A Victorian design quiz

I'm living in a house built just a couple years before Queen Victoria kicked the bucket. Clos’d this earthly scene. Laid her hoary head to rest beneath this mournful turf.* Do I know anything about Victorian homes? Almost nothing. So I took this quiz to confirm it.

But actually I did okay. A little knowledge of art history helped. The parlor vs. drawing room tripped me up, though. I still don't know the difference. I want to do some studying, not that I plan to go all Victorian in here. I think the queen would have enjoyed lounging in an orange Saarinen womb chair, if only it had been designed yet, right?

*For time-waster extra credit, read a collection of early American gravestone inscriptions compiled by Caitlin Hopkins. Fascinating. (Via 22 Words.)

Vintage map duvet cover

Something that's making me happy: this New York City map duvet cover I just put on our bed. It's all vintagey and likes being in our old house, and the design satisfies my love of graphic prints. The price satisfied my wallet, too: it was $35. I googled for an H&M coupon and then ordered the pillow sham / cover set here.



I was also tempted by an orange and white number at CB2 and had fleeting thoughts of this floral explosion at Urban Outfitters. Fleeting because Alex instantly vetoed it, and I reluctantly admitted I'm not really a flowery girl. I'd get sick of it in two seconds. This botanical print seriously grabbed me, though.

But the Manhattan map reminds me of a sweet trip I took to NYC with Alex last year. It was so perfect, it could never be duplicated if we tried. We stumbled on a filming of Project Runway in Times Square, saw Tina Fey on an escalator, ate chocolate croissants in Central Park, and discovered a jazz age social on Governor's Island— where we bumped into Bill Cunningham two days after watching this great documentary about him. We couldn't believe our luck. So our bedspread will always bring up happy memories.

Free font: Idealist Sans

Idealist Sans, designed by Elena Kowalski, is a hip sans serif with pretty discretionary ligatures. It's available for free in Regular and Light weights over here at Behance. Use the text link at the bottom of the page under the images, or get it from myfonts.com here.

While you're at it, you might grab Sreda, too! Thank you to font foundry Glen Jan for making these available.

Favorite furniture makeovers from the internet

I've got decorating on the brain these days. Here's my routine lately. By day, I work on client graphic design projects until 7 or 8. Sometimes when I walk to the kitchen to get a drink of water, I get stalled staring at blank walls for five minutes, trying to figure out what to do to them. I force myself to snap out of it and get back to work. At night, I eat supper, put on a fun TV show in the background, and surf the internet for furniture, art, and decorating ideas. I should be heading out to meet new people, I know it. But work is really busy at the moment and by the time I wrap things up for the day, it's later than I'd like and I'm tired.

Want to see some fun tutorials I've found during late night browsing? Maybe you've come across them already, but they were new to me.

Shown above: how to spray paint vinyl chairs at Little Green Notebook. Jenny transformed a nasty thrift store chair into this black and white beauty. I love it! Find tons of interesting DIY projects on her blog.


Check out Taryn's pretty white side table transformed with paint and an old trellis she found in her yard. See her steps at Design, Dining + Diapers.

Mari of crab + fish emailed me about one of her DIY projects, and while poking around her site I found her gold nightstand. At first I thought it was spray painted, but no. That's gold leaf! Learn how to transform your own table right here.

Pretty, free stock photos

Rachael Smith of Love from Ginger has made a free photo library of original stock images to download. They're not for commercial use, but you're welcome to print them, post them on your personal blog, or alter them under this Creative Commons License. The spools image would be a pretty desktop wallpaper for people who sew, right? Rachel adds a new photo to the gallery every Friday.

Affordable art prints

I've been poking around online for affordable-ish art prints and ideas for solving the bare wall situation in our new house. Last night I made a Pinterest board for things that caught my eye. In the light of day, I'm noticing there are lots ladies in there, for some reason. Huh. Here's a sampling of my board:

1. ADRIFT by Sammy Slabbinck
2. Three Figures, 1913-28 by Kasimir Malevich
3. Legs and heeels by Lydia Coventry
4. Feline Dream by Rachel Linder
5. Pinky Promise by Emily Rickard
6. Black horses by Robert Farkas
7. Hello? by Yetiland
8. My Eyes Had A Picnic by DiDi Higginbotham

Part of me desperately wants to put this portrait over our fireplace, but I'd probably get tired of it after the novelty wore off. Or would I...

