What do you think?: Will an oriental-design rug work in my tropical-theme Mahalo Lounge?Heck yeah there is more →
Albert van Luit 1964 “Du Barry” vintage wallpaper designed by John Leigh Spath
With just one corner of the dining room left, I ran out of leopard print fabric to cover the walls above the wainscoting in my Mahalo Lounge. Scouring my stash — no: It’s a hoard, and I’m not apologizing, because it came through for me! — of vintage wallpaper rolls collected over the past 15 years, I came across 21 linear feet of this 1964 paper — “Du Barry” by John Leigh Spath for Albert van Luit. So excited! The colors — gold, reddish bronze, and dark brown — are perfect — and I’ve always wanted to get some vintage metallic wallpaper into the house. Heck yeah there is more →
No detail too small: Bamboo and thatch switch plate covers
The blog has not been “epic” lately — but I assure you, my ongoing project — creation of my Mahalo Lounge — is. Epic, that is. And proving that (1) it’s good to collect things over time and (2) no detail is too small: I remembered that I had these vintage antique brass bamboo and thatch-design switch plates in my hoard. I bought them three years ago, when Kate and I discovered them on ebay. And guess what: There are still more available >>> click here for the link to the huge stash of vintage Leviton tropical switch plate and outlet covers (affiliate link).
Faux bois wood cabinetry — done
Denise is back this week, and finishing all the faux bois painting of the woodwork in my living room / dining room, which is being transformed into my Mahalo Lounge, is nearly complete. Yesterday, Denise reassembled the doors onto the cabinetry that separate the dining room from the living room. Tip: Make sure to number the doors, and as you are repainting inside and out don’t paint over the numbers. Heck yeah there is more →
Outrageous vintage pagoda lampshades — my latest treasure
What’s (old) new to my hoard? These crazy silk lampshades make quite the statement: They are large — 16″ tall and 21″ wide at the bottom and super decorative — with crazy swoopies along the top and bottom; the swoopees are all metal-construction underneath the braided trim. I call the pair lampshades “pagoda style” — they look like they should be topping tall chalkware figural lamp bases. Heck yeah there is more →
Leopard print fabric — used as a wall covering
Remember how I was all psyched about using a leopard print rug in my Mahalo Lounge? Well, it turns out that Denise had a roll of 20 yards of leopard print fabric — it’s a micro-suede — that she had picked up a few years ago at a nearby fabric outlet. She paid just $3 a yard. Last time she was here to paint, she brought it along for me to ponder. Could I turn it into a rug? Nahhhh…. Let’s use it as wallpaper! Yowza: It looks fantastic — it feels like flocked wallpaper! — and it is going up like a DREAM — so easily, with a staple gun, kapow kaboom!Heck yeah there is more →
