get the look (as seen in elle decor!)

did y'all see the the over the top mansion of alexis and trevor traina in elle decor? we certainly noticed this photo:

get the look here... ;-)  (they even look to be in about the same condition!)

and speaking of elle decor, thank you for including our post on saarinen tulip tables in your "What We’re Reading: August 26" feature- we're honored to be in such great company!

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get out!

overstock.com, 8 x 10 for $151.99! for that price, who cares what it looks like in person! plus, it's polypropelene, so that means it's impervious to whatever you, your pets and your children throw at it- and they have a slightly pricier version in wool, for you less soilage-inclined folks too...
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cheap 'n chic color...

colorfully cute ikat inspired dish towels from crate and barrel. perk up your kitchen for just 3 bucks.
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get the flock out!

one of maison21's all time favorite tables is the "traccia" table by meret oppenheim, available for $3318.00 though unica home, available in gold or silver leaf. expensive, yes, but considering it's also a work of art, probably worth the cash if you have it to spend:

we were certainly reminded of the traccia table when we spotted the "flamingo side table" in cast bronze and walnut from white furniture, offered for just $340.00:

verdict? in recessionary 2011, for a tenth the price, we'll go with half a bird.  ;-)
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fabulous faux taraxacum (say whaaa?)

the taraxacum chandelier, designed by achille castiglioni, 1988- one of our favoritist chandeliers of all time (and one of the most 'spensive at $4984.00, @ y-lighting)

a knock off taraxacum, undoubtedly made by chinese child labor ( but just $600.00 @ kirch & co. it's currently out of stock, but when it comes back in, we want one, bad.  just until we can afford the real thing, mind you...)

(found via home accents today magazine)

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shhhhhhh...

m21 probably shouldn't tell you about this, since he is using these fabrics in a couple of current projects and he wants everyone to think they cost his clients a small fortune; but just as we prefer our clients' money to be put to better use elsewhere in a project whenever possible, we also want you to get a whole lotta look for not a whole lotta money-  use the savings to buy something truly fabulous for elsewhere in your home!

$6.98 a yard.

no lie.

the faster, easier, cheaper way to freshen your decor...

we've said it before, and we'll probably say it again too: flowers are the best way to brighten dull decor. so honor of our birthday today, we dropped a whopping 25 bucks at trader joe's on a brightly colored orchid for our mantle, and a fire-red bromeliad for the opposite side of the room. feels like we completely redecorated!

ok, the "feels like we completely redecorated" part is a lie, but the room does feel fresher and livelier with our bright new additions, and both blooms should last for at least a month (the bromeliad even longer), making this, at under a dollar a day, the cheapest, easiest and fastest way to freshen your decor!

do as i say, not as i do (sofa fabric advice- to ignore, in this case)

so, if m21 had a client with a cat who thinks nothing of jumping on the sofa after investigating the inside of the fireplace, and a dog, who in her golden years has developed a slight leak (we know- TMI), and they requested a light or white sofa, we'd probably do as we've done in the past and recommend covering the sofa in an indestructible outdoor fabric, or even a vinyl; we might even recommend a very tailored slipcover in the outdoor fabric (nothing shabby or slouchy, thank you- ick). we'd also recommend to make two sets of cushion covers, so when one set gets filthy and needs to be washed, the other can be put on the sofa.

and if our client wanted a brightly-colored pattern on their sofa, we would probably try to steer them to a solid (though we don't have a problem with the brightly colored part!). we usually recommend avoiding patterns for a sofa- solids have more longevity and patterns can be a bit visually overwhelming on such a large piece; much more practical to bring in brightly colored and patterned pillows as accents as they are so easy to switch out and update.

last, if our client was a gentleman of a certain age, we might try to steer him in a suitably masculine direction- maybe a fairly pet-friendly gray flannel, or chic salt and pepper tweedy number (probably not leather, though- too cliché bachelor pad). we'd also try to push texture, and avoid shiny fabrics at all costs (often, shiny = cheap, when talkin' about fabrics- you know we have no problem with shiny in most other areas!)

but you know what they say, the heart wants what it wants, so m21 is ignoring his decorator's advice and making hisself up a bright n'colorful, totally gurly-gurl sofa & pillows- all in a completely pet inappropriate fabrics! so there.

