I love to garden

Spring fever has taken a hold of me, and I am getting ready to garden. We do live in a rental house, and will probably be moving out in August (unless we find some charming and cheap place to buy), but still I just want it to be pretty.

I have trays of seedling sitting on every flat surface in our bathroom, which receives direct light all day long, and it's a room the cats generally leave alone. I've planted the seeds last Thursday, and the dear little Alyssum decided to be real troopers and germinate a full 6 days before what the packet said they would.

I have trays with alyssum, marigolds, thyme, and a climbing green bean variety called "lazy housewife" that my mom mailed to me from South-Africa. Normally I would sow directly into the flower bed since our climate in Texas is so mild (wait until after the last frost - what frost), but I still have to prepare the bed. I forgot what hard work it is.

I also bought Narcissus and Muscari bulbs, and I have a shaker full of wildflower seed I bought from Target for $6. A more responsible garderner would find native Texas wildflowers, but not me, oh no, always the impulse buys with me.

Before you know it, I'll have lovely pictures of the garden to post.

Things I'd love to blow $1000 on

IT's CB2 again. I can't ever look through the catalogue without loving nearly everything. This bed for instance:

Yes, it would get dingy from my cats walking on it, yes hubby's feet would rub on it, but I love it. It would go with any colourscheme, and I'd love to have this bed in an older home, with woodfloors and great french doors.

A girl can dream!

I've arrived in the blogging world!

I’ve been tagged by South of the Sahara, who always has the most amazing images on her blog.

Here are the rules:1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1. This coming Sunday will be my one year wedding anniversary, and I have made absolutely no plans at all.
2. I have a degree in Linguistics, and work for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services, but really love design and art.
3. I am very nearly 6 feet tall.
4. I have 3 cats that live in my house, and an additional 6 cats who all moved into my backyard uninvited, but are now also being fed and loved by me.
5. People often comment that the way I rub my nose is weird.
6. My feet get hot really quickly, so I wear flip flops even in the middle of winter
7. I really hate chewing gum and never ever chew it.

I haven’t been blogging for a very long time, and will have to take my time selecting my seven tags, I’ll post them as I find them.

Headboard I like!

At work, somebody left a West Elm catalogue in the restroom. I think it might have been a passive hint that the decor in there leaves much to be desired.

I found this button tufted uphostered headboard, which I am adding to my list of choices for our bedroom:

I am in love with CB2

Who would not lust after these candle sticks? I swear, every single thing I see on CB2.com I want. These are only $3.95 to $4.95 each. I think we'll have to trade in our sad little oak dinnette set for a lovely sleek black set to show off these candleholders - I just ordered a bunch!

Return post after a month of silence!

I found the most adoralbe little candle holders. I am in love with all things white ceramic/porcelain. There "eyelet candleholders" are only $1.92 at CB2! Just the kind of last minute gift I'd love get get.

fun in the kitchen

Doing the dishes is something that few people associate with fun. Wishing Fish has solved this problem! For only $5 washing you can get a bubble scrubber!

Parts of my dream house

I don't have a house to build or to remodel, but I spend a lot of time thinking it up in my head. Most girls use to dream up the perfect wedding, I use to dream up the perfect house, and still do.

Part number one is a Dutch door, or like we use to call it in South-Africa, "die agterdeur" or "die kombuisdeur". This means that it will not be the front door of the house, but the back door, or kitchen door. My door won't have a knocker on it, like this one at the Red Rose Inn, but I might paint it red.

I always loved being able to open the top half of the door when I cooked supper for my mom and me. Our current kitchen has a window, which is a step up from our previous kitchen, but ideally, I want a dutch door.

Craftiness for Christmas

I've recently started a new job and have been sadly absent from my blog. The job does not have anything to do with design or creativity, sadly. It does however pay quite decently, allowing me to feed my design and creativity needs.

I was paging through my new issue of Domino Mag, and what do I see on page 161? Nothing other than the gorgeous green velvet headboard from Urban Outfitters that I talked about a few posts ago. I suppose that if it was chic enough for somebody who had their space featured in Domino, it's chic enough for me.

On a different note, I am planning on knitting and crocheting plenty of gifts for Christmas this year, and ran across these wonderful little tags on Etsy.com from the seller Island Crafts. I love the range of colours.

I also really like these woven labels from The Stationery Studio. I like the idea of my name being sewn into something I spent hours on.

Beauty in my house

I splurged on these lovely tulips rather than cookies from the store, and arranged pecans from the tree in our front yard in a lovely redwood bowl.

Sweetest shoulder bag

I love this bag from Three Potato Four. I think I'll buy it.

Pretty fire extinguisher

I never considered that a fire extinguisher would be something I'd think of as pretty. I never thought it would be something I'd like to go out and buy straight away, but it is!
The Home Hero fire extinguisher was designed to have a modern and elegant look that would not clash with your decor. The ergonomic hand grip and easily removable safety pin makes the Home Hero easy to operate, even for little hands.

In the apartment where we used to live, the extinguisher lived underneath the sink, behind all the cleaning supplies. If we ever did have a fire, I'd have had to spend valuable time groping around for it. The Home Hero is pretty enough that I'd happily leave it on the counter next to the stove.

