The accidental collection

The local Goodwill happens to be great for a few things, and terrible for others. The furniture selection is almost entirely cheap crap, but the book selection has its share of gems. One other area where it shines is in pottery. And entirely on accident, I've got a little bit of a midcentury California pottery collection going on here.

It all started with this guy. I took one look at the handle and thought "that's old, that's interesting, I must buy it." And at $3, I would've been a fool not to. Hello, Bauer of Los Angeles pitcher circa 1930s, nice to meet you.

And then this guy showed up on a cart in that same goodwill. While the other patrons swarmed the shoes and bric a brac, none of them picked this guy up. I'm glad they didn't. Hello Roselane of Pasadena vase. I'm taking you home with me today.

This isn't something I set out to start collecting, but I'm going to start making more of an effort to buy them, now that I know what they are. It's a real connection to the history of where I'm living now, and that's kind of special.

Who else has accidentally started a collection?

Wallpaper I can learn to love

I'm beginning to appreciate pattern. It's a slow process. When I dress myself, I can mix and match. And I have a lot of respect for those who can pull off really daring combinations in their attire. But I was always hesitant when putting it in my apartment. I have two accent pillows... that's it. And half the time they were hiding in my trunk because the futon was in bed mode.

The other reason was because introducing pattern on a big scale would require me getting special permission from the landlord to paint or put up wallpaper. Until now...

The company is Murals Your Way, the product is wallpaper that you can re-position (and remove!) without damaging the wall beneath. The landlord doesn't even have to know about it. It's like the Keyser Soze of wallpaper.

Hey, they do chevrons! Everyone loves a chevron. My favorite part is that they called this pattern "ziggy"
I was also taken in by the funky lines of Scribbles. Scrawl on, wallpaper.

I drifted towards the more vintage-y patterns like these.

 Cutouton, in yellow. It looks a little like fish, in a super-minimal Charley Harper kind of way.

 It's called Scratch Leaves, but in my mind it's flowers! On grey! I love grey!


They're a teensy bit on the expensive side, but so is normal wallpaper, I guess. Is wallpaper usually a kind of expensive option? What other renovations should I do without asking the landlord first?

Hat Tip to Design Milk

Shameless promotion

I sell things for money here.

Okay, self-promotion over. Moving on to friend promotion.

While not strictly interior design-y, two of my roommates freshman year started a business a couple years ago, making ties and pocket squares.

Really really cool ones.

They were interviewed by the website Individualism here. I can verify that the no-training marathon actually happened. They also did it after having stayed up the whole day so they were not well-rested when they began. The whole experience took 8 hours, including a 30 minute break where they talked with a homeless man about life.

The prize at stake was a dime. Which might not have been paid in the end.

But you can help them make up that lost dime by buying from them via their online store. I believe these ties will also fit most medium-to-large dogs, the heads of small children, and adult penguins.

Images (c) Rodolfo Ramirez, lovingly stolen because we totally lived together for a year and I go to his house like all the freaking time.