this is just a quick, instagram version of sunday in the city, because as you can see — i visited the alameda flea market, and after four+ hours of wandering every aisle, alas i did not find much to speak of. a cute bespoke bag, a black tin box to stash stuff bedside; some metal filing bins for the office, and another lamp to which i added a filament bulb to and threw into the collection. it was sunny and glorious out, and very very crowded. i thought everyone would stay home watching some football game, but instead they were swooping up the scores at the flea!

sometimes i like to think about different purposes for vintage finds. i’m headed to the alameda flea market tomorrow (as i write this on saturday), and i like some of these ideas for giving new life to old objects. i love hilda grahnat’s repurposed coat hanger turned eyeglasses holder. i guess that’s the heart of re-purposing in a nutshell — reinventing vintage finds to suit your modern needs. i’d like to know — much like that feature in real simple magazine “new uses for everyday items” — do you have any fun ideas you’d like to share of a vintage find turned into all new treasure? i’d love to hear them.

i love old camp stools. they’re so charming, and rustic, and make an excellent place for stacking and displaying favorite books or collectibles. this one’s from bella lulu.

vintage cash register price flags just look interesting displayed — i love their tin shapes and old typefaces, via lackluster co.

earth sea warrior continues to make the most incredible vintage-inspired lighting fixtures — Vintage Antique Art Deco Glass Bullet Lamps have been beautifully revamped with unique color cloth cords. or this fixture (below) a white and yellow plug and silver pull chain socket have been added for extra cool vintage flare.

trampoline is at it again, with great ideas for repurposing vintage finds — i love her idea of uses muffin pans for displaying votive candles. they’re great for stashing jewelry, too.

A Vintage Wood & Porcelain Toothbrush Holder makes the perfect spot to store your paint brushes, and looks so pretty, too — from love vintage finds.

Vintage metal Drawer makes the perfect spot for stashing stationery, postcards or office supplies, from hindsvik.

Vintage 1960s French language flashcards can be perfect for framing — these would be great near a coat closet or in a young boy’s bedroom, from gin & tonic shop.

for shame — it’s been utterly way too long since we’ve had an unexpected guest! but today i’m quite elated to be sharing designer and artist jill danyelle’s apartment in manhattan’s east village. i’m extra excited about this apartment, not only because it’s lovely, but because this coming may i’m headed to new york for the ICFF show and a bit of fun, and jill has very generously invited us to share her space for a few days! so i’m pretty thrilled to be staying in such a beautiful home. born in woodstock, formerly a therapist, jill danyelle is primarily an interior designer now, but has creativity bounding from her in countless artistic avenues — from fashion design to writing and photography. here’s what she had to share with us…

You’re kind of a creative entrepreneur with your hands in a bit of everything design related — how do you define what you do?

Currently, I am focused on interior design, but am hoping to grow the art/ photography/ print side of the business more this year. I definitely explored a lot prior to beginning this business and those experiences were invaluable. They contributed to my abilities, to who I am and allowed me to meet a lot of great people. Ultimately, they were not the right fit for one reason or another, but I am thankful that they led me to the path I am on today.

Is there anything you’d like share about your work, who you like to work with etc?

Doing interior design has been great so far. I find it creatively fulfilling, but I also really enjoy working with clients and solving problems. They may not be the kind of problems I was solving as a therapist, but I still feel good about the work I am doing. Being able to hire an interior designer can be seen as a luxury, but many of my clients opt for DIY plans which are fairly affordable. Sometimes it is hard to hand over the DIY plan and not be able to see a project through, but it makes me happy when I get emails from clients who have implemented their plan with good results.

As far as the art side of things, I need to be more diligent about making, making, making. I am not talking about making things to market and sell necessarily, but just developing more consistency in my practice. It is really therapeutic for me and I want to see myself progressing. When I photographed my garden over the course of a year, I felt like that was a really magical and productive time. Just by the nature of the project, I had to continually go there and shoot. Prioritizing time to create and make art is definitely a goal this year.

what are a few of your favorite things to do in the east village?

Some of my favorite things to do in the neighborhood are…share a meal with friends in the amazing community garden that I belong to…walk through Tompkins Square Park. I live just off the park and try to always make a path through it to admire the trees, see people of all walks of life and catch a glimpse of our resident hawks…grab a coffee at Ninth Street Espresso. I was never too particular about coffee, then came Ninth Street.

What’s your favorite flea market, or secondhand find?

Half my world seems to have been found secondhand or in a flea market, so picking a “favorite” might be difficult. I am quite fond of my Lightolier sconces and Dansk Kobenstyle pots and pans, recent additions in the last couple of years. My Danish Modern daybed probably wins for combined points of aesthetics and utility. I scored it many, many years ago at The Salvation Army. I think it was $75. There used to be a great flea market in the parking lot on the corner of Ave A and 11th St. You could find a vintage dress for $20 to wear out later that night, get some authentic tamales and horchata and pick up some old school music. It was the best. I bought this huge, kind of abstract print there of sailboat masts and rigging for $5. I was sailing on tall ships out of South St Seaport at the time, so thought it was extra cool.

What’s your favorite possession?

I am really fascinated by our relationship to our possessions. I am trying to get my feng shui on more and more in recent years and I think it takes a bit of detachment. As New Age as it sounds, I try to have faith that the Universe will bring what I need, when I need it – although, it still hasn’t answered my prayer for some brutalist brass chandeliers or a set of bottom basement priced Dansk Fjord teak flatware… maybe when I finally close on the house Upstate. Seriously though, if there is one thing that shopping at flea markets will teach you, it is that there is always another killer vintage dress and Danish Modern credenza to be had somewhere.

