Noodle Soup

The last year of my twenties

2011-09-15T23:45:00.005+01:00

So, yesterday was officially the first day of the last year of my twenties. And so far, it doesn't suck being 29. Especially when the year starts off with these pretties:

I was informed by the boy that the actual present he ordered for me had not yet arrived, and probably wouldn't for a couple of weeks as there were stock issues. (I have no idea what it is by the way, very exciting!!!) So, to tide me over, he presented me with a little fancy box of macaroons from Cocoa Atelier, and a beautiful plate from The Cake Cafe.

For a while now The Cake Cafe has been selling gorgeous 'inedible treats' as they like to call them. Their tea towels in particular are beautiful and portray lots of Dublin's landmarks/features using symbols designed by PONY.

I had no idea that a matching plate was available. Not only is it gorgeous, but it tells a story! They had the genius idea to put some of the PONY designs together to portray a Dublin version of the Willow Pattern! I didn't realise this when the boy gave me the plate, but after looking at it for a minute, certain aspects seemed familiar (inparticular, the 3 figures going over the bridge). When I was little, my Nana used to take a Willow Pattern plate out of her cabinet and tell me it's story. Having that association makes this an even more special present.

Another lovely touch that The Cake Cafe includes with the plate, is a card on which is written a modern day version of the Willow Pattern story, set in Dublin, and penned by one of my favorite Irish screenwriters and actors, Mark O'Halloran. You can read the short story here.

I think one of my favourite images from the plate is the man swimming at the bottom! He symbolises the Forty Foot, a place in Dublin Bay where people have swam for centuries (yet women have only been allowed to swim there since the 70's). I met a 90 year old man recently who swims there every day, and if it would give me the amazing skin he has when I'm 90 years old, I could definitely be convinced to ignore the freezing water and give it a go!

Rachel Kay
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A Very Eames Weekend

2011-09-08T23:13:00.001+01:00

In July of 2010 I wrote this post about the collaboration between Eames Office and W2 which resulted in the Eames Small Dot mugs. For my birthday last year the boy bought me one in orange which has been used pretty much daily ever since, but which has always seemed a bit lonely. Well it's lonely no longer!

At the weekend myself and my mam called in to TK Maxx (or TJ Maxx for those Stateside). I love wandering around the household section, you never know what you may come across.

So there I was trotting up and down the aisles, when I turned a corner to find an Eames Small Dot mugs sitting on a shelf! I did a double take, confirmed with glee that it was indeed what I thought it was, and then proceeded to scan the aisle for more. I ended up leaving with 2 orange ones and one black one. And of course they cost a fraction of the regular price. I would have liked another black one but there weren't any (believe me, I looked hard!).

Between these and this, I had a very Eames weekend :)

Rachel Kay
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An Early Birthday Pressie

2011-09-06T13:10:00.002+01:00

So, I no longer have to go to The Conran Shop to drool over the LTR :)

My birthday is around the corner, and at the weekend I was surprised with an LTR of my own. I'm a very happy bunny right now.

I initially fretted just a little about where I would put it as there isn't much space, but I'm happy with it's placement.

The problem with the apartment is that because it came fully furnished, there are a lot of things we'd rather not have, but have no choice in the matter. We have two sofas (a two and a three seater) which take up a lot of room, and which bug me beyond belief. The main reason they bug me can be seen in the top photo. See the multitude of cushions? They make up the back of the sofas (without them, there is just a very hard and uncomfortable piece of wood covered in fabric). This means that every time you sit down you have to spend ages arranging the cushions to get comfortable, and then every time you get up you have to plump the cushions because the sofa looks a hot crumpled mess if you don't!

Anyway, I am comforted by the fact that when we do eventually buy a house (which, fingers crossed, isn't too far off) I'll be bringing all the lovely pieces we've accumulated and leaving the rest (including these sofas) behind!

So, I have digressed somewhat, but the point I'm getting to is that I will one day be able to place the LTR next to something I love, but for the moment this will have to do as it's the only space I could find!

I think my Charley Harper book is happy with it's new home :)

(Note to self: stop giving inanimate objects emotions!)

Rachel Kay
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Bedside Beauties

2011-08-15T21:11:00.000+01:00

I'd been looking for vintage bedside lockers for so long, when one evening a couple of week's ago I spotted a pair on Geoff's blog and it seemed like fate!
They were exactly what I was looking for. So we picked them up, Geoff managed to squeeze them in to my tiny car, we brought them home, I dismantled the IKEA ones that had been in the apartment since we moved in (I was never a fan, you can see them in this old post), and here they are!

They are a little lower than the bed, but that doesn't bother me as the bed came with the apartment and won't be coming with us when we eventually move out.

The lockers were made by Stag, most likely in the 70's (or possibly early 80's). They are in excellent condition and are so sturdy. They have lovely curved corners, great handles (probably my favourite of their characteristics) and the drawers are nice and big, perfect for storing lots of random crap that I tend to keep beside my bed :)

Rachel Kay
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Office Space

2011-08-08T20:24:00.001+01:00

It took me a while (almost a year!), but I finally starting adding some personal touches to my desk at work.

From left to right: Orla Kiely mug (as a pencil holder), Inaluxe print (got this as an extra when when I ordered a larger print from them), postcard of Lichtenstein's 'Drowning Girl' (have a larger framed print at home, both bought in MoMA a few years ago), another Lichtenstein postcard, this time 'Interior With Perfect Painting' (picked this up at Paperchase).

I spend a lot of time in the recording studio (I'm a sound engineer) but I also work at my desk a lot, and it's nice to be able to put my stamp on the space.

At the moment, the print and postcards are leaning against the wall in a very uniform manner, but eventually will be actually on the wall.

When I first started this job there was a butt-ugly pencil pot on the desk, so I popped in to a shop on my way home one day to pick up a much prettier alternative:

The office is mostly open plan, but I do have walls on two sides of my desk, one of those sides being a sort of cubicle-type fabric covered wall. I'm not a big fan of it, but it ain't going anywhere so I just have to deal. But I felt a little better about it when I stuck this into the fabric :)

If any of you, my lovely followers, work in an office, what kind of things to you have in your office space to make it more personal?

Rachel Kay
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Fun Times in Berlin Pt 3: A Vintage Purchase

2011-07-31T23:11:00.003+01:00

One day in Berlin we went wandering around Prenzlauer Berg. We decided to go off the beaten track and stroll down the quiet side streets. It was lucky we did, because that's where we came aross this store:

We almost walked right by it, but then my eye caught sight of the mid-century goodies in the window. So, we went in, ooh'd and ahh'd at the lovely pieces they had for sale, and came out with this little lamp:

We both fell in love when we saw it. It was turned on in the shop and gave off a gorgeous light. I re-wired the plug when we got home after the holiday, et voila!

The light is softer than depicted above, but because the room was a bit dark when I took the photo, I had to brighten it up a little, hence the slightly burned-out lamp light!)

It's made a home for itself in the bedroom. The location may change in a while, but for the moment I love having it in this room.

Oh, and although this was most definitely the purchase of the day, if not the entire holiday, an honorable mention should go to this amazing hotdog I ate that same afternoon. Seriously, it was the best I've ever had!

Rachel Kay
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Finn Juhl

2011-07-26T15:42:00.004+01:00

These designs by Finn Juhl make me very happy. What doesn't make me happy however, is that I don't possess any of them, and unless I win the lotto, never will! But I choose not to think about that and just revel in their beauty :)

Custom cabinet made by Finn Juhl for his own home.

The Chieftains Chair, designed by Finn Juhl in 1949.

The Chieftains Chair in Finn Juhl's home.

The Pelikan chair, designed in 1939 and first produced in 1940.

More Pelikans, looking white and fluffy and oh so comfortable.

