Subway Sign Giveaway!

Here is a great giveaway for you! Last two days to enter! Winner announced on Monday!

Chris from Subway-Sign.com offers a choice of any "standard" products sized 20" x 30" selected from Subway-Sign.com Subway, Metro and Streetcar 20" x 30" Photographs or Subway-Sign.com Destination/Personal History 20" x 30" Photographs
It is only available for shipping to USA addresses. The prize winner will need to provide her/his street address and email address.

You know the drill - please go to Subway-Sign.com HERE and look at all the cool choices. Come back here to Visual Vamp and leave a comment telling us which sign you like. The contest will go on for one week, and the winner by random choice will be announced next Monday. You must please leave a comment here on this post in order to win.

Visual Vamp has a subway sign in the kitchen!

Say what???!!!! Can this be the dreaded subway sign dissed on many a decor blog as another trend that bites the dust?

Like many of you, as a trend gets popular and trickles down to entrepreneurs like Chris, it becomes affordable and accessible to us mere mortals, of which I am certainly one.

I am a great fan of the art of typography, and have loved vintage subway signs, since I saw one hanging in a friend's loft in New York twenty years ago. These genuine vintage signs have become rare and collectible and pretty expensive, and I have always had my eye out for that miracle flea market find.

Buenos Aires subway sign HERE
Visual Vamp kitchen

Over the past three years printed reproductions have been cropping up most notably at Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn. Oh the kiss of death for sure for so many that wouldn't be caught dead using such pedestrian stuff. And the signs were pricey. And then one showed up in a JLo movie, and the coffin lid was creaking shut.

Visual Vamp kitchen with chicken wire insets on upper cabinets

As many of you who read Visual Vamp know, Alberto and I have been working on a progressive kitchen project HERE, as in we progress when we have some money and energy to DIY improve our kitchen. It is a quirky space in an old New Orleans shotgun house. Alberto has been refacing the cabinets, and yay! he felt well enough to hang the last two cabinet doors he made with chicken wire inserts to show off the white ironstone.

Eventually we will replace countertops, and maybe do a new backsplash. In the meantime a concrete treatment I did six years is holding up, and I love the color. There is a boxed in chimney from an old fireplace that has also been walled in (by the previous owners), and this provides a very long and narrow wall space to uh hang something. I have always envisioned a subway sign in this space. Read more HERE

Of course I always thought it would be a New York subway sign of some sort. Or maybe a sign with the streetcar stops in New Orleans. Or maybe a Paris metro sign.

New Orleans streetcar stops from Subway-Signs.com
It was added to Chris' great selection at my suggestion

But since our devastating trip to Canada, Alberto and I realize we may never be able to fly to Buenos Aires again. So what does this have to with our kitchen and subway signs? Well after trying several art options on the long narrow wall space, with nothing looking right, I bit the bullet, swallowed my pride, and gasp, started looking for a subway sign for that wall. I immediately knew I wanted to have one from the B Line from the Buenos Aires subway, and couldn't find any such thing, because, uh, it doesn't exist.

I found several sites that do custom signs, and I found Chris and he/she (still don't know if Chris is a man or a woman ha ha) immediately came up with a design based on the information I sent.
I wanted do the canvas sign, but the size I needed is not available. So I opted for the paper sign, a super glorified poster, great quality on a superior heavy paper stock, and at a terrific affordable price.

The Buenos Aires subway sign is so perfect for anyone who loves the city, or for a tango lover. Two of the stops on the B Line are named for two important and beloved tango personalities: Carlos Gardel and Osvaldo Pugliese.

The sign did need to be framed, and a huge custom frame job like that would break the already broken piggy bank. After a little Google shopping I found a DIY frame and ordered that too from HERE

Framing it was a two person job, and not that easy, and I am sure there is a hair or two and a speck of something under the plexiglass. But all and all, it came out so great, and Alberto and I love it.

I sometimes let the idea that something is "out", influence my decor choices. Often this is valid concern and a good thing. But sometimes when you know something that has been trend trashed is really right, and it is something you really like, you just have to say fuck it, I like it, and that's that.

Enter the giveaway - you will love having one of the high quality signs from Subway-Signs.com in your home, or giving it as a holiday gift.

If you don't win this time, just buy one! It won't break the bank.

And thank you Chris for providing this wonderful holiday giveaway to the readers of Visual Vamp!

Anna Wintour's Bolthole

Bolthole. It made me smile. Had to look it up HERE

The October 2010 issue of World Of Interiors features Anna Wintour's bolthole. In fact her second one.

Table of contents from World Of Interiors

Okay okay. It's her second vacation home on Long Island, and here's how Anna describes the very un-Hamptons location of Shirley, Long Island in the article: "I just import the people I want…. I don't mind the town. It's white trash, of course, but I don't care".

