Antique Folding Tub

Jen sent me a link to this early, portable, folding bathtub, for sale on eBay. From the original advert:

"If you have no bathroom, buy a Mosely Folding Bath Tub", "Don't look around for another house, and "acts well and looks well". An advertisement also notes that the tub is "portable, with self-heating arrangements to heat water at a moments notice. A great convenience and when closed an ornament to any room...". Send two cents, for illustrated catalogue, showing 18 styles of tubs..."

Octopodes II

We've been tracking the "Octopus in Home Decor" trend since 2008, and our friends on etsy have been delivering it for even longer, but I was amused and delighted by these (expensive, handmade) octopus options at Anthropologie.

Octopus Garden Wallpaper, $198 a roll.

Amelie Sofa, Fathoms, $3498.

I love the saturated blues used in both of these.

p.s. If you like the octopus style, you may want to peruse the Everything Octopus blog.

Steampunk Fabric Contest at Spoonflower

Spoonflower -- a custom fabric printing site -- is sponsoring a steampunk fabric contest. There doesn't seem to be any prize other than the glory, but I like anything that increases the amount of steampunk options available for home decor projects.

There's already a number of designs uploaded! Here's my favorites:


The repeat on this one is awesome...


I like the kid friendly colors here -- great for a nursery?


This one has a lot of potential for large curtains -- I'd pair it with stained concreate floors and a relatively strong industrial Victorian vibe.

Need help getting started? Wait for my next post for a site full of inspiration!

Designs are due by 2/15.

Thanks to Projektmanagerin for pointing this out.

The New Victorians in House Beautiful

Look what's in House Beautiful this month....


Nice of them to catch up, no?

Thanks, Jaime, for pointing this out!

Vintage Printables

Vintage Printables is an incredible collection of out of copyright images, mostly scientific, perfect for printing and framing or using in your craft projects.

Partial Eclipse of the Moon

The images are extensively categorized and subcategorized, so you can easily find everything from magicians to surgical equipment; imperial Russian playing cards to scientific botanical prints.




You can even browse them sorted by color.

The proprietor will even link to your etsy store or website if you use the images in a project -- which means the rest of us can find wonderful things made with all of these images!

Campaign Furniture, Globes, Bookcases at One King's Lane

Wow, One King's Lane does it again -- this time a sale on Globes, Furniture, and Accessories from Authentic Models. I've ogled their furniture for a long time, and with much of this 50% off, I think I may get a side table for the new playroom, am thinking about a pair of bedside tables, and who wouldn't need another bookcase?











You'll have to sign up to browse the wares, but you may find it worthwhile.

Octopus Table on Etsy

Yesterday's post solicited a comment by Tammyo about this Octopus Coffee Table, in the same vein as the one pictured, that she has (had!) for sale on Etsy. By the time I read the comment, it was already sold, and I can see why -- it's awesome.

I don't mean to tease, but I think we should encourage Tammy to make more in this vein.

Erin Martin Design

Jaime introduced me to the delightful work of Erin Martin Design. Here's the most steampunk of her designs.

I love the quirkiness of using wall mounted reading lamps to light a sink.

I think these images are some for a radio-crystallography -- but maybe one of you know better?

Nice juxtaposition of industrial lighting with traditional handwriting.

I *love* the door on this bathroom.

Dark. Moody. Train.

Would love to know who made this coffeetable with an octopus on it.

Antique Astronomy Chart...

with an even older celestial tool in front of it...

Biological Things at the Evolution Store

I stumbled across The Evolution Store, a source of reasonably priced biological items, and though you might be interested. Here's a sample of what they have...


Pretty botanical prints.
Ben's from rice growing country, so this one appealed to me -- not to mention the colors are great.
The colors here are so great -- I'd order the poster, and then build a room around it.
Cherries -- these could work for so many different types of rooms -- kitchens, rooms with a lot of red and black, even for a different twist on cherry blossoms in a room with a lot of Asian elements.


Lots of interesting marble coasters.






Skeletons!



And last but not least, fossils!

Maps as Wallpaper

I've got a map urge today -- it's never very far away frankly, and it's one of those design elements my husband Ben will also go for (as opposed to skulls, for instance). I found these two rooms via Design Crisis.

Lovely.

I've had these images from a very old issue of Martha Stewart in my inspiration file for a long time.


For an especially affordable set of large maps, check out the USGS maps of your locale. For $8, you can order maps of any location that are around 6 square feet.