The Baker Sofa, originally designed by Finn Juhl for Baker Furniture Inc. in USA in 1951. The table in the photo is the Eye Table, designed in 1946. The two armchairs are Model 45's and were designed in 1945.

Poeten, originally designed by Finn Juhl for his own home in 1941.

[Images sourced from Onecollection]
There is no doubt that Mr. Juhl was a design genius. Sadly, he passed in '89. I'd love to visit his home in Denmark one day, which is furnished as he and his wife left it, and is now part of a museum. Luckily it's in another country. I say 'luckily', because if it was easily accessible to me, I would hang around it all day every day, pretending I lived there, and would most likely end up being banned from the place ;)

Rachel Kay
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Vintage Pelican

2011-07-21T13:37:00.002+01:00

What with all this talk of reading, I got to thinking about book covers, and in particular, vintage book covers. I did a bit of rummaging online and found some really nice ones from Pelican Books.

Pelican was an offshoot of Penguin Books. But the difference between the two was that Pelican was "an imprint designed to educate the reading public rather than entertain".
You could have guessed that from many of the titles. 'How Children Fail' and 'Alcoholism' don't exactly imply good times and entertainment!

Despite the frequently serious and sometimes grim titles and content, the covers were often fantastic, with wonderful use of colour and shape.

Here are some of my favourite Pelican book covers from the 60's (I snuck one in from from the Penguin African series too).

Images sourced from Things Magazine and Gary DeHart

Rachel Kay
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Fun Times in Berlin Pt 2: Vitra Surprise

2011-07-17T16:45:00.004+01:00

Not much shopping was done in Berlin, but we did go to KaDeWe one afternoon to buy the boy a decent pair of sunglasses. KaDeWe is one of the largest and most famous department stores on the continent. And it certainly is large. It's very fancy too. Lots of designer bits and bobs.

As we approached the door, I saw this window display:

This made me very happy, as nothing makes me happier than beautiful designs to drool over :)

From what I could gather, from June to July there were going to be displays of Vitra products throughout the store. And there were. But I hit the jackpot when I stumbled into this section:

There was lots more behind the large unit, more Eames chairs and other beautiful things, but there were people looking around so I got shy about taking photos :)

George Nelson Ceramic Clocks. I'll take all three please! €209 each? Okay... maybe not.

Alexander Girard's Wooden Dolls

So, there was no way I was going to leave this place empty handed. But what could I afford in this heavenly place? Why, a €20 mousepad of course, inspired by the Eames Elephant!

Unfortunately I don't use an external mouse, but this mousepad is an excuse to start!

Rachel Kay
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Reading.

2011-07-14T21:40:00.005+01:00

Building in Amsterdam, designed with ceramic books [source]

I want to read more often. I've always been a reader, but since taking on extra work the only time that I get a chance to read is when I go to bed, and I inevitably fall asleep as soon as my eyes hit the first line. Case in point: The New York Trilogy. This was in the 'Currently reading...' section on the side bar for months. It's not a long book at all, but it was a matter of getting a chance to read it. It's such a wonderful book. I finished it last night, finally.

So, I am making a new rule for myself. Get to bed half an hour earlier so that I can actually keep my eyes open for some literary loveliness.
It is my goal to get through a book a month, which would be a vast improvement.

I'm starting Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase tonight, and looking forward to it :)

Rachel Kay
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P.S. Any book recommendations are thoroughly welcomed!

LTR

2011-07-11T15:39:00.004+01:00

I hadn't gone shopping in ages, so when I went in to the city centre on Saturday I was determined to buy something. I was envisioning new clothes, maybe a pair of shoes, a couple of records... What did I have at the end of the day? Nothing. It was just one of those times when I saw nothing that I wanted.

Well, I tell a lie, there was one thing...

On my way back to the car, I called in to Arnotts. For months now I have been going in to The Conran Shop to drool over the Eames LTR. My head says "Number 1: you don't have a place for it in the apartment. Number 2: It's over €200 for a teeny tiny table!!!!"
My heart responds by saying: "But it's so beeeeaauuutiful!"

So I sat on one of the couches in the shop and drooled over the table some more. Then after a minute or two I decided to buy it. It was on sale after all! And if I had actually managed to buy the clothing, shoes and records I had originally planned to, I probably would have ended up spending around the same amount, right? Actually, probably not, but this is what I told myself anyway, trying to justify the purchase.

So I went to the counter and told them I was interested in the LTR with the white surface, when they proceeded to tell me that it would take 2 to 3 weeks to order it in. "You don't have any in stock?" To which they replied that they don't keep them in stock, but when orders are placed they are shipped over from London.

This was actually quite lucky.
Because I wouldn't be able to take it home that day, I knew it wouldn't ease the frustration at going home empty handed after day of walking around shops. There was also a sense of relief at not having to hand over €200. Sadness at not being able to bring home this 10 inch tall thing of beauty, but relief all the same. This would have been an expensive impulse buy.

Don't me wrong, I still want one! Believe me, I've been thinking of spots where it would look well in the apartment :) But after the trip to Berlin, I don't have that much spare cash and won't have until my next pay day. I'd rather this purchase be something I really look forward to, not something that I decide on in rush and then get stressed out about.

But to quote Wayne, it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine. :)

Rachel Kay
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Fun times in Berlin!

2011-07-07T19:10:00.005+01:00

I finally have some photos from Berlin to share with you!
I'm going to spread them over a couple of posts because there are quite a few. Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with pics of me and the boy in front of Berlin's various landmarks :)
These photos will be, for the most part, interiors orientated.

This post is going to concentrate on the hotel we stayed in, The Michelberger Hotel.

It's located in eastern Berlin. The location was perfect (the city is quite spread out, but the hotel was right beside a train station) and the hotel itself was fantastic. Full of character and quirkiness.

The lounge / lobby was full of bookshelves that acted as partition walls and lamp shades made of shredded magazines and newspapers.

There was more use of shredded paper on lampshades in the bar. A bar where they served, among other things, magnificent cake!

The hotel was kind of obsessed with The Big Lebowski. Every corner we turned in the corridor on the way to our room revealed a TV screen showing the film on rotation (there was also a channel on the TV in our room showing the film on rotation too!). This made me smile every time :)

On to our room. It was small, but perfectly adequate. I loved it.

What you're seeing there is the area around the top of our bed. See that window to the left? Through there is the shower. Yes, a window in to the shower. This room is recommended for 'a single or an in-love couple'. I'm guessing that's the reason :)

The wallpaper was custom made for the hotel, and full of new things to discover every time I looked at it.

There were lovely little bits of detail to be found, like these tiny old photos:

Breakfast was optional, but we ate there every morning because it was a buffet and it was delicious.

Plus, the room was gorgeous with lovely glass ball lampshades hanging from ceiling.

All in all, myself and the boy loved this hotel. So much so that I myself bought one of their t-shirts! Although that more came down to the fact that I loved the shape and design of it than anything else. It's really big, but the whole idea is that you can customise it. In the photo below I have rolled up the huge sleeves and stuck a belt on. The belt, coincidentally, is also from Berlin, but is vintage and was bought in Dublin a couple of years ago.

Note: my face is not in frame as I'm too scared to put it on the internet :)

Thanks for checking out this post :)

Rachel Kay
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Letterbox Treat

2011-06-30T22:12:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I was wondering when the new edition of Modernism Magazine would be delivered, when lo and behold, there it was!
The subscription was a Christmas gift from my boy. It's a quarterly magazine so this is only the second edition I have received. I love it, nicely put together and always full of 20th-century modernist design goodies!