Press Statement regarding the HomeHero™ Fire Extinguisher

“This design shows how elegance can enhance function. These designers understand that if a fire extinguisher looks good, users will be more likely to keep it handy.”

Steve Wilcox, FIDSA, Principal, Design Science

I, for one, fully agree.

My bedroom window

My husband and I rent a wonderful house in the east side of town. Because of the location the house has a fantastic yard, is quite spacious, and is really well priced. The house is designed in such a way that the window in the master bedroom looks our straight onto the street. The window is almost ceiling height and lets in a great amount of natural light, but it doesn't really keep our neighbour across the road from being able to see everything we do.

I found a wonderful solution through Dwell magazine's product of the day. This clever adhesive frosting film is a perfect solution for renters who can't frost the actual window pane. It's available through www.atypyk-e-shop.com. This is a French site, so I hope to find something similar in the US!

Beautiful ceramics from South Africa

I was browsing through the line of serving pieces at Anthropologie.com, and I nearly fainted from excitement when I realized that the names of the pieces I was looking at are places in my home country!
According to their site, the pieces are handmade in South Africa. I have no idea how to save pictures from their site, so here are links to some of my favourite pieces: the Calvinia bowl, the Good Hope pitcher, and the Petite Clanwilliam Cake Stand.

I searched around a bit more for South African made ceramics and found Ento Ceramics.

I really like this set, called 'Namaqualand Daisy'. It would really brighten a gray afternoon.

The Headboard search, continued

I'm still searching for the perfect headboard. I wonder if my expectations are a bit too high.
Here is my wish-list for what I want in a headboard:

• Colour
• Curvy Shape
• Solid form
• Attach to frame, not wall
• Under $300, $350 if I really love it

Is that so much to ask?

All the furniture in our bedroom is dark wood and sleek lines. I think it's important to bring in something that will be a pop of colour and that will balance out all the angular lines we've got going right now.

I have found two beds I like quite a bit. The first is a very lovely French-inspired design called Juliet Silk. The headboard is ornately carved and upholstered in silk, of course. There is also an equally beautiful version with cane instead of upholstery.
This bed is available from And So To Bed, which do not cater to the thrifty.





The second bed is the Petula from Laura Ashley. It's more affordable than the other bed, but still a bit out of my range. Dear Husband also asked to have a headboard you can comfortably lean up against, so I suppose wrought iron is out.

Happy Mail day!

I received a very well-anticipated package today. I am thrilled to bits! I patiently waited for five weeks while the books made a journey from South-Africa, sat in customs for a long time, and was then allowed to come to me. I can't wait to read them all - even the big fat one, which is a dictionary.

Digital Clock love?

My taste in clocks do not involve a digital display anywhere, but I'm doing this for Dear Husband. Since I banished his hideous dorm room alarm clock to the garage, I suppose I have to replace it. I found a very small and very well priced digital clock at Ikea ($2.99) that I bought for him in the meantime, while I'm looking for a digital clock I can live with.

I'm asking myself if it could actually be possible that I could love a digital clock. I think I just might. I've found this clock online, and for once there is no ugly black plastic or obnoxious buttons in sight anywhere.

Terribly sleek, yes?

Since I have a clock search on the brain, I've been compulsively buying clocks thinking I'll show Dear Husband and return it if he doesn't approve. Instead of returning them I've decided they make very chic bookends.

In explanation, here are our current clocks:

Yes, by the way, they are from Ikea, every single one. The black two-bell one is a windup and loses about 30 minutes for every 12 hours, in case you considered buying it for actually keeping time.

Great Artist

Los Angeles based Audrey Kawasaki is an artists whose work I'd love to own. The last time she released a new print, it was sold out in less than a minute, so I doubt I'll manage to find one. I read on her website that she is considering doing something other than limited edition prints. I hope she comes up with something soon!

Her paintings, like the one below, are dreamy and beautiful and innocent and erotic. I'm a huge fan.

My headboard search

I found this headboard while browsing UrbanOutfitters.com and I think I might really love it. Almost all of the furniture in our bedroom is dark brown or black, so I think a headboard in a vibrant colour will really lively the place up. There is, of course, no other green in the room at all. Will the headboard seem terribly out of place?

I've already documented my love of all things damask, which is why this little table caught my eye too. I wish I could think of a place to use it. Maybe on the porch? It is made of enameled metal, and at only $29 I wouldn't be horribly sad if it got a little bit rusty.

The last picture is of the wonderfully affordable zebra rug they have. I wonder if this will work in our little dining area. It's 5x7, so the table will comfortably fit on it, but I think the chairs might not fit if they were pushed out. Maybe two of them right next to each other?

My Kitchen

My kitchen is a constant source of delight and pride. Yesterday, I found the most wonderful salt and peppershakers at Target, and they were less than $5!
Since my purchase of these wonderful little sparrows, I been looking for excuses to put salt and pepper on things.

I love how clean and crips white is! Next to them, you can see my white mortar and pestle from Ikea and my little white porcelain butter dish from Target.

Love!