Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pear cozy

I was just checking in over at SeeSaw Designs, and they were highlighting the ubercute apple jacket.

I decided I must have its cousin, the Pear Jacket (although I'm calling it the Pear Cozy) from Handamade, this superpresh Etsy designer.

Here it is in all its glory:

Although I might ask them to join Reveal and put up the pattern...doubtful they would since this is one of only a handful of items they make.....and it's a steal at only $8.00, considering how many pears I eat a week....

And now back to your previously scheduled programming. work.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Headboard? What headboard?

Sometimes I'm pretty sure I'm still in my freshman year of college, because I have this piece of crap bed frame that I think we found out back near the dumpsters of the apartment building I used to live in....classy, I know.

I'm hell bent on finding a cheap bed frame that is also beautiful, but I'm having this internal dilemma between making the frame myself, or holding out to find one on Craigslist. So far, the holding out hasn't worked so well. My thought was to create something neat from materials at the local salvage yard, SecondUse, that way it'd be custom and if I ruined it, I wouldn't be out a lot of cash, just a lot of my time.

But then I saw this article (also on Sunset.com): http://www.sunset.com/home/decorating/great-ideas-for-headboards-00400000039992/page17.html



This one is great, it's an old pocket door that they reclaimed, super dramatic. just like me. (at least I admit it)

I like this wooden one, for many reasons, it's so masculine, but they still have that woman's touch with the nook.

Does anyone have any great beds to show off? What about sources for frames or materials?

Project 1: this office sucks, don't call it an office

This is going to be an ongoing post, so brace yourselves for awesomeness, follow ups and lots of peer pressure.

I warned you from time to time I'll be sharing projects I'm working on (or planning to work on).

This is one of those times.

So, at my wonderful, fabulous, handsome (I could go ON AND ON) boyfriend Paul's condo, he's got a living room/office situation going on. The situation is this: one room doing both duties. Once your gag reflex has subsided, please continue reading.

Over the two years he's owned the condo, he's let me try a couple different configurations in that space (bless his heart), which is basically a rectangle. And don't worry, I'll take pictures and upload them when he's not looking.

But now I've reached a point where my idle decorating hands are about to go crazy if I can't do a minor upgrade to the situation.

Here's what I want to do: swap out the old, college, ghetto desk he has for this awesome glass top adjustable drafting table I have which would give him almost twice the desk top space, add some inexpensive shelves above the desk on the wall, hang some task lighting off the bottom shelf, and move the TV (brace yourself) to the SAME wall (which TOTALLY goes against my design ethics, but whatever). This will really open up the floor plan, which is necessary, because the condo is only 525 square feet. (no, that is NOT a mistype).

Here's the kind of shelving I'm petitioning for:


Here's the whole article from Sunset magazine online: http://www.sunset.com/home/decorating/great-ideas-for-home-shelves-00400000039111/

Here's the desk I already own (unfinished wood saw horses and semi-opaque blue tinted glass top):
It's hard to imagine what this would look like if you have not seen the space, so I'll take pictures soon and update you with installment two of this project: talking Paul into letting me do this.

Stay Tuned

Pack rat or pack genius?

Recently, another blog I love that's local to Seattle, Shelterrific, posted about travel prep. And of course, I had something to say about that!

Here's the post, so you can see what others were saying: http://www.shelterrific.com/2009/04/24/post-off-are-you-a-good-traveler/

I hate to brag, but I'm pretty good at the travel prep. After numerous unsuccessful trips (where I have 7 shirts, but one pair of pants, no underwear and only heels to walk all about town) I realized "this is bad, what is wrong with me?" So now I first check the weather, make a list of what I need (types of things, not specific pieces), and then when I go to pack, I get out the bag I'm taking, open it, and pull all the pieces that are on the list.

Then, before packing them (and don't forget your toiletries, but you put those in last, on top for easy access), I look at how any of the pieces can do double duty for me on the trip. This means most of the pieces can be mixed with each other for say 6 different outfits from 2 shirts, 2 pants, 1 shorts, 2 shoes and a jacket and sweater. Although sometimes I'll also bring a dress or two, because they take up no room, I can pair with both the sweater and the jacket, and that's just upped my outfit count to 8. Now I can go a whole week in a weekend sized bag. At this point, you don't even need to check your bags, just get there early enough so you get good overhead storage on the plane!

What are your thoughts on this? Good? Bad? Ugly?

Welcome to Decorazzi!

This is my attempt at a 'welcome' post.

I'll try not to be trite in my explanation, but I'm not making any promises.

"Why are you doing ANOTHER blog, when so many are already out there, that ROCK?!"

Let's be frank, there are about a gazillion blogs out there about decorating, crafting, design, fashion, food, etc. But there are very few that cover all of it at once, in one location.

"So, why did you choose a decor name for the blog then?"

Because it's catchy, and catch all. The Papparazzi cover everything news worthy from scandalous politicans to Britney's nail polish color, and everything in between. So Decorazzi is my version of that; I'm covering everything from wall coverings to gluten free cake recipes, and every stitch between. Just let it happen, okay?

"Fine. What are you going to talk about then?"

A hodge podge really. Other awesome blogs that I'm inspired by, sweet Seattle area finds and locations for "I never knew I could get that here," and things I think others should know about or have the chance to take advantage of.

And from time to time, I'll endulge you with things from my personal life, like projects I'm doing at my house or my boyfriend's condo (which will be great because he totally freaks out on me when I change stuff, but then two days later he's like "that's great, thanks for doing that..."), pictures of my fabulous nephew and his mom (my older sister), pictures of me on trips or outtings, and of course info on the greatest deals and places when I travel.

It'll be a rocky start, but I'm positive I'll enjoy it, and if you ignore my horrible spelling, frequent dyslexia and lengthy quips, you might just find you enjoy it too.

So, sit down, strap yourself in, get a drink, put your feet up and let it happen.

-Siiri

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Sew perfect!

Okay, I know I should be posting a "welcome to my blog" post right now, but I can't help it.

I. MUST. BUY/SHARE/SHOW/DROOL OVER. THIS.

It's sew perfect and I think I might rip off the idea. I'm thinking of doing seasonal covers in this style (shilouette) for some great down throw pillows I have.



http://www.pointclickhome.com/blogs/i_design/wiener_dog_style

I promise (to try) to do a "welcome to Decorazzi" post lates.

MUAH!