Recent Etsy purchase

Just bought this 1930s cross necklace off Etsy. I feel pretty confident in the purchase. It was only $15 anyway. Although I feel like items purchased off Etsy are generally pretty reliable, as opposed to Ebay where I am rarely shipped the same item pictured online.

All part of my plan to start dressing more like Alexa Chung:

Image via Teen Vogue

A Thought on Luxury Ranges

Luxury ranges traditionally have been a big part of European design, especially in French and Belgian interiors. Recently, more and more American designers have caught on to the trend of using these ranges to create an old world look. La Cornue and Aga and popular brands. I personally love this look because it is the best of the best in high-end cooking but reminiscent of old wood burning ovens.

Image via Veranda

Image via Lefevre Interiors

Image via Stephmodo blog

Image via Belgian Pearls

Image via Cote de Texas

Image via Cote de Texas

Image via Belgian Pearls

Image via Lefevre Interiors

Recent travels

Brad and I recently went to a friend's ranch in the Texas Hill Country. They had this fantastic old barn, apparently from the 1600's, and a rustic bunk house. The Guadalupe River runs through the area. Here are some pictures:

Do you come from a land down under...?

Along the same lines as your last post, check out this cool, equally do-able house, I stumbled upon from Young House Love (also featured on Apartment Therapy). This Sydney, Australia find is the home of the owners of Murchison-Hume (a line of eco-friendly house cleaning products, check it out), Max and Peter (+ their 2 little boys). This couple has done an awesome job with this house, I think, and you will be shocked at how affordable it was when some of the pieces are broken down.

(Clockwise from top) 1. Kitchen, almost entirely Ikea. Open pantry on left is actually Ikea bookshelves! The knobs are from Restoration Hardware. 2. Shelving here is also from Ikea, I love the open, organized feel. 3. Chalkboard paint, extremely easy DIY. 4. Nothing fancy about this powder room, could easily be done with trays from CB2 and glass canisters from Crate and Barrel...

Now onto the rooms of the house...

None of these rooms have any elaborate pieces, notice another Ikea shelving set, and the twin bed room even doubles as Max's office. Everything is so well organized, but there is also a perfect amount of personal flair in every room just to not make it boring.

Run on over to YHL or AT to check out the full size pics in all their glory.

All images courtesy Young House Love

Practical magic

We all know I love looking at houses, but sometimes the houses just are not attainable (from both a financial and practical standpoint). While exploring my new favorite website, Houzz, I found this cute bungalow that is both practical and attainable. It's so light and airy and most importantly, "do-able."

Notable Weekly Meals...

aka a few of the places you can choose from when you come and visit!

Salt Bar - Kate and I went here on Saturday night...low key, great food, prosciutto-gorgonzola flat bread? yes please!

Mermaid Inn - Went here for Valentines...low key, amazing fish dishes, the best cauliflower puree

Images via respective websites

Weird but cool art

A lot of times, I find myself attracted to "pretty" art, but I do love the work of Francis Bacon. His art kind of scares me, but I am also very intrigued. Bacon's work is most famous for capturing the intangible concept of pain and tension. He also is famous for saying that he did not mean to scare people, but instead his paintings showed reality. "You can't be more horrific than life itself."

One of his earlier works was Head (1949):

His most famous is the similar work, Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X:

This was his version of Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X:

Bacon's painting Figure with Meat was also a version of the Velazquez painting:

Not as frightening, but in the same style, Man with Dog:

That's it for art history today.

Happy V-Day!

Heart shaped island called Galesnjak in Croatia. Coincidentally the hottest country I've ever been to in my life (and I mean heat hot).

Show me something pretty

Ocean Front Villa interiors by Kara Mann.