We encounter a lot of things that are made in China these days, but in this store you’ll find things that are really Chinese. There’s something to be said for Chinese decor. It’s kitsch, yes, and I really love it. It’s always colorful and somewhat dainty.

There’s a store near Nahalat Binyamin, in an alley that connects between Nahalat Binyamin and the Carmel market where you will find this store… which has no name at the moment. It’s the China store.

I loved the teapots! I can’t choose which one I’d like to have most.

I ching charms will always add color to your apartment as well as luck.

These floating lotuses are fantastic. You can float them in a bowl of water on the dinner table. I think they are really pretty and they’re reusable, of course.

They also have these amazing screens with all sorts of designs. I have a thing for screens, they’re so romantic.

You can’t say that the Chinese aren’t a colorful bunch. At this store, they also sell the regular lucky cat, paper lanterns and vases and stuff like that, but these are things I thought were special.

Blue Bandana is one of the most beautifully designed stores I have ever seen. It’s clean, fresh and so inviting. The store was opened about 19 years ago by Betty Gehorsam  (On my cellphone – Betty Blue Bandana) and Limor Gorali, two mothers who met because their kids were in the same class.

The two ladies go on shopping trips a few times a year to Europe and India (green with envy here) and have the following policy : “If we wouldn’t put it in our homes, we won’t sell it in our store”. You can definitely feel that, despite the cold metal shelving, the products and atmosphere in the store are very homely. Unlike some stores that sell fashionable items, this store sells products that exude warmth and a cozy atmosphere.

I love the way that the shelves are arranged.  In the front here, crockery from Italy with little chickens on them. Very cute.

These knitted pillows and blankets look so cozy. They make me want to curl up on the sofa with a good book and a cup of steaming tea.

Candle holders and bowls, again – love the shelf display and earthy colors:

Italian ceramics for cooking and serving. Love the white.

Close up on the crockery. I think it’s handmade.

Table decor, table cloths, I guess from India because of the delicate hand stitched embroidery. I love the coffee and cream colored candles.

Elegant French cutlery and leaf bowls

There is one store in Ramat Aviv Mall and another in Herzliya Pituah. They don’t have a website yet, so you’ll have to go there yourselves. As you can tell from the photos, there’s a sale on, which makes the prices pretty reasonable, which they are already. Please tell them that you came from Tchochkes.

Shine is the creative outlet for Susan Hornbeak Ortiz, the co-owner and designer. The style of Shine is very Southern Califiornia slick. Like Palm Springs during the rat pack years when Courrèges was king.

And the furniture reminds me a lot of movies from that era as well – with a twist. The fabric of the piece above with the traditional fabric tacked edges is very mid-60′s – but the cut out from the top of the back is something different. An Asian influence in shape.

These photos don’t do the furniture justice though – if you want to see how they really look you should check out their Fall 09 catalog.

These are conversational pieces, the kind that catch the eye. They remind me of when we had a formal living room and a family room. The living room had furniture that weren’t allowed to sit in – but the pieces were fabulous.

Ming anyone?

The pieces above actually remind me a lot of the furniture I saw in Shanghai last spring. Especially the stool. It’s the lacquer, bright color and shapes that were prevalent there as well.

This goes back to the slick look of the other furniture. The line is consistent in it’s mood and style.

Shine Everyday. There are two directions that furniture seems to be going these days. One way is the linen laid-back look, and the other is straight backed ultra-slick. Shine is the latter.

I was contacted by Southern Living magazine to find out if I would like to review their magazine for Tchochkes. Well, I love Southern Living and their country cottage look – so why not?!

We agreed they would send me a magazine and then I would review.

I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I get an email from them asking about the review. Well, I never received the magazine. Apparently someone in the Israeli Postal System decided they needed to check out Southern Living even more than I did – because it never arrived here.

So I got pdf’s instead. Which is ok, but not the same as a magazine. You can’t hold a pdf unless you print it out. And then the quality isn’t the same. It’s not bound. You can’t sit with your girlfriends on the sofa gazing at photographs and pointing out what you love and hate. In short – I want my magazine!

*Sigh* Isn’t that stunning? The picture is from “Chattanooga Bungalow” an article on southern bungalow design (and as you know – I’m a sucker for the bungalow).

Admittedly, I would have gone for a deep strawberry red door – which would also be more traditional, but it would also be kind of expected. I’m loving the orange. You know the man is single though – that carpet. I have to wonder if he rolls it up when he invites people over. Or only serves white wine?

