Iiiiiiiittttaala - Collection of Iittala Festivo

Whenever Hubby spots some Iittala, he sort of squeals the word and drags out the vowels, with an extra screechy-ness on the I's: "iiiiiiiittttaala".  It totally cracks me up.  What can I say?  I married the absolute best guy.  Last summer he and I were yard-saling with my Mummu (see? The Best) and while Mummu and I busied ourselves scrutinizing a table full of china, I heard the soft tinkling of crystal behind us.  Hubby was crouched down, intently sorting through a box of glassware.  Turns out, he had uncovered a honey pot of Iittala (say it with me: iiiiiiiittttaala).  Once upon a time, I never found a stitch of Iittala in this city, outside of Finnish stores, Finnish homes and antique shops.  Since moving back after a six year long absence, I've been finding Iittala yard saling, in the thrift stores, and even in the classifieds.  There are pieces I pass up, but every now and then I find a steal - or something I really want.

I was recently trolling the classifieds when, lo and behold, I stumbled across a colossal collection of Iittala Festivo candle holders.  My Mummu was kind enough to give me her complete set, which is really special because she had one of each size and each piece was a gift from a family member, spread out over years with no duplicate sizes gifted - no one arranged this, either.  It just happened!  Obviously, I love the set she gave me but I always envisioned growing my instant-collection a bit more.  I hadn't yet found any for a good price, so stumbling across a lot was thrilling.  By the time I got in touch with the seller more than half had sold, but I scooped up what remained: 9 in total, which included four signed pieces.

Here's my collection before (including two, 2-ring ones I stole from my Mom):

And my collection, a bit beefier now (but sans the two I stole from my Mom, who insisted I give them back once she saw my loot):

They're definitely squeezing out my little enamel bowl.  For some reason I felt compelled to distinguish new pieces from my Mummu's - although I'm letting them co-mingle - so I marked the bottoms of the newbies with a small silver star sticker so I know who's who in the zoo.

I have to admit that I felt a little woozy making this purchase - a mixture of sheer excitement and a little apprehension over spending the money.  I've been trying to be a tightwad recently because I'd like to make some big purchases - office chairs, bedroom closet doors, etc.  I've been squirreling away as much money as I can and forgoing the little luxuries whenever I can muster the willpower.  (Obviously, my money saving waxes and wanes).  But, as I reasoned with Hubby, I don't tend to buy many accessories for our home and when I do I've normally scored a great deal - usually snagging something fabulous second-hand.  Though more expensive than a normal thrift store score, these were an excellent price too.  Plus the Festivos are, in my opinion, a classic and timeless design.  They were designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1966 (who also came up with the "i' logo), and produced since 1967 - although they're no longer available for sale (new) in the United States and Canada, making them even more special.  And other than our kitchen shelves and this credenza, I don't have too many spots to accessorize - so I want to make a statement with a collection en masse.

Hubby's reply?  Iiiiiiiittttaala.

DIY White Felted Flowers

Sometimes I feel like I'm a one trick pony.  Or at least a pony with very few tricks.  I create something I like and then re-create it.  Sometimes with a twist.  A subtle, subtle twist. 

Once upon a time, there was a felted wool necklace.  The necklace prompted the creation of the famed felted wool billy buttons.  This weekend I spent some time not-packing and felted instead, creating some white felted . . . dandelions.  Let's call them dandelions.   

Why the heck was I felting wool, when I should be preparing for my trip???  I had bought a little vase, ages ago, just because it's Hungarian.  But it is so wee.  And, all of a sudden, it's wee-ness became too distracting. 

That's where the felted wool flowers come in.  They give it a bit of oomph:

Ahhh, much better.  I used the same tutorial as my billy buttons (don't forget I wrote a follow-up trouble shooting post).

Since the artful hack, the Expedit has had a little more tweaking.  I stare at it from my desk and I needed more colour, so I went hog wild with the turquoise accents, devoting a whole shelf to my new - and growing - turquoise glass vase collection.  

I also added a piece of Strawberry Hill Pottery.  My grandma once lived in the house that eventually became the studio.  It has since stopped production, so the pieces are becoming more valuable (at least to Thunder Bay folks).  I just love this adorable face staring at me while I work.

P.S. I don't think I ever showed a true "before" of the Expedit, before I started figuring out how to style it (and back before we had installed baseboards):

I'm happy I didn't give up and kept tweaking to make it something I enjoy looking at.  And, yes, fiddling about with felted wool may be a bit of an avoidance tactic so leaving the townhouse for four months feels less real for the time being.

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Accessorizing in Threes

I love my McCoy pottery collection (better photos with my many new additions coming soon) because it is so easy to display it: I just collect it all into a nice, glass front curio that's part of our entertainment unit.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I fuss with the arrangement and group by colour.  But, for the most part, it is easy-peasy because I just stick 'em all together.  

