Urban Cartel

 simple, beautiful utilitarian pieces with modern appeal fill the virtual shelves of Urban Cartel. I am smitten with the soft glazes and the controlled organic nature of this "contemporary porcelain" from the melbourne, australia shop. 

 I have mostly white dishes & prep bowls in my kitchen and any of these would easily accompany them. The thought of using the lipped bowls in my next (and probably unsuccessful) baking endeavor makes me quite happy indeed.  

Uprise Art

I had lunch yesterday with some dear friends who are in town visiting. We were chatting away about all sorts of things (the kinds of conversations you can only have with good friends) it was a wonderful way to spend part of an afternoon. 

In the course of that conversation they told be about a relatively new company called Uprise Art. I was very excited at their description and rushed home to check it out. Uprise Art allows you to bring contemporary art into your space for a time. You sign up and for a small fee each month you can have a piece by one of their artists hang in your home. And it all arrived custom-framed, hand delivered and installed into your home. 

At the moment they are only in New York and just recently in Boston but oh how I wish this service were available in San Francisco. I can hardly think of a better way to experience and grow an art collection at this point in my life. 

cause to celebrate

this weekend there was cause to celebrate! mile stones were quite abundant in three short days. I hope you all truly enjoyed your memorial weekend. It was gorgeous here in san francisco and that made it all the sweeter. 30th birthdays were celebrated, civil landmarks were honored,  family arrived, friends gathered, ate & toasted and perhaps most joyous of all a new life was welcomed into the world.
I am still buzzing from the excitement

flowers for friday

happy weekend! hope you all have had a wonderful week. I have enjoyed having my brother in town and another friend from the east coast. I even dragged my brother to the flower market early one morning. We picked out the astilbe (that delicate tall pinkish flower in the arrangement) as a place to start from. Our mom has always grown many different varieties in her garden and it seems like a very appropriate flower to build on. 

Hope you enjoy this weeks flowers for friday! 

xx 

cherry season

 its cherry season again!  first spotted in the farmers market two weeks ago they weren't quite ready but this week they are plump & round & very very sweet. Cherry season is one of the things I have grown to love here. They mark the start of summer each year. There is nothing quite like them. Their season is fleeting and so I plan to savor every last bit and then wait for them to come again next year. 

harbor cottage

I found this little hide-away on justine's lovely blog designskool. I was immediately transported to the familiar... the costal maine air heavy with the sea and that smooth rock coast line beneath bare feet. Its a place I know intimately even without having been to this beautiful little cottage set on one of maine's many costal marshes. It embodies what is special about new england and maine in particular... & you could rent it if you like. I would certainly like to. 

images: justine @designskool & harbor cottage website 

extra chunky

Kenneth Jay Lane has me a bit week in the knees for these....

big extra chunky stones! I feel like these are the ultimate accessory for light summer dresses. Im really loving the last strand with its pretty mixed natural stones. 


find them here

flowers for friday

a simple sweet little arrangement for this friday. A $5 mixed bunch of sweet peas from the farmers market. I am lucky enough to have a farm that comes to our market which grows acres & acres of native flowers. So $5, a few snips from my rabbit-foot fern & a couple of "volunteers" from the tree on the corner of my block... its some sort of flowering thing and i cut just a few pieces that were still seeded. 
I color blocked the sweet peas. I think this is a quick easy way to make an arrangement seem more purposeful and i enjoyed this lovely for the week. 


On another note I am feeling quite itchy... itchy for change. Do you ever feel like that? I have lived in San Francisco for 5 years and im just feeling that restless feeling. I cant help thinking about the hundred other cities out there in the world with their own life and interesting little secrets and corners full of treasures and i would like to fly................


hope you all have flying weekends. SOS leaves for london today for an extended business trip and my brother arrives on saturday. It will be nice to see him. its been too long. 


see you back here on monday. 
xx, 

creating a comfortable home

celebrating the launch of Etsy's new registry feature they have asked a few guest curators to put together some of their favorites for home. I was honored to see some items from Cottage Farm included in Nathan William (of Kinfolk) picks for "creating a comfortable home". But, more importantly I love his thoughts on the subject. I think each of us strive to create a comfortable, and beautiful, space that we can be proud to call home. 


For me comfort in the home goes hand-in-hand with food and the kitchen space. I have chosen my last two apartments based on how good the light is and then how good the kitchen is .... gas stove mandatory. 
It is the first room I unpack after a move which is as much about function as it is about comfort... the two are synonymous. 

I also loved Nathan's strategy for outfitting the kitchen. 
"We don’t have a tableware collection with every color scheme under the sun, but I recommend following the lighting of the day (warm morning sun, bright white midday, dark and shadowy afternoon). Darken the colors you use for an evening meal with wooden serveware, candles, and colored linens."
It is so very much about utilitarian elegance for your ever day. So logical and yet this simple practice of moving with the day leads to the creation of an incredibly beautiful setting in which to gather, eat and enjoy being together. 

scandinavian cottage

 i couldn't resist posting this charming little cottage. It seems so filled with energy and simply lovely.  It would be the perfect place to spend a summer 

 I am bursting with excitement for an upcoming trip to sweden in about a month. I have been looking forward to it since november of last year and I can hardly believe it is almost here. It will be a pilgrimage of sorts as I have not been before and both my great-grandparents were born there. And, I eagerly await all of the things that come with experiencing a new place. 

i would love to have a bright summer dinner under this canopy!


images: HB Design

Filly Designs

filly designs has put together a very pretty look book for their spring collection. This collection captures perfectly a feeling of simple country living. I am drawn to the warm colors and clean whites. It all seems effortless and unrestricted just how I should think I would like to feel in a little house tucked away somewhere. It makes me dreamy for warm lazy days to read books on a worn in couch and pick berries and flowers on a walk through the green...............

Monday Mood Board

black & white is such a classic combination its sometimes hard to believe that it can also be so chic at times. It works just about everywhere from art to dress to rooms and it seems effortless too. 










images- clockwise:: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,

breakfast

hey, its the most important meal of the day right? 
................................................ at least its the most photogenic around here. 

in love with lucite

im crushing on lucite furniture at the moment. When i first moved into the apartment (which was gulp! almost a year ago... how did that fly by? and yes im a very methodical decorator) I was a bit intimidated by the lay out of the living room.  There are three entry points to the room and the fourth wall is a bank of windows. The two doors face each other which creates a long sweep that cuts the top of the room and I havent been able to truly make it work. But, after a year of thinking and looking and patiently working to understand the space, i think i know the perfect solution. Lucite! 

these images are perfect examples of its ability to be "there" with out really being "there" and i love how they add elegance and structure to these rooms. do you have a your favorite ? 










images: 1,2,3,4

sneak peek

a little preview of the summer 2012 collection coming soon to cottage farm. As always, I am inspired by the nautical history of the san francisco bay area. From the end of my street, I can see the oakland ports out across the bay. But, san francisco has always had an affection for and need of the water that laps our front yard. 

 This summer collection is all about finding your way, a very important and often treacherous task on the water, it can be just as complicated on land. Maps, instruments and flags are just of few of the lovely things that will help you find you way this summer. 

 Keep a look out for these items and more to be in the shop soon.