misosouper, a shopping blog

I’m adding these golden gnomes to my holiday wish list.

My design philosophy is all about shock and awe, obviously.

Forget the holidays; I’d decorate with these twinkly David Stark-designed bulbs year round.

(How else will the aliens know where to find us?)

Facing facts:  I’m a bit of a floozy for modern, graphic textiles.  While the furniture in Casa Misosouper is low-slung, low-key mid-century modern, the pillows, upholstery, and fabrics explode in patterns of riotous color.  (Think I’m kidding?  Come over for a visit.)

Which is why I’m so stoked about this coupon code from Amenity Home; with fall20, take a 20% discount off your purchase (excluding the Muir Furniture Collection).  Mix and match windblown, organic pieces like the ginormous floor pillows, stretched hemp prints, and durable table linens, or fall in love with the new Arroyo tabletop collection, gorgeously crafted in chunky walnut.

Here’s what I’d choose:

1.  Birdseye 26×26 Hemp Pillow; 2.  Arroyo Salt and Pepper Block; 3.  Grass 12×20 Pillow; 4.  Trail Placemats; 5.  Woodland Squirrel Blanket; 6.  Cove Duvet Cover.

Blik has a revamped website, and I’m transfixed by some of their new decal offerings.  The designs from art collective Upper Playground are particularly good at balancing edgy and sweet:  Cat Moonlight reads so Aristocats art nouveau, and Costumes is just grown-up fun.  But for real bang on your wall, go for the eerie, exploding Butterfly Gun.

Such a great idea!

We recently refinished an armoire for my daughter’s room. One concern I had was the off gassing and VOC in many paint finishes. I was thrilled to find “Original Milk Paint” in a neighborhood store selling bookshelves. Milk paint is obviously made from milk, it comes in a powder form and all you do is add water and mix. It is environmentally safe and does not give off any odors. The finish is transparent and gives furniture or walls a slightly aged appearance with a bit of transparency. The ingredients in the paint include: milk protein, lime, clay, and earth pigments such as ochre, umber, iron oxide, lampblack. The lime is alkaline (toxic) in powder form but becomes totally inert when mixed with the slightly acid milk. There is no lead, chemical preservatives, or fungicides. Milk paint contains no hydrocarbons or any other petroleum derivatives. We are thrilled with the results and my husband spent one entire weekend painting the armoire, as it needed two coats. I also plan to apply a paste wax finish to protect the paint and give it a pretty and subtle sheen. I choose Clapham’s Beeswax Polish. It is made in Canada with an old family recipe; museums and fine furniture refinishers use it. Best of all it has a slight lavender scent, but also comes in unscented if you are adverse to lavender.