Kick Glas!

he 1970's was the birth of many great things. Me included! Then there's the obvious - DISCO. Another would be the Italian company Glas Italia. These Italian bitches DO know their glass from their elbow. Some of the best mirror and table designs I've ever seen in my 41 years on the planet. Super modern, innovative and edgy - yet fit seamlessly in a period environment (as they show on their website). The mix of hard lines, elements of light with old baroque craftsmanship is so very Ridley Scott circa the Blade Runner period. Makes me want to grab an airbrush and paint a black stripe across my face! 

Crazy Beautiful

es, I am a complete NUT about wallpaper! I recently installed some wonderful paper in my bathroom - blog entry to come once I make final decisions on new towels. In the meantime, see what YOU see in these fantastically intricate Rorschach printed designs from Timorous Beasties. There is a Freudian baroque quality that is irresistible and to me they also evoke a very 80's Dino DeLaurentis on acid feeling.

"F" Me!

iving life in a rental apartment in New York brings a multitude of design problems and challenges. My kitchen backsplash for one - or the lack of one. There is a sliver of marble above my sink and on the other side a sliver of marble placed behind the stove. At least there is some consistency, but it leaves little to be desired. I suppose I should be grateful I was the first one to sign my lease and therefore had first pick of appliances affording me the only stainless steel fridge and stove in the building. The other suckers...I mean tenants, have a black stove and WHITE fridge! Well, after much deliberation over what sort of fun tile I could put in place I landed on Fractureme.com custom (of course!) tiles made with Polaroid images of hunky men. Hey, this gay has gotta keep it "high-class hooker." No crappy tile by the yard from Home Depot for me! 


These dudes may even cause me to spend more time in the kitchen!

Flashback

f you ever had the pleasure of breaking up with me then you know well what a mix-tape looks like. If I had a dime for every one of these I made when my heart broke in the 80's I'd be giving Trump a run for his money. Now, of course, I exaggerate. I also gave out mix-tapes to those who I never even dated. This was before restraining orders were en vogue. So, if I feel like taking a walk down that painful adolescent memory lane I can now start at my front door with these retro doormats from Meninos. Mix-tape doormats come in four authentic styles and there's also an iPhone slide version for modern music enthusiasts. Meninos rock inspired pillows also bring one back to the days when speakers were as big as your head. My poor head just happened to be tormented by visions of girls with feathered hair who wouldn't give me the time of day - let alone a mix-tape professing their love to me. Ah, gay youth!

Contain Yourself

hristmas in New York is magical...magically annoying. Too many people running around scrambling to buy things and I need a more open terrain to do MY last minute, typically frantic, panic driven shopping. And, the pressure was on this year being the first Xmas with the boyfriend. Luckily for me, he is less than enthused with my spending habits so I could have purchased him a roll of paper towels and he would have been thrilled. Which, of course, made me worry about what Santa might bring me this holiday season. I was praying it wasn't a donation on my behalf to the "Oust Michelle Bachman" fund. To my delight, the BF did good!!! He does pay attention and my Tourette's-like pointing at everything I want for my home paid off. In particular, these lovely little containers from Seletti (limited edition gold). I got the small size to house all the stolen Splenda - my BF assures me this is expected from Starbuck's corporate. It reminds me of Lorena Barrezueta's fine porcelain versions of classic tin containers. When freezing my ass off over the next few months I will dream about serving delicious summer barbecue on her colorful Gourmet dinnerware.

Call Your Dealer

ambling feels a bit like burning money and when you earn my sort of salary it just doesn't make sense. Ok, fine! If you SHOP the way I do there's never anything left to gamble, I hated Vegas (except I do love me a good tacky Vegas decor) and what sort of parent would I be to my two precious kitties if I squandered away their cat food money at the Craps table or over a game of 21? Not a very good one. I never really got that into card games anyway. That said, I'd turn them both into house slippers for the chance to own one of these card tables from Soane. The steampunk-like legs in a variety of finishes can be paired with your fabric of choice or in hand-stitched goatskin. I love the navy Moiré version. And, hey, now that I'm settling in to a lovely relationship I need to start thinking about entertaining more at home to keep the man under a watchful eye. Bridge party anyone? I actually think a card table is quite a practical idea in a small space and I have fond memories of my grandmother's card table altho' it did take an hour to struggle with the rusted legs that nobody ever thought to oil. Course, these little English lovelies must be significant in cost given the "contact dealer" notation under pricing. I suppose this now means I shouldn't place my order of four Moser tumblers and Hermes playing cards anytime soon.

Ped-ophilia

t's not what you think! While I do admire a youthful exterior this posting is not about underage boys. This is about an outdoor furniture line by PEDRALI, the makers of some wonderful and hose-down-able (made this word up) versions of a French wingback chair. Manufactured in 3 great color options, the Pasha chair and stool combo (my fav is the jet black) is what I imagine Darth Vader would have had on his Death Star terrace - sipping a dirty martini watching yet another unsuspecting planet go "boom."