HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween! So happy I am back from all my crazy traveling to celebrate my favorite holiday...

My love for Halloween definitely comes from my Mom. Growing up, costumes and decorations were always home-made from items we found in the basement. (Anyone looking for a last minute costume idea, a gypsy is easy to put together from vintage clothing and big costume jewelry.) This weekend, I ventured back to PA to enjoy a haunted house at her antique store, Pack Rats Place. Here are a few of my favorite pics...

Imagine seeing that creepy rabbit head in a dark basement as a kid...

My mom made her own electric chair from spare wood and lights. 

You never know what you're going to find in the basement: Here she used my red hoodie from college and blouse and skirt from an ancestor

The eyes on this Halloween prop moved and every once in awhile you'd catch him looking at you. Creepy!

FOOD TRUCK ART

I love it when something so common on the streets of NYC, as food carts are recreated into works of art. Check out these great prints by LA artist, Sean Finnocchio.

Be sure to check out his series of taco trucks, SF dim sum and LA apartments too!

HALLOWEEN GOODNESS

Ever since the Halloween, my mom and I created a haunted house that spanned our entire basement, I've loved decorating for Halloween. This year, I scoured Etsy for some vintage Halloween-inspired finds...

Tickets and Fabric

Alphabet Cards

Frankenstein and Glass Head

Target

Doll Head and Flash Cards

1940s Skeleton

RAINY DAY

A few pics from a rainy day in the Village...

 

Here's hoping the sun comes out tomorrow.

CLEANING UP...

Working at the Flea hasn't left me with a lot of time to clean my apartment. (Think laundry everywhere, storage containers piled high and a sink load of dishes, ugh!) Yesterday, I decided to tackle the mess. I found these great tips on Real Simple for tackling cleaning problems with ordinary products (think fewer chemicals.) My fave, cleaning silver with baking soda. This might save me some serious scrubbing time.

Also liked this one, have got to remember to do this before my next party...

 

Definitely doing this one. Much better than picking up the trash from the bottom of the bin.

Check out more helpful hints from Real Simple here. What's your best trick for cleaning your home?

MOVING ON UP...

I've got some exciting news (and part of the reason I've been a little quiet this week). This Sat, I'm going to be setting up a brand new booth at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene.

The Fort Greene location has tons of vintage finds, delicious food (passion fruit glazed donuts, um yes!) and some serious celeb spotting. Writers from Lucky Magazine just wrote about this flea market (and other fabulous markets around the country), check out them out here.

Last week I introduced my new fall look for O&B and this week, I can't wait to make it even better. If you're around, come out and say hi.

FOUND IT! CAMPAIGN NIGHTSTAND

Ever think something is meant to be? I picked up this amazing campaign style nightstand at a thrift store in Dennis, MA for $10! I literally squealed and ran over to it. (Mine looks just like this, but with a little more character). 

My love affair with campaign style furniture started when I spotted this dresser in an issue of Lonny. I wrote about it back in August 2010 and have been dreaming about finding reasonably priced one ever since...

 

 My little nightstand needs a little work, but hopefully soon, it will look like this...

I'll keep you posted on the progress. Other cool finds from the weekend, coming tomorrow...

FALL VINTAGE PICKS

For the next few days, I'm up in Cape Cod closing down our house for the season. With cooler temperatures during the day and a yard full of leaves to rake (and jump in), I'm quickly getting into my favorite season of the year. This definitely carries over to my vintage hunting, where more than a few fall-inspired few items have caught my eye.

While I'm here, I plan to check out some of the fantastic thrift stores and estate sales on the Cape. Here are a few must-have vintage items on my list for Fall.

Leather: Cases, luggage, boxes you name it. There's something about Fall that makes me what to fill the shop with worn-in leather.  (This is a vintage collar box by the way, how cool)

Brass: Candle stick holders and small figurines have been popular for awhile, but I'm looking for brass compotes to stash jewelry, small paperweights in cool shapes (like insects, sheep and duck heads) and vintage lighters (something my grandfather would have owned). If I find a cool brass lamp, it's mine!

(image via katyelliott)

Plaid Blankets: Vintage wools, tartans, plaids, Pendleton and Woolrich in traditional patterns and colors (navy, black, red, etc).

(via Beautifulshyt)

Picnic baskets and leather camp chairs: Anything to take for a last minute tailgate or Fall picnic in the park. 

Milk Glass compotes, cake stands, etc. The milky white color is a perfect compliment to bright pumpkins and squash.

What are you looking for this Fall?

DAVID HICKS

During a recent class, I was asked to research my favorite interior designer. My go-to was David Hicks. When his classic fabric showed up on a camel back sofa on cover of Domino Magazine, I was immediately hooked.

Hick's use of bold colors, geometric fabrics (many of which he designed himself), upholstered walls and painted furniture – made his rooms appear modern, despite many of them having been designed during the swinging sixties. 

"My greatest contribution as an interior designer has been to show people how to use bold color mixtures, how to use patterned carpets, how to light rooms and how to mix old with new," – David Hicks, David Hicks on Living — with Taste (1968)

PHOENIX APT DESIGN

I'm back from Phoenix, AZ where I helped a friend move into her new apartment over the weekend.
As in most rental apts, the apt was a series of off-whites and tans from floor to ceiling. My friend had also ordered a brown couch and oversized chair for her new living room. To avoid being swept up in beige overload, we needed to bring in textures and patterns fast!

Originally thinking browns, purples and blues, the color palette in this pillow struck our eye.

 Tristan pillow

The neutrals seemed to work with the space, without feeling too masculine. Later in the day we saw this room in the Crate & Barrel catalog which had a similar feel.

Once we had the color scheme down it was only a matter of designing around it. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, we stocked up at Crate & Barrel, Target and Ikea on low cost items with great design.

 Clockwise from left: Gryfino tray, Bran table lamp, Ollsta lamp shade; Vilmie Parla Cushion; Tristan pillow; Holden ivory pillow; Vilmie Rund throw; Stockholm Rand rug

Stayed tuned tomorrow to see the final design...