get your om nom on: three-mushroom three-cheese pizza

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What I have to offer you this evening is not for the faint of heart, ladies and gentlemen. It requires a keen appreciation for two of the world’s tastiest things, mushrooms and cheese. Do you have that appreciation? Yes? Good.

This is one serious pizza, though it has not-so-serious origins. Jimmy and I were scrounging around for dinner, wanting to get something done fast so we could watch old episodes of Star Trek (we’re so close to the tribbles episode!), and he suggested pizza because we had a spare crust lying around. Typically I make crust from scratch, but we were short on time last week and bought a two-pack of wheat crusts.

We also happened to have dried shiitakes and fresh farmer’s-market oyster ‘shrooms, so we got to thinking about the possibilities. A few minutes later we’d run to the store and grabbed a few tasty additions, and then I made this up on the fly while watching that episode where everybody gets really old for some reason. (Sadly, The Shat aged better in that episode than he did in real life, but we still love you!)

This thing is goooooood. Good enough that even though we’re watching calories, and even though I’ve been the Portion Police for the last few weeks, we both acknowledged after the first bite that we were going to demolish the whole thing. And we did. Three earthy flavors of mushrooms, studded with melty tidbits of gorgonzola and sweet, sticky balsamic glaze? Heaven. The beautiful thing about it is that you absolutely don’t have to do it as written; substitute or add or subtract, just do whatever you like. This time, at Jimmy’s insistence, we used a tomato-based sauce, but in future I think I’d either use pesto, or skip the sauce altogether and put down a foundation layer of caramelized onions.

Also, it looks much more difficult and time-consuming than it actually is, which is always a plus, right?

Kate’s Three-Mushroom Three-Cheese Pizza
serves 4, probably

2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz sliced cremini (“baby bella”) or white mushrooms
big handful dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms (if dried, rehydrate before cooking)
big handful oyster mushrooms
thyme to taste
salt and black pepper
your preferred pizza sauce and crust (note: we used marinara, but in future I would try pesto or caramelized onions in place of sauce!)
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 or 2 oz. fontina cheese, shredded
1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp cornstarch
sprig fresh rosemary, leaves chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. If using a pizza stone, place in oven.

2.. Heat the oil in a large skillet (cast-iron if possible) over medium heat. Lightly sauté mushrooms until they have released their juices and shiitakes are tender. Season with thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

3. While mushrooms are cooking, combine balsamic vinegar, honey, sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk together and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until mixture is thick and syrupy, about 6-8 minutes.

4. Assemble the pizza. (Sometimes we use a stone; other times, we use a perforated-bottom pizza pan, which lets the air circulate and crisp the crust.) People fall into different camps as far as order, but we like sauce, then cheese, then mushrooms, then rosemary, then drizzle the glaze artfully over the whole thing. Try to resist dunking your fingers in the leftover glaze, at least until it cools a little. (It’s hard.)

5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and beginning to brown and your crust is baked. (If you’re using a homemade crust, you may need a different temperature/duration; go with your crust recipe’s instructions. In general, though, hotter is better.)

6. Devour. Get back on the diet bandwagon tomorrow.

it’s a walk-off: stephens college fashion show

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I know I usually show inspiring spaces and objects, but today we’re going to take a look at some inspiration of a different kind. Once a year, Stephens College here in Columbia has a juried fashion show, where all the fashion students can submit work for display. I think the seniors have to exhibit a collection as part of their graduation requirements. This year, Jimmy was filming the event for CAT TV, and I was offered a ticket. I also happened to have a brand new camera I wanted to test out, so I schlepped it along.

I was seriously impressed with the quality of the students’ work–the clothes, the modeling, the set, and the production in general were all top-notch. I had a few favorites, of course, but the whole show was a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately, at the beginning, I was still playing around with camera settings, so I missed a few collections (the photos are so blurry, they really aren’t worth sharing), but things got better as we went along and I stopped being such a noob.

This collection Petals by Gigi Huang, was beautiful–I wish I’d managed to salvage more photos of it:

Lots of beautiful texture and soft colors, with sort of a retro feel (especially in that romper toward the left). The designer was also adorable–she came out at the end and gave a shy little wave.

The next collection, Soft Escape by Leah Grace Shepard, was especially impressive because all the sweaters and other knit pieces were hand-knitted by the designer.

This was the first of many collections with really great movement on the runway–the seafoam skirt on the top right in particular was very pretty to watch. It all looked so comfy!

Next they showed some career sportswear by different designers. There were a lot of pieces, so I just chose a few of my favorites.

designers clockwise from top left: Chelsay Russell, Stacey Silman, bottom two by Esli Navarro

Obviously I don’t have to wear suits or anything like it for work (the cat and rats don’t really even care if I get out of my pajamas) but I would totally wear any of those–especially that adorable polka-dot dress. Precious.

There was only one menswear collection, Sartorial Skate by Georgia Trimble. While I wasn’t totally crazy about all the pieces, I did really like the look with the plaid bow-tie (fourth from left–that’s the designer in the middle!).

Another collection with really gorgeous movement was Sheer Structure by Taylor Albers. The loose-fitting chartreuse dress was especially enticing, although I think I’d probably look like an overgrown grasshopper. That’s why I don’t model, I guess. That and my love of cheese.

I’m always impressed by handmade swimwear, since stretchy fabrics are such a b-word to work with. All these sweet bikinis made me want to start doing crunches now so I might be ready to wear one by June. This was a mixed collection called Radiant Energy, with pieces from different designers.

