Happy New Year!

Celebrate 2009 in style with Pete & Greta scarves in Yellow Ducky, Pink Punch and Slate Smoke. 

(Pete & Greta short scarf in Yellow Ducky)

The Key to Holiday Cheer

New ornaments updated in the store ... vintage and skeleton keys!

Fall in love with ... Fall

(Some of my favorite fall things: bright yellow leaves against an urban backdrop)

I've heard a lot of "seasonal effective disorder" complaints lately. Personally, I love fall. I love the crispy leaves that crunch underfoot, I love the smell of roasting foods that hang in the air when you walk into a friend's home and I especially love all the great decorating and fashion finds of the season. 

For me, inspiration is everywhere.

(Fountains, fall foliage and just the right amount of color in festive accessories. Kanibal Home Lights Out Scarf pictured.)

Handmade for the Holidays

Owls, birds and zebras! Oh my!

You bet the tree isn't the only thing that's green this season at Kanibal Home.

Ice cream for the brain

Sometimes there's just too much information out there and it's easy to get overwhelmed. Email bings, cell phone chirps, Black Berry beeps, internet pop up flashes ... newspapers, magazines, e-zines ... TV and radio static. Grrr.

Most days I just need to tune out the noise for a few minutes. How? By visiting my favorite blogs. Counterintuitive? Kinda. But even if I grabbed a cup of tea and sat on the porch, the chance that my brain would shut down is slim. It's like little kinetic marbles bouncing around in there at all times. 

So, I force the noise out with more noise. And I look forward to this daily reading period. Following are my go-to brain stopper blogs and web pages:

First stop: Design*sponge (www.designspongeonline.com)

(Image from Domino magazine's website, which is another great site)

Domino magazine just did a great feature on Grace and her design blog, but I've been following this talented lady way before Kanibal Home had any roots. With bright and cheery photography, my favorite features are the home sneak peeks and the product spotlights.

Next stop: Decor8 (www.decor8blog.com)

On this blog Holly gives a more personal look into her design world with insightful topics that encourage reader participation and focus on handmade products and artisans. I especially love when she discusses small businesses and her shop girl features are terrific. And, as a bonus, she is in the process of redecorating a home in Germany. Her product finds from abroad are striking (and she's detailed enough to give sources for everything).

Final stop: Musingsinstyle.blogspot.com

More fashion than furniture, this blog is an easy read to clean the mental palette. Filled with inspiring images and thoughts, this blogger has some serious styling creds: word on the web is she worked for Martha once upon a time.

She recently posted about Susana Monaco and I fell in love with this shot:

And the smokey eye makeup in this image caught my attention at first, but I wouldn't mind wrapping myself in the sweater either.

So I'm interested: What gets you through the day? Is it looking at something visually pleasing, sipping that warm cup of mint tea, going for a reinvigorating jog or just slipping into a coma on the couch while watching reality TV (but flipping on National Geographic when anyone comes in the room)?

Kanibal Home Updates

And there's even more to come at Kanibal Home ...

Write me a letter

Nature or nurture? Well, when it comes to typography Kanibal Home has our friends to blame for that obsession. Blessed (and sometimes bored) by our group of talented graphic designer friends, I've been listening for years -- but not contributing -- to the back and forth discussions detailing everything from the values of white space to all the "posers" in the web design field. Mind you, this is a very opinionated bunch. And, for better or worse, I think all these informal typography lessons have finally imbedded themselves in my brain.

Antipasto Platter

Wooden Letter A

I've always had an appreciation for the way the correct usage of font can express an emotion (squiggly writing is girly, blocky is industrial and modern -- somewhere my friends are reading this blog and cringing while screaming at their monitors "Helvetica! What does she mean by squiggly?!") Now I'm semi-obsessed with finding vintage home products that give a nod to the art that is typography.

I have my terrific graphic designer friends to thank (and blame) for this newest obsession.

Successful Saturday

Despite the nasty weather, today was still brilliant. We did some serious hunting and dragged home some great treasures to update the shop.

Keep an eye out for tons of new glassware, chairs, stools and really interesting Found Objects.

Updates will post as soon as tonight ... 

:)