I am preparing (once again) to relocate. Once again I will not be bringing any furniture with me, just some clothes, a decorative pillow or two and some chutzpah. Naturally, there are upsides and downsides to the state of extreme brokenness that prevents one from taking one’s furniture with one when one goes. Con: No furniture. Pro: Clean decorating palette.
Knowing that my budget is going to be about the size of a toddler’s change purse has made me intent on getting the most bang for each itty bitty baby buck. To hone in on the look that I am going for and to discover undiscovered, underpriced designers, I have been reading design blogs like it’s my 80-hour/week investment designing job. (I’m an I-designer, get it?) During these preparatory marathons, I have relied heavily on the links and recommendations of Poppy Talk, a blog out of Canadialand that bears the tagline: "Mining for the beautiful, the decayed, and the handmade." There are links at the top of the site that lead you to each of the posts classified as either "beautiful," "decayed" or "handmade," but looking at the blog in its entirety makes it clear that mixing and matching these categories is what makes a truly enchanting room.
From ceramic birdhouses to lampshades made from bare, bent wood to shelves constructed from skateboards to postcards from the 1890s, I can’t help but covet and consider buying each piece that Poppy posts about. But I never do. I stop myself before inputting my credit card information because buying is not the point—inspiration is. My plan is to take the ideas from Poppy Talk—and sites like it—and then search the cheap furniture listings on Craigslist for poor or worn imitations of the magazine tear sheets I have in my head. And this is all well and good until, at the end of a three-hour date with my computer, I close it shut, thinking, "I’m sick of being broke and in my 20s."