Monday, August 04, 2008

A Slightly Crooked Tour of Chez Daddy Likey

So, you know how sometimes you move into a new place and promise to post pictures ASAP but then for the first couple months you have to choose between food and home decor and you choose food and then you put up some cool stuff but then the whole apartment complex undergoes massive renovations and they tear out a bunch of your drywall and black out your windows and force you to live like sad little moles and almost ruin your relationship with your boyfriend and finally that's over with and just when you're about to take a picture of your cool apartment you realize that you need to vacuum, like, really bad, and then on your way to get the vacuum you get distracted by a preview for Step Up 2 the Streets (really? Still steppin' up?) and all of a sudden it's EIGHT MONTHS later and you still haven't posted pictures?

Yeah, me too.

Well, finally, eight months in the making, I'd like to show you....my poorly photographed living room (click on any picture for detail view):

After the Spice Girls concert I joked to my boyfriend that we should buy a concert poster and make it the centerpiece of our living room. He said, "Let's do it."

I love to cluster different mediums in different frames: photography next to paintings next to pages from old Life magazines my dad found at the dump (score!). In other news, contrary to how it looks in this photo, these frames are all straight and even...as is the wall. I seem to be incapable of taking a good picture today.

Clockwise from top left: Buddhist quote, happy dinosaur tile by Rachel, pink lady painting by me, protest photo of Nick and me, half naked Scott holding a penguin print by Rachel, picture of my mom teaching a chimp sign language (and I can't even hold a camera straight, damnit).

The framed newspaper on the right is my boyfriend's prize possession.

Where the magic happens.

Here's our ode to Washington DC in wall form. I found that giant regal frame at Goodwill and it ended up being the perfect size to showcase our beloved protest sign.

The famous "other side" of the living room, featuring the guitar I use to shred the hell out of "G."

My friend Rachel painted this giant red Converse like five years ago and I begged and manipulated and bribed and guilt-tripped her to give it to me every day since. She finally succumbed last Christmas (thank you Rachy!). Vintage maps from a rad paper store in LA.

Creepy painting from my grandma's basement.

Typewriter from my grandma's basement (seriously the best place for bargains during a recession).

I love big noses.

My favorite piece in the whole house is this giraffe printed on canvas I found at an estate sale for $8. Above is Nick's John Lennon lyric sheet. To the left is a broken venetian blind, because at Chez Daddy Likey, it's pure class all the way!

I'm obsessed with vintage advertising, especially these classic VW Beetle ads.


Nick bought me this fantastic vintage chair a couple years ago to use at a vanity, but at our new place I put my glamorous makeup on in the bathroom instead, so we were struggling to find a way to work the chair in. I finally decided to use it as a pretty shelf to display a stack of our most pretentious books, and I really like how it came out.


That's all I've got for now. Let me know if you want to see any different detail shots or know where a particular item is from or what a particular item is (for example, the hot pink shape in the photo above is indeed a bust of Richard Wagner).

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

So creative and stylish! Just like you! I love it!

FashionSqueah! said...

I was planning on doing a tour of my bedroom/wardrobe (they're the same thing 'cause my flat is small!) but it involved tidying so I became reluctant but you have inspired me! Excellent and as always I was laughing like a fool the whole way through! Char x

Poochie said...

I love the pink girl picture you did. You could sell those on Etsy and I'd buy one.

And I love the vintage chair - so cute. I too have items for the vanity table I don't own and have no place for. Ahhh... maybe someday.

And Conan Doyle? Pretentious? Nev-ah!

Thanks for the tour. I've done my closets and bathroom. I think the library is next. I just have the crappiest indoor lighting.

Luv
Poochie

Mica said...

I love the frams and things on the walls - it's so different! Really creative and I'm very jealous of your appartment now!

VERONICA said...

What a cool space! We actually have some similar decor, including a red Converse, no really!

Plus, I LOVE that creepy painting, it's got so much character!

Unknown said...

You and Mr look so adorable! I LOVE that picture of you guys!

Dressed and Pressed said...

That giraffe looks so cool... I want to be cool like that giraffe.

Anonymous said...

love it! and glad that you're no longer under siege from construction workers. the first few months of living with your significant other are hard enough without drywall explosions and blackout conditions.

Lisa said...

So cute! I really like the "vintage chair as table for pretentious books"...it looks like something from a decorating magazine.

