How to unleash your inner boho florist for le$$

Think you have ZERO talent as a flower arranger? Guess again!

The real answer may be you’re just trying too hard. Waaay. Too. Hard. Or your arrangements are too big. Waaay. Too. Big.

If you re-envision the results on a smaller scale, everything changes. Think smaller arrangements, but more of them! And if you use unexpected vessels, like vintage china and tchotchkes, you make it fun.

That’s right, I’m talking old sugar bowls, cream pitchers, cups that never knew a saucer, and (more likely) saucers that outlived their cups. (Because who uses saucers for coffee and tea anymore, right?) 

Did you say you got rid of all that stuff when your parents or grandparents passed away? Not to worry, there’s lots available for little cash outlay at thrift stores, flea markets, or on shopping websites that feature used and vintage items. 

With sugar bowls, many are missing their lids, and that’s what makes them bargains. If you repurpose as a vase, you don’t need those pesky lids anyway!

Pair up a pretty saucer or bread-and-butter plate with a cup, pitcher or small bowl—they don’t have to match, mind you—then pick up some flowers next time you’re at the grocery.

In these parts, Krogers has the best selection of blooms, but most any big box grocery retailer carries at least some. Pick out a mixed bouquet or a few bunches of your favorites, and get ready to earn the BoHo Home Flower Arranging Merit Badge.

For the arrangements pictured in this post, I bought a bunch of white spider mums with a purply blue border and a bunch of yellow gerbera daisies.

To that I added a bunch of filler-type material—in this case, a spray aster otherwise known as goldenrod. I spent about $20. Of course, you could also pick blooms from your garden and goldenrod from a field or ditch. It's in season about now. 

Queen Ann’s Lace is another wildflower growing just about everywhere throughout the summer that would make lovely filler. Evergreen shrub trimmings are an additional option—boxwood or yew. You won't be taking off enough to leave any bare spots, but if you're worried about that, cut from the back of the bush.

Separate out your blossoms, snip those luxuriously long stems short enough to sit in your small-scale “vases” and start packing in the blooms as tight as they’ll go.

You’ll be awed at the results, and at your own sweet self for being so fantastically talented.

And you won’t be able to stop at just one arrangement, so make sure you buy enough vintage stuff to spread around your house or apartment and hold all the flowers in your bunches. Pretty soon you'll have mini bouquets all over your house, just like in the décor magazines!

Most of my small pitchers and cups held one or two mums, maybe another daisy or two, and some filler. Those with narrow openings sometimes got just one bloom and maybe a sprig of aster. A big bloom, like the spider mum, also looks pretty floating in a small bowl filled with water.

And I’m going to make it easier on you still...

All the cups, saucers, pitchers, plates, and plant stands you see in this post can be purchased from either my ebay store (individual items) or my Etsy shop (grab bags of 3-5 items). 

And while you’re visiting my stores, don’t forget to look around at the other vintage and gently used items up for adoption—uh, I mean sale. It's Labor Day weekend, so most everything is 15-percent off through Monday, Sept. 4.

There are so many pretties out there just waiting to claim you, so why not take in a lonely sugar bowl or cream pitcher today?

Give it a bread-and-butter plate or saucer for company (and to protect your table). Your boho home will thank you, and so will I.

You may even find room in your tabletop arrangement for a figural salt and pepper shaker or two, like these chubby bluebirds!

Alas, this pair recently sold (no surprise there!), but I’m on the hunt for others, so check back often.

And the occasional survivor lid you do find will add an extra dash of panache to your tablescape just resting amid the blooms. Sculptural and elegant, isn’t it?

If you want more…

• Check out all the good stuff in my Etsy and ebay stores. Use the links here or the tabs at the top of this page, just above the headline. There's lots of vintage finds, a few of my boho DIYs, and next-to-new surplus home decor. New merchandise gets added daily, so check both places often. (Follow, FOLlow, FOLLOW!!)
• Sign up to have BoHo Home posts sent to your inbox using the subscription link in the sidebar (top right). Or follow with Bloglovin, a social-media platform that allows you to set up an account and access all the blogs you want to read in one place.
• Find additional content from BoHo Home on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and Houzz, and give me a follow EVERYWHERE!! The more the merrier!

BoHo Home opens an Etsy shop & you can win a discount!

BoHo Home now has a presence on Etsy. My store, BoHo Home By Susan, opened its “doors” on Saturday, June 17, offering a curated selection of vintage finds and a few items handcrafted by me.

Right now the selection is small, but we aim to grow.

A “curated selection” means this is what there is until I go thrifting again, which, I’m hoping, will  be soon. And as I include DIY projects on the blog, you may be able to buy the results in the Etsy shop, depending on how a project turns out.

One thing I know I’m really good at is shopping, and with my new-found fondness for digging through other people’s home edits, I’m sure to find some fun, funky and fabulous finds for the homes of my boho friends, readers, and any other aging hippies who stumble across my shop through the magic of  the Internet.

Would you believe, it all started with this box?

BoHo Home By Susan on Etsy

Yep, that’s the first thing I found for the store. But beyond being a cute  and functional storage box, I don't know anything about it, like where it came from, when and how it was made, or by whom. And knowing me, you know I want to learn the story behind EVERYTHING. Right now, the mystery that is this box is keeping me awake at night, and y'all gotta help me get some sleep!

BoHo Home By Susan on Etsy

The tag at the flea market said “old,” and the booth owner was nowhere to be found, of course. I searched the Internet for something even remotely similar, but came up with zip, even when searching with the actual image in place of keywords.

The impossibility of labeling it MUST mean it’s boho, right? 

BoHo Home By Susan on Etsy

It COULD also mean it IS old and its siblings haven't survived. But then why did this one survive so well?

Both my husband (a woodworker) and I found its construction fascinating. Not a tack nail is loose or missing, not a reed end is unsecured. The structural wood pieces are a layered veneer product, similar to lauan. And the ribbing on the corners and edges, as well as crisscrosses on the lid top and underside fittings, are some sort of split reed. Or maybe bamboo?

I’m no expert, that's for sure.

BoHo Home By Susan on Etsy

I asked an expert. Or at least an aficionado—a friend who runs an antiques business. She identified it as Asian, which she was quick to say wasn’t one of her areas of expertise, but she didn’t think it was old. That knob on top, for instance, looks manufactured and common. You could probably find one exactly like it in any home-improvement or woodcraft store. Might it have been added later?

That the structural wood used is a type of plywood may seem to make it more modern, but common plywood has been around since the late 19th century. Lauan plywood, on the other hand, which is also called “Philippine mahogany” (even though it's meranti wood and not mahogany), was first manufactured in Japan in the mid-20th century. 

So maybe it’s old in the midcentury-modern sense. But is it Phillipine? Or Japanese? Or??

Anyone else care to weigh in?

And then there are those embossed panels...

BoHo Home By Susan on Etsy

This is an up-close-and-personal look at each of the four side panels. They’re well-adhered, not bubbling or peeling, and not scratched, scuffed or torn. They don’t feel like plastic, paper or leather to me—though all those are possibilities.

They do remind me of Lincrusta, a type of wallcovering also invented in the late 19th century and made, like linoleum, from linseed oil. It was meant to be painted or stained, as this is, but most examples I’ve seen are more deeply textured. 

Whatever it is or isn’t, it IS, decidedly, a sweet box.

BoHo Home By Susan on Etsy

And it’s in pristine condition, just waiting to lend its one-of-a-kind look to someone’s one-of-a-kind boho home. Yours, perhaps?

I hope you’ll browse my shop when you get a chance. 

“Heart” the items you love and give me a follow to make it easier for yourself to check back in frequently. I've added a linked tab just under the blog nameplate, as well as a shop logo link in the sidebar, for easy access anytime.

So go see what's there quick before I sell out!!

And if you can lend any insight on how, where and when this box was made, I’ll issue you a coupon for a store discount off one item. Tell me what you know in the comments, and be sure to add any Internet links you find to relevant info. Also be sure to leave your email address so I can send you your coupon.

Know that I remain very truly yours,

BoHo Susan

XOXO

If you want more...

• Stay tuned: There's also an eBay store in the offing. Why? Because stuff has to be vintage or handmade to sell on Etsy, and I have some neat finds I want to pass along that don't meet either criteria. 
• In the by and by, be sure you don't miss a day of BoHo Home, the BLOG. Sign up to have posts sent to your inbox using the subscription link in the sidebar (top right). 
• Or follow with Bloglovin, a social-media platform that allows you to set up an account and access all the blogs you want to read in one place.
• You’ll also find additional content from BoHo Home on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, Houzz, and now ETSY, so be sure to give me a follow EVERYWHERE!! The more the merrier!

My living room creep toward midcentury-modern boho chic

BoHo Home

You all got a glimpse of the Moroccan Pom Pom Pouf I shopped for in a recent post. If you can take your eyes off my ever-beautiful daughter, Erin, and her perfectly precious pooch, Millie (a Goldendoodle), you'll see it beyond them, next to the magenta chair, which is also new.

I referenced chair replacement in my pouf post because that was the motivation in shopping for a pouf. We were ditching our worn-out bonded leather chairs and ottomans for two new living room chairs and just one pouf, remember?

I’m not done with changes to the living room yet, but I thought it was about time to catch you up on what I have accomplished there.

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This shot gives you a decent overview of the room. It’s from a series I took last week to observe sunlight and shadow. The only window is on the wall to the left. It’s tall, but positioned in a sheltered area. It looks out on our patio, and the roof has a deep overhang. The exposure is north, so this is pretty much the light volume and pattern all day.

Let’s start with that magenta chair and pouf

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This is the Eleanor Arm Chair from Joss & Main. I love the chair’s midcentury modern lines, and the magenta color was definitely the way to go for our living room. It was the first time I dared order furniture online since a fiasco a decade ago when I ordered a chest I hated and had to spend $80 to ship it back. 

The Eleanor chair was on sale for a terrific price, and shipping was free, which is good as far as it goes. The problem was it took several weeks to get here, and when it did finally arrive, the box with the legs in it shifted in transport and tore a huge hole in the dustcloth cover on the chair’s underside. 

Joss & Main offered me the option of repair—they contract with someone local to come out and replace the torn underside—or a $75 discount. I chose to have the chair repaired because I’ve had cats actually dislodge the dustcloth, climb inside upholstered furniture, and tear it up from within. No sense giving our current cat any ideas, right? 

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Whitney, the helpful customer service rep at J&M, said the repair company should call in 24 to 48 hours. She then emailed me her contact information in case I had any additional problems, which, unfortunately, I did.

After a full 72 hours the repair company still hadn’t called. I then emailed Whitney. By this time it was Friday, and though her note said she was out on Fridays, it indicated she worked Saturdays. Saturday came and went with no call from Whitney, as did Sunday. Monday morning I called her, got voicemail and left a message.

By late Monday afternoon, when no one responded, I called again and talked to Whitney, who said the repair company they’d been working with hadn’t responded to a number of requests she’d made. She gave me the choice of waiting while she tried a different repair firm or getting a new chair shipped. I chose a new chair, which of course meant waiting another few weeks.

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It still hasn’t arrived (it’s set to come this Friday), but in the interim a repair company did leave me a voicemail offering to come out and repair my chair. Too little, too late. 

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I hope the new chair is in perfect condition because now that I’ve lived with this chair for a few weeks, I want it to work. I LOVE the color in my room—it picks up the pink in the art over the sofa—and I haven’t been able to find any alternatives in that beautiful shade!

And doesn’t it look great, too, with the Moroccan Pom Pom Pouf from West Elm? Remember how I was a bit worried over all the navy blue in the pouf? From the photo on the West Elm website it looked as if the fringe around the top was navy blue. And although there is other navy blue in the pouf, I was pleased to find that the fringe is charcoal gray, like my sofa. Perfect!

Chris wasn’t all that pleased that I bought a new pouf instead of using an ottoman sitting mostly idle in my office. But the pouf in action has won him over. It’s a great height and lightweight because it’s filled with polystyrene beads. Those same beads cradle and support your legs in comfort. It’s a win all the way around!

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The pillow on the chair is from the Nourison Fantasia collection, which I wrote about in a YAAS! feature way back in January 2016. This particular pillow I bought then, along with those on the sofa, but I’d been using it in a different room because it didn’t work comfort-wise with the chair that used to be here. It is, however, PERFECT with the new chair. The throw used on the chair is the Anthropologie Centrale Throw Blanket.

Which brings us to chair #2

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We ordered the Rocket Lounge Chair a few days after the other (a friend calls it "Mary Ann" and the magenta chair "Ginger"!) and it was delivered within a week. It was available on the websites of both Joss & Main and its parent company, Wayfair. However, it was $60 less on Wayfair, which is weird because J&M is supposed to be the close-out site, right? Anyhow, it arrived damage-free, was easy to assemble, and is well-padded and comfortable. 

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I was a tad worried about the color—it was described as light blue—but the reviews said it had a greenish cast. I have a lot of turquoise in this room, so I hoped that meant the chair was really aqua, which indeed, it is! It’s actually a tweed that has some neutral brown tones mixed in as well, and it looks perfect in the room. I really go for those angled arms!! 

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I dressed the chair with another Nourison Fantasia pillow. This one I bought new for this chair; it’s called Yellow Borders. The Karma Living mantita throw I already owned and knew from the moment I saw the chair it would be perfect there.

I bought the midcentury starburst clock a while back when our other clock quit. I love the design in the dark walnut! After we added the chair, I thought I needed a pop of color to fill in that space between, so I moved this print—“Contour Map” by Budi Kwan—from the hallway. 

I’m trying to decide if I need something else below the print and toward the light. I have a square hammered-copper tray I thought would look cool hung as a diamond shape, but can’t decide. What do you think? 

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The drum-style side table (from Pier 1 long, long ago) I moved from the other side of the room, stuffed it with come colorful knit throws, and topped it with my MCM atomic bomb vases—Fat Man, Thin Man, and Little Boy. 

I’ve had these for a couple years and could never find the right spot for them, but they work well here. They speak to the atomic influence on midcentury modern interiors and aren't meant to encourage the use of nuclear bombs or nuclear power.

A side seldom seen

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Though hardly the most thrilling part of my living room, I wanted to give you the whole picture. This is the side that faces the sofa (which you see reflected in the TV screen). I make no attempt anymore to disguise TVs. Flatscreens look so much better than their precursors that my only interest is in hiding the cords. 

This is a house that is lived in, anyway. With only 1,400 square feet, we have no room to make concessions to form that tries to budge ahead of function.

Our previous home was colonial revival, our furnishings traditional, and our décor Early American primitive. It’s a style we loved for a long time, but after 20 years both Chris and I were ready for something different. So when we moved to the condo, we decided to go modern. We replaced some furniture out of the gate, reupholstered other pieces in modern patterns, and replaced additional pieces gradually. 

We’ve held onto the reproduction linen press as our media cabinet because it’s solid wood—no veneers and no compositives—and well-constructed, which most pieces these days are not. I tried to give it a boho boost with funky knobs and a colorful tassel, but may eventually replace it with a midcentury piece. I’m keeping an eye out on Craigslist.

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I know the top is in need of styling. I fiddle with it pretty much every day. I’m limited as to what I can do here because hubs doesn’t want anything to interrupt the TV remote’s signal from the sofa to the sound bar and infrared remote extender (the big and little black boxes seen here, respectively). Also, Maisie-Cat likes to spread out on the top and survey her kingdom.

Okayyyy…So.

Mostly I’m showing you this to see the copper tray I may add over the aqua chair, in the grouping with the clock and print (tipped, diamond-shape, remember).

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

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This coffee table also stays because Chris and I designed it together and he built it, largely from scavenged scraps leftover from the construction of our previous house.

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I’m loving how my kantha throws look in my African Bolga basket. Those same kanthas used to cover my sofa to keep Maisie from destroying it (see more HERE). That wasn’t completely successful, but we’re working on it. See my tutorial on making the tassels yourself HERE.

We tried a commercial cat repellent spray, which was only partially successful. Then we mixed up our own with equal parts of water and white vinegar. It works better, but still has to be applied about twice a day. It’s a training issue, and Maisie is getting better, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

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Together, Chris and I picked out some fun midcentury accent pieces on Ebay. I’m still playing with what goes where, but I love the mix of pattern and color.

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I’m also pleased with the mix of items on the coffee table. I love them even more since my cleaning lady angled them after cleaning last time. It was just what the arrangement needed! Thank you, Becky!

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The books are all about pattern, of course.

And my bird isn’t an Eames, but he sports a gorgeous midcentury-modified starling pattern in his feathers. The Tracy Porter platter that corrals the remotes features a wonderful pattern, too.

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But the pièce de résistance is this oil-can pitcher by ceramicist Robin Roi of RobRoi Design, who I featured in “Everyday Artist” last year. I love its space-age patterning and unique design. Robin achieved some fame in the pattern-painting movement before switching her focus to ceramics, and you can see why. If I could afford to accessorize my room completely in her work, I would.

Well, that’s what I’ve accomplished so far. Thursday I’ll detail what else is planned.

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Until then, I’ll leave you with another photo of beautiful Erin and cuddly Millie, with my magenta chair and perfect pouf looking on. 

If you want more…

• Check back Thursday for a peek at what’s still in the works for this room. 
• Don’t miss a day of BoHo Home! Get to-your-inbox posts using one of the subscription links at the bottom of this page. Or, follow my blog with Bloglovin, an online platform that puts all the blogs you choose to follow into a personalized feed you can access at leisure. 
• Check out (and possibly buy) my coffee table books, using the (affiliate) links: