as you probably know, i’m a huge fan of incorporating vintage pieces into modern decor — thus my motto ‘bohemian modern style from a san francisco girl’. adding vintage collections makes everything just so more interesting, and helps your home tell stories — about you, and what you love. for me, i’m a bit of a nut when it comes to collecting classic, mid-century modern chairs, and i have a distinct fondness for unusual portrait paintings.

ebay invited me to create some guides and collections to share with you, and thus far i’ve created a few — Ideas for Decorating with Vintage Portrait Paintings; Decorating with Mid Century Modern Eames Chairs; and Adding Color to Decor with Vintage Moroccan Rugs. i’ve got lots more guides coming up, so if you’re looking for a little guidance to shopping vintage, pop on over and follow my guides and collections.

• these curations are in partnership with ebay, but all thoughts and ideas are my own.

hello again! phewf – january was a crazy month over at the jealous curator, but i’m so, so happy to be back on sfgirlbybay!

so, i found this photo the other day on the site of a helsinki based stylist/designer, minna jones – this is her home, and in the post she mentioned that she had just painted this room white, and said “for a while i’ll enjoy it this way. for me, white is a color that waits for something, even just a stain…”

well, i hope she doesn’t mind, but i just can’t wait! ok, so, in that post she also said “outside is dark and storming, and I don’t enjoy it at all.”  hm, maybe a cluster of sunny san francisco surfers will cheer her up:

oh, the surfer girls of margaret kilgallen. love! if these ladies don’t help you forget about the grey skies outside, i don’t know what will!

now, lately i’ve been loving the look of leaning art, instead of hanging it – especially when it’s huge. like these:

really, really big kids! and not just any kids. this is a series by canadian artist louis boudreault {seen above}, titled destiny. these gorgeous, gigantic, mixed media pieces are the childhood portraits of such greats as einstein, and picasso! brilliant. and also so, so, beautiful. i would happily lean one of these kids on any wall in the world!

ok. now, all of these next pieces would be absolutely perfect in this space {but especially the last two!!!}:

this is the work of one of my most favorite artists at the moment. maria aparicio puentes sews on found photographs – and tell me that ray and charles eames would not be perfect in a little frame, with that white wall all to themselves!? a perfect compliment to those fantastic chairs!

alright, so i didn’t wait for a stain to find it’s way onto that lovely white wall, and again, i really hope minna doesn’t mind that i just had to hang, and lean, a few things in her space. and with that, i’m off to find more white walls! i’ll see you back here in two weeks ~ danielle {the jealous curator}

ever since my trip to los angeles last month, i’ve been drawn once again to mid-century modern decor. there’s just something about that city, a certain film noir feeling that recounts that very cinematic era. rooms with a classic, sophisticated charm and a clean, sleek look i really love. sometimes i just want to abandon any ‘cuteness’ my home contains and grow up a little bit, if you know what i mean. i don’t want my decor to be strictly modernist, mind you — i’d like to warm it up a bit, with textiles and pattern, mementos and art. but i love the idea of some classically designed mid-century pieces that speak for themselves — like this sofa above, or the Poul Kjaerholm sofa below from hive modern, for instance. sigh, if only. i’d like a room noir.

Spanish Chairs by danish designer Børge Mogensen, photographed by hallie burton.

classic mid-century pieces in the mix, via the design files; roman and williams; and bo bedre.

alt interiors magazine, photographed by Line Klein.

Henry Hill’s 1947 renovation of a 1908 Victorian tucked away on an alley in historic Russian Hill, via dwell magazine.

brooklyn apartment with just the right mix, via the new york times.

danish mid-century modern dining room, via apartment therapy.

a fabulously modern mix, via fantastic frank.

wonderfully eclectic corner, as photographed by vidir.

chairs. chairs are my thing. the thing i can’t live without, the things i covet. like this pair of awesome eames wire chairs, the very cool looking patio chair from la silla acapulco (i think i could even live with it indoors). and this big hunk of handsome black leather chair from rue and this gray one shot by pierre-jean verger — swoon!

isn’t this just rad? it’s knitting work done on a wire eames chair by plain living. seeing these chairs got me thinking how much i admire a great eames wire chair, so i went on a little hunt. and so, here’s a monday morning homage to the eames…wired style.

tom bonauro’s classic chair; velocity art & design’s eames desk chair; gorgeous dining room via decor8; eames wire chair with bikini cushion; century house wire eames; The Story of Eames Furniture, via daily tonic; metal eames via the design files; factory 20’s eames via the wallpaper files; another glance at tom’s fab chair.

• top photo styling by Akira Ishikawa and photographed by Osamu Koizumi.

i think i may have seen these very cleverly styled vitra eames chair collages somewhere along my web travels, but i just saw ’em again and just thought they were the coolest. the photos are by , ingmar swalue, and the stylist was Emmeline de Mooij. brilliant!

• images via plastolux.

i’m in the mood for more pink. it comes and goes, this attraction i have to the girliest pinks in the prettiest patterns, but i love it with black, a bit like licorice allsorts (sans that inconvenient yellow and blue) and y’all know i’ve got the black goin’ on. this week i want more pink!

1. i just can’t say enough about this blah blah blah throw from donna wilson.  2. there’s just not one thing wrong about this gorgeous eames rocker!  3. and, i’d die to wrap myself up in donna wilson’s beautiful new tree cloud blanket this winter.

4. i love this rose floral pillow cover from ada & darcy.  5 & 6. i do believe i need both these ever so lovely polaroid prints from Israel-based photographer Ella K. Sverdlov.

7. i hear all you need is love, so these plates from lou rota at not on the high street seem like a good idea to have around.  8. two eames chairs is always better than just a lonely one, so i’ll take this hot pink eames eiffel chair from modernica, as well! 9. it’s almost 2011, so yep, we all need a new calendar and this one from cats let nothing darken their roar is so rad.

you know how you sometimes ‘just know’ when something inspires you? well this week i saw (or spied) this photograph of a lonesome eames chair from the very talented mister ansel olsen, and i knew what this week’s i spy theme would be. the amazing chair. think about how many different designs there are for chairs! some of them bad, some of them grand. some of the eames (in other words – fabulous!). today, i spy somewhere to sit.

brad ford, via creamy life.

snappingtwig.

jack the hat.

one blue wren.

wood & wool stool.

anthropologie’s calandria armchair.

house & garden, via mint.

factory 20.

Fabio Sabatini.

elizabeth sarah.

michael cory.

dwr’s finn juhl.

anni3goesclick.

i love grain edit, and quite enjoy getting their post updates via email. this week was no different. i love this feature they posted about british designers i love dust. isn’t this print great? you can read the follow story over here, on the always lovely and inspiring, grain edit.

so, since planning my move to the new house, i’ve been searching for a few key items to add a bit of special style to the new place. one being a black eames chair. i happened to see this one on ebay, and thought no way would i ever, one, be able to afford it; and two, i’d never be lucky enough to win it! but, guess what!? i did!

and, it was affordable – $152 for a vintage eames rocker in excellent shape, is pretty darn good, and an investment, to boot! so, i wanted to share just how i scored it. in case you are unfamiliar with bidding on ebay, i’ve found the best way to get a really great deal, is to first ‘watch’ the item. don’t place a bid, just click ‘watch’ and keep your eye on it. ebay will send you an email reminder when the bidding is coming to a close and give you a few hours notice.

i also scored this tord boontje garland for just $52!

then, what i do, is set an alarm – in this case on my iphone for a half hour before the ebay bidding closes. i check in, and if the item is still affordable and hasn’t been bid out of my price range, i wait and watch some more. it’s like stealth shopping!

and then when it’s  2 minutes to close, i enter my bid and then when it’s 1 minute to close, i press send! if i think i may not win it, i increase my bid to where i’m comfortable and press send again. in this case, i swooped in over 24 other bids and won this beauty!! anyway, i was so chuffed, i just had to share, and i hope these ebay tips help you win something you’ve been dreaming about! these are just my own tips, but if you’ve got more ebay tips for us, let us know!

*garland image via door sixteen, where i found the inspiration to cover the exposed lightbulb in my bedroom.