Day 2: My Craft Space

I love my little office/guest bedroom/craft room.  Since it is so very small, I've tried to come up with interesting ways to store my various supplies. I love glass jars, and think they look so pretty filled with ribbons, glitter and thread. Mine are arranged on the dresser, a place which in addition to holding towels and off-season clothing, serves as an area to corral my craft materials. I think it is inspiring to see these things out in the open, instead of having to dig through storage boxes. Inexpensive mason jars can be found at Michael's or Ikea, but I like to salvage spaghetti sauce and pickle jars by running them through the dishwasher, peeling off the old label, and giving the lid a coat of bright, glossy white paint.

This classic Ikea hold-all is a real workhorse. It keeps my most-often-used craft supplies at close reach, from glue gun to fisherman's line to fabric scraps. More spools of ribbon find a home in a milk glass pedestal dish.

The bright and playful fabric scraps are from my favorite sewing shop in Philadelphia, Spool. I'm using them for an announcement mailing that I have going out soon...

A view from the doorway: I don't sew clothing, but I like having a dress form for displaying my favorite pieces. The sequined shift is by Vera Wang.  And the adorable birdcage coat hook is an Oh Joy! design from Urban Outfitters.

And wrapping and craft papers are stored in this fantastically minimal, glossy-white trash can from The Container Store....

Tonight is spaghetti night, so I'll have more jars to work with soon! Meanwhile, how do store your craft supplies?

Golden Glamour

Now this is my idea of a red carpet dress! If I could wear anything to a formal event, it would probably be one-shouldered, leopard-print Lanvin (here worn by Maggie Gyllenhaal at the Golden Globes). Heaven!

I really do love seeing the ladies who take risks on the red carpet, who wear something a little more unique, more colorful, playful, or more emblematic of their personal style. Like Marisa Tomei in this utterly chic Oscar de la Renta ensemble...

Or Cameron Diaz with her surfer-girl-goes-glam style, wearing Chanel Haute Couture...

Or Drew Barrymore, all bouffant-ed in pale blue Dior with a perfect deep crimson accent...

Or the lovely Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire, wearing Christian Lacroix Haute Couture... 

Okay, I admit that I would be torn between wearing Lanvin and Lacroix to my dream formal event. I am after all the one person who loved Uma Thurman in this get-up a few years ago...

All images via Style.com

Tempting... 20x200

I'm a big fan of the exceedingly unique and affordable(!!) art editions at 20x200. You can't beat $20 a pop for prints of this quality! The one above, "Paradigm Shift" by Jessica Snow, is particularly lovely, don't you think? 

As an fyi, the most recent Domino has a little feature about this site and its founder Jen Berkman...

More prints from 20x200, from top: "Many Mountains" by Ky Anderson, "AA, 2007" by Jacob Magraw, and "Shill" by David Corbett

                                       Day 1: Laundry!

Maybe it's the new year, but something has got me in an organizing mood. So this week, I will be sharing some of my neat and tidy house projects, as well as cool products for keeping things out of sight/out of mind.

It seems like no matter what we do, my guy and I always have an enormous pile of laundry overflowing from a basket in the bedroom. I think this authentic postal surplus bag from Three Potato Four would be a playful solution to our laundry woes.  A couple of these bags lined up along the wall would make a graphic statement and might also serve as additional bean bag-style seating for our three cats!

Meanwhile, this bag of money is hilarious.  I think it would be perfect as an ironic objet d'art in the living room...

Happy Friday!

I leave you this Friday with two things I love, pretty turquoise details and room filled with sunlight, via House Beautiful and interior designer Jamie Drake.

Hope you all have a happy weekend!  Among other things, I plan to finish outfitting and decorating my new bathroom shelving unit.  More baskets, bins and trays are needed!  I will share the completed project next week, but for now here is a preview featuring my most curious and appreciative kitty, Radius...

Black and White House

...and zig zag all over! I love this graphic kitchen in the guesthouse designed by Mary McDonald in the new Domino. What fantastic wallpaper...and those python print seat cushions aren't bad either! 

