Viewing entries tagged
findings

Dupe Home Tour on Apartment Therapy

March 29, 2013

You may or may not know that Dylan & I live and share a duplex with our good friends, Jared & Chika, and baby Lisle! We were lucky enough to be chosen by Andie Powers ( co-owns Assemble ) to have both of our place featured on Aparment Therapy recently.

LG on Apartment Therapy6.jpg

We share a 1960's duplex in Ballard, Seattle. Under this one roof, there are two units, two couples (Chika & Jared on the left, Jean & Dylan on the right) , two studios (

Ladies & Gentlemen Studio and R&L goods), and two babies ( C&J's precious baby name Lisle and J&D's whiny cat, Pudding).

Here's Jared, Chika & Lisle's colorful inviting home. We admire their brave use of bright fun colors throughout their space. They also have the best collection of coveted artworks, heirloom items and furniture.

Check out the rest of their lovely abode on AT, HERE!

Our side on the other hand is all about floating open shelves...It's not entirely untrue to say that we just don't know how to edit down. For us, the shelves really functions as our 3 dimensional inspiration board where we can be reminded of all the things that inspires us whether it be things that our friends make, vintage treasures we found or material swatches.

You can see the rest of the home tour with some of our trade secrets on AT, HERE!

Popup Sale at Ashley Helvey's

February 29, 2012

Going to this amazing looking sale at Ashley Helvey's place tomorrow. She'll have a mix of findings & her handmade stuff!!

Can't wait!....but also a little bit scared that I'll end up wanting everything!

Sneak Peak of L&G SPRING SALE

May 19, 2011

More pics of our Spring Vintage Sale this weekend!!

We really letting go....

See? No joke.

But just to warn you, you might see us cry or fight you a bit on handing certain things over...but we promise we won't make a scene out of it...We'll try to stay strong...

SEE event details here and see more of what we gots here....But really, You need to just come HERE!

Japan Sight / Taste / Find: 3/9

March 9, 2011

Day 4: Full day of visual stimulation

SIGHT: Seiya & Mami's took us to visit their kids, Aika & Yume's, elementary school to talk about the difference of school & lifestyle between the States & Japan.

TASTE:
Dinner at the Minatos and hand 手巻き寿司 Temakizushi with super delicious & fresh fish of all sorts.

FIND:
A used restaurant supply store filled with fun things of all sorts that made us want to open a restaurant just for the fun of it.

Japan Sight / Taste / Find: 3/8

March 8, 2011

Day 3: Roaming around

SIGHT:
Playground with a globe marry go round.

TASTE:
Mami made us a well-rounded breakfast with the best tasting egg.

FIND:
Got stuck looking at tiny microscopic miniature people of all sorts in the model making department of 東急ハンズ Tokyu Hands....a department store of 7 floors filled with materials, supplies, and everyday items of anything you'll ever need and everything you CAN'T think to need but feel compelled to get....Pretty much, it's like heaven and hell at the same time.

Japan Sight / Taste / Find: 3/7

March 7, 2011

Day 2: Woke up and saw this...

SIGHT: Snow in March?!

TASTE:
Lunch & a lovely dessert set at a close by Japanese-Italian restaurant in 市川 Ichikawa where they made their own desserts.

FIND:

Got couple of vintage 暮らしの手帖 Kurashi No Techo lifestyle magazine at Seiya & Mami's friends vintage book shop, Smoke Books. They had a whole shelf of them from the 70's & 80's filled with the best photos of everyday delights!

Japan Sight / Taste / Find: 3/6

March 6, 2011

This is start of the our trip with the series of 3 photos highlighting our daily discoveries where each photo represents an interesting sighting, some yummy food we tasted, and things we found.

DAY 1: right after we arrived...

SIGHT:
At 林檎の木 Ringo No Ki Gallery in 千葉 Chiba checking out our friend Atsushi who makes Gunung bike & lifestyle accessories.

TASTE:
Got to taste these beautiful seasonal 桜もちSakura Mochi wrapped in shiso leaves as the first thing we ate after landing.

FIND:
Handmade steel tape dispensers by a local artisan in 市川 Ichikawa.

