sallyTV

Monday's manicure

2011-10-26T13:50:00.001-07:00

Super easy to do. I used a stamping method.

A week's worth of photos

2011-10-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Took some photos this week(end). Hope you enjoy them!


Possibly the brightest building in Nob Hill/Chinatown

"GREAT BUY!"

Somewhere in my neighborhood

This is definitely one way to avoid contact with outsiders.

If you're brunching somewhere fabulous with someone fabulous, you better dress fabulous.

My nails right now. Sparkly chartreuse and navy.


Hidden house on a busy street.

I'm getting really into nail polish

2011-10-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

This morning's nails. This is my version of a french manicure.

Do you like?

Yesterday's nails. Lots of gold.

Weekend photos

2011-10-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Snapped some fun pics this weekend and last. We've been experiencing some beautiful weather lately!


Hugh took us out sailing for the air show last weekend.

This was my favorite boat of the day. It looks like a pirate ship!

The planes were getting so close to the water. Especially the smaller one. This one? Not so much.

Foggy morning in San Francisco.

My owl lamp.

Never forget.

Sage and raspberry truffles from a chocolate store on 4th Street in Berkeley.

Always and forever.

One of my favorite dogs in the whole world. Charlito.

Super secret orchard in Berkeley.

MK's latest fabric score

2011-10-17T11:16:00.001-07:00

Isn't it beautiful?

MK's hand for scale

My 1950s Venetian Barbini bowl

2011-10-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

I love it so. Click any photo for a larger version. Look at the gold flakes!

New paint chip project

2011-10-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

I'm starting another paint chip project. This one's going in a small corner of our place. At first I was only going to do one side, but now that I'm there it seems unfinished. I'm going to do the other wall so that the whole corner is covered in paint chips.

A reminder: in a past life I was an interior designer. Different paint manufacturers would give me complete sets of every paint they offered, and I still have thousands of those paint chips. I decided to do something creative with them rather than get rid of them. I didn't take these from a store.

IMP: iron transfer galore pillow using what I had on hand (an old shirt and a canvas bag)

2011-10-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hecka transfers!

My first experience with Brett MacFadden and Scott Thorpe's Hot Type iron transfer book (Chronicle Books) did not turn out so well, mostly because I am an impatient idiot. I burned my hardwood floor and my ego. Because of this, the book collected dust on a shelf for months.

Last night around midnight I said "F THIS," grabbed the book, cut out all my favorite designs and fired up the iron. I looked around and spotted an old white cotton shirt and a canvas tote bag I got at an event and said aloud "THAT WILL DO." This project cost me very little money. The shirt and bag were free, and the book is super inexpensive.

Here's what happened:

Sorry it's so dark. Like I said, I started this project at midnight. (Yes, crafting is how I like to spend my Friday nights.) This book is amazing and comes with 30 sheets of cool iron transfers. You should purchase it if you're a typography nerd like me.

My pillow fabric.

Cutting the t-shirt out to fit the pillow size I want to use. I figured I'd put the designs on the t-shirt, and then sew it onto the canvas bag. That way it would be sturdy.

The layout I settled on. I didn't want to use just one.

Make sure your iron is on its highest setting and that you have no water in it.

My first transfer.

Transferring complete! I think it looks great. I like the burned edges. I think it adds character. I've always been a fan of messy and imperfection. Makes your creations more human.

Sewed the cotton fabric onto the tote.

I love it. It looks great on our sofa.

What do you think?

Random iPhone shots. Mostly taken around the Nob Hill neighborhood in San Francisco

2011-10-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

Fleet Week is happening in San Francisco right now. This afternoon the Blue Angels and Canadian Snowbirds practiced. A lot of roof top activity. This is the view from my roof. (You can click any photo for a larger version.)

Mother and I went on a mini vacation to Anderson Valley for a cooking class and some wine tasting. This is how we spent our last afternoon there.

One of my favorite residential buildings in San Francisco. It has an incredible penthouse!

Purposely kept the windows in this shot for scale. This front door was about twenty feet tall. One of my favorite ways to spend free time is exploring San Francisco's alleys.

Beautiful flowers that I picked up at Berkeley Bowl. I love that grocery store.

Sent this card to my dear friend James. I think he'd approve of my nails!

Delightful cocktails.

It's always so eerie when you and your dining companion are the only one at the restaurant. Regardless, a tasty brunch was had at Le Colonial.

Overcast and from the freeway: San Francisco's still very pretty.

An injury is preventing me from skating when I want and the way I want, but that didn't stop me from putting on my skates and hitting up the Alice Marble tennis courts for an hour. Had to ice my leg afterwards though.

On the corner Lombard and Hyde streets. That building is at the top of what many people believe is "crookedest street in the world." It's not. The "crookedest" street on Vermont Street between 20th and 22nd streets.

Tony Bennett night at AT&T Park. Zito's warming up.

I'm the president of a Ladies Who Scrabble Club and our members are very fabulous.

A storm approaches!

RIP Steve

2011-10-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” - Steve Jobs

Friday's flowers

2011-09-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of creating another paint chip wall!

2011-09-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

I moved into a new place. That means the old paint chip wall had to be taken down. I miss it, so I decided to put up another one. I'm about a quarter done. Really excited! I think this is an excellent way to jazz up an otherwise boring corner.

Blowing Your Mind: Candied Bacon Butter

2011-09-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

I made some candied bacon butter. It's so good that I'd feel bad if I didn't share the recipe with the world, and by "world" I mean "four people who will read this post."

Needed ingredients:

One stick butter, softened
Four teaspoons vanilla bean syrup
Eight tablespoons brown sugar
Four slices of beautiful, mouth-watering bacon

Candied bacon does not actually require fancy-ass vanilla bean syrup, but I had some on hand and wanted to make my bacon extra delicious, sexy and sticky. Don't worry if you don't have vanilla bean syrup, you can just stick to brown sugar only. (Also: how amazing would it be to use some type of blood orange syrup?)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 325

Vanilla bean syrup. What I've used it in: ice cream, yogurt and FUCKING COFFEE. So why not try it on bacon?

Step 2: Line a baking sheet with tinfoil.

Step 3: Drizzle a teaspoon of syrup onto each bacon strip.

Step 4: Sprinkle 1 tablespoon brown sugar onto each bacon strip.

Step 5: Put in the oven for 15 minutes.

Step 6: After 15 minutes in the oven, take your bacon out and flip it over.

Step 7: Sprinkle one tablespoon of brown sugar onto each delicious bacon strip.

Step 8: Put your delicious bacon back into the oven and cook it for another 15 minutes. It's almost ready, you should be totally stoked right now.

Step 9: Oh? You're wondering where the other strip of delicious bacon went? It went in your mouth. You just ate it. It's digesting in your body right now. Because there is no reason you should have to go through all these steps without eating at least one delicious strip of bacon. That's step nine: eat a strip of your candied bacon goodness.

Step 10: Let your delicious bacon cool down. I used a cutting board, but parchment paper would have worked too. Also! Please don't pat your bacon with a paper towel. The brown sugar will absorb any extra deliciousness.

Step 11: Have a glass of wine. I know you're struggling right now. There are three delicious strips of bacon right there, waiting for you to eat them. But you can't. DO NOT EAT THE CANDIED BACON. Drink your wine instead. Or go on a walk. Just don't eat the bacon!