Designers clockwise from top left: Jacqueline Madey, Esli Navarro, Amanda Glaze, Heather Johnston

The second swimwear collection was all by one designer, Wanderlust by Brittany Wallace, and included clever cover-ups that transformed the swimsuits into outfits. I could totally see some glamorous soul wandering around the Keys with a pair of big sunglasses and a floppy hat in these looks.

I liked the harem pants–they reminded me of Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey.

The last swimwear collection was Undomesticated by Nyla Handy. They were apparently based on exotic birds. While none of them were anything I’d wear, I thought they were fun and I loved the styling of the collection in general.

There was a mixed collection of summery looks called Solstice. I picked out a few favorites to show you.

Designers clockwise from top left: Esli Navarro,Jacqueline Madey, Nikkole Crow, Meredith Morrow, Stacey Silman, Heather Johnston

The girl in the khaki dress had a fantastic hairstyle I’m totally going to steal:

There was a mixed collection of clothes made of fair-trade fabrics from Kenya. I was changing around my camera settings so I missed a few of them, but the ones I caught were very cool. I included the front and back of the romper because it had such cool details on the back.

Romper by Heather Johnston, dress by Ashton Mixer

The next collection, Woodland by Katherine Woodruff, was made up of nice soft comfy fabrics and earthtones. It all looked like stuff Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games might wear if she were a little more fashion-inclined.

There was a mixed collection of coats called Cold Front. I had a hard time picking out pictures, since it was a large collection and I really liked all of them, but I managed to narrow it down. There were a couple of men’s coats thrown in too!

Designers, top row: Gigi Huang, Leah Shepard, Gretchen Roehrs; middle row: Lauralee Leonard, Georgia Trimble, Mackie Schomburg; bottom row: Taylor Albers, Brittany Wallace, Katherine Woodruff

One of my two very favorite collections was next: Coquette by Gretchen Roehrs. Supposedly inspired by Godard’s Breathless, the pieces were reminiscent of decades gone by, but still very modern. I loved the colors, the shapes, the styling, everything. It would be difficult to pick a favorite, but I find myself going back to the white feather shift over and over again. Also, that dog was a total pro–fearless and jaunty the whole time.

My textile background is in shibori (an intricate family of Japanese dyeing techniques) so I was excited to see a collection that featured shibori silks in all the pieces: Unraveling Structure by Mackie Schomburg. This collection was a lot of fun to photograph, since all the skirts flowed and shifted beautifully as they came down the runway.

There was an exhibition of dresses made from recycled materials to raise awareness for breast cancer. They were all a lot of fun, but my two favorites were a sparkly tutu dress made from drinking straws and newspaper, and a slinky, swishing, high-collared gown made from Sweet n’ Low packets (I think they were full, it was actually a really noisy dress!).

My other favorite collection was Beautiful Dreamer by Lauralee Leonard. They were all gorgeous, subtly sparkling gowns in shades of ivory, nude, and peach. Any one of them would have made a perfect unusual wedding gown, and they all moved beautifully as they came down the runway.

All in all, it was a really fun afternoon, and I left feeling so inspired I had to bust out my sewing machine and add to my own wardrobe. What do you think? Any favorites jump out at you? How about that gorgeous set? Great job, fashion students! I’ll be keeping an eye on your careers for when you inevitably become famous.

room inspiration: bright breakfast nook on a budget

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Way back in January, I asked whether you all would prefer the kind of inspiration boards I’d been putting together–without regards to cost–or if it’d be more helpful for you to see some boards done on a tight budget. The budget boards got the most votes, and so I’ve been hard at work putting some together for you. They definitely take more effort; pretty stuff is everywhere, but pretty and cheap stuff is a little more hidden. It totally exists, though! If you can, scour your local thrift stores and garage sales–you can find an incredible number of gems–and if you have any schools or universities nearby, watch for surplus auctions. A lot of them have a secret stash of mid-century furniture just waiting to be unloaded for pennies, if you know when to go.

But since I can’t hunt down bargains in all your hometowns (sniff), I’ve found some on the good old Interwebs, ready to be snapped up by style-hungry Dollar Menunaires. One trick to making your home look stylish is to focus on small “vignettes” here and there–they’ll take focus off pieces that may be older or less snazzy, and make it look like you put a lot of effort into a room. Also, investing in larger pieces in neutrals (white, gray, and wood tones) is a good idea, since those pieces can transition easily between styles, colors, and rooms. With that in mind, I’ve put together a cheerful breakfast nook for just under $500–furniture, lighting, decor and all! Let’s take a look.

OK, it’s unabashedly feminine, but you could just as easily swap out the colors and decor elements to make something more your style if you’re not feeling it–the bones are very versatile. The paint color shown here is Benjamin Moore ben. paint in Yours Truly. It’s soft and comforting without being little-girlish. One gallon, which should cover a small area like this nicely, costs $35.99.

1. Cut the sweetness a little with an unexpected pop of color, like this letterpress calendar in neons from Wishbone Letterpress. At just $8, it’s a real bargain for its size, too.

2. IKEA might seem like an obvious choice, but there’s a reason–it’s hard to beat their prices, and the sleek modern style goes with everything. Their KNAPPA pendant lamp has all the charm of a Le Klint without the hefty price tag–it’s only $29.99.

3. A clock that makes a statement doubles as wall decor. This cute bird-emblazoned one from Urban Outfitters is a steal at $16.

4. I do think that a genuine Eames chair is absolutely worth the money–especially a vintage fiberglass one–but while you’re saving up, whet your appetite with these convincing replicas from Overstock. At $126 for a pair, they won’t put a big dent in your savings.