m21's "much too much muchness"- the yellow stripe chintz & blue and white damask we've already purchased, the orange pillow was added through the magic of photoshop, and is under serious consideration.

we fell in love with the above vintage cotton lee jofa white, yellow and marigold stripe when we saw it on ebay, and much as we tried resist (in favor of a sunbrella solid) we kept returning to look at our stripe. once we discovered via swatch that it was a completely out of fashion glazed cotton chintz, well, we were totally hooked- always the contrarian, we find ourselves attracted over and over again to the very things that others avoid. when the fabric went on sale for $3.50 a yard (that's right- 3 dollah fiddy cent), what could we do but buy it? taking our own advice for once though, we bought all the seller's stock- about 8 more yards then needed, so we can have extra cushion covers made up for the inevitable accident.

we're adding two big 22" x 22" pillows in the vase print damask from calico corners we showed you a while back, and since they are a bit too blue and not enough white for our vintage sofa fabric, we plan to layer in some 18" x 18" pillows in front. what those pillows would be, we didn't know- until serendipity brought us an email today from katherine rally, about their chic-ly colorful batik print fabrics, pillows, and table accessories. their "field day" print in tangerine might be just the thing the decorator ordered!

there you have it: sheen-y, totally emasculating, pattern-on-pattern, riotous colors- breakin' all our rules! can't wait to share the real life results- it'll be kinda like domino threw up in our living room! (first though, we need to send that chintz out for some serious scotch-guarding!)

april food day

please join meg of pigtown design and chris of easy and elegant life in their effort to help feed the hungry in america- you know, it pains me to even write those words: "hungry in america". it is a concept that should be unimaginable, but it is a sad fact. i can't even imagine the shame and helplessness of not being able to feed my children, can you? in 2010, in the richest country in the world, people can't feed their families. astonishing. shameful. true.

here's some facts provided by chris & meg

• Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is an increase of 46 percent over 2006, when we were feeding 25 million Americans, including 9 million children, each year.
• That means one in eight Americans now rely on Feeding America for food and groceries.
• Feeding America's nationwide network of food banks is feeding 1 million more Americans each week than we did in 2006.
• Thirty-six percent of the households served have at least one person working.
• More than one-third of client households report having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.
• The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50 percent since 2006.
• Feeding America food banks provide food and groceries to 33,500 food pantries, 4,500 soup kitchens and 3,600 emergency shelters.
• 68 percent of pantries, 42 percent of soup kitchens, and 15 percent of emergency shelters rely solely on volunteers and have no paid staff.
• 55 percent, are faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious organizations; 33 percent are other types of non-profit organizations.


so, please give what you can- no matter how bad you think your financial situation is, there is someone whose situation is even worse...

for more info, please visit the april food day blog,

thank you.

and thanks to both of you, meg and chris- it's nice to turn our frivolous blogs to a more substantial cause every so often...

decorating from the hardware store...

maison21's bff, talented graphic designer, rudy calvero, recently carved out a home office in his guest bedroom, and used a couple little DIY touches we thought you might enjoy...

first, m21 and rudy schlepped to ikea, where rudy bought 5 billy bookcases for his art books and reference materials. lined up, they almost look like built-ins, but for a fraction of the price. rudy wanted to light them from above to showcase his collections, but wasn't so thrilled with the shelf lights at ikea, so instead went to the hardware store and bought an industrial clamplight for each bookcase. looks great, right? for pennies too. it also helps that rudy used his trained graphic designer's eye to create pleasing compositions on each shelf. there is an art to arranging things like bookshelves and tablescapes and while it helps to have an artist's eye, it also helps to just keep arranging and rearranging until you like the end results- practice really does make perfect! m21 can attest that rudy had plenty o'practice with the rearrangin' as back in the day, rudy & maison21 were roommates for many, many years, and our idea of fun was to have a couple of cocktails and rearrange our living room, compulsively editing and moving each every stick of furniture, lighting, art and accessories, until the room was just right! oh, the words exchanged over the placement of a vase on a credenza! hey- everybody has their own idea of fun, and arguing about *pretty* happens to be ours. don't judge, k? ;-)


