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Friday, May 10, 2013

Link-up: Corner of My Home

The amazing Australian duo, Kylie of Lucy Violet Vintage and Donna of Hung Up On Retro, have done it again! After all the fun we had when they came up with the idea for The Great Retro Cook-Off (see here and here), they had another brilliant idea...for us to link-up again and share our favorite retro and vintage inspired corners of our homes. I had such a great time making the Swedish Salad Mold for the Retro Cook-Off that I was thrilled to sign up for this linky. I know it will be just as much fun.

Since I moved into my new "modernist nest," I haven't been able to pull off a full reveal yet, since I'm waiting for all the landscaping to be finished before I call someone out to take photographs with a proper lens. (The place is tiny, I tell you, and there's no way I could do it justice with my camera.)

Luckily, getting a few close-up shots didn't prove to be quite as challenging. The things I've photographed for this post will probably be visible only on the periphery of the reveal photos anyway (and some not at all). I think they deserve more love than that, so this link-up gives them their due.

First, let me show you my pared-down collection of china. Before I moved to my new digs, I had a large collection of Russel Wright Iroquois Casual china in avocado yellow and ripe apricot, as well as a few pieces of Russel Wright American Modern in chartreuse and granite gray. I also had several pieces of Ben Seibel Harvest Time by Iroquois. More than 50 pieces of avocado yellow and chartreuse have been packed away and listed on Craigslist. I'm using the ripe apricot Iroquois Casual for my everyday dishes, and I'm displaying serving pieces of Harvest Time, Iroquois Casual and American Modern atop the cabinets in my kitchen, since there's no room in my downsized life for my Drexel Profile china cabinet...a small price to pay for the new apartment's efficiency, ease of maintenance and proximity to my grandsons!


Greater love hath no woman than to bare her kitchen cabinets to her blog friends.
(In case you were wondering, I kept the carafe and the 4-quart lidded casserole!)

And, of course, the samovar and large pitcher made the cut.


Because my new apartment is so small, I had to get creative with the use of space. I opted to have no traditional closets, either in my bedroom or in my bathroom. (My laundry room doubles as a walk-in clothes closet, with a 11' rod and chest of drawers opposite the washer and dryer.)  In the bathroom, an IKEA Expedit stores the usual necessities in Knipsa baskets and also holds towels and part of my collection of vintage birds, with a few other vintage pieces thrown in for good measure.


New Expedit, vintage accessories

Bitossi vase

Vintage glass bird (Dino Martens, perhaps?)

Kingfisher, by Tapio Wirkkala

Vintage hand-carved primitive bird

Vintage candleholders and wooden egg

I hope you'll drop by Donna's and Kylie's blogs and check out all the beautiful corners of all the beautiful homes! You're in for a treat.

46 comments:

  1. Hi Dana, thanks for sharing your lovely spaces.I do like your Harvest Time pieces. Tamara

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    1. Thanks so much, Tamara! I really enjoyed seeing your home too.

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  2. I love how you've styled your Expedit with the black and white vases and birds. And thanks for the heads up on the link party. I'll head over now and see what has turned up!

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    1. Thanks, Alison! Could you see the toilet tissue peeking through the opening in one of the baskets? That truly is where all my bathroom necessities are stored. :)

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    2. No I didn't, but now I do! So clever! I can't wait to see the rest of the place once you get your photographer out there. Really. Can't. Wait.

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  3. A great mix with the IKEA!
    Love the pottery and the birdies!
    Can't wait for more though?

    xx

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    1. We're about halfway done with the landscaping. It shouldn't be long now.

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  4. Lovely Dana!! Your cupboard is so clean and lovely! I would show that to anyone walking past if mine looked like that!! I particularly like the china cups etc with the leaf print on it - that is a beautiful set. I have a bit of a thing for Birds too - so I really like your little bird pieces. Thanks so much for joining in Dana - much appreciated!! Can't wait to see your full reveal of your beautiful home. : )

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    1. Donna, thanks so much to you and Kylie for this opportunity to link up. Again, it's so much fun! I've only been in my apartment a month, so don't ask to see inside the cabinets in a year. Mine have a way of collecting cold remedies and other assorted items I'm too lazy to put in their proper place. :)

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  5. Crying here! Love it all. I really wish I could visit in person. I kinda feel like I have. So divine Dana. I like how you've used Ikea as well. I don't diss. Ikea. It has a great role to play in a M-C and Modern home by bringing some utilitarian Scandinavianess.