5. In a perfect world we’d all have an Eero Saarinen tulip table (I have a particular soft spot for his work since I’m from St. Louis, home of his Gateway Arch). Since this isn’t a perfect world, several companies have tried to soften the blow. Help fill the void with CB2′s Odyssey table, $199.

6. To add a little texture to your gleaming white table, Urban Outfitters offers these sweet doily placemats for only $3 each (or $6 for a pair, as shown here). They’re easy to clean so you can keep them out every day.

7. Vintage brass is everywhere (just check your local thrift store or Goodwill, seriously) and, properly cleaned, can add a bit of old glamour to your minimalist space. This ewer, from Etsy, is a nice size for a table and won’t break the bank at $11.99.

8. Fresh flowers will always, without fail, make your space look more beautiful and intentional. To get the most bang for your buck, choose big, fluffy blooms. Baby’s breath on its own or densely-packed carnations are surprisingly beautiful, but while they’re in season, I love peonies. Check garden shops and farmer’s markets nearby–just make sure to check them for ants before you bring them inside! At our local market, a bunch of pink peonies runs about $7.

9. Another common denizen of thrift stores, a little animal statue can add kitsch and humor to your space. This one, from Urban Outfitters, is actually a bank, so you can corral loose change in plain sight. George the Terrier, $18.

10. A nice neutral rug with a bold modern pattern can tie all the elements together and make the nook feel more like a miniature “room.” It’s best not to spend too much on a rug for an area with the potential for dropped food. This one from Urban Outfitters fits the bill at just $39 for a 3×5 rug (shown here in grey).

TOTAL: $496.97

Not too shabby, hmm? What do you think? By keeping the bones the same (the table, lamp, and chairs), you could easily swap out the decorative elements for something more masculine, modern, kitschy, bold, or soft–it’s a versatile look, which is part of the reason it works so well on a budget. Have you scored any great deals lately? Tell us about it!

container gardening for the lazy

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For the last few years, every spring Jimmy and I have tried to plant a vegetable garden. We have had varying degrees of success with this. Two years ago, knowing very little about gardening but wanting the Earth Mothery feeling of digging around in the dirt with my hands, we bought a bunch of terra cotta pots, filled them with potting soil, and planted some seeds from the hardware store creatively labeled with names like “EGGPLANT” and “ZUCCHINI.” As our stunted, wispy seedlings grew into stunted, wispy plants, I glanced at the potting soil bag and noticed in big letters the words “NOT FOR CONTAINER VEGETABLE GARDENING.” Whoops. Also, we tried to grow them on a screened-in porch, so I’m not sure how we thought they were going to be pollinated.

Not one to half-ass things twice, I did some extensive Googling last spring and learned How To Garden. I found out the best kinds of soil, learned all about the square-foot gardening plan, researched raised beds, hunted down delicious-sounding heirloom varieties, found organic pesticides and plant food, the whole nine yards. I lovingly drew up plans for a garden in our side yard that would consist of three attractive raised beds, surrounded by mulch so the condo maintenance people wouldn’t have to mow or weed. I submitted these plans to the condo board. I was promptly rejected.

“But why?” I asked.

“It would detract from the cohesive look of the units,” I was told. “Also, more mowing.”

I gazed at the side yard, which consisted of alternating patches of two-foot-tall weeds and bare, cracked earth. Obviously, it was important for all the units to look this way. And I’ve never heard of a mulch that needs to be mowed…but whatever. Onward and upward! In the spirit of community, I went out of my way to purchase an absolute rainbow of colored pots and planters. If the nice mulched beds weren’t cohesive enough, I thought, arranging the teal pot next to the orange one, let them try this on for size.

Stymied or no, I lovingly tended my container garden all summer. We don’t have a hose, so in July that amounted to lugging seven or eight watering cans’ worth from my bathroom to my patio, twice a day when it was particularly hot. My radishes grew tall, beautiful leaves, which, when picked, revealed absolutely no radish underneath. I learned that I had planted them too closely. We did receive a few handfuls of bush beans, which we sauteed with garlic butter. Our zucchini ventured too close to the ground and was mowed off by the maintenance people. (Curiously, the weeds remained.) After growing one or two smallish cracked tomatoes and little else, I threw up my hands and left the garden to its own devices. I stopped watering it, and most of the plants withered away. A thunderstorm knocked over the remaining tomato pots, and their contents spilled out into the space between our patio and our neighbor’s.

And then…a funny thing happened. The tomato plants exploded. Literally within a week they had doubled in size, and they just kept growing until they were five feet tall. I did absolutely nothing for them–no water, no pruning–and they produced hundreds of ripe, juicy, dense tomatoes. We had caprese panini and tomato soup and marinara and even green tomato jelly, which was spicy-sweet and delicious. They kept on producing into November. It was mind-boggling.

So this year, I wanted to minimize the amount of work I had to do (and we’re planting our tomatoes in the ground, condo rules be damned). I came across a few tutorials on how to make a self-watering planter from a regular planter, and I adapted them to take advantage of recycled items. With this system, you should only have to water once every few days (currently we’re at about 4, though I think it’ll probably shorten to around 2 when it gets really hot). Each planter cost us less than $5 to put together, and these things retail for around $30-$40. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A planter of some kind. These are about 14 inches in diameter. I think Wal-Mart sells them for around $3.
  • A Tupperware-ish container with a lid that will fit into the bottom of your planter. You want it to fit as snugly as possible. Mine leaves about half an inch of space on all sides. I got it at Dollar Tree for $1. It’s BPA-free.
  • A Sharpie for tracing.
  • A PVC pipe. We used one-foot lengths of 1″ diameter pipe, which ran us $0.48/each. Note: some people are concerned about the health effects of PVC. We thought they were negligible enough to use, but if you’re worried, you could use a copper pipe instead.
  • Some kind of plastic container significantly smaller than your Tupperware. It needs to be tall enough to reach to the bottom of your Tupperware. Yogurt cups, Solo cups, and ricotta/sour cream containers work nicely for this.
  • An X-Acto or utility knife.

