Shop Spotlight: BloomThat

It’s a work holiday today, so I’m spending the day in my apartment catching up on emails, cooking, and tidying the place.  To brighten up the space, I decided to treat myself to a bouquet of flowers. (Yes, I sent myself flowers.) I ordered a beautiful bouquet of tulips from BloomThat, a flower delivery service in San Francisco.  I heard of BloomThat kind of accidentally – I overheard someone on BART talking about the service and he seemed so enthusiastic I had to check it out for myself.  The order process was incredibly easy – just choose from a seasonal selection of arrangements and tell them when/where you’d like them delivered.

Their flowers are delivered by bike messenger and are packaged in recycled burlap donated by Weaver’s Coffee, an organic, fair trade coffee roaster.  I received the blooms in under 90 minutes and they were incredibly fresh. This will be perfect the next time I need a last minute gift (or when I feel like treating myself again…).

Shop Spotlight: Debbie Carlos

 

After seeing this living room, it should come as no surprise that I have fallen for Debbie Carlos‘ fantastic and graphic photography. These large-scale plotter printed pieces, which she sells out of her Etsy and self-titled shop, have a textured, vintage quality to them, and even the largest sizes (36″ x 48″!!!) still remain affordable at $50.

 

I know Robin will love seeing her favorite animal represented on the Giraffe Poster, and I can totally see the Mountain Fog, Flowers, or Ice Cream Posters in my own home. I think they are the perfect piece to make a statement on a large vacant wall, while being neutral enough to move from room to room– ideal for injecting some fun or drama into your space!

 

 

Flowers, Giraffe, Ice Cream, Mountain Fog

 

 

Living Room Photo: from HGTV Magazine, designed by Jamie Meares, photo by Kim Cornelison.

 

Teal Bedroom Photo: from D Magazine, designed by Janet Gridley, photo by Chris Plavidal

Shop Spotlight: Carson Ellis

Since high school, I’ve been a big fan of the indie folk-rock band, The Decemberists.  Back when I used to buy CDs, I would spend time thumbing through the liner notes admiring both the lyrics and the accompanying artwork.  Through this, I became familiar with the work of Carson Ellis – an illustrator with a charming, quirky, and whimsical style.  She has illustrated album art, posters, merchandise, stage sets, and website artwork for The Decemberists and a handful of other artists.  She has also illustrated a number of children’s books – most recently, The Wildwood Chronicles (written by Colin Meloy, frontman of The Decemberists and Carson Ellis’ husband).  For the love of both Meloy and Ellis’ work, I picked up a copy of the first book and have fallen in love with the story and the art — I have to admit that it’s as enjoyable for this adult as I’m sure it is for the intended audience of children.

As part of my work-in-progress gallery wall, I’m planning to frame this Carson Ellis print.  You can view all her products here.

Photograph of Wildwood book by Dressed In Orange.  All other images via CarsonEllis.com.

Shop Spotlight: Blu Dot

Blu Dot opened a couple weeks ago and I finally got the chance to see their new store on Valencia in the Mission District over the weekend.  For the uninitiated, Blu Dot is a Minnesota-based modern furniture maker with beautifully clean and simple designs.  I previously only experienced the brand through magazines and some online window shopping, so getting to see and touch these designs in person was definitely a treat.

The space is pretty large and airy, but it still manages to feel comfortable and cozy.  Walking around the store, I made a lengthy mental wishlist of pieces I’d like to add to my apartment immediately.

A few more snaps of the store:

If you get a chance, hop over to 560 Valencia St. for a visit.  It’s definitely worth checking out!

 

Shop Spotlight: Teil Duncan

After seeing Society Social‘s new Magalog this morning, I fell in love with Teil Duncan‘s paintings. Her generous and creative use of color, and simplified brushstrokes create lovely impressionistic compositions that could be at home in most any art collection. I’m loving her new pieces about beaches and pools, but her nudes are fantastic as well– looks like they are almost all sold out though! I also like that she posts all her new work to Tumblr, so you can see the works that she adds every week. I, for one, will definitely be keeping a close eye on her work from now on!

