stamps to the rescue!

the united states postal service has released a series of stamps to highlight awareness of animals needing adoption- since you know this is a cause near and dear to our hearts, masion21 recommends stocking up on these adorable stamps now, and using them for the rest of the year! they'll be on our xmas cards this year (you know the ones we plan to mail out every year, and never actually get around to sending ;-)

(via tula @whorange)

don't forget to save! (15% off at jonathan adler this saturday!)

hi! remember moi? that's right, m21 here, and we're finally recovering from our recent case of the ick- not quite all the way better yet, but getting there. thanks for all of your well wishes, btw- they were MUCH appreciated!

anyhoo, as we where hacking up a lung this morning, we got a call from our friend tony over at jonathan adler on melrose, reminding us of their spring awakening sale this sat (from 4-8, with free cocktails and nibblies at all 15 stores), and he asked us if we wanted to come check out the goods. well, even our deathbed, we can't resist a bargain, so off to JA we went (ok- that's a total blogexaggeration- we had to pick up some lamps being rewired for a client just a few blocks away, so we killed two birds with one stone. we love a bargain yes, but we ain't crazy like that... much).

love the gold vignette, and yes, that's m21 in the mirror, studiously taking his photo. if the camera wasn't in the way, you'd see that we are sticking out tongue out while concentrating- a habit we remember our kindergarten teacher trying cure us of when we were first learnin' to print on the big lined paper. some habits are truly unbreakable, i guess...

LOVE the pillows- a maison21 jonathan adler favorite! all instock pillows and lighting are 15% off

digging these super-heavy solid brass 'hans' tables, and yup- all floor samples are on sale too!

we love jonathan's vintage inspired sensibility- especially on sale!

seriously- how can you be around jonathan adler's stuff and not be happy? we, along with JA, are firm believers in "happy colors = happy moods!"

speaking of happy colors, and how about a happy price tag to match, like these sweet tea towels? 12 clams, and yup- 15% off!

happy, happy, happy!

like floating candy

above, is one of tony's favorite JA pieces, and a classique you can't go wrong with! m21 agrees- a white lamp with a black shade equals instant chic!

when you visit, be sure to say hi to tony- he'll have you laughing OUT LOUD, and he won't steer you wrong style-wise either- he shared pictures with us of his own casa during our visit, and it's chic, chic, chic! (and it might include a piece or two from the atelier amongst the JA fineries! just fyi- it's my blog after all- can't make this all about mr. adler, can we?)

los angeles antique show (go for m21!)

i wish i was here:

habite's fab exhibit at the los angeles antique show, photo by balustrade & bitters

but instead i'll be here:

much as i love snuggling with these two, i do not enjoy feeling like le poo poo when doing so- my cold from the end of march has turned into a respiratory infection at the end of april, and it has kicked. mah. ass.

so please go to the show in santa monica for me and report back- i'll expect lots of pictures, thx. oxoxo.

i know it's earth day and all...

but some things just shouldn't be recycled.

somebody stick these ugly-ass patchwork crushed velvet bedspreads into a time machine and ship them back to the waterbed warehouse circa 1975. ick.

straight outta hogwarts (bargain o' the day, part 2)

the second super-deal we spotted at HD buttercup is a little more expensive then our last pick (like 10x more), but still, we defy you to find a chandelier with this much style (and size- it's big) anywhere else for a mere 995 galleons...

though it kinda looks like something you'd see hanging in dumbledore's office, m21 is crazy for this timothy oulton spherical chandelier. in the right setting, it could be, well, magical.

ps- let maison21 know if you need his address, HD buttercup- our commission check seems to be lost in the mail! ;-)

bargain o' the day

$95 bucks, available in 3 finishes @ HD buttercup (sorry out o' towners). practically free.

teenage kicks

yes, m21 bought his first pair of vans in his early teens, and we're sure somewhere there is a rule preventing middle-aged men from wearing the same brightly colored sneaks they wore as a kid- but what evs, they make me happy.

so we ordered a couple of even brighter pairs...
at least my mid-life crisis doesn't involve dying my hair. ;-)

and last, 'teenage kicks' by the undertones- another favorite from my teen years, that m21 still loves today...

