Rustic & Refined Dinnerware

// petrified wood // handmade ceramics //

Would you combine these two sets on one table? I totally would. I love the various shades of chocolate brown. And that little chunk of cheese on the wooden platter makes me hungry. I can almost smell the spicy string of marigolds on the right.

Incongruity is mysteriously charming. Both of these sets consist of finely crafted pieces (or so the websites claim), but each gives a distinct aesthetic impression. Cabin couture versus tea party trappings. When the two are paired together, what do they mean? What story do they tell about the person who laid the table?

That's the crux of home decor. It's a way to display identity--not only to display it, but to form it. If I use organic bamboo cutlery, then I can think of myself as an Earth-loving minimalist. It isn't necessarily false--consumer habits are easily influenced by political positions. Overall, I think that's a good thing.

Candy Pink Fence

Forgive the atrocious photo-quality, but I can't refrain from posting a pastel fence.

Pastels are the colors we associate with nurseries--they don't call it "baby blue" for nothing! Whereas a fence is a harsh legal structure that separates sovereign territories. It tickles my fancy to see this boundary-marker made out of bubblegum pink boards.

The house it belongs to has been a neighborhood "eyesore" for years. The entire exterior was painted bright orange. Seriously, bright orange. And this was prior to Orange is the New Black, so a vermilion house wasn't fashionable in the least. Eventually the place changed hands, and the new owners made it look normal--but I guess they have yet to address the fence. I hope pastel-obliteration is far down on their to-do list...

I hate neighborhoods where every house is beige, even if there's some off-white trim to jazz things up. ("Get jazzy on me!") I love suburbia, but only when each block features some variation, the houses differing from one another as much as the families inside. My own 'hood displays a decent spread of styles, but the Bay Area has plenty of cookie-cutter developments.

Therefore, I celebrate pastel fences when I see 'em.

Squishy Spiky Plants

Cacti and such--in a bathtub! The only improvement I can imagine is gnarly clawed feet (or me taking a better photo). Also spotted recently:



I didn't know that this sort of succulent bloomed, so I was delighted to see several cheery patches on my walk.

I have insane caffeine jitters right now--"Super Irish Breakfast" always does this to me but I never learn. I'll take a shower and head out for a run with the neighbor's dog and hope that bounding after Button will burn off my shakiness.