Archive for the ‘craigslist’ Category

LIGHTING

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Besides fiber art, I’ve also been quietly hoarding a bunch of lighting ever since the dining room chandelier moved onward to a better home. None of the lighting I’ve stumbled on has been perfect and I haven’t been able to find my dream brutalist chandelier – really the closest thing I have found was this Tom Greene for Monteverdi-Young beast of a brass thing that popped up on Craigslist for a very unbrutal price.

On the other side of chandelier spectrum is that shiny 70’s bit of vintage Lightolier chrome which came into my life late one night when I stumbled upon a very neglected and oddly described eBay auction. So? Score.

Oh, these old things?

Yeah. We’ll get to those in a bit.

Anyway, while out and about in Orange County I stumbled on a little vintage shop and left with my very own Auro Glowbal. Yes sir THAT Auro Glowbal. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of it either, but it looks to be a handmade cotton version of those cheap paper lanterns and turned out to be a nice stand-in for the Akari light sculptures that haunt my daydreams.

Bumling to the Sciolari to the Greene.

Name dropping is what I do best and annoys my friends and loved ones much more than you’d expect. Or maybe as much as you’d expect. I can be pretty unbearable.

The Bumling I’ve had for awhile, but the Sciolari is a new acquisition from a little trade I did with Ellen over at Amsterdam Modern. I imagine it will end up in one of the bedrooms? Maybe? I don’t know.

No, I haven’t forgotten the Nelsons.

I swear.

Anyways, we installed the Auro ball thing in the den, but Mr. Lightolier, Mr. Sciolari and Mr. Bumling are all still floating around totally homeless. It feels impossible to decide where they should go.

I have a raging case of decision fatigue.

But at least the glowbal was installed after sitting on the floor for months…and it looks like there’s only this image as proof since someone forgot to take after pictures. That someone being me.

I failed. I’m a failure.

Good thing I overuse instagram.

OK. So, lamps. Once. Twice. Three, no, four times a Nelson.

I was out in LA working with Laure on some photo shoots during the day and then cruising Craigslist at night, per the norm, when I stumbled on a listing for a crap ton of huge bubble lamps. I emailed them, they emailed back, I was so happy and then realized I couldn’t pick them up while doing awesome photo shoot stuff, so I begged Summer to grab them and promised to split the lamp haul between us. The end.

OK, these things are HUGE and I have four and perhaps I dove into this adventure without much of a plan. With nothing to lose I tried out something that initially felt nuts; I tried the saucer.

The Nelson bubble lamp over the dining table thing feels like it might be the biggest cliche around. Classic design icon? For sure. Ubiquitous lighting choice for mid century interiors? Sure.

Despite this obvious snobbery, these lights beefy scale made me curious about how one might look hung up in the dining room. I loosely strung one up (without fully installing) and stepped back to find that, well, I…sort of…liked it.

Now everything I believe in is in shambles.

I can’t decide if this super size saucer works or if a more unusual lighting choice is a better fit. Does large scale forgive ubiquity? Is this becoming a classic design convention? I’m not sure, but it feels kind of nice?

Hold on. There’s one last factor to consider – no big deal – just forgot to mention the amazing custom built dining table coming soon. Boom.

Everything. Shambles.

So this sucker is going to get a little test run until the new table comes and then we’ll see if it should be installed for real. Who knows! The only certainty is that I change my mind constantly.

FILED UNDER: before, craigslist, decorating, den, dining, ebay, lighting, vintage

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RUGGY AGAIN

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

Hello new rug.

Goodbye old rug.

There are those few rarities that habitual Craigslist trollers like myself don’t expect to bump into on the c’list, one biggie being the legendarily elusive vintage Moroccan Beni Ourain rug. Finding one of these for a bargain feels about as possible as a unicorn farting out Kofod Larsen chairs while throwing wadded up hundred dollar bills at your face. So, when a post for a ‘white wool rug’ with a ‘subtle abstract design’ popped up, I hurriedly emailed the seller as well as a few friends and then sought out the wisdom of the internets to confirm if I was crazy or if a unicorn just knocked on the door.

Well.

I went. I saw. I bought for $150.

Not quite the perfect unicorn, but maybe this rug is like a Llama with a carrot strapped to it’s head showed up and was like, ‘hey, here’s a coupon book for all that stuff you like and a nice sandwich.’ I’m not really sure what exactly this rug is, but I like it like I like sandwiches. A bunch.

