Manolo for the HomeAugust, 2010 | Manolo for the Home - Part 2



Archive for August, 2010


Mixed Patterns? Go For It!

Thursday, August 19th, 2010
By Christa Terry

I count one, two, three… four patterns in this pretty pink and gray bathroom. There’s the flamingo (or as my daughter calls them, flamenco) wallpaper, two hand towels with paisleys, a third hand towel featuring a different pattern, and the the pattern on the tablecloth, which could be anything for all I can see. Mixing patterns – or mixing too many patterns – is sometimes considered a decorating no-no, but if your patterns come from the same palette and aren’t crazy complicated, you should be golden!

(via)


Fuzzy Phone Fun

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
By Christa Terry

I’m loving this adaptation of the original 706 telephone (the first plastic telephone in the UK) has been vibrantly decorated in colored flock that makes it both useful and surprising with its unexpectedly velvety feel.

The line of Flocked Phones by Johnny Egg features three different colors of flocking, and each flocked phone includes a traditional rotary dial and bell-ringer and supplied ready for use with a modern telephone socket.


Ready and Willing to Serve With a Smile

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
By Christa Terry

I have no clue how or wear to buy these – other than ‘in Thailand’ and ‘using Thailand money’ or here – but the whole collection is just too cute not to share. It’s Propaganda’s Use Me line, featuring dishware, laundry stuff, bags, and other odds and ends that are ready to do your bidding with a smile.

Adorable! I’m in love!


Twelve Cubed Micro Houses

Monday, August 16th, 2010
By Christa Terry

You know already that I love me some tiny houses< ?a>, whether we’re talking about actual standalone houses, super skinny townhouses, or itty-bitty flats. My new favorite source for these havens of living small is Twelve Cubed, maker of twelve-cubed or ten-cubed micro houses that start at around CDN$24,500.

Featuring a dishwasher, microwave & modern oven combo, bathroom, closet, and plenty of natural light, one of our sustainable cubes has everything you need to make your life, modern, simple, and convenient.

Not bad, not bad! It sounds way more comfortable than some of the tiny houses out there, like apartments made out of closets, caravans with no bathrooms, and spheres you hang in a tree. I still don’t see them catching on in North America any time soon, however. Yes, the average size of newly-built homes is definitely dropping, but not by much, and the average size of a house now is still much bigger than the average size of a house in, say, 1960 (which is then itself much, much bigger than a Cube)

A Cube is set up so it gets its power, water, and sewage disposal handled by the primary house on the lot, so think guest house or home office, not primary residence. It has its own sewage pumping system which allows it to be up to 300 feet from its support house. There is a solar version available that does not need to be plugged into a support house for power, but I’m not sure how water would work.

Check out some interior pics under the break!

(more…)


Who Makes Up the Market for This?

Friday, August 13th, 2010
By Christa Terry

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


Chair LOVE

Thursday, August 12th, 2010
By Christa Terry

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!”


What Your Walls Say About You

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
By Christa Terry

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?


NtB Loves: Plain White Pitchers

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
By Christa Terry

Sometimes color is where it’s at, and sometimes white is the way to go. I’m a big fan of plain white pitchers, which can go pretty much anyway and with pretty much everything. While a pitcher might be used for lemonade or sangria, more often than not I see white pitchers used for display purposes. Think vases and the like.

Of course, there aren’t always plain white pitchers to be had (for cheap), so it pays to be on the lookout for farmhouse style pitchers that you like in uggo colors and patterns. A few – okay, more than a few – coats of white spray paint, and you have yourself the perfect pitcher for display. Not, however, for food, as spray painted kitchenware and edibles should not mix.









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