XII Forever, sometimes

A wholehearted product recommend from yours truly. I just came home from picking this guy up. I had to have a bunch of girls dig through the stockroom to find me one, but I would not (let them) give up.

My husband was stroking out in the cavernous new two-story Forever 21, but I was undeterred. I combed the racks (hey, why no whole shirts? You can only get half a shirt now?) while his eyeballs jerked around in their sockets.



I bought him soup after, so he's ok now.

Embellished tribal clutch, $26.80. Really.

Much weightier and spendier-looking in person than I had any right to expect.

Yep, this clutch is CLUTCH!

SHOP UPDATES: Milo Baughman recliner, Moroccan rug, and a unique dresser/nightstand

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Three lovely and unique pieces in the shop now:


A completely refinished/rebuilt/reupholstered Milo Baughman recliner in creamy white:























A fantastic dark walnut modular piece with an extra set of conical legs...combines into a gorgeous highboy as shown, or separates into two smaller chests when extra legs added:

















A cool vintage Beni from the estate of a lovely Eastern European couple that traveled the world in their younger years:

MALM Freestanding FIreplace

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It's the iconic modernist fireplace, right?




I know if I was building or remodeling a Mid Century home, one of these would go smack in the middle and I'd build everything else around it. Besides being the most visually-pleasing fireplace on the market, I've actually heard very good things about the efficiency and heat output of Malm.



This is the Fire Bowl 3 model with porcelain finish in "Slate." I would describe it as a malted chocolate color (a grey-tinged brown). I absolutely love the fat belly of the bowl and tulip-shaped base, which is more unique and less atomic-feeling than the typical cone shape.



Although it is one Malm's original Mid Century designs, they are still in production (bonus-replacement parts and accessories still available!) and this is actually a recent model. From what I understand, this particular model can be installed as close as 8" away from the wall. This is a major consideration if you have a small install space!



Typically these run about $3400, but it's available in the shop now for thousands less.


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NO SHAME

Look, we spend most of our lives trying to avoid embarrassment. I say, we have better ways to spend our time, so let's not pretend. We are all 'tards in our own way; messed up, broken, neurotic, one foot smaller than the other, one boob drooping more than the other, needy, weird, accident-prone and known to fail at things occasionally.

Here's the thing: if you tell the joke first, if you can laugh at yourself, then the laugh belongs to you. No one else can have it. It makes you powerful. They can laugh with you, but not at you. Unless they see you trip and fall, which will look hysterical as you flail around and go "OHHH!" and land weird. We will all laugh at you then, because we just can't help it. You look so funny!

It helps not to wear wide-legged pants and clogs and run down the street. Just a tip from a pro.

Anyhow, you can laugh at yourself and be a powerful, needy, accident-prone, nerd. Or you can run around trying to hide it, which seems rather tiring but it's your choice.


Occasionally the "You might also like..." feature on Blogger dredges up some real winners from my past.

I thought, hey, why don't we share our most embarrassing Blogger moment with each other? Come on. I promise if we laugh it will be with you, not at you.

My most embarrassing post is not only awful and bizarre, it's also totally TMI (although nowhere near as awkward as my friends above). So without further delay I bring you:

FASHION HAUS

I showed you mine, now show me yours.

I DARE YOU

Not to do everything you planned to do today, and at least one thing you didn't.

Don't grow old and orderly and silence the wonders of the universe.

Break one of your own rules, or one of theirs. Make sure you can tell the difference.


Oh, you thought I didn't do this anymore?

You're probably a hipster if:

Eventually all your favorite bands make car commercials.

It's ok Little Joy. You speak Portuguese. I still want to kiss you on the mouth.

We're all following someone

It's just not me.

So follow me on Twitter, where I:

Discuss my family's symphonic fart performances (and now from the horn section!), dismantle the semantic content on tampon packaging, and generally interfere with the status quo in a variety of engaging and quietly disturbing ways.

It's exactly what your hectic life needs.

Follow @modernhaus





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At Home with Haus

Since lifting this sofa like a big dummy, half my body came painfully unhinged from the rest of my body. But that didn't stop me, no sir, from having four teenage boys over. They ate all my food and wedged dirty socks into all the furniture. There are cell phones and iPods charging in every outlet, and I could start a skate shop with the gear they piled in my entry.

They're out now with the Mister, and for some reason I felt like taking pictures. Maybe as a memento of the quiet times?

Morgan took some sweet pictures of my house a while back, but since then there have been some new additions.

Everything in this corner was $5 or less, except the new Target lampshade.

The dining room, post-slumber party. Not too bad, although I do wonder what the hammer was out for? The marble tulip table is a new Craigslist score ($450 if you must know, and if I know you, then I know you must...know). Free of hammer damage as far as I can tell.

You can see a bit of the Franz Kline-inspired painting I did (and still need to frame). Still deciding how to finish the stairs. I'm thinking paint them Hague Blue and install a sisal runner with a chevron weave?

A new piece. Sell? Keep? Keep! No, sell?

Mr. Knightly likes it under the furniture, where giant teenagers can't step on him.

More nook. I love that Deco mirror ($5 at auction), made that cabinet (and was featured on Design*Sponge super way back in the day!), and the oatmeal linen curtains, brass lamp, and antique framed portrait (of a "creepy baby" according to the kids) were thrifted.

There's something charming and slightly Anthropologie-esque about the unfinished stairs, no? Mmmm, no.

These chairs are so old and crusty. I should probably have them swabbed for smallpox.

Rock me like the rock of ages

A new friend for the Danish wall unit, also at the magical price of $5 (I guess at my local AMVETS, when in doubt they put a $4.95 price tag on it?)

I swear I'm going to cut up that rug and wear it, I love the pattern so much.

Doing his "dog on a motorcycle" impersonation.

And you? Fill in the blank: This weekend I __________ !