Feedsack slipcovers, stripe rug, chintz drapes

It is a lovely place of course, very romantic looking, very comfortable, very elegant farmhouse.

The second bolthole living room
Toile (!) slipcover, seagrass rug, Brickmakers coffee table

More from Anna who wrote the article: "It was perhaps eight years ago that a neighbor's change of fortune resulted in my good luck. The property that adjoins my 1820 Long Island summerhouse (WoI March 2006) came up for sale when its owner left in a hurry. It had an 1834 farmhouse, with loads of additions and 12 poky bedrooms. It had a perplexing reception room with difficult, though grand, proportions. It had lawns that tumbled down toward a beautiful-to-the-eye, toxic-to-everything-else river. It had nearly 25 acres of difficult trees in deer-infested woods. It was, as we say at Vogue, challenging".

The same room sans toile

Rustic kitchen

Sweet, sweet bedroom
Can you see Anna sleeping here?


Another view of a bedroom
Love the return curtain rods

A view from one poky room into another one of the dozen poky rooms

Love the lantern with the worn zinc color finish

The library - the chairs look like ones from Pottery Barn
The lamp in the center of the table is a bit odd

Another view of the library

Collage of the property

Found all this good stuff on Curbed and The Awl. Just wanted to share it with you.

A Dirty Little Secret

Dear Vern Yip,
My dirty little secret is that I actually like you and your work. You are oft ridiculed on the blogs as a veteran mediocre designer who relies on big box store merchandise, who uses an alarming amount of candles mounted on walls, who likes to over use multiples and lots of knick-knacks, who has a soft heart for those in need, who can be a bitchy Asian empress on Design Star, etc. etc.

But here you are designing an Urban Oasis in New York City, that is to be given away in a sweepstakes.

Italian made sofa, antique Peruvian rug, vintage bar cart as an end table

At first I wanted to hate it. All the "hip Yip", "urban" big box stores are represented: West Elm, CB2, Crate and Barrel. I read all the catalogs, so all the merch is instantly recognizable.

Couch converts to chaise

And I work in a home furnishing shop that is a dealer for Kartell, so I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I saw the Ghost Chair used in multiples.

And the couch converts to a bed
Maybe the dogs will like it

The apartment itself is a slippery slope. It's in a trendy hotel, and to me it doesn't seem very much like a home, but rather a glorified hotel room, something to visit once in awhile but not to live in.

The apartment at night

I will replace and lower the chandy

But if I win, I do plan to live here. I don't know if the building allows pets, because there are two dogs to be reckoned with. I also don't know if there is a monthly maintenance fee, or what the property taxes will be, or for that matter what the taxes will be on the value of the winnings of this prize. I will surely have to sell my home in New Orleans to afford these things, and then who knows for how long? But that's okay, because I will work my ass off to afford living in New York again.

Over size photo over the couch - it could be bigger
An image taken in the Natural History Museum in New York
I will change the side lamps, and ditch the knick-knacks

But back to the decor. As I poured over the photos of what you did for this space, I began to appreciate it. Your choices are thoughtful, and I suppose all you could do with this cold box of a small, impersonal place. That, and I am sure all those stores donated the furnishings.

Classic modern chaise

I wonder what you would have done if you were doing this place up for yourself, and money were no object. Perhaps you would not have chosen this address, or if you weren't looking a gift horse in the mouth, you might have purchased a larger apartment, or perhaps two small units like this, and joined them.

Classic modern chaise - this is a keeper

I like the way you tried to add some funky artifacts, and some photographs. Perhaps I would not have chosen photos with images of New York, since, duh, the living photograph of the city is right outside the window.

Groovy artifact with CB2 candle holder

And the apartment feels a little cold. The light is New York tends to be on the cool side, and this apartment just doesn't say cozy...yet. Gray is fine, but this is not the right one.

Nice wood floors - maybe too dark?

I of course can add the finishing touches, and style it to look much more inhabited and less like a catalog photo shoot. I would add some color, though you tried with that red rug, but man that red is so heavy looking. I would also add window treatments.

Ghost chairs in dining area shows how small the living space is

But overall I like what you did Vern, and Alberto, my co-worker Jack, and I are entering to win everyday. We have a three way pact that if one of us wins, we will share the place with the other two. The questions of who will sleep on the sofa bed, or how three adults can share a bathroom, or how we will get Jack's 60 pound dog Girl who is object phobic into an elevator, all remain to be worked out. (Cholo we can pick up and carry in, or for that matter smuggle him into the building in a tote bag).

But work it out we will!

Galley kitchen
The table used as an island is pretty cool
But the whole of the main room seems to fit on the rug!