I liked Marion Melbourne’s 52 objects…I think that was a really nice practice to meditate on the things in her life, show appreciation in some way. Like her, most of my favorite things are imbued with some emotion, connected to some memory — a Mexican silver bracelet that I wear a lot, which was given to my Mom by my Dad. I actually love it aesthetically, but it is the history that gives it meaning and makes it special.

What five things can’t you live without?

love, nature, creative expression, challenges and growth.

I also find brunch to be pretty important. When I lived in Barcelona people did not brunch and everything was closed on Sunday. Five people sitting around the kitchen table, hungover, staring at one banana and a cup of yogurt is not pretty.

If you could go flea market shopping with anyone in the world, who would it be?

Lisa Eisner. Maybe we’d just skip the flea market, sit in her garden having cocktails and then try on some of the Sammy Davis Jr suits she owns or maybe some feathered hats. Then Roman Alonso would come over and offer me his apartment for any time I wanted to crash in L.A.

What bores you to death?

Chronic negativity.

• all photos courtesy of jill danyelle.

it seems like eons ago, but last summer i spent some time in amsterdam, but i couldn’t chat about it because i was on a special assignment for anthology magazine to cover the city, so it was a bit on the hush-hush. but the new issue of anthology is out, and my story lives on its pretty pages, so now i can tell you what a wonderful trip it was! the story includes a shopping & dining reference guide, in case you happen to be headed to amsterdam anytime soon, including the amazing 9 straatjes (or 9 streets) — blocks and blocks of some of the best cafes, boutiques and vintage shops i’ve ever come across.

these photos above and in anthology magazine were photographed by marjon hoogervorst, but i took a whole bunch of my own as well, so i’ve been hankering to share just how beautiful amsterdam really is with you for a while now! for the full article, check out the latest issue of anthology, and you can subscribe here. you can also see all my photographs from the trip here on flickr.

i love this image by ben roberts, and it got me thinking about what it might be like to live down by the shore. own a little beach pad and decorate it with a mix of rustic and vintage-modern pieces and keep it on the kitschy side, just for fun.

how amazing would it to be to have some dining room chairs by artist leslie oschmann?

i like the idea of having amazing barn doors like this, with a green chalkboard wall via Cottage Living Idea House.

i’d like to keep things nice and light with a modern twist, like this image via femina.

i think i’ll have some vintage-inspired graham & brown retro patterned wallpaper in the bedroom to cozy it up a bit; and a rustic bedroom door via country living. i’ll hang caitlin holcomb’s forever banner above my bedroom dresser.

i think a vintage scalloped end table like this one via fab.com would fit right in; and these woodstock storage bins from anyhow.se are fun; and i will most definitely need at least one or two Herman Miller Eames DAR Molded Plastic Armchairs in aqua!

chris & kenny’s backyard via apartment therapy.

hilary walker is a melbourne, australia-based lifestyle and interiors photographer who shoots lots of interesting people in their very interesting, creative spaces. she’s photographed the likes of stylist emily chalmers, artist rob ryan, and designer donna wilson – all some of my favorites, so suffice it to say hilary has my dream job. here’s a glimpse into some of her work. hilary walker has an etsy shop called halker, a tumblr page for images that inspire her called halker stalker and a blog of her most recent work.

so last week i shared these amazing bulbs and vintage fixtures etsy shop trampoline put together. and this week, i went out and got some edison, or often called filament bulbs for myself. i had a couple of vintage bedside lamps hanging around with some sad looking shades on them, so i threw off the shades and let them run bare! i love the way they look! they sit upon my vintage black dresser and hang out with my eyeglasses and baubles. i think everyone is quite content.

hello, and welcome to fab friday. at least we all had a short week, right? i thought you might enjoy a bit of down time this weekend in your very own kitschy little bathroom, and so i recreated this one from country living magazine for you. wasn’t that nice of me? enjoy your bath. i think you should add bubbles.

1. Vintage oil painting portrait of Great Aunt Ruby from gin and tonic shop; 2. vintage oil painting of a lovely young gent from lily and ruby; 3. classic clawfoot tub via remodelista; 4. green wood stool via vintage diana; 5. Isa’s Restoratives Stress Formula Tincture from shop terrain; 6. fluffy white towels from target; and 7. vintage paint-by-numbers horse from the relic trail.

martha stewart has a gift wrapping challenge going on, and when i saw the something’s hiding in here submission, i about flipped my lid! these lovely ladies are the most clever bits of vintage-inspired diy wrapping paper i’ve seen in a while, and you know i love my vintage portrait paintings. so these, well these are right up my alley. shauna & stephen from something’s hiding in here have another variation on this them, which is also pretty awesome, and also a diy tutorial on how you can make your own portrait wrapping paper. if you want to vote for them (or any of the other very lovely contenders) pop on over to martha stewart.

• all photos courtesy of something’s hiding in here.

oh, let’s count the ways i had fun with this numerical fab friday. haha — aren’t i the clever one? i’m rounding up some numbers today and dreaming up some new uses for them, so i hope i’ve got yours. i’m just full of puns today…surely, i’m full of something.

clockwise, l to r: love this washi tape from mokkasin; cute little cashier’s key stakes from bhldn could make for fun place settings; some fabulous work from elaine fong; i love old gas station numbers, like these Home Sweet Home No. 1 via poppytalk; i feel like we could do something fun with these vintage bingo sheets from secondhand score; relique’s stool — a great diy idea to spruce up an oldie but a goodie; and love the dillinger print from martin o’neill’s cut it out shop.