First, you need to cut a hole in the edge of your Tupperware lid for the PVC pipe to go through. Just put the pipe on the lid, trace around it, and cut with an X-Acto or utility knife.

Please ignore my horrific chipped nail polish. Gardening is rough on your nails.

Next, poke a bunch of random holes in the lid with your knife. This will help drain and aerate the soil.

Next, trace the bottom of your smaller container onto the Tupperware lid. You’ll want to cut a little outside the line, since your container most likely tapers from top to bottom. This should be roughly in the center of your lid.

When you have your pipe and container in the holes, it should look like this:

Next, we need to cut slits in the smaller container, so that water can get in and moisten the soil. So just cut vertical slits around the perimeter. I cut about 6 into this cup. If your container is a lot taller than your Tupperware (like this cup is), it’s a good idea to cut off the top so it doesn’t stick up too far. It’s easiest to do this with scissors after the slits are cut.

This is what it should look like when it’s all assembled. Easy, right? The only other consideration is drainage–your planter needs to have some holes in the bottom. If it doesn’t, go ahead and drill or poke some. That way, if you overfill the reservoir, it can drain out.

This is where my brain shut down and I forgot to take pictures of filling it up. Basically, I put sand in around the reservoir to hold it in place. You could just as easily use soil, I was just trying to save money. Then you fill the cup with soil. This part is important because this little cup of soil will be what wicks the water up to the plants. Once the cup is full, you can fill the pot normally, scooping soil in around the PVC pipe.

After that, watering is easy! Just pour your water down the pipe. After a while, you’ll get a sense for how much fills up the reservoir; personally, I usually fill until I hear the water starting to fill up the tube. The excess will just drain out the bottom, so you won’t flood them or anything.

After that, just make lots more! What are your gardening plans, kids? Are you bound by the strictures of draconian condo rules? Or do you have a giant expanse of fluffy green lawn just waiting to be torn up and replaced with vegetables? You lucky dog, you.

apology sandwich: vegetarian banh mi

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Oh, children. I’m sure you feel like I’ve abandoned you. Would you believe me if I said that abysmally slow February was followed up by an outrageously busy March? I know it’s no excuse, darlings. But don’t despair. You know I’ll always love you.

To make it up to you, I made you a sandwich. Not just any sandwich. This sandwich is piled high with love, care, and more condiments than you can shake a mid-century walnut veneer stick at. It’s my favorite vegetarian banh mi, originally cobbled together from several sources and tweaked obsessively until it was as close to perfect as I could get it. I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit labor-intensive, but doesn’t that make it the perfect apology? Time-consuming, impressive, and so delicious it’ll distract from the issue at hand? I think so. Give it a try.

Kate’s Favorite Vegetarian Banh Mi
adapted from SuperVegan and Serious Eats
makes 2 large sandwiches

For the daikon-carrot slaw:
1 cup peeled and coarsely grated carrots
1/2 cup peeled and coarsely grated daikon
1/4 cup rice vinegar (whatever variety you like)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
generous pinch sea salt

For the mushroom “meat”:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 lb Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced (button will work in a pinch)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

For the sesame aioli:
1 egg yolk
1 tsp dijon mustard (or spicy brown)
1 tsp lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil

For assembly:
2 small French loaves/sandwich hoagies
Mint or Thai basil leaves
1 cucumber, sliced thinly
Sriracha to taste

1. First, make the slaw. This part’s super easy. Grate up your carrots and radish and mix ‘em in a bowl. Mix in the sugar, vinegar, water, and salt. Mash it around so everything gets nice and seasoned. Put it aside while you make the rest of the ingredients.

2. Next, make the aioli. Combine the egg yolk, mustard, lime juice, garlic, and a teaspoon of water in the food processor. Run it until smooth. While it’s running, slooooowly pour the canola oil into the processor in a thin stream. You might need to stop and scrape down the sides. It should eventually get nice and thick and fluffy and yellowish. Once it reaches this point, keep it running and sloooooowly pour in the other two oils. (Note: do not be tempted to pour in all your oils at once. The canola builds the fluffy structure; if you don’t do that step first, you’ll have a soggy mess on your hands.) Set this aside in the fridge.

3. Make the mushroom “meat.” Heat up the olive and sesame oils in a big skillet (I use my cast-iron one, and it’s awesome). When it’s good and hot, throw in the mushrooms and onion. Sauté for two minutes or so, just until the mushrooms release a tiny bit of juice. Add in the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and some salt and pepper, and cook until the onions are brown and translucent.

4. An optional but very nice (and easy!) step is to toast your bread. Slice your hoagies in half horizontally, turn your oven broiler on low, and put the hoagie halves in with the cut side toward the broiler. Watch them carefully, because it only takes a minute. When the cut sides are a nice light brown, take them out.