I spent the last week in Berlin (a city I am now in love with), and once I go through the photos over the next couple of days I will have some to share with you :)

Rachel Kay
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Dreamy desks

2011-06-18T21:37:00.011+01:00

We live in a two bed apartment and the second bedroom is what I like to call 'le dump'.
You know that drawer that you have that holds all the crap that doesn't have a proper home? Well, 'le dump' is a room size version of that drawer. I just open the door to, fling stuff in, and close the door quickly, all without looking. I do this without looking because 'le dump' shames me...

But not for much longer! It is soon to be a music room/office. All of the boy's musical equipment is in there. There is also a desk where I dry to do my own work sometimes. The desk is a shitty cheap construction that is butt ugly. Before the desk is replaced though, the room needs to be cleared and repainted etc. But that hasn't stopped me dreaming of these lovelies:

The Home Desk by George Nelson. My number one choice, if I had a couple of grand handy...

The Victor Orange Desk designed by Robert Lazzeroni. The boy loves this one. He spotted it in The Conran Shop in Arnotts for the hefty price of €5,239. Every so often he'll go to check if it's on sale for 90% off or something like that :)

The Eileen Desk designed by Terence Conran. The most affordable one so far, relative to the previous two, at €869 (reduced from €1019).

Now, considering that this desk is going to have various samplers, synths and keyboards on and off it, there is no way we are willing to spend a lot of money on it. One day, perhaps I will sit at my George Nelson Home Desk, writing long letters in cursive to loved ones, and I assure you, if that day comes, the only thing that will ever adorn the desk will be soft and/or fluffy and will not put the beautiful piece of furniture at risk to marks and scratches.

So, I guess right now what I'm looking for is something with enough surface area, but that also won't make me cry if it gets scuffed or scratched. Something aesthetically pleasing to my eye, yet fairly cheap. Also, something with more length than depth (the second bedroom isn't very wide). One word: IKEA! Another word in particular: Micke!

This is the new longer version of the Micke desk. It's a shame that they don't have the white and orange version in this size yet, maybe they will by the time we get around to desk-buying time. But either way, at the moment I'm thinking Micke might be a nice stand-in until I win the lotto and can buy Mr. Nelson's beautiful design :)

Rachel Kay
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Newbies for the Boudoir

2011-06-16T18:41:00.011+01:00

Well hello there,

First, let me apologise for my absenteeism. I will do a post about that shortly. But on to more important things...

A seafoam side chair on walnut rocker base. Yum! The latest addition to my Eames family has made this my current favourite corner.

Above the chair is my finally framed print from Inaluxe. It was a gift from my Mam at Christmas. To the left is my String Pocket Shelf.

I neglected this room for so long, it's nice to finally see it coming together and feeling like a place I really want to spend more time in.

Above the bed is another new addition, and a welcome one to that massive blank space. The boy surprised me with a Charley Harper print, the gorgeous 'Gregarious Grosbeaks' (oooh, alliteration!) for my birthday last year. It always takes me so bloody long to hang pictures!

Rachel Kay
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Recent purchases!

2011-05-16T19:46:00.009+01:00

This little bird arrived in the post last week. Originally designed in the 1950's, it's a Kristian Vedel BIRD. I've been longing for one since I spotted them in the shop at the Centre Pompidou the last time I was in Paris. See how it's made a nice little home for itself on the String Pocket Shelf in the bedroom? It's already made friends with the turtle in the fancy blue hat! Yes, I imagine inanimate objects form relationships... so?! It's totally normal for a 28 year old...

(It's also totally normal for me to have wrinkled bedsheets, they're just too bloody big to iron!)

Before:

After:

The glass turtle belonged to my Nana, and dates back to the 40's. I used to play with it when I was little, and the other glass figures she had. Sadly this is the only one that's still intact, but I feel so lucky to have it.

So, there I was, thinking the BIRD would be my only purchase of late (note: I am not shouting the word 'bird'. It's supposed to be in caps!)

Last Friday and Saturday were hectic, and I was looking forward to having a quiet day on Sunday. The boy needed me to drive him to Dublin 8 to pick up some equipment from a friend's studio. We decided that was the only outing we would take that day, and while we were at it we would call in to the Brocante which was happening just around the corner from where we were going. I had no cash on me, but had to promptly run out to the atm to enable the purchase of this:

The Kirk Modern stand, always one of my favourites at the Brocante, had some beautiful pieces of Cathrineholm! I have never seen Cathrineholm pieces for sale over here. It was never on the market here to begin with, so it's very hard to come by in Ireland. The two other pieces I have were bought on etsy. This pot is the same beautiful colour as my carafe, and it was only €25! My collection is small, but growing, albeit slowly :)

Rachel Kay
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Ferrowatt

2011-05-07T21:46:00.004+01:00

Bought a couple of Ferrowatt reproduction lightbulbs at the Dublin Flea recently. No idea where to use them yet, but looking forward to eventually finding a home for them because they're so pretty when alight.

Rachel Kay
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If my home had a number...

2011-03-09T15:41:00.010Z

House Industries have teamed up with Heath Ceramics to create Heath House Numbers. They will be in two styles celebrating the classic Neutra and Eames number fonts.

They are 3-dimensional clay tiles, and measure 6 x 6 inches, so they're nice and big. They will be available from late Spring for $45 each.

Neutra:

Eames:

All I can say is... "yum".

Rachel Kay
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Sunburst Clocks

2011-02-16T21:38:00.007Z

A recent trip to The Conran Shop when I was in town last Saturday got me thinking that I should do a little sunburst & sunburst-esque clock appreciation post.
Here are some of my favorites. And 'surprise!', George Nelson dominates :)

Pluto Sunburst Clock by Newgate

George Nelson Sunburst Clock

George Nelson Sunburst Multi Clock

Umbra Giant Starburst Clock

George Nelson Sunflower Clock

George Nelson Sunburst Clock Model # 2214

Rachel Kay
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This week I'm longing for...

2011-02-09T22:08:00.005Z

A REVO heritage radio

We have a TEAC amplifier/tuner as part of our separates in the living room, and I love it, but I really want to be able to listen to digital radio. Plus having internet radio opens the doors to so many great stations.

Another big plus is that this is very portable (unlike the separates) and could be easily moved between the kitchen and bedroom (which is lacking the means for listening to music/the radio)
It's hard to find a fm/digital and internet radio that has a nice retro look to it, but as soon as I saw the REVO Heritage I knew it was the one.

It's case is made from aluminium, walnut and tactile rubber. Nice! It also has an ipod dock (see the little slot on the top?). Now, all I have to figure out is a way to afford this before my next pay day! I find it really hard to hold off purchasing things, and when it comes to this beauty, I want it now! :)

Rachel Kay
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Meet the new arrival:

2011-01-25T21:36:00.008Z

It is the blue thing of beauty in the right of the photo. It's my most recent ebay purchase (and probably my last for a while!), and I'm in love. Seriously. If I could marry an inanimate object, this chair would be it.

I got it for €300, which is at least half of what I would expect to pay for it. In Dublin for example, one of the very few vintage furniture shops currently has a fiberglass armchair on a reproduction RAR base for sale for around €900. Yikes!

I was so delighted when the chair arrived and I saw that it was in even better condition that the photos on ebay had depicted! It's a mustard fiberglass shell with blue hopsak seat, and boy, is that hopsack in good condition:

It's pretty much like that all over. So vibrant and lovely. I found out a little about it's history from the seller too. It was made in the early sixties at the latest, and lived in the University of Köln (Cologne) from the mid sixties to the mid nineties. I love that!

It actually came on a DAT base, but I already had a side chair on a rocker base, so I switched the two bases around. The other chair is a side chair, also fibreglass (no hopsack) , and now lives beside our 1976 Rhodes piano. It's perfect there and is the perfect height for playing the Rhodes. My plan was to get a walnut dowel base for it, but I'm going to hold off for a while because I actually like the DAT base a lot more than I thought I would.

