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Showing posts with label Jonamor Decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonamor Decor. Show all posts

The Gift of Thrift: Birds of a Feather

Sometimes couples are destined for each other, and that's the case with Jonamor Decor's Senor Amor and Miss Jonona. Their personalities mesh perfectly, and their zest for life is obvious in everything they do. Whether they're decorating Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin's apartment in Los Angeles or throwing their own wedding just last week, everything they touch is kissed with individuality and personal charm.

So months ago when I was trying to decide what to offer them as a wedding gift, for some reason I decided to hook them a rug. It didn't take me long to find a design that fits their personalities to a tee -- a gigantic purple and blue peacock, standing proudly in all its beautiful glory. I had hooked a rug once when I was a child, so I didn't really think it would be such a challenge. It really doesn't take much skill, but it certainly requires patience and careful counting to make sure the right colors of yarn end up in the right place.

I started the rug back in February, thinking I had all the time in the world to finish. I hooked here and there, and made plenty of mistakes, requiring whole blocks of colors to be pulled out and replaced. While promoting my book, The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details (in which the Amors are prominently featured), I let my handiwork lapse, and a week before the wedding, I was barely one-third finished. I almost gave up, until Veli told me that I had to finish it. And he was right. I had worked so hard to accomplish that third of the rug that it would be a pity to give up right then.

I started hooking. Seriously hooking. For five days straight I hooked 10 hours a day. My shoulder ached from the strange hooking movement, and my eyes crossed when trying to figure out the difference between dark cornflower and deep purple. To make a long story short, I finished that rug and here are the results. This is the photo of it before I brought it to LA for the the Amor's wedding. The newly wedded couple are away on their honeymoon and will return tomorrow, giving me just enough time to sew fabric taping on the back before offering it to them.

To see Jonamor Decor's work, pick up The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Powell's.

Now that I'm off the hook....

The Elegant Thrifter

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!









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The Gift of Thrift: Hot Lava-ed


If you've been following my volcano-making over the past few months, you know I've been working frantically to make 21 volcanoes for Jonamor Decor's Senor Amor and Jonona's wedding coming up this Sunday. All of my lava lovelies made it to LA just fine, and Jonona greeted me on Tuesday evening with our brown babies all gorgeously glittered! Just wait until we add more red and black lava rocks and the floral explosions that rise from the mouth of these vivacious volcanoes.

For more frugal entertaining ideas, pick up The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Powell's.

The Elegant Thrifter

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!
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The Gift of Thrift: Lava Love!

Before I head off for a few days, I'm leaving you with a video I made of my making papier mâché volcanoes that'll serve as vases during Jononamor Decor's Senor Amor and Jonona's wedding next week.

I made 20 of these lava lovelies, and my only cost was the acrylic paint and the shipping. Beside viewing my take on an inexpensive accent to what is sure to be a non traditional wedding, get ready for several birds-eye views of my bald pate and a scene that features (Yikes!) dirty dishes in the sink!


On my way to Krakatoa.....


The Elegant Thrifter

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!
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The Find: Go! Go! Go!

One of my favorite locations we photographed in The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details, is Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin's downtown LA loft, decorated by my fabulous pals at Jonamor Décor. I love this location because it exudes Jane's quirky personality, lit by imagery from girlie pin-ups, space-aged objects and a lust for originality and humor.

I also like the way she incorporated what could have been eyesores, like the columns that run through her space, and turned them into pleasing focal points. The column on the right was painted an intergalactic silver, and then ringed with metal shelves to show off her collection of pin-up cocktail glasses and retro barware. And oh, there's me standing in front of the fireplace made of river stone, crafted by the creative folks at Skellramics.

Oh, she's got the beat!



For more space-aged looks into Jane's space, pick up The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details at Borders,Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Powell's.



Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!

The Elegant Thrifter







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The Gift of Thrift: In the Red

Being in the red doesn't always have to be a bad thing, especially if it's in The Red House Interiors on La Cienega in Los Angeles. Last night, Michelle Workman opened her gorgeous design firm to toast The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details. Her shop is an amazingly edited mix of elegant vintage items, sumptuous designer fabrics, all updated with touches of modern accessories. 

Senor and Jonona Amor of Jonamor Decor let me take over their kitchen yesterday
 morning so that I could make one of my signature hostess gifts for Michelle: a pineapple upside-down cake. The vintage pan traveled just fine in my packed bags, so all I needed to do was gather my ingredients and  get to baking.

 Once the cake was in the oven, Jonona and I came found a chic silver platter in her garage, which I cleaned up for the cake's presentation. Since the platter was so large, it dwarfed the cake,
 so I added pineapple chunks, fresh strawberries and yellow Ranier cherries to fill up the space.

Here's a picture Michelle and me at last nights event. Aren't we a cute couple!?!

