the evils of shelving ...

We were chatting with some 'vintage fans' the other day, and the conversation turned (naturally enough) to 'what are you collecting these days?' ... both of them had a good specific answer - one was hunting 50's plastic squeeze-toys, the other was accumulating vintage ceramics by a specific Australian potter.

Both of us were a little less defined as to our current 'things'.  Looking around the house today I get the feeling that perhaps we are collectors of shelving, with a view to giving more homes to our collections of collections ...

Perhaps a sample or two?

 

 

 

 

Every flat surface seems to be an excuse to accumulate ... oh lordy.

whew ...

Hey, sorry we've been a bit quiet over the last few weeks.  Been cooking up a shiny new website for KYP!

We kind of knew it would be a bit of an exercise trying to move from an online catalogue to having an online store ... but it has given us plenty of perspective on just how much stuff we collect (and how much we love it all, too). 

There's nothing like taking half a dozen photos of each item, and then measuring and weighing and describing it, to remind you of what you have stashed away.

It's been pretty fun though - and today we 'go live' - hope you like it ... we are pretty happy with things so far.

another nice interiors blog ...

KYP friend Catherine sent us a great link a couple of weeks ago - you should check it out ...

 The blog is called The Brick House - it's a sort of 'renovation diary' combined with a generally amazing collection of interior ideas and inspiration by a Californian gal named Morgan Satterfield ... along with some decent DIY tips ...

It's fun checking progress and development on their house - with a nice collection of furniture which evolves as the diary goes on.  She is also working on an ebay store for some her renovated finds ...

We kind of suspect that it was the Brick House entry on woven wall-art that prompted Catherine to send us the link tho ...

You should take a look sometime.  Oh, and thanks for the link, Catherine!

trying to be strong ...

Saw a photo of a crazy and beautiful phone at that 224 collectibles auction in Sydney a couple of months back.  Never seen one before, and had been comfortable in the knowledge that we never would again ...

Then this one showed up on ebay this week.

It's in the UK, and would probably take some expert work to convert to work on Aussie phone-lines ... but still ...

Seriously - it's got to be one of the maddest telephones ever designed - 'Bobo' by Telcer, Italy.  And in green, dammit!

Being realistic, I don't think we can justify it - it's 180pounds plus another 30 or so for shipping - even the maddest collectors have to have limits, don't they?

Torture ... if you see one for a more reachable price, please let us know!

rearrangement

Always nice to freshen things up with a big re-jig at the shop ... anybody walking past on Friday would have thought we were converting to a sidewalk market - everything out, chairs all over the place ...

But by sundown it was all back in and looking good again ... ahhhh.

Now it's time to part with a few pieces and make space ... for the next rearrange.

woody clocks

Love fake woodgrain, love clocks ... some selections from our collection ...

 The classic nasty plastic cuckoo ...

 Traditional Smiths wood-face ... dad had one of these on his office wall in the '70's, and we've managed to pick up a couple over the years.

 Our Junghans, with what appears to be woodgrain con-tact for decoration ...

This is one we received from Sweden - originally it was electric, but a bit temperamental - new works, new hands, good as gold now.

Of course, no collection of woody clocks feels right without a few plastic woodgrain animals on the walls around them ... we have a few deer-head barometers, but our cow-head with cow-bells (souvenir of Salzburg, no less) is extra-special.

Her (his?) face is flock-coated for extra realism (despite the scale suggesting that the beast may have been the size of a chihuahua at time of mounting).  Good kitsch.

collecto-mania

We haven't been up to Sydney for a while, but have oft admired the wares of 224 - Lucas Callaghan's store in Bondi - on the net.  By the looks, they have just had a major sellup via auction.

Amongst a clearly passionate collector's collection of classic 20th century collectibles were some amazing and quirky bits and pieces ... wish we'd been there with the means to bid.

Maybe it's for the best we missed it ... that would have to be the coolest phone ever, though.

no accounting for taste ...

For some reason we have come to love these woven wall-hanging things. 

We have collected a few over the years - always pretty large-scale, and in nice mixes of natural tones.  We now have 5 or 6 of them around the farm - all different, but definitely tied together thematically.

The thing is ... we have tried them out in the shop a few times - thinking that they are great pieces of mid-century decor, perfect for a 70's den - and folks just don't seem to like them ...

... maybe it's just us - hopefully folks will get it one day!

Very excitingly, we found a fantastic new one last week - super fantastic, don't bother denying it!  it came straight into the house, and found it's perfect spot immediately.

Craft ... art ... science?

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.

... among the gumtrees

As much as we are born and bred city folk and love Northcote dearly, it's the weekly visits to the country estate that keep us sane - no sirens, no tram noise, and lots more nature.  We have had this vintage fire-guard for years, reminding us of where we'd like to be.

We feel like our farm is getting close to being just as cute ...

... or maybe it's just an excuse to keep collecting furniture - that extra loungeroom that we need so our spare chairs and sofas have somewhere to hang out ...

If it wasn't such a long drive I think we'd go back there every night ... there is nothing like that peace and quiet! 

Aside from the crazy birdlife of course. 

Stay tuned for a full tour of the farm in future posts ...

just wow ...

Nobody can deny that there's an art to good storage, but Swedish artist Michael Johansson has made it ART.  We saw a few of his pieces featured on 'What's blogging my view' (Janne, a Norwegian blogger with a GREAT eye), and had to follow up.

Johansson combines collecting and curating and colour-coding and compacting so well ...

For those of us with a nasty habit of accumulating more than we can accommodate, his work is pretty inspiring, and the mix of scales is cool too.

Sadly, though we share some of his principles in filling our garage with our finds, the lack of open space around our stacks means we're not quite at exhibition levels yet.  Great stuff though!

truck and roll

Conserving and restoring mid century furniture is our preferred pastime, and with so much product still out there looking for love we can never understand why people opt for sub-standard new pieces, or cheaply produced (though seldom cheaply priced) knock-offs ... no not much respect for 'new' mass-produced stuff.

We recently came across the site of a Japanese company who seem to be crafting new pieces with absolute respect for the look and feel of vintage, though.

They are called TRUCK, and their stuff is super-cool ...

Heck, maybe we have been fooled into thinking they are doing something that they're not ... neither of us is too hot at reading Japanese - but whether it's all original vintage or all new stock with a great deal of effort put into making it look old, it's hard to deny the aesthetic ...

super-cool - we love it ... take a look sometime.