DIY arty geometric lampshade

This image caught my eye in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living. That bright red geometric lampshade looks painted, but it's actually two lampshade frames wrapped together with ribbon. The frames came from The Lamp Shop, and the fitting was removed from the bottom upside-down shade with a hacksaw.


It's unique and cool! Hang one in your house and your friends will think you're an artist, I bet. The project is part of a DIY lampshade article in the September issue. See page 92 for the complete how-to.

Photos by Lucas Allen. Courtesy of Martha Stewart Living. Copyright © 2013. For more craft ideas, check out www.marthastewart.com.

A designerly 2013 / 2014 planner

Thank you to Poppin for sending over something fun: this 2013/2014 planner ($15). I like the debossed lettering on the leather-like cover, and the typography inside is a lovely sans serif which gradates from turquoise in the front of the book to lime green in the back. Of course the best part is the bright orange ribbon bookmark.


There's a pocket in the back full of stickers! Hee! Each month has a month-at-a-glance spread, followed by weekly individual pages opposite lined paper for notes.

On the US map in the back I learned that Ohio is farther east than Mississippi. WHAT?!? Clearly I have no idea where I'm now located.

Ironically, I lost my old planner in the move. It's got to be in a bag somewhere? I normally use those cheapo month-at-a-glance ones from Walgreens, because at the most I only have two meetings to write in those little daily squares. The trouble is the design is always so ugly it pains me. I immediately detach the puppy photo from the front. I just bought a new one, but this Poppin thing is very timely. I'll try it out. It's a bigger book than I need, but it's pretty!

P.S. Poppin sells office goodies by color — check out the orange section!

Free printable: city stationery set

While digging through folders on my computer, I found this city design from awhile back. It's got squirrels, pigeons, cars, clouds, and buildings. (Items not to scale! Those would be some terrifying squirrels.) I adapted it into a printable freebie just for fun: a sheet of notepaper and a matching envelope.

Download the printable stationery here. Then open the two-page PDF and print out the page(s) you need. For personal use only.

Something for the parlor

Here was the... what should I call it... parlor?... before we painted it pale gray. Wait, it looks even fancier if I spell it "parlour."


Now the parlour looks like this. I'm delighted with how much better the stained glass window shows up against paler walls. I took photos at two different exposures and pasted the stained glass back into the shot above so you could sort of see. The window is way more vibrant in person. Oranges and aquas.


I've had orange chairs on my mind, as you saw yesterday. But then I found this:


On sale, too. I ordered it last night. The Cloud Blue Abigail Loveseat from World Market. Doesn't it scream parlor? There ought to be something tufted and pretty in there. And also something a little crazy because we can't have it getting too stuffy— this thing has some sort of brocade fabric on the back side. I bet I could change that pretty easily whenever I want to switch it up. Also the legs should probably be stained darker. You see how I couldn't resist it, right? And on sale? I hope the quality is decent! I'll keep you posted.

Update: It's here! I love it. It arrived in perfect condition and looks exactly like the picture. The cushion is fairly firm, so don't expect it to be like sitting on a teddy bear or anything. The fabric is soft and pretty. Lovely for lounging, and I feel happy every time I look at it.

Orange accent chairs galore

In my quest to furnish the new house, I've been traveling around the internet. One thought was that I need an orange chair for living room or the parlor. At the moment, one of those rooms is completely empty except for two tool boxes, a rolled-up rug pad, and a TV cabinet we need to sell on Craigslist. Places for people to perch might be nice! How about orange? Here are some options I'm eyeing. Some are just for pretend because the price tags are bananas. For my budget, anyhow.