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    1. When I decided to build the apartment behind my house, I knew I couldn't spend a fortune on it. It will be, after all, nothing more than an ancillary building to prospective buyers in the future. When I decided to go with IKEA cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom, the Expedit was a natural choice for storage. The cabinets turned out much nicer than I had expected, and the Expedit should remain sturdy since it won't be moved.

      I love a mix of vintage and new, and I have both. I also don't mind a good bargain, and buying the IKEA gave me more money to spend on vases...:)

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    2. Spend on vases, lovely ring to it!

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  6. I could have done without the embedded picture "in my brain" reminder of that mess of a salad mold...Ughhh...Place is looking great and looking forward to the reveal!!

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  7. Can't go past Ikea to mix with vintage, I have 3 of the wooden bench trolleys I move around to display/store things on. 1 in the office I use as a bookshelf at the top and storage below...so funcitonal.
    I love those pieces on the shelf with the leaf pattern...much like some mid-winter I found the other day which I havent blogged about as yet :)

    Look forward for the full reveal!!

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    1. Nothing beats some of the IKEA storage pieces for value and functionality. They are so simple in design that they fit in very unobtrusively with more expensive pieces. The Expedit works perfectly in my bathroom. I bought a small kitchen cart at IKEA that I really like too.

      I look forward to seeing you Midwinter pieces.

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  8. oh your cupboard appears in my dreams Dana! doors open...flashing at me!. and I love your birds. I cant wait for the day I could dare to display such pretties (without them ending up having bubbles bath with a certain two terrors) xx

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    1. Believe me, I have to watch Grandsons #1 and #2 like a hawk when they're here. Every single time they go into the bathroom, the birds are rearranged. My job isn't as time-intensive as yours would be, here, since they don't actually live here...or take baths. :)

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  9. Dear Dana,
    I really like what you have done with a new IKEA Shelve. It looks vintage itself for now. Mostly I love your Bitossi vase. Great pictures.
    Greetings from Germany, Ria

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    1. Ria, thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm so glad you like my vase. I took it from our store because my son-in-law never really liked it. I can't understand why...because I fell in love with it the minute we got it. It's great being able to take home the things he decides he doesn't want in the store!

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  10. Hi Dana, I have been desperate to have a look at "the nest". It's looking lovely, and this is just a tease! can't wait to see it in its entirety. I feel a bit guilty dissing the old Allen key on my blog today, especially when it's (Ikea) looking so fab at your place.
    I love your Bitossi, Kingfisher and the china with the leaves on it most especially. The shape of that pitcher is beautiful.
    Thanks so much for joining in today Dana, you're a legend!

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    1. Don't feel guilty at all, Kylie. Trust me, I've been the biggest disser of IKEA on the planet, but I witnessed my daughter and SIL's old Expedit (one of the first things they ever bought together) go through several moves in the course of 7 or 8 years before it collapsed in a heap, so I figured I'd be OK if I got one and didn't move it around.

      I guess I don't really think of the Expedit in my bathroom as furniture. I needed a fixture that would substitute for a linen/storage closet, and that was a practical, inexpensive solution. It really is where I store soap, shampoo, toilet tissue, etc. The birds and vases are there to camouflage it.

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  11. Oh my goodness - I just LOVE your apartment. It is so different to my own home and yet I could take everything just as it is and move right in. I especially like the china with the leaf design - I don't often see something I really covert but I wish I could reach into your photos and spirit them away!

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    1. Thanks so much, Sharon. The Harvest Time china is a relatively recent addition to my collection. The pattern has received several nice comments on this post, so I'm glad it's what I decided to keep when I downsized.

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  12. Oh Dana, your photos are like something from some posh interiors magazine. Stunning. I'm so glad I hopped over. xx

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    1. Loo, that's such a nice thing to say. I'm so glad you hopped over too!

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  13. That tile behind the black bird is going to have a nice conversation with the Pollo vase, when you bring one home!!

