Jen's Steamy DIY Dining Room

Allison sent me to this dining room about an hour before Jen (of the infamous Cake Wrecks), the creator, dropped me a line.



I love the details the most:

These are handmade buttons -- from pennies! Jen has a whole post about how she made them. I love how they look.

She steampunked a gumball machine with bronze and aged copper paint, and filled it with ceramic number balls (I have the corresponding letter balls, but no place nearly as neat to put them...).

Do you like how the light reflects through the glass onto the ceiling? I sure do.

I had to laugh at these drawer pulls -- I've been searching around for a "bin pull + label" handle for a while, and have only found one, which wasn't quite right. Jen just used her existing bin pulls and added label holders meant for scrapbooking -- 5 for $3! The labels themselves with their spidery writing are with a free font called Schoon.

Good job, Jen. Definitely send us an update if you ever settle on the perfect chandelier...

"Slice of Life" China

You may think I write this blog to entertain and inform all of you -- or because of the accolades that come with being the world's foremost authority on steampunk home decor (cough _none_ cough) -- when really, I write it for my own pleasure and research into how I'd like my home to be. (Your feedback, ideas, and compliments don't hurt, however!)


Take for instance, this post I wrote over two years ago, on Steampunk Furnishings that don't exist but should, suggesting a line of plates with steampunk gadgets or machines on them. Thaumata was browsing the archives (and that far back shows some real dedication), and commented thus:

I have a crazy china set that I think you'd like. It was made by a company called 222 fifth and the series is called Slice of Life. Each plate, salad plate and mug has a different illustration on them of any number of oddities. Unfortunately, they don't make them anymore so it can be kind of hard to get your hands on them. There was an airship mug I never did get my hands on.


I frequently found them still at places like Marshall's and the like, being sold off from the expensive department stores who were clearing them out.


I always envision a red, black and white kitchen that has them on prominent display.

Aren't they wonderful? From the pyramids to a futuristic city, with an airsteam on the moon in between?


find 222 FIFTH SLICE OF LIFE at Replacements, Ltd

The Morning Star Cafe

I just got an email from J.D. Ray with pictures of his cafe in Portland, which has recently reopened in a new space with a steampunk inspired decor. (My plans for world domination march forward, as J.D. says "the pictures, projects, and general ideas on things that you've posted on your blog were instrumental in us developing the decor for our cafe.")


The cafe features warm coloring, fabulous light fixtures, and a lovely gear laden mural.


Thanks for sharing, J.D. -- I know I'll be visiting next time I'm in Portland!

Most Fabulous Corkscrew in the World

The most fabulous corkscrew in the world by Rob Higgs. (Way better than any other steampunk wine accoutrements.)

via Alrededor del Mundo Steampunk.

The Showtime House

Have you seen the Showtime House? Sponsored by Metropolitan Home, each room was designed with a different Showtime TV show in mind.

The most steampunk is The Tudors Living Room. The era isn't Victorian, but it has a lot of design elements in common with steampunk -- antiques, brass surrounding the fireplace, and industrial inspired lighting.

The Dexter Dining Room is not at all steampunk, but is incredibly creative and over the top, in a very macabre way.

Also, don't miss the book tower in the Californication Study.

Writing on the Wall

My friend Patrick recently took this beautiful picture of the ceiling in the reading room of the main building at the University of Texas. Built in 1937, it made me realize that while using text as a decorating element has risen in popularity in the last couple of years, it is by no means a new phenomenon. (It says "The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused though a community, are essential to the preservation of a free government. -- Sam Houston")

Here's another example from my library/dining room:


("I get a warm feeling among my books." --Anthony Powell) Although a less lofty sentiment, it suited the ambience of the room. While the reading room's phrase is painted, mine is done with Wonderful Graffiti, which makes it incredibly easy to create something suited perfectly to your environment -- you choose the color, size, font, and words. It goes on like a sticker (it's a bit harder than that -- you have to burnish it with a flat edge -- but easily done in an evening), and can come off without any permanent damage to your walls. (It's perfect if you rent.)

What quotes to use? At first I came up nil, but then ran across this one at the beginning of Cory Doctorow's new story: And I won’t always be this way, When the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away. —Jonathan Coulton, “The Future Soon” It has just the right sort of quirky appeal that I'd put into a bathroom. In my experience, if you just keep your eyes open, an appropriate quote will come across your radar. (And please, share any good ones you come across here.)

Bars for Inspiration

Victorian style -- the good stuff, that we aspire to -- tends to be a bit, well, stuffy. Stuffy is hard to live with, especially today, when you probably don't have household help to keep it clean and neat and your family congregates in an open kitchen instead of the parlour (with the cooking going on in the basement or a separate building). To counteract this stuffiness, and to be more true to the steampunk aesthetic which includes a healthy dose of dirt and grime, I look to the seedier side of Victorian and Edwardian culture to find inspiration for casual kitchens and eating areas where people can gather and chemistry experiments of various sorts would not be out of place.



The Barcelona bar Marsella, which I stumbled across at A Shaded View on Fashion, is one such example. Opened in 1820 and frequented by the artists of the day, its wood cabinetry, opulent chandelier, cafe tables, and dusty bottles are quite the inspiration.



How to get such a look? Lots of wood, patterned carpet, and a bistro table like this one I've been admiring this one from NapaStyle, which I think it would fit right in to a casual kitchen/dining area inspired by Marsella.



credits: pictures are from A Shaded View of Fashion, table is from NapaStyle.