosh. More grey walls! This room is just gorgeous - I think it works because the palette of the grey floor and wall and couch lets the painting, ceiling light and table really pop out. What a treat.

White + Triangles = Happiness

Gosh - what a stunning space. Part of me feels like I may have already blogged about this designer, Susanna Vento before, but it's good enough to see a few times more, surely! The whiteness and the triangles. Oh triangles.

Larissa Zeigler Bags

In case you have limited attention for the new house I'm now living in, I thought I'd share some other pretties. Don't worry: the house is mostly what I can think of these days, so I'll come back to it, soon :)  In the meantime, these bags by German Larissa Zeigler are super stunning - love the geometry of the leather.

Grey Wall inspiration

I'm dreaming of grey walls. Well not so much dreaming as waking up at 5am and scouring Pinterest for ideas. Same-same, right? I love how these are a very similar wall color, but give completely different moods. 

We got the apartment!

Thanks for your lovely wishes - they must have been granted! In what might be the fastest ever San Francisco rental process, we got the apartment! I am still a little in shock - we had expected (and been warned) that it could take months, so I feel super lucky and excited about the place we got. Above is a picture (with the side street very obviously blanked out!) - ours is the middle floor - we have the whole floor which makes it feel a bit like a house. Built in 1882, it's exactly 130 years old, which makes it both the oldest (and incidentally the biggest!) place in which I've ever lived.

This probably used to be the dining room, with a built-in cabinet for dinnerware, but we're going to use this as a bedroom. When I saw this online, I was so excited to see freshly painted and plastered walls, and such beautiful light coming through.

The original fireplace in the lounge room and front bay window. Can't wait to put a reading nook under the window. And the chandelier - well, it's a bit unfortunate, but it's a Victorian original, too.

A clawfoot bathtub! Pretty excited about this. I haven't lived in a house with a bath for about 5 years, so I plan on using this one frequently.

And this is my closet. Yes - The Pal will get a separate one! This one is off the main bedroom (yes, those are also original drawers with original drawer pulls that you can't see well here). The Pal's is off the dining room/2nd bedroom. I cannot WAIT (maybe I'll be alone on this one) to set up this room :)

Yes - back to the dining room/2nd bedroom mention. That's sort of a weird combination, I know. But we are super keen to both entertain here, and also to have friends come to stay. So we're thinking of making the 2nd bedroom into a dining room for most of the time (where we can eat and do work etc) and then push it to the side and have an AirBed when we have a guest. Not a perfect solution, but likely the most sensible.

I'm going to post photos as we slowly accumulate possessions and furniture over the coming months. Please throw in your suggestions - I'd love to hear them!

To-do list: (I'll be posting this weekly as a personal reminder of where we're up to - please feel free to ignore or to play along). Obviously much of this will cost a lot, so we'll do it over time, starting with the most urgent.

Kitchen
-Get a new plug for the sink
-Line cupboards with non-adhesive mats
-Possibly get an eat-in table and chair or a centre butcher's block/workspace.


Butler's Pantry
-Line shelves with non-adhesive mats
-Maybe get curtain to block the pantry from the kitchen? (or go crazy with a beaded curtain?)

Bathroom
-Put up shower curtain cotton liners
-Think about towel warmer/dryer?


Mudroom
-Buy a sideboard to house linen and to use as more bench space for the bathroom.
-Buy a washing basket
-Buy a clothes rack
-Maybe buy a plant for the sideboard when we have it


Bedroom
-Buy a mattress
-Buy a bed base
-Buy new, darker curtains
-Buy wall hooks for the picture rails


Closet
-Line drawers with paper liners

Dining Room/2nd Bedroom
-Research and buy an airbed and linen and guest towel
-Buy dining table
-Buy dining chairs
-Buy rug (this is a lease condition)


Lounge room
-Buy couch
-Buy coffee table
-Buy rug
-Buy a large plant - maybe a Fiddle Fig?


Study nook/Entraceway
-Buy small desk for this space
-Buy a chair/stool, too
-Buy a little lamp


Hallway
-Buy a rug (runner style) - this is a lease condition

I'm sure there are lots more to-dos - but so, so exciting!

One of my favourite details in the lounge room!

Wish us luck!

Crossing fingers that it happens, but we might, oh we might, be the new tenants of a super cute place! (This photo courtesy of its Craigslist post which has since been removed).

Please wish us luck!

Happy Redwoods!

Some more pics from our road trip. We hired a convertible and Internet, apart from the looks from some people like we were douchebags (there is definitely a douchey quality to convertibles), it was so. Much. Fun.  We drive up through the Redwoods and the views and trees are simply breathtaking. No photo could do them justice, but I can shut my eyes and be back amongst green wonderfulness. Have a lovely weekend. xx

Peaceful House

It has been a busy week and this image soothes and calms in the best ways possible.