Accessorizing gets trickier when I start combining disparate pieces because I like to think about scale, colour, and balance.  Plus, I hate when an arrangement looks too matchy-matchy or too flea market messy.  To help, one of my tricks is to group objects in threes.  With this trick in mind, one of our side tables beside the sofa looked a little bare, but I was waiting for the right piece (I hate settling).  With my Mom, my thrifting lucky charm, at my side I found a pretty, paisley-shaped vintage dish - likely a planter - that picks up on the turquoise of my large McCoy planter and the warm, coppery hue of the vintage teak side table.  A small addition, but it really makes the arrangement "click" and adds some new texture to the space:

With just the McCoy planter and vintage Lotte lamp:
 

With my new thrifty find, a vintage dish with interesting colour and texture:

And yes, I'm kind of obsessed with it.  I'm not a person who always comes home with something new.  I try to spend carefully and buy things I will love for the long haul.  So when something meets the "come live in the townhouse" criteria, I get a little giddy.  Am I alone in this?  Hope not, because I snapped more photos!

You know I don't believe in "rules" (put as many object d'art as makes you happy) but here are a few examples where the three item trick was employed by pros:

Laura Casey Interiors; DIY Network; Sarah Richardson; Sarah Richardson

What is your tip for making a small, but notable, change?

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Mantle Banter: I Need Your Thoughts



The fireplace and mantle today

The living room mantle has been an area of our home that has been largely ignored, for good reason.  I recently tweaked it a bit, but am still not loving it.  Help? 

The Before:

First, a bit of history.  The original fireplace insert was so ugly, I couldn't stomach glancing at the general area.  When we hired a chimney cleaner we learned that, even though the home passed inspection with a home inspector we specifically chose for his knowledge of fireplaces, the insert was illegal.  A new fireplace insert could be thousands.  Instead, we had it professionally removed and everything was inspected and cleaned - to the tune of $400!  We then added new and modern matte black doors and have since used it as a (legal) masonry fireplace.  Less efficient, sure, but our house is so wee that even a modest flame raises the temperature substantially.

Working with the Brick:

The brick has been another thorn in my side.  Longtime readers know I have long waffled about painting or not painting the brick.  With Hubby vehemently siding on "don't paint the brick," I've left it as is.  It does pick up on some of the other warm tones in the room, like the apricot upholstery, teak wood and even hits of a brick hue in the artwork, providing nice warmth against my penchant for turquoise.  With our all-white walls, it adds a healthy does of colour and texture.  So it shall remain unpainted, even if it makes it trickier to modernize the look.



Decorating the Mantle (My Goldie Locks Dilemma):

Even without the added aggravation souring me on the whole fireplace, and the exposed brick making it tricky to modernize to feel, decorating the mantle has kind of stumped me.  My childhood home never had a mantle, so the concept is a little foreign to me. And ones I've seen are all "too" . . .

This one, although lovely and almost bistro-inspired, has a bit too much going on for me:

The Lettered Cottage

This one, although really pretty, is still too busy for me:

Glitter Guide

This one, although more pared back in terms of decorative items, is too much of a statement maker.  I don't want to draw too much attention to the mantle (I'd rather make the artwork the predominant eye-catcher).  

Desire to Inspire

This mantle is more my style: bold artwork? Check. Turquoise? Yep.  But it makes too much of a statement again.  A bolder styling like this might just detract from the two larger pieces of artwork immediately to the left of our fireplace.

Better Homes and Gardens

But then this one is a little too spartan.  Our fireplace and mantle need a bit more of a disguise.  I think only a truly gorgeous fireplace and surround can be this unadorned.

Better Homes and Gardens

Our Mantle "Styled"

So how did I "style" ours?

When we moved in, I threw up a quirky etching from a vintage shop immediately, because the former owners had drilled massive holes into the brick to hang their photos.  I needed to hang something to hide the screws imbedded in the brick.  Some days I'm unconvinced of the scale's appropriateness, but I like that it is subtle and doesn't compete with the other artwork. 

I added the candlestick holders, made by Hubby's aunt, because they offered some height, and just recently I added a little wooden box 12 year old Handy Hubby made.  Cue the collective "awwww".  We were on the hunt for something to hide our kindling, and this box (languishing in the basement) fit the bill.  I added a pottery bowl my mom made to hide matches in.  I stacked it on top of the box to add more height to my little "vignette".  The finished product is hugely practical, but is it pretty?

Here's a closer view of the quirky etching:

Moving Forward . . . it Needs Something

It seems the mantle needs something . . . should I paint the mantle?  Make a new one (I cannot figure out how it's attached - it is original).  Add different artwork? The box, I think, is there to stay (at least during the winter months). 

Or do you think I am just fussing with the mantle to avoid the basement, a large and scary undertaking?

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