5. Assemble these suckers! First, slap a generous amount of aioli on both halves of the bread. On the bottom half, pile a bunch of mushroom filling, followed by the carrot-daikon slaw (squeeze it to get excess liquid out so it doesn’t make the bread soggy), cucumbers, and then some mint or basil. Drizzle the sandwich with your preferred amount of Sriracha. Slap the top bun on, and if you’re smart, wrap about two-thirds of the sandwich in parchment or paper towels–this is one messy affair. (But hopefully not as messy as the argument that led to your apology sandwich.) Enjoy, use lots of napkins, kiss and make up (maybe after you brush your teeth to get rid of the Sriracha breath).

————

I also figured I’d give you a quickie house update, although I don’t have any pictures just now. After weeks of fruitless searching, I managed to track down picture frames large enough to hold my 18×24″ Modest Mouse screenprint (with a mat even! this is one gargantuan frame) and my weirdly-sized but awesome 18×18″ square Beirut screenprint (with a small float mount). I had to paint one of them white, because they only made square frames in black, but I snagged them at Michael’s while they were having a 25% off sale on frames and I had a coupon for 40% off one item. I only paid $20 total for both frames. They look awesome in the nook! I’ll get pictures soon, I promise. I just have to finish installing the knockoff Random light, build the DVD rack, and finish switching out the base on my freshly-reupholstered Eames rocker.

Oh oh! One more thing! My tax refund is pretty generous this year, so I’m picking up a brand-spankin’-new DSLR camera. I’m pretty excited about it, and it should mean a significant increase in the quality/quantity of photos on this blog. Get excited…

spray, girl, spray: paint makes everything better

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(The title of this post is for my dear friend Emily, who greets me with a Tila Tequila-ish “hey girl heyyyyyy” now and then.)

I’ve been feeling the DIY urge pretty strongly lately, but at the moment I don’t have much to apply it to. February is a very, very slow month for me on Etsy, historically, so our budget has been pretty tight; thus, projects like building a DVD rack for the alcove or re-renovating the master bathroom have been put temporarily on hold. For the moment, I’m limited to projects that are either cheap or free.

Fortunately, I do tend to hoard a lot of crap. A lot. Most of it consists of “treasures” I pick up from thrift stores or Craigslist, items I insist are full of charm and usefulness just yearning to be free as soon as someone with a good eye and the proper gumption rescues them and shows them love. In these cases, “love” almost invariably comes in the form of spray paint. And since I compulsively paint things, I have a ton of half-empty cans sitting around (OK, I just counted; currently there are 16).

Last year I picked up these vintage telephone tables on Craigslist:

See the maroon one on the left and the barely-there black one on the right? I’m going to beg you–beg, now–to ignore how filthy everything is out there, and the hideous Astro Turf that passes for our porch carpet. It’s actually required by our condo complex, so we are not allowed to remove it, no matter how much I fantastize about going out there and ripping it up with my bare hands and jumping on its soggy green corpse and shredding it into a hundred pieces and burning them and arrrrrrghhhhhhhhh. The filth, however, is not required by the condo complex; it’s just a natural byproduct of Missouri winter, and our not setting foot out there from November to April. This week, however, has come with a series of seriously unseasonable weather, peaking at around 60 degrees today–the perfect weather to do some painting.

I had intended to paint these as soon as I got them, and use them as plant stands, but unfortunately, they reeked of smoke at first. Apparently painting over smoke odors can make them seep into the new paint and become a permanent “feature” of your stuff. So I tossed them out on the porch to “air out for a while,” which became “forget I ever planned to do anything with them and just ignore them for a year or so.” Today, savoring the sunshine, I went out with a bottle of Fantastik and a rag, cleaned those suckers up, and got to painting. I considered using white, but it seemed a bit dull and hard to keep clean; green would blend too much, and any other color wouldn’t fit into the scheme. Lurking in the back of my spray paint basket, I found an almost-full can of Ace chrome paint. I can’t even remember what I bought it for, but it had a purpose now: blinging (did I really just use that word?) my rusty, chipped old tables.

So I busted out the trusty ol’ drop cloth, shook up my paint, scared away the cat, and did this:

This paint is really nice and thick; that’s after one thin coat, and it only took three (two right-side-up and one upside-down). It even filled in a lot of the chipped spots. They’re beautiful now–nice and shiny, and they catch the sun and throw highlights all over the porch ceiling. The Ace paint dries in about an hour (I gave it three, to be safe) so by the time the sun was going down, they were back in their rightful places:

Ahh, much better. See how they catch the light now? This part of our house has been largely neglected over the years, and it needs some help. One of these days we’ll get it arranged in a prettier way. In the meantime, at least it’s got some shiny new friends.

cruelty-free floor: budget friendly diy faux cowhide rug

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Lately I’ve been working so much on the Etsy store, and on the various friends’ weddings I’ve been designing for, that I haven’t paid much attention to the house. Until last night. I arrived back home from a long weekend in Chicago with a carful of IKEA furniture, tingly-numb legs, and a burning desire to finish the alcove project. Specifically, I wanted to finish the rug. If you’ll recall, I wanted to do some kind of faux-pony (fauxny?) or cowhide rug, but obviously not something from a real animal. The look I was going for was this:

Of course, as is the norm in the luxurious life of a freelancer, the budget is tight right now. So things that seem pretty reasonable in comparison to their luxe counterparts–like this $170 faux-cowhide rug from Overstock–are still pretty far beyond our reach for the mo.

I could wait and save up for it, but that’s not the Artistic Temperament’s Way (TM), so I decided on the spur of the moment to attempt a DIY version first. I imposed a budget of $50 for myself, so that if it went spectacularly wrong at least I wouldn’t have wasted a ton of money and be kicking myself for not just springing for the Overstock version in the first place. So I vaguely mumbled something to Jimmy about how I was going out but I’d bring back ice cream (a foolproof plan for making him less agonized over my bringing yet another project into the house), stole his car, and I was off to Jo-Ann. (I noticed these same supplies at Hobby Lobby, so you could hit that up if you don’t have a Jo-Ann.)