next, rudy solved the problem of having to many wall boxes for sconces and no budget to purchase a set of matching cool set of lights, either new or vintage, by making his own! he bought stock porcelain sockets, screw in y-adapters and some tube lights- again, all from the hardware store- and made is own funky fixtures. (make sure your sconces are hooked up to a dimmer if you try this, otherwise it's like staring at the surface of the sun!) tip- sets of 4 cool vintage sconces are like the holy grail of vintage lighting. if you ever run across a set, DO NOT hesitate to buy them, even if they aren't your first choice to use in your home. chances are after searching for another 6 months, that first set will look better and better and you'll regret not having picked them up! and if you do find a better set, you can probably resell the first without a problem- they really are *that* hard to find...


have a great weekend y'all, and maybe you'll try some DIY projects of your own! we'd love to hear about them if you do!

gold

1st olympic gold, then oscar gold, now... ikea gold? spotted these golden lovelies in sea of silver/chrome at ikea (and we hope this is a growing trend for mass marketers):

yum- baby got bling! (yeah, we know- they're probably made of spit and discarded gold candy wrappers, but did you see the prices? who cares!)

olympic gold, oscar gold, ikea gold, and finally, (i bet some of you knew this was coming)... spandau ballet gold:

more catalog chair goodness

it must be spring catalog season, as our mailbox has been stuffed to bursting every day this week. we last posted of one of our favorite chair styles being introduced at a mass-market level, the klismos outdoor dining chair by restoration hardware (at a rock-bottom price of $325.00), and we were pleased to see another favorite style, the classic thonet-influenced bentwood cafe chair being sold by crate and barrel for a similar bargain price of $119.00 (m21 wouldn't call it a knock off, as the original vienna chair was introduced over 150 years ago, and is by now in the public domain).

the crate and barrel vienna chair.

m21 has longed loved the classic style of thonet chairs as they are simple and timeless and pair well with any decor. because of it. we find them to be a nice counterpoint to modern styles (you know how m21 likes to mix it up), taking a bit of the edge off, and in particular, maison21 loves to pair them with a saarinen tulip table; it always looks casual and chic.

fanciful thonet chairs paired with a saarinen tulip table in a kitchen by the super-talented tom scheerer. m21 is a cocky mo fo and thinks himself to be as good as any designer working, but that tom scheerer may be the exception to the rule- he makes sophisticated yet casual look so effortless and easy, it's almost supernatural. in fact, you have m21's permission: if you can afford mr. scheerer, by all means hire him; if you can't, call me- we'll talk... ;-)

in fact, a couple of years ago maison21 actually purchased a set of 4 thonet chairs to go around a client's large saarinen table, but by the time we added in 4 more,(8 were needed) and lacquered them, the resulting set became too expensive for our budget, so we scrapped the concept and went another direction (reselling the chairs we bought at cost to a lucky friend, btw). we sure wish these c & b versions had been around back then as they already come lacquered black or white, and at $119.00 per, would have fit our budget quite nicely. heck, they fit into anyone's budget at that price- add in a docksta saarinen knock-off from ikea for $149.00, and you have a chic dining set for less then seven hundred bucks!

vintage thonet chairs around a saarinen table, featured in the late great domino magazine- designer unknown.

m21's 72 hour guest room makeover

yikes! last week, m21 was honored to find out an intern from the nearby belgian consulate would be staying with us for 3 months, but our guest room was hardly ready for any guest, let alone a long term one- it was basically empty, not even a bed, so we had to start from scratch to furnish it. to make the whole situation even trickier, m21 found out on monday that he was having a guest who was arriving on thursday, leaving us only 72 hours to transform our extra bedroom from drearily empty to fully furnished fabulousness! plus, m21 had to try to make it as chic as possible- don't want anyone reporting back that american decorators aren't as good as those from the continent!

the entry vestibule of our guest room, accessorized with items pulled from other areas of the atelier. we didn't repaint this tiny anteroom, as the blue-gray matches the hall that leads into into it. you might be thinking that a bowl of fruit is an odd accessory for a bedroom, but m21 likes to make sure guests from different timezones have water as well as something to nibble on, should they they wake up jet-lagged at 4 in the morning; that way they don't have to stumble downstairs and rummage through a strange kitchen to stop their tummies from rumbling...

