gift guide

Gift Guide…Cozy Sheepskin is Where it is At

OK, OK, I know this is not quite my regular type of post, but what’s a girl to do when she is sick, the kind of sick that leaves you with no working brain cells at all, laden with stressed out children (must they have 10 tests in one week?) and none of the shopping for the holidays done? We are headed out to the northeast in just two days and I know it is going to be cold there and I am dreading that part of it. So here is a post to getting cozy!

In searching for the perfect gift for my soon to be teenaged daughter, I stumbled across these Kimono patterned Ugg boots. I still don’t really see the charm of Uggs, but the girls all love them and they certainly are warm and snuggly. Adding the great Japanese inspired pattern has somehow made them more interesting to me and they are available in different colors and heights.

Another short model has a stylized Japanese flower on the front, instead of the all-over pattern, but seriously, Ugg boots with shorts? That is about 50 climate degrees apart.

Anyway, to really make this a valid post I should whip out some interior with Japanese inspired wallpaper or fabric or something, but I feel like I have shown lots of those rooms before and if you want to see some gorgeous examples, go out and buy Katie Ridder’s Rooms (Thanks Wendy!!!!). Instead, I am going to focus on the boots being made from sheepskin, as we have been seeing a big trend over the last few years of skins casually, but most deliberately, being thrown over chairs to warm up interiors. There was that great room of Julianne Moore’s a few years ago in Domino – finally found the photo at apartment therapy…

These days you can’t turn around without spotting one! I do particularly remember Design Sponge featuring Emma Reddington’s gorgeous Toronto townhouse not that long ago where there were examples to be found in almost every room, from these Bertoia style chairs in the parlor…

…to this cozy spot in her study.

Notice how they always look best with a classic modern chair! For more great ideas, check out a recent post on the subject at Remodelista. A great idea for those of us in uninsulated chilly Tokyo houses!

Finding this post a little weak? Sorry, I know! But I have to get back to packing and internet shopping, my hot tea and attempting to provide study help in a language I don’t really speak…

Dec 15, 2011 By tokyojinja in Design Motif, Fashion, Interior Design, Jewelry and Accessories 8 Comments Tags: cozy, gift guide, Kimono pattern, sheepskin, sheepskin throws, Ugg boots

Gift Guide…Super Tsuba Inspired Napkin Holder

Found at almost any antique show and many shrine sales, Tsuba, the ornate metal sword hand guards, a key component of any good samurai’s sword uniform, are one of those things that befuddle me a bit. While I adore Japanese metal work and its incredible influence on my original specialty, 19th century American silver, I seem to lack enough testosterone to find the tsuba themselves fascinating. And buyer beware, they (along with inro and netsuke) are one of the few areas of Japanese antiques in which fakes, or recent copies abound. Real ones should be crazy expensive, as in 5 digit yen at least, so if you find one at a flea market for the equivalent of $50, most likely it is too good to be true. And like obidome, which I adore, they are beautiful, no doubt, but what are you actually going to do with them?

Enter November’s House Beautiful and an ingenious design by Josie Natori – this Tsuba inspired napkin holder – gorgeous holding paper napkins on a drinks bar, or even for an outside party, so that they won’t blow away.