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    1. That's another example of mixing old and new to good advantage. I got that tile on sale from CB2 several years ago, and it's still one of my favorite things. I think it fits right in with the vintage pieces. And the Pollo WILL be coming home...sooner or later. Thanks for the positive energy on that. :)

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  14. You are the complete opposite to me in decor style but I LOVE the clean sleek lines. Beautiful - must be very soothing to live like that - sometimes my kitschy clutter drives me bonkers! Deer and roses shouting at me from every corner. :)

    That little stool lurking in the corner of your bathroom is FABULOUS- it's the star of the show, I think.

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    1. Isn't it interesting that we can absolutely love someone else's style, even if our own is totally different? I will admit that minimalism is a challenge for me, and I don't really pull it off very well. I love THINGS too much and am constantly buying more.

      I've really enjoyed seeing the homes in this link-up, many of which are very different from mine. So many are filled to the brim with kitsch and color, and they're so cheerful. At this stage of my life, though, the less I have to dust, the better. That plays a big part in my choice of decorating style. :)

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    2. BTW...the little stool is straight from CB2. It's called the Contact stool, and despite it's small size, it weighs a ton!

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  15. Hello thank you for dropping by my house...now i am here to peep at yours.....I love this 'linky'.....You are so clever to keep everything neutral.....its very calm and peaceful.....thank you for sharing it with us all.....
    bestest daisy j x

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    1. Daisy, I do things in phases. This is my neutral phase. :) Over my 40+ years of decorating, I've had tons of color, and there's still a good bit of orange, red, turquoise and chartreuse in my living room and bedroom, although those are just accent pieces. Walls and large pieces are neutral...till the next whim hits me.

      Thanks so much for stopping by and starting to follow my blog. I loved seeing your home, and I hope I'll be seeing you visit here often.

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  16. Oh, Donna, everything looks so great! The china is amazing, what a pleasant sight when you open those cabinet doors,lovely colors! Love the birds, the kingfisher is amazing. And such clever storage, my youngest has the Expedit in his room with red plastic drawers:-) Such a versatile piece of furniture, it can go from an eleven year old's room to a stylish mid century nest in a flash! So looking forward to the rest, Dana!!

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    1. I agree that IKEA has come up with some great inserts for the Expedit. My daughter had the plastic ones in hers to store the boys' toys in. The Expedit really is a sturdy, versatile storage piece that blends unobtrusively into almost any modern setting. It can be dressed up or down, and the price is certainly right.

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  17. Dana, awesome! You do love your birds don't you? I may have to get one of my own now. The Expedit is perfect! I haven't stepped foot in Ikea in ten years. I may have to nose around. I am glad you are waiting for a proper reveal with high quality pictures. Let's do it justice. We have waited this long we can wait a few more weeks. Of course I love your Russel Wright. Is the chartreuse all sold? I will totally buy it

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    1. Yes, I've become a little obsessed with birds. I used to have finches and a real canary. The upside of these is that there's no clean-up.

      I thought I had the Russel Wright sold, but the woman flaked. She was supposed to come the night before, and she had actually called me crying and begging me not to sell it to anyone else, saying her roommate had her car and hadn't come home. Then she didn't show the next night. Can you believe the weirdos on CL?

      If you want it, we need to get creative about the shipping, because it's so heavy I can't lift it, and I'm afraid it will cost a fortune to get it to you.

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    2. Chartreuse Russel Wright? Let's work this out. If your SIL will help us with the wrapping and sending, then I will pay the shipping. Let's take it offline. This was meant to be. I will email you.

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  18. I have a lot of blogs on my feed about MCM design, but yours is one of the only ones I really read thru. Love the work, keep it up.

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    1. Thanks, Eric. That's high praise, and I really appreciate it.

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  19. Beautiful pieces. I especially love the kingfisher and the vases are stunning. A gorgeous space you have there.

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  20. I love this Dana. Look at all your RW pieces! Just waiting for your final reveal now! You've whet my appetite. xx

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  21. Dana your home looks lovely and I ADORE all the little birds.
    You have great taste in decor. :)

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    1. The birds are my newest obsession! :) I hope I'll have photos of my new apartment soon.

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