There is no D in refrigerator!

But if there were, it would stand for dull.  Most refrigerators are boring!  White and boring, chrome and hard to keep clean and boring, avocado and ugly and boring, you get the picture.  Here are some refrigerators that are anything but dull. 

Meneghini is the Ferrari of refrigerators!  Marvels of Italian craftsmanship, they bridge both antique and modern aesthetics, with brass handles and hinges, glass shelving, and unique details like portholes and clawfoot legs.  Offered in a dizzying 500 satin colour finishes, as well as white for those of you who don't like to rock the boat.

 

A brightly colored SMEG with it's 1950s styling and modern technology is perfect for a retro look.  And how cool is the Union Jack?  You can still find original 1950's SMEG fridges working in kitchens today. This is a testament to their quality craftsmanship. 

 

For those of you who can't afford $10,000 to keep your food cold, here are some ideas that are slightly less expensive. How about spray painting your old fridge with chalkboard paint?  Or, if you want to get the deposit back on your apartment, how about magnets?  For $10 you can buy a set of poetry magnets and channel your inner Emily Dickinson. Have fun and happy decorating!

Smeg Union Jack Refrigerator

Meneghini Refrigerators

Chalk Board Refrigerator

My Refrigerator!

Magnetic Poetry

Are You Eccentric? Take the Quiz.

To paraphrase Tolstoy, normal people are all alike; every eccentric is eccentric in their own way. The book "Eccentrics" by David Weeks classifies the 15 characteristics of eccentric people. Apparently if you have five or more of the following characteristics, you qualify.

1. Nonconforming attitude
2. Creative
3. Strongly motivated by curiosity
4. Idealistic
5. Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
6. Knew very early in their childhood they were different from others
7. Usually the eldest or only child
8. Opinionated and outspoken
9. Noncompetitive; not in need of reassurance or reinforcement from society
10. Unusual living or eating habits
11. Not interested in the opinions or company of others
12. Mischievous sense of humor
13. Highly intelligent
14. Not a good speller
15. Usually single

If you could invite 5 famous eccentrics to dinner who would you choose? My list:

Auntie Mame (I know she isn't real but this is my list!)

Diana Vreeland

Edith Sitwell

Oscar Wilde

Salvador Dali

Hey Baby, It's The Fourth of July

I'm obsessed with vintage art deco fireworks posters from the 20's and 30's.  The fireworks are heavily stylized and they have a languid almost floral feeling to them.  The bright sparks captured mid fall work well with art deco's bold geometry and often impersonal aesthetic.  What I especially love about the posters is the moment frozen in time aspect they all share.  These fireworks are never going to bloom and fade, he's never going to kiss that girl and the evening will never end.  Perfection.  

Book of the month club for fashionistas...

Coming out this August, Kate Spade is introducing a new line of ”Book of the Month” clutches. The bags will feature completely original cover art based on classic novels, including The Great Gatsby, Emma, The Importance of Being Earnest, Great Expectations, and A Tale of Two Cities. 

 

Retailing for $325, one new "book" will debut every month.  A book of the month club for people who don't read.  Kate Spade creative director Deborah Lloyd said: “We wanted to pretend we had our own publishing house.” She hopes that women will not only wear the bags, but display them around their homes as if they were actual books.

I wonder what the other 7 "books" will be?  If I were a betting woman, I'd go with Lolita and A Clockwork Orange definitely making the cut.  I'd like to see Ulysses, the one book on the planet I'm pretty sure nobody has ever read (I don't care what you say Simon memorizing Molly Bloom's soliloquy does not count!).  So will you join the club or is this just An American Tragedy?

Industrial Chic

The industrial look has been gaining popularity with mass retailers like Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma featuring oversize pendant lighting, laboratory stools and utilitarian steel shelving not to mention accessories like porcelain glove molds, globes and channel letters. But why buy industrial inspired design when you can scour your local flea market or vintage shop for the real thing. A one of a kind little piece of machine age simplicity. Whether your decor is mid century modern, traditional, eclectic or even agragarian chic, there is something for everyone.

Factory 20 based in Virginia has some amazing industrial pieces www.factory20.com and locally there is Rehab Vintage (formerly Sonrisa) www.rehabvintage.net. Both sell tables, seating, storage, lights and many vintage unusual pieces. I seriously want to get rid of everything in my apartment and turn it into a prohibition era gun molls laboratory/den of iniquity!

Classic Steel Tanker Desk

Vintage French Laboratory Stool

Vintage Atelier Table

Prohibition Era Speakeasy Table

Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me Away

Trends, like horses, are easier to ride in the direction they are going. Man has had a love affair with horses for over 5,000 years. Why not bring a little of the wild outdoors inside? Best of all, these horses don't have to be fed.

"Love Bite" - Wild Horses of Sable Island series by Roberto Dutesco

Horse Lamp by Moooi £3346.00

Faux horse-leg benches from John Rosselli

Thomas Paul Imperial Horse pillow $99.00

Jonathon Adler Horse Head Lamp $375.00

Portrait of the blogger as a young woman

The Incredible Lightness of Being a Hipster

"Born French, Unknown Hipster early moved to New York to become a painter, a poet, or whichever position was available on the Art scene. Once a lead tambourin for Uneven Dusk , it’s unclear what became his main occupation after the band quickly broke-up. All can be said is that Unknown frequently appears at Fashionable and Cultural events without being necessarily on the list."
Jean-Philippe Delhomme's fantastically illustrated blog The Unknown Hipster is a playful satire of New York high society with plenty of name dropping. The hipster is a loveable euro trash Chauncey Gardiner with delightful broken English whose as apt to chat up a coyote in Central Park as pole dancers at the Indochine party. Follow the Unknown Hipster as he reviews art exhibitions, gallery openings and fashion shows, as well as explaining his day to day wanderings.
http://unknownhipster.com/
 
 

The Unkown Hipster

With Karl Lagerfeld

Chatting up pole dancers at Indochine party

In Hunter boots at Gallery opening in inclement weather