Thursday, January 14, 2010

Halligan and Adam Smith's Philadelphia Home

I wrote about their artistic home today on Apartment Therapy, and here's a little snippet:

Halligan Norris Smith and Adam Smith are newly weds living in Philadelphia. She's a jewelry designer and he's an artist and bike mechanic. Their creative abilities are certainly noticeable in their unique home, and we're happy to see their home featured onDesign*Sponge.
Their mix of antiques, family gems, yard sale finds, and trash picks create a colorful and lively living space that modernists and traditionalists can collectively enjoy. They both come from artistic families — Adam's dad is a furniture maker (he made their master bed), and his grandmother painted a Pennsylvania Dutch Fraktur (hanging in their living room) to commemorate their wedding day. Halligan has pieces from her families history throughout the home. Their bedspread was her grandfather's, the mirror hanging above the living room fireplace was her grandmother's.
Halligan and Adam are self-proclaimed collectors — which is evident in their bathroom where they hung their collection of "creepy critters". You can also see their collection of handmade, vintage doll clothes and interesting collection of tools hung together in the hallway, and a collection of their friends artwork hung on the wall going up the stairs.
Their first project as newlyweds was the fantastic bookshelf they built on the outside of the stairs. A collaborative DIY project is a great way to start a life together — a quick way to discover if you work well together or if you're going to tear each others heads off!

This bookcase was their first DIY project as a married couple.

They found this amazing chair at a yard sale & paid next to nothing for it (jealous!)

They're self proclaimed collectors.  This is a combined collection of vintage, handmade doll clothes & unique tools.


Do you ever get this lucky when bargain shopping?

Bloggers Day of Action for Haiti


Jeanine from AphroChic organized a Bloggers Day of Action for Haiti and I knew I couldn't just sit back and do nothing.  Below you will find a list of fellow design bloggers that too wanted to take action.  You will also find a list of websites that are taking donations.  




































Donate: 


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I've Found Perfection in Two Forms

I never really have a concise theme for each post that I write, but there are just too many amazing things that I want to share with my readers.  


First and foremost; how amazing are these necklaces?! AH, I wish I could justify spending the minimum $800 for one of these gems.  You can purchase one of these necklaces from Bruxe Design in 10k Gold, Sterling Silver or Bronze.  

Can you imagine owning an Eames Plywood Gold Necklace? Drools...


In completely unrelated news, I am absolutely head over heels inlove with the wedding website Once Wed.  Yesterday I sat in front of my computer and read through 25 pages - in one sitting!  I'm not planning a wedding (maybe one day!), but I can't keep my eyes off it.


I've realized some wedding trends: Yellow accent colors, DIY at every chance, headpieces, three piece suites for the dudes and brightly colored shoes for the bride:

four out of five with this wedding.




Non-traditional shoes for the bride, and the ever so popular yellow for the bridesmaids.




Kind of in love with this seating chart!


And, I absolutely cannot stop thinking about this picture.  It has been on my mind all day. I love the way the bride looks.  Her dress is perfect, and the sweater is just the perfect added touch.  And the boots - do I even need to expand on why they are amazing?





You can see more of this perfect wedding here. 


(Images: 1. BruxeDesign.com, 2. Jessica Johnson Photography, 3. Ben Blood, 4. Erin Hearts Court, 5 & 6. Braedon Photography)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Want: Crocheted Guns and Lady Gaga

Due to the fact that I write for Apartment Therapy and spend most of my day scouring the internet for the coolest most inspiring design, sometimes it's hard for something to really just knock my darn socks off.  I was reading A Tall Drink earlier and spotted these amazing crocheted yarn sculptures from artist Nathan Vincent.  

These are my favorites! 


Another super over the top thing that I absolutely love (and I'm prepared to be judged for it) is lady gaga.  She's extremely underrated by people over the age of 25 and I think everyone should give her another chance.  With music videos like 'Bad Romance' - how can you ignore her?  She's an artist, and if you take the time to read a few things about her you'd realize she's actually pretty interesting and has a message.





Adios!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Heartwarming trip to Orlando and Oscar Dresses!

WELL.. I'm finally back from our Holiday excursion to Orlando, Fl to visit my parents.  It's so refreshing to get away from the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia and just relax.  What's also refreshing is not having to worry about blogging :)  Well, except for those wonderful Best of 2009 posts I've been working on for Apartment Therapy and Unplggd!

About to open my first gift from my parents!


We did a lot of shopping, and I mean a lot!  My bank account isn't very happy with me, but luckily my mother likes to spoil me on my annual visit home - so it wasn't completely awful financially.  

Our unpretentious, traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve Dinner (my favorite of all year!)


The highlight of my trip - eating all of the delicious and traditional Ukrainian food that my mother prepares each year.  Each and every dish has sour kraut as a star ingredient and if you know anything about me, it's how much I love sour kraut.  I know I could get shunned for even saying this, but I love eating holiday dinners with my parents because they don't go all out and feel the need to break out the fancy china (I'm pretty sure my family doesn't even own fancy china).


We're very excited for the New Year.  My boyfriend will be a Mummer in the Philadelphia Mummer Parade this year.  We've never celebrated with the Mummer's before, so this year we're sort of jumping in head first so to speak.  


For New Years Eve - I would be so thankful if I could ring in the New Year in this:

Oscar de la Renta just seems perfect for New Years Eve!


(Images: 1 & 2 Kristen Lubbe, 3 Style.com)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Friends, Philly and Penguins!


Recently I discovered the wonders of visiting the incase website on a regular basis.  It's sort of a bitter sweet experience because I want to buy everything I see, and my bank account hates me for it.  Today I was reading their blog and was really surprised at a few things I noticed.  They're "hip".. or atleast they're trying to be.  I have to give them credit, most of their blog content caught my attention and I actually read the entries, not just browsed through the pictures. One of the entries was about the CMWC in Tokyo and I noticed a great picture of my friend Marko!







One of my other favorite websites that I've just recently started reading on a daily basis is wejetset.  They're based out of Philadelphia and I recently got their magazine in the mail... for free!  Last week they were at the Reading Terminal Market in Center City passing out Baggu Bags to shoppers.  I really wish I would have been shopping that day, because I LOVE Baggu Bags!  I even wrote about the amazingly adorable Baggu Penguin on Ohdeedoh. 


(Images: 1. Incase, 2. Kristen Lubbe, 3. Baggu)

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Wood Headboard and Glass Bottle Candle Holders






As soon as I saw this headboard (from Tricia and Stefan's Seaside Haven), I immediately fell in love with it.  It's the perfect combination of rustic, chic, warm, cozy, sophisticated.. you know where I'm going with this.  It's just perfect.    







In complete contrast to the headboard, I found this amazing geometric trio by Tom Dixon.  They can be used as serving dishes, bowls, or just a simple table top piece.  They can be arranged it different ways due to the shapes they have been cut in.  They're glazed in vitreous enamel in White, Blue and Red.  These would be perfect for any occasion because the colors are so versatile. These would be perfect serving platters for the valentines day dinner party I'm planning to throw! (Available for purchase January 2010).





Another great idea that I hope to make use of - clear glass bottles being used as candle holders that I found on Happy Mundane (featured in Elle Decoration).  Where am I going to get my hands on all of those clear glass bottles you ask?  Ohh, I can think of one fun way!  I may have to enlist a few friends to help though.   

(Images: 1: Gregory Han)