Living in small spaces has been a theme for Jesse and I since we started dating. Our first apartment that was our home for three years was less than 600 sq. ft. and where we live now, in our first house, we have less than 700 sq. ft. of living space. Living little works for us. We have a big, beautiful backyard for my kitchen garden, a deck and our new fire pit and live a ten minute bike ride form downtown while still living in a safe, upscale part of the city.
Okay, okay. Safe and upscale except for when arsonists set a neighbour’s car on fire and it explodes in the back lane. Which I know I posted about on Twitter, but now can’t for the life of me find, but if you can take a moment imagine a car engulfed in fire exploding in your back lane at 3 AM you have an accurate picture of the scene. I maintain that it keeps the property values on the nearby homes from getting too high, which means there are pretty character homes that are kind of affordable. Which just goes to show you that life is all about compromise! In this case pretty houses with a tiny side dish of explosions. Also, did you know that when a car really and thoroughly burns out, that the horn honks for an extended period of time until it explodes with the rest of the car?
You know, I might be getting side tracked here. :)
So the main part of the story and while our house is very small it’s filled with amazing nooks, crannies and character features that make it charming and quirky. This summer I decided that I wanted to dive into decorating it more, and specifically that I wanted to add more art by independent artists. I’ve been taking to etsy and have received some amazing pieces that I’m thrilled with and wanted to share.
And before you get your hopes up, no. None of them are illustrations of cars exploding.
“Hold on, if you’re an alien, why do you sound like you’re from the north?”
This spring, with the encouragement of friends on my blog and on twitter I started watching Dr. Who and completely fell in love. I’ve heard so much about it that I started resisting it just because it seemed like it couldn’t live up to the praise, except that it exceeded the great things I’d heard about it and crept right into my geeky heart. This is a quote from the first episode, called Rose, with Rose and David Tennant’s Doctor. It’s is a great example of how the two play off each other, as well as the enthusiastic, playful spirit of the show.
Rose: “Hold on, if you’re an alien, why do you sound like you’re from the north?”
The Doctor: “Lots of planets have a North!”
Edit: Oops! It was Christopher Ecclestone, not David Tennant- turns out that I’m so biased in which actor is my favourite that I’ve edited my memories ;) Thanks Annie!
Dr Who Rose Poster by The Geekerie // $18.00 USD
I have an alarming amount of love for all things victorian and an alarming love of all things tattoo related, so when I found this dapper gentleman I couldn’t resist. He’s a handmade 15″ articulated puppet, with tiny joints that let you position him however you like. I love his heart pin, too large eyes, and that he’s wearing tiny spats. So far I can’t walk past him without moving him around, and am tempted to get another tattooed gentleman when they come back up for sale.
Victorian Tattooed Johnny Boy Paper Puppet by Crankbunny // $20 USD
“The Kitten Bandit” was one of the first illustrations by Emily Martin of The Black Apple that I ever came across, and I’ve been in love with it from afar ever since. Emily’s work is a big part of the way that I discovered Etsy and the handmade community as I know it which has helped me become especially attached to her work. I’m love the vintage feeling to this piece and her simple, intriguing disguise. As soon as I had a good excuse to give her a home in my home, this was my first purchase.
Mysterious Girls: The Kitten Bandit by The Black Apple // $16 USD
How do you find art for your room, apartment or house?
I’m a pretty dedicated etsy buyer myself, but if I come across a beautiful piece locally I always jump at the chance. No shipping! What a treat :)
I follow all your contents shared on web, they are most inspiring, creative and incredibly lovely to watch and read .. keep it on
My name is Rose so I was absolutely loving the art! Makes me wish I was 8 again and had a little girls room to hang it in…
I think my hub and I need separate bedrooms!?
:)
We just printed a bunch of our photos from our vacations on canvas through posterjack.ca. We also printed some photos and put them in a frame. At least we can say it’s all original.
Um, did you write this blog post from directly inside my head? Exploding cars? Living little? Dr. Who? Awesome art? Sooo glad I found your blog!
I have just recently started looking for art again. I stopped buying things because I have really fickle design tastes that seem to change with the season. But there are themes that I will love forever and ever. And one of them is Dr. Who! Thanks for the link to the Geekerie. I can see the dollars passing between Paypal accounts already!
When we first moved into our apartment complex someone was setting cars on fire in the parking lot every week or so. No explosions, but kind of scary to wake up to a burning car next to your living room.