needless to say in addition to the time constraint, budget was also an issue in our guestroom transformation. in the past, our trusty aerobed is where we've consigned our guests (hey, if you are staying here for free, you can hardly complain, right?) but an aerobed is hardly suitable for an extended stay, so we knew we'd have to lay out several hundred bucks for a bed from ikea; which in turn, meant that all the other furnishings had to be cheap, cheap, cheap. (did we mention they should be cheap?) so armed with little more then sweat and fairy dust, m21 set out to furnish his guest room on a budget and a deadline!

our starting point for the project was paint, and you've heard this next bit of advice from a million sources, but m21 is going to repeat it again: when decorating, paint provides the the biggest impact for the least amount of money. normally when conceptualizing a room, m21 likes to start with a piece of furniture for his inspiration; every designer is approaches conceptualization differently- some start with a fabric or wallpaper, or art or a treasured accessory; our old boss always started with a rug, and we once attended a lecture once where a very prominent decorator said she started with nature, a leaf or a stone found on the property (which we thought was odd- most "big" job sites are nothing but dirt in the planning stages so who'd want to start with that?), but anyway, you get the idea, and in a fairly radical departure for us, instead of starting with a piece of furniture, we started this time with paint (heck- we didn't have any idea of what furniture we'd end up with anyway!)

the room was stark white with one blue-gray wall to tie it to the entry vestibule. since maison21 is NOT a fan of an accent wall and has never been sure why he painted it that way to begin with, the gray had to go! (shown here primered over). we also knew that white walls were probably not the best choice so we would need to repaint; the room will be sparsely furnished, and while white walls look great with a minimalist look if the pieces are all of museum quality, but with our planned mix of thrift store and ikea, they would probably just make it all look junky and cold... :-)

we also started off in a way we'd NEVER recommend for others- rather than testing out swatches on the wall to see how they will look in the space and react with the light (truly, the only way to find the right color), we just purchased a gallon straight from a tiny swatch in our fan deck, and went for it. to make things worse, it was a color we've never used before, so we were really taking a chance! but sometimes rules are made to be broken in these types of unusual situations; plus we are confident enough in our mad decoratin' skillz that we knew whatever color we picked, we could work with it, or even around it, if necessary.

when we paint, we roll on our wall color almost to the corners, then freehand the edges- tape is for sissies! just kidding we use tape all the time, but when dealing with the ceiling, it really is easier to freehand a straight line- just use a 1-2 inch angled brush, fully loaded with paint, and go! make sure the brush is of very good quality though, or fahgeddaboutit- use tape in that case.

we choose benjamin moore #1183 camelback, hoping for a classic masculine camel color as backdrop for our guest, but what we got when we put it up on the walls was more toffee then camel- almost too dark- but what the heck, the room is sunny enough to handle dark walls, and in a happy accident kind of way, we even liked it better then what we had originally envisioned (not that we really had a choice at this point with only 48 hours until our guest arrived- we were living with it, no matter what!) oh and btw, in the interest of saving time, we sprung for the premium one coat coverage base- which was total BS- it took us 3 coats to cover, same as always, when painting a saturated color over white! next time we'll save the bucks and use the cheap base.

while we were waiting for the paint to dry between coats, we then hit the local thrift stores to see what we could rustle up for furniture! at our first stop, we picked up a big art glass floor vase (with some flowering branches, a floor vase is a great way of taking up space in a sparsely furnished room), and at our second stop, we picked up a pair of battered black 70's campaign-style chests, as well as a black and white ceramic lamp, and thus our theme was set- black and white was the order of the day! it would be pretty against our toffee walls (we hoped). we also picked up a vintage painting for $25 bucks- the colors were all wrong, but we could fix that with a coat of the same white paint we were using for the trim of the room. then off to ikea for a bed and mattress, and in the interest of saving money, instead of springing for an ikea platform bed to sit the mattress on, instead we purchased a box spring and a $19.99 black box spring cover with which to disguise it. not a perfect solution, but cute enough, and far cheaper then buying an ikea bed we didn't really want anyway!