Eames chairs are so beautiful. I would love to have more, but as the original fiberglass ones are pretty pricey this side of the pond (and in particular in Ireland, where they are pretty rare), I'm going to have to pace myself and take my time looking for deals over the next couple of years I think!

Rachel Kay
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Bookshelf Porn

2011-01-18T20:22:00.001Z

Just came across to this tumblr, thanks to seesaw (which, by the way is a great blog, full of pictures of gorgeous and inspirational things).

I'm big in to books, always have been. Not only do I love reading them, but I love how they can look, and smell! Seriously, new books smell amazing.
I was raised in a house full of books and when myself and the boy eventually have our own house, I want it too be full of books too.

Bookshelf Porn is a photo blog about the different ways people store/arrange their books. I could peruse these photos all day. Here are a few of my favourite so far:

Now, I've quite a bit of a way to to go before I have a huge wall of books that requires a ladder to reach most of the shelves, but here is my humble, yet much loved start:

Rachel Kay
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Allow me to introduce...

2011-01-11T20:39:00.008Z

...my bathroom! Exciting, right?! Okay, maybe not, but I gave the room such a massive clean the other day and it was so sparkly that I just had to show it to somebody :)

Plus, I've never done a post on it before (apart from this little one on the light fixture). And in the words of Cher, If I could turn back time, I would take photos of the room before I repainted it to make a comparison (I assure you, it's a vast improvement!).

Anyway, here is a little tour of the small but vital room:

View from the door

The bath on the left. See that strip of black tiles? They were originally navy... yes, navy. They were put in when when the apartment was built, through no choice of the potential buyer. Oh, and the walls were a deep cream. So as you can see, I painted the tiles a lovely glossy black, and painted the walls white.

To the left of the door is my lovely 3 tier Kartell componibili. It was a birthday gift from my parents last year, and is perfect for storing all my beauty lotions and potions. The frame on top is from Urban Outfitters, and the photo is of some graffiti I came across in the East Village a couple of years back.

So that's it! By now you're heading out the door, but before you go you notice the decals on the wall beside the door. Tadahh!

I bought the drops from Studio Violet, but unfortunatly I don't think there are any more left in the shop :(

So, thanks for visiting my bathroom, hope you enjoyed the tour!

Rachel Kay
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[edit] I should have mentioned the white tiled floor, the bane of my existence ...well, not quite, but it's VERY frustrating! Sure, it looks lovely when it has just been cleaned and it's all sparkly, but it only takes about 2 seconds for it to look unclean! Bits of dust and or little pieces of fluff are so obvious on it. And no matter how often I sweep, before long there is more dust on the floor. So, the moral of this story is to not have pure white tiles on a bathroom floor. Again, I had no choice in the tiles, as they came with the apartment. If I had had a choice, I would have gone with the black tiles Anne from Door Sixteen used in her downstairs bathroom. Gorgeous!

New Goodies for the Boudoir!

2010-12-31T16:41:00.005Z

A while ago (okay, over a year ago...) I was talking about buying new Orla Kiely bedsheets.
So a year passed, and I was pretty broke for a large portion of it, therefore no Orla Kiely goodness :(
Thankfully the cashflow situation has changed a bit, and one of the first things I purchased was... can you guess? :)

So, in the past year I changed my mind from the design I originally wanted, to a newer Kiely design. The design is called Multi Rhododendron, the colours are gorgeous, it has a lovely retro feel to it and I luuuurve it!

So the bedroom is slowly coming together! One thing that really bugs me is the big blank space on the wall over the bed. But, I received a beautiful print for Christmas, and another gorgeous one is on it's way as a belated birthday gift. So, that space won't be bugging me for too much longer :)

Rachel Kay
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P.S. Happy New Year :)

Book Delights

2010-12-19T21:27:00.001Z

Oh dear... where have I been? Nowhere, but what I have been is both incredibly busy and lazy. Busy, in that I started a new full time job, while keeping on both my other part time jobs. Lazy, in that every spare minute I have had, I have wanted to do absolutely nothing. Hence, this poor blog got pushed somewhere to the back of my mind. But I missed it, and I hope to start making more regular posts.

When I started this new job, it was such a novelty to have some disposable income. One of the first things I bought was a book. A big book. I love big books. The one I bought was Lichtenstein Girls. Here it is, together two other newly aquired books:

So, Lichtenstein Girls was a little present to myself. I love it. The quality is great, and the prints are lovely and big.

My boy earned major brownie points by giving me 'The Furniture Of Charles and Ray Eames' for my birthday. Here's one of my favourite images from the book:

The caption reads: 'Verla Shulman, a member of the Eames Office, using the armchair shell as beach furniture'.

On a recent visit to London with my boy, we took a trip to Tate Modern. When looking around the shop at the museum, I couldn't resist picking up a Moomin book with it's beautiful graphics and colours on the cover. Here's a little something from the inside cover:

So, just to finish off this post, to all of my followers (you may be few in number, but you are much appreciated!) thanks for sticking with Noodle Soup during this recent slump in blogging :)

Rachel Kay
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I need a teapot...

2010-09-30T14:51:00.004+01:00

...no, wait. I need THIS teapot!

Truth be told, I don't actually drink that much tea. But when we have guests over I hate taking out the plain white and very boring teapot we have.
Wouldn't it be so nice to be able to pour my guests' tea from this teapot?! And no longer would I be embarrassed about my teapot and feel the need to hide it away in a cupboard when not in use. Now I would be able to proudly display it for all to see!

Hmmm, yes it is kind of pricey at £50, but this is Orla Kiely we're talking about, and she ain't cheap!

I don't like being too matchy matchy, but I absolutely LOVE the Poppy Meadow designs in the range, and it would be hard not to come up with some reason to buy something like this casserole dish too...
And I'm sure i could find some use for this butter dish...And who wouldn't need another storage jar?!

Rachel Kay
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New Illumination

2010-09-22T20:25:00.005+01:00

Remember when I went to London a few weeks ago and I made a Habitat wishlist beforehand? One item on the list was the Fosse wall light: I had no intention of spending £80 (about €95) on a light for the bathroom, but if I was going to, this would be the one I'd spend it on.
And then, as luck would have it, the local Ikea dropped their new catalogue in the mailbox. And within those lovely pages I found a cheap alternative to the Fosse... the Musik!

The Ikea light actually ended up suiting me way better. It's the perfect length to fit over the mirror I have (60cm wide), plus there's an extra bulb. I'm not too fond of the mirror, I'd much rather a plain one without all the shelves. And the reason I needed a light is because the one that was originally attached to the mirror stopped working (secretly something I was happy about, really didn't like the light!)
Here's the mirror with the old light:

And here it is with the new light!

And here it is on!

The light it gives off is a LOT brighter than this photo depicts. I'm so happy with this light, it makes the mirror that bit more tolerable :)

Rachel Kay
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A-choo!

2010-09-18T23:16:00.003+01:00

The Fazzoletto, or 'Handkerchief' vase is a real 50's icon. It was designed by Paolo Venini and Fulvio Bianconi and was apparently inspired by a handkerchief floating through the air.

Like many expensive designs, it was also widely copied throughout the world at the time. One company who produced a more cost-effective alternative to the pricey fazzoletto vase was Chance in the U.K. They cost a lot less to make, due to the cheap 'sheet glass' method of production. Chance also produced lots of different screen printed designs on the vases.

A huge amount of these Chance hankerchief cases were made, and it's not uncommon to come across them in vintage stores. I've come across quite few over the past few years, but I never found a colour and pattern that I really liked. Then I saw this beauty on ebay...

