Retrofit Home

There’s something charming about shmeing (wandering aimlessly with no time line). Once we decide that we have all the time in the world and love to give – the world opens up. People’s actions and reactions become more open and beautiful than they are when they’re in a hurry or needy. My husband and I decided to take the Monday afternoon to schmei on 12th Ave E (in Capitol Hill) in Seattle.

12th Ave is one of the most fabulous streets in Seattle. It’s filled with excellent restaurants like Barrio and Lark, French cafes, chic home boutiques, vintage shops (on the side streets) and the most fabulous school in Seattle – Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences (SAAS), a school that makes you want to be 15 all over again.

Café Presse

The beauty about several businesses on 12th Ave is that the owners are artists. This gives the atmosphere a nice calm flair. Retrofit Home is a home store that not only carries chic furniture and gift items, but has a humour that makes you happy as you walk in. Café Presse takes you to Paris as soon as you walk in—during the lunch hour you might run into the privileged bohemian kids from SAAS.

As we walked down the street to admire the sights, inhale the energy, and take pictures, we heard a voice from above call and ask if we’d like to come up and view some paintings. We accepted and walked into a studio/home which also took us to Paris. The artist, Vanessa Briggs, is English/French and an incredible painter with whom we fell in love. We were offered glasses of wine. Just then, a beautiful child in a poncho and short hair walked into the studio with a dog and started to play around us.

Vanessa Briggs

As we walked back onto the street, the owner of Revival (an impeccable home design company that I’m dying over) offered to open up her store (closed on Monday) for us to take a look. Last stop: No Parking—a fabulous vintage store where a girl can find anything to add a flirty touch to her boudoir – from a kimono to a retro phone, from vintage slips to fabulous jewelry.

Revival Home & Garden

No Parking On Pike