Wanderlust: Holiday in the Sun

Ah, January -- back to reality. I hope you all had a lovely holiday. Before we get back into the regular swing of things, I wanted to share some snaps of our winter break. We hit the road heading south in search of sunshine and swanky retro fabulousness, and for the most part, that's what we got.

So this is the house we rented in Palm Springs. I meant to take a few snaps inside, but then forgot. Dwell on Design did a video tour of the place a few years ago (click on "Wexler Harrison House"). The furnishings are all different now, but you'll get the idea.

This house is really all about the backyard, anyway.

I think I took these pictures of the kids frolicking in the pool on Christmas Eve. It's just wrong, I know.

Elvis and Priscilla spent their wedding night here.

Trina Turk Residential was fun in an over-the-top, Palm Beach kind of way. (I was too shy to snap pics there; the ones above were borrowed from The Contemporist.) And there was the 111 Antique Mall, a great jumble of a secondhand store in a random strip mall north of downtown. (Thanks to the always-chic Maison 21 for the tip on that one!) I lusted after a pristine and decently priced set of teak dining chairs and a bunch of midcentury pottery there, but didn't get a chance to return for them after my initial hurried run through the shop. Just as well, because we're totally broke.

All told, though, I have to say that I wasn't too impressed with the shopping in Palm Springs. The other stores I visited were mostly obscenely overpriced midcentury boutiques (trust me -- you can do way better on eBay and craigslist) or equally overpriced trend emporiums that looked like a Z Gallerie exploded inside. Asylum, pictured above, was probably the least offensive of them. Elsewhere, I saw a lot of things that I'm positive the shop owners picked up at Pier 1, the Z, and even IKEA and tripled the price on before putting them out on their floors.

Besides shopping and driving around random neighborhoods, my favorite thing to do on vacation is hang out at hotels we can't actually afford to stay in. And, of course, you simply can't go to Palm Springs without checking out the Jonathan Adler-designed Parker.

I'm finding myself less and less of a fan of Adler's pottery and product design (most of which seems to be shamelessly ripped off from original midcentury pieces). But I still love his interiors, which have a great sense of exuberance, wit, and fun.

The Parker's lounge almost makes me miss my parents' circa-1974 living room. Almost.

Plus, the grounds are gorgeous.

Brunch on the patio at Norma's. There were a lot of hungover, sunglasses-sporting Hollywood hipster types sucking down Bloody Marys when we visited.

The gift shop is a bit Legally Blonde, no?

Here's Nick hamming it up at Mister Parker's. If you're in the area and want to drink old-school cocktails and spend $400 on dinner (thanks, Mom!), this is the place for you.

We also stopped by Kelly Wearstler's Viceroy Hotel, which was super-glam and swanky. I'm pretty sure this is the yellow-and-white tile wall featured on the cover of Modern Glamour. Can't you just picture Kelly striking a pose here in some insane couture ball gown?

One of the cleaning ladies saw us wandering around drooling, took pity on us, and invited us to poke our heads inside a Viceroy suite. Sweet!

One of the property's three pools. If I ever win the lottery, I'm moving here.

The pool cabana, darlings.

The recently refurbished Riviera Resort is more Vegas than Palm Springs, but is definitely worth a gander.

These portraits of local legends (this one is Bob Hope, of course) were made entirely of sparkly bits of metal. Sadly, the shot I took of the pre-surgery Cher in all her glory didn't turn out.

My 13-year-old says he want to be a cabana boy here when he grows up. That's right -- aim high, my love.

In a future life, I think I'll need an enormous, patent-leather wing chair.

Something about this place makes me want to drink whiskey and eat steak.

One day, we actually got out of town to explore the desert. (Sara Bethell, I hope you're happy.) I am so not a nature person, but I'll admit that Joshua Tree is pretty amazing. Strangely, though, I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

OK, on to L.A.: I would love to tell you that we did fabulously cool things there -- but the fact is, we mostly drove around kind of aimlessly, tried to visit a bunch of stores that were closed for the holidays (of the ones we managed to get in, ReForm School was my favorite), did some dorky touristy stuff the kids begged to do, and sat around at my sister- and brother-in-law's little Silverlake bungalow, noshing on vegan treats and watching DVR'ed episodes of Whatever, Martha. (I'm now completely addicted -- and think I may be even more terrified of Alexis Stewart than I am of her mother. Thanks, guys!) It was lovely, if not terribly exciting.

Dinner at the Farmer's Market with Nick's beautiful sister and her hilarious husband.

My husband makes a pilgrimage to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and Sunset Strip Guitar Center.

The weather was insane -- mid 70s and sunshine the whole time we were there.

There's no questionable taste quite as awesome as L.A. questionable taste; don't miss the naked statues of David in the background. (Photo courtesy of my BIL.)

All in all, it was great fun -- although we're going to be eating rice, beans, and Top Ramen and Netflixing it on date night for months while our wallets recover.

How were your holidays?

House Voyeur: Viva Glam in Venice Beach

Many of you have seen interior designer Vanessa De Vargas's Venice Beach, California home before: It's been featured in Sunset magazine and made appearances on several blogs (including this one). But Vanessa recently made over her 1920s-era bungalow from top to bottom. "When you're a designer, you can't stop," she laughs.

Here, Vanessa gives us a virtual tour of her recently refreshed home:

"The architecture here is relatively plain, and when I moved in ten years ago the house was sort of a blank canvas, but with a bit of that vintage character. Luckily, my landlady lets me do whatever I want! My style is a mix of vintage and modern. I'm really drawn to Chinoiserie -- I just can't let go of it! It's more of a glam-y look, but it's pretty eclectic, too. I have bamboo, wood, ceramic, painted, and gold and silver finishes. Somehow, it all works together.

For the last few years, I was in my 'dark period' (the photo above is of my living room before the redesign). I had dramatic chocolate and charcoal walls and intense wallpapers. This time, I just wanted something new and fresh. I was going for a 'beachy Chinoiserie' feel, and wanted to make my space more cozy and bring in more color.

I really challenged myself to play with color, so you see more greens, cool blues, turquoise, and yellow in my home now. Painting the walls a warm off-white (Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee) allowed me use more vivid color in the furnishings and accent pieces. Before, the darkness of the walls sort of forced me to choose lighter furniture. I moved almost everything in the house to my retail business, and started from scratch. I lacquered these vintage cabinets in Benjamin Moore's Traffic Light Green. I've noticed that a lot of the colors in my furnishings are also in my clothes. For awhile there, every piece of clothing I bought was emerald green!

When you live in a small space -- my home is only 550 square feet -- you have to think about the scale of the things you have, and what furniture will compliment the room and not overwhelm it. It really helps to measure your space -- the floors, walls, windows, doorways -- and take those measurements with you when you go shopping so you don't fall in love with something before realizing that it won't work.

I tend to choose smaller-scale pieces: occasional chairs instead of bigger armchairs in the living room, for instance, and the petite lamps above, which aren't out of scale with relatively small cabinets they're on. By the way, these lamps are from JCPenney. You'd be amazed at the great stuff they have there. But don't tell anyone -- it's my secret source." (Sorry, Vanessa. I guess the cat's out of the bag now!)

"The living room looks luxurious, but the materials I used are actually really durable: The couch is upholstered in microsuede, the chairs in a zebra-print vinyl, and the rug (from Pottery Barn) is seagrass. The drapes are from IKEA; I added Greek key trim to give them a more finished look. The black pillow is vintage, and the fabric on the blue pillow is from Lewis & Sharon. I didn't want to wallpaper the whole room, so I used black and white wallpaper from Ferm Living as an accent on either side of the window.

Because it's a smaller space, I was looking for see-through, breathable furniture. I didn't want anything boxy or bulky. The Lucite side tables are by Jordan Cappella, and the glass nesting tables are really versatile. They originally had a gold-toned finish, and I just spray-painted it silver.

This is the dining area in my kitchen. I painted the floor (which had been black) white and used stools around my vintage Burke table instead of chairs. They're great -- they slip under the table when they're not in use and help maintain an open, airy look in the room.

As you can tell, most of my furniture is vintage. Professional reupholstering and refinishing can be pricey. But if you see something at the flea market or a garage sale that has great lines and that you can make over yourself -- doing basic sanding, staining, or painting, or perhaps recovering seat cushions -- you'll save a lot and end up with some great pieces.

I got the throw blanket on my bed at Old Navy ages ago. The seagrass rug is from Pier 1, the zebra-print rug from Urban Outfitters, and the bedding and curtains from IKEA. I painted the walls China Blue from Benjamin Moore.

To get a more custom look, I covered a basic headboard in Alexander Henry fabric. The throw pillows are made with fabric from Lulu DK. The lamps are vintage; to find similar ones, search 'Blanc de Chine' on eBay.

This was a basic IKEA cabinet that I painted black and added simple molding and crystal knobs to create a paneled look.

My advice: When you have a decorating project of your own, do your research. If you don't know what your style is, pull images that appeal to you from blogs and magazines -- and be sure to check out international design magazines, too. Take photos of things that catch your eye when you're out. Then create a binder or file of your collected images. You'll discover when you look through it that you're drawn to certain things over and over, and your style will become clear. Most importantly, fill your home with things that you love."

Thanks so much for sharing your incredible house with us, Vanessa! (Click here to see more of her design work.) I, for one, am totally inspired by the way Vanessa has created such a luxe space with relatively bargain materials. Who says you can't live large on a budget?

eBay Find of the Day: French-Style Chairs

Ignore the tacky "Granny Glam" sofa in the background ... These velvet-upholstered, circa-1930s or '40s French-style armchairs are tres chic, non?

Current bid: $550 for the pair. (The auction ends Tuesday evening, October 28.)

eBay Find of the Day: Chrome and Formica Chests

You know, the Seventies got a bit of a bum rap as far as design decades go. I mean, sure, there was that orange shag carpeting, the faux-wood paneling, and those avocado-green kitchen appliances that make you shudder every time your mom whips out the baby pictures.

But those years also had a kind of super-swanky, disco-era glamour. Think Studio 54 and slinky Halston dresses and beautiful jet-setters doing lots and lots of cocaine.

Well, this is exactly the type of furniture they might have come home to after all that decadent partying -- and, in my opinion, it still looks pretty hot. This white Formica and chrome chest of drawers, for instance, would make a glam nightstand or cool TV credenza in any decade.

And this matching three-drawer version, available from the same seller, would be smashing as an entry table or dresser in a feminine-but-sophisticated bedroom.

Current bids: $295 for the small chest and $350 for the big one. (The auctions end Friday evening, September 5.)