Tag Archives: vintage

Layers and Layers of Wallpaper

Posted on April 21, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Have you ever during a renovation, uncovered many layers of wallpaper? It’s like an archeological dig. Or scraping, more like it.

Here’s what we found when we renovated our master bathroom back in 2006. These vintage layers were lurking behind the vanity:

Master-Bathroom-Vintage-Wallpaper-Layers

Our house, built in 1969, had only two owners before us and apparently both liked mint and beige-yellow in the bathroom. Neither do your complexion any favors, I can tell you from experience. But it was mushy walls and floors that made us rip out the bathroom, wallpaper still attached to the wallboard on its way to the garbage. Thank goodness.

But some wallpaper layers look pretty cool. There’s something to letting wallpaper peel naturally or scraping it artfully, then photographing it. Have a look …

Photo by L’imaGiraphe on Flickr:

Peeling Wallpaper by L'imaGiraphe on Flickr

Hmmm, Apartment Therapy already discussed this – there are no original ideas any more:

Wallpaper Layers via Apartment Therapy

I’m really a fan of decay and abandonment! Believe it or not. It’s not always morbid. There can be beauty. Like in this gorgeous photo of 300 years of wallpaper, photographed by Charles Linden shared on Flickr:

There’s a whole series of photos of the room where these layers were found in his Farmhouse Renovations series, with more images of scraped and peeled wallpapers.

If I’m reading right — and I keep thinking my eyes are deceiving me — this is a textile not wallpaper layers, by Gina Pierce:

Wallpaper Layer Textile by Gina Pierce

This is a bold composition, photographed by Tess of Demure Folk blog in an old farmhouse:

Wallpaper Layers by Tess of Demure Folk Blog

I think it’s good to look for the beauty in the unconventional, in the abandoned and forgotten.

This is a beautiful combo of 40 years of wallpapers, uploaded by Mikael Stenborg on Pinterest and lo and behold, that might even be the original source! This gorgeous image doesn’t appear to be anywhere else online (thank you for Pinterest):

Wallpaper Layers by Mikael Stenborg

Well this crazy combo is probably driving your eyes crazy. It’s driving mine crazy. So enough for now. I hope you enjoyed seeing these wallpapers in a different way, with more appreciation. I forgive you for forgetting all of this the next time you have to peel paper off a wall though!

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The Day Printed Paper Met Painted Wood

Posted on February 25, 2013 by | 3 Comments

They call it serendipity.

A few boards Mod Podged with scrapbook paper were on the floor, waiting for the next step: stenciling with paints.

I took a break to open a really special package that arrived from Hammer & Hand Imports. It’s an old piece of weathered painted wood from India, and it’s going back to India. It will go under a granite counter in the India pied-à-terre’s master bathroom.

But look to the left at the papers … and back to the right at the painted wood … and … hey! These go together really well! Let’s put them together and take a bazillion photos like a crazy drooling person with a fetish for paper and wood. Sounds like a great Saturday night.

Here’s the whole thing:

Carved-Indian-Wood-and-Decoupaged-Scrapbook-Papers

Little compositions:

Three-Flowers

Carved-Indian-Wood-and-Scrapbook-Paper

Painted-Carved-Wood-from-India-and-Patterned-Paper

So here’s an idea, what about decoupage shelves with printed scrapbook papers, then attach weathered, chippy-painted wood underneath the shelves? Hang the shelves and set simple things on them, because the shelves alone would be decorative enough.

Flower-and-Script

Chippy-Painted-Wood-from-India

I hope this inspires you to put some unexpected things together. What would you do with printed papers and painted wood?

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An Old Chinese Chest and Its Flawed Complexion

Posted on January 7, 2012 by | 3 Comments

On this Saturday afternoon, I happened to look up and see sunshine streaming through a west-facing window at the right — and very brief – time to illuminate the Chinese chest in our family room …

As you can see, it has many nicks and dings, some better described as gouges! Scratches. Cracks. Wear. All these flaws make me appreciate and adore it even more.

For these flaws are not faults. They’re the result of having had a full life.

If only we could have the same attitude about the wrinkles and flaws we acquire on our complexions, as they are evidence of the long full lives we’ve lived:

  • The rays of days in the sun we’ve enjoyed.
  • The jokes we’ve laughed at so hard we’ve cried.
  • The scars from physical risks we took.
  • And yes even the trials and worries of our lives, they’re there too and hard as it was, they made us who we are.

These are all etched on the surface we present to the world.

This old chest, she’s far from perfect. But she’s still a beauty.

The crackling-paint top of this chest makes an appearance in the previous post showing candles on the chest.

How old the chest is, I don’t know. But I don’t believe it is a “new made to look old” chest as many of these Chinese pieces are. If anyone has feedback regarding “new or old” from what you can see in the photos, please comment. We purchased the chest in Minneapolis from a store that Room & Board used to run: Retrospect. Retrospect was very similar to Arhaus. Much of our family room and living room furniture is from Retrospect, including the red chairs you can see in the background.

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Posted in Chinese Furniture, In Our Chicago House

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Eight-t-t-teen D-d-d-degrees?! Let’s Warm It Up …

Posted on January 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

{shiver}

It’s c-c-c-c-cold.

{teeth chatter}

Did it suddenly get really cold in Chicago? Or have I just not gotten out much lately? Well in addition to the first blazing fireplace this winter (sorry I missed shooting that), here are some attempts to warm up our family room …

Candles on an old Chinese trunk used as a coffee table:

The candles — votives with an exotic scent — are sitting on a Diwali diya tray gifted by my sister-in-law, and making the golds shine on a piece of lacquerware and a wood/rattan basket both found in Thailand. Hidden in the basket was a surprise and just what I needed — matchbooks! From restaurants. What restaurants carry matchbooks anymore? These things are almost antique! Plus you mean to tell me this basket has been sitting around forever with matches in it, silently jeering at us while we ran around looking for matches? Well, yes. But with a tip of the lid, it’s now a secret no more.

Oh, and what’s that over there?

It’s a Maine Coon cat, and you know they’re warm because they’re built to survive in the cold. And at 17 pounds, this warm cat can cover a lot of lap. He’s  like a big bear blanket.

And there beyond the big warm cat is an old Chinese burl wood cabinet.

Hey what’s that shiny thing hanging down? I get distracted by shiny gold things.

It’s the end of a brass chain, leading up to this bell found at a temple in Bangalore:

Er, not found as in, you know, stolen found from a temple … I purchased it. Then I hauled the heavy thing across the world.

I love the wood on the Chinese cabinet. It doesn’t give off heat, but it is another kind of warm.

Also to keep the chills at bay, a bottle of vin santo and almond cookies to go with it.

We were introduced to vin santo in Tuscany. It’s a dessert wine. So delicious, we sought sources of it as soon as we returned home. This is a 22-year-old bottle that I found in a liquor shop that had recently changed ownership. The cork was even sealed with wax. The crate was in the very last aisle of the store in a corner so dark you could barely see the words “vin santo,” and with webs to brush away so I was afraid to stick my hand in the crate. But stick my hand in I did, and I found a bottle so underpriced, it made me gasp. This place was far more used to pricing and selling tequila and beer. So I filled my cart with all the vin santo bottles. Clearly these jewels were forgotten. And believe me we’ve given them a good home!

We figured the wintery cold called for opening a bottle, and a good evening was had by all. Sigh. Sounds like a fairy tale. Some evenings can be.

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Posted in In Our Chicago House

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