Update: Congrats to Meghan at Mustard and Sage for winning Scrappy’s Citrus Bitters. 

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to spend here. To mark my return I’m having a little giveaway. Kaufmann Mercantile is one of my favorite online retailers. If you’ve been there you already know why. The shop is highly curated and the best of the best when it comes to all those handy little things you need around your home, office and garden.

The kind folks at Kaufmann have a set of Scrappy’s Cocktail Citrus Bitters, made in the NW no less, to give to one of you. The set features grapefruit, orange, cardamom and lime bitters. All are perfect in a cocktail or even a glass of soda water. Believe me, I’ve tried them. Rules are simple, comment below with the cocktail you would make with these citrus bitters and be sure to visit Kaufmann Mercantile to see all their fine wares. I’ll pick a winner Monday, May 7.

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Bitter Spring – serves 1

Spring in the Northwest is not unlike winter in the Northwest. It’s rainy, cool and leaves everyone aching for warmer weather. This cocktail is a bit of a spring tease too. It’s colorful and bright as spring should be but upon first taste, you’ll realize, it is not sweet and sugary but very much a grown-up drink.

2 ounces good quality Gin
1/2 grapefruit sliced
1 oz club soda
3 dashes Scrappy’s Cardamom bitters
1/2 ounce Campari

Instructions:
Muddle the grapefruit slices, gin, club soda and bitters. Pour over ice. Add the Campari floater and serve with a lemon twist and a salty snack.

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I’m a water person. I always have been and always will be surrounded by it, if I can have my way. Water energizes me as much as it relaxes me. Last weekend, Jevan and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on the coast. We ate chowder, we hiked, we explored in the drizzle and enjoyed every second of a very quiet weekend.

A few photos I took with instagram last month. You can find me on instagram (as caseykeasler) to see more of what I’ve been up to on the daily.

Clockwise from top left:  Tree | Clock and shelf | Plateau | La Carnet de Manifold | Pontiac and surfboard | Black shelf and white kitchen | Betty Davis

I’m working on a new project and am really drawn to the contrast of black and white. There’s something so simplistic about the absence of color I will always appreciate. Not to mention the drama it creates.

]]> http://thekidcollective.com/color-story/color-story-black-and-white/feed/ 1 http://thekidcollective.com/scouting/scouting-fern-life-botanical-chart/ http://thekidcollective.com/scouting/scouting-fern-life-botanical-chart/#comments Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:01:00 +0000 Casey http://thekidcollective.com/?p=9553

Rule of thrifting #1: Whenever you stop looking for it, you find it. I’ve been on the hunt for a vintage botanical chart for some time and finally came across this one a few months ago. It was hanging on a wall behind a bunch of other large pieces of furniture and bad art. I asked the shop owner to pull it down for me to see if I could repair that corner that pulled out of the frame. It was such an issue to take it off the wall, the shop owner gave me an extra 20% off so as not to climb through the mess to hang it back up on the wall. Sold for $50. And I actually don’t mind that part of the chart has pulled away from the frame.

You can find similar botanical charts here. Three Potato Four also has them from time to time too.

Ann Woo – Sunset Green | Cisco Home pendant | Victorinox Mint Green| Digital Collage |Graphite Pencil | Mint and Copper Cuff | Mint dipped hobo |

Mint. My color for spring.

This recipe just happened on a Saturday morning, as the best breakfasts do. No store lists, no shopping, only what I happened to have in the house. My mother-in-law gave me the Vindaloo spice for Christmas. I’ve never had it before, even in Indian food, and I’m not sure how I made it so long. Vindaloo is a highly spiced hot Indian curry made with meat or fish. The dried spices are also great on potatoes and I may have candied some walnuts with it too. It’s perfect for a wintry meal.

The recipe will print on a 3×5 or 4×6 card. You can also right click and save it.

My good friend Scott Friedman of Gitane Workshop recently shared some new work with me. He’s a master craftsman, that’s for sure. All pieces were built in his Denver, Colorado workshop. He’s added some new styles, like the Monarch coffee table, which is a genius piece in that it packs down to a 5x5x33 size package. Give him a shout if you need something you can’t find. He can definitely make it for you.

I can’t rememeber a time when I’ve ever shown my bedroom. Maybe I have and I apologize if I did, it was likely a sorry state. I’m not one to go out and buy a bunch of pieces all at once, so this room has been a work in progress since I moved back in September.

