Get the Look Vol.20

Mid-century brass decor pieces are always sleek yet warm and cool. I always love how LeftCoastRevivals stages her pieces, and our Mid-century seagulls are from our last Florida trip.

It seems like anything collectible is being collected by someone, even brooms :)! But these are beautiful handmade ones. You could start your own collection with this beauty from the far east.

I love old trunks, they are always so full of character. The one above is triple-locked and clearly heavy-duty, our trunk turned coffee table is pretty cool too!

This does show how a statement lamp can change the entire look of a room. Our lamp is a very cool vintage Egyptian lamp made with hand blown glass grapes, the color gives it a very warm light.

I love the weird combo of heads and mirrors with a dog in the center :) Our mirror would look great there, it has amazing hand carved details, a rare find.

I had taken this photo a few years ago in Nevada City, California. The Tramp art below reminds me a lot of the street lamps they had there!

Newly Listed: Knitted Textured Scarf

Knitted Textured Scarf, Stripe Textures Cowl, Wool and Acrylic, Teal, Gray, Burgundy by StarsWear
Rustic Industrial Wall Art Decor, Teal Pittsburgh Engraving Print, Canvas Art by LisaRussoFineArt
Undertow . giclee art print by ClareElsaesser
New Orleans Print, Fine Art Photography, Travel Photo, French Quarter, Architecture, Wall Art by briole

A Lost Craft

Not that long ago you would see shoeshiners on the street, anywhere in Turkey. With the amount of leather shoes getting less with sport shoes on the rise and also stricter rules for street vendors they have practically disappeared.

Back in October at the Flea market in Izmir we scored a shoeshiner's box, a cool and rare find.

It did not have its bottles which we found online (second hand) and it was pretty oxidized and dirty so I've cleaned it up and did some repair for many hours.

The shoeshiner would carry this along with a stool for himself and the customer, a heavy job fr not much money. Nowadays people usually leave their shoes at repair shops.

In its drawers it still had some stuff like shoe polish, a shoehorn and those plastic pieces are to prevent socks from getting dirty.

This guy has almost the exact same box, please also note their sleeves the wear to prevent getting their clothes dirty.

I wish I had taken photos of how it was when we got it, I love repairing and reviving old forgotten things, I find it very satisfying.

A man has carried this box for many years to feed his family, I think such a piece deserves some respect and care.

Some of them would be adorned with pretty ladies :)

The photo below I took about 10 years ago in Izmir, I think he actually might have been the last polisher I've seen but I'm sure there are still some in larger cities.

Our lovely shoe shine box is available at StarHomeStudio.

Newly Listed: Driftwood Evil Eye Wall Hanging

Driftwood Evil Eye Wall Hanging, Protection Wand, Wiccan Evil Eye Good Vibes Stick - Beach Home Decor by StarHomeStudio
Iceland Landscape Photography, Modern Ocean Wall Art Print, Nature Photography Print, Minimalist Art by EyePoetryPhotography
Bird Photography, The Art of Staying Aloft No 8 Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata by SmallMysteries
Fairytale Photography, Italy, Florence, Clouds, Bridge, Skies, Hot Air Balloons, Ethereal Art, Large Wall Print by StudioYuki

Crazy Times...

Is there any other subject lately anywhere? The Coronavirus has been on the news for weeks but as it is spreading and thousands of new cases are coming in every day, life is drastically changing for everyone.

The world never felt this united, everyone is affected by it, everywhere people are talking about staying at home, social distancing and quarantine. The numbers are now growing at a very scary speed, while China seems to have it under control, Italy, the USA, Spain, and Germany are now in such growing numbers that health care systems might very possibly collapse.

Staying at home is just the only way to try to straighten the curve so that the health care system can manage the sick.  Being stuck at home for weeks especially in cities is kind of a jail experience, but it is a small sacrifice compared to what some people are selflessly enduring right now.

In that sense, we are very lucky. We are usually a lot at home as we work from home. We have a garden so if rules get stricter we still can go outside without seeing anyone. The doggies are great companion, and we create create create to keep our minds sane.

As our ateliers are in our new home but our home itself hasn't moved yet we are not in a perfect state. Money has run out and things are too crazy to finish our move now so we will just have to wait for things to calm down.

With even less time outside than usual, I made this lamp that took me an entire day till midnight and then some more hours the next day.

It originally was a crystal lamp but it was missing pieces. The crystals will come handy in other projects. I used vintage lucite leaves for this lamp. We bought these many years ago and who knows what we were planning with them because we bought tons of them and hardly used them.

I'm never alone at home :)

p.s. the mirror used to be a clock, a (plastic) copy of an old French type, it was a curb find in Amsterdam many years ago, I turned it into a mirror, always love to turn 'trash' into treasure. The clock part I used for another project.

So after many hours I absolutely love how this lamp turned out.

While the world is upside down it is good to put energy into positivity, creativity, and (fur) family to keep us sane.

I'd like to hear how you are spending your days during these crazy times? How are you feeling about what is happening?

Stay safe and healthy everyone, we are all in this together, the world is smaller than we thought after all.

The lamp is available at StarHomeStudio.

Newly Listed: Knitted Wing Cowl

Knitted Wing Cowl, Feathers Flame Cowl, Scarf Reds and Pinks Scales Wrap, Flower Leaves, Vegan Cowl by StarsWear
Hummingbird Photography, red and blue hummingbird on branch, summer, hummingbird wall art, home decor by LynnLangmade
Cardinals on Tree Branches Photo, Red Birds in Gray Cloudy Sky Photography, Birds in Tree Branches Nature by MicheleBlanche
Red Berries Bittersweet, Red Brown Blue, Simple Style Nature Photography, Earthy Woodlands, Fine Art Print by DebbraObertanecArt

Up-cycle, Puzzle, Reuse

I've just finished an adorable little side table.

It is entirely made out of pre-loved items, except for the glass on top.

I had to cut the wood twice as the glass did not fit this way, I also had to have a second piece of glass cut because of the reseizing of the wood. Funny enough a similar table I made last year gave me the same problem.

Ripping off the fabric, resizing the wood and starting all over again.

The top tray got spruced up to refresh its look.

 I hand stitched the embroidery to the fabric-covered wood.

It is a pretty Hungarian embroider, very feminine and romantic.

The embroidery will stay clean thanks to the glass.

The diamond-shaped foot gives it also a modern look. The tray and foot were thrifted in Florida for this exact purpose.

Available at StarHomeStudio among many other one of a kind furniture pieces.