The bedroom
The back wall looks like glorified cinder blocks - this is not witty

Bed is from Oly - hope it's a king!

Another clever artifact with another photo of New York
Duh, just look out the window
I will change the art work

Greek Key bedding from Williams Sonoma

Pocket door between living area and bedroom

Leather covered radiator cover makes it a window seat!
Oh boy hot leather!!!

On closes inspection it looks like faux ostrich
Nubby and hot!

The hotel size closets are painted a bright color inside

The skinny console came from ABC Home
It's a great space saver, and the mirror finish is nice
All the electronics you win look great

The bathroom
I do not like the asshatbox toilet

So dear Vern, thanks for designing this Urban Oasis. You did a heck of a job Vernie!!!
ex oh ex ho

The House That Cake Built

Our breakfast in New York

She made us a cake when we stayed in her loft. She has made thousands of cakes over the years, creating a successful business, and she always says her live/work loft is the house that cake built.

Alberto and I have stayed here when we visit New York since we got together nearly 16 years ago, and I knew her before that. She and I are colleagues, long time friends, BFFs.

This cake HERE

I knew her when she had her first baby on her hip making the rounds with her portfolio, and she knew me when my business was taking off. We helped each other alot.

Looking into the loft you see the dining area and the living room beyond it

And when I moved away from New York she always said I had a place to come back to. Her place. Her live/work loft where she makes cakes and raised her three children.

A working kitchen
The cabinets are stainless steel

So over the years we have stayed in this amazing light filled loft. Sometimes we crashed on a futon on the living room floor, with her kids crawling over us in the morning. Sometimes we crashed in the kids room when they were staying with their dad. No matter what the sleeping arrangements were, we always felt welcome and had so much fun.

A collection of cook books any foodie would love to have

When I left New York I was a sad damaged thing. And for years I didn't know how to face those I suddenly left for a life out of New York. Somehow she always made me feel my choices were okay, and when I was ready to have a reunion with all the great people I left behind, she had the dinner party to bring us together again.

Antique French table used as a desk

She finally got to come to New Orleans this past year with a new love in her life. It felt so good to return house for house.

Industrial metal rocker in the guest room

When she heard we were coming to New York for my birthday, she said your room awaits. Lately she has been renovating her loft, and she added a proper guest room.

The guest bedroom

She cooked for us, and opened her best bottles of wine (and a stunning chamomile grappa!), and made her home our home. Her kids, now grown into lovely adults, came to say hello. Her new love cooked for us too. We were over the moon, feeling the love.

Daybed outside of the guest room - floor to ceiling antique mirror adjacent

Her work and living space is not "interior designed" yet it has great style and panache, and I think it has a great deal of the old New York cool loft living style that has disappeared into the realm of the contrived.

View from the kitchen into the dining and living areas

Painted and polished concrete floors, exposed pipes, original industrial metal windows all add up to what loft living originally looked like.

The stylish and comfortable living room

Furnished with modern kid friendly furniture juxtaposed with many lovely antiques collected by her father who was a world class dealer and dreamer, the loft looks and feels so right.

Antique sideboard

There isn't clutter, though there are many treasures the eye goes too. The star of the place is the incredible light. There are windows on three sides of the loft, which takes up the entire eleventh floor.

Treasures on the sideboard: vintage portrait, bronze antiquity, ink drawing

So please enjoy the photos of this behind the scenes look at a real New York work/live loft.

Portrait of one of the daughters I knew as a baby

Bitossi vase on custom made metal coffee table
The man who made this table made all the metal doors in the loft

Custom Gothic style doors that lead to an extra bedroom
being used as an office to see clients

The desk where clients choose their cake

A selection of prop cakes made for photo shoots seen in every magazine you can think of

A serene master bedroom

Marble subway tiles in the master bath

Custom made concrete bath tub in the master bath

A home is greatly enhanced by small details and little treasures, and I share a few of them.

An iron stag head

Vintage bedside lamps from the company her father started HERE

More fabulous vintage lighting from her father's company
Designers love this source and you can see why
Everyone can shop for it HERE

Lovely little monkey lamp

Interesting metal portrait box

A little altar
Her father made this cross and I loved it so much he made one for me too

Suspended sculpture

Alberto and I had a hard time coming home and leaving this wonderful loft. It was a block away from the studio we taught our tango lessons at, and steps away from great restaurants and shopping.

We are so fortunate that so many of our friends offer us a place to stay when we visit New York, and we have stayed in so many beautiful homes HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE!

Alberto and I thank you all so very very much! I couldn't come home again if not for your generous hospitality.

And of course as ever mi casa es su casa! We love having house guests! Do you?