28 August 2010

oh, and ...

Another addition to the iitalla glass collection ... not a drinking glass, but fits in nicely ...


the curse of 5

A few nice sets of glasses on their way into the store this week ... but what was it about those '50's and '60's manufacturers and their obsession with odd numbers?


Of course ... it's 4 and a spare ... so obvious.  Or maybe a throwback to the good old days of husband, wife, and 3 kids ... but wouldn't there be a matching bowl for Fido in that case?


It does give us a sense of purpose hunting for number 6.

happy ending

Last week we got a call from a lady selling a bunch of furniture from her elderly parents' house.  Our stockpile is growing a little unwieldy at the moment, but said that she had called lots of shops and nobody would come over - so we went.

She had a lot of well-maintained pieces which were not quite our style - but there was this one cute little table we couldn't resist.


The lady said her folks had been keen card players and this was the table they used - it has a nifty fold-out top with a vinyl surface ... nice desk or sewing-table for a small space.


Back at the store we were giving it a cleanup and there was a wierd hollow section on the underside.  Further investigation revealed that the top swivelled 90 degrees, revealing a little compartment.  Not an empty compartment either ...


Turns out that not only were her parents card players, but they seem to have been reasonably successful.  There was a bunch of envelopes full of cash stashed inside the table (all bundles of the old paper $10 notes) - so it was a quick trip back much to her surprise.


Just remember to take a good look before you dump that old piece of furniture on the nature-strip or send it off to the op-shop.  And think back - was your grandma always referred to as "the shark" by her friends?

PS - we have a sweet little folding-top table at the store at the moment if you're looking for one, and (shhhhhhh) it has a secret compartment!

11 August 2010

mmmm ...

Can't say why, but there's always fun to be had watching Monster Moves on SBS ...





And they provide a specially composed theme song for every large structure they truck across the USA ... odd.  They also do animated simulations of every potential 'worst-case' - some very pessimistic folk in the graphics department.  Still fun, tho.

dig the woods


One of the best parts of any stroll up the hill to Northcote 'proper' is seeing the latest installment of window-dressing-art at 'in the woods'.  The current plywood bear scene is beautiful.


They have a pretty compact space, but make the most of it with great stock and fantastic display ... definitely one of this town's finest ... 246 high street ... go visit!

06 August 2010

light fantastic

Poul Henningsen.  Danish design maestro.  From the 1920's thru to the early 60's he was laying down the template from which many much 'modern' lighting has been traced.


His career in design apparently stemmed from observations during the early years of electric home lighting, when he observed that homes generally had bare bulbs on cords hanging from their ceilings, which he found to be ugly and harsh. 


He worked for many years on variations on the idea of pendant shades which diffused and directed the light, and concealed the source.


You would have to say, his designs haven't dated too badly, huh?  Many of his works from the 30's to the 60's are still being produced by Louis Poulsen, and reportedly about 50% of Danish homes have at least one example.

We have a few at the farm ...


We also have an enormous one stashed away - it's a pendant about 120cm tall with 10 or so metal rings - we plan to renovate our verandah over summer and give it a worthy place.  In the meantime there are a few pendant fittings and a couple of Henningsen's desk lamps on their way to our store on a slow boat from Scandinavia, so we will let you know when they arrive.

05 August 2010

with wool, you say ...

Cath picked up the seminal 1977 edition of "exciting things to make with wool string and thread" recently.  Fun book, nicely illustrated ...


Amongst the many exciting things to make (with wool string and thread, of course) are these 'witch doctor masks' which look so fantastic, but might end up being the basis for some creepy 'haunted children' type horror film in the future ... hmmmm ...


Yeah, yeah, all fun putting it on ... 'make a scary face for the camera Bradley!' etc ... but how are you going to feel walking into a dimly lit room and seeing these 3 sitting silently on the floor?

Embodiments of evil ... or maybe it's just us?

04 August 2010

nordic but nice

we were just googling to find a little more about the origins of some Swedish glassware we picked up, and one click led to another ... we came across a blog by a Canadian (we believe) couple, with super-scandinavian tastes.

Hindsvik are a couple (Daniel and Valeria) who specialize in kind of earthy industrial homewares via their etsy store ... nice things ... their blog's also really nice - with a bit of attention on their progressing home decorating project - it's looking pretty great from what we've seen.


They made this unit for their entryway from metal pipes and fallen wood ... inspiring!  Here are a couple of items in their etsy shop at the moment ...


They have lots in stock - and we love just about all of it ...


Pretty nice, worth a look, for sure.

... a few of our favorite things ...

Wah - back to the big city again after a couple of days at the ranch.  As usual, we were sad to pack up the van and head back to town - it's all chaos and traffic in the city, pretty harsh contrast to the 'roos and trees.

Thought we'd start posting a few pics of our favorite bits and pieces from the farm ... no reason ...

Our porcelain rabbits - Mr Toothpick and his assocate ...


The dining chairs ... they are the coolest shape, and we've never seen them anywhere else.  The farm had always been the (neglected and seldom visited) holiday house, furnished with everyone's 'throw-away' things.  When we started heading up there in '08 our first priority (aside from getting solar power so we could see what was going on) was to donate everything to the local Salvos.

These chairs came from some neighbors in Northcote, and we fell in love instantly - NO WAY could we sell 'em.  Inspired by their moquette upholstery, we have ended up doing the whole interior in a mix of mid-century pieces - all in green to match the chairs and what's outside every window ...



Over the next few months we'll keep popping up snaps of our collection.  What the heck, it makes us happy ...


And walking out the door ain't so bad either ...






... enough already.  Back to work.