I thought, once upon a time, that I’d seen a nice low-pile faux fur in a pony print, and that was what I intended to use. But I was foiled by the Gods of Mild Inconvenience (who also shut down a restaurant in Chicago we’d meant to go to, lost one of my favorite knee socks as I was packing, and broke the only ponytail holder I’d brought with me), and the fabric was nowhere to be found. None of the employees had any idea what I was talking about, and so I’m left to ponder whether the Jo-Ann employees are apathetic or I’m insane. It’s probably the second one.

At any rate, I’m not one to be foiled by little things like not being able to find any of the materials for the projects I have planned, so I started working on Plan B while camped out at the pattern table in the store. (I could have gone home to figure it out, but Jo-Ann is like 10 minutes away, and it’s cold, and I’m lazy, and it’s hard.) After doing some poking around, I worked out what I thought would be a pretty good plan. And it was. Go me! So I bought these things:

You need three major components. The fabric used for the background of the rug is a microsuede that’s made to look like hide. It has some shiny spots and little crackles running through it. I think it looks nice, and it’s a lot softer and more weathered-looking than vinyl. Obviously it’s not fuzzy, but it does pretty much feel like skin on the right side. I found mine for $16.99 a yard, and I had a 40% off coupon to make it even cheaper. Since the alcove is so small, I only needed one yard (another benefit of making rather than buying: I could scale it properly). The microsuede is very thin, so I also picked up a yard of neoprene. It’s the stuff they use to make car headliners. It has fabric on one side, and about quarter-inch thick foam on the other. Mine was $14.99 a yard, and again, I just bought one. To stick them together, I used 3M Super 77 Adhesive, which I already had on hand (but I believe runs around $10 for a can, which will last a while).You can use any spray adhesive that’s safe for fabric.

So first things first: stick the fabric and neoprene together. It’s best if you glue the fabric side of the neoprene to the underside of the microsuede; that way, the glue can’t eat at the foam, and at any rate the foam will grip the floor under your rug better. I just sprayed a thin, even coat of adhesive over the neoprene, let it tack for about 15 seconds, then laid the microsuede on top and smoothed out any bubbles. It’s much, much easier if you have someone (Jimmy) help you lay the fabric sheet down. Otherwise, it tends to become a bunchy, wrinkly mess. If you mess up, don’t panic, just pull it apart and start over.

Once you’ve got it stuck together, it’s time to cut out your rug. Flip it over so the neoprene side is facing up, grab a Google image of the shape you want to guide you, and freehand it. This part is pretty easy, and kind of fun.

Using good, sharp scissors, cut along the line you drew. You want to be careful here, because this is the finished edge and any little “nubbins” or scissor nicks will show.

Now you’ve got your basic shape! If you have a printed microsuede, or you just want a solid hide, you could theoretically be done here. But of course, I like to do things the hard way, and I wanted a pony look. So I grabbed a tube of acrylic craft paint and some acrylic textile medium, and mixed up a batch of fabric paint. (Alternatively, you could just buy fabric paint, but I wanted to save a couple bucks and I already had all this on hand.) Pull up an image to help you figure out a natural placement for the spots (or stripes! Zebra rug, anyone?), lay out your hide on a floor that cleans up easily (i.e. my hall bathroom), and get ready to paint.

I used sponge daubers to do my painting–one foam brush about 1″ wide, and one little round foam dauber about 1/2″ in diameter. You don’t need anything fancy. Use a brush if that’s all you have. I started by drawing an outline with the little dauber…

…then filled in the outlined spaces. As I built up more coats, I made sure to brush over the edges of the spots a little, to give the impression of fur. You’ll see what I mean later.

After one coat, a good amount of the brown will probably be showing through. That’s OK! Just let it dry and do another coat.

Or two more coats.

Eventually, you’ll build up enough that the brown is more or less covered. Mine isn’t 100% opaque because I thought it looked more natural that way, but it’s close. Here you can see how the edges are a bit fuzzy, to make it look more like short hair. Are you ready for the finished product?

Ta-da! What do you think? I’m pretty pleased with it–it’s not going to fool anyone up close, but from a short distance it looks really good. It’s nice to walk on, despite not being fuzzy, and won’t shed like a real one. And the foam being on the bottom keeps it from sliding around on the carpet.

I wish I could show you the rug in its natural habitat, but the last few pieces of Craigslist furniture are still waiting to be liberated from the alcove. I’m hoping to get the rest of it together this week, and I’ll have more posts about the other things going in (hint: the DIY lamp is 90% done, and I bought a cabinet for my LPs). In the meantime, happy cowhiding!

room inspiration: the modern mad man

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To anyone who hasn’t been living under a 127 Hours-sized boulder for the last few years, it’s pretty obvious the television-viewing world has fallen prey to Mad Men fever. I am 100% fine with this. While I’ve only seen a few episodes of the show (Jimmy works in television and so doesn’t really like to pay for TV service at home, and I can’t imagine how much more I would procrastinate with HGTV available whenever I wanted it), the aesthetic is beyond beautiful. Pencil skirts, well-tailored suits, Futura, hats, thick-framed glasses (suspiciously similar to the hipstery ones seen all over Columbia nowadays), sleek skyscrapers of metal and glass, rich leather, wood grain. I actually have a hard time following the plot because I’m too busy drooling over the clothes and sets.