All paintings/images from Teil Duncan’s web shop.

Shop Spotlight: Proud Mary

image via.

After spending most of the weekend under the weather and napping on the couch, I was reminded that I desperately need to replace my throw pillow covers in my Living Room. Enter Proud Mary, a company I first read about in January of this year in Matchbook Magazine. The line of “ethnic-modern” accessories is designed in South Carolina, and is sustainably made in partnership by fairly paid artisan groups around the world.

Shop Spotlight: Dog Eared Books

A couple weekends ago, while perusing the shops on Valencia in the Mission, we stopped in at Dog Eared Books.  Neither of us had ever been inside, and we had clearly been missing out.

They have an amazing selection of new, used, and rare books, and at great prices.  Naturally, we gravitated toward the fashion, art, and design books.  We were able to pick up some high quality, new and used coffee table books at a fraction of their cover prices.  Here’s how we styled the books in our respective apartments.

Allure by Diana Vreeland
Botanicals – Assouline
Henri Matisse: A Retrospective – MoMA

Robin: My bedroom has dark furniture with white walls and light, neutral bedding.  So to break up some of the monotony, I used my Dog Eared Books finds to add pops of color to my bedside table.  With the support of books, I was able to lean my framed antique postcard of the Flood Building I purchased at Stuff.   To add different shapes to the mix, I topped the books with my Voluspa Crisp Champagne candle and added in a terrarium.  These simple additions instantly made my bedroom feel fresh and lively.

Unseen Warhol by John O’Connor and Benjamin Liu
Baroque Architecture by by Lemerle Frederique and Yves Pauwels
Picasso: La Joie De Vivre, 1945-1948 by Palazzo Grassi

 Grace:  My living room is mostly neutral, with the exception of my bookshelf and art. To add some personality to my dark, industrial go-cart table from CB2 I stacked my books and used them as a platform to draw attention to some of my favorite objects. This includes a little blue and white pot I picked up in a Healdsburg antique shop, a childhood photo, an antique Berber necklace I bought in Morocco, and brass candlesticks and an acrylic painting from the Alameda Antique Fair. I love how the books give the lighter objects some weight and creates a small vignette of beloved memories.

All photos taken by Dressed in Orange.

Gem and Stone Print Shop

images via

Reading the Design*Sponge article this morning on gem scarves by Jen Altman reminded me of seeing her lovely print store, Gem and Stone, a while back. Her beautiful close up photos of minerals are showstopping, and provide a perfect mix of modern abstraction and organic warmth. As an apartment-dweller I’m always cautious about what I buy for my home, considering a piece’s usability if I were to move to a new location. Art is one thing I can always convince myself to buy: not only is it light enough to easily move from place to place, it can also be hung, leaned and layered in almost any room. I can easily envision my favorite, the Amethyst print, hanging above my sofa now, and in 10 years hanging it in my office, master bath, or guest room. As long as you truly love the piece, you will always be able to find a space to make it work!

Grace

Shop Spotlight: Kari Herer

clockwise, from top right: 9887 / 3240 / 6986 / 9899

I need more of these lovely botanical and illustrated photographs by Kari Herer added to my apartment ASAP! I love the beautifully selected and styled flowers in all her photographs and am having a hard time picking a favorite.

A couple weeks ago I was happily surprised to find that one of her photos is being sold at Ikea, right next to some frames I was in the store to pick up. Knowing it was fate (and for only $5!) I quickly scooped up the print and RIBBA frame that fit it perfectly, and had the photo hung that day! I love how the oranges of the flowers complement my navy drapes, and play off the coral and lavender bedding I have. Now I’m thinking that this photo needs to come live in my home too, this time in the entryway… decisions, decisions!

Grace

P. S. Check out her animal portraits on her website, they are SO adorable!