Dissassembled

March 4, 2011

I'm enthralled by these photos by Todd McLellan of various things taken apart. Now I feel tempted to start taking apart random things around the house.
Don't think that's a good idea, since most likely I won't be able to put them back together.
Via Anthology

New Great Finds!

August 20, 2008

Just recently updated L&G shop with some awesome finds! There's lots of great mid-Century modern housewares such as Dansk enamel pitcher, Cathrineholm cookware, Arabia enamel bowl, Gense stainless metal plates as well as some other fun stuff! Some are stuff that I dragged back from Michigan! Check them out!

Hang it up!

August 17, 2008

So I've had people ask me where to get vintage pant hangers since the blog mentions (Poppytalk, Readymade, Apartment Therapy) of our living room display awhile ago, and now they're available on L&G shop! Enjoy!We also wrote up an instruction about how to build the wall grid. It's really simple. Depending on the material it could be around $50 or less. We used cedar 2"x2" and it cost us more like $75. and took us half an afternoon to put it together.

BAM! BUTTERFLIES!

August 11, 2008

Collecting treasures is in my blood. I only hope to some day live up to my Grandpa's collecting legacy. I have these great memories of exploring his house and garage opening drawers and finding amazing collections of watch parts, coins, knives, you name it. So, I just had to take Jean back there to see to see the treasures.

I must say, Grandpa did not disappoint. The house was a time-capsule...everything virtually the same as it was when I was a kid. This time, we could truly enjoy the uniqueness and thoroughness of his collecting: wood duck decoys, scores of antique clocks, walls papered with early license plates, classic toys, old farm tools, and more of just about everything.

Then, there were the BUTTERFLIES! We were given free reign to explore the garage when I noticed some particular well made wooden boxes scattered and haphazardly stacked under his work bench. I pulled one out, opened it up, and BAM! BUTTERFLIES! Rows and rows of them! We pulled out box after box with each yielding a different display of these winged creatures.

It turns out that my great Grandfather had a huge collection of butterflies from around the world that he donated to Michigan State University after he died. These were what was left of his collection after that. It's just incredible that they were in such great condition. You definitely don't see collections like these anymore. Check out my flickr photoset for more photos. fd

-Dylan

L.A. Discoveries

July 21, 2008

This is from June (heh, just a little delayed) when I went to L.A. for a weekend of fun hanging out with my dear friend, Noal, who had recently moved there from Seattle. He graciously put me up and took me all over LA. I never had much chance to spend a lot of time doing sightseeing and just walking around in SoCal, so it was totally fun to do that for a change! There's so much character and so many things that were uniquely LA. This photo mosaic is just some of what captured while walking around different areas.
Here's some caption on where I took the photos (left to right in rows)
1. Mosaic tiled office building by Santa Monica Blvd.
2. Painted steps on some apt. building by Noal's apt. on S. Coronado St.
3. Painted wall at Grauman's Theater in Hollywood
4. Painted wall on some apt. building on Wilshire Blvd & S. Coronado St
5. Ceiling in the Getty Villa
6. Mosaic tiled floor at the Getty Villa
7. Painted wall at Grauman's Theater in Hollywood (I saw Jesus there..he's the real deal!)
8. Signage in the jewelery district of downtown L.A.
9. Succulents by a beach house on Venice Beach (my dream house)

That was the one thing I really enjoyed. (more photos here) Noticing the variety of patterns and colors incorporated on almost every building, shops, signs, walls, and houses....pretty much everywhere!! This is something that Seattle really lacks I think...it's just different I suppose. I'm not whinnying...but I just wish there's more decorative elements around Seattle! Most buildings are just...BLAH! Like the weather pretty much....BLEH!

Also Noal started documenting his little discoveries since he moved to LA while walking around, and he has captured even better stuff!!
Like this awesome awesome chair he found in Chinatown...of all places! The colors, patterns, and the chair itself.... everything about is just FAB-ulous!!
Neat collection of paper umbrella arrangements in Chinatown
Colorful ornate tiled steps in Pasadena
After the trip, I definitely can see LA in a new light. I realized that there's actually a lot of great things about the city beyond all the shinny nice cars, polluted air, high traffic jams, high-lighted hair, pregnant Hollywood stars, orange colored fake n' baked skin, roller blades and short-shorts...LA is so much more than that!
It's also this...6" platform shoes made with bamboo. It's eco-friendly!

