New kitchen workspace

Utby work table from Ikea:

Latest obsession - the armless daybed!

Currently on the hunt...with side 'table' of course!

Bar glass find

I love the graphics on these vintage glasses:

New addition

Yet another craigslist find. Listed as an 'Overman of Sweden' swivel chair. Not so sure of that pedigree but  seems legit. Cool and comfy!

Other 'Overman' chairs:

Free is my middle name!

Was out running the other day and saw this on the sidewalk - had to go back and get it. Needs work but has potential:

With a butt load of work hopefully I can get it to look like this one from Room and Board:

Chelsea Sofa...love

I know I posted about this sofa before, but still in love...great price too. Available at different places online but this place offers pretty low shipping: Fashion4Home

Jury Duty circa 1961

Performed my civic duty this week with jury duty. Not as bad as I had anticipated [actually quite interesting]. But the best part was the timewarp interiors of the San Diego County Courthouse built in 1961. I didn't have my camera, but did snap a few lame phone pics. The actual court rooms were very cool as well [sorry - no cameras please!]. The lobby would be stunning if you could just edit it a bit [remove coffee cart/security station/etc].

But, as with most large mid-century complex buildings in San Diego, this one is slated for demolition soon. Funny - I had read a document about the history of the building. It stated the it was awarded to the lowest bid back in 1958-59 timeframe. But the use of materials and overall interior design is quite nice and restrained. Oh well, at least I got to see it.



The lobby was very reminiscent [to me anyway] of the Cadillac dealership scenes in Mad Men

Check out the phone boothes and fab terrazo!

Merry, merry...

Alvin Lustig

Just ordered this book on Alvin Lustig. Can't top this post so read more here [I'm lazy]. Can't wait to get!

It's about time...

Modern dollhouse

New Alfa seat covers

Got some new seat covers from International Auto Parts. Not bad and they'll do for now...

Mod Swap swag...

Picked up this kookie guy at the San Diego Mod Swap last Sunday. Kind of looks the way I've been feeling lately. Story goes this African mask was painted by this guy who did cataloguing of artifacts at the Smithsonian [has an image taken from a catalog of the same mask taped to the back so it's GOT to be true!]. Anyway, for $20 I'm digging his sad, vacant and mildly shocked stare. All too common on my face:

Got a few other pieces as well and will post later.

Mod Swap!

Before and After shots

Picked up the Alfa after having some body work done. I desperately needed to get the trunk repaired as it was completely rusted thru. While I was having that done I had the fender repaired as well as some small rust bubbles on the rocker panels. Also tracked down the missing 'grill' and had that installed as well. I think it came out quite nice.

New rug

A boring off-white area rug...apparently a very big deal around here.

New wheels

Another craigslist find - set of 5 wheels for the Spider. $220 for a set of 5. Guy flaked on me. Thanks again craigslist douche...

Persuasive Percussion Vol. 1

Amazing - on the hunt for Vols 2-4 as well as 'Provocative Percussion' Vols 1-4. All featuring cover art by Josef Albers. Picked it up for .99 cents at The Cow - cool vintage vinyl shop in Ocean Beach.

Updated Alfa Romeo Spider bumper

Anyone who has a Spider knows how crazy expensive a used bumper in decent shape can be. Mine is in fairly good shape so I wanted to make the best of it. The trim had pretty much disintengrated so I ripped it all off. Of course this revealed some inner rust beneath the rubber. Along with the small amount of rust was some 'swelling' - when the the rubber of the bumper expands due to the rusted steel. Not a lot, but enough to make the recessed gap wider at the center of the bumper than at either end. So, I removed as much surface rust as I could. I purchased adhesive chrome trim from Autozone for $18. I bought the widest they had [1.5"] so it would fill the widest part of the groove. After a small amount of trimming to get it in the groove, it came out pretty good. Not exactly stock looking but certainly way better than it was:

Wall unit

Well my patience finally paid off. Purchased this wall unit over the weekend for a very good 'as is' price. Knowing it had very good bones I jumped at it. After a good 3 hours of removing 50 years of funk and adding 3 coats of oil, I've got to say it looks amazing:

It is incredibly well made and does not show it's age. It is completely finished on the back so I'm guessing it was also made to function as a room divider.

Benvenuta!

My little money pit is home. Got her back on Tuesday. Repairs were a bit pricey but not too crazy. She'll be getting a full detail tomorrow...

[sorry for the blurry phone pic...]