Madeline Chair, $379
Howell Wingback, $1,898
Grayson Chair, $899
Parlour Atomic Orange Chair, $699
Womb Chair and Ottoman (a reproduction), $1,295


Luna Accent Chair, $759
Strandmon Wing Chair, $279 (It's a little more orange and less red than this photo, I've seen it in person)
Rhys Chair, $2,498 Whew!
Regan Upholstered Chair, $299

Printable recipe cards from Design Eat Repeat

I have half a dozen handwritten recipe cards I've collected over the years. They're all from dear friends, and I love seeing their handwriting every time I make their tasty dish. I think of them affectionately. It's so much better than a page printed off the internet or a recipe displayed on a screen. If you want someone to think of you fondly years from now, write out that recipe by hand! These cute, free printable recipe cards from Design Eat Repeat will help you out.

Weekend shopping

This weekend we explored and shopped around Cincinnati. So much fun! I think I'm going to love this place. Along with a $4 gold lamp from Goodwill that's begging to be spray painted, I bought these at a vintage store. I was enticed by their shape.

Illustrated wallpaper freebies

There are a bunch of strange and interesting wallpapers for desktops and mobile devices over at the Colagene blog. Maybe you'll find one you need! Browse here.

A mini housewarming gift

My pal Megumi in Japan sent me a package. Along with pretty tapes, stationery, a t-shirt, and a Celia Birtwell scarf from Uniqlo, she included a housewarming item: a mini 3" dustpan and... bloom? I'm hoping it will cause tiny flowers to sprout throughout the house.

Now available: ribbon in new colors

Renaissance Ribbons is releasing some of my older jacquard ribbon designs in new colorways and widths. Find them here! Sunflowers now come in 3 reversible colorways.


Squirrels are available in this new gold plus a pink option.


Dachshunds come in dark blue.


And a red-black-tan combo.


Scissors is available in pink and green neon on black, plus a multi-colored option.


And piggy banks are now skinnier at 5/8" in green or blue with metallic thread for a little shine on the coins.

Sewing ribbon and golf ribbon have been relaunched in their original colors. These are available from Renaissance Ribbons wholesale here and by the yard here.

I've got new designs in the works, too, so stay tuned. There are gonna be some cute ones!

We painted

My parents were here last week, and a big project we tackled was painting the stairway, parlor, and living room. Here's the entry.


Can you believe it? I painted over orange. It boggles the mind.

I LOVE orange, but not with dark brown woodwork. The wood is already warm with red and orange tones, so surrounding it with more orange doesn't show it off. And it can look a little dark and Halloweeny. I like cool grays and blues with brown wood.

We painted pale gray in the rooms and on the pillars to brighten things up (Valspar Seashell Gray). Then we added a medium blue (Soft Skies) and a dark blue (Azure Jazz) on the dividing wall. I considered flipping it so the blue was on the outer wall of the stairway, but it gets really dark up there on the landing by the stained glass window. Keeping the paint light there seemed like a smarter idea.


I think it's pretty. Plus you know what color looks good with gray and blue? Orange. I can orange up the furniture and accessories and still get my orange fix. I'm in the mood for a lobster-y red orange chair. Holler if you see one somewhere.


I love the newel post. It's seen better days, but I think it's beautiful. Especially with its new blue backdrop.

Wooden blocks for type lovers

I've still got boxes to unpack, but I couldn't resist taking a few minutes to play. Wooden toy company Uncle Goose recently offered to send me a complimentary set of their hand-manufactured Big and Tall blocks. Initially I declined since I don't have babies and I don't like pastel colors. They assured me these would be less wooden toy and more "décor couture." And when I heard they were designed in collaboration with type foundry House Industries, I said sign me up.

Look what arrived on my doorstep: Orange. Patterns. Lettering. The craftsmanship and printing on the blocks is flawless. I got strangely addicted to moving these around, stacking and restacking. At least I have one shelf in my yet-to-be-unpacked office that's happy to look at! The blocks are perfect with my Blanca Gomez Typographer print, right?

The 20-block set will be available sometime this month; check the Uncle Goose shop for details.