you’re all invited! here’s a look at the dining room of my new cottage dwelling at present state — again still kind of a work in progress so all comments are welcome. this room was a total man cave. woven wood blinds on the windows covering up all that nice light and brown-beige paint and wall-to-wall really gross carpet. we painted it with sherwin williams emerald white which has great coverage and ripped up the carpet and my landlord was kind enough to refinish the floors. hallelujah!

i’ve been working on getting the light fixture up before sharing it with you, but i finally got this bentwood onion pendant from west elm up, so we’re ready for the dinner party! when i saw this lamp i thought it would be a good fit and i’m really happy with it. i’m not sure if i’ve got too many plants going on though, so i’m wondering what you think. do tell. again, i’ll share my sources for as much as i can (so much is vintage) and you just let me know if you’re curious about anything i might miss.

sources: buffet was a yard sale find; white mid-century modern bench above via ebay; black industrial lamp from mid century modern finds; art on left are flea market finds, print on right by kim schoen; wood candlesticks a mixture of vintage finds, housing authority and anthropologie.

sources: west elm; vintage rolling cart; crosley turntable; Christian Chaize print from 20×200; hilda grahnat print of san francisco bay.

below: chair in foreground is vintage hillcrest outdoor metal chair (that swivel!) from the alameda flea market; chair in background from fab; swiss cross pillow from jonathan adler; sheepskin from black sheep white light.

sources: vintage farm table given to me by my mother; vintage burke “star trek” tulip chairs found on craigslist; artwork below by danielle krysa.

sources: black eames rocker from ebay; schoolhouse electric radar wall sconce.

• all photos © victoria smith, sfgirlbybay.

i’ve been coveting one of these long arm, mid-century modern looking black lamps for some time now. there’s so many variations on these — i think one of serge mouill iconic fixtures would make me happiest of all, but i’d be happy let any one of these bright lights shine their goodness upon me.

clockwise, l to r: jason koharik lamp via lawson-fleming; the serge mouille rotating two-arm wall sconce; the Type 600 counterpoised standard lamp designed and constructed by Rosmarie and Rico Baltensweiler; the serge mouille three-arm floor lamp.

clockwise, l to r: factory satellite from schoolhouse electric; lonngren widell photography; heidi lerkenfeldt photography; wo & wé collection’s Industrial swing wall-mount double arm lamp.

clockwise, l to r: atelier 159 gras lamp; organic modernism aptly-named trilight; serge mouille three-arm wall lamp; and the praying mantis floor lamp from organic modernism.

clockwise, l to r: reid floor lamp from anthropologie; Grasshopper Lamp Black Black-Greta Grossman from atelier 159; and one forty three’s industrial wall lamp.

• top image via helt enkelt.

the september issue of martha stewart living has the cutest diy feature all about the pom-pom. my favorite has got to be this pendant lamp shade with the sweet, unexpected pom-pom’s dangling from it. so cute, but yet not overly so, wouldn’t you say? i might so far as to say these are quite sophisticated pom-poms, at that! the bedspread below is pretty brilliant as well. i’m reading martha via my subscription on zinio these days, which i’m finding most handy!

• photos by matthew williams for martha stewart living.

i am so very honored that the wonderful lighting company schoolhouse electric co. (one of my sponsors) chose to feature my dining nook in their brand new celestial collection catalog. i have schoolhouse’s satellite pendant lamp with the pretty metallic bulbs and i love it. it’s got just that right amount of modern sprocket lamp look, and it’s even on dimmers. thanks so much, schoolhouse!