Ahem. As I said, clothes and sets. (Little side note: my sister used to waitress with Jon Hamm, back when he was a waiter at Cardwell’s in St. Louis. She said he was super nice and just as good-looking in real life.)

But let’s be fair: despite the gorgeous clothes all the women wear on the show (Christina Hendricks is my faux-ginger role model), the aesthetic is overwhelmingly masculine. Two-thirds of the sets are swanky offices and posh bars, filled with men in suits smoking and sipping expensive booze. I don’t yearn for the days when men were men, women were arm candy and cigarettes were everywhere, but I do long for the days when all furniture had fantastic angled legs and couches were anything but poofy.

I think Jimmy is feeling the Mad Men vibe these days, because he asked me to design him some stationery with a distinctly retro feel. We decided on something simple and masculine, with no frills but plenty of style–like the offices of Sterling Cooper.

It’s loosely based on the stationery used for that fake letter from Sean Connery to Steve Jobs that went viral, but with some little tweaks to the front and a repeating-monogram back. Jimmy’s pretty much hopping up and down waiting to get it back from the printers. I’ve had to remind him once or twice that I have real, paying clients who are giving me money to have their stuff printed first, and I’m just making him stationery to be a nice wife and would you stop looking outside the UPS guy is not coming at midnight to bring you pieces of paper! (I say all this affectionately–actually I’m pretty stoked to have the kind of dude who still wants to write snail-mail.)

While we wait the agonizing 24 hours for Jimmy’s letterhead to get back to us, I thought it’d be fun to design an office/lounge/sophisticated man cave, inspired by the Mad Men atmosphere but updated for the modern, smartphone-toting, Twitter-using, man purse-wearing dude. He’s traded the coffee and cigarettes for espresso drinks and the occasional cigar, but he’s still stylish and gentlemanly. Here’s what I put together.

While I’m not normally a fan of faux finishes, Ralph Lauren’s Suede paint can add a very subtle, warm texture to a room, especially in a rich, leathery brown. The color shown here is Clay Red.

1. Custom stationery (just do a search on Etsy if you’re not design-inclined) is a great alternative to email when you have something special to say.

2. A beautiful, lacquered humidor keeps cigars at the ready in style. (Not that we’re advocating smoking.) Black high-gloss humidor, Amazon, $95.99.

3. A classic Saarinen armchair in suit-like gray boucle makes a fantastic variation on the standard desk chair. It’s also available with a swivel base. Saarinen executive armchair, Jules Seltzer Associates, $1,402.

4. A rugged-looking “work lamp” in place of a standard desk lamp gives a nod to stereotypically “manly” professions like carpentry and drafting, while the softly curved shade tones it down and makes it fit. Carpenter carbon lamp, CB2, $69.95.

5. A modern vase, interesting enough to view on its own without flowers, is a nice alternative to a fresh bouquet.  Althea Golden Eye vase, Jonathan Adler, $125.

6. This imposing mid-century desk is large and spacious, but sleek enough to avoid looking bulky. Found on eBay; no longer available.

7. The Kennedy chair from Thrive is flawless: modern but timeless, masculine but graceful. And check out those sexy angles! Kennedy chair, Thrive Furnishings, $899.

8. A funky, modern rug with a bright pop of color brings an unexpected touch of modernity to the space. Satellite rug, CB2, $249.

9. You’ve got to be prepared for unexpected guests with a great cocktail, and you can’t go wrong with some classic smoky, straight-sided tumblers. Tambien smoke barware, CB2, starts at $3.50.

10. A classic media console in black powder-coated steel and gleaming brass makes a statement without saying a thing. Dang media stand, Hive Modern, $899.

11. No man cave is complete without the right music, and this beautiful vintage-style turntable fits right at home in the office. Pioneer PL-630, found on eBay; no longer available.

12. A minimalist clock in a large scale stands out against the warmth of the suede walls. Monocle 19.5″ clock, CB2, $49.95.

So what do you think? Yellow is an unusual accent choice for a man’s office, but I think it fits right in. Jimmy’s pretty pleased with it, too. A quick question: do you, my darling readers, like the sort of “dream room” boards I’ve been putting together, without paying attention to the cost? Or would you prefer some budget-friendly boards where I find chic things for low prices? Let me know–I’m all ears.

new year, tiny space, big plans

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Sorry for the wait, kids. I’ve been trying to write a post about the myriad projects I put together for Christmas for a week now, and I just cannot for the life of me find the transfer cable for my camera. I know it’s somewhere in the nightmare pit I currently call my office, so as soon as I get it squared away I’ll have the deets on all my family’s gifts. Suffice to say that in the two weeks before Christmas, I crocheted a scarf, made a quilt, decoupaged photos onto fourteen canvases, made four yarn wreaths, infused and bottled/labeled a handle of bourbon, hand-printed a handful of scarves, and probably a bunch of other things I can’t remember. And wrapped it all. There is something about the Christmas season that just makes me go insane for projects. I can’t leave well enough alone.

Well…for the most part, that is. After searching for a house off and on for a few months, Jimmy and I have come to the conclusion that it just isn’t the right time for us. We found one perfect place, but it was under contract, which seems to have gone through. Our savings aren’t in good shape, my full-time freelancing isn’t stable enough just yet, and there are some various other financial factors that just make us feel like buying a house would be a disaster. We also discussed moving into a bigger place, and while we’d like to do it, I’m not sure we can find anything bigger and nicer than our current condo while still staying in our price range. So it looks like we’ll be hanging out in The Octacondo (affectionately nicknamed for its myriad of weird angles) for at least another year.