Jevan and I built this headboard over the weekend. We didn’t argue, we didn’t need multiple trips to the hardware store, no one stapled a finger to plywood and we spent about a total of 3.5 hours and less than $75 (including supply buying time and those sour cream and onion Pringles I couldn’t resist at the checkout). It was like a dream project if there ever could be one.

In the Tanner Goods workshop, we’ve been working a lot with waxed canvas. I really like the idea of using it for a headboard because of it’s utilitarian meets modern look. Not only is the color great, but because it’s waxed the fabric has a stiffness to it that you don’t get with other fabrics.  I could even take my headboard outside in this Portland rain and it would fare well. Can you’re headboard do that? I didn’t think so.

Hospital corners even a maid at the Waldorf Astoria would be proud to show.

Another semi recent acquisition; a pair of teak side tables with a leather magazine sling.

A handmade dream catcher from my gal pal Tiandra. Teardrops get me good.

I can’t go anywhere in this house without Winnie following me. So there you have it, a gratuitous dog photo. And a little color combo: army, orange, white and gray. Happy Monday!

January is the month of the hustle. I put this mix together with that in mind. It’s what I’ve been listening to as I work. Good focus music I tell you.

1. A1 | Darkside – Valentina Black REMIX
2. Blessa | Toro Y Moi | 5:58
3. Ritual Union | Little Dragon | 8:41
4. Best Night | the War on Drugs | 12:09
5. Sweetest Kill | Broken Social Scene | 17:40
6. Cannons | Youth Lagoon | 22:46
7. True Blue | Dirty Beaches | 26:24
8. Thankful | Caveman | 29:10
9. With Just One Glance | Nicolas Jaar feat Scout LaRue | 33:10
10. Tomorrow Never Knows | Junior Parker | 36:59
11. Fake Blues | Real Estate | 40:25
12. Genesis | Grimes | 44:03
13. Posters | Youth Lagoon  | 48:15

Download the mix here.

A small amount of proof that I haven’t been a total deadbeat this month. Let’s just say blogging hasn’t exactly been my strong suit, and leave it at that. January is my month of the hustle. Instead of going cold turkey after the holidays I do just the opposite. I have been out more nights than I’ve been in, ate and drank more than I would like to admit, worked more hours than I’ve tracked and have been busy meeting, greeting and otherwise learning. It’s my January sanity, long days, short nights. If it weren’t for doing all this, I’d want to crawl up in a hole and never come out. And that’s no good. Any tips to make it through this cold, dark, post-holiday-binge of a month?

Find me on instagram (as caseykeasler) to see more of what I’ve been up to on the daily.

New year, new client, new mood. Here’s where my head is at the moment for 2012. A mix of cool and warm. Soft, low light. And definitely a little 70′s bohemian undertones. Jessie, this is for you.

Photos clockwise from top left: Desert flowers | Fiddleleaf Fig tree and floor pillows – Source unknown | Grass and water | Ocean Beach, SF | Warm light | Sisal Rope | Platner and painting

The cord chandelier by Brendan Ravenhill is just what I mean. It’s simple, minimal and even a bit unpredictable. That asymmetry makes this light fixture a stand out. I love how it looks from the side, but that photo from below, that’s good. Real good. Brendan’s bare lamp is pretty much on point too with it’s hand blown glass socket. Now go, check out Brendan’s handiwork.

I still love brass. I know it’s nothing new but I can get over how fancy it make a room feel. And as jewelry, it looks great on just about anyone. I read somewhere that in a recession, people are drawn to warmer, richer colors because it adds just that to a space. Take that recession.

Interior left: Charles Mellersh | Interior right (unknown) | Calvin Chair | Elton Vintage Wire Round Table

Interior left: photographed by Michael Graydon | Interior right: Grand Hotel Stockholm | Sabine Floor Lamp via I Art U | Lisbon Vintage Brass Bar Cart | Savoy Polished Brass Pendant

Well hello. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Maybe you noticed, maybe you haven’t, it’s been quiet around here for more than a few weeks. November was hectic and December was a blur. No excuses (I know we’re all busy) but I needed a break from being here. And aside from a lovely and unusually dry December, January in Portland is here and has me thinking of Palm Springs.

I never got around to sharing these photos from a girls trip back in November. They seem fitting now. I know I could use a Palm Springs trip in my near future.

I coaxed the ladies into an architectural tour one afternoon. These homes are like my crack. I can’t get enough.

I also got a chance to see the Kaufmann house. Or at least poke around outside from the street. It’s just as amazing in person. Some day I’ll get inside.