we had a fantasy about refinishing these chests, but 72 hours is not enough time for that kind of decorating perfection, so we just cleaned them, then touched up the chips with a sharpie (it's a trick we learned from an professional antiques restorer, so it's not such a half-assed solution as it sounds). m21 finds that people get scared of the battered and damaged, but once you put a bunch of stuff on and around the less then perfect piece, the little scuffs and dents are never even noticed...

last, once we got everything all pulled together, we thought our black, white and camel (ok- toffee) scheme was a actually a little bland; not even the fresh flowers we had added provided enough pops of color... (tip- flowers *always* class up a joint; even a budget makeover gets a 'lifestyle" lift from them!) so we typed "rug" into craiglist to see if we could find something- anything- with a spot of color to help out. thank goodness we found a vintage danish rya rug located not so terribly far away. it had a lovely gradation of blue tones, which would work perfectly with our walls, and was the perfect size for our oddly shaped room. it was also a splurge on our budget, but sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and buy the pretty, ya know? and talk about last minute- we literally purchased and spread it out with minutes to spare before our guest arrived! like our chests, rug wasn't in perfect condition, but it was clean and colorful, and since the bed would be covering a big chunk of it, it really didn't need to be flawless...

so are you ready for the reveal?

before:

and after:

not so bad we think, and the best part is our guest really likes it!

the painting in photo you may recognize, as we painted and posted about it last year; art glass floor vase we bought specifically for the room and filled it with papyrus snipped from our front yard; the chic vintage white chair we borrowed from a friend who had it tucked away in their garage; and the table we made with our own two hands when we took a woodworking class way back in the 90's- it's been stored in a closet for years, as it doesn't really go with our decor anymore, but we can't just get rid of it since we nearly lost a finger while making it! (not really, but we did discover while taking the class that table saws terrify us, so it easily *could* have happened... ;-)

nightstand ain't so bad cleaned up, is it? told ya so! same for rug! vintage ceramic lamp is topped with a black and silver target lampshade we bought about a dozen of while they were on clearance, many, many years ago; our stock is just about gone now, but talk about a well spent $3.99 (each). they sure are versatile!

the vintage painting was an ugly still life- we painted the whole thing black, including frame, then applied thin artist's tape for the lines and coated the canvas portion with the same white house paint (pratt and lambert "designer white") we used on the trim- all done on the floor of the bedroom while we were painting the walls- talk about multitasking! the duvet and pillows, we again picked up at our beloved target while they were on clearance a few years back (we purchased new white sheets and towels for our guest at target too; we think the thomas o'brien towels are surprisingly good quality for the price, and guests should always have plenty of clean white towels). on the nightstand are a stack of books, as well as a scented candle- m21 thinks reading material and a scented candle are musts in a guest room, in addition to the fluffy white towels and fresh flowers. we also like to provide a robe (pilfered from past vacation spots) for our guests to lounge in, because who has room in their luggage to pack a robe? but they sure are nice to have at your destination...

well, now y'all know why m21 was rather light in his posting last week- hard to type while holding a paint brush! whaddya think of our makeover? would y'all be brave enough to paint and redecorate 72 hours before a guest arrives? is maison21 a crazy fool for even attempting it?

cheap 'n chic pillows: unison sale

m21 loves a cheap n' chic accent pillow- such an inexpensive way for anyone to to perk up a tired room- there is always room in the budget for a pillow, y'know? so this morning when we received an email alerting us to these simple, modern, and cheerful pillows on sale at unison, we had to share. m21 particularly loves the bolster version at $25 bucks a pop. yum.

all over the place... (rainy days and mondays always get me down)

greetings from wet and soggy los angeles! m21 has been a bad blog-father this week- hardly posting, as well as ignoring comments and emails (sorry) but you'll have to forgive us- we've been a bit all over the place lately- as in physically, mentally and emotionally, all over the place!

m21 feels like he needed a boat/car this week! the cool amphibicar picture from wired- all sorts of great obsolete gadgets in their post, if you like that sort of thing (we do), you should check it out.

