Jul 14, 2012

7 Cool Bathrooms



via The Selby


via The Selby


via Trulia


via vintage Architectural Digest


Schindler House


via Elle Decor


via The Selby










Jul 12, 2012

It is Official - I am Stuck in 1987



I was thumbing through my old mags and have come to the conclusion that I am stuck in 1987. 



 I want to wear this this weekend.



Pilgrim shoes!



Glitter star tights. Where were these when I was actually hanging out with rock stars - sorry, make that reasonable facsimiles of rock stars.



Grunge before the word was even invented.



Well, this outfit means I'm that weirdo at the gym that wears the old work out gear.



Dear Hipster Girls, these are not attractive. Never were, never will be. Stop wearing them.



I had this Calvin Klein set. I wish they still made it. Demi cups rock.



Estelle - my first and only super model girl crush.



I usually wear this to work.



Note - women have hair on their arms.


Chill.


images Vogue September, 1987

Jul 11, 2012

A Masters in Street Smarts and a PhD in Common Sense




Hang Ten Jail


I [We] have a strategic plan. It's called 'doing things'. Herb Kelleher

- the most frustrating thing when one switches from entrepreneur to corporate employee is just that. You don't need a committee and a task force for crying out loud, it's a verb. Faire - to make, to do!  

Now do it.


What are they teaching in MBA programs now?






Jul 9, 2012

From the Archives - The Striped Shirt

Coco Chanel - Audrey Hepburn

Bridgette Bardot - Marilyn Monroe

Kurt Cobain - James Dean

Elvis - Tyrone Power

a vintage Russian navy uniform - The Cure

Duran Duran

Jul 5, 2012

A 700 year old West Van McMansion



A 700-year-old community was destroyed 'by accident.'

The District of West Vancouver 'accidentally' mowed down a grove of ancient old growth trees to make way for a construction road. Good job guys. I wonder if it was the same crew that stripped Weston Park of its beauty (which coincidentally opened up a $1 million view for the home owner across the street).

If the humans aren't tearing down perfectly good homes in West Van to make way for McMansions they're tearing down trees to make way for McMansions.

A 100 year old tree:
has fixed about 2,500 kilograms of carbon from the atmosphere
has converted 9,100 kg of carbon dioxide and 3700 kg of water
has stored up to 23-million kilogram-calories (a calorific equivalent to 3,500 kg of coal)
has made 6,600 kg of oxygen, which is sufficient for one person to breathe for 20 years
has drawn from its roots up into its crown (against the force of gravity) and evaporated into the atmosphere at least 2,500 tonnes of water. Every tree continually recharges the atmosphere with water in this manner, and when cut down, that amount of water is lost. (source: Living Tree Educational Foundation)

Thanks to Todd Major of the North Shore News for the post inspiration.

Jul 3, 2012

Our New Bedroom Wall Colour




Benjamin Moore Simply White


The bedroom colour when we moved in.

Ever have a colour affect your mood? I'm serious - this taupe, or whatever it is colour, made me in a bad mood. Henceforth, we are in the middle of painting our entire apartment Simply White.











Jun 21, 2012

Quote of the Week - Elizabeth Taylor and the Head Crusher



I am my own commodity. Elizabeth Taylor


When I read that quote by Liz I automatically thought of Twitter and how those little avatars are just the perfect size - for the Head Crusher.







Jun 18, 2012

Currently Listening To


So, last night I was sitting in the fireplace room with one ear to CBC Radio 2 and one ear to YouTube when I heard what I thought was some new, bearded, Vancouver super group (CBC was airing a Canadian music show). Imagine my surprise - and relief, as super group is not in my vocabulary - that it was actually a single from the Beach Boy Dennis Wilson (the hot one, that drowned). River Song is off of Wilson's only solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, released in 1977 (yes, the same release year as Star Wars and 20 years before the release of Auto-Tune).





Jun 15, 2012

Stuff We Did Not Leave Behind









Tip of the Week - In the Shower


My latest fix? Rubbing coconut oil all over myself in the shower. Seriously. Plop a big spoonful in a bowl, get in the hot shower, start at your feet and massage the oil into your skin all the way up to your face (you can even massage it in your hair if you want). The heat from the shower melts the oil as you're massaging. Don't use soap to wash it off - use it as soap! When you get out of the shower, your skin will be super soft and all that dead dry skin will wipe off. Guys - you can do this too. I told my Dad about the oil (he had super dry skin) and he swears by it.

*caution the tub will get slippery so be careful.

Jun 12, 2012

From the Archives - Vintage Honda Bikes

Originally published March 3, 2010

I was lucky enough to grow up in the country where we could bomb around on dirt bikes and ATVs. Now that I live in the city I'm thinking about finding a vintage bike to bomb around on. There's a guy in the West End that rides around on his Dad's 1970s Honda scooter I'll have to track him down and take a pic. Watch for him - the bike's yellow and he's a good guy that likes to chat.










via Steve's Vintage Bike Site

Jun 8, 2012

The Wall of My Studio Space


My Studio Space
Stacy Reynaud


view here
may soon be converted into


Stacy Reynaud
seat covers for my dining room set.


Jun 6, 2012

Quote of the Week - Giovanni Brino


brutalist demolition vancouver

Furniture can be reproduced and so can photographs, but architecture is unique and once it is lost it is gone for good.




Jun 4, 2012

From Here to Architectural Eternity

West Van Midcentury

Built Autumn 1954

From Architecture
Demolished Spring 2012
Made eternal by Google Maps Street View (2362 Haywood)
I'm creating a Google map of the homes I've written about. Click the map link above, then click the the blue way finder for more info. There's a link you can click on in the box that pops up that will take you back to the Bijou Living post associated with it. If you have a link or address to a fine work of Pacific Northwest Modern architecture (1940s-1970s) please feel free to add it to the map.

Jun 1, 2012

A Snippet of Our Living Room

Stacy Reynaud

distressed leather sofa and pillows from an estate sale (the matching love seat is in the fireplace room), old growth slab table is an old thrift store favourite, Ingmar Relling Siesta chairs from a yard sale (you saw them first on FB), layered cotton rag rugs (try Etsy), indoor/outdoor banana fibre stools (IKEA). I took the blue damask rug back because with a red sofa the colour scheme was too Superman.

We're calling it Beach Chic.




Doused in Mud Soaked in Bleach