my new favorite style

m21 just loves french pervential furniture. don't you?

worst furniture mangling ever. 'rot iron' pales in comparison...

third st. sidewalk sale (and an s.o.s.)

m21 got this flyer posted to his facebook page a couple of days ago, but didn't think much of it- the trina turk store near his house mainly carries women's wear, so no great excitement for him (if the residential collection was on sale, it would be a different story); but we did notice that the sale was in conjunction with a wider "sidewalk sale" sponsored by the west 3rd st. business association, and we thought maybe we should blog about it. alas, we soon forgot all about the post idea over the course of our busy day (many, if not most of our blog post ideas are fleeting thoughts, never to see the light of day when the next shiny thing distract attracts our attention), so this post might never have happened.

then yesterday, we happened to drive the entire stretch of west 3rd st between la cienega and fairfax, and when we did, we were shocked- virtually 50% of the storefronts that line the street were vacant, with for lease signs, and of the remaining stores, almost all had "sale" signs up. we drive down this stretch of road so often, m21 had become immune to the number of stores going out of business, but yesterday, the sad reality of the situation grabbed our attention anew and hit us hard, really hard. it bummed us out for the rest of the day, and got us thinking about the "sidewalk sale" flyer we recently received on the FB...
2 years ago, west third st. was booming- one of the few true walking streets in los angeles, lined with chic boutique after boutique, interspersed with restaurants and cafes, and nary a chain store in sight (how refreshing is that)! if a storefront opened up on the street, it was quickly filled with an even cooler business selling even more unique and unknown lines of clothing, or gifts and housewares. rents were not cheap- we know, as m21 priced out a few vacant spots with the fantasy of opening his own atelier in the neighborhood, and yet despite the steep rents, the stores all seemed to thrive, some even expanding- small merchants living their dreams.
until our hideous recession hit, and now this vibrant neighborhood is less so. there are still great places to shop, but markedly fewer, and the number seems to shrink weekly. which brings us to the point of this post- if you live in los angeles, make a point to go to the sidewalk sale on west 3rd street this weekend. try to buy something too- you don't need to spend a lot, money is tight for all, we know- but in this dire economy, even a couple of small sales could make all the difference for a struggling merchant. for someone, this sidewalk sale could be the make or break moment for their shop. make a day of it and eat at one of the great restaurants while you are there- joan's on third is a particularly great casual spot for lunch. heck, make a day and an evening of it, and stay on for dinner at the always amazing AOC...

and if you don't live in LA, go to the the area of your town that's similar to w. 3rd st. - not a mall filled with chain stores- but an area with local merchants, and spend a little time and hopefully a little money there. m21 knows, this isn't exactly feeding the hungry or housing the homeless, but if you are reading a decorating blog that means you are a lover of pretty things and pretty places, so a little support for those that provide us with the pretty on a local level wouldn't be so out of line, ya know?maybe m21 will see you on third!

introducing the maison21 marketplace

when you have problems even regularly posting to one blog, what's the intelligent course of action? why start another, of course!

inspired by fellow angeleno, victoria molinelli, proprietress of vicky's yard sale (and a seriously talented artist), maison21 has started a mlog, or merchandise blog, the "maison21 marketplace", to showcase his vintage decor finds in a slightly more commercial setting then our current talky and self-obsessed decorating blog.

we have tried to kick our habit of buying the vintage and the pretty, but just don't seem to have the willpower- we see a pretty thing, and the urge to take it home with us becomes too overwhelming. after a couple months of almost complete abstinence (with only the occasional slip), our jones returned even harder then before, and we realized, "why stop doing something you love?"- as long as our addiction isn't killing us, or harming others, who cares, right?

but our addiction does tend to kill our pocketbook- if we buy and don't resell, that is. so we've started the maison21 marketplace as both an outlet for our obsession and a way to feed it (basically it's an online "will work for pretty" sign). so why don't you help a brother out, and hop on over to take a look around? maybe something pretty will call out for YOU to take home and love...

i love my readers!

thanks to anonymous commenter, "JP" who steered m21 to outdoor rugs only.com, and the perfect imitation rag rug for our client's porch. could it be anymore perfect for a 100 year old bungalow?

also, while on the subject of outdoor livin', maison21 thought these pillows from williams-sonoma home were totally chic @60% off ($39.99) with free shipping! (too modern for our project, but still deal-worthy).

outdoor living

all things outdoors are on our mind, as we are helping a client with a "budget freshen up", of their large classic california bungalow style front porch, just in time for summer entertaining...
we ordered some classic cabana stripe outdoor pillows from pottery barn ($29.00 w/free shipping, m21 couldn't have them made for less- a true bargain), and they will sit on a vintage white wrought iron sofa purchased off craigslist (!), as well as on some inexpensive white adirondack chairs ordered from the home decorators collection (kinda cheaply made, and have some finish problems, but for the price? not so much of an issue).
the house is almost a century old, so we want to keep the styles classic, yet eclectic- kind of a summer house vibe where the furniture is a accumulation of generations, hence the wrought iron/wood mix. the key here, so things don't end up looking all junkedy, is to unify all the disparate styles and materials by keeping the furniture all white, and keeping all the upholstery to a simple, classic white and blue theme.
we are also looking for a chic white and blue outdoor rug- something similar to this striped number from shades of light, but m21 is a bit concerned about about the wide white stripes in a high traffic area (even a scrubbable, hoseable polypropylene rug could look dingy fast), so we'd like something in the white and blue theme, but perhaps with a smaller stripe, or all over navy/white pattern, or best, a varigated blue/white outdoor version of a classic braided rag rug. any readers out there know of some outdoor rug options that might fit the bill?
last, we saw these outdoor sconces from pottery barn that we'd love to use, but unfortunately won't be able to on this project. we think they look far more expensive then their $169.00 price tag, and we love the puddles of light created created by using downlights outdoors (with a low wattage clear incandescent bulb only, please), so we are keeping them on file for the future. we LOVE when a mass marketer like PB gets a look right, bringing style to the masses that looks far more exclusive then it's price tag would indicate. m21 wouldn't blink if he saw these somewhere far more upmarket, like the urban archeology catalog, for many times the price...

speaking of pottery barn, paloma over at la dolce vita, recently had a thought-provoking post on pottery barn bringing "found" vintage items into their mix, as opposed to vintage reproductions. the post and resulting comments are an interesting discussion we thought, so y'all should hop on over and check it out...