Buy Only What You Love...and Can Afford

This past weekend, something wonderful happened. I went to a thrift store and was validated for my thriftiness that same day. My father came to visit me and we did what we usually do; have a great meal out and visit a few thrift stores. This time we stopped first at a Salvation Army. He found a few odds and ends, including a ceramic pumpkin just in time for this weekend. I found a lamp. Not just any lamp, but one that I have been looking for since this post. 

   

Next to my other favorite lamp 

This beautiful harvest yellow stoneware lamp put me back $8. Yes, this heavy almost 30 in high lamp was less than $10! Not a scratch on it and (of course I checked) it works. Bonus, I got the light bulb free too! Later we went to one of our ritzier malls and since I never get the chance, went into Pottery Barn for the first time in almost two years. Walking around checking out the fake antiques*, I came across this lamp:

 
Brookshire, $200 online 

Same weight, same coloring, and almost the same height but check that price difference. While I do appreciate the Brookshire, I've also always wanted a curvy lamp, pretty similar to their other offering, the Alexis lamp.

  Alexis, $100 

And with my $8 purchase, I think I got the best of both worlds, what do you think?

 
Just look at that wonderful glazing! 

* Did you ever see that hilarious episode of Friends? 

  Images: My own photos, Potterybarn.com

I Could Work Here...

yeah in my dreams. Somehow I always seem to need a surplus of desk space so I can stack "junk" all over my desktop. It's the way I roll.

However, someone else, especially someone with a laptop (I still possess a huge desktop monitor, not even a flat screen!) could really love this desk.

I just saw this cute setup, the Trovato Office-in-a-Box, on the New York Times website and saw that it was available at OfficeMax of all places for only $150. Compared to similar setups available (without the stool/storage cube) like the Jay desk & hutch available at West Elm for $330, this is a true bargain.

ThinkGeek?

I was sent a link to this by a coworker earlier this week. Check it out and then come back. So of course, as a means to goof off for a bit I checked out the rest of the site. Some of their items I've seen highlighted other places (like the All Edges Brownie pan) but ThinkGeek truly has some cool and inexpensive items for use and decoration in your home.



The Ice Orb Icemaker. I saw this a while ago and really thought about getting it. Though just like salt (outside of use in recipes) I don't use ice anymore at home. But if I did, this would be the way to go. They are easy to get to and when not in use easily contained. It also can be used as a wine holder/chiller. Sounds good to me.



And of course they are the distributer of the Dough-Nu-Matic, one of the most appetizing machines yet. First there was the Easy Bake oven and now there is this, a maker of deep-fried-mini-cakes. This is a bit more pricey at $120, but then how much is the potential of a fresh hot doughnut per minute worth to you?

Could I Stuff My Stuff in a Little House?

Loring from Tumbleweed Houses

Sometimes I think I could conquer this clutter problem if I only had a smaller home.

You know, if I was FORCED to get rid of a lot of stuff. Because, volunteering to let some things go is NOT my strong suit. Even though I don't buy much at all, there is so much stuff stored for the future. I guess getting rid of it is hard because it might mean I don't expect to someday use the heart-shaped cake pan or pancake molds (for someone other than me or friends), five flower vases, a Shaft-like leather coat (I feel so dressy in it), the BCBG satin cocktail dress (ditto), or the large traveler's backpack from my 2002 trip to Ireland.

I would love to fit everything I own in something like this little house, but even if I get rid of all the aspirational things, I would still need my magazines, my photo albums (pre-digital), and my animated character figurines. Above all, I would also need storage for my fabric, patterns, supplies, and sewing machine. So I don't think I'll ever fit into this little gem...

251 Square Feet*

But a girl can continue to dream, can't she?

Of course, their much larger homes (680-840 sq. ft. ) are adorable too, like the Enesti, Sebastarosa, and the truly cool-sounding (and almost identical to the Loring) B-53!

* The loft is not officially included in the listed 251 square feet. With it, the house is actually over 400 square feet.

P.S. Explore their site, there is so much information there. The comments on every house design page are fascinating; especially when it comes to the customization requests.