It's currently taking pride of place on my still fairly bare String Pocket Shelf. I love the colour and the design on the glass. Plus, it matches my Orla Kiely Car Park bedding :)

Rachel Kay
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I had a Sad Mac, but now I'm back!

2010-09-13T00:54:00.007+01:00

I am typing this on a lovely shiny and new MacBook Pro! Yes, I am now broke, but at least I have a pretty laptop to work on! Basically, my four year old MacBook died a horrible death. It's descent progressed quite quickly, and before I knew it I was being quoted almost €800 to get it repaired! Eek! I knew I was going to need a new laptop sooner or later, but I was hoping for later :) Anyway, the money is spent and my new baby is here, and I can work on it without fear of losing everything due to a faulty motherboard.

So, that's my excuse for not having posted recently. Why not use the boy's laptop? Well, I tried. His MacBook is as old as my recently deceased one, and it still works, sort of... the keyboard is a bit dodgy (certain keys including 'Enter' and 'Backspace' no longer work!) and the trackpad no longer functions too (there was a coffee spilling incident a while back), so as you can imagine it was a bit of a nightmare to operate.

So, I apologise for my absence, and I am very glad to be back :)

I've tons of work to do tomorrow before I'm whisked away to a fancy hotel for a couple of days to celebrate my birthday this week, but I hope to put up another post before tomorrow night. Yikes! It is tomorrow, it's 01:00! Time for bed...

Rachel Kay
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Getting my Habitat fix!

2010-08-07T23:36:00.004+01:00

Habitat closed in Ireland a couple of years ago... :(

So... I'm excited, because next weekend I am off to London! And the boy himself suggested a visit to Habitat! Very impressed I was :)

If we do purchase anything in the store, it will be fairly small so that it can fly back to Dublin with us (preferably in a piece of hand luggage as we want to avoid check in luggage charges!).

Anyway, I've made a non-realistic wish list, which would probably suit if we were going by boat, hiring a van and had plenty of cash :)

1. Kura Lampshade
2. Fitz Table Lamp
3. Herbert Storage Jar
4. Ella Sofa
5. Suva Storage Jar
6. Fosse Bathroom Wall Light
7. Navajo Rug
8. Flap Analogue Wall Clock

It's most likely I'll only pick up one or two small and very reasonably priced bits. I might find the sofa in the store, lounge on it for a bit and pretend it's mine. It's nice to dream :)

Rachel Kay
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Coffee from one of these would taste oh so much better!

2010-07-22T20:02:00.005+01:00

Eames Dots Mugs are now available! How lovely it would be to drink some coffee, or tea, or hot chocolate, or soup, or pretty much anything out of one of these!
They are a result of a collaboration between Eames Office and W2. Made of fine china, they come in a choice 3 colours: black, red or orange. You can pick them up here.

The Dot design actually originated as the Eames's entry into a textile competition held by the Museum of Modern Art in 1947. Four designs were submitted (Dot, Crosspatch and Circles) but only Crosspatch went into production at the time.
But thanks to the help of Lucia Eames, the daughter of Ray and Charles, the other three designs have been reproduced, including Dot! And now Dot's on a mug, brilliant!

Rachel Kay
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New String Pocket Shelf

2010-07-19T23:04:00.007+01:00

So I finally bought and put up a String Pocket Shelf! Remember I'd been lusting over one?

I ended up finding a store in Dublin that sells them (Inreda) and this particular one was ex-display so even though it's in perfect condition I got a great discount! Nice!
It's very very bare right now (like the rest of the bedroom!) but I'm really looking forward to picking up bits and pieces to display on it. And just so it wasn't completely empty, I put my Martin Beck Books on it, which then proceeded to fall on their side so I added my Nana's old money box as a temporary book end :)

Here's a wider shot of the room. I'm trying to create a little reading corner where the tub chair is. The chair came with the apartment and it's actually really comfy. My aim is for it to be a place to sit and read rather than a place to dump clothes. Wish me luck with that!

Rachel Kay
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Bare Bulb Begone!

2010-07-14T22:41:00.007+01:00

After a year of no lamp shade in the bedroom, I finally got one, hurrah! I was so sick of looking at a bare bulb!

So, I was strolling through Ikea, where I only went to pick up a new vegetable peeler and a couple of towels (ah, 'tis a glamorous life I live). I always have a quick peek at their lamp shades, just to see if they've finally got any new designs in (which isn't often). And then I saw the Jönåker Shade 33 and I knew it was exactly what I wanted!

day!
night!
Unlike a lot of Ikea shades, but like a lot of their products, this required assembly. The Jönåker Shade 33 comes in 10 pieces, but it's really easy to put together. And totally worth it, I love it!

Rachel Kay
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(note: Apologies for the lack of a link, but I couldn't find a link to the shade on Ikea's site!)

Pearly Whites!

2010-07-12T20:46:00.006+01:00

I apologise for my absence from Blogland. I have been crazy busy and everything that wasn't work related had to be put on hold for a while. But I'm back! And I missed you Blogland!

And now for a very important message:

The poster is originally from a 1938 campaign in the U.S. to promote good oral hygiene. I think it would look great in a bathroom, MY bathroom, I want it! Although, I don't know if there is anywhere to hang it in there. I have this big wall mounted towel rail that I'd love to get rid of, and the poster would look great in it's place. Hmmm, an excuse to get rid of the towel rail I think! :)

Check out the poster and others here!

Rachel Kay
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B&Q does a Poul Christiansen

2010-06-14T22:36:00.005+01:00

Fancy a 1970's Le Klint 172 pendant light?

Designed in 1971 by Poul Christiansen? Hand folded in Denmark from a single sheet of plastic? Available in various sizes? Stunningly gorgeous? Yes please!!!

Okay, hold that thought. At prices starting at £146 and moving in to four figures for the very large versions, I might need to consider holding off for a while to save up some cash...

However, a temporary substitute (and I say temporary, because I believe that if you can afford it at some point, an original is always better) is this soon to be available Rosa light from B&Q:

The same look for a much smaller price, a whole £19.98. Not bad eh? Now, I don't expect it to be in anyway folded out of a single sheet, but if you can't afford the Le Klint 172, this is a very feasible substitute. We can apparently expect this in B&Q in September.

Rachel Kay
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Anglepoise Love

2010-06-10T22:37:00.005+01:00

I love Anglepoise lamps, their design is so innovative and elegant. The lamp was designed in 1932 by the British designer George Carwardine, and then manufactured by Herbert Terry Ltd.

When I finally started decorating the apartment, a pair of Anglepoise lamps were at the top of my list for bedside lamps in the bedroom. I picked up a white and an orange Apex 90 model on Ebay. I love them both, but particularly the orange one (surprise surprise!) and that's the one I have on my side of the bed :)

The bedroom is still ridiculously bare, so they add a little bit of colour and character, 'character' being an appropriate word! Look at this wonderful little film I found on the official Anglepoise website.

Rachel Kay
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Orla Kiely does beach towels!

2010-06-05T22:23:00.016+01:00

Oooohh, pretty!

If I was planning on lying on a beach in the near future, my wish would be to lie on one of these. The towel measures 100 x 180cm and are made from 100% cotton. Here's the same pattern in a different colour scheme:

And of course, the omnipresent stem print!:

You can buy the beach towels here.
Now, I'm thinking that if I purchased one of these exceedingly pretty towels, then i'd have to book a holiday somewhere :)

Rachel Kay
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My new thrifted friend

2010-06-04T23:02:00.005+01:00

It's usually the case that when I'm hoping to find something in a second hand store, I never do. ESPECIALLY in Ireland. Our second hand stores aren't the best, and it takes A LOT of patience to eventually find what you want, if you're lucky! So I couldn't believe my good fortune when I found this vintage wooden gazelle...

