*Posts tagged with the term MILDLY refer to my commitment to always be mildly entertaining, at best.

The magic of the principles of design–balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis and unity–is that they’re universally applied whether the subject is art, interiors, fashion, etc.. Domino magazine used to have a feature based on this exact concept, where they would create a room inspired by a fashionable ensemble. I dearly miss Domino magazine… that “special” publication they did a few months back did nothing to satiate my desires for new material from the shelter/lifestyle mag–it was simply a republication of old articles, and I’ve kept all my back issues so it was nothing exciting for me. Anyway, I’m off topic. Let’s switch it up and use rooms first to inspire our everyday dressing. Here’s a take on it, why not create your own?

I love the collected antiquities of this home, belonging to Greek collector Alketas Pazis. The dark, moody, masculine tone is comfortable and inviting, and I love the range of color and materials–the look of achieved with time is well relayed. The end result is decidedly feminine, with layers of variation unified in saturation, with a textural balance of soft fabrics, cold metals, cut crystal, sumptuous leathers, and an emphasis on masculine influence.

THANK YOU, etsy, for the introduction this afternoon to Kai Samuels-Davis, painter extraordinaire and shopkeep at Windy Lane Studio. Kai’s expressive realist-style paintings are composed of cerebral, visceral figures, landscapes and objects–“creating a mood of melancholy and solitude”. Exactly the kind of things I want hanging on my walls, enveloping my surroundings. Here are some of my favorite paintings, take a look at his website and find something you can’t live without in his shop.

She may be the one I love the most, below.

That girl. You, reminding me how I used to live recklessly–dying my hair red, staining the pillowcases. Forever a reminder of 2007.

Of course his studio is also beautifully industrious; simple and sophisticated.

Bolinas Reflection 13 x 19 Fine Art Print by windylanestudio. $50.

Vintage Brass Perpetual Calendar by thefutureprimitive on Etsy $14

Here’s a look at four of the seven presses in their studio, artifacts of the industrial era! I don’t know if that’s an accurate statement, but I like the way it sounds.

Here’s John explaining the mechanics of their big ol’ heavy duty Chandler & Price presses from around 1896 and 1928 respectively, both of which John completely restored himself.

Above, John holds one of the two plates used on a poster they letterpressed for AIGA’s Ellen Lupton event, and below you’ll see a closeup of the finished print—came out very pretty indeed! The following couple photos you’ll see Jenn explaining the from-photoshop-to-letterpress-block process, and some of the little things you should look for before sending the files out.

Here and below are samples of some of the cards they’ve made, including Mortar which you may remember I blogged about long ago.

Both of the greeting cards above were designed by Product Superior and they’re samples of what you’ll find in their shop—go get some for yourself.

Paper donated by Mohawk: notecards, mini gift tags, coasters and large posters, etc.

They fed us, too. Pink’s, M&M’s & gummy bears FTW!

Above, the Line-O-Scribe Sign Machine works like a gigantic old-fashioned credit card machine. Just set your type, apply the ink directly, lay down your paper, set the dial, then run that thing from left to right like you’re working for JCPenney.

Here’s the smallest press we used, the Kelsey. She makes small scale prints like the vintage car block on a coaster, seen below.

John helps one of the students set the type for her first poster.

I was wearing, didn’t want to break anything. John helped me lock in my name for some notecards, check out the result below.

Above is one of their many vintage plates, this one says “Announcing the Opening” and I loved it so much that I used it on some coasters, sans ink. Now I’m afraid to use them ’cause they’re so pretty.

I made a few different posters, some sweet little gift tags, the notecards with my name on them, in addition to the coasters—and the whole night was a lot of fun, and an awesome experience. Make sure you check back on AIGA’s site for their next upcoming classes, let’s go together!

The main work of the remodel was all completed in the month of February. It took less than four weeks, but the house was covered in sawdust, the walls were open, floors, cabinets and counters were ripped out—and we were living in it all the while. Since I’m writing this after the fact I have basically all good memories and don’t remember how bad it really was. I was here with the workers all day and was expected to be project manager, except when I would say things like “let’s just tile that whole wall”, our contractor would call Steven to tell on me and get his permission… where is my authority!