Davina Zagury

I'm a big fan of Davina Zagury and her photographs of lost and abandoned toys, from a series entitled "The Land of Lost Toys."  I came across her work several years ago as she sold the prints on the street in Soho. They are all so charming, and a reminder of those once-greatly-loved objects from childhood...

The 7"x7" prints come pre-framed in a very nice 2-sided acrylic casing.  I have the little elephant hanging in my hallway as we speak..so sweet...

Bookshelf Project, Part 2

Voila! My new bookshelf is finished. And I kind of love it...

Bookshelf Project, Part 1

As I mentioned yesterday, Kevin and I picked up a new (to us) bookshelf for the living room. We found it at a fantastic antique/junk shop near Atlantic City called Cobweb Corner. They had some knock-out Hollywood Regency pieces, and for such reasonable prices. But we came home with only the simple bookcase, which was chosen for the narrow shape, interesting details, and bargain price tag. It started out a medium brown-toned wood, which was immediately painted a glossy white. I really like the little arches at the top...

I wanted to do a fun wallpaper lining, but made the choice to take the easier (but no less stylish) route and use gift wrap instead. This pattern is "Madame Butterfly" from Whimsy Press (it's 100% recycled too)...

Luckily the sheets of paper were almost exactly the correct width for my shelves, so there was a minimum of cutting involved.  A quick coating of spray craft adhesive holds everything in place...

And finally, almost complete. I just need to paint the little drawer that goes in at the bottom, and of course, fill it up with stuff...

In Part II, I will show the completed piece!

Hello, 2009!

Greetings and Happy New Year, from myself and my new friend, Galaxy Space Commander! 

I really do hope you all had a fun and festive holiday. Personally, it was lovely taking a few days to relax and spend time with my awesome boyfriend. NYE itself featured margaritas at Cantina Los Caballitos with a few close friends, followed by a weekend of football watching and hanging out at the Jersey Shore. While there, Kevin and I did a bit of furniture shopping and came home with a new/old bookshelf for the living room, but sadly no coffee table. The space-age glass juice bottle was discovered at the same antiques store, and is a happy addition to my desk.

As for 2009, I wish you all much happiness and success in your endeavors. And I thank you for reading my little blog! My goal is to make it even better this year and to hopefully add some new, regular features. And I'm involved in another new blog project which is currently in the works - more on that soon!

Finally, a p.s. that Peacock Feathers is now on Facebook....

To be a friend/fan over there, click here!

So long, 2008!

Here's wishing you a shiny, sparkling, colorful, festive and, of course, safe New Year's Eve! 

Personally, I wish I was going to a place tonight that allowed me to wear something as utterly ebullient as these dresses from Christian Lacroix's 2009 RTW collection....

And for 2009, one of my (minor) resolutions will be to wear gorgeous evening sandals with an ankle-load of sparkly baubles....

Green and Blue

I mentioned Sharon Montrose and her beautiful animal portraits a couple weeks ago. Recently I came across a tour of her house here and was immediately smitten. Shades of green and blue are my favorite for the house, and she makes use of these colors liberally. The bathroom, with its glossy tiles and playful wallpaper, and the kitchen, with the delicious carrera marble, are both to die for.

On my mind...

I've got coffee tables on the mind. Kevin and I are still searching for a new one for our living room, but hopefully we will find something we like this weekend. We are going to check out this great antiques shop near Atlantic City on Saturday... I'm crossing my fingers that they will have something we like. Now we are looking for round, but if rectangular worked for us (and if we could afford it!) I would totally want this Jonathan Adler "Montmartre" table. The arrows are so cool and I love the mirrored surface. Fantastic.

Image via Jonathan Adler (and p.s., they have some great new goodies in the sale section)

Can't Wait...

...to hang the new Etsy prints that Kevin and I received for Christmas! His family generously gifted me with the goat photographs, and I gave Kevin the supernatural animal prints...

And my super-talented fella also made me these fantastic prints that he created from some of our favorite photos. I think they are so cool and will be perfect hanging in our house.  I'm a lucky girl to have such a creative guy!