Home Style: Vintage Charm
Bliss and Thurston Alexander-Smith live in Raleigh, NC in a nook perfectly situated between downtown and Hillsborough Street. Bliss is a graphic artist at an advertising agency and she is the talented proprietress of Sew Bliss Sew. Thurston is a graduate student studying sociology. He is also a gifted musician and can rule you in many video games. They have style coming out of their ears.
What is your design inspiration?
I’m going to have to say…. the past. This was a really hard question, so I tried to look at our apartment with new eyes, and realized that the new perspective was the only new thing about it. Nearly all of our furniture is secondhand, but it doesn’t stop there, Thurston’s Rhodes piano, a lot of our wall art, and most of our dishes have had previous owners. Even the pieces we bought new (from Ikea) have a sort of retro feel.
Are there any magazines/blogs/websites that you follow for inspiration?
I’m a dedicated frequenter to design*sponge. I love the DIY’s, but really end up book marking every artist or idea that’s posted. I’ve had a subscription to ReadyMade since 2003 so that’s definitely one of my all time favorites. My mom just got me a subscription to Real Simple. There are lots of great organizing tips and recipes in there.
Are there any particular stores or websites that you love to get your pieces from?
It boils down to Anthropologie and thrift/consignment stores. Totally balances out. Watch out when that Anthropologie opens in Durham, it’s dangerously close to where I work… Everything in that store is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And the pieces I couldn’t live without from there are prized possessions. As far as the other end of the spectrum though, we have gotten lots of pieces from Father and Son in downtown Raleigh, which is not a thrift store, but a beautiful consignment wonderland. We absolutely adore that place and rarely leave empty handed.
Do you have any favorite artists?
Yes! I certainly have to agree with Sarah Rice about Steph’s [Stephanie Statham Witchger] work. How so much talent comes from those small hands I’ll never know, but every card Thurston and I have ever gotten from her is on our little art wall. And whenever she doodles something on our dry erase board or chalk board clock, it stays for a long time. Also on our little art wall are pieces from Beth Tacular and Casey Porn. I also have to mention Ashley G, although not a North Carolinian, I love her bearded men series. Photography from Geoff Wood takes up one whole wall in our living room. He did a “Life of a Pirate” series a few years ago with a bunch of our friends and they’re such spectacular prints with these awesome homemade wood frames. He also did my wedding portrait and my gift to Thurston for our first anniversary. I also recently got some artwork from my friend Smitty for my birthday and I absolutely love it. It’s a shadow box with a black and white camera obscure image with the a line from one of my favorite songs printed on the glass by lithograph paper. He should do more of these. And I have to mention NC natives (but residents no more) Nate Grubbs (photography) and Matt Gauck (painting/illustration). I’ve known them since college and their artwork has always been completely amazing, but time has only ripened their talent.
What would you change about your space?
I would take out the wall between our “Robert’s room” (that’s the faux dining room where our turtle, movies, books and Cd’s live) and the kitchen. Our kitchen is just big enough for one person, which works out okay since Thurston’s the chef and I’m not, but our dream home would have the kitchen open up into the living room.
What is the best bargain you’ve ever gotten/are most proud of?
We’re really proud of our $40 TV stand from Father and Son. And Thurston loved our coffee table for months before we got it (haggling works-it started off at $190 and we got it for $70) also from Father and Son. But I think our favorite is our refrigerator/freezer simulator. This does nothing but hold Robert the turtle’s tank. I take that back. When plugged in, it lights up and the gauges wobble when you turn the dials. Very kid friendly. Thurston and our friend Ben found this by a dumpster about 4 years ago. Our hope is that it’ll be a table one day.
Do you have any design tips?
Instead of buying something new, try to make it yourself, or rearrange your space to make it new again.
What is your favorite room?
I love our living room. That’s where movies and cocoa happen. Our big brown velor couch (inherited from our friends Maf & Tara who inherited it from her parents) is the perfect snuggle couch. Throw in a few blankets and big purring cat and you’ll never want to leave.
Do you have any special collections?
I started collecting owls about 5 or 6 years ago. I’m not sure how it started- maybe since owls were big in the 70’s they were easy to find in thrift stores and flea markets. I love the brown/orange/yellow/green color schemes. Although now, they can be found everywhere, which is good and bad. Good because it’s made me refine my palate. I don’t fall for just any old owl anymore! Bad because there’s still plenty of owls I can’t live without.
What is your favorite thing in your home?
Probably our wall of little art. So many things and people and events are represented there. A “daughter” saying from my mom, lots of Steph’s aforementioned cards, lots and lots of cards and drawing from Skate (Matt Gauck), the pattern I designed for our wedding invites, a clock Thurston got me that never worked but was a lovely shade of green…
If money and time were no object what would you do with/splurge on for your space?
Well, we rent, so I guess first we would buy this apartment- knock down that wall between the kitchen and Robert’s room. And then go buy every bit of dishware and hardware from Anthropologie.
Love this home and its Vintage Charm. Nice write up!!
Love,
Betsy from TEOT
Check out our vintage giveaway on The Estate of Things today.
http://www.theestateofthings.com/wp_teot/2009/01/14/your-mad-men-decor-starts-with-an-etched-number-glasses-giveaway/