I Saw the Sign~!

July 1, 2008

OMG!! I was doing my usual random browsing on Ebay and spotted this amazing lot of 400+ Vintage sign letters of all styles, colors and sizes! I've never seen such a thing! These colorful plastic letters are left overs from some old sign shop in Fort Plain, NY. I can't imagine finding that...I think I would have a heart attack if I ever were to see it in person!
The auction is starting at $2000.00 AND it's a pick up only auction....
Hmm...I suppose I could blow $2000+ to buy the letters, buy the ticket to fly over there, rent a car to drive there to pick it up, and pay extra for over-sized luggage to bring it back to Seattle!....It would be worth it....yeah! no problem!
Then I can die happy and be buried in those awesome letters......nah.....I don't think I want to die just yet...maybe when I'm 80. Someone else who lives closer or who has the money should snag these!

Tea Towel & Mug Time

June 29, 2008

I got this set of mugs at a thrift store for L&G Shop recently, and realized that they look very similar to one of the mugs on Skinny La Minx's tea towel print!! It's the ear handled mug with lantern looking shapes. All the mugs on the towel are from her beautiful mug collection.
I'm a huge fan of her work and have the mug towel in gooseberry. I just love how Heather Moore uses all the various forms and graphics of the mugs to create such a striking overall print.On a side note, recently Heather has been experimenting with incorporating her beautiful designs on dinner plates and I can't wait 'til she starts selling them. I know people are going to go nuts over them...I know I will!! In fact, I'm already going nuts just looking at all the ones she's made...she's just too darn good!!

My New Found Love...with an Eggcup

June 27, 2008

I never realized what was missing in my life....til just couple days ago I got to experience eating a soft-boiled egg out of an egg cup for the first time. Not joke! I was a egg cup virgin for 26 years...and I must say, my life didn't feel complete until now.
I found a set of these white chicken egg cups with white ceramic spoons at a thrift store, and I just had to get them for the sake of trying it! This was a cultural experience for me. I even turned to Martha for some expert advice on how to boil an egg and eat out of the eggcup to insure that my eggcup eating experience turns out perfect.
And it was PERFECT! It totally made my day...even my week!!I love the ritual of eating out the egg shell with the little tiny ceramic spoon. It's as if I'm a kid eating ice cream or gelato with tiny plastic spoons....I savored every bite. It's also like eating a poached egg without all the mess and hassle! But mostly, I think it's just so brilliant how the egg shell becomes a eating vessel in itself. There's just so many great things about it that I can't stop talking or thinking about it!
And after consuming such a satisfying meal......it really makes me appreciate all the simple small things in life....this is what love taste like...in an egg cup.

Our livingroom on Apartment Therapy Blog!!

June 19, 2008

So it has been a super exciting week for L&G, because not only did Jan from the Poppytalk Blog write a nice entry about our living room display, but Apartment Therapy (Chicago) also used it as an example for a display idea! I was floored when Jan passed that information to me! Thanks Jan!

There's been several comments and inquiries about the couch and here's a little info about it! The couch is a Knoll couch with a parallel bar base that Dylan scored on Craig's List (for a mere $125...they didn't know what they had!). It was originally a couch in the Seattle Public Library and was covered in hideous brown naugahide.....eew, I know. We had to get it reupholstered and chose a Knoll fabric called Alignment in blood orange. We were able to get for cheap on Ebay for only $9.00/yd. I love Ebay.....and Craig's list.
Those curious about the display grid: The grid is easy to construct with standard 2 x 2's from a local lumber store (they're actually 1.5" x 1.5"). We chose cedar because we liked the color and consistency. So here are the steps...pretty simple, but the main thing is that there aren't any visible fasteners.

