Art Smart

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Art Smart

Instagram can make an IKEA paper roller look pretty fancy.  I wanted to share the newest space in my soon to be vacated home.  Not being able to move furniture around and DIY a new wall piece is kind of driving me crazy, so I decided I should start packing!  First thing to go into a box were the ubiquitous backwards facing books on my credenza. I've come to realize this only makes sense on a West Elm display case. It freed up some space for something I've been trying to do for a while.  All of our art supplies are kept downstairs out of necessity, but there's a lot of art happening here and homework requires coloring shapes and drawing pictures to write about.  I needed an art space with the basics. I finally gave up on the old easel (it was a good idea in theory) and bought this low profile paper roller, which has a push down top to easily brace and tear clean sheets.  I put the crayons, colored pencils and canister of glue sticks, sharpeners and rounded scissors on a lacquered tray that can easily be moved to the kitchen table. Spiffy and sensible.

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The Century Mark

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The Century Mark

It just so happened that last night I noticed I had posted 99 times. I started to wonder what I should do for my 100th post.  I thought it would be nice to do something that captured the spirit of the blog, but I'd only planned to share my recipe for a soba noodle salad (not 100th post material). Today when I was prepping ingredients with Wylie, shooting pictures and then sitting down to share lunch with him I realized that Poppy Haus is about moments like these.  It's about creatively living your everyday life. 

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Spinning Circles

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Spinning Circles

This is the stool that used to sit under the telephone in my grandparents kitchen.  I just loved to spin around on it, drinking soda, watching golf on their little TV. The stool sat on one side of a newspaper overloaded wooden desk, on the other side, next to the doorway, were the penciled in measurements of every grandchild, some from toddler to adulthood. After they were both gone, and the home that they'd created was necessarily changed, I became irrationally attached to this stool.  It now had a cracked vinyl top and rust on the legs.  My parents brought it to me along with the dining room table and chairs. I suddenly had all of these relics of my childhood sitting in my tiny house. I put the stool in the garage because I had nowhere keep it inside.  We'll be moving in a few months to a house that has a big kitchen, with a built in desk where the phone will go. The space is just screaming for a spinny stool. I got it out of the garage today, cleaned up the rust and recovered the cracked vinyl with a print oilcloth. Here's the before and after. 

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Cheap Thrills

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Cheap Thrills

I am not really a dollar store kind of person.  I am however, a Japanese dollar store kind of person.  Here in the Bay Area we have a local chain called Ichiban Kan.  It was recommended to me a few years ago by a couple of girls in the know, so I gave it a shot.  Over time I've picked up some great things like brightly colored plastic elephant watering cans for the bathtub, fun notebooks, art supplies and adorable chopsticks. I took Wylie on little adventure today which included a trip to Ichiban Kan in El Cerrito.  He got a toy trumpet. I got a clear plastic umbrella and some teal library style bookends as well as all the fabulous loot above for under $25.  My favorite find was the hour glass for a stylish "time out". http://www.ichibankanusa.com/

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