I live in a very small house

SteamLight Clamp with a touch dimmer knob

2008-12-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

Insane. An adjustable light fixture, dimmable simply by touching the knob on the cord.

Yes, it's made from a stainless steel steamer, and you can adjust the lampshade as you can imagine. Several different versions of this lamp are available. None suitable for dinner preparation, however, but would be lovely for ambient light by which you might eat your dinner.

too busy to write a proper entry...

2008-12-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Luckily, Tina did it for me!

I'm in the last stages of Knitty magazine production for the winter issue and my tush? It hoits. It hoits a laaaat.

I could use a pair of these lovely plush blue things. Ow. Did I mention it hoits?

Poking box

2008-12-09T06:20:00.000-08:00

I adore Japanese culture, and Japanese toys doubly so. This is a poking box. It exists solely for you to stick your finger in it and poke the little animated characters and annoy them. Supposedly it even feels like you're touching them. Click on the link to see a video of the thing in action.

It sneezes on your finger, dude. What could I possibly say that's funnier than that?

Moonlight Fluke Ukulele

2008-12-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is a Fluke ukulele. Mostly polycarbonate construction but with a [reportedly] very good sound and could it be any cuter? I don't think so. In shimmery moonlight blue. If I had a spare $200, this would be on its way to my house. Right now.

Treku Bookcase

2008-12-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

We live in a small house, with rabbits. The rabbit portion of that sentence is important: it tells anyone who's ever lived with rabbits why we can't have normal furniture [or if we do buy something nice, why it won't stay unnibbled past the first week].

This bookshelf, at a mere $1,126, is reasonably bunnyproof. The bottom is steel, and the shelves start above our rabbits' average nibble height.

Ironic that it's from a company called "Design Within Reach", because the rabbits wouldn't agree. [Also, this find alerted me to the knowledge that there is a DWR store in Toronto. Sigh.]

Liberty of London Fuchsia Ianthe Notebook

2008-12-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

When the hub and I visited London last fall, a stop at Liberty was one of the highlights. For hub, oysters at the bar. For me, handling gorgeous things I could never dream of buying like this leather journal. The small one is only £45. [Ack.]

Beautifully made, leather bound, and worth every penny. And this picture is as close as I'll probably ever get to having one near my computer.

Fairmont Gold Robe

2008-12-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

I saw a robe very much like this in person at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, but it was even lusher and $160. This one is almost as nice, only $110, and has a thick shawl collar trimmed in braid and a generous 64" wrap.

Someone please buy this for me. I could make room in the house, really I could.

Miss Bunny and her Balloon Vinyl Messenger Bag

2008-11-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Too long since my last bag post. Here. A bag + a bunny. It's better than peanut butter + chocolate, if you ask me. But just.

Bunny Twins Set (2-for deal)

2008-11-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

Strange plywoody rabbits. For the wall, not for nibbling.

SERBIAN RABBIT MAN print

2008-11-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

I like this. It has a rabbit in it. And a puppet holding a carrot.

What could it mean? Well, the artist says "this is what it's like when a half man/half rabbit has a puppet show." Ah, so cryptic, some artists.

Fat Bunny Rabbit - Small

2008-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

He's fat, yet small. Can be beanbag-enabled for those who wish to use small rabbit as projectile.

Follow the White Rabbit

2008-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's almost winter, so I say we go all bunnies this week, because there is absolutely no connection whatsoever. I'm like that. [In my house, actually, it's all bunnies, all the time. Our two kids, Boeing and Squeeze, are rabbits.]

This shadowbox would look fabulous on a wall in our house, because it's really delicately excecuted, and because the rabbits can't reach anything above hip height, so it might last longer than 24 hours.

Aqua scarf from knitted Flowers

2008-11-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

Impossible to believe, but a simple tool like one of these daisy looms, which usually makes fugly things you'll find abandoned in thrift shops [and justly so] actually seems to have produced something otherworldy and ethereal.

This aqua scarf is all mohair, so it's not for allergic me, but I can't help but adore its overdone simplicity.

Antique Pharmacy Label Pendant

2008-11-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Ephemera. Such a nice word for old bits of paper.

I also happen to love vintage things protected under glass so I can't mess them up. This Antique Pharmacy Label Pendant fits the bill, is gorgeously blue, and quirkily worded.

Should you come across Phenacetin in real life, however, don't take it, no matter how appealing the label. It's bad medicine.

The Gypsy Bag

2008-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

What, you need another bag fix? Me, too.

Here's Karin Birch's Gypsy Bag in peacock and brown corduroy, lined with crazy fabrics, closed by a vintage button. She has others, too. You could buy two and put one inside the other, just because.

No, that would be silly. Send the blue one to me.

Art Deco Blue Drawer

2008-11-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

What gets me most about this blue drawer is not how fabulous it is. It is fabulous.

What gets me is trying to imagine what the dresser it came from must have looked like. Did the rest of the piece die a horrible furniture-y death? Did it get ruined in a basement flood of sewage or neglected by a college student [boola boola!] who didn't appreciate its beauty?

It should be illegal, furniture mutilation.

Blue Circles, textile artwork

2008-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Blue Week at Very Small House! Why blue? I like blue. Actually, I love blue. Which seems enough reason to me.

This exists just to exist, which I guess is the definition of most art. I adore it. Blue Circles made of felt and hand stitched. Heavenly simplicity.

beret

2008-11-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm allergic to wool, so felted stuff like this is verboten to me. But I love looking at it.

This beret, made by a Japanese artist, looks like a fuzzy chocolate kiss. If I had one of those big houses with one pure white room dedicated to a single beautiful thing, this would go there. But someone else would have to dust it.