WendyB said...

Right now I'm in a sleazy hotel room due to work on our apartment, so I know the feeling!

Anonymous said...

Lady, you put the "e" in "eclectic." And it's good to see that I'm not the only one determined to cover every square inch of wallspace with art and imagery.

Anonymous said...

love your space! it's like the lovechild of a museum sans the creepy lights and an art gallery sans 4-mile-long spaces in between each art piece.

Anonymous said...

ahhh so fantastic!! i can't believe all the great art you found-- especially the VW ads. that picture of you and nick is AWESOME. also, we have a whole shelf of "the world of [random painter]" in my house that i've never really thought about until i saw what i think is the same thing on the bottom of the stack on your lovely vintage chair!! i think they were aunt laura's? anyhoo, can't wait until you come to DC!!!!!!

love,
marcy

Kelly said...

ahhhh! That picture of the two of you is freakishly adorable.

Mandy said...

I love it! I'm moving into a new apartment this month, and I'm trying to figure out how to display all my art/photos/etc, so I'm very inspired by the frames over your couch. And I love the VW ads! They make me think of Mad Men. :)

Do you remember which paper store you bought the vintage maps at? I love tips for new great stores down here in LA.

Anne-Marie said...

Fabulous!!!

Loren said...

The caption "Where the magic happens" made me expect to see a bed.

Valentina said...

I like your place, and lol at loren's comment.

la petite fashionista said...

love the eclectic mix of pictures & frames. you've got some great personal taste. I'm going to post some pictures of my new apartment as soon as we're all done too you'll have to check them out. It's pretty sweet for a college bachelorette pad

xoxo

thefashionhead said...

aw man this makes me sad that i'm still living at home and all my creativity and decorative genius is being kept captive in my bedroom - can't wait to expand into a whole house (well, apartment)! great wall art!

Anonymous said...

Lovely, and it shows so much of your personalities! Also, very inspiring for those of us on a budget-- it looks like something even I could throw together (though probably it won't be half as good as yours).

Anonymous said...

love it!
personally, i'm tickled pink over the spice girls poster... that's so awesome.

Claudia said...

I love it, I love all the pictures and paintings and posters on the wall. And the vintage chair with the books is really really really cool!

Anonymous said...

I *love* your apartment. You have such fantastic stuff on your walls--I love the mix of photos, art & ads. Too, too cool.

And hey, I had a busted blind in my old apartment for 2+ years. That's how the cool folks roll.

the assistant said...

i love it!!

Anonymous said...

You're kind of unbelievably awesome, you know that. Right?

Guy Faux said...

i don't know how to say anything that hasn't been said before, but:

I want your walls.

Perfect in every way.

Unknown said...

Oh My God...the NOSE BOOKEND!!!!! I'm sorry, that completely necessitates all caps and 5 (count 'em FIVE!) exclamation points. Although now it's more like six including the one in parenthesis, but that's neither here nor there.

I would probably sell my soul for that bookend as I too have a great affinity for large noses. I heart it hard core, Winona.

mel said...

Long time lurker, first time comment-ter(eh who cares)
I laughed outloud when I put my cursor on the pic of the nose book end and it just so happened to turn into the hand pointing cursor...so like i'm pickin' the nose... ha!

Eileen said...

We have the same copy of the works of Nietzsche! by the nose! because books...have noses. um. yeah. actually it's on the shelf.

but I was excited!

Eileen said...

I mean, not the same book at all now that I'm looking at the closeup. but it is the same series! ok, I'm done.

Anonymous said...

gorgeous! hopefully you will see photos of my place here in less than 8 months. it's nice but kind of college-dorm-ish (which is okay because never having lived in a dorm I can regard it as a novelty).

Anonymous said...

Gosh...I yearn for that sort of space....

Anonymous said...

It's a wonderful home with beautiful decorative accents.

Anonymous said...

hey cuz, is that the picture of granpa ediger from his time as a merchant marine, next to the typewriter? I've been wondering where it got to. good to see its still in the family.

Pamcasso said...

I lurve luff loav your apt! love all your photos! And NEVER let the queer eye guys throw out your papasan chair (I know they did it to at least one guy, and my sense of comfort was offended) but wagner, really? the nietzschean in me is angered...

Anonymous said...

I totally love your house...and I'm jealous!

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