One great thing about the article is that they explain how to get the look. Apparently George Krauth, the owner of the house, made the swing long to fit the extra wide porch and the pillows are sewn from military blankets (the army navy store near you will be inundated now with soccer moms searching for these blankets – isn’t that a visual!)

Love the wainscoting, love the sideboard, love the tchochkes on the table. Love it, love it, love it.

The article has even more pictures with details from the house. It’s the October Southern Living issue. Sorry I’m writing about it so late, I hope the newsstands still have copies.

Another article stuck out for more personal reasons…

The “Outdoor Fireplace” article just struck a nerve. When we first moved to our house my husband decided he was going to build a BBQ. Desire to stay married is keeping me from posting a picture of what the result was. Let’s just say it wasn’t the picture you see above, which is simply divine.

The Southern Living website also has some great information in it. While I can’t say I agree with all of their design mores (a bedroom or two had the same fabric pattern everywhere which is far too matchy-matchy for my taste) but the design information is sound and the pictures are pretty. And I’m really into pretty pictures.

OH – AND THE VIDEO! Did I mention how great their room videos are? Check this out.

Great magazine – just wish it actually arrived – Southern Living.

Bae is this incredibly sweet little home decor shop in San Francisco. Unlike one of the places on Sacramento Street (the place shall remain nameless) the person working at Bae was really nice and friendly. Even the people shopping were lovely (got to chatting with the bored husband and he was impressed that a Kellogg MBA was doing something that didn’t involve banking.)

Of course, I did fall in love with a few things in particular…

I loved these vases. Delicate, beautiful and admittedly, kind of useless. They could hold wrapped candy…

The color of this is so pretty – and the intricate cut pattern makes the lamp look like lace.

This was my favorite though – the wall of wisdom. According to the Bae blog, “Signs of Wisdom are giclee prints of artist Kim Smith’s original collages of found vintage book pages, calendars and maps.”

These really are some brilliant quotes… I think the first one is my favorite.

Great 60′s influenced entry or hall table.

Bae Home – the website doesn’t ship internationally, but I’m certain if you called they would comply with any special request.

Part 1 of the “Somewhere in Israel” Home Tour was posted on Monday.

From the living room we go into the kitchen, which has as much visual activity as the rest of the house.

I love the drapes instead of doors. The color is vibrant and wonderful. These drapes also looked especially crisp, like they had just been ironed.

The other nice thing about using fabric instead of doors to close of areas is that you can change the whole look of your kitchen for little money. Just change the drapes.

I will only recommend this look for someone who will actually take the drapes down, wash them regularly and change them out when needed. If you’re not of that ilk, you will have dingy fabric polluting your kitchen space. Obviously W and M are of the former type.

Of course, not everything is hidden away from view…

The other side of the kitchen.

This milk cannister has it’s own niche to hang out in. Love it!

A cement breakfast bar with western style saddle stools is opposite the kitchen. I love the mix of style and the industrial building materials. This house would be cold if the furniture matched the building materials, but since the styles are so different, they compliment each other really well.

Outside the kitchen is a courtyard which connects the living room to the kitchen and bedroom. It also brings light into all areas of this level.

The bedroom keeps up the mix of elements with the cement floor, carpets and wood bed and drawers. The bathroom can be closed off by a curtain.

Like the half bathroom featured in Part 1, this bathroom has the same cement counter top with the blue top.

W uses a woven platter to hang her jewelry. In Israel you could find this at the souk in Jaffa and in the US, Cost Plus should have something similar.

The view from the bath.

In Part 3 (coming on Friday) I’ll show you the roof (which is amazing) and the downstairs, which has something I never expected…

By request of the owners of this home I’m restricted from using their names or location – but I can show my pictures – so I’m good with that. As such, for this post I’m calling the woman W and the man M. Yes, I know, original.

From the moment you get to the iron gate blocking their front door from the backyard you can see that this is no ordinary home.

They have a gnome watching out for them. However, whatever expectations the gnome gives you for their home – I doubt you would expect this…

I took so many pictures (over 160) this post will be continued on Wednesday and Friday this week.

There are so many collections and tchochkes and antiques grouped together it’s impossible to take in all of the visual information in one shot. W told me that she has had friends over multiple times who will ask if something is new only to find out that no, it’s been there for years now.

These metal shelves have been allowed to rust, giving them a rough patina. I tried to show it in the pictures, but couldn’t quite capture the texture. Pity.

There isn’t a square meter or yard in this house without something in it.

At this point I’m still in the entryway.