Vintage 1960s Paymaster

2008-11-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Oh, heavens. Vintage office. Functional. My color, even. Must have this Vintage 1960s Paymaster Checkwriter, except I couldn't write the check for it until it arrived.

Such a sad endless loop of disacquisition, no?

Brain Lightbox anatomical illustration

2008-11-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

For those days when the one installed in your cranium is insufficient, perhaps the Brain Lightbox might help.

At the very least, it would look lovely on your wall. Okay, my wall.

Explosion bead by Amy Johnson

2008-11-11T17:21:00.000-08:00

She may call it The Original Explosion Bead, but I call it the glass incarnation of an Everlasting Gobstopper.

Amy's studio is in Toronto and I've seen many of these in person and they're even more gorgeous than this picture. Which is saying something.

The Fraulein Tote

2008-11-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

Possibly the first etsy bag seller I fell for, moop's Fraulein Tote hits every button on my bag-o-meter of love. One day we will meet, my sweet.

TV night light in translucent porcelain

2008-11-06T04:00:00.000-08:00

It's a nightlight. Turn it on, and the screen glows. It's made of porcelain, for heaven's sake.

I believe the word you're looking for is "eeeee".

bombe ring

2008-11-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

I love silver. I love soft-looking things that aren't soft.
Therefore I love this bombe ring

Reclaimed pine box with lid

2008-11-04T04:00:00.000-08:00

It's a box, but it's not just a box. It's made reclaimed pine and it looks like it's had so much of a life, it could talk.

Strange Tree Painted Fabric Journal

2008-11-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

I love blank books almost as much as I love bags [though, strangely, I just realized I haven't featured a bag here yet. Must rectify.]

Anyway, this blank book is handmade and deliciously rustic. And not the same moleskine as the guy is using in the next booth at the diner. But I do like a good moleskine.

Oh, nevermind.

Chicken Coop Storage Bin

2008-10-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

Imagine this Chicken Coop Storage Bin full of your yarn stash. Oh, sigh.

Pink Geisha Tabi

2008-10-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

These tabi boots are one of a kind, and handmade even. These Pink Geisha Tabi fasten up at the back and are adjustable for width [!] to accommodate different sizes of calves and are lined with a cool contrasting fabric. Not into Geisha? They've got other designs available.

Labour and Wait

2008-10-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

No, I do not want to buy these people and their shop. I just want to buy everything in their shop.

Their shop is LABOUR AND WAIT and it's in London. I wish I'd known about it when I was there last year.

Click on products>kitchen and if you don't want it all, I believe you're reading the wrong blog.

Yin/Yang Obsidian Windchime

2008-10-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

I came across Obsidian Windchimes in person in a shop in Mystic, CT in 2005.

This one is Eucalyptus with devil's claw pods and an oxhead seed pod. Every one looks like some kind of otherworldy creature.

The one I bought has some kind of crazy seed pod as the main element. Dangling below are natural shards of obsidian that make the most delicate tinkling sounds. Mine hangs outside my office window all year round and, three years later, is still strange looking and still sounding beautiful.

Deco Enamelware Drip Coffee Pot

2008-10-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was imprinted early. By Martha. Yes, that Martha. My favorite colors for decorating are jadeite green and pale aqua. I also adore vintage kitchenware and enamel, in particular.

Someone buy this insanely cool coffeepot before I break down.

Little Helping Hands

2008-10-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

The seller says you can use these tiny porcelain hands to hold your favorite jewelry, but I think that's just too mundane a task for something so delicate. These little hands are there to hold ethereal things -- your heart, your hopes, your spirit.

And in a pinch, your keys.

EnviroGLAS countertops etc

2008-10-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

I'd love this product even if it wasn't environmentally smart. Resin + recycled glass, old porcelain bathroom fixtures...even broken-up mother of pearl buttons = EnviroGLAS counter surfaces, flooring and more. You can choose your resin color and the aggregate to get exactly the look you want. For heaven's sake, they've even got glow-in-the-dark glass! How cool for a kids' bathroom. Me, I'd go aqua all the way.

The terrazzo look is so perfect with the other vintage stuff I love, and so much easier to clean than a tile floor!

Summerwood Urban Studio

2008-10-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

Living two people in a tiny house, and having only a bedroom-sized office in said house, thoughts often turn to dreams of an additional structure to hold all the business of business*. One option: the Summerwood Urban Studio, starting at $4195.

Bored with the stock options they offer? You can design your own, right down to the siding and roof materials. I'm partial to cedar siding and metal roofing -- blue, I think.

*Hub's office [for he works at home too] is in the garage. Use every inch, that's our philosophy!

I've got to put it somewhere.

2008-10-20T21:58:00.001-07:00

Our house, which we love, is a massive 730 square feet. Cough.

Two bedrooms, one of which is my office, both of which have tiny closets. A living room, dining room, rather small kitchen and a single [just big enough for its intended purpose] bathroom. All small. That's all the living space we have until we win the lottery and finish the basement.

Instead of waiting for that to happen, I'm going to blog the stuff here that I wish I had room [or money] for but just don't. Occasionally, I might even bring one of the things I find home. Which should be interesting.

I read quite a few design and stuff blogs, and since I come across stuff that they don't write about, I thought it'd be neat to start one of my own. So here: my place to share the coolest stuff I find on the web. Some vintage, some new, all worth wanting.

Feel free to watch over my shoulder as I exercise my covet bone.

Vintage Aluminum Folding Desk

2008-10-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

This desk is the thing that sent me over the edge into stuff-blogging. I had to create a blog just to share this amazing object, or else I'd have to sell the rabbits [not an option] and buy the thing.

Available at fusionfurniture, this brilliant, gorgeous piece of functional engineering was built for US Military use. At the seller's main website, it sounds to me like he/she has more than one of these, still in their original boxes. Which is good, because one day, I just might cave.