Looking for a more intimate experience when you travel? I discovered Jewett Street in a comment left over at Apartment Therapy yesterday and thought I’d share. The idea of swapping homes isn’t exactly a new one, but it’s definitely more common, even considered trendy, making your stay in a boutique hotel almost pale in comparison. More and more are jumping on house swapping for several reasons, the first being that in most cases, it’s more affordable and comfortable than a hotel. With hotels soaring into the hundreds per night, staying in one is no longer the best way to spend your vacation dollars. Especially when you can stay in a place that looks like this. Charming, don’t you think? It’s a flat available for swapping in Edinburgh, Scotland over at Jewett Street.
Next, house swapping is the best way to sink your teeth into your new culture and experience day-to-day life. You really get to take it all in this way (especially helpful if you’re planning to relocate there someday. House swapping gives you a chance to experience living there without the commitment.) Of course, many more benefits exist, but you usually don’t know what they are until you’ve experienced it. And if you cannot house swap, consider looking into rental apartments when you travel. I have connections in my favorite cities so that when I need to travel there, I know who to call for an apartment.
I think that people are much more open to the idea of letting strangers into their home because of the internet. Let’s face it, we share so much of ourselves online, you can google anyone! We have less walls around us, people aren’t as fearful as they once were. Remember back years ago, if a friend told you she was dating a man she’d met online what did you think? Didn’t images of murder and/or abduction play through your head? No one thinks twice about meeting those they’ve met online today, so the same goes for swapping homes. There isn’t as much fear in the idea. Maybe we are more trusting? I don’t know. Of course, there is still a need to exercise caution, but house swapping sounds like a great travel option to me and totally worth looking into. If you want to learn more about how home swapping works, visit the Jewett Street website and register if you’re interested.
Have you swapped homes before? What was your experience? If not, would you consider it? I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this.
(image from jewett street)
Gosia told me about all the new things in her etsy store today, but this owl had me at hello. What a cutie, and somewhat Adler-esque, don’t you think? I totally picture this in Lena Corwin’s living room… :) This owl is by Royal Dux Bohemia, so you know it’s a nice piece and worth the $78 price tag.
I just purchased these Rosenthal horse plates from her, only $24 for 6! But not for dining, for displaying on the wall. I think they’d look great in my kitchen so why not. Even if they don’t work, I can always use them for entertaining or sell them to a client.
I appreciate that Gosia has an etsy store offering vintage stuff because I’m always on the look out for pieces that are unique but also have a strong sense of history and of course, are well made. I hope more rise up and sell great vintage things on etsy because I really think the site could use more variety in offerings.
Visit Blue Bell Bazaar and mark her as a favorite because she shops flea markets a lot so there’s always a nice find in her store. Thanks Gosia for the tip!
(images from blue bell bazaar)
If you love free stuff made by indie crafters, then get yourself over to Indie Fixx and see what she has brewing…. Here’s a sneak peek of the goodies up for grabs! :)
(image from indie fixx)
Pretty up your office with Alli Coate, a RISD student in Providence, Rhode Island. She makes some of the best thumb tacks for your inspiration board ever.
Her product shots are great, a good example of how important it is to snap pretty photos for your etsy store! Work a little styling magic into whatever it is that you’re selling and you’ll see a boost in sales for sure. This girl blogs as well, so check out her inspirations here.
(images from alli coate)
If you haven’t clicked over already, definitely check out the blog of the week, All The Best written by blogger Ronda Carman, who lives in Scotland and has incredible taste and style. This is one classy lady, you have to bookmark her site and tune in daily. It was on All The Best that I discovered that soon (Spring ’08) Ruthie Sommers will release a book called The L.A. House (ISBN 978-0060881030). Ruthie is mentioned in Domino a lot, so I’m sure you’ve heard of her. This is another lady with impeccable taste.
I was also quite excited to see Ronda’s interview with Rita Konig. Rita is one of those ladies that fascinates me. She’s an interior designer that travels the globe (I never know what country she will be in next), along with an author and writer for some of the best magazines in the world, blogs for Domino magazine, her mother is the Nina Campbell… She has a British accent, she’s skinny, she’s blonde… I digress. But you’d think with a bio like this that, she’d also have her nose straight up and be a total know-it-all type bragging constantly about her accomplishments in life. But she’s not! She’s so down-to-earth, witty, and approachable. I hope to someday meet Rita and see just how lovely she is in person because if she’s anything like I expect, I know I’d love to hang out with her for an afternoon. She was just in Boston too… I missed my window of opportunity, but am excited to learn that she’ll be writing about Boston in an upcoming issue of Domino magazine. I can’t wait. I do hope she visited some of my favorites stores.
I hope you enjoy All The Best this week, as Ronda has a lot of great posts to share with you that I’m sure you’ll like very much. Thanks Ronda for writing such a terrific blog!
(images from ruthie sommers and all the best)
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