Because I have been in the smelly back corners of Main Street vintage shops, I ask you this question: is this gross or genius?

A Vancouver-based company named Coat Check is saving mink coats everywhere. Yesterday’s social faux-pas is today’s designer recycled good. The Coat Check ladies refurbish old fur coats into reincarnations of plush throws, pillows and personal accessories – and sell them back at an upscale price ($250 for the pillow above).  All this from their studio space in Chinatown! I am intrigued.   

I am also curious. How do you communicate to those Liberation BC protestors that your new bag is really made from a very friendly, green rabbit? Lately, fur has pretty much been the domain of those who want to look fancy-hookerish (please see: Yaletown, Fridays) and the Queen E crowd on Opera nights.  In the home, however, it’s a different story. My mind immediately jumps to that faux white Ikea rug that was so popular last season (and nothing is cuter than my naked naphew on that rug). Then it jumps to lazy mornings in bed, cold winter nights, fireplaces, hot chocolate, reading on Sundays.  

There is just something comforting to me about fur in general. Something very half-man, half-steed.  Something that smells more like nature-in-the-raw when the mountains all around are deocrated with ski hills and condos.  I can almost hear Pan’s flute now…

Coat Check on Etsy.  

Good morning. I found this piece of collage inspiration on Elements of Style – and I thought it was the perfect way to begin this week’s Champagne Wednesday (well, actually a mimosa is the perfect way, but we’ll just pretend). Perfect, especially today, as Ash and I pour over travel sites trying to decide where we should go on our honeymoon. It will be November. Too chilly for our love of Europe, where we shivered through the last two early springs. Too late for the mindlessness of Cancun, where we’re sure to face Hurricane season. Travel is a privilege. Neither of us take the decision or the weight of such a gift very lightly. I see many more nights in bed with dueling laptops until we decide.

PS: this collage, as shared by Erin, is from an artist named Lulu de Kwiatkowsk. Lulu’s hand-crafted collages are a trip in themselves. You could go on a mini vacaton now if you’d like to take a look. I love the one with the juicy green grapes.

PPS: The joys and pathways of blogging never end. Erin has an etsy shop where she sells the most beautiful vintage wallpapers. I like her idea for framing them above a bed. Brilliant.