Reader request

Zee left a comment on Friday's rug request post that had me in stitches: "Hi Kim. I'm looking for some photographs of chairs on ceilings. Green ones. If you could post some examples, that would be great. Thanks." Jo and I can always seem to find photos for reader's request, even those made in fun, so thanks to Jo who found the following photo especially for Zee.

Photo via garagesailor

Cleaning chrome at Jo's place

I had a wonderful score on eBay this week. I've been after some 70s chrome chairs for my living room. Of course I don't want to spend much but still want the "look". These are by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio for Framac, an Australian furniture company specialising in office furniture. Soooooooooooooo heavy but so comfy and by the time I'm finished they will be so retrolicious. First things first though. I have to clean the chrome before they head off to be recovered. I had heard that vinegar and aluminium foil are great for removing tarnish from chrome so as it was a rainy afternoon I thought why not! Surprise surprise it works! A little elbow grease and a soft cloth to finish. There is some deep scratching at the ends of the arms but I think the chrome looks fabulous. Cheap and a lot more "friendly" than harsh commercial cleaners. Just wish I'd worn gloves. My fingers have black gunk all over them! You can have a closer look at how I did it here.

Surprise .... reading guide!

(My vintage Penguin book cover collage)

Yes your eyes don't deceive you! It's a reading guide and it's not even a holiday long weekend. So instead of the usual WINKS I've raided my secret blog file and found some great ones to share with you. You know the score. Some are new and some are old, some are big and some are small and some aren't even in English. Enjoy!!!

Rug request

Janine wrote us with a particular request: "With all the creativity in modern design--angles, curves, patterns, and textures--why do the shapes of area rugs always seem to be rectangular? I'm looking for an interestingly shaped rug, something asymmetrical perhaps. I have, of course, seen nicely shaped animal hide rugs and would love to find photographs using that idea but, please, not striped or spotted. Seen anything like that?" After searching through MANY photographs to find non-rectangular rugs, I came up with only round and animal hide. But considering all the different colours of animal rugs you can get these days, I think that's a great option. I bought one for my living room because it's such a small and narrow space - rectangular would have made it seem even more narrow. And, well, rectangular is boring. I'm not sure why stripes and spots (my favs) are not an option for Janine, but here are some ideas...

Bolig Magasinet	Ken Hayden
House Beautiful	Alternative Design
Domino	Santos-Diez
Pieter Estersohn	Frances Janisch
Apartment Therapy	Diamond Baratta Design
House of Pictures	Inreda
Ken Hayden	Skonahem
Studio Ilse	Oak Management

Rounding out the week with retro

You thought I had forgotten. How could I not include a retro "fix" in this week's posts. Do I have a treat for you over the next couple of weeks. I have a copy of Terence Conran's The House Book and it is crammed with retrolicious pictures! Sit back and begin your weekend with retro baby! You know you deserve it!

Images scanned from The House Book, Terence Conran, Mitchell Beazley Publishers, London, 1974.