This puppy sits about 8′ x 12′ and is in great vintage condition – super thick, softly wooly and nicely hand woven. The pattern coloration of umber, ochers and black was an unexpected surprise, but luckily I’m a big fan of browntown. Considering all the uneasiness and anxiety the other colorful antique rug stirred up in me, this hot piece of minimalist tribal action slid into the room so easily that it’s almost like it’s always been here.

On an unrelated note, I finally hung up and slammed a pencil cactus in this giant geodesic planter I grabbed at the flea over a year ago. No big deal really, this huge planter has just been sitting awkwardly on the bedroom floor for most of that year…so…great job me.

*Slow design.

I also switched out the leather butterfly chairs for my black rocker.

The Eames rocker is a better fit for sure, but the coffee table is still is waiting to be exchanged and the fireplace is still calmly waiting to redone. Why? Because I’m a lazy jerk who buys rugs.

The seventies are exploding up in here. Hey now.

Time’s come to reign in this 70’s textured wackiness and bring out the industrial modernist shiny minimal bits. Plants would help as well, but I gotta start doing some real renovation projects instead of slapping a rug band-aid on everything. There’s just no willpower or energy in my body to start some big messy time consuming projects right now. I’m pooped.

Bring it on, longer days and more sunshine! Let’s do this. Let’s rip stuff out and renovate! Or maybe go source stuff on Craigslist? Shut up, lazy part of me.

What’s strange is that Craigslist has really been a wasteland of nothing but beat up Ikea chairs and gross stained mattresses for months now and then suddenly it was like, oh hey, good stuff and BOOM-rug and then BOOM-rug again and oh, what now? BOOM-rug in your face. I’ve been some kind of rug magnet and for whatever inane reason, I can’t manage to seal the deal on anything else.

At. All.

Besides rugs.

The big rug experiment has gotten pretty stupid at this point and now I’m feeling officially burnt-out on fibers and rugs and textiles in general, despite the fact that I just picked up another rug like some kind of goddamn hypocrite rug addict.

No more rugs. I’m done. This one’s a keeper.

I swear.

And this time I mean it, possibly.

FILED UNDER: craigslist, decorating, flea market, floors, living, vintage

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RUGGY

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Been feeling this weird need to own more rugs (that are not cowhides) and have stalked a few via Craigslist and eBay without much success for the last few months.

Apparently, rugs are hard?

Well, they can be incredibly costly when considering larger sizes like 9’x12′, so you better be pretty into investing some cash into rugs. Sadly, most the rugs I find tend to be either totally trashed or oddly sized or just u – to the – gly on all levels. When I saw this rug listed about three months ago on Craigslist (fairly close to my house) I immediately liked the worn-in threadbare quality and semi-persian / semi-kelim / semi-whatever vibe it had going for it. Plus, it was super HUGE.

Per usual. Emailed. Spoke a bit to the seller. Seller then vanished.

These things happen a lot.

About a month later I saw this thing pop up again at three times the original price and was surprised, but not shocked – since these things also happen a lot. Of course, it languished on the ‘list and over the following months would occasionally pop up and I would stalk it and send a random email here and there and offer the original price we had originally agreed on. Of course I continued to be shot down.

But I am tenacious animal.

After like the seventh relist or something crazy like that, the rug was listed again at a reasonable price and I tenaciously sent my little email again – and finally – arranged to pick it up.

Viewing it in person? Not as awesomely handwoven and perfectly vintage as I hoped or believed it was going to be from those tiny Craigslist thumbnail pics.

These things? They also happen a lot.

We did the negotiating dance and got the price down and I gave into rug ownership.

Now that I’ve gotten this puppy home and fulfilled my whole ‘maybe I should get a rug’ impulse, I’m finding myself totally on the fence about this whole getting a rug thing. I love seeing and using awesome rugs in other peoples homes and enjoy the layered texture and great bit of pattern they bring, but perhaps somewhere in this minimalist heart there’s no room for a solid patch of antiquity. Then again, I kind of love the way it changes the space and plan to pair it with my marble knoll coffee table and a freshly white fireplace. With those additions considered into the grand scheme, I can fully imagine it would be moderened up while still adding the right amount of texture to the space. For now though, I won’t commit to lugging that 1000 pound beast of a marble table in here until I feel good and sure about things.

I’m waffling. I’m a rug waffler.

The rug remains an undecided living room visitor or possible option for the den. Everyday I sleep on it in hopes of finalizing a decision and everyday my mind swings back and forth from rug! to NO rug!

These are the hardest most soul searching questions one must face at some point. Duh.

FILED UNDER: craigslist, decorating, floors, vintage

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