My Nana had a couple of these carvings. When I was little I loved them, and since Nana passed away 6 years ago I've been longing to find them, but they're gone. Where, I don't know, but they're nowhere to be found. So, for the past couple of years I've been keeping an eye out in the hopes of spotting one elsewhere.

The one I found is beautiful, I love it. I know it's not the exact one my Nana had, even though I wish it was, because the fact that it would have belonged to her would have made it so special. But, the one I found has the massive added bonus of being another reminder of the wonderful person my Nana was.

It's a gorgeous teak (at least I think it's teak!) and it's body is so smooth that the light just bounces off it. I'm still trying to find a proper home for him/her. I know it ain't no African plain, but I'm thinking a spot on the book shelf might be it's home for a while!

Rachel Kay
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Light bulb moment...

2010-05-29T23:31:00.007+01:00

I love the simplicity of these:

I love when designers take something that is normally overlooked and considered boring and turn it into something beautiful. The NUD Classic light fittings have made me realise how attractive a bare bulb can be. And don't be deceived by their simplicity! There's actually lots of attention to detail. There are 44 different style of textile chords to choose from and the lovely white socket for the bulb is actually porcelain!

One looks great hanging alone, but I love the idea of hanging a few together, maybe 3 in a group at different lengths of chord, or over a table a few at equal lengths in a row would look good too.
Check them out here.

Rachel Kay
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Art I currently covet...

2010-05-26T23:39:00.008+01:00

Once the exchange rate improves a bit more (okay, a lot more!) I have to buy this piece, I love it:

It has a real mid century feel to it and I absolutely love the colours.
The piece is by Melbourne based artist Kristina, and she has an etsy store here.

All her artwork is gorgeous, but she has another piece I really like:

It's called Helsinki Afternoon August 1969. It's beautiful. Reminds me of Orla Kiely's stem print, which isn't surprising considering both prints are obviously inspired by Scandanavian design.

Now, all I have to do is wait, cross my fingers and hope the euro grows in strength soon!

Rachel Kay
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Everything Is Illuminated

2010-05-23T15:00:00.005+01:00

Richy over at custardbydesign asked me about a lamp that appeared in the background of a photo in my last blog. Nothing pleases me more than enlighten (yeah I'm too clever for my own good) my readers :)

The base is a 'spindle' lamp base that I picked up from Urban Outfitters a couple of years ago. It was originally €47 (ouch!), but I found one on sale for €22 (yay!). It had a few marks on it, hence the low price, but all it needed was a little clean and the marks came right off!

So, the base was just lying around for a year, waiting for a shade. About a year ago, when my brother and sister-in-law moved out, they left the shade for the ceiling light in their bedroom. It's a Skimra shade and it's very directional so wasn't much good for a ceiling light. So, I tried it on my lamp base and loved the outcome!

It's currently sitting on a kitchen trolley (also left by my brother and sister-in-law) with a few cookery books, scales and some vintage pieces. When it's on it gives off a lovely glow and makes that corner of the room particularly homey :)

Rachel Kay
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New Pretties!

2010-05-18T15:31:00.010+01:00

A work deadline is looming so things are hectic here right now, hence the lack of blogging! But things haven't been all work and no play. Well, as least not for a couple of hours when myself and my boy took time out to go to the Newmarket Brocante on Sunday!
And it was there that I picked up my this new pretty:

It's a yummy piece of Carlton Ware I picked up from the kirkmodern stall. I love the colour and the shape so much. The back-stamp and impressed number indicates that it was made sometime in the late 60's/1970. The same applies to another piece of Carlton Ware I recently won on ebay which arrived last week:

I luuurve this. And it's a pretty big'un too, about 31cm high. And I have to admit, I squealed a little with delight when I opened the box and saw that the shade was an even more delicious orange than appeared in the photos on ebay!

And that's not all!
When I was at the Brocante I bought a another piece of Carlton Ware from kirkmodern! Same colour as the small vase and similar shape and size to the orange one, but this is a coffee pot! I got a great deal on it too ( it has a hairline crack at the top), but it's a real beauty.

Rachel Kay
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New at UO

2010-05-07T13:15:00.016+01:00

For ages the homeware section in Urban Outfitters has been pretty rubbish over here. I remember a time when the ground floor of the store in Temple Bar was full of homewares. Now it pretty much only occupies a little corner on the 2nd floor and consists of things like photo frames and novelty ash trays.

Whenever I was in the U.S. I loved going to UO because they dedicate quite a large portion of their shop floors to homewares. Rugs, tables, cushions, bedspreads, throws, lamps etc. And then I would get so envious when looking at the U.S. UO website because they don't ship to Ireland!

So you can imagine my delight this morning when I received an email announcing the new homewares and textiles which were being added to their European stores. Some are web exclusives, but at least they're obtainable! Hurrah! Here's a selection of things that caught my eye:

60's inspired throw

Deco-style wallpaper

Floral print rug

Reversible leaf print quilt
Rachel Kay
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String

2010-05-05T12:09:00.012+01:00

I am totally lusting after some String shelving right now...

Nisse Strinning designed the String Shelf System in 1949, and it's gorgeous minimalist design is timeless.

I love it's simplicity and flexibility (basically, you can buy some shelves and then keep adding bits on to it thereby building your own unique unit).

For a classic design it's actually pretty affordable - because you add to it over time.
The unit I have my eye on right now is the String Pocket Shelf:

It's a nice wee size (about 60cm x 50cm). Plus it's pretty affordable. You can get them from funktionalley for about £98 before shipping. I'm gonna hold off a while though and wait until the exchange rate improves, because it's pretty pants right now.

Rachel Kay
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G Plan

2010-05-02T15:35:00.002+01:00

And now, a brief history lesson!
G Plan was a range of furniture that was first produced by E Gomme Ltd. in the UK in 1953.
Since 1943 there had been a really limited selection of furniture available in Britain. This was because of the Utility Scheme, which had been set up as part of the rationing system during World War II and it limited costs and types of furniture on sale. The scheme ended in 1952, and finally people's demand for modern furniture could be satisfied!

One of the great thoughts behind the G Plan range (apart from the designs themselves) was that it could be bought piece by piece, depending on one's budget. Also, designs were available for a few years so as to allow people to collect them slowly.
It was a huge success and made E Gomme a hell of a lot of money!

Moving in to the 60s, G Plan had competition in the form of Danish furniture. So, in response to this the G Plan range came out in a new Danish-inspired modern style. And this is the style which has proved to be so popular and original pieces are really sought after today, particularly the G Plan Fresco range which was pretty huge in the 60's and 70's.

I grew up in a house that had a few G Plan Fresco pieces. My parents bought a dining table, chairs and matching sideboard shortly after they were married in the early 70's. I remember being a little girl in the 80's and lying on the floor under the table and chairs trying to pick off the red and silver G Plan stickers (unfortunatley I managed to pick off quite a few!). These pieces are still very much in use at home, and my mam thinks it's hilarious when I tell her how much they are sought after now. She tells me about how so many of their friends bought G Plan pieces back then, but have since thrown them in the skip thinking them to be too dated! Ouch! That kills me!

G Plan is still going, although in recent years it has specialised in upholstery. But, I guess after noticing how popular vintage G Plan has become, the company has brought out the Fresco range again. It's not identical, and you can definitely spot the difference between an original and the new edition pieces, but they do have a nice retro feel to them. However, it's the history that is one of my favourite aspects of vintage pieces, so I'd always go for the original where possible.
I'm still swooning over my own G Plan piece that I picked up a few weeks ago, the astro coffee table. You can see it in the 70's advertisement above. Now, if only I could replicate that room in the ad... hmmm, that split level might take a bit of work :)

Rachel Kay
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New Sanna Annuka

2010-04-23T15:55:00.002+01:00

I love Sanna Annuka's designs (all thanks to Zee, whose blog first introduced me to her work) and for the past several months I have been lusting after one of her wooden birds.

