introducing sumi the wonder dog

I truly believe in living as simply as possible. Our modest mid-century modern home is consistent with this philosophy as is my addiction to selling, buying and reselling all manner of used objects, furniture and clothing on Craigslist and eBay. I have found having cats is a low maintenance pet option and provides me an easy fuzzy fur fix.

But sometimes the universe interferes with your ideas of how your life should be lead.

best friends animal society: a different kind of home

What do mid-century modern homeowners love more than their homes? Their grandchildren? Their children? Their spouses? Nah.

Their pets.

bauer pottery showroom los angeles part 2: the haul

You will all be relieved to know that I did not come home empty handed from my visit to the Bauer Pottery Showroom.

As I started placing items near the checkout stand, Albert expressed surprise that I came to buy and not just to photograph. Ummm, have you met me?

how to carry a laptop with (mid-century) style

Have you found any graceful and stylish way to transport your computer? You know, something a little mid-century modern. Like this?

Mid-Century Holzman bag from Etsy shop DejavuVintageretro

Or maybe like this...

super sunday messy office cleanup

After cleaning up the blog last Sunday, I wondered how I was going to top it. I walked into the office to work on my posts and was greeted by this:

Crazy messy desktop with papers, and bills and junk piled everywhere.

No lie. What a freaking mess.

mid-century minimalist christmas decorations

Last weekend was our gitter done weekend for house decorations and other important Christmas tasks (I warmed up a bit the previous week). I finally banged out the Christmas cards and got them mailed.

I love the Christmas card tradition. I enjoy and appreciate every single card we receive. So I send a fair amount. Then, as my reward, Albert brought in the tree and the boxes of Christmas decorations.

christmas begins in corona del mar, california

Since I began blogging, I read a lot of home blogs. Around this time of year, the "shelter" bloggers break out their Christmas posts. Immediately after Thanksgiving, there is post after post of beautiful Christmas homes. It seems like they snap their fingers and voila! It's Christmas.

I have to ease into it and I can't be the only one. (Yes, we really do have a dolphin door knocker. It came with the house.)

simplify your life - throw away your books

Many years ago, I took to heart the book,  Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter. It was about two go-go yuppies from the 90's (remember the term yuppy?) who basically scale back their lives to in order to enjoy living more. I really took it to heart at the time. To this day, I can throw almost anything away in the household with nary a second thought. Spring cleaning for me involves Goodwill, Craigslist, eBay and the trash. My husband and son know to hide anything they really care about when the flowers begin to blossom and the birds begin to sing.

I was horrified one evening when I looked across the room while watching Project Runway (go Team Demitri!) and spotted this disaster:

BOO! Giant FAIL. Crowded bookshelves with items stuffed helter skelter all over. Chaotic.

lighting a mid-century modern landscape design

The best part about our new mid-century modern landscape design was the lighting. The landscaper used high end low voltage lights from Corona lighting. I went out with a tripod a few nights ago to capture the full effect.

Dusk in a mid-century modern garden

landscaping a mid-century modern home

After we remodeled our bathrooms, we were left with a 10 by 67 square foot piece of land off the back fence. I was terrified it would turn in a junkyard. Odd bits of yard are prone to become somewhat ghetto overnight ... a hose here, some unused lumbar there, random pieces of flagstone stacked up against a wall -- and before you know it, a blight on the neighborhood.  But, luckily, I had saved a tiny bit of the remodel budget to deal with our mid-century modern garden problem. I was obsessed with having a view out the new bathroom window:

modern watercolor for the bedroom

With the bathroom (and honestly bedroom) remodel being done, I have been turning my attention to art. The art in the bedroom has been Japanese for a very long time. I won a one-month trip to Japan from Rotary Clubs as a "young business person" in the the early 90's which caused me to fall in love with Japan and all things Japanese. While there, I purchased and was given a few prints that I had nicely framed, but somehow they didn't totally fit the more mid-century vibe.

Gold print is shows the changing of the seasons,
and bottom two are Hiroshige prints.

pets on furniture under a j. pinto

Annie is famous! I submitted her picture for this very cute blog feature, Monday's Pets on Furniture at Desire to Inspire. This is Annie's picture under our new picture!

New Picture from J Pinto

the great Christmas tree fake debate

Purchasing a fake Christmas tree can be a life altering experience. This feeling is somewhat akin to converting from Blackberry to iPhone or buying your first pair of Christian Louboutin’s. Just like with your iPhone, after going through a Christmas season with your fake tree you’ll think, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” Here are eight good reasons for you to get a fake Christmas tree: