I heart Chippendales

Living on in their humor and talent....

It goes without saying that the above two are my all time favorite Chippendales.  Here is my third favorite:

The kind of Chippendale you sit on, rather than the kind that tries to sit on you.

I recently redid this claw-and-ball foot Chippendale for someone.  Unfortunately there are no before pictures, but it was pretty run down.  Some high gloss white paint and vintage flame-stich material transformed the chair into an awesome accent piece for their room. 

Even without the bowtie and shirt-cuffs, intricate carving and details (note claw and ball foot on some) make the classic Chippendale eye candy: 

Traditional Chippendale = he's no Chris Farley, but still good lookin'

Traditional with an twist is more my style.  Contemporary fabric or just paint can turn grandma's heirloom into something edgy, stylish and magical: 

Here's some classic chippendales with lime green fabric, paired with wingbacks
in Kelly Wearstler's Imperial Trellis fabric.  Love the look...image via decorpad.com

White Chippendales in a Shaun Smith designed dining room.

Designer Mary McDonald uses a white Chippendale as her desk chair.

See?  Nice to look at, nice to sit on, and no tipping necessary!

There’s no place like home, unless you’re a pet fish.

This is what you get for a week long stretch of good behavior 

(and a back to school gift) if you live in my house:

If you're good, and you live here, you could have this too.

My son named him Nemo.   The fish is neither talented nor smart (as far as I can tell), so Picasso and Einstein were out, but even Bob would have been more original than having a pet fish called Nemo. Let's face it people: there's no convincing a four-year-old once his mind's made up, so Nemo 2.0 (or 2million.0) is home.  Anyway, I digress.


The downside about being a pet goldfish is that you have to live in a fishbowl.  And I can't be positive, but I'm not sure there's an upside.  That being the case, why does fish bowl decor have to be so depressing?  Plastic skulls, wrecked ships, ancient ruins...and fish gravel that looks like crayon shavings -- no, thank you.

There's no place like home, unless you're a pet goldfish.
Choices for fishbowl decor are quite limited.

These are better, but still:

Put your fish to work?  Who wants to live in their office?

Or worse, in their bathroom?

*(If you're a practical person, please read no further.  The following requires a suspension of all rational thought.)*  Here it is: pet stores should start selling some quality miniature furniture for fish bowls, à la the following:

A whole line of miniature moderns to make your fishbowl stylish.

With that in mind, here's what I've put together for Nemo 2.0's stylish abode:

In all seriousness though, PETA needs to be called about this disaster:

Do you really think your pet fish enjoy the view provided in this set up?
Not nice at all!

Bamboozled

Pair of Campaign Etageres,Hollywood Regency Style- Facon Faux Bamboo 

Please don't be bamboozled by the title of this post.  Just don’t cheat your home of bamboo – faux or real.  Hollywood Regency meets Chinoiserie chic meets awesomeness.  Live it, love it, or just look at it here:

Chinese Chippendale
(not the shirtless dude with the bow tie)
Jonathan Adler, Ballard Designs, and others sell these.
You can also find them all over ebay.  image via Jonathan Adler

These are great lacquered in just about any color...

Here they are in yellow in a Jonathan Adler designed dining room

Chinoiserie Faux Bamboo Mirror via cococozy

Gilt Bamboo Coffee Table

Laquered and Gilt Bamboo Stools via Gumps

And a treasure trove of this stuff on 1stdibs.com:

I just saw two tables similar to the nickel side table above on Craigslist for next to nothing.  (Famed designer Jan Showers has the item above on her 1stdibs page -- $2900 for the pair).  The best part about faux bamboo furniture is that there's no need to be bamboozled by the 1stdibs and designer prices.  If you take the time, you can find this stuff all over ebay and Craigslist on the cheap.  Usually all they need for their "Pretty Woman" moment is some high gloss paint.

Here's a table I found at a garage sale for a friend (it was $50):

From eeek....

To chic!

Feel bamboozled by this post?  I hope not :(