not so bad...

while killing time waiting to meet a friend at the grove here in los angeles, m21 tried to resist the pull of the ipad calling out his name from the apple store, and instead popped into crate & barrel for a minute where he spotted this pretty 'pirouette' chair. not so bad for crate & barrel, we thought.

and let's be perfectly clear- m21 prefers his upholstery either custom, newly made to order; or vintage, and recovered to our needs- neither option is much more expensive in price then retail, and recovering a vintage piece is usually significantly cheaper then all but the most down market of retail. we also understand this isn't an option for everyone- if you aren't working with a decorator like moi, having a custom chair newly manufactured is a daunting prospect and frankly something we don't recommended a first timer attempting- there are simply too many variables, and if you don't spell things out very specifically for your workroom, or have the right answers to their questions, it can be a VERY expensive learning curve. so that's why when we see something like this chair, especially when offered in a perfectly cute stock fabric, we just want to share.

what do y'all think? cute? too pricy for c &b? ($1199- not so far off from a custom frame price btw, but it's in stock and ships fast).

"rooms to inspire in the city" book signing

got the following email, and thought y'all might be interested:

"Peter Dunham and Martyn Lawrence-Bullard will be hosting author Annie Kelly and photographer Tim Street-Porter at Hollywood at Home in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 22nd from 4:30 to 7pm to sign copies of her latest book, "Rooms to Inspire in the City," featuring both Peter's and Martyn's homes."
see y'all there!

speaking of spring (the 'hood in bloom)

one of our favorite aspects of living in sunny southern california is that no matter what season it is, something is in bloom- if nothing else, one can always count on the omnipresent bougainvillea to provide clouds of color virtually year round; but the advent of spring means almost everything that can produce a bloom is producing a bloom, and there is a riot of color all over los angeles at the moment. we took our new point n' shoot with us while walking mona 'round the hood justs before dusk this evening to test out it's auto focus by pointing it at the random pretty flowers we encountered. we give the scenery (and the weather) an "a" and the auto focus a solid "b"- not perfect, but good enough for m21's basic needs...
hoping spring is bustin' out in your neck of the woods too! happy post-tax weekend!

spring awakening event & sale @ jonathan adler

hells yeah i'm going! i've featured his stuff so many times on my blog now, i figure JA owes me a drink! or five!

stealthy...

it won't make m21 a better photographer , but we're sure it will make him a better looking photographer, as he takes pictures with his new sleek matte black stealth bomber of a point n' shoot.

alright, alright- so we won't look any different, and nobody is going to faint while witnessing our suave photographic efforts, but right now we think our new purchase is so damn sexy that we'll feel like james bond every time we whip it out for a photo op... at least until we see it on sale at best buy for half of what we paid, and a newer, smaller, sleeker model has come out! ;-)

f & s fabrics (west side fabric shopping)

in today's rotten economy, not every project has a budget that allows maison21 to purchase from the PDC, so sometimes we have to be a bit crafty about where to source our fabrics from. with this in mind, we've already taken you on a field trip to the bowels of the downtown los angeles garment district for shopping on a shoestring, and shared our fave neighborhood haunt of diamond foam and fabric as well; and today we are going to toddle down pico blvd to the westside of los angeles, to visit f & s fabrics...

f & s is a retail fabric store, open to the public, and their laaaarge selection strikes a nice balance between trendy and classic, all at reasonable price points. they have an especially good selection of outdoor fabrics, as well as a great array of crewel work and embroideries. we love them and we hope you will too.

here's some photos we hurriedly snapped on our last visit:

candy colored outdoor stripes.

brightly colored ikat prints

more ikat (and suzani) prints

great selection of crewel work

more crewel

striped and plaid raffias

grrrrrr- lots o' animal prints

think you might find a silk solid that will work for you?

and while you are at f & s, be sure to stop at the nearby apple pan for a burger and a slice of pie- a los angeles institution since 1947, and a favorite old school cool lunch spot of m21's (don't be scared of the line- it moves pretty fast).
see ya on the west side!