Step 12: Once the bacon has cooled, chop it up. Don't mince it, but make sure you chop it up into pretty tiny pieces.

You can click any image to make it larger. FYI: this chopped bacon shot is my new wallpaper on my laptop.

Let's take another look from a different angle:

I say goddamn, delicious bacon!

Step 13: mix your delicious candied bacon and softened butter together. Spread a little bit on a piece of bread to see if it needs anything. Pepper could work. I added one teaspoon of vanilla bean syrup.

Step 14: Plop your candied bacon butter on some saran wrap.

Step 15: Wrap it up like a stick of butter and put it into the fridge until stiff.

Step 16: Spread your candied bacon butter on everything imaginable, including yourself and your loved ones.

Recipe inspiration here.

It Was Fun

2011-04-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

I don't update this site anymore. It was fun when I did. If you need to reach me you can contact me at Sally@sallyTV.com. Update: Welp, it looks like I'm back.

Here is a picture of my favorite shoe

Ladies Who Scrabble Club

2011-02-17T00:04:00.000-08:00

I started a Ladies Who Scrabble Club.

We have membership cards (laminated!), great locations, and everyone dresses up. It's fun. Here's a few shots of our last meet-up, which was at a mansion on Russian Hill in San Francisco.

Any ladies who are interested in joining should e-mail me directly. I'll let you know when our next meet-up is.

Surf Rider button-enclosure pillow

2011-01-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

As always, you click any photo for a larger version.

KA-POW!

I found this great vintage fabric over the weekend and decided to make a button pillow out of it. I got the buttons from Alaska when I was there this past July.

Surf Rider pattern. I'm Californian, etc

Finished product

I'm diggin' the back

This pillow was super easy to make because I've made a button-enclosure pillow before. I think the total time was about an hour. My only regret is that the pillow form is about half an inch smaller than expected, so the cover's a little loose in the corners.

I bought a bunch of different vintage fabric over the weekend. I think I might do an entire series of button-enclosure pillows. I quite like them!

Vintage fabric finds

2011-01-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

Quilting patterns from cool photos

2010-12-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

Click any image for a larger view:

And:

You can do the same! It's here.

Gifting season is right around the corner

2010-11-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

I should probably get started...

Home

2010-10-20T13:02:00.001-07:00

Click the image for a larger version.

We just got new bedding and wow, what a difference! I'll post pics of it over the weekend. It's orange and gray!

IMP: Pabst Blue Ribbon pillow

2010-10-06T20:48:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine works for PBR and asked me to make a PBR pillow out of beer cozies. The obvious answer was "yes."

Let me walk you through it:

The cozies

The setup

Preppin' the bobbin

The pattern I settled on

My seam ripper was MIA so I used my fancy scissors to rip the seams. I had to be very careful to not cut the delicate foamy fabric

Ready to be sewn together!

Kinda fell in love with the ends of the cozies. I don't know what I can do with them, but I'm sure I'll figure something out

Sewed the strips

Then sewed the entire front (same for the back)

Now it was time for Morton the Angry Shark to give me pins to hold the pillow into place so I could sew it together

Morton the Angry Shark

All pinned down and ready to be sewn!

Blam! It's done

The finished product

Dining room is finished!

2010-09-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

Click the photo for a larger view.

PBR planter. Paint chip wall. Velvet upholstered dining chairs. I love my dining room!

IMP: This pillow took more than 10 hours to make

2010-09-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Click any image for a way larger IMAX-like version of the photo

Awhile back I cut out all these felt flowers and made them pretty:

I didn't post about them because the project I was working on at the time didn't pan out, but I did twitpic about them.

The flowers are felt. Nice, strong, beautiful felt. I really liked the shapes I came up with so instead of throwing them away in a fit of anger I decided to ziplock them up and hope that one day I'd come up with a project where I could incorporate them.

I found some old Paul Smith for Maharam samples that I had laying around (these aren't the ones you show the clients), and I thought, "why waste them? Let's sew them together and make a fucking pillow."

So after the I sewed the fabric strips together to create the pillow, I played with the arrangement of the flowers on the pillow so that I could come up with a composition I thought looked decent. I had never done anything like this before.

This is what I settled on. In the end a few changes were made, but overall it looks the same.

Next step was to pin down my flowers so that they wouldn't move while I hand stitched each petal (lordamercy what a pain).

Then the stitching began. It took a long, long time.

Back in December Mother Dearest gave me a wonderful Christmas gift. It was everything I needed to start embroidering. Unfortunately I was so used to a machine, that I didn't have the patience to get into it or appreciate the act. I love what it looks like once it's done, but the process was too boring for me.

This is the first time since then that I've tried hand-stitching anything for ornamentation. I was determined to make this pillow, so even though hand-stitching sucked and was totally boring I somehow enjoyed the whole thing because I knew the outcome would be worth it. Hopefully!

This is the first one I finished:

For the next one I said "let's try a little experiment and use the machine!" Although it looks different from the others, and it's obviously a cop-out, I still think it looks cool:

More details:

Since I didn't use a pillow form it's a tad bit lumpy, but that will even itself out over the next couple of weeks:

I really, really, really like this pillow. What do you think?

Please vote for our home!

2010-09-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've never shared our home with the internet before. Little snippets, sure. But never a real tour. I guess until now. We've entered a contest. And we'd really, really, really love to win! Please help us out by voting for us. You can do it via your Facebook account, otherwise you have to register (we'd really appreciate your vote!).

Thanks!

THANK YOU!

2010-09-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

A want to extend a huge thank you to Design Milk, Apartment Therapy, Hey, Lady Grey and Pinterest for posting about my paintchip wall! I'm so happy you all liked it!

Again, thank you!

Forever yours,
Sally

Pillow makin' posts

2010-09-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I love me some pillows. And by "love me some" I mean "makin' me some." I love making pillows. I know at first stuff can be a little intimidating, so when I make a pillow I try to document the process so that you, the readers, can follow along and perhaps (learn from my dumbass mistakes) make your own! Here are some that I've done so far:

1. Crazy-quilt-style patchwork pillow

2. Button-enclosure pillow with vintage buttons

3. The ribbon and trim pillow

4. Momma K's pillow

5. Square ruffle-edge pillow (part 2)

6. Square ruffle-edge pillow (part 1)

As always, you can see ALL of the pillows I've shared here. But some just don't come with directions!

XOXO

Sally

Kind of a rad photo

2010-08-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'm always searching for tiles that are like the ones in the Powell Street BART station (and some other stations, too). This is the closest I've got. It's totally unacceptable because it's wood and square. Boooooo.

The beauty of a BART station

2010-08-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

An update

2010-08-26T16:57:00.001-07:00

I'm still here! Just busy

People have asked why sallyTV isn't getting updated as often. There are several reasons. Here's some of them:

- I have a job that requires me to write 6 to 8 blog posts a day. It's hard to write that much and then start back up again at night
- I have a secret writing project that I've been working on for over a year. It takes up a lot of my time
- Most nights I'm roller skating with the best of them for sometimes up to 3 hours. Our track is also not in San Francisco so I have to commute
- I'm in love, and what precious free time I have I like to spend with this person (both of our schedules are insane)
- Again with the free time. If I have an extra hour a night I'd prefer to spend it cooking or watching documentaries on Netflix. Or trimming my house plants. Or creating paint chip walls, etc

With that said, I really miss frequently posting about the fun projects I'm working on. Especially pillows. I have three designs in the works right now. I'm just working on finding the time to do them.