Sanna's work is really beautiful, and understandably her pieces are not cheap, but neither are they ridiculously expensive. But, Sanna's work has just become a lot more affordable... She's doing greeting cards!

Sanna has just launched a range of (very framable!) greeting cards with nineteenseventythree. Soon, there'll be wrapping paper and postcards too. But aren't the cards gorgeous? Made from 100% recycled waste too, and there's lovely gold and silver foil detail on them, which adds some sparkle to the otherwise subtle colour palette.

Rachel Kay
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That chair

2010-04-20T22:53:00.004+01:00

Last summer when I was walking around the local DIY store, looking for the right shade of paint for the apartment, I picked up a brochure for Crown Paints. I had actually already picked out the paint I wanted, so didn't really need the brochure. But, you see, on the cover it had a photo of the most beautiful chair...

Fast forward to last week. I had thrown out the aforementioned brochure many months ago and hadn't thought about the chair in quite a while. There I was, curled up on the sofa watching an episode of Gossip Girl (yeah, I know... it's a guilty pleasure!). And what should I see in Lily's beautiful Upper East Side apartment? Only several of those chairs. Here's a still from the show's set:

So I asked my self 2 questions. (1) Who designed this amazing specimen of a chair? And (2) Can I get one?!
It didn't take long to find the answers.
Firstly, it's a Cherner Armchair, originally designed by Norman Cherner in 1958.

Can I get one? Sure! That is if I have a spare $1,000 to spend! And that's just for one! I could always go for the Cherner Side Chair (which lacks the arms, the part I love the most). Sure that one would only set me back about $700!
So the real answer to my second question is... no.

Oh well, guess I'm just going to have to keep watching Gossip Girl so I can swoon over the chair through the TV screen :)

Rachel Kay
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Record Store Day!

2010-04-17T21:55:00.005+01:00

So, if there is one thing in particular that you should know about me is that music is a huge part of my life, I freakin' love it. And today, 17th April, is Record Store Day! It's the one day of the year when all of the independently owned record stores around the world come together with musicians to celebrate the art of music.

So, you could imagine my disappointment that I couldn't make it in to the city centre today :(
But I sent my boy in, and he did me proud! He picked up the lovelies in the photo above. A couple of artists and labels brought out special releases for today only.
The 7" is a special from Bat For Lashes, only 1000 pressings were done and it's only in shops today.
The top left is a record we've been meaning to get for ages. Amazing cover art! It's Gonjasufi's album 'A Sufi And A Killer'.
Top right is another Record Store Day exclusive. It's a sampler from 4AD, and features a new Blonde Redhead song which is just gorgeous!

Looking forward to an evening of aural delights!

Rachel Kay
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Having trouble finding an affordable piece of Cathrine Holm?

2010-04-16T00:02:00.008+01:00

... just buy an affordable t-towel with some Cathrine Holm pieces on it!

Well, sure, the Lotus pattern might be upside down, but these are still a helluva lot cheaper than some of the Lotus pieces you can find on ebay. And some of the other patterns are quite Orla Kiely-esque, and we know genuine Ms. Kiely pieces do not come cheap! So, if you don't have much cash to throw around right now, this might satisfy your want for a while! Plus, bonus points for practicality... you can never have too many t-towels :)

For sale here.

Rachel Kay
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My wee gallery

2010-04-09T21:53:00.004+01:00

Ok, now that I'm showing you a little more of the apartment, allow me to give you a brief history of my time here. Almost 5 years ago I moved in on my own. At the time I didn't have very much in the way of interiors, and made do with what the apartment came with. A few months later, my brother and his then girlfriend (now wife) moved in with me. It was great because they were quite eager to put their own stamp on the place, so they put up lots of pictures and things. At the same time, I wasn't living with my boyfriend but seemed to spend most of my time over at his, so I never really felt like the apartment was my home.
Fast forward to a year ago. My brother and sister-in-law moved out, and the apt was left pretty much empty for a couple of months. Finally I started working on it, giving it a complete clean and repainting everywhere.
As they had taken all their stuff with them, the place seemed really empty, but I moved back in, and started to make the place my own. Last October my boy moved in with me and ever since then we have been gradually buying the bits and pieces that we have so far and making this place a home we love.

Ok! Now that's done, on to the main reason for this post!
In the apartment the kitchen, dining area and living area is all essentially one space, so I've tried to really make each area seem distinct. I always wanted the wall beside the dining table to become like a little gallery. I only have five pictures up so far, but I like how it looks!

Top Left: 'Girl with Ball' by Roy Lichtenstein. A postcard I picked up in MOMA a couple of years ago. I love Roy Lichtenstein and have a couple of prints of his work, but I couldn't find a larger print of this particular painting in the MOMA store, but the postcard fits nicely in this IKEA Ribba frame.

Top Middle: 'Christina's World' by Andrew Wyeth. Another postcard from MOMA! Both myself and Phil were both so taken with this painting in the museum, it's such an incredible piece. Not surprisingly I couldn't afford the original, so this small print will have to do! The frame is from Urban Outfitters. It was originally a nasty grey colour, so I sprayed it white.

Top Right: 'A Look Only You Would Understand' by Ashley G. Yet again another postcard! My boyfriend bought me a lovely Ashley G print last September for my birthday, and Ashley sent this postcard in the envelope too. It's so gorgeous that I just had to frame it. Frame is from Paperchase.

Bottom Left: 'Party Of Nine' by Aline Yamada. I bought this about 2 years ago, and it took almost as long to finally hang it up! I love it, the colours are just beautiful. Professionally framed as a gift from my parents.

Bottom Right: 'Going Swimmingly' by Ashley G. This is the print I mentioned above that my boyfriend bought me last year. I love love love it. IKEA Ribba frame.

And there you have it! I'm constantly keeping an eye out for more prints for this wall, but I'm in no rush as I think the 5 look nice on their own. What I love about the group that's hanging is that all the prints seem to complement each other, they each seem to have a colour that brings out a colour in another one.

Phew, I think that's the longest post I've done so far!

Rachel Kay
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Magnussen Carafe Look-alike-ish...

2010-04-07T14:13:00.006+01:00

So, I was flicking through one of my Taschen books (gotta love those books!) on Scandanavian design, and came across this:

It's Erik Magnussen's Thermal Carafe which he designed for Stelton in 1976. This particular edition (the yellow one) was introduced only in 1996, but it retains the design of the original. I love how the yellow paired with the black detail makes it look somewhat like a little chick!
The carafes are still produced by Stelton, and in a whole range of colours:

But they don't go cheap! New ones are about €60 /€70, and can go up to over $100. I'm not sure if many originals are available, but seeing as it's now a bit of a design classic, I don't think originals would be cheap either.

So, I'm going to make do with what I have! I noticed that my water jug bears a slight resemblance to the Erik Magnussen's iconic design!

It's by Koziol and it's probably the best item I've bought for the kitchen in terms of usage. I always try to keep cold water in the fridge to encourage myself to drink more water, and this jug fits perfectly without taking up too much precious fridge space! Plus I love it's design, I've always thought it's quite 70's inspired, I now I know that it probably is! Now all I have to do is refrain from getting a black permanent marker and giving it eyes and a beak :)

Rachel Kay
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Pretty Pretty

2010-03-21T19:27:00.004Z

It's been a while... ~hangs head in shame~ ...but I've been having a kinda crazy busy few weeks!

