Read Me.

I love typography. I always have. Maybe it's the years of writing thank you notes when I was a child, maybe it's my years of art training, maybe it's that I secretly hope having letters and type everywhere around the house is a subliminal reminder to my family that they should be reading. I don't know, but I love it.

If something can be monogrammed, I monogram it.

I collect vintage letters.

I've watched the movie Helvetica three times now. I want to buy the DVD just because I love the cover.

I just bought the new Taschen book "A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles" because it's beautiful, and because it comes with a code that allows its owner to download 1000 new fonts to use. Heaven!

So when I noticed this trend in graphic design lately, I felt I had finally found a style of art that spoke to me (see post "Art Shmart" for context):

If you'd like to display your art and boss your children around at the same time, good resources I've found for this type of art are Keep Calm Gallery (thanks, Melanie, for the tip!), Concrete Hermit, Typographic Posters. Go wild. You may even find one that says "I'm not going to tell you again: clean your room."

Scouting from my Sofa

I've always been a fan of using vintage finds to add character to my home. Whether they're heirlooms handed down through the family, items picked up during my travels, or flea market finds doesn't matter to me as long as they're beautiful and functional. If they carry an interesting story with them that I can share with my children about times past, all the better. Like the claw from a claw foot bathtub that we use as a doorstop -- my children have never seen a claw foot bathtub, so that item was quite the novelty when I brought it home.

With three children, a husband, a dog and a job, I don't find as much time as I'd like to build my collection. Our local Alameda Flea Market is one of the best, but the first Sunday of each month usually finds me snuggled up on the sofa catching up on my reading or watching movies with my family. I've noticed lately that some really good big retailers are starting to integrate vintage finds into their collections, so collecting is a little easier than it used to be. Here are some of my favorites:

Flatware by the Pound from NapaStyle. The pieces are collected from old hotels around Europe, and recall a time before plastic forks and paper plates. This product is great for parties, just store it in a big glass jar and let your guests grab what they need.

Dough Bowls from Pottery Barn. Each is hand carved from a single piece of wood, and they're great for storage under the coffee table, at the end of the bed, on a desk. Anywhere really.

Vintage Grain Sacks from Pottery Barn. These make great pillows or table runners, and have a very interesting story: each stripe and monogram is custom to a local farm and farmer. When a farmer delivered his grain to the mill, the flour was returned to the farmer's own grain sacks so he could easily recognize his own product. Now that's a story you don't hear anymore.

Vintage suitcases from Jayson Home and Garden. They're not cheap, but if you feel like splurging, they're very chic for storage or stacked up next to a chair in place of a table. My children only know rolling suitcases now -- the concept of carrying a suitcase by its handle is completely foreign to them.

I still prefer to do the bulk of my treasure hunting myself, but it's nice to be able to let someone else do the leg work sometimes. I think of these big retailers as my own personal vintage scouts. I'd like to collect vintage flatware myself piece by piece from hotels around Europe, but really, who has the time?

Galvi Envy

I've noticed in the last year or so a modern rural decorating trend spreading itself across America. It could be that the recession makes simple design more appealing to Americans, it could be the popularity of The Carneros Inn in Sonoma County, CA or it could be that Martha Stewart made the trend hot 20 years ago and it's never quite died down. Either way, I like it.

The element I like most is the creative use of authentic galvanized containers. They're perfect for my house: they're simple, they look great and they're impossible to break. (see previous post Everyone Can Use a Little Luck to understand the importance of that specific point.)

My favorite ideas are:

Hanging galvanized pails for storage

Feed troughs used as planters

Buckets used inside for flowers

Little buckets used for organizing

Or lined with parchment on the table

And the ultimate indulgence, fountain made from a feed trough

A great resource for the authentic pieces is my local Alamo Hay and Grain. If you don't live in my neighborhood, though, Dover Parkersburg has a great assortment and will ship anywhere.

Whether the trend stays trendy or not -- no matter. Durable, low maintenance things that look good are always in style at the Furber house.

Everyone Can Use a Little Luck

I recently asked some Suburban Zen readers a simple question: "What's Your Secret?" My intention was to learn what people like me do to keep the level of contentment high, and the level of stress low in their homes. I was surprised that all the responses were very similar, and all credited a positive attitude and joie de vivre as their secret. (Except the one reader who said her secret was that she kissed her husband's best friend the night before her wedding. I don't judge, but that's not really what I meant.)

I'm with you readers: I'm also a huge fan of the power of positive thinking, in fact that's what helps me turn a blind eye to the mess in my family room most weekends. I'm also a big fan of good luck charms. I like the symbolism they represent for our children: you make your own luck, but a little extra help can't hurt.

My favorite good luck charm in the Furber house is our money tree.

Chinese legend is that a money tree can bring money and fortune to its owners and is a symbol of affluence, nobility and auspiciousness. I don't know about that so much, but I do know that JP and I bought a money tree seven years ago and sold our house the next day. Since that day, we've been convinced that the money tree is one of the things standing between us and destitution, so we tend the tree very carefully and get a little nervous when a leaf or two falls off.

Even the kids have adopted our superstition. They're very careful not to disturb the money tree and often will give us advice on how to tend it. A few weeks ago Jack was doing what Jack does sometimes (flailing around crashing into things) and he knocked over the money tree and broke its pot. The Furber family swung into action as if my wedding ring had been flushed down the toilet, and now the money tree is enjoying its new home in a much bigger pot. And wouldn't you know, right after that happened I came into a little unexpected money. Hmmm.