Fabric Inspiration of the Day

Cotton fabric from KimoYES

From Japanese line KimoYES, featured today on True Up. It can be yours free when you purchase $30 AUD today. Hurry!

Fair + Fair

Handmade "Its Beautiful Here" wire rack from Africa

Fair Trade and organic products are ubiquitous in Portland, but it's exciting to get to travel and see that lifestyle being embraced elsewhere. I was lucky enough to stay for a few days in Amsterdam this summer, and I stumbled across an amazing store called Fair + Fair with a huge selection of high-design eco goods. (It's housed in an antique canalhouse—reason enough to stop in for a peek!) The thing I loved most was that on each price tag was the story of the product and how much they'd donate back from your purchase. So inspiring! You can shop Fair + Fair in the U.S. here. (Fair + Fair, Herengracht 211, 1016 BE Amsterdam, tel. 020-4214566.)

Gorgeous housewares in porcelain, glass, wood

Chair made from wood logs!

"Carpets From the Sahara," wool, handmade by women

Can Lights made from "rescued materials." You could even make these yourself and use them as light shades!

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Bunk Bed Options

Finally! An upholstered bunk bed for small heads. The Chesterfield at RH

Say what you will about Restoration Hardware—they have their finger on the pulse of what people want. Like bunk beds. There's still no better sleep solution for kids' bedrooms, right? But when you shop for them, it's slim pickings—ultra-modern, basic, or no aesthetic at all. (None of which work particularly well in the old houses we have so many of here in the Pacific Northwest.)  Last year when we Googled "upholstered bunk bed," nothing was out there. (Our kids are prone to bonking their heads on the wall...yours?) And then the new Fall 2012 catalog for Restoration Hardware arrived on our doorstep last week, and there it was. Expensive, yes, but at least now it exists.

RH has definitely mined the vintage archives to produce their latest collections, making the real thrift and vintage store finds in our homes feel less...special, and hard-won, which they were. Therein lies the bummer. But we'll admit that for pieces like bunk beds, which have no vintage counterpart, it's kind of nice to finally have some options that make decorative sense.

Check out all their bedding options for kids here.

(Other favorites for kids' beds? Room + Board and, of course, Ikea.)

Industrial Steel Pipe Bunk Bed at RH, $1149

Millbrook Iron Bunk Bed at RH, $999

Compostable Bedding

Compostable sheets (!) from Beantown Bedding

Is this the future? Beantown Bedding, a company founded by two moms in Boston, has introduced compostable bedding aimed at the college market. Called Bedsox, the sheets are available in Twin XL for $25 and can be used for several weeks before being thrown out. (Since college students can't be relied upon to do laundry.) They're made from Tencel and are dye- and chemical-free.

I love this idea—most especially for travel, if they add Queen and King sizes in the future—but I still think college kids should be expected to do their own laundry!

NEW Plover Sheets!

Our new "Circle Round" sheet set in Lime at Anthropologie

New for summer! Find our "Circles" sheets in four brand-new colors now at Anthropologie exclusively. These sets are in our softest organic cotton percale, at our lowest prices ever, ranging from $96 for a Twin sheet set to $126 for a King.

Flower Envy: Berkheya Purpurea

Berkheya purpurea

This flower, a member of the thistle subfamily of the Asteraceae family, is what want it in our gardens NOW. (We'll have to settle for next year.) We already have the more common Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro) and Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum; I know, not actually a thistle, but it looks like one!) growing, but Berkheya Purpurea has a more exotic quality...the smoky purple hue has us hooked. Buy it here, and thanks to Kate Bryant's wonderful piece in Portland Monthly for introducing this specimen to us. 

Our Favorite: Sunscreen

Arcona's ReOzone SPF 40

Today was the hottest day yet (so far, anyway) of the summer here in Portland, so when better to post about our hands-down favorite facial sunscreen: Arcona's ReOzone. We discovered this sunscreen two years ago and promptly started wearing it absolutely every day. (Not an exaggeration.) It has to be tried to be believed. They say it goes on "whisper light," and this is the stone-cold truth. It absorbs instantly and goes on matte—no greasiness, no shininess, just protection. It's also tinted, so it evens out skin tone, but doesn't look like makeup. (Men can get away with wearing it.) We've never had another facial sunscreen come close to the amazingness of this one, and we've tried them all.


Arcona is not organic, but their skin care line is capable of small miracles. The focus on live, active ingredients and have no petrochemicals, parabens, chemical stabilizers, sodium lauryl sulphates, perfumes, dyes, or any other caustic or toxic ingredients. Read more here.