I'd also like to expand this site so that it doesn't exclusively cover design stuff. I'm exploring the idea of making this blog more general.

I miss you guys. And thanks for still visiting (I keep getting hits!). More projects to come soon. I promise.

Paint chip dining room wall project is now complete

2010-08-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

I finished a few days ago. Now it's time to reupholster (still haven't found the perfect fabric... but I'm on a time line!) the dining room chairs and perhaps paint the chairs or table. I'd love for them to be black or charcoal.

Anyway, the wall. You can click it for a larger version (hey, Joel, note the corners):

Almost done!

2010-08-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

A few answers to some questions that have been asked:

1. Yes, once the entire surface is covered I do plan on detailing the curved corners. It looks bad at the top, but that's only because I'm leaving the details 'til last.

2. No, I am not going to figure out a way to "flatten" the paint chips. I like the way some are flat are others are not. It adds depth.

3. OMG SO EXCITED!!!

Good design

2010-08-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

Comes in many forms.

Close-up of the wall-in-progress

2010-07-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Click the image for a larger view

Work in progress...

2010-07-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Remember my big plans to paint my dining room? And how I totally involved all of my rad readers? I was SO excited. Unfortunately, the paint company that sponsored the contest decided to not honor their agreement and send me the paint! Boo!

Instead of crying in a corner because the colors you guys selected were so pretty, I decided to say "f it" and come up with another plan.

I'm really into decorating my own pad for as little money as possible, as I use it as kind of a place to experiment with decorating ideas. The cheaper, the better.

About three years ago I was given a complete set of a certain paint company's paint chips. Not a fan book (I was given that, too), but samples that came in a carry case and were larger than a paint chip. They're great, but some of them have been discontinued and blah blah blah the case is really heavy I just use the fan book most of the time. So I had this giant case of paint chips in my tiny apartment, just taking up space and not being used. I decided to put them to good use! I'm at the half-way point...

The chairs need to be reupholstered (just bought them last week!) and I should probably get some more Fedora FLOR tiles but don't look at that stuff look at THE WALL! That's part one of "DINING ROOM MAKEOVER." It's a paint chip wall. And it is happening completely for free (well, I had to buy double-sided tape).

What do you think? Is it cool? Ugly? THE BEST THING YOU'VE EVER SEEN? Are your eyes bleeding? I work on it every day (and it brings me a copious amount of joy - I love reading all the weird names of the colors), and think it'll be done within two weeks.

Let me know what you think!

Beautiful accidental garden

2010-07-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

Recently I was in Alaska and I stumbled upon this accidental garden. Isn't it gorgeous?

IMP: Bench cushion for Mother Dearest

2010-07-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

This was easily one of the simplest projects I've ever done. The entire process took less than 2 hours by myself. I thought about piping, but I couldn't find any I liked, and was on a bit of a time line. So I said "screw it! Let's just find the perfect fabric." Which I did.

Step one:

Measure your bench to make sure you know the length (I'm assuming you don't have a bench that is more than 54" deep). If you have a bench that is 22" deep and 90" length, buy 90" of fabric and then just cut one panel out that is 44" x 90." You'll save yourself sewing two separate pieces of fabric, because instead you'll just FOLD over the 44" one to make it 22" deep. Let's keep it lazy. Other supplies you'll need: quilt batting. In this particular situation I bought 180" length of batting because I thought just one layer wasn't soft enough. So with 180" I folded it in half.

Let me just attempt to drive home the importance of having a nice, big, flat surface to cut your fabric. It's so, so important. And do your best to work AROUND the fabric. Don't make it come to you!

And that's it. Seriously. I just sewed one end and the length, turned it outside in, stuffed it (evenly) with batting, then sewed it up.

Two hours, folks. Seriously!

Terracotta pot project part 1

2010-07-16T10:46:00.001-07:00

I still haven't figured out what to do with the top. Leaving it blank looks weird, more colored bubbles would be overkill.... any suggestions? After I (or you!) figure that out, I'll clean it up and coat it with some type of sealant.

Tiny little elephant flowerpot with Mother Dearest

2010-07-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

I bought an adorable little elephant planter off of eBay. I mean it's a planter in the sense that you can put shit that will grow in it, but its diameter is like the size of a dime. And it's got the length of a bullet. It can maybe fit like three olives or maybe about a quarter dozen of asparagus. But since Mother Dearest is a gardening extraordinaire she managed to figure something out.

I'm very happy that he's a new addition to my home (I have so many houseplants, but none (on purpose) flower!). His gorgeous lavender flowers will make me happy everyday when I wake up to see him (his permanent position is on my night table, until he dies or needs a bigger pot).

Check out the pics below:

Tiny little fella

Momma K being like "don't even bother with that other garbage dirt you find outside. This here be real soil. Ya heard?"

There's this one plant in Momma K's house that will not stop growing. Like if you violently rip off (not that I've tried it...) one of its stems, said stem will just go and do its own thing and grow into another plant. Like a worm, but way more creepy.

Making sure monsieur elephant is jam-packed full of the finest soil.

Oh my Gawd little Bro is basically done. All we need to do now is clean up shop and make sure he doesn't have dirt in his eyes (elephants hate that).

Then we (she) added just a wee bit o' water, cause plants can't grow in dry soil.

Little bro-face mafia man up in my mom's garden on a rock like "HECK YES! THE WORLD IS MIIIINE!"

I'm trying out this ebay thing

2010-07-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

I've never been one to partake in peddling wares on eBay. Mostly because I'd rather keep all my scores to myself or my clients. However, I recently came across a plethora of goodness, and honestly I just don't have the space to house my growing collection of "rad shit."

I figured I'd start with some goodies but not necessarily collectibles. Eye candy, if you will. Please let me know what you think! And if you love something, BID ON IT! Look at the prices, guys. You know this is like, bottom barrel discount pricing. I'm charging $3 for a Blenko glass lookalike, I say goddamn. Nothing is over $4.

All details (like measurements!) are listed on the linked to eBay page!

Photos followed by the listing:

Glossy Black and White Opaque Glass Hollywood Regency Style Goblets (set of two)

Okay we poppin champagne like we won a championship game (or something).
I don't know what I'd do without Lil Wayne.

Vintage Handmade in the USA Orange & Brown Bowl

There is nothing particularly special about this bowl except that it is fucking badass looking. Imagine if it was on your Dorothy Draper console table in your foyer, just sitting there? Maybe a beautiful English Convex Mirror was above it. Your guests would arrive and they'd be like "HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Is that a bowl?! A fruit basket?!? AN ORIGINAL WORK OF ART?!?" And you'd be like, "just put your keys in there so you don't forget about them. No worries."

Green Ceramic Birds (set of two)

The unfortunately part about this listing is that the photos make it look like a 3-legged dog designed the birds. In reality, the colors are very vibrant and beautiful. A real score for whoever wants to spend a whopping $2 on the pair.

Wales Made in Japan Teapot

Holy shit look at those flower details fuck I feel like I'm at a rave that my grandma took me to (again).