Wood In All Its Natural Beauty

Even though my blog is a pretty small fish in the huge blogosphere-pond, I still find myself receiving many emails from businesses and artists that want to be mentioned on the site. (Thank you all) As other bloggers know, a lot of the submissions will have nothing to do with content on our blogs or the products just aren't up to snuff.

However, sometimes gems like this get through:

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Greg and Alison Gallegos of Haslett, MI that was right down my alley. Greg, a self-taught artisan, believes in using found or reclaimed wood for his work and the resulting pieces are beautiful, tactile, sensuous, and yet still quite affordable. Please see for yourself by checking out their Etsy shop, Natural Selection Studio.

Ballistic Burl Vase, Natural Edge Red Cedar Vase

Black is the New Red Cherry Bowl, Yin Yang Black Walnut Bowl

Hmmm.... easy change?

Casa Oh Happy Day!

Over at Oh Happy Day!, Jordan has become the first blogger I know of that has tried the Sherwin-Williams EasyChange, easy-to-remove temporary wallpaper. I did some research on that product a few years ago, but could not find anywhere in my apartment to try it out on. There was no possibility of me doing a whole room or even a wall since the only available walls are almost 13 feet tall. Also the swatches were daunting online, so many... Even when I went to the store and sat down with the books there were so many (in my opinion) ugly ones, and WAY too many border prints! Seriously, there are roughly 47 collections available with 80 to 130 patterns in each!


Her inspiration, Chloë Sevigny's home

I may have to take a better look this time. Perhaps I could just buy some and fill in the panels on my highly offensively painted closet doors, I could find a pattern that would work in all the rooms and therefore connect the entryway with the pantry and my bedroom? Fill in a few rectangles and square panels and have instant style (and peace)? Cheap and easy? Sounds good to me!

I'll look around and post some possibilities in the days (weeks, who am I kidding?!) to come.

Images: Oh Happy Day!, House&Garden

Let's take a look at the softer side...

of Sears.



I was searching retailers for examples of something to show another blogger when I ran into this picture of a dining set from the Ty Pennington collection at Sears. Not bad.

This Costa del Mar dining table is now on sale for $180 (from $340) and is very similar to other industrial looking tables talked about recently on Apartment Therapy.

I was also impressed in the lamp department. Though most of their lamps were not my personal style, they definitely had style. The look was in the vein of Restoration Hardware but without those high price tags. Classy, sophisticated, and looked far more expensive than they actually were.

By the way, when I was looking at the site I noticed an ad that would take you to the Martha Stewart Everyday collection at Kmart. Did Sears buy Kmart or are they in a partnership? Please don't tell me this is something that happened a long time ago and I just didn't know about it.

Yes, Too Much!

Thanks everyone for your feedback on the comforter.

Why, oh why, do I not listen to myself?

I kept putting off that purchase and then when I finally bought it, I let it sit in the living room for days.

The day I wrote that other post I had remade the bed with new sheets and put on the shams and coverlet. As I traveled the world wide web, I would glance over my shoulder every now and then and look at the bed. So, what was I thinking? Well it wasn't what commenter liam's mom - gina said, which was "If you walk in the room and feel joy, that is all that matters."

Well, I did not feel joy.

I kept thinking about how my bed looked in the first photo of that post, so calm and relaxing, and I knew full well that was not the way I felt about this new look.



My favorite photo from those shots was the one where the sham seemed to only have the green, yellow, orange and red stripes. If the quilt contained only those colors, it would have been perfect. However, I couldn't look at the quilt without truly hating that section of pale blue, aqua, pink, and fuchsia. It even had the nerve to show up twice!

The quilt went back this past week and my credit card is $80 lighter (well, at least until that Denyse Schmidt "cheater cloth" comes to my local quilt shop!)

Taking a cue from my goals for my wardrobe, I no longer want "it will do" items in my home and this quilt just would not do for me.

Too much?

Okay, I saw a quilt set at Target a while ago (it's not available online) that I kept meaning to write about. I kept talking myself out of it 1) don't have the money 2) not a necessity 3) may not work with my room and 4) I could make it myself if I really tried. However, the big reason was that I had a problem buying something for myself just because I liked it.

