Salvaged Love in the Desert

+ = HAPPINESS

This past week, I road tripped to Tucson, Arizona to visit some friends and family...
and ended up falling in love with this charming, bohemian desert wonderland!

This was my first opportunity to spend time in the southwest, and I was completely blown away by everything- the weird cacti, the calming sunsets, and SO MUCH perfectly weathered metal salvage stuff!

Here are some of my favorite places:

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Tucson Herb Store, an inspiring and sweet smelling little shop (cool idea --> framed fabric swatches!)



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Totally amazing home/workshop/backyard of Tim Hagyard, Salvage & Vintage Decorating Genius







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My musician friend Ryen's apartment



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San Xavier Mission , a crazy colorful & offbeat 18th century Spanish Catholic church



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Grill, an awesome diner with serious style (love those deco murals!)



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Of course my trip wouldn't be complete without some SERIOUS thrifting- I stopped in a bunch of cool towns during the trip, and raided their thrift stores- but those finds shall remain a secret, until my apt decor is unveiled... very soon!!

Stay tuned, fellow vintage lovers...

Progress & Projects

After 3+ years of traveling, subletting, constantly packing, and moving-

I'm finally home.



The new apt looks amazing, but I'm not ready to do the big reveal quite yet. Since I'm decorating the place from scratch, I'm taking my time gathering the perfect vintage furniture. This decorating job will be my pièce de ré·sis·tance.

I've been hitting plenty of massive estate/yard sales, too- there's nothing like going through the contents of someone's entire house- I find it fascinating to see just how much glorious junk people can accumulate in a lifetime.



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For now, I will share with you two small home improvement projects. More to follow!

PROJECT #1
Ugly ass hot pink/teal and chrome pole lamp --> Sexy, industrial antique gold pole lamp



Bought:

• Once-cool 70s lamp (painted hot pink, by me- 5 years ago) = $5 @ yard sale

• Really interesting gold/black textured spray paint from Home Depot = $4-ish
  

Time: about 20 min!



PROJECT #2
Stupid ugly white fridge --> Easy & cute faux-wood paneled fridge



Bought:

• Magic Cover - vinyl, removable wallpaper type roll - $1.99 at Goodwill
  
• Vintage Wallcovering application tool - $1 at a flea market
• Heavy duty electical tape - $3-ish
  

Time: about 35 min - the black tape border was a bit tricky



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Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment on what you might like to see next from this "little engine that could" blog-- you are my encouragement, dear readers...

Welcome Back, me!

First of all... happy 2010, friends!

**Woohoo!!**
A landmark year, and one that holds so much potential! Perhaps it was that intense yoga class I just took, but I feel like the planets are aligning. Or sumthin like that.

NEWS:

---> Finally moving into a new apt-- a super cute, "old Hollywood" retro style 2BR, with this awwwesome blogger gal (who I met via the magic of the Craigslist housing wanted ads.)

-----> I am now launching into serious vintage decorating mode! The next 2 weeks will be an intense vintage hunting extravaganza. And I will chronicle it all here, because you are my biggest fans. Well you, and my mom. Hi mom!

INSPIRATION OF THE DAY:

I'm still throwing around color schemes & themes for the main living/dining/entertaining room. In my daily obsessive scouring of the interwebs, I stumble upon all kinds of sweet imagery, which gets thrown in the ol' brain cauldron for later use.
Here's a heaping helping of visual inspiration!

#1: Cleopatra


l: http://jurgenfauth.com/2007/05/16/cleopatra-2/ r: http://goble.artpassions.net/

#2: Modern Vargas Pin Up Girl

http://www.daynadelux.com/


#3: Dustjackets, 1920s-1940s

http://site.xavier.edu/polt/keeler/jackets/wardlock.html

#4: Anime meets Victorian Boudoir

http://maggi.new21.net/
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Off in Lalaland

It's been 2 weeks since I arrived in LA, and I certainly used that time wisely, to sit in the sun, decompress and catch up with old friends. What an amazing city this is when you have a fresh opportunity to relax and enjoy all of it. But I will wax on about my love for LA in an article that I'll be submitting to LA Weekly (accompanied by this vintage magazine collage I made, above.)


But tomorrow I embark on a new chapter: sorting, photographing and selling all of my traveling treasures both online at my etsy store, and at the coolest and most accessible flea market in Los Angeles: The Melrose Trading Post in West Hollywood. On Sunday Oct. 4th, I will be selling some of my wares - mostly the heavy items that are difficult to ship - and shoes! People love shoes.

If you're in the area and want to stop by, please come visit!
Email me --> hollywoodrachel[at]gmail.com for an exact location :)

But here's the best part and perhaps something that you have been wondering about: where is this girl storing all of that awesome junk? It's all piled in my housemate's 1986 Champion TransVan Motorhome, parked near our apt (more photos to follow!) They are very graciously allowing me to use this family heirloom as my walk-in mobile vintage cache. Maybe I'll even take this baby on the road...

I'll be updating more regularly, now that I've fully recovered from my thrifting expedition, so check back soon!

Day 9....................Northern California -> Southern California

Eek!
Sorry for the delayed posting on my last day of the trip. I usually post the next morning, after my full day of adventures, but the exhaustion from this massive solo journey all hit me last night. I got into Hollywood around 11pm, and unpacked my car, and then I slept for about 14-16 hours. Thanks for sticking around! Here goes...9-17-09
Day 9 of 9
Thrift Store # 13
R.A.D. Thrift Store in Bakersfield, CA

I walked into this store with less than 3 mintues to shop before they closed. I immediately got a cart and went to the shoe section, frantically grabbed about 8 pairs of totally amazing boots and shoes, then some purses...and then they turned the lights out on me, and I was forced to check out. Sad! But honestly, at this point I was so close to my final destination that (for once) I wasn't too bummed about it. Well that, and my car was so full of stuff it was bordering on dangerous.




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Etsy Vintage Seller Interview #8
Violet from violet64
Sacramento, CA
---> Everthing in Violet's house is vintage. Seriously everything! It was like traveling back in a time machine, with plenty of warped, sweet 50s - 60s decor. Her collections are drool-worthy and awesomely odd: mannequin heads (and hands!), very old little stuffed animals, perfect vintage box suitcases, huge sign letters and other oddities.











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Etsy Vintage Seller Interview #9
Karli from KarliHearron
Bakersfield, CA
--->This creative girl has talent, drive, and a knack for refurbishing old wood furniture, and turning it into funky, pretty pieces which would look gorgeous in anyone's space!








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And now... what do I do with myself?!

* I'm finally home again in LA, taking a breather.
*This trip was everything I wanted it to be, and more--
I'm so glad you guys are following me!
Seeing how many people viewed this every day made me want to say 'to hell with you, ADD!' and keep blogging.
*Please check back often, as I sort through my bounty and take photos of my traveling treasures.
*I'll also be putting together an article about the vintage collectors whom I interviewed along the way. I have lots of great material! Who knows where it will end up, but I hope to get it published this fall/winter.
*I love your comments, so please let me know if you enjoyed this blog so far, and any suggestions you have for what I should do next!

“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.”
Maya Angelou