Let me first apologize for making your eyes bleed. I know that an occasional dose of kitsch does a body good, but gooddamn. With that said, this shit is a collectible so I don't care. There are already eBay buyers "watching" the sale. Meaning, they haven't bid yet, but are "watching" it to see if there's any action around it. Plus, it's $3, so it's a win-win situation.

Wales Made in Japan vase
Hahhahah you thought I was done murdering your eyeballs but I'm not because KABOOYA here's another from the SAME SET!!!!!! They work well together. Aaaand the vase has got itself a fancy stamp:

Mid-Century Modern Purple Vase

It's real pretty. Let's be honest here. It's got that look you want. Unless you're stupid. But for $4 it's a steal and we both know it. Just bid on it. I don't need to justify this one

There are a few other things for sale but I'm tired and need to practice jumping on one foot while on rollerskates. Life is so hard.

Please, please, PLEASE tell me what you think of my first attempt at eBay. Am I using the right keywords? Are my prices okay (I mean, nothing is more than $4...)? Should I use Comic Sans for my listings? Any input would be greatly appreciated! And please, don't forget to bid ;)

Your fan,

Sally

And we're back!

2010-07-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the silence. As you can imagine, there isn't much internet action happening up in Alaska. With that said, I'm happy to be back! I've just completed a new bench cushion, which I can't wait to share on sallyTV. I've also been decorating a terracotta planter, which I'd like your opinions on. Oh, and I have been antiquing up a storm! Can't wait to share my finds with you.

Look out for another update today!

xoxo,

Sally

I'm on vacation!

2010-07-04T16:11:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the silence. I've been on vacation. Will return to regular posting around the 14th of July.

NEW dream home

2010-06-22T12:30:00.001-07:00

Hell yeah!

Dream house

2010-06-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

I would like my dream home to be chartreuse. Chartreuse is a very bright color, but all of the beautiful wisteria vines will cover it, so it'll only peek out from behind the vines. The front door will be a deep maroon, and the trim will be bright white.

That's the exterior of my dream home. Some day I'll get there.

IKEA Job Interview

2010-06-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

Campana brothers studio tour

2010-06-14T10:13:00.001-07:00

This is definitely the coolest studio tour I've ever seen.

RIP Tobias Wong

2010-06-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

Too soon.

1974-2010

Best rug EVER

2010-05-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

So tonight we are browsing Craiglist for cheap rugs and sofas and we came across this ad. I'd like to gush about it but I'm too busy having my mind blown right now by the prospect of having a 5'x8' rug with dolphins swimming in outer space.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Concreteworks

2010-05-17T11:00:00.001-07:00

Concreteworks is a design and fabrication studio based in Oakland, California. They are responsible for nearly all of the concrete in your favorite restaurants (think Nopa), bars (think Midi), and houses (think award-winning Margarido house). But it doesn't stop there. Concreteworks has its fingers in a lot of pies. Like the recently completed Twitter headquarters, where they created a custom table top for their conference room (photos below). The designs that they create are both innovative and beautiful; and it's widely acknowledged that they're one of the best concrete fabricators in the country.

I recently toured their headquarters and production area. It was my first visit to their space, and to say I was blown away would be an understatement.

Immediately upon entering, a sort of calm envelopes you. It's a very laid-back environment, even though they work very hard and produce a copious amount of product a week. The sun peers in from different angles, which provides wonderful natural light and warmth. I was also expecting a more polished showroom, but was pleasantly surprised at how casual it was. Another thing I noticed was that everyone is consistently pleasant. In short, they're happy. It's a fun place to work. It seemed like every employee was happy to be there, which is a really wonderful feeling when you're touring a studio. All too often design studios take themselves a little too seriously, and the result is a lot of unhappy and overworked employees. Not at Concreteworks. When chitchatting with some of the project managers, they told me how many projects they were currently working on. The number was outstanding, but it didn't seem to phase them. They can and will handle it.

Check-out the photos below. As always, you can click any image for larger image.

Welcome.

And what do we have here? Cement panels, of course. Just not your Grandma's cement panels (although my Grandma would have very much appreciated these).

A portion of the entrance to Concreteworks.

It's really quite simple.

You pick a color combination.

And voilà! This is arguably my favorite sample.

Adorable!

Another cool sample.

This shot doesn't do these samples justice because you can't tell that light is shining through them. Here's a detail:

See? Glass rods with a very small diameter are placed into the concrete when it's still wet. It's a very difficult process.

Texture and color.

These decorative cement panels kept blowing my mind every time I got a glimpse of them. They are stunning.

Love this detail. I bet these panels could help with acoustical problems.

So unbelievably cool!

Hello there, gorgeous free-standing tub. Do you mind if I take you home with me and soak in you FOREVER?

I love the contrast of the softer, warmer concrete against the rough, untreated concrete.

The reddish shape is actually the Concreteworks logo.

Once you visit Concreteworks, you realize concrete is more than just a solid surface material. You can do so many different things with it, and it can take on so many different looks.

See what I mean?

Fun little trinkets around the studio.

So, so pretty.

Overall shot of an area of the production space.

Workers getting a tub ready.

I thought it was pretty neat that Concreteworks posted their mission statement in the production area. It's a nice type, too.

Rubber molds for cement panels.

Highly technical work happens at Concreteworks. It's not just pouring wet cement into molds. During the tour, Mark Rogero (founder of Concreteworks) would be explaining a process to me and I'd be like "yeah, totally!" and secretly vent to myself for not understanding what he was talking about. Mark is a concrete master and should be studied by science. The guy's that good.

Overall shot of the sample library in the shop.

Close-up of some of the samples in the Concreteworks production area.

Nice detail shot. So smooth.

Almost-ready sinks.

Workers working!

Detail of the concrete that's being used for a tequila bar that will be opening in Oakland. I can't remember what the natural fiber in there is, but it looks like wheat.

So smooth and simple. It's a perfect countertop.

I feel in love with these sinks. They're so beautiful.

Little drainage details like this is why Concreteworks soars above the competition.

SO GOOD.

Outside of the production area. Look at those giant slabs of colorful concrete! Swoon.

At Concreteworks, they produce very little waste. In fact, all of the extra concrete does not go to waste. It's put into this:

Until it's filled up and then it's these:

Giant blocks that are very beautiful, especially up close:

That have endless possibilities for their use.

So, so gorgeous. I fell in love with these blocks.

The texture and the different colors are so wonderful.

More Twitter HQ tables! Twitter has a bird for a logo, so it seemed appropriate to incorporate birds into their conference tables.

The material and technique is so simple. When I found out I had one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments. Then I realized that I didn't think of it because I'm not a genius like Mark Rogero.

FLLLYYY, little birdies!

I would like to have a meeting at this table.

Tons and tons of sinks for a restaurant that will be opening soon.

A worker buffing.

The production area is HUGE.

More samples of concrete in the production area. I just loved all the samples and didn't want to stop taking photos of them.

Does "endless possibilities" pop into your head when you see this photo?

Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed the photos. Please leave a note in the comments to let me know what you think. And, OF COURSE, visit Concreteworks. They have so many cool products. And it's a great source for inspiration (and potential purchasing!).

IMP: Button-enclosure pillow with vintage buttons

2010-05-16T11:37:00.001-07:00

Just a note:

This pillow is for one of my auntie's. She recently had a bit of a health scare, so she's been staying at home and taking care of herself. I hope she likes it!

