Yellow Owl Workshop

Sorry we have been out of touch recently. We were away for a brief moment and then Alissa's sister was visiting us from out-of-town. I just wanted to write a quick post to share some of the work of talented designer Christine Schmidt - aka Yellow Owl Workshop. We loved her so much (personally and professionally) that we are having her make our wedding invitations. Whats more, she has a second half, Evan Gross, who, despite knowing he did not want to be a lawyer, went to law school because he knew this was the best way to advocate for more and better affordable housing! He also runs the biz side of Yellow Owl and happens to cry when watching Friday Night Lights. What more could you ask for in a partner?? Check out Yellow Owl's website where you can order directly. We are currently working on the addition of a stationary/paper section at HORNE and will definitely be carrying some of Christine's work.

-Ryan-

Homage to Alvin Horne and Shop PORN???

Alvin Horne

My sisters both think it is hilarious whenever I tell people what I do for a living. It starts well when I tell them that my fiance and I just launched an online boutique specializing in home accessories. Then it quickly gets ugly when I let them know that the web address is- www.shopPORN.com. Most people look at me bewildered and I just stare blankly back because in my head I heard shopHORNE.com I guess I can blame it on my mother and my west Texas upbringing. My Mom is a New Yorker through and through and she was terrified of having children that spoke with a Texas accent. So she beat the y'all, fixin' and reckon out of my sisters and me. As a result, I have some strange speech patterns, one of them apparently being slurring the word HORNE- to PORN!

Ryan and I chose the name HORNE as an ode to my families' history. My Great-Grandfather's banker and friend, Alvin Horne, sold my Great-Grandfather (JE Parker) his first ranch back in 1907. Later, my Great Uncle was born in Alvin's house as JE's ranch was a good two day wagon ride away from town. As a sign of respect, JE named his third son after Alvin - Alvie Horne Parker. My Grandfather must also have respected the guy because he named my father after him, Timothy Horne Parker. Ryan and I figured this guy must have had some really good juju if two guys named their sons after him and we decided just plain ole HORNE had a nice ring to it. Thus shopPORN I mean HORNE was born.

-Alissa-

P.S. Just under 3 days left to the SALE!!

I Fell In Love With A Spoon!

We just got in some awesome, polished, un-glazed, white bone china spoons by Caroline Swift and I must say, I'm in love.


The spoons are presented in hand-made felt bags, tied with a gift tag that is embossed with the designer's name "Caroline Swift."

I am not a tea party person by any means, but when we got these in, I wanted to put on a fancy dress and gloves, invite all my girlfriends (and Stephen Jones & Christian Lacroix) and have a good old-fashioned tea party. These are great for stirring tea, serving clotted cream or just sitin' pretty on the table.

photo credit: Annie Leibovitz, Untitled (A Mad Tea-party)

And yes, they are food safe. Ryan let me know that they are fully vitrified. You don't know what that means? I didn't either, but apparently it means they were fired to a really high temperature and therefore resist water, ect. You can eat from them and they are really durable, too.



Check out Caroline's site here to learn more about her design philosophy and see more of her wares.

-Alissa-

P.S. Thank you Joy for the lovely post!!

Me and You and Everyone We Know

It is SALE time here at HORNE!!! We are offering a sale to thank everyone who has helped make HORNE such a success. We are also hoping to give you a chance to grab up some really cool pieces at great prices. And finally we are gearing up to show 'everyone we know' new items that we are really excited about. Make sure to check back regularly as we plan to continue our updates.

P.S. If you haven't seen the movie, Me and You and Everyone We Know, you should really check it out. I included the movie poster to let everyone in on the cool color combo I have going on!

Our favorite quote from the movie stemmed from this dialogue:

Robby (6 year old boy): Mom says we have a chore wheel.
Richard Swersey (Robby's father): What?
Peter Swersey (Robby's brother): Nothing.
Robby: A chore wheel. You put chores on it and then you can spin it. There's this metal thing and it helps it to spin. It's spinning from the metal.

When the movie came out several years ago, Ryan and I would repeat Robby's line over and over again in our best six-year-old boy voice. It was awesome.

-Alissa-

Broken Blanket :-(

The other day Alissa and I were re-arranging furniture in our living room when I accidentally placed one of our marble tables on top of my down comforter. Unaware of this fact, I later went to retrieve my blanket and ended up putting a 5" tear in the corner. My broken blanket was very upsetting as I have been using it for over 8 years. I truly believe it to be a miracle blanket -- it kept me cool during hot summer nights when we were living in Santa Barbara and then warm during cold winter nights here on the East Coast. I really did not want to replace it so Alissa did a beautiful job stitching the hole with red string. I think it looks even cooler now!

Later that night, after Alissa had fixed the blanket, she was reading a book she got me for Christmas, "Embroidered Textiles," and she found a whole chapter entitled The Power of Red. Apparently red has often been used in a protective role - to protect against evil spirits and demons, to protect royalty, to protect newborn children before they were baptized, etc. Now when I go to bed at night, I feel extra safe (and incredibly comfortable) -- begone evil spirits!!. (above is an image of an antique Man's cap from Sierra Leone with red stitching).

While I was writing this post I was flipping through the book, "Embroidered Textiles," and I got inspired to share some images of our own rugs with all of you. Whenever possible, we always try to purchase antique rugs as they tend to have a beautiful worn quality to them... its like buying a t-shirt that has already been worn in exactly they way you like it. I hope you enjoy them!

P.S. If you are ever in the Santa Barbara area and want the name of a great antique rug shop, just drop us a line - info@shophorne.com

P.P.S - We have a great surprise coming up next week for everyone so check back on Tuesday Morning, Jan 13th.

The Tin Man

My inner child really wants to have one of these privately commissioned Tin Man Playgrounds by Tom Otterness (only 6 will be made). My adult self really appreciates the little details of the lemming-like men that are engaged in various activities around the sculpture. Unfortunately neither my inner child nor adult self has a backyard - gosh, darn-it!

-RYAN-

If I came in to a substantial amount of money I would (in no particular order) 1) put on a traveling curated show of new work by artists such as KleinReid, Karin Eriksson, Lisa Neimeth, Bodo Sperlein, Jonh Pomp, etc. 2) Buy Alissa a flatbed scanner (apparently she was hoping Santa would bring her one for Christmas -- she must not have been nice this year) and 3) restore old homes and build new homes from old materials. This house, located outside of Helsinki, is the result of years of hard work by ceramicist Karin Widnas. I love how it still feels cozy while maintaining its modern Finlandian flavor.








-RYAN-