kaufmann mercantile

Have you all heard of Kaufmann Mercantile? I feel like maybe I looked at their website a while ago but that it recently got a complete makeover? Anyways, Kaufmann Mercantile is this amazing retailer focused on "discover(ing) better products". Starting from the idea that products should last a lifetime rather than be more or less disposable, the company features handmade items from 300 makers from over 20 countries. What I really love is that each product comes with an in depth description of the product, how to use and care for it and how it was designed and produced. It also has reference links back to their blog - called Field Notes - that provides interesting histories and stories about different products. I could basically own everything on their website but below are more than a few favorites. 

French Enamel House Plates

Waxed Canvas & White Ash Travel Chair (slate)

Stoneware Planting Crock

Handmade Picking Baskets 

Powder-Coated Steel and Wood Stool

Faribault Buffalo Check Blanket (White)

Japanese Cypress Wood Bath Mat

hanging our quilt

As I mentioned in this post, we received a personalized Great Lakes quilt from Haptic Lab for Christmas. In addition to tugging on my Michigan heart strings, it is a really beautiful quilt that I want to display by hanging on a wall in our house. The quilt is 52" x 72" so we need a big wall to hang it on and, right now, I am liking the idea of hanging it along the stairs. The wall is large and blank and would be otherwise hard and sort of awkward to fill with art. The downside is that it would be difficult to fully appreciate the quilt as you were coming up the stairs. Although, the view of it would be perfect from our little eagle's nest entrance into our bedroom...

 To decide how to hang our quilt I, of course, turned to Pinterest for inspiration. It seems that an undetectable means of hanging quilts/tapestries is perhaps the most popular. 

This system is nice in that it doesn't detract from the quilt. It also keeps the quilt snug to the wall which will important for us if we choose to hang ours along the stairs. Another option would be to use a rod. 

I like how a rod looks but I worry about the quilt hanging too far off the wall. I also would need to find just the right one which could end up being more costly.

Another expensive alternative would be to have the quilt framed.

I really love how this looks especially in the lucite but it would be SO expensive. Also it is sort of nice to be able to touch the quilt.

A final option is to use hardware whether that be clips or something like the pictured below magnetic bar. 

Right now, I think I am leaning towards an invisible hanging system or something like the magnetic bar. Thoughts? Guess I will have time to ponder this while I paint the stairs and surrounding walls and ceiling....

from top: The Apartment by Tina Seidenfaden Busck and Pernille Hornhaver via Wolf Eyebrows - photo and styling by Louise Derosiers via SF Girl by the Bay - Pendleton blanket via Apartment Therapy - source unknown - home of Anne Becker via Elle Decor - source unknown - sheep blanket by Rafa Kids via The Style Files - source unknown

lantern lighting

I am just getting back from a weekend spent in Charleston. For those of you haven't been, the city is full of so much history, natural beauty and incredible architecture. I could spend days just wandering the narrow streets looking at the amazing historic homes and the gardens that surround them. This trip (I was also in Charleston last October), I was particularly struck by some of the finer architectural details that characterize the charm of the city. Things like side entrance porches, old huge front doors, wrought iron balconies and so many incredible lanterns. Lanterns, whether they be on the exterior or interior, hanging or attached to a wall, are timeless. Below are some of my favorite examples. 

from top left - Cosy by Urban Electric Co. - Darlana in Gilded Iron by Circa Lighting - Tini Westport Lantern via Oomph - Morris Lantern in Gilded Iron by Circa Lighting via Kate Marker Interiors - 1600 by Urban Electric Co. - The Maribel Lantern by Coleen & Company - Lillibette V.1 by Urban Electric Co.