This pillow was a lot of fun because I'VE NEVER DONE A BUTTONHOLE BEFORE. Slightly scary because I always assume I'm doing everything wrong if I'm doing it for the first time. That's just how I mentally roll.

As always, you can follow along in the book, The Pillow Book (by Shannon Okey), which is where I get these pillow instructions from.

Let's get started!

The book is like "go through your family stash of vintage buttons!" I don't have a "family stash" of cool buttons, so I opted to go to a button store instead. I found these really neat wooden buttons that I thought worked really well with the fabric. They were $3 each, so I spent $15. The fabric was $12 a yard (I bought half a yard).

One of my favorite parts of the pillow making process is matching up my thread(s) to the fabric (I went with the middle one). I love all the different colors.

I am not the biggest fan of pillow forms. I'd rather use a fill and then just stitch them closed, FOREVER. I feel this way because I'm lazy and I rarely get the pillow to be the exact same size as the pillow form (truth). With that said, when I make a pillow for someone else, I feel obligated to try to get it right so that they have the option of taking the form out and getting the fabric cleaned, etc. So! I was REALLY CAREFUL to make sure my measurements were 100% accurate. NO SCREWING AROUND!

People are always like "If you have to cut 40 inches of fabric, how do you keep your line straight?!?" Sometimes you can follow the pattern on the fabric (like if it's a stripe), or sometimes if the weave is really straight, you can use that, too. My best solution is to just use whatever very long straight thing you have lying around the house. What I do first is measure the width, and mark it several times over the course of what I think is 40 inches . So like, I have 19" width marks along the long part of the fabric. Then I get a giant piece of square cardboard and I connect the marks, so that I create a very straight 40" line at 19" wide.

Straight line! Double check your width (especially in the middle if you were lazy and didn't make enough measurement marks) in a variety of different spots along the 40" line to make sure you are 19" all the way across. WE'RE TRYING TO FIT A PILLOW INTO THIS! Accurate measurements are essential. If it's even half an inch off, it'll be really difficult to fit your pillow form in it, and you'll have to take extra steps to keep it closed (you don't want the white pillow form bulging out through the fabric).

EXACT MEASUREMENTS!

Next step is to cut your piece of fabric out.

Then press, press, press. Remember, your iron is your BFF. Make sure you talk to it while you press. Check in with it, make sure it's having a good week.

Then you want to measure and press each end (the 19" ends, not the 40" sides) about half an inch so that you can sew them down to create a nice and polished end.

Make sure it's the same measurement all the way across. Everything should be even!

Both sides! This end parts are the flap that the pillow form goes through.

Make sure your machine is on the right settings. I'm using a really thick and heavy weave, so I had to adjust my tension A LOT.

BACK STITCH!!!!!

Now that that sewing portion is done, it's time to select the placement of your buttonholes. I went on center and then 3" out. So there is a button hole every 3." I marked 5 spots.

See what I'm saying?

Now take a few minutes to sip some of your cocktail. It's necessary to reward yourself for your hard work thus far. And also to loosen up a bit (but not too loose! We still have to create our buttonholes).

With buttonholes you want to measure them a little bit longer than your actual button. An example: if your button has a 1" diameter, you should probably make your buttonhole something like 1-1/8" wide. You don't want your button to have a hard time getting through the hole, but you also don't want it to be able to slip out easily.

Just a little bit wider.

If you have a buttonhole foot for your machine, use it. It's a godsend.

After you've done one buttonhole, make sure you can get your button through.

Mark your measurements for your buttonholes!

After you finish each one, make sure it's the same as the last. You don't want them to be different lengths, or have different starting and finishing points. Consistency!

GENTLY use your seam ripper to open up the buttonhole. ESPECIALLY be gentle if you're using a heavy fabric.

Again, you want to make sure your button holes all line up.

With heavy weaves it's really difficult to do a buttonhole. Just be patient, it'll happen (and practice on excess fabric beforehand).

Try your best to get a clean opening. It's difficult, I know.

Make sure you adjust your tension accordingly, or else this will end up happening.

Once all your buttonholes are done (HOORAY!) you want to measure the closure.

You might have to make some adjustments, but the total length should be the size of the pillow form. For me, it was 18." And I NAILED IT! WOOOO!

Again, make sure it's still even all the way across. Especially in the middle!

The form is basically complete. Now it's just time to sew it shut.

BOOM! Now all you have to do is sew your buttons on.

Once you turn your pillow right side out, poke the corners out to make sure they're nice and square. I use a variety of whatever is near me. A Bic pen with its cap on works well.

Start to sew your buttons on...

And we're done!

Here's the finished pillow:

Related posts:
IMP: Pillow #4 square ruffle-edge pillow (part 2)
IMP: Pillow #1, the basic rectangular pillow

Mom's house

2010-05-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

A taste of what's to come

2010-05-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

A new pillow pattern; a tour of Concreteworks. I've been busy this week. Look out for new sallyTV posts in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek:

Super excited!

Is this the best bathroom ever?

2010-05-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

I hate glass blocks, it's serious. But I really like palms. But then I also really hate the base of that cabinet. I'm so confused! I can't stop looking at this bathroom. It looks like something out of a comic book! What do you think? Do you love it? Hate it? Don't care? Lemme know in the comments!

Photo via Contemporist

Thank you!

2010-05-11T15:38:00.001-07:00

Hello! I wanted to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who have linked to sallyTV over the past month. Especially you, MoCo Loco. The traffic has been great, and I really appreciate it! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

IMP: Momma K's pillow

2010-05-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

I found some discontinued fabrics at work. Instead of getting rid of the fabric book, I asked if I could have it to do a little craft project. I brought it over to my mom's house. When Momma K saw the fabrics, she was instantly attracted to the color palette.

She asked me to make her a pillow out of them. I, of course, said "ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY." We went through and selected the ones she liked. After all was said and done she had picked 27 colors.

Then I measured out what type of pillow size I wanted to create, and from there created a guide (on graph paper) that outlined the different sizes for each piece of fabric.

The entire time my mom sat with me, and she would tell me which ones she liked the best. The best ones got the bigger spots, the least favorites (although she liked all of them) got smaller spots. The colors that match my mom's business colors obviously took priority.

FYI, each fabric sample had a number on a sticker on the back. So I'd write the number on the paper, to help remember which fabric went where.

After we had filled out 27 spots, I packed it up and went home. I was anxious to start the project.

Let me just say that creating a quilt-like pattern is both tedious and boring. It's repetitive and unless you like that sort of thing (some ladies say it helps calm them down? Okay), I suggest making yourself a nice and strong double of whatever cocktail is your choice. Otherwise you will probably go mad doing the same mundane task over and over and over again. I'm not saying you should get crunked out. You still need to cut straight lines and then iron them and then sew them together, over and over and over again. But it's nice to have the edge off and be a tad bit loose. Trust me on this one.

When you start, don't cut out the exact size of the rectangle (or square) on your graph paper. You need to cut a little extra on each side so that you can sew the pieces together. I say more room is better than no room, so I give myself 1/4 of an inch on each side. So if a rectangle is 4" x 2-1/4", I cut out a rectangle that is 4-1/2" by 2-3/4" inches. If you aren't the best at sewing straight lines, or just haven't really done this before, give yourself half an inch. More is better.