While I’m bummed about not being able to buy a place, it’s not like we aren’t happy here. I do love this house. It’s cozy, the location is really nice, the neighbors pretty much leave us alone. We’ve got woods in the back so there are always animals around. You know. Nice ambience.

But since we’re staying put, I’ve jumped on the opportunity to wheedle Jimmy into letting me redesign some spaces I’m (and in some cases, “we’re”) not thrilled with. First on the list is the little alcove beside our front door. It held a piano when the previous occupants lived here. Right now, it holds…this.

Yes, it’s the dreaded “pile of mostly crap we’re getting rid of on Craigslist” alcove, accompanied by coat hooks, boots, record player, and DVD rack. We originally put that pub table in there because I loved it in our old apartment and didn’t want to get rid of it, but it’s just taking up space and collecting dust, and I love it less every time I have to clean it. So we’ve decided it’s time for the pub table to go. We’ve also decided to replace the DVD rack–while I really like it, it’s not very space-efficient. It takes up a cubic foot of space, plus the extra 2 feet or so you have to leave around it to swivel it, and it only holds around 150 DVDs (which might seem like a lot, but in a house occupied by a film studies graduate and his movie-cover-design-obsessed wife, it’s eaten up very quickly). So we’ve got another solution. See this triangular hole in the wall leading from our living room into the alcove?

We’re going to build a DVD rack to fit in that doorway. We don’t go in and out of there anyway, and we like the shape and think it’d be fun to highlight it with some sort of built-in. That’ll be happening a few weeks down the line, I think. I’ll keep you posted.

So once the rack is in place, the alcove will essentially be closed off into a little room…or “nook,” if you will. Now, I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels this way, but I mother-effing love nooks. I read a lot, and sketch a lot, and do a lot of other things that can easily be done on the couch but are just so much more fun and cozy tucked back in a little hidey-hole somewhere. Preferably by a sunny window, but I’ll make do. Here are some supercute nooks I found on (where else?) Pinterest:

I love this one…the happy wall color, the craspedia, the nicely-organized vinyl collection.

The paneling isn’t my style, but I love the bold colors and retro prints.

Oh, Lord. Everything about this one sings to me. The wooden ceiling. The triangular shape. The cool Scandinavian minimalism. The fact that it appears you need a ladder to get to it. Yes, yes, yes.

Well, we live in a rental so I’m not sure I can just build a reading loft and panel it in wood, but I do know we can make much better use of our little alcove. I decided what I wanted most from the space was:

  • a spot for my burgeoning vinyl collection and player
  • a nice chair to curl up and read in
  • ultra-modern patterns and prints
  • good, moody lighting

I did a quick layout in Sketchup to show you what I’ve got in mind. While it currently looks to be about the size of a postage stamp due to the pile of junk inside, the alcove is actually a cozy but workable size–just under 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. That’s more than enough for a chair, an end table, and some sort of small media center.

If you came in my front door and immediately turned to your right, this is what you would see.

As you round the corner, you’ll see the strip of wall that blocks the alcove from the rest of the house (it’s what Fred the Moose hangs on, and our media console sits up against).

Please ignore the bit of rug sticking out of the doorway; it won’t be that way in real life, but I’m intermediate at best with Sketchup and I have no idea how to fix it.

The general plan is to finish the Herman Miller shell I’ve been reupholstering and have it in there. I have a sort of old-timey record player, which I know isn’t the best quality-wise but I kind of like the crackly quality it gives to my music. As for the console it sits on, I love this one from CB2 but I can’t really justify spending $100 on a laminate box. So I’ll make a DIY solution there. As for the end table, that was the closest approximation I could find–in reality I’ve just ordered two of these from Crate & Barrel:

They come in a bajillion colors, but I ordered them in white because a) we can take them with us to future dwellings and b) I’m boring. They’re a total steal at $18.95 each, and when we have company I can pull them out and use them as stools, like they’re intended.

On the wall, I plan to put up some music posters–I have several by a talented friend and am always ogling more. (The one I used in the rendering is a Fitz and the Tantrums poster that’s sadly out of print, but which I have to find a copy of in order to die happy.) On the floor…well, I’ve been weirdly obsessed with cowhide/pony rugs for about a year now. HOWEVER, I’m a vegetarian and a bleeding heart and a big softie in general, so I would never dream of killing a beautiful animal to spread out on my floor. But Overstock has a faux hide woven rug with some really nice reviews for a good price, so I’m just waiting for a good sale on that and I’m there.

The last element is lighting. Originally I wanted a cool floor lamp behind the chair, but the wall slopes down so low I don’t think that’s feasible. So I’m opting for a pendant instead. I want something very sleek and modern, like one of these three:


I have always ogled the Nelson and Le Klint lamps (the first two) but can’t justify the price tag, especially for a 24-square-foot box only I will ever see. I also really like the Random lamp, but it’s even more expensive. So I’ll be DIYing whatever I decide on. Right now I’m leaning toward the Random, because I know a lot of people have had very good luck doing their own version of that with string and glue. I’ll be sure to share instructions on whatever I end up with.

So! What do you think? Do any of you have a special little nook in your place? Anything you’d do differently here? I’m all ears.

radio silence

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I haven’t forgotten you, dears. Christmas season just kicked my ass, as it always does. With any luck, I’ll get a post together tonight–otherwise, tomorrow morning. Thanks for your patience (presumably; you could be gnashing your teeth and rending your garments and I wouldn’t have a clue, would I?). Chat soon. Mwah.