Here is our kitchen after all that, we still need to get porcelain outlet covers but that’s problematic because we’ll have to change out the outlet styles so they fit in the covers. After posting the photos I’ve realized I need to work on my interior styling, next time I’ll put out a cutting board with some plums on it or something, you know real life stuff. Anyway… what do you think of the changes? It’s hard to even remember this place as a white closed-in kitchen.

Here’s the view from the pantry. We replaced the white ceramic tile floor for vintage wood from the 1960s we got for a steal at the Habitat for Humanity restore. It matches the wood in the rest of our house identically. We kept the cabinets and painted them with a glossy black, which was also used on the new trim and archway moulding.

We tiled the entire wall on the back side of the house because I didn’t like the way it was going to look if we just ended the tile at the left edge of the stove, I love how it turned out.

On the wall with most of our cabinet space, we removed the doors so now it’s a lot easier to get to things, in a small space I like having things within reach.

We used Restoration Hardware’s 8″ and 13″ Duluth bin pulls on the drawers and upper cabinets and the 8″ Aubrey pulls in Antique Brass on the lower cabinets.

I found a vintage brass and crystal curtain tie back to use as a towel hanger while shopping with my mom, sister and aunt Sue down in historic Rosenberg after the renovation was done.

We replaced the white porcelain sink with a singe-basin square edged stainless sink… it’s finally easy to watch our huge pots and pans!

Roman and Williams’ 211 Elizabeth: I love… no… I am in love with the combination of black-painted woodwork and trim with white walls & wood floors.

Neoclassical trim, be still my heart. I’m a sucker for historical woodwork that’s been painted layer upon layer.

This is the faucet of my dreams: the Brass Deck-Mounted Faucet x Barber Wilson which is $716 and not available within an 8-week period. I did not have either the $716 or the 8-week waiting period, so we did without. But save this as a memo for a superfuter, richer self. Anyhow… key elements of our kitchen are above: Carrara marble, white tile with black-as-coal grout and lots of brass accents.

Below, the subway wall made me gasp the first time I saw it. The caption on the original photo read “Store cupboards in the larder at Ardkinglas. The house was built in 1907 for Sir Andrew Noble to designs by Sir Robert Lorimer.” Them some foncy cupboards!

The Walden, Brooklyn.

Look at those beautiful drawers, shelves, counters and cabinets. Mmm.

Crystal glassware and silver in a wooden liquor cabinet.

MMM, what I love about this is that glossy black upper and the lower [oak?] carpentry. More brass and less green.

I thoroughly enjoy all the elements of this kitchen: marble slab counter, black cabinets with brass pulls, industrial lab barstool, white subway tile backsplash with dark grout, industrial range, and while I do love that hood, it’s definitely out of the budget.

LONG-ESTABLISHED KITCHEN FAVORITE of MINE

Black appliances, white countertops, dark wood cabinets. Also, this kitchen’s layout was similar to ours, although we don’t have a true island. We have a peninsula. *Remember, I only promise to be mildly entertaining.

METAL-ENCASED WINDOWS / CABINETS / CABINET COLOR + PULLS / SUBWAY TILES in NATE BERKUS’ NYC KITCHEN RENO

♥ROMAN AND WILLIAMS PERSONAL SPACE // SO MUCH TO DROOL OVER HERE

The bar at the Standard, NYC by Roman and Williams. Also, this is the place where in real-life on December 30th, 2011 the gang of four aka Marc, Steven, Ian and I met up with Jess and Mike… awkward! Just kidding, it was nice to meet you Mike.

Weakness: Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Strength: Style tips from the Kardashian/Jenner girls.

I do have a slightly glam side, and sometimes I feel indulgent and want sparkley diamond earrings–like the Loren Jewelry 14k gold/16k pave diamond ones Kris Jenner wears on KUWTK which are OOMPR (out of my price range) at over $12k.

Above is Kris in her fabulous jewels, and below is a gorgeous pair at Ross-Simons which are also 14k gold and black rhodium sterling silver with 7.25k diamonds for $2500 (on sale today! $1871! hurry!). Thank you purseforum for the guidance in helping me find a knockoff earring. Tell me, do you think these are a good option-for-a-girl-on-a-budget?