USE A RULER. DO NOT EYEBALL IT. THIS IS SOUND ADVICE. LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES.

ADD A QUARTER OF AN INCH TO EACH SIDE.

BOOM. LIKE MAGIC.

Now it's time to sew. Now the sewing part can be both easy and difficult. It just depends on what type of person you are. For me, it's almost always difficult. You have to plan ahead. You have think your actions through. You have to break down the big square (the overall pillow pattern) into tiny little squares and figure out what which pieces of fabric should be sewn together first, and then sewn to other pieces of fabric. You're constantly trying to keep it a square/rectangle. This is especially true if you are prone to constantly messing up (like me!). I like to break down the pillow pattern into three parts:

Here's a post about a similar pillow I did. There are more pictures of me sewing the individual pieces of fabric together in that post. That will help if you're a visual learner like me.

Once you have sewn the big pieces together, it's time to trim any excess off. This is always kind of sad. You want to assume that the entire time you sewed everything together perfectly straight. But you didn't (if you're me, at least). That's okay. It'll still turn out looking totally rad.

Then sew the three big pieces together to create the front of your pillow. Weeee! After that you iron the fuck out of your creation and then sew it onto the piece of fabric that will go on the back of the pillow. I picked a nice and boring beige canvas. I'm not going to bore you with photos of that because I'm not trying to lose my readership. Here is the end result:

I like it. It reminds me of the view when you look out of a plane.

At Mom's house:

For more of my pillow projects, click here.

(sort of) Dream apartment!

2010-05-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

Aesthetically, this is my San Francisco dream apartment. 2-bedrooms, 2-baths. It’s got circular rooms, moulding galore, and great architectural details. I love all the finishes, too. Too bad it’s in a crap neighborhood, has a tenancy in common, and a crazy ridiculous monthly HOA fee of $550.

Listing here.

Maybe someday I'll get there

2010-05-06T21:37:00.001-07:00

Don't you love it when you see a certain photo... and no matter where you are, or how you feel, it takes you to another place?

TSMMWIWD: Life in plastic, it's fantastic

2010-05-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to figure what to say. I literally have no words.

Presented without comment (well...): Barbie Plastic Collection

Highlights include:

"The ultimate blend of kitsch and keepsake featuring the original Barbie doll and her quintessential take on life" ($750 + 12 week lead time)

"East meets West." $350 "For the adult collector." Limited to a run of 180 dolls

"Baroque Barbie style." $650 "Reinvention of Starck's ultra-famous Louis Ghost chair." 12 week lead time.

"$8,500. Includes S&H"

"French-designed "objet d'art" that lets you indulge your competitive spirit." MOTHERFUCKER, WHERE ARE THEIR ARMS???? THIS IS BASICALLY THE OPENING SCENE FROM SAW VII "$25,000 includes S&H Allow 30 weeks for delivery."

I'm going to go drain myself in a Swarovski-encrusted bucket full of gin and tonic now. Goodnight.

Space planning at its finest

2010-05-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

Presented without comment.

Thanks, EF.

I live here

2010-04-30T22:56:00.001-07:00

It's pretty great (3:18 is an amazing shot)

San Francisco in 4K from Patrick Lawler on Vimeo.

These globes are awesome

2010-04-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have a thing for globes. I especially love military globes. Also: black water globes. If they're vintage, even better. I found these today and FREAKED OUT because they're so awesome. They're from Nendo and they're called the Corona.

More info here.

Why didn't I think of that?!

2010-04-29T22:23:00.001-07:00

NSFW: I visited the Armory, which is the HQ for a porno company

2010-04-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Before we get to the unmentionables, I wanted to offer up some background.

I was unsure for quite some time if I wanted to post these photos (they were taken back in winter). My family reads this blog. Some things are sacred. With that said, fuck it. I started this blog to share interesting tidbits about my life in design. This is definitely one of them. Sure, it's not the type of content I regularly post (if you're expecting a pillow-making tutorial or some nerdy prefab talk, click out of this window now), but like the martini I just downed, sometimes I have to shake it up.

I got a private tour of the Armory. I took photos. And I want to share them with you. They're weird. It's a strange place. There aren't armories on every corner in every town. But really, what makes this particular armory so special? It's a "200,000 square foot reproduction Moorish Castle that was completed in 1914 and was used as a National Guard facility until 1976." Nah, that's not it. Although that's pretty neat. "it was used by George Lucas to film the first Star Wars movie." Nope, but pretty awesome. It's a unique and precious snowflake because Kink.com bought the building, and now it's where they shoot all their pornos and also operate their business.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kink.com, it's a very specific type of porno company. It peddles smut that deals with hardcore BDSM sex, bondage and fetish porn. I have a friend who works there.

Anyway, many months ago I got a private tour and was allowed to take photos. Check 'em out at your own risk. Mildly NSFW.

In the center of the Armory is a HUGE open space that used to be a drill court. Now it serves as a parking lot and general storage space (also: probably a place to hogtie someone).

I spotted this while walking around the upper areas of the drill court.

As you can see, Kink likes to explore many perverse fantasies.

Oh my goodness! They are setting up to shoot a porno.

One of the things I really appreciated about Kink.com's facilities was their dedication to cleanliness and safe sex. In every bathroom there were plenty of condoms and other things to make sure all the pornos were done in a professional and safe environment. Like the enema bathroom. This was the first time I had even heard of such a thing.

The armory is HUGE, so there are all sorts of rooms that have themes. One of my favorites was this dressing room. It had great Victorian furnishings!

Beautiful!

Plenty of people have probably been filmed having sex in there.

I really love the paint color.

That's not a window. It's just a piece of glass with a light behind it. This room is deep within the heart of the armory. It's really, really, really scary. You don't want to know what gets filmed in this room.

Same room, different side.

"Hello, and welcome to Kink University. Where you can get a great education in Fucking Machines or Becoming a Sex Slave."

This was a FANTASTIC looking chair that was inside the classroom. I seriously love it.

"Pardon me, Aiden, but would you mind grabbing me a copy of 'The Odyssey'? It's right next to that gas mask I'm going to put on you in 5 minutes"

Deep within the Kink.com basements (it goes many levels underground).

I wonder if Home Depot knew what they were getting into when they sold these utility racks to Kink.

At Kink, organization is very important. You wouldn't want the Fucking Machine people to use the Divine Bitches ball gag, now would you?

Just a random phone booth.

This, you know, is a room where they chain people up and then beat them.

I don't want to know what that random pole is for.

I think the cage in the middle was called the 'Humiliation Cage.'

This is actually a pretty rad photo. I could see a luxury brand like Versace or Gucci shooting a campaign in this room.

Lots and lots of chains.

Lots and lots of concrete.

Who knows?

I was told that they chain or tie sex slaves to this. And then they beat them.

More things to grab or get chained to.

The lighting is nice in this one.

The humiliation stage.

"Time to hit the showers!"

I have no idea what this is, but I suspect that occasionally someone gets put in it.

Torture corner!

Scary.

The bottom is dug out, so a whole body can fit in it. Then they clamp the metal part around the neck, so only your head is exposed.

This isn't even a quarter of the inventory they have on hand.

This is not a hard one to figure out.

People get put in that cage. And then they torture them! And they LIKE IT.