For more celebrations around The Find and  Elegant Thrifter, come see me at Retropia at 1443 N. Highland Ave, 1/2 block South of Sunset, Saturday June 13, from 7 to 10. 


Prep your weekend for a ton of fun with a copy of The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details at BordersBarnes & NobleAmazon or Powell's.







The Elegant Thrifter

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!


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Fabulous & Frugal Fun: Lover Lamps

When Jonona Amor, interior designer of Jonamor Decor , was charged with creating a lamp out of non-traditional fixtures, just where did she head off to? The 99 Cent Store! Feeling void of inspiration, she channeled the legendary Tony Duquette, who had an obsession with creating fabulous objects out of items that cost next-to-nothing.

"I arrived with an open mind," she says, "and I scoured every object in the store, imagining their possibilities." And just what did she find? A stack of bamboo baskets with an appealing shape, a four-faced, ceramic Buddha head and a yellow ceramic vase that coordinated with the other bric-a-brac...all totalling  under $3!  Her finds were so inspiring that she decided to make a pair and headed off to Orchard Supply Hardware where she picked up the light bulbs, lamp kits and finials for about $50.

Next she headed home to see what she had on had to repurpose for her whimsical plan. Two wooden candleholders, four bangle bracelets, two coasters and two large wooden beads fit the bill. After drilling holes in the heads and the pots to accommodate the light fixtures, she then set wiring wiring and hot gluing the whole thing together, only to find that the lamp shades were too short. Not a problem, she just went back to the 99 Cent Store and bought two more baskets ($2!), cut out their bottoms and wired them to the originals. 

And voila! Her original Lover Lamps crafted out of unexpected items that cost about $60. "Thanks to the 99 Cent Store," Jonona says,  "I went from zero inspiraton to 100 percent success!"


For more of Jonanor Decor's unique designs, pick up The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Detailsat BordersBarnes & Noble,Amazon or Powell's.

Marveling over Jonona's thrifty, yet chic innovation -- The Elegant Thrifter

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!


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The Find: More Amor

My decorating pals Senor and Jonona Amor, principals of Jonamor Decor ,are getting lots of attention these days. Not only are they showcased in The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details, but they're also featured big time on page 36 of the latest issue of Angeleno Interiors. I love the photo at left of Jonona dreamily peering out her bedroom window, and the photo (bottom left) of former Go-Go Jane Wiedlin's Gaudi-esque bathroom.

In The Find, you'll get a private tour of two of their out-of-the-box design projects: their own LA pad, filled with delight and whimsy, and  Wiedlin's intergalactic downtown loft. These lovebirds are true talents. And I credit Jonona for coining one of my favorite new decorating terms: Success-orize!

Buy your copy of The Find at BordersBarnes & NobleAmazon  and Powell's.

And be sure to purchase your ticket to Design on a Dime for May 7, benefitting Housing Works, New York's premiere thrift store where all proceeds go to battle the double epidemic of HIV/AIDS and homelessness. Click here to buy tickets. 

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous - The Elegant Thrifter



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Amor, Amor and a Little Decor

Take a look at the alluring work of these home decor lovebirds, Senor Amor and Jonona of Jonamor Décor, in yesterday's Los Angeles Times! As I was touring LA last week  with my two fabulous design pals they gave me a sneak peak of performer Jackie Beat's home where I witnessed with my own two eyes the Carrie office that Senor and Jonona created. It was dramatic, yet professional. And even though the idea is kitschy, the execution is clean and functional, making use of collected wall arrangments and a unified color scheme. 

On the same day, we stopped by Nick Metropolis on La Brea to pick up a sofa for one of their music producer clients. Nick's is a thrift-o-ramaof everything from mid-century sofas and dinettes to odd display items (get a load of the gigantic martini glass) and whimsical accessories. 

Senor and Jonona have a special gift for cleverly incorporating vintage and thrift purchases into brand-new design projects. And even though they are skilled at casting the right colors, picking the perfect wallpaper and crafting the perfect window treatments, they continue to give to  give new life to other people's castoffs.

In May,  you can see Senor and Jonona's work featured in my book,  The Find, The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details (Clarkson Potter). Pre-order now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders





Living Frugally, Always Fabulously

The Elegant Thrifter




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The Gift of Thrift: Another Eruption!

I wanted to share with you a couple of photos of the final stages in the creation of the papier mâché volcanos that I made for Jonamor Decor's Senor and Jonona Amor's "Fantasy Island" wedding last month. I built and painted all 21 hot lava makers, and Jonona added streaming touches of molten red glitter for a bit of extra sizzle.


Here I am putting the bouquets together of hot-colored flowers and sparkly twigs. (Note my workwear of choice -- one of my favorite Dolly Parton t-shirts!)

And then finally, the setting, complete with red and black aquarium rock.


Truly an eruption of wedded bliss!

For more thrifty party ideas, pick up The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Powell's.






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