Lay out the grid's verticals according to wall stud locations maintaining asymmetric spacing. The horizontal elements are arranged according to the desired height of shelves and prints.
Set the grid up on the floor and screw it together from the back.
To attach to the wall, we cut 4 short blocks of 2x2 down to about 1 1/2". Screwed each of these to the wall at a stud from the end to align with the grid.
Use L-brackets to attach the grid to the blocks...because of the height of these, the brackets are hidden from view.
Shallow shelves (up to 8" deep) can be cut to the width of each bay and screwed down from the top with nice looking screws (screwing down is much stronger than upwards from the bottom).
Decorate & Enjoy!

Polaroid love

May 6, 2008

Dylan recently found this classic Polaroid SX-70 camera at the thrift store, a super great find, since it's such a modern and sleek design for it's time.
This was the model that the Eames made a commercial for Polaroid. It's a great instructional film with indepth information about how it works and the wonder of Polaroid cameras. Also what's neat is that some of photos in the film are actually taken by Ray Eames.
We've all heard about how Polaroid is stopping the production of Polaroid film and switching to digital....which is seriously unfortunate considering it has created a huge culture in photography and art.

I found some of these Polaroid photos by Jen. They remind me of Ray's photos. I really like these playful and coloful arrangement of everyday objects and collections. Click on photos to link to her flikr site. She has quite a collection of Polaroid photos, all are which beautiful and well framed. They feel so calm and peaceful...
This particular series of photos is from a photographer, Mark-Steffen Gowecke, who started a project called, Polapola Project taking Polaroid photos with the previously taken photo, and with another one, and another one and it goes on....really neat!

There's tons of great Polaroid blogs with people sharing the same passion for this classic product. Check out few of these: everyday Polaroid, My Polaroid Blog, and Save the Polaroid.
I really hope that Polaroid can have a success story like the Japanese Gocco Printer!! Let's save Polaroid!!

Winter once again!

March 29, 2008

Yesterday and today we got some unexpected snow in Seattle that came down for hours! Granted it melted pretty soon after, but I was able to snap a few shots while the snow was falling non-stop. It felt like winter again....
This looks staged, but I actually found them arranged just like that!! Someone just put these beautiful roses on our apartment porch. I'm not a total rose person, but I have to say it was such a nice pleasant surprise on a quite snowy day like this. So lovely.
-Jean

Understated tile building

March 14, 2008

This is a old 60's apartment building in Capitol Hill, close to Harvard Exit theater. It's an understated building that you can just walk by and not notice it. But once I stopped to take a look at it, I started noticing all these interesting things about this building.
I just love the pattern of the white ceramic tiles. They reminds me of Heath ceramic tiles, which I want use everywhere on my house!! when I own one that is.
There is something graphically striking in the building as whole....the white relief tiles mixed with the rusty tiles, the various sized windows that runs to the edge of each section....It all seem so intricately planned and intentional.
-Jean
Click on photo to link to our Flickr.

Best finds of the month

March 12, 2008

I found this adorable Hornsea mug at a Value Village the other day and was totally psyched! I was by myself and was literally freaking out in my head....I got a high from finding this. Unfortunately I'm not going to keep it. Instead I'm giving it to my friend, Chika, who had recently developed an obsession for Hornsea mugs and housewares. She's been on a bidding rampage to collect a bunch of them. The animal ones goes for quite a bit on Ebay...so she better have to find something good for me in return.
The Hornsea mugs are made in England, designed in the early 70's by John Clappison for Hornsea Pottery. Each character is made from newsprint with words all over them. They're quite delightful and it's pretty rare to see them in the states, let alone Seattle...So that's why I got so excited!!
This is a collection of Hornsea mugs from H is for Home. Such a striking photo to see them all together like that!

Another great find of the month are these colorful and fun vintage tea towels that I got from the antique store with all the oil cans. There were all in a pile and I was literally picking them up and was going "Keep, keep, keep.....oh yeah, that's also a keep...keep, and keep!!!" I've been looking for cute vintage tea towels and haven't had much luck, and then now all of sudden I find 7 of them all at once!? what a lucky day!
I love all the color combination, the subject and the illustration style.....penguins with hearts and playing piano?? I mean...COME ON! The four on the bottom with bunch of housewares illustrated have the same graphic, but all are in such lovely color combinations that are super inspiring.
-Jean