Also, I don’t like Matt Smith as The Doctor so I re-imagine all of his episodes with David Tennant. lol
I’ve actually moved my Dr Who watching into something I only do as a treat because I don’t want to meet the new doctor- I’m enjoying David Tennant too much! And I completely second you on how scary it is to wake up to a burning car- when I woke up to it, it was 4 am but the light coming in the house was like sunlight. It felt more than a little post-apocalyptic.
OMG a car exploding in your back lane? After being set on fire by an arsonist!?! That tops the time my idiot neighbors set off fireworks on their balcony (we live in Taiwan, so fireworks are normal on holidays… but not setting them off one meter from your living room).
I’m glad you’re safe and I loved the glimpse into your home, especially with the Black Apple print. I also love Emily’s work and that’s also one of the reasons I started paying so much attention to Etsy.
I still love shopping for prints on Etsy, but no matter how carefully they are packed, the mail sorting facility in my neighborhood still manages to mess stuff up. Once I made a little label that said “Do Not Fold” in English AND Chinese and asked the seller to print it out and stick it right underneath my address… and they still folded the mailer in half! In fact, the crease line was right above the sticker. Grrr. I’ve had to stop ordering off Etsy for that reason, but fortunately there are lots of places to find art in Taipei. I also took reprints of vintage maps that were meant to be used for wrapping paper and put them in Ikea frames… the whole thing only cost about US$12. I’m still planning to look for things on Etsy, but I’ll ship them to my parents’ house in the States and pick them up when we visit in the fall.
How frustrating that you can’t buy from Etsy anymore! If you ever find something you love and just need to have, we should conspire to have it shipped to me so I can put it inside a small box or a vintage atlas that’s not too heavy ;) Your vintage maps sound amazing though, I think I need to add that to my walls.
What a kind offer, thank you so much! The vintage atlas sounds tempting ;-).
I don’t know where to start with this post! “Living little works for us.” Love.
Exploding cars and honking horns? Hilarious (and probably a little scary), but awesome!
And your art work? Lovely!
I’m a fan of things from Etsy, and while we have plenty of photos that fill our walls we don’t have a whole lot of artwork up. The treat to being married to an artist is I can just go look at his drawing table whenever I want to see something awesome!
i just realised that almost every piece of art in my home is my own. i am the worst. i should really invest in other people, geez. i do have a lot of thrifted art, and a couple marushka prints. if you do not know marushka prints, you’re about to be dazzled. if you do know of them, then you’re already cool. win/win.
The worst? Lauren, that’s the best! If I could paint I would be right there with you :)
Love everything {& I’m a huge Dr. Who fan too– in fact, we all are in our house}. I also do Etsy art shopping and have several artists that we adore! There just aren’t enough walls in the house!
http://aclosetintellectual.blogspot.com/
I’ve been buying from http://1xrun.com/ a lot lately. They have limited edition artwork from around the world, but I love buying pieces from the local artists they feature.
Ooh! I didn’t know they have a local artist feature, thanks Sarah!
I love the tattooed gentleman:) We also live in a super tiny space and I have been on the hunt for artwork that is a reflection of our taste without being overwhelming in our space!
I love that each of these pieces speak to you and make your heart sing. That’s what purchasing art is all about. When I bought my first condo, I committed to buying one *nice* piece of art per year, because building an art collection should not be rushed. Since then, “I” has become “we” and how we buy art has changed. At first, it was often during my travels domestically and abroad. Then, we did some special things with photos and mementos from our wedding, birth photos of Gavin and now family photos. I think this summer, though, we’re ready to buy more art and our summer vacation will be the perfect place to do it. Thanks for the reminder!
Kyla, I hate to sound geeky – but that quote? It was Christopher Ecclestone’s Doctor – he came before David Tennant… I think his accent is meant to be Mancunian, but not sure. I’m not meaning to be rude, honest! But you have a gorgeous house and I love you knick knacks!
Oh, Annie- you’re so right! I think I’ve just superimposed Mr. Tennant’s head onto all the other doctors that I’ve been exposed to lol
I’m still amazed by how consistent the character is across the actors who I’ve seen play him- it’s probably a testament to their hard work at continuity and the writing just as much as it is my bias to my favourite doctor. Thank you for the correction- I view it the same as telling your friend they have something in their teeth, it’s worse to leave it and discover it on your own later! I appreciate that you care enough to let me know, lady :)