Their living room is huge, but it’s broken down into several small seating areas built specifically towards intimate conversation. I’m ignoring the massive twigs in the gorgeous metal vases.

The back wall of the living room goes out to a patio – but first one has to stop by the bar.

A closeup of a conversation area with Moroccan style seating by the inner patio.

The French doors lead out  to a patio in the middle of the home.

The vertical beams are reinforcing the second floor, while the horizontal beams are for show only and are used for stage lights.

The floor of the house is all painted or stained (as in the color mixed in) cement. This industrial look balances the antiques used throughout the home.

Even a half bathroom had a million interesting elements to look at. The drape hiding the standing toilet, the wood beam…

To a cement counter top with a hanging towel rack. I especially liked this because if you’re lacking in space this is a great solution to hang your towels.

The view of the living room from the kitchen (which will be featured on Wednesday.)

Pa’am in Hebrew means something like “long ago” or “once upon a time”. Studio Pa’am (site is in Hebrew only, unfortunately) is located in Jerusalem and creates wooden furniture and metal decorative objects in a way that looks like you just found it in a barn and yet it’s still in great condition.

The studio is run by a couple whose style is consistent, and while I wouldn’t decorate an entire house with their work, I would love several pieces from their collection.

Like this blue rocking chair. I love the color and the simplicity of the design.

I actually contacted Studio Pa’am in June and asked for pictures (which they sent quickly). It has been sitting in my inbox since. It’s not that I didn’t want to write about them, it’s that I was avoiding renaming the over 80 photos they sent.

The writing on the sign says “No!” in Hebrew. It’s a tad vulgar and a tad funny. I think I like it. I only wish my dog could read…

This would have to be made out of some pretty hardcore wood to not get thrashed in a garden incredibly quickly. I would recommend in a covered area, rather than out as a centerpiece.

I love dish racks. Not so nuts about the animals everywhere, but I like the dish rack. It would look great holding my new glass dishes.

Their style is perfect for a girls bedroom. How sweet is that?

While I’ve focused on Studio Pa’am’s furniture, most of their collection is made up of smaller pieces, like the paper towel holders above.

I don’t really get the milk can holder thing – but I do like the milk bag holder. (In Israel you can buy milk in bags instead of boxes – considerably less waste in our trash dumps.) I wouldn’t mind having the non-chicken one…

I love this. I don’t have a single rolling pin, but if I did I would want them on display like this. Maybe I should buy one… or twenty?

Studio Pa’am’s work is carried in stores around Israel and I’m certain they would ship abroad if anyone was interested.

I stopped for a break from driving in a lovely town called Wiscasset. It turns out this place is famous for its antique shops. This is the shop where I just had to take a peak inside.

The shop has folk art, early American furniture and lots of tchochkes that you just want even though you know you don’t need.

Take this radio. The fellow behind the counter was relaxed and friendly. “Go ahead and turn it on, it works. ” he tells me.

There were trunks and old wooden boxes, duck decoys and a shelf full of these:

I don’t know if you can tell what they are from the photo (a bit fuzzy I’m afraid). I had to ask. They’re moulding profiles.

There was even a cute woodpecker door knocker that I could afford, but resisted the impulse.

Outside the cottage, in what once was probably the garage, there were more antiques.

Firemen (called firefighters today) hats, oil lamps and cans and if you look carefully you’ll see a telephone box on the bottom shelf.  Now I was definitely tempted.

I could have sauntered around for a while, but my break was over.

Wiscasset Cottage Antiques
16 Middle Street
Wiscasset, Maine
(207) 380-2605

All images copyright Judy Weiss. All rights reserved.

Itay Noy designs watches and clocks – as we don’t do fashion accessories here on Tchochkes I’m going to tell you about his clocks. Table clocks to be specific. High end rather exclusive table clocks to be exact. Gorgeous, gold, kind of bling bling table clocks.

The Double Time clock (above) is my favorite of his collection (it’s also the most expensive – why is it always like that?) and costs $4,600 USD.

Itay studied at Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, Israel and has his Masters Degree (M.Des) from the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Currently he teaches watch design at Bezalel.

His clocks are all hand made upon order and limited edition.

The Part Time clock (above) closes as well (below) and costs $3,700 USD.

Admittedly, I don’t get the point of being able to close it. I suppose this would be for travel – if you really want to travel with a $3,700 clock…

The Selective Time clock costs only $2,800 USD (I know, but when you consider the Double Time at $4,600 USD this almost seems like a bargain.)

I could see this as a graduation present. What do you think?