Karolina, Author at Dear House I Love You

art love

love: ashleyg for urban outfitters

April 30, 2013

(Hello from Paris, to all of those who follow me on Instagram. I’m taking time at the end of my work trip for some shopping among other cultural things and I’ll be sure to report back soon!)

I’m interrupting the house-related talk here because I wanted to make sure you know about Ashley Goldberg. She’s an artist based in Portland, she is Etsy-famous, and I love her work!

The subjects of Ashley’s paintings and drawings include little girls, monsters, and superheroes. They are thoughtful and serene creatures, cute without being too saccharine, and I would like them to be my friends. I bought her ‘You Make Me Happy’ print as one of my very first Etsy purchases years ago (hanging over the desk I write this from), and have been fascinated by what she’s up to ever since.

poms | you make me happy | go swimmingly

In addition to her Etsy shop, Ashley chronicles her vintage shopping and new-house-furnishing projects on tumblr. Her home in Portland is simple and airy with both modern and vintage design elements living happily together. Her pom-pom garland featured by Design*Sponge has lead me to possess more yarn than I know what to do with. On flickr, you can get a very cool inside look at her works in progress, lately including a lot of neon brights and patterns, which I am very excited about!

Her most recent collaboration with Urban Outfitters, Char-Bea, consists of bedding and soft goods to throw around the house (pillows and rugs). The patterns and colours are very playful and free, with lots of painterly textures and nice pops of black which lend some gravity to them.

I am particularly smitten with the soft palette and texture of this pillow and bed linens:

You can find the rest of Ashley’s collection at UO.

(And no, this is not in any way a sponsored post. I’m just a huge fan of Ashley!)

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dining room house tour living room

house tour: living and dining room

April 25, 2013

I originally meant for this post to be a set of ‘before’ pictures, but I got a little carried away. Sorry guys. Our current living-dining situation has gotten a bit tired to my eyes, even if it makes for some pretty pictures. It’s the most finished part of the house, however the furniture is mostly an accumulation of stuff from our previous apartments.

It’s fun enough, but not like ‘OMG SOOOO SUPER FUN I CAN’T GET ENOUGH’ fun. I need more of that in my life. And I’m hard to please.

In the process of rearranging things around here, I realized I need to step up my vignetting skills in a big way. I find it challenging to style such a big open space without any nooks or even window sills to organize around. I’m trying to decide if it’s that I need more things, or perhaps fewer, bigger things. I think it’s bigger things, if I recall AB’s advice.

So, please enjoy …

Sources: Room & Board sofa (a few years ago), rug from West Elm, slat bench from MCMF. The crazy wood lamp was a basement shopping find and came from Dave’s spinster great-aunt Beezer who got it in Bermuda (doesn’t she sound awesome?) The Noguchi table is a knock-off and one of the first pieces of non-IKEA furniture that Dave and I purchased together back in Toronto, when we were straight out of school and, admittedly, not very knowledgeable about furniture. Oh, the memories of getting that thing home on the subway!

The woven textile hanging is made in Colombia, from Etsy seller syn AND dig, and found its spot above the fireplace somewhat by chance, as I never managed to carry it beyond the living room after unpacking it.

And this is what I get to see when I come home every day. (Albeit with a large scattering wood chips and dog toys over all over the place.)

I really love that the reflections make it look like there’s a hole in our living room ceiling. Optical illusions abound here, friends, especially at night.

Despite the glorious daylight, having two walls of your living room made of single-pane glass doesn’t exactly make for a cozy room. It also gets quite dark at night, since we don’t have walls reflecting light as you would normally in your home.

This brings me to the cozier and brighter end of the room: the dining area.

I love our George Nelson Saucer lamp, and glitter-potted cacti. The cacti are obscuring my attempt at styling the sideboard with larger objects. I kinda lost my confidence there with the giant ceramic horse head – I promise I’ll do better next time.

That’s how things look now. And they will be changing. I find that I’m currently annoyed by the matchiness of the paint colour, the paint-by-numbers art, dining room rug, and various pops of orange. That, and I need to replace that IKEA rattan lamp with something much more sexy. It was fun a while ago but is no longer working for me.

What do you think? If the Palm Springs house was “organic earthy modern”, I’m thinking the current style of this space is more like “random earthy modern”.

Looks like we have some evolving to do. I will keep you posted!

photos: Karolina Buchner
layouts: Pugly Pixel

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winston

April 22, 2013

Alright. You knew it was coming: time for doggie pictures!

For those not acquainted, Winston is a black miniature Schnauzer. He’s four now and has greyed and browned a bit since his puppy days, but he is still a tender little dude. Dave and I love him to bits. If you’re in the mood for more puppy pictures, you are most welcome to get your fill here on Flickr.

Of the three of us, he is probably the one who enjoys the house to its fullest. We think that having the ability to closely monitor both the inside and outside of the house really appeals to him as a dog, especially when we are out and he is left to defend his territory. Against squirrels and UPS delivery men.

Here he is lolling in one of his favourite spots, which he just had to settle in as I was taking pictures of the living and dining room this weekend. (Stay tuned for those!)