we started off the week reading a facebook status update by our nephew complaining about his sucky monday: had his wisdom teeth pulled (ouch), the san diego chargers lost the playoffs, dashing his superbowl hopes yet again (oh dear) and oh yeah- his mom was in the hospital because she was in bad car accident. what?!? thank goodness, the painkillers addled his brain a bit- his mom was in a car accident, but my big sis was ok, and NOT in the hospital. she was driving home from northern california, and while winding through the grapevine, lost control of her car in the heavy winds and rain that have been pummeling southern california this week. her car hit the guardrail, but miraculously, she was unhurt and no other cars were involved. m21 hopped in m21mobile and drove to gorman (ie, the middle of nowhere) to rescue her. not what he had planned for a rainy monday, but he was certainly happy he was able to do it, and that his sister was ok. shook up, but ok. yay!

m21 hates, hates, hates, driving in the rain. those of you in other parts of the country may find this amusing as it's inescapable fact of everyday life, but sorry, we shouldn't have to do it here in sunny southern california- it just ain't right!

they say any accident you can walk away from is a good accident, and while that's true, m21 thinks perhaps to avoid them, maybe here in southern california, people just shouldn't drive in the rain at all. maybe we can have "rain days", like they have snow days in other parts of the country. m21 isn't criticizing his sister's driving by making this statement- far from it- she merely tried to avoid hitting another car who fishtailed into her lane, causing her to react and and spin out, but that's kind of our point: we southern californians shouldn't drive in the rain because we don't get enough practice to be any good at it! like anything else in life, be it driving or decorating, the more you do it, the better you become at doing it, plain and simple- so by having only half a dozen chances to practice every year, even the best drivers in LA can't ever get enough "rain time" to be any good! so we should just stay home!

hence "rain days"- an idea whose time has come! people can stay home and enjoy the weather from the safety and comfort of their living rooms. that's what m21 was going to do before he ended up driving to gorman (it was a real holiday- MLK day- remember? so we weren't even playing hooky or nuffin'). we even planned ahead for our rain day, buying logs for a roaring fire and some cheap n' cheery daffodils to perk up the gloom of the week's worth of storms being forecast...

note to self: when the skies are black, and the winds are blowin', daffodils just don't cut it. stick to hot toddies for rainy day cheer, m21!

during the continuation of the storm yesterday, in between mopping up soaked windowsills (our southern california homes, like our drivers, aren't prepared for rain either- virtually everyone m21 knows had water coming inside their homes this week!), m21 cleaned and polished a pair of lucite lamps who will be eventually headed for a client's bedroom. they still need to be rewired, but they are so pretty in our dining room (yes, we had to test drive them), we might wait until the skies clear up to drop them off at the lamp shop! ;-) and speaking of clients, one of our other clients took a "rain day" today themselves, and rescheduled our meeting for next week- our idea is obviously spreading!

normally, we try to style our photos a bit better, but we had our "decorator" bag out to remember to take to our canceled client meeting, and forgot it was in the frame, so please excuse the level randomly poking up on the left... this picture wasn't taken at night btw, but at 4 o'clock in the afternoon- it's *that* stormy here...

in fact, we almost canceled one of our own appointments today too (a haircut), as it was still raining cats and dogs this morning, but in this case, we're glad we didn't take a "rain day"- not only was our big bush of hair making us look positively homeless, our inner junque whisperer™ told us to stop by one of our favorite junque shoppes after the appointment since we had a block of free time due to the canceled client appointment! yay! and are we ever happy our inner junque whisperer™ is like the US mail and never stops for rain, sleet or snow, as we found a seriously cool piece of needlepoint art! m21 has had a hankerin' for some vintage needlepoint to hang in the atelier, but everything he has run across has been too "gramma" for his tastes, so this lil' number fits the bill pretty nicely. we wish "anne" had used white for the background of her "pottery" masterpiece so it would work in our breakfast nook a bit better, but no matter- it was cute, and cheery for a bargain price, so we'll enjoy it until we put it in the marketplace for someone else to snatch up!

framed in blue lucite, no less!

well, we warned you this post would be all over the place in the title right? funny, sometimes we get annoyed reading other blog posts that skip all over the place- "wait? where did the needlepoint come from? i thought we were talking about rainy days?"- but somehow, today, on our own blog, it seems appropriate- car crashes, daffodils, lucite, needlepoint and all... maybe because it's still storming outside, and the unusual weather has left us a bit more unusually scattered then normal...

we leave this hot mess of an "all over the place" post with a pop classic by the immortal karen carpenter. keep dry, and stay happy (and focused), people!