Only the finest furnishings are found at Kink.

A lonesome toilet in the dungeon.

Trust me when I say you DO NOT want to know what this robot is capable of.

You don't want to know what he's thinking.

This settee is beautiful!

:(

Found this in a hallway.

The aftermath of some previous filming.

Gotta keep work humorous.

That's it. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

I wouldn't mind living here

2010-04-19T12:01:00.001-07:00

A cool thing for your eyeballs (prefab action)

2010-04-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

The best general contractor I've ever dealt with is Will Capper. He was the GC for the Dwell Home: Silicon Valley that I was the interior designer for. Will is awesome, and he keeps me in his loop for cool and interesting projects he's working on.

I received a text a few days ago with the image above. It's a project he's working on in Los Angeles. The architect is Jonathan Davis. SO EXCITING! I love prefab.

Fix your nasty looking wood with stuff from your pantry

2010-04-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

I have a hard time sleeping. When this happens I usually just accept defeat and do design research via the internet until I fall asleep or I have to get ready for work. Whichever comes first.

A couple of nights ago my insomnia was really bad, so I spent maybe 3 hours (at 3AM) researching how to restore and mantain hardwoods (I'm so gangster). I found this amazing quick fix-it, and immediately sent it to my friend Ben, who's an avid vintage furniture collector (he likes to refurbish). I knew Ben probably had some hardwood pieces laying around that he could test it out on. The next day Ben sent me these pics*:

BEFORE!!!! (eewwwww)

AFTER!!!!!

"Holy shit," right? A FUCKING PECAN! Or a walnut, whatever you have up in your pantry. Sorry for all the swearing, but man. HARDWOOD FURNITURE FIXIN!!!! I get so excited.

So here's what you do:

- Get some pecans or walnuts or whatever

- Rub them on your water-stains or dings or whatever

- Dumbledore shows up but is wearing an invisibility cloak so you can't see him and he makes magic happen and BOOM

- THAT WATER STAIN IS GONE

*A note from Ben: "please excuse the not-so-great iPhone photo quality!"

My job is awesome

2010-03-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

And so is this rug (and my hosiery)

Random photos with captions!

2010-03-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Check it! This is a photo of an awesome craft project before it went terribly wrong. Those are felt flowers that I cut out and stitched together. Oh, crafting. How much pain you cause me.

If you know me then you know I love me some columns! Even weird ones in Berkeley. Me encanta el revestimiento de metal!

Ivy covered condos that are on the border of Chinatown and Nob Hill neighborhood in San Francisco.

Taken of me on Valentine's Day

Hot car near my mom's house

Girls Only Scrabble Club in full effect

B&B Italia has moved to a new spot in San Francisco. No more Townsend! Now, Utah Street.

Snappity snap snap

My lunch

When I'm content

He's radical

An oldie but still a goodie

2010-03-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

I made cranberry gin and tonics during Christmas... aren't they pretty?

"And the award for Sally's Favorite Door goes to..."

2010-03-11T20:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it's my favorite for now. This week. We spotted it when we were taking a walk through the Nob Hill neighborhood in San Francisco. GORGEOUS.

Friday Flowers came early

2010-03-10T01:06:00.000-08:00

Ugliest entry in all of San Francisco!

2010-03-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

Uguhughh.

Threads

2010-03-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

For a new pillow project!

Present from Mom

2010-03-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

"Damn"

2010-03-01T22:36:00.001-08:00

I'd love to have something like this

2010-02-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

It's silly, I know. But if I had a slipcover for my sofa I'd love to have some of my friends come over and "decorate" it. Slipcovers are so cheap, it's not like I'd be ruining an investment.

HOLY SHIT! It's a keyboard chair thing

2010-02-10T23:18:00.000-08:00

I'm not really into designers "repurposing" objects. Not because I don't like the idea of it, far from. It's because when designers do it it's usually half-assed and lacking in inspiration. "Hey, if I put a used Crystal Geyser bottle over a lightbulb.... boom! It's a lamp. Let's put this in a gallery and sell it for $400." Nah, friend. You need more than that. With that said, this stool thing is awesome. It's a great use of material, and the form is beautiful. This is a great example of repurposing.

Wolfgang Keyboard Bench by Nolan Herbut:

Via Design Milk

Truth in advertising

2010-02-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

We have a winning combo!

2010-02-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

MID-CENTURY MAYHEM!

Devine Color has been notified, and the paint's in the mail! Woo! Thanks to all my lovely readers for weighing in and voting, I really appreciate it!

Some pillow action

2010-02-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

My broken elbow is practically back to normal (one more week before it's totally healed!), so I'm trying to get back into my regular crafting routine (read: all the time). This has not been easy. I've tried 3 separate projects so far, and each one ended in disaster. The only thing I've been able to finish is a tube pillow, and let's be honest, it was easy:

It involved sewing multiple pieces of felt together, and then stuffing it full of poly-fil. Big whoop. Regardless, it's still pretty pretty, and I really like the colors. Too bad I can't keep it! It's for a friend.

Which color combination should I paint my dining room?

2010-02-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's messy, but it's going through a transition!

The above photo is of my dining room. It's adjacent to my main room, and my kitchen is behind the wall. I love my dining room, especially the natural light. But I can't stand the idea of living with so much beige anymore (ugh, beige). The reason I've put off painting the dining room is because so many of the walls nearby are black:

Devine Color was kind enough to offer up their newest palette to me, the Flora/fauna collection. Just a quick recap: Devine Color is the same company that gave me my black paint. It's got the texture of yogurt, super creamy. It's also 99% VOC-Free.

If VOCs were a person and I ran into him/her on the street I would push him/her and start yelling at them. I hate VOCs.

The newest palette has what the original palettes lacked before, bright colors. My apartment's color scheme is black and white with accents of bright colors, so the Flora/fauna collection will work well in my home. Check out the Flora/fauna collection in action:

Lots of pretty colors, yeah? The one I'm obsessed with is called Iguana:

The sample I have looks a little less lime than the one from the website. Still love it, though.

The more I think about it, the more I want to paint the dining room two colors. Keep the trim white, but paint the rest two different colors. Here's the combos:

MUY CALIENTE! COMO EL FUEGO!

GIRLY GIRL LOVES GIRLY COLORS FOR HER (NOT THAT GIRLY) GIRLY APARTMENT

MID-CENTURY MAYHEM

I READ DWELL MAGAZINE

Please let me know which combo is your favorite! RSS readers: it's a flash poll, so please click the post to be redirected to sallyTV.

Was this a good idea? Or just clever?

2010-01-26T15:23:00.001-08:00

I had a few martinis and then went online and found this image. I have no idea where it's from. Any help would be greatly appreciated. With that said...

Sup with this? Do we like it? Is it just silly? Clever? Amazing? Revolutionary? Stupid? A waste of resources? Kooky?

Discuss.

Spite house in London

2010-01-25T16:44:00.001-08:00

This house is in London. It just sold for something like $900,000. Not bad, right?

What's a spite house? Read about them here. I find them very fascinating (and often totally livable).

images via

OMFG

2010-01-22T18:33:00.000-08:00

I am IN LOVE with this kitchen:

Yes, I know... it's definitely not for everyone. In fact, it's probably not for 95% of the population. This kitchen is ridiculous. But for me? I'd love to have it. Too bad it belongs to Joan Rivers.

