Sea glass? Yes, please. It’s one of my things. Like the carved wooden masks I mentioned the other day and a certain print featuring naughty words that I just can’t seem to take out of my living room, I love me some sea glass. Having lived by the seashore all of my life, I’ve been pocketing it for as long as I can remember. My grandparents always had bowls of it around – they lived on the water – and when I called Costa Rica home, there was tons of it because glass bottles are still popular there for soda and tonic water. I always figured sea glass (or beach glass) was just one of those things you see and pick up.

I still grab it when I go to the beach, which is a lot, all year round.

What I didn’t know was that beach glass is apparently not just one of my things. Nope, it’s an industry and a hobby and a something people make money off of. Not near a coast? You can buy a bucket of beach glass. There is jewelry that features chunks of beach glass, and cosmetics inspired by it in fashion colors. There is, if you can believe it, even a book geared toward people like me who like to find beach Glass, called The Sea Glass Hunter’s Handbook. And other books besides!

But a $90 sea glass wreath from L.L. Bean? That’s where I have to draw the line. I probably have enough beach glass right here in my house to DIY a beach glass wreath but I’m going to do no such thing. this one is admittedly very cute, but it just seems like a waste of perfectly good beach glass. It’s also how I think of the sea glass jewelry I see at local arts fairs – I just can’t imagine anyone who’s lived all their lives on the coast buying a pair of sea glass earrings. Or an indoor-only sea glass wreath, especially since it’s not even real beach glass. It’s just tumbled glass, boo.

as seen on

I think I’m in love. With a chair. Don’t tell my husband, okay? Vintage Thonet chairs become something new entirely when reupholstered in a bright blue fabric that’s been hand screen printed with a collection of California’s birds and blossoms. Sadly, these gorgeous chairs from En Route Studio will not be en route to my home any time soon. A set of four chairs costs $1,100, and as The Beard so sarcastically put it: “Cute! And they’re in our price range, too!”

I can’t for the life of me recall where I heard it, but once upon a time someone said something to me like: You can tell where someone is on the class ladder by what’s hanging on their walls. Members of the upper classes hang art. Members of the lower classes hang family portraits.

I guess that makes my own house solidly middle class, with it’s carved wooden masks, framed portraits, art prints, paintings, and such? I have about as many masks as I do photographs of people hanging on my walls.

So I want you to tell me what you think about the above statement.

Is this more representative of an upper class or upper middle class lifestyle than, say, this:

Are paintings and sculptures the only acceptable upper class embellishments? Where do artsy photos fit in? What would you say about this:

I included the third example because it is in a way the compromise between the two, with artful photographs mixed in with portraits. Or does the rule only apply when you’re talking about photos taken at Sears or something like that? Personally, I definitely think art is important, but I don’t agree that you can pigeonhole someone just because of what’s hanging on his or her walls. That said, what *is* on your walls, and what do you think your choices say about you?

Being in the market for a new bike has me seeing bikes everywhere I look, from on the walls to on my glasses to in my chairs. Here’s some of the cute bicycle-themed stuff I’ve been lusting over recently:

Wallpaper designed by Dan Funderburgh for Flavor Paper

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Some books are just plain terrible, am I right? Which isn’t to say they didn’t get read or weren’t special to someone, but the people who cared about them once upon a time somehow got them onto your shelves and you (like many readers) just can’t bring yourself to throw away a book. You could just let them continue to sit unread on your shelf or you could do something with them. Something that involves cutting them up or drawing on them, but isn’t it better to turn an unloved book into something loved than to let it fade away into obscurity?

Here are some ideas that I am finding particularly inspiring:

DRAW, PAINT, OR PRINT ON THE PAGES: How sweet is this print from Brambleberry Lane? Pages from a vintage dictionary become the canvas for an old school image of a copper politely suggesting that a perp stop in the name of the law. Buy one for $7.50 or give DIY drawing, painting, or printing a try.

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Turning a book on your bookshelf or a CD on your CD rack is fine if you’re planning to put it back within a day or so, but if you’re a slow reader or reading a giant book or the sort of person who wants to listen to the same song or album until it makes you (and everyone around you sick) then you need a solution with a little more style.

For example, these book and CD separators designed by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sasagawa. His Animal Index can be used to mark your place or to divvy up your shelves into distinct sections. It strikes me that the Animal Index is one of those little things that one could DIY without too much trouble, though I know mine wouldn’t look as polished as these.

I’m not really sure how owls became a thing, but here I sit on a couch decorated with owl throw pillows. Maybe I’m getting a little zany in my old age – please look away from my sock monkey kitchen chair pillows – but I can’t help but love animal inspired decor. Once upon a time that would have meant a leopard print chair, but now it’s more likely to mean a framed quilt patch featuring stylized songbirds or a pint glass with an elephant on it.

So how cute is all this?

Owl throw pillows in a living room via Dwell

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I wanted to share this cute, simple project from Donation 2 Decor. Cheap or – even better – found picture frames get a makeover and some new contents using spray paint, masonite, some printed words, and sealer.

The instructions are here, along with several other neat projects for the home. If you give a go, be sure to send me an email with your results!

As tables go, I find this one an enigma. Is it modern? The lines are so clean and sharp. And the table top that seems modeled after a beautiful hardwood floor feels like an art piece.

But there’s something rustic about it, too. Something I can’t quite place my finger on.

Except I can because I have the Internet! Von Tundra‘s beautiful Rockwell table is unique in that it’s crafted from reclaimed and refurbished pallet wood (as are many of this Portland-based design house’s creations). Isn’t that cool? Recycling is awesome, especially when the end product turns out looking this good.

Who else thinks one could easily whip up something very much like Rody Graumans’ 85 Lamps using only things purchased at Home Depot? Because I think as DIY projects for the home and lighting specifically are concerned, this is one of the easiest I’ve seen. Too bad Graumans thought of it first, which is why he gets to charge $3,700 for the thing.

Droog describes 85 Lamps thusly: “This lamp uses only what is necessary to create light: bulbs, wires, connectors. By multiplying these essential elements an opulent chandelier is created. Less and more are united in a single product.”

And here are my thoughts:

Pros: 85 light bulbs equal a whole lot of light!

Cons: 85 light bulbs will generate a whole lot of heat!

Other: So many wires! Say hello to my friend the knot!