Can you believe this guy?

Ridiculous. Wouldn’t even flick an ear towards me as I took this. Spoiled dog is spoiled.

I do wish I could bottle up his zen and take it with me to work.

And on that note: Happy Monday, folks. Take it easy.

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bedroom house tour

chair!

April 18, 2013

Exciting times! A couple of weekends ago, Dave and I ventured up to the city so that I could at long last get myself this chair for our bedroom. Oh yes:

curved wood chair with black woven webbing

It’s a lounge chair designed by Jens Risom for Knoll in the 1940s, and was one of the first chairs the company manufactured. I got it from MCMF – really great people to deal with, by the way, if you’re looking for anything mid-century modern.

The webbing is new, but it turns out the frame carries the original Knoll label (‘Knoll Associates Inc., 601 Madison Avenue, New York 22 N.Y.’ — just like the one on this chair) and it’s likely a first edition, because that’s the address of the first Knoll showroom? I am going to take extra special care of it.

And that’s the only teaser shot you’ll see of the bedroom, since everything to the left of the chair, dresser, and rug is Sears and tilty grasscloth. For now.

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deciding

deciding: outdoor lounge chairs

April 15, 2013

Hi all! How was your weekend? Mine was very full and a lot of fun: visiting with friends, eating great food, cleaning windows, napping with the dog, and of course putting glitter on things. The weather has really been warming up, so naturally it’s time to talk about furniture. Patio furniture!

Now, as some of you may know, my husband has recently bestowed a new nickname on me: The Decider. You see, he really appreciates the intense and time-consuming research that I put into any purchase … and the subsequent indecision after generating a (usually perfectly reasonable!) number of options. Even if it’s two or three options, I’ve been known to agonize for entirely too long before deciding on one. It’s a condition, of sorts.

I thought I’d start this series about things I want to (someday!) decide on, so you can get a peek into what my obsessive research looks like.

Here’s the deal: right now only one of us can truly lounge in the backyard at a time. We have a lounger, which is great, but all of our other seating is decidedly un-lounge-y. Most often if we want to enjoy the yard together, The Other Person Not Using the Lounger (usually me) is perched on an Eames chair hauled over from the dining room and it’s just weird and not relaxing. I want some backyard relaxing times, damnit.

So, let the backyard relaxing times begin!

OPTION 1

acapulco chairs with iron base and vinyl cord seat

photos: Vartnya Hus | OK Design | Real Living

Ah yes, the totally throw-back Mexican patio chair in so many yummy colours. Depending on your colour choice, they can be super bright and fun and almost kitschy. Like it would only ever be right to be sipping on a margarita whilst sitting in one. Or they can be graphic and serious and quite sophisticated like the black pair pictured above.

Based on what turned up in my mailbox last week, CB2 now makes it in a black+blue combination which is pretty fun, but I’m liking the one-colour versions a lot more.

Worry: one unsupervised child + one pair of scissors + 30 seconds is all it would take for complete Acapulco obliteration.

OPTION 2

butterfly chairs with cloth cover and iron base

photos: The Parker Palm Springs | Martha Stewart | The Brick House

I love the suuuuper laid-back vibe of butterfly chairs.

Just look at how well they go with a roaring fire and mid-century architecture! They also remind me of The Parker Palm Springs, one of my favourite spots to visit. I’ve never stayed there, but getting lunch at Norma’s and then taking your time walking the grounds (and maybe playing a game of croquet) is a great way to enjoy it. I digress.

I really like these from a practical standpoint too — I could change out the covers with different coloured ones over time, and the good folks at Circa50 have a nice selection of them.

OPTION 3

diamond chairs with wire grid base and seat pad

photos: Knoll | Design Within Reach

This is certainly the priciest option based on what I’ve seen, and these are not so easy to come by vintage. They’re more swank mid-mod than the others.

Clearly this is a chair to be enjoyed either with white wine or strong coffee, and most likely some serious intellectual conversation with your guest. While wearing black turtlenecks. Too serious? Maybe. I do love the lines and grid patterns of these, very much.

What’s your vote?

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house tour living room

house tour: living room sneak peek

April 10, 2013

This is one of my favourite shots of the living room. I love the light we get in here. I will share more, just as soon as:

I clean all the windows.*
I vacuum and dust ALL THE THINGS!

*Some mud may have been blasted in various directions during last weekend’s power-washing.

Happy Wednesday! Hope it’s a sunny one!

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diy projects weekend

weekend project: staghorn fern mount

April 8, 2013

Hello all [four readers]! You’re probably wondering what I was up to this weekend. Dying to know! I get it!

Before I get to the pretty below, it must be noted that the major time-suck this weekend was due to my abrupt realization that we absolutely need to power-wash our concrete patio slabs. Which we did. For a number of hours on Saturday. To not entirely satisfying effect.

Our concrete is the original and it’s looking rough these days. After a winter under a layer of algae, the concrete in the atrium is now pock-marked with black spots that refuse to be removed. Now that I have grossed you out, let’s move on!

So:

Yeah!

I FINALLY got around to mounting my staghorn fern. It’s been growing like crazy, but sadly still in its original green plastic pot from the nursery. This meant I needed to built a mount for it. Fun times!

A week or so ago I picked up a scrap of plywood from the hardware store and decided to sacrifice one of our tomato stakes for this project. After some sawing and drilling, I had a simple mounting board assembled. Last weekend I picked up a fancy package of sphagnum moss at Paxton Gate (we happened to be in the city, and everything at Paxton Gate is so delightfully weird that I couldn’t resist.) I later found that a very similar sphagnum moss is available at our local Ace (which I love!) for about half the price.

To mount the fern onto the board, I followed Apartment Therapy’s how-to but was not entirely convinced about having fishing line and a few nails supporting the fern. After packing the moss and wrapping it with fishing line, I grabbed a square of burlap and stapled a skirt on this guy, to add more support. It even has a little fringe. Hey, maybe this fern likes skirts. And fringes. Don’t judge.

It’s looking much more dignified than it was in its plastic pot, sitting on my bathroom floor, occasionally being kicked over, and spilling its dirt. Oh!

I’m happy with how it turned out, even with the extra burlap. And the fern looks happy too. Awww.

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hello and happy friday

April 5, 2013

dear house,
i love you,
even despite your moisture issues
and a certain carpenter ant situation.
xo
karolina

I realize I haven’t made proper introductions yet.

This is our house! It’s an Eichler built in 1960, with a lot of its original details still intact. We’re the third set of owners and feel very lucky to call this place home. It has mahogany wall panels in a few places as well as the original kitchen (for better or for worse). The radiant heating buried in the concrete slab foundation still keeps us from freezing in the winter (just). And that giant hole in the roof? That’s the atrium.

It has its issues, as every old house does. But it also has these great beams running through it and a whole lot of natural light thanks to its huge windows. I’ll share more in the coming weeks, to give you a better idea of what this place is all about.

For now, I’m excited for the weekend. After a long week, I’ll be getting back to a few smaller projects and researching bigger ones. Here’s to that!

Happy Friday, all!

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interiors travel

palm springs: a house visit

April 3, 2013

sunlit banana leaf, rug and chair, teak chest, vintage clock

dear house,
i love you, but sometimes i see other houses.
if it helps, they do look quite a lot like you.
xo
karolina

Oh, I am so mean.

Sometimes there are some really nice houses that I just have to visit. Like this Racquet Club Estates house in Palm Springs where we stayed for a mini-vacation a few weekends back. And friends, it was very nice indeed.

The house is an Alexander, decorated in what the rental listing calls “organic earthy modern”. I really liked this concept, very fitting for a modern house in the desert. The owners had a mix of both vintage midcentury (Cherner chairs!) and new modern furniture, with kilim rugs and a scattering of cute accessories. A lot of desert neutrals.

I was pretty sick most of the time (somewhat unknowingly too, as in: that really was a very high fever, not just imagined windburn, or a condition I referred to in my weakened state as “fire face”). Upside: the inside of this house was thoroughly photographed!

collage of wood cabinet, ocotillo cactus, pillow, chair

Clockwise: bathroom cabinet, ocotillo cactus, Trina Turk pillow, pretzel-y Cherner goodness

Since our Eichler has serious issues with its original slider cabinets in the kitchen, we’ve been on the lookout for functional sliders. The ones in the bathrooms of this house looked custom, made of higher end plywood, and they actually slid properly. Not really what we need for our kitchen, but a definite possibility if we were to replace some of the IKEA cabinets in our master bath.

One thing that I really liked was the polished concrete floor. So simple and such a great backdrop for the furnishings, crazy art, and rugs. Filing this idea away for our place. Our tiles are kind of a snooze compared to the raw awesomeness of the concrete. It looks modern but also very practical as far as cleaning might go. (I think our current tiles are secretly designed to store dirt. Ugh.)

Did I do my pedicure to match the rug? Or was it pure coincidence? You decide.

And boy, they had some gorgeous kilims throughout the place. BEHOLD:

That teak chest is pretty adorable too. I wish I had spent more quality time petting it and admiring its wood grain whilst bathed in the lovely soft light that comes with having all your walls painted white.

The spareness of all the rooms was so restful. Makes me want to throw away all of my THINGS.

I’ll end on this silly picture of me trying to capture the essence of this little bedroom.

And I hope my house forgives me for this visit. I have a work trip this month involving a stay in a bland hotel, which should make up for this. I am totally sold on renting apartments and houses for vacation now, so it’s going to be tough.

Have you ever rented a house for vacation? What was it like?

photos: Karolina Buchner
layouts: Pugly Pixel

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inhale

March 29, 2013

Last night Dave called me to come outside, even though it was already dark and I was not convinced as to what there could be to see anyway. He finally managed to tear me away from my laptop and outside, so I could realize that THIS is happening.

Well played, previous owners, well played.

I think I can even smell the jasmine from INSIDE the house tonight.

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