Between working like crazy, getting to know my beautiful new nephew, working like crazy some more and trying to spend every bit of spare time I have catching up with friends, I've had no time to even thing about blogging! But I'm a relatively new blogger so I'm going to allow myself off the hook this time :)

So, to the Pretty Pretty the title of this post speaks of:

Beautiful new fabric! Yes, another thing that had to be put to the side for a while was my etsy store, so it's been quite some time since I've added any new products.
I've been itching to get to work on it and these new fabrics are just what I need to get myself motivated!
I love the vintage style to them, the green one is quite 70's, and the other one reminds me of a dressing gown my mum had from the same decade!

Something else I'm really excited about is this new purchase. I'm in love. Seriously. Picked it up today from Retrorumage at the Newmarket Brocante. Will post photos of it in it's new home soon :)

Rachel Kay
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New Records Make My Heart Skip!

2010-01-28T22:49:00.014Z

There are so many albums that I'm looking forward to buying this year, and these are the two most recent additions to our small but ever growing collection!

Both Four Tet and Owen Pallett are amazing artists who are signed to Domino, and what I looove about Domino is that the mp3's they give you with the vinyl are of amazing quality.
Now, all I need is a record player! Which I have! But it's not connected to our amplifier because our amplifier is being repaired. Fingers crossed that they can get it working because it's so beautiful and music will sound so wonderful coming through it! It's an old valve Marantz from the seventies. You can see a little bit of it in the second photo here. Fingers crossed!

Rachel Kay
x

Owl Love Part 3!

2010-01-14T23:33:00.008Z

I've been out of action for a while (stupid flu, booo!) but I'm pretty much over it now and I've been itching to get back to my normal routine. So, to ease myself back in after nearly 2 weeks out of action, what better than a bit of owl appreciation :)

I bought this in UO in NY last october. I had seriously regretted not buying their owl lamp base a couple of years ago, and I needed something to fill that gap :)

It's a glass owl jug and it sits in one of the cubbies in the Ikea Bonde unit that was in the apartment when I moved in. The unit is huge! I was a bit freaked out that I wouldn't be able to make it look anyway occupied initially, but since my boy moved in and we have combined forces to fill the cubbies, it's been looking a lot better. I'll post picture of it soon :)

Rachel Kay
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One of my favourite things about the New Year is...

2010-01-02T21:42:00.010Z

... starting a new diary!!!
I don't keep a journal in the 'Dear Diary' sense, but I use a diary in terms of having a planner.
And this year's one I ♡!

~swoon~ It's so pretty.

I bought it in Brooklyn in October in a lovely bookshop (here to be exact!) and I've been so excited about starting it!
Yeah... I have a slight obsession with stationary :)
I especially love starting a notebook/diary because it's all fresh and new. So, one of my favourite things about this is that I get to start 12 new diaries!!!! There's a seperate Moleskine Month Daily Planner for every month!
Happy 2010!

Rachel Kay
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New Year Treats!

2009-12-17T14:45:00.021Z

I arrived home today to find my Pavement tickets waiting for me among the post!
I am so incredibly excited about this gig. I never had the chance to see live them before they split in '99, and when I heard about their reforming I prayed that they would play over here! When no Irish date was announced, I tried to get tickets to see them at ATP in the UK but they sold out before I had a chance :( Then I was about to get tickets for Primavera in Spain when they announced an Irish date! Hurrah! :)

The gig isn't until May, but it's always nice to have things to look forward too!
Seeing as 'tis the season and all, here's the video for Gold Soundz!

Owl Love Part 2!

2009-12-15T10:42:00.006Z

For the second installment of 'Owl Love' may I present to you... the jewellery stand! :)

I bought this stand in Urban Outfitters when I was in New York last year. I saw it the very first day I was there, and then spent the following 2 weeks contemplating buying it, until the last day of the holiday when I finally did buy it! I'm so glad I did, because not only is it so pretty, but it's also so handy when it comes to organising my necklaces. Gone are the days where I waste precious time untangling and unknotting chains after they've all been chucked in a box together :)

The stand itself is about 17 inches tall, so it's great for long necklaces. They had matching shorter ones for bracelets too.

But, the best thing about this jewellery stand are the two little owls perched at either end! I love 'em! To be honest, I wouldn't have bothered buying a jewellery stand if it wasn't for those two little guys... :)

The search for a duvet cover...

2009-12-10T00:19:00.003Z

I've been searching for one high and low. I only have one, so when it's being washed I have no duvet cover and my bed looks like crap :(
The one I have I looove, it was a housewarming pressie to myself :)

It's the Orla Kiely Car Park design in moss. I really love how it goes with the orange vintage anglepoise lamp that I got for a steal on ebay (I also have a white one for the other side of the bed).
The bedroom still needs a lot of work, it's really bare, so at the moment the duvet cover is the focal point :)
I'm looking for a similar retro design which matches the colours that I have and would like to have in the room.

After much searching, I'm back to lusting after a piece by Miss Kiely. It has just become available (it arrived in stock on 2nd December). It's so hard to find something I like and this one is beeaauutiful!

It may mean I'll have to go hungry for a while, but I think it might be worth it :)

Owl Love Part 1!

2009-11-30T14:27:00.014Z

I've always loved owls, and I've begun to notice them cropping up quite a bit around my home... :)
So, I'm going to do a series of posts concerning these different owl related objects!

Note: I think I have reached my limit of owl objects, any more and I fear it would become a bit too obvious in the apartment, whereas at the moment I think it's at a healthy level :)

The photo above is of a teapot stand I found at the family home. I remember it being in the family kitchen at some point, but I found it all rusty with flaking paint out in the garage a few weeks ago. My dad surprised me by putting a fresh coat of paint on it and now it looks so pretty!
There was one on the front page of etsy recently, which lead me to find out that the teapot holder is vintage, from the early 80's. As a child of the 80's it always makes me feel old when someone calls an item from that decade 'vintage'!

Allow Me To Introduce Myself...

2009-11-29T22:03:00.011Z

I think I maybe should have made this my first post :)

Anyway, I thought I'd just post a very brief intro to myself and what this blog is about!

This is my first attempt at blogging, and I hope to keep it up! For a long time I had thought about starting up a blog, and it just feels like this is the right time to do it. I have felt more and more that I want an outlet where I can talk about things I like (or don't like!). I think the main factor in prompting me to start now is that I have moved in to a new home. I get so excited about every little thing I buy for the apartment, but not many other people that I know share my passion for that kind of stuff!
So, I'm hoping to keep a sort of diary on this blog about the development of our new place. Also, I love music and fashion, so there'll probably be a good bit of that thrown in too :)

As for me, I'll begin by letting you know that I live in Dublin, Ireland with my boyfriend. My current favourite colour is orange, but it changes all the time :)

If you stumble across this page, I really hope you'll come back to visit!

Rachel Kay
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Pressie Contemplation

2009-11-27T15:50:00.013Z

For the past few years in my family has forgone the traditional gift giving (i.e. everyone buys a present for everyone else), and opted for the Kris Kindle method.

My family is pretty practical when it comes to present buying. We like to tell each other what we want, and not jut buy random crap for each other. I have until Sunday to let it be known what I would like my Secret Santa to get for me, but I haven't been thinking about Christmas let alone what I want for a pressie!
So, I'm brain storming right now. I'm thinking about shoes, or rather ankle boots, such as these beauties:

I tried them on in Topshop yesterday. They're lovely on, but I'm a bit of a girlie girl when it comes to footwear so flat ankle boots are a bit of a departure for me. But I do really like them. I LOVE the gold buckle detail, and they are so comfy. I'm going to call in to Topshop tomorrow and try them on again. Hmmm, I should wear a skirt to see what they look like with one. I was wearing jeans yesterday and personally I wouldn't wear these with jeans. I had to roll them up to my knees to get an idea of how the boots would look. I must say, I was totally hot parading around Tophop with jeans rolled up to my knees, the boots and ankle socks. Okay, not really. :)