Lighting: From A to Bond Street Lamp

From A to Bond Street Lamp (via modcloth)

Helping Alabama.

This morning Alabama was hit again by devastating tornados.  April of last year was the worst devastation we'd ever seen.  I've been lucky enough to be a few miles aways from both tornado paths.  What a difference a few miles makes.  This morning I've seen a number of links and posts on how to help. If you want to donate time or goods you can click here. Above is the "Alabama Forever" necklace by maxineorange on etsy.  I have one and get compliments everytime I wear it.  All proceeds from the necklace go to the Alabama Forever Foundation helping victims of the April tornados.

Furniture: Shelves

A few fun shelves.  (above/below)

DIY: Pipe Shelves

I love all of these ideas for shelving made from pipes.  How would you DIY?  (above)

(above/below)

My Favorite Part: Susan Shoemaker & Andy Sizemore

Susan, an artist, and her husband Andy, who plays in the band Teen Getaway, sent me this beautiful photo of the favorite part of their home.  Susan's art was also featured last week in a previous "my favorite part" post.  I really do love everything about this photo from the adorable dog to the colors to the accessories.  See what they have to say about it below.

Married for 5 yrs, we bought our first home, a fixer-upper, 2 yrs ago. This room is our fav for a few reasons. First we (& some friends) pulled up the nasty carpet and refinished our floors. I found the blue wall paint in a "living etc" mag and had home depot match it in an inexpensive brand. Andy is happy that his old recliner actually works against the blue ( it did not in our previous apt that i painted bright green). Our dog Henry spends a lot of time in this chair, gets his pic taken a lot, so now it has grown into Andy liking how the dog looks in the chair and how all of the colors work together. Besides loving the dog, I love the little nook behind him. I splurged on the moose, but thrifted the bookshelf in college which holds my art books, fav photos, fav knick-knacks, some gifts from Andy, a fox by Lori Nichols, and 2 lamps I got on clearance years ago at urban outfitters.  I'm having a slight obsession with goats so there's a little metal goat from Frontera that helps hold up some additional books at the bottom of the shelf  We have non standard size windows but were able to find inexpensive panels from ikea and made curtain rods from pipes (an idea I stole from Jennifer Wallace who also helped us layout furniture and art- girl has the gift!).   Our home is a work in progress and a mix match of things we love.

Artist: Moneyless

Rope graffiti by Moneyless.

Recycled Content: Books

Fun ways to repurpose books.  (above/below)

Architecture: Sunken Bridge

The Moses Bridge by RO & AD.  Appropriately names for parting the water, the Moses Bridge is an interesting concept of letting the user walk through the water instead of overhead.  (via inhabitat)

Accessory: Colorful Collections

Organized colorful accessories and collections.  (above)

(above/below)

Interior: Industrial

Industrial living at it's finest.  Really makes me miss my old loft. (above)

(above/below)

Lighting: Cord Chandelier

Cord Chandelier by Brendan Ravenhill.

Furniture: Mun Collection

I really love the Mun Collection of occassional tables by Slow Wood.

My Favorite Part: Merrilee Challiss

Merrilee Challiss, one of my favorite artists and owner of the infamous Bottletree Cafe, has been so kind as to share with us her favorite part of her home.  She and her husband Brian share in my love of mid-century modern, have an affection for cats (just noticed the cat tail in the photo), and have a keen design eye which is evident in the photo and description below.

One of my favorite things in our home is this retro globe terrarium.

This is the second one I've had -- the first one, which I found at an estate sale in East Lake for five dollars, bit the dust after repeated attacks by our cats and then a short, ill-advised stint as part of the BottleTree decor (note: brittle plastic doesn't last long in a rock club).

I am crazy about plants - succulents in particular - and I have about twenty that winter here on this table by the windows with the light pouring in. I love the stream-lined, rounded silhouette of the globe and the whole idea of encasing a "world within a world," which is a recurring theme in my artwork.

The current resident of the globe is a jade plant and, despite having endured a few scars from curious felines' paws, the plant seems to be really happy in its home.

DIY: Occassional Tables

I really want to do both of these occassional table DIY projects.  ABOVE, a wooden side table with drawer and BELOW a concrete coffee table.

My Favorite Part: Adrienne Nolan

My friend Adrienne sent us this great photo of her favorite part of her home.  Adrienne, a librarian and children's literature major has a beautiful sense of what makes this room special.

I love blending classic pieces with distressed, well-loved things. I love color and you should never be afraid of it! I found my coffee table on craigslist and it was ugly, but it had the right dimensions that I was looking for and knew that once it was painted, it would be exactly what I wanted, without shelling out a ton of money. I also think every room should have books. They reveal so much about the people who live in that space. Books are probably my favorite thing in any room.

Recycled Content: The Bicycle

Bicycles repurposed into other beautiful and functional things.  (above)

(above/below)

Artist: ellemoss

ellemoss takes beautiful portraits.  We've posted about her HERE once before, but it wasn't until the other day when my friend Emily posted this photo above on Pinterest that I had seen these portraits of hers.  They are so beautiful, ethereal, and haunting. 

My Favorite Part: Jill Deaver & Brian Moon

Jill and Brian have been married for a few years, started the band The Maisleys, and Brian also plays in the band The Delicate Cutters. They both agreed that the favorite part of their house is the painting of Milo (their basset/shephard mix) who just recently passed away.  The painting titled "The Milo" was done by Susan Shoemaker who paints some of the coolest pet portraits I've seen.  Above is Milo with "The Milo" above him and below is Jill with "The Milo" behind her.  So sweet and love this painting!

Accessory: Birdhouse

I saw THIS beautiful birdhouse yesterday on NOTCOT and knew I had to share.  It's absolutely beautiful...the color, the leather strap, the white interior. What modernist bird wouldn't want to live here?

Architecture: Bridge House

Bridge House by Max Pritchard.  (via archdaily)

My Favorite Part: Megan Kimber

One of my favorite artists, Megan Kimber was kind enough to share an image of her favorite part of her home.  Not only is her work stunning but so is this image. 

My windowsill is probably the place in my house that feels the most like "me" and makes me the most content when i look at it. I collect little things from nature everywhere I go, whether its just on an outing within the local area, or if i travel out of state. In the photo I included, you can see some examples of my foraging: guinea fowl feathers, tiny shells  bones from a large carp fish in upstate NY, a dried egg sack from a conch shell and other shells from the gulf coast of Florida, and random stones collected from all over the east and west coast. These are the things I hold sacred to me because I have such a tremendous obsession and love for nature and how these things are created seemingly out of thin air and miracles, not by the hands of man.

(see the interview we did with Megan here)