I knew we were on our way to a Depression Era decorating mentality and now we have arrived. Thank goodness we have artists living at the poverty level to show us the way. As seen in this feature in the New York Times, an artist who makes sculpture from driftwood and his resourceful partner have…
At the tile store some time ago, salivating over the $30-per-square-foot tile, I asked the clerk a brilliant question: “Do you have any free stuff?” I was with a friend who is pretty classy, and she gave a nervous little laugh and I wondered for a second if this question was crass. But the clerk…
IKEA sells a pretty nice $40 Varde wall shelf unit. But actually, it’s a little bland. A couple of designers from Los Angeles offer some variations in the L.A. Times. Above you see 1) the original in the center, 2) a metal grate and chain treatment on the left, and 3) the shelf embellished with…
As you know if you’ve been keeping up with my blog, I’ve recently become enthralled and obsessed with the rebuilding of New Orleans. I visited the first time in mid-February and have been there now four times. So it was with some excitement, in my own Southern California neighborhood, that I came across this door…
Isn’t this bedroom yummy? It’s in the Rosarito Beach vacation condo that Don and Gigi Maurizio remodeled. Gigi, an administrator with the Glendora Unified School District who lives in Claremont, told me she found the headboard (which is really a footboard) for $5 on closeout at a Pier One Imports store. That was the starting…
After the flooring is laid, the walls are painted and the furniture is repositioned at the end of a remodel, what’s left? Accessorizing. For those of us with original artwork taste but poster budgets, here’s an idea: fragments of larger works, printed, numbered and signed by the artist, costing $63 each plus $9 shipping, from…
Suze Orman would not be happy with me. If you’ve seen her show, you’ve heard her intone: People first. Then money. Then things. My current lineup is: People first. Then tile. Then everything else. Back at the tile shop, where I picked up my free tiled tabletop in the alley behind the store, I checked…
Good news, junkies! Garage-sale shopping is bigger than ever, helped along no doubt by the environmental movement’s focus on reusing and recycling. Garage Sale America, a new book by Bruce Littlefield, takes the reader on a journey of homey bargains. Here are some reader comments from Amazon: It is a quiet chilly afternoon, and the…
The great thing about living in a metropolitan area is your access to so many shops, supply houses and enterprises. Daniel Gonzales and Janice Stango took full advantage of this when they set out to convert their old, dirt-floored garage in North Hollywood into a sitting area (they will build a carport to replace it…