Mint

We have tons of artwork (mostly unframed) so one thing I’d like to do is work on getting things framed and hanging! Thing is, we’ve pretty much maxed out our wall space already. If we did our walls like Ben Ospital (above and directly below, photographed by The Selby) or Kirsten Grove (very bottom, Simply Grove) we could show it off!

Easier said than done, right?

Andrew Payne is the designer behind The First Few,  and he and a friend just started a great new business called General Knot & Co., a line of men’s neckwear from vintage fabrics that he collects from across the country. The ties are all made in the USA in great little tailoring shops in Vermont and New York City. (There are plans in the works to do a line of bags and co-branding with a local shirt maker too!)

Andrew was nice enough to send me a tie (well, technically, it’s for my husband). The tie was beautiful in the shop photos of course, but in person — wow. Beautifully crafted and such great patterns (Andrew sent us this one, which has some great hot pink tones that make it look really sharp with a dark grey suit).

As Andrew says, “guys are not complicated. We like good looking things that stand the test of time (the guy instruction manual is only about two pages long). With that said, the idea behind General Knot & Co. came easily. To make great looking products from great looking fabrics, using the greatest tailors in the world. Luckily for us, these necessary components are right here under our noses, in the good ol’ U.S.A.”

I really wanted to show you guys a picture of Brendan wearing his new tie, but he’s en route to San Francisco, new tie in tow! (and hopefully accepting a new design award, fingers crossed!) Thanks Andrew!

Have a great weekend!

Our bathroom has no storage (and it’s tiny) so we picked up these shelves from Ikea and organized our things within baskets. I’m digging it.

1: vintage woven basket from trampoline / 2: vintage blue basket from Confetti Garden / 3: magazine basket from West Elm / 4: Senegalese handmade basket from Connected / 5: vintage wire basket from Moxie Thrift

Congratulations to Beth (#16) and Danielle (#61), who were randomly picked to win last week’s Where’s Walrus giveaway! Each of you will receive a copy of the book and a framed lithograph (and you should have an email from me by now!).

If you didn’t win this time, you can pick up a copy of the book right here. Thanks to all who entered!

Graphic designer and Australian Sarah Robinson moved to Bangkok, and was inspired to start her shop Be Still with all the beautiful fabrics she was able to buy there.

Michael and Meredith are getting married this Spring in Miami, and are having a chic pool-side reception. They’ll be decorating with orchids, calla lilies, and roses, and their bridesmaids will be wearing ocean-blue chiffon dresses! For the invitation suite, we wanted to have on a romantic, classic look with modern touches. Meredith liked the idea of using the black and white stripes from the hotel’s pool-side cabanas and mixing patterns (sounds like the perfect bride for me!). Today Michael and Meredith’s screen printed wedding invitations are featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper (thank you Nole!) so hop on over for more pictures.

Check out these amazing, hand block-printed fabrics by Jennifer Nelson of Home Sweet! Jennifer uses water-based inks on hemp, organic cotton, and soy fabrics. And did I mention they’re printed by hand?

You can see more on the Home Sweet blog.