Her quote:

"I wanted a place where the dogs can get up on the furniture, where I can make a mess in the kitchen," she said. "My biggest thrill is making omelets for my friends. In New York I don't even know where my kitchen is."

LOVE IT! More here.

Miss Draper always brought the ruckus

2010-01-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

"Birds are so much wiser than we! A robin builds a nest for robins. A seagull builds a nest for seagulls. They don't copy each other - or build themselves nests as described in The Birds' Decorating Magazine."

Dorothy Draper, In the Pink

Another cool thing about Momma K

2010-01-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

You find stuff like this in her bathroom.

I'm hoping I can make some Aalto Savoy buttons, part 1

2010-01-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that I'm a big ol' Aalto nerd. He was a great architect blah blah blah I'll just admit it right here: 95% of why I worship the guy is because of his Savoy vase (the shape, really). That's why I'm a fan of his. That damn shape. I've even thought of having it TATTOOED on me so I could IMPRESS PEOPLE at DESIGN PARTIES. I'm only kind of pretending about that last sentence. Only kind of.

Anyway, so right before I busted my arm up I was in the process of trying to figure out if I could make Savoy shaped buttons from scratch. It's for one of my pillow projects. I don't know the first thing about buttons, and I certainly haven't got the faintest idea of how to make one. But whatever! There is no harm in trying. And it didn't cost a thing.

I broke my elbow in the middle of the process (well, the buttons were drying...I was out roller skating. I didn't break my elbow because of button making), so this post is only half done. So far I think they're looking cool. Check it out:

My supplies: five different colored microfiber fabric samples, my Aalto Savoy cookie cutter, pen and fabric scissors.

Trying to use as little fabric as possible. I wanted to get the most bang for my not-buck.

Me trace good!

Moving on to another color...

Finished tracings!

Bein' very careful while cutting. The correct shape is very important. No boozin' beforehand.

Something I learned after I mad the mistake: Trace on the BACKSIDE of the fabric, because you don't want to get pen marks on the front of the fabric. Thankfully I used microfiber fabric so...

I just washed them with soap and water in the bathroom and then hung them to dry.

Looking forward to finishing them and posting Part 2 sometime this week!

What the F?

2010-01-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

Check this monstrosity out:

I don't really understand what "target audience" Urban Outfitters thought this pillow was for. Whatever, at least they're not selling it anymore (photo was taken a few months ago). More of this, please. Thank you.

Ugh, part 2

2010-01-14T15:47:00.000-08:00

You can't fully appreciate the art of changing a duvet cover until you do it with one arm.

Having a broken elbow is seriously messing up my homemaking steez.

A little guide to lighting your home

2010-01-13T18:31:00.000-08:00

I (along with two of my girlfriends) have another blog called Bathroom Banter, Tales from the Ladies Room. It's essentially a ladies blog about modern etiquette and other fun stuff. I recently wrote a post on basic lighting skills, so I thought I'd reblog it on sallyTV:

Richard Avedon book is an all-time fave. As is the lamp that’s illuminating the room (recessed lighting on dimmer not pictured)

Making your apartment or house a home is essential to a well-rounded life. Your home is your sanctuary. Because of this, it’s important to outfit your space with items that reflect your style and personality. Let’s talk lighting.

Proper lighting is absolutely crucial. Here are some tips:

At home, your overhead light should NEVER (except in the kitchen, we’ll get to that) be the primary source of light. In fact, unless you have a chandelier or recessed lighting on a dimmer, I’d avoid turning on overhead lights all together. All they do is cast a shadow down on everything, including your face (the horror!). The exception is your kitchen, where as much light as possible (and as many lighting options as possible) is the way to go.
Understand the power of a light bulb. A lot of folk assume that a table or desk lamp only lights a table or desk. That isn’t always the case. Usually those types of lamps are called task lamps and they’re about directly a small and powerful source of light onto a surface, like where you pen your secret letters to your overseas lovers. Most table lamps will actually illuminate quite a few feet around it. It’s all about the shade and the light bulb it’s outfitted with. Both of the ones I linked to (up there) are fantastic.
Floor lamps are your best friend (and lover). You can direct large portions of light onto whatever area you want. They can easily light up an entire room (your average apartment room size, not a penthouse on Park ave). There are tons of different options for every type of spender.
Dimmer, dimmer, dimmer. At this point, there shouldn’t be lighting on the market that isn’t on a dimmer. Always buy lamps with a dimmer (exception are vintage).
The most romantic lighting will always and forever be candle light. It’s also the least expensive. This is non negotiable.

TSMMWIWD: "Uughghghhh" of the Week

2010-01-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

You know how you have a favorite band? Of course you do! Let’s assume your favorite band has put out... seven albums. On those seven albums let’s say there are twelve tracks. So eighty four songs in total. How many of them are you going to love? I mean, absolutely adore? Quite a few if they’re your favorite band. But occasionally you hear the bad ones. The “filler tracks.” The same thing happens with your favorite furniture manufacturers.

Just what the fuck. Cappellini is one of my favorite furniture manufacturers. And one of their latest designs makes me wish I wasn’t a designer. Antlers? Really, Cappellini? Antlers? There is no situation I want to be in where this is the chair upon which I have to sit. Ridiculous.

House from what I can only assume is the future is blowing my mind

2010-01-08T11:31:00.001-08:00

More HERE.

Happy (almost) New Year!!!

2009-12-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

I broke my elbow so I can't type or sew. Hence the lack of updates.

2009 was fun, 2010 will be better.

Happy New Year, I love you!

xoxo,

Sally

Happy holidays!

2009-12-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

I love you!

Housesitting again...

2009-12-19T14:43:00.001-08:00

It's distracting.

Taking a break to drink some wine

2009-12-17T17:34:00.001-08:00

In a cave

Straight from the barrel

I got crazy eyes

It's impossible for Danielle to have a bad photo taken of her

Real Good Experiment

2009-12-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

Blu Dot Real Good Experiment from Real Good Chair on Vimeo.

To say this video is awesome would be an understatement! Blu Dot blows my mind, and I enjoy using their furniture in my clients homes. Added bonus: Pal Andrew Haarsager is the "scientist." WE LOVE DR. SCIENTIST!

Run, don't walk

2009-12-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

My favorites

2009-12-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen

The tuxedos... the smoking indoors... the suave looks on their faces. They don't make them like this anymore.

Thanks for the photo, Ben.

What to do...

2009-12-09T10:12:00.001-08:00

With the blank canvas that is my dining room? I'm having a hard time with this! Chartreuse on the wall? FLOR design on the tiles? Help!

A glimpse of LEED-H Platinum in Marin, CA

2009-12-05T16:18:00.000-08:00

Good friend McDonald Construction and Development, Inc and Martin Design have just completed Marin County's first LEED-H Platinum home, a huge feat!

For those of you who don't know, MCD is also the builder behind the most awesome house ever, the Margarido House (first LEED-H Platinum house in Northern California, woot!), which has been extensively covered here on sallyTV.

131 Hillside is being photographed professionally over the next couple of days, but in the meantime Mike (the man behind MCD) was kind enough to take and share some photos. Granted, some are blurry and dark (iPhone!)... but it's a sneak peek into an incredible project. Professional photos coming soon.