We stayed at the Ace Hotel for the entire weekend. It was also PRIDE weekend, so it seems fitting to show a babe and the Robert Lewis’ love light.  Don’t love the light but I do love the babe.

Speaking of babes. Here’s my gal Sarah pool ready. And who could resist a giant elephant macramé. Not me.

These colors are so serious. You don’t get this kind of blue in Portland.

Kristin romping around on the rocks. Every man in town for the PRIDE weekend was after that coat and for good reason. Meow.

We made a day trip up to Pioneertown and had some celebratory drinks at Pappy and Harriets, a saloon of sorts in an old ghost town. A lot of the old Westerns were filmed here back in the 50′s and 60′s.

Love this flora. These flowers were completely dried but that color is amazing.

And Meghan giving you her best P.S. I love you. Gotta love a girl’s trip.

I was at the Pop Up Flea last week in New York with the Tanner Goods crew. The flea in itself is an exercise in restraint, even though it’s centered around menswear. As an interior designer and a furniture junkie, I fell pretty hard for Sit and Read. Many of these pieces I saw in person and wanted to carry home on the plane with me. But we all know how frugal I can be and the thought of shipping any of these pieces was more than I had time for. If you happen to be in Brooklyn do yourself a favor and stop in to check out the finery.

Danish Cabinet  |  Illum Wikkelso Ringstol Chair  |  Candlesticks  |  Hans Olsen Dining Set

Sit and Read Gallery
236 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(347) 927-3194
12–6 Saturday and Sunday,
by happenstance or appointment

Sit and Read at Strawser & Smith
487 Driggs Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 388-7600
11–6 Wednesday–Sunday

A few weeks ago I came across the most amazing floor lamps. I love a good lamp, like some women love a good handbag. Design Within Reach does this smart little write up on all their designers. I was so intrigued by the simplicity of the lamp and the first time I heard the name Greta Grossman, I was sucked in and read further.

Grossman House, Claircrest Drive, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, 1956-57. Photo: John Hartley

Swedish designer Greta Grossman was ahead of her time. She was an architect when women weren’t. She was a designer and above all, she was a modernist. In the 1933 she opened Studio, a combined store and workshop in Sweden geared towards women who worked outside the home, along side fellow Konstfack classmate Erik Ullrich. The was filled with simple designs that were as functional as they were beautiful. To her it was more about a few special things over dozens of tiny odds and ends. Kinda like you and me, eh?

Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

In the 1940s, Greta, along with her jazz musician husband Bill Grossman, immigrated to Los Angeles where she reopened her furniture store and continued to architect her way around the state of California. She is most renowned for her own home, a modest 1500 SF two bedroom perched on a hillside in Beverly Hills, but designed over a dozen homes from 1949-1959 in California, including one in her native Sweden.

Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

The home was recently remodeled and nearly doubled in size. Around 3000 SF total and an added pool. Not too shabby. I love when a homeowner and an architect (Tony Unruh) pay homage to the original designer. So thoughtful.

And there’s that lamp that I love. It’s called the grasshopper. Seems fitting.  It’s light and angular and looks like it could fit into any interior. And now, thanks to DWR, I, and you, don’t have to pay $10,000 dollars to get one because it’s back into production after 50 years off. That coffee table isn’t too shabby either. Unfortunately, because of the rarity, most of her vintage original pieces will fetch a pretty penny. So now that you know, keep a lookout in those yard sales and thrift stores. You never know what you may run across. Just because it doesn’t say Eames, doesn’t mean it isn’t good design.

Portland based Schoolhouse Electric recently launched a new line of home wares to pair with their already great collection of lighting. Here are a few of my favorite pieces.

Beckman Chair | Topographic Map |  Blackline Stonewear Pitcher | Graduate Lamp | Higgins Mirror | Langley Ottoman

The rain has set in here in Portland and made for a mellow weekend. There was eating, hanging with family and a few birthdays to celebrate. I started Friday with happy hour mai tais and a pupu platter with family at the newish Trader Vics. The happy hour there is really good, but the regular hour drinks were much better. We followed mai tais with pizza at our favorite, Lovely 50 50. Saturday, I celebrated my friend Meagan’s birthday with kareoke and dinner at Le Happy. Such a cute little place with friendly service and great crepes. I’ll definitely go back. Sunday, I spent the day with girlfriends and came home to Jevan’s homemade Chicken Tortilla soup. A good weekend was had and much needed because this is the calm before the holiday storm.