I always checked on it when I was in a store and it was never there in the full size only in twin. A few weeks ago I ran into Target right before a storm broke out and lo and behold, they had ONE, in the size I wanted, and I had a lot of time to talk myself into buying it.

However, it then sat in it's Target bag in my living room for the last three weeks because I couldn't take it out of the bag. Well, I did today and I need your help.

See... this is my headboard and my desk area across from the bed,

both using a fabric composed of rainbow color stripes which do happen to be the same shades used in the quilt, but...is it TOO MUCH?



LOVE how the shams look though!



I do have a problem with how much hot pink there is as I have never been a fan. I think the lavender pillowcases have to go too, again too much of a pink feeling.



I think I have made a decision, but please let me know your opinion, because I just don't know anymore! Thanks.

As I lay my head down to sleep...

I have been tempted to make a quilt for years now and just can’t seem to find the time when two-hour shirt projects seem to take me FIVE (!) months to complete. When would I ever find the time and motivation to pieces together a quilt that I would be happy with? Then there is the fact that it could not be just any quilt, I would want it to have the look of one of these new modern country type quilts, you know like a Denyse Schmidt-type.

Well, as of a few days ago (via Decor8) I now know what the next quilt on my bed is going to look like. This one.

Just happens that this is 'cheater quilt*' fabric from none other than Ms. Schmidt herself, made into a quilt, and it will be available next month. Guess who will not be putting off this purchase? I will of course add my own touches to it, perhaps reverse appliqué some other prints onto it using the Alabama Stitch method, and embellish it with yarn tufting and some hand embroidery touches. That I think I can handle, especially since the embroidery could happen after it’s actually done and laying on my lap.

Hurrah!

*Cheater's cloth is fabric printed with a finished quilt block design, made to look like a pieced or appliquéd quilt top. You add batting, sew it together, and you have a quilt or perhaps more correctly, a comforter that looks like a quilt.

Sofa Showdown: Round Two

Sure these sofas are not exactly bargains, but they are more affordable than the offerings I have seen recently in some home magazines. I can't remember what magazine, but recently I saw someone suggest both a $7,000 and a $9,000 sofa. My car cost only $10,500! Of course, that was ten years ago, but still. I feel good about that purchase but how would I feel if I had bought a sofa for nine grand ten years ago and now I want a different one? I think the cheapest sofa they had pictured was $2,500.

So I feel fine about posting these very beautiful sofas from lesser known manufacturers. Most of the sofas below are offered in both full-length and love seat size.

The sofa on the left is from Dania Furniture. I may have featured it before, but it is worth a second look. Though the Paramount is pricey at $1,395 it is still quite a bit cheaper than Design Within Reach's same-size, near look-alike Bantam for $1,950.

These next four are from Rowe Furniture's Cosmopolitan line and their MiniMod small-scale sofa collection.

Gayton

Martin

Greer

Caren

Hudson

Sofa Showdown: Round One

Can I make it work?

A few years ago I saw a lamp that I really wanted on sale. The above Colette lamp from JCPenneys. However, I made roadblocks for myself;

Did I want one or two?
Could I justify buying two?
Would they go on sale further?
Which color did I want, orange, yellow, or green?

This went on until they went back to their original price, which I couldn't justify spending at the time. They never returned to a sale price and then sold out. I have regretted it every since.



Every lamp I've seen since (see above) has been $100 or more over their regular price, some even four times the price! Looking back, I most definitely should have bought it at either price.


The lamp would go next to the bed on a blue nightstand.
New situation: Target has a sale lamp in a similar shape, available in white with a black shade. To make this the lamp into one I would be happy with, I will need to change the shade and spray paint the lamp base. The price is $30.

The question is: should I? If not, will I regret this too?

Help!!!

Beautiful Backsplash for Bargain Budgets

I can't afford beautiful Ann Sacks tile. I can't even think about installing gleaming white subway tile because I rent. But Mibo is thinking about us temporary folks out here.

Tile Tattoos
Heavy duty stickers to cover unwanted and unloved bathroom and kitchen tile. No glue is involved and they are completely removable. Available in 4" ($16) and 6" ($18) sets of six.

All designs available in both Dusty Blