Wednesday, January 27, 2010
I love jars. I love food. And I doubly love food in jars. So as you might guess, this bulk storage situation in the kitchen makes me very happy. Two cheerful rows of glass jars, filled with dried goods to keep our bellies full.
Each jar was scrubbed clean and then later hand-labeled–because in a hungry moment, oat groats can be mistaken for rice, and that is unfortunate mixup to make at dinner time. Lesson learned.
To fill up the food jars, my favorite grocery store (and perhaps one of my favorite places) in San Francisco is Rainbow Grocery. They have the best bulk food selection in the world. Teas and spices? Maple syrup? Pastas and chocolate chips? It’s all there, sold by the pound. Awesome.
And this week, I was delighted to find the website of Unpackaged, a London shop that specializes in selling package-less foods. (Thanks, Alex!) I’m loving all this love for bulk food.
What do you buy in bulk? What’s your favorite thing to store in jars? (Jars of coffee beans make me very happy.)
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
In the past three months, our San Francisco studio apartment has been transformed in bits and pieces–one project after another. Each step makes this new space more comfortable, happy, and bright for everyday living and working.
From the very start, this space under the bay windows was destined for coffee drinking and quiet reading–and is perfect for soaking in the late afternoon sunlight. The green armchair is one of my favorite things, an early-LA find on craigslist–and its DIY refinishing and reupholstering was a longggg labor of love.
And there are a few new favorite things here, too. First, a matching armchair tucked under the other window, which is an upcoming upholstery project. And then, the just-the-right-height industrial wooden crate to shelve our window garden. Both were found by chance on the streets of San Francisco. (This city may be renewing my love of curbside finds!)
Listening to: Bootless Man by Gwyneth Moreland (listen)
It’s Monday morning, and I’m at my desk listing, reviewing, brainstorming, and getting down to business. A pot of tea with honey and leftover apple muffins from breakfast. I like this quiet time, a little music, the midday sun just starting to peak in the windows.
I like this fresh and new workspace, simpler and more compact–but then, not so different from my workspace in LA. Really, not entirely different from my desks back in college either. However much I simplify, I seem to continue keeping and carrying a few of the same bits of inspiration and comfort with me wherever I go. These objects/images/texts are re-invented over and over in each new place, and “make sense” to me differently each time. Do you have a permanent collection of inspirations and comforts that make a place “feel like home”?
Cheers to new space, old inspirations, and a whole week ahead!
here is another little corner of my apartment. in my bedroom, i recently posted a collection of my favorite views of the sky. simple, just printed, no frames. a nice morning reminder to look up.
:: images from lillieinthecity / flickr
trying to be a conscious consumer (and also being very picky), i tend to overanalyze and consider new home/kitchen purchases for weeks at a time. crazy sometimes, but i’m always very happy when i finally make a purchase this way. no buyer’s remorse here!
my latest buy was this cast iron skillet. i’ve been wanting one for months. stopping at surfas (my amazing local restaurant/kitchen supply store) on idle saturdays and staring at their selection. and after all that thinking and staring, i finally made the leap: a lodge 10″ chef’s skillet.
the size is just right–small enough for a single serving, but big enough to include extra for a few friends. the sloped sides are nice for easy plating. and the cast iron is beautiful and weighty and working quite well with garlic and onions and eggs and veggies of all sorts. a good buy!
My name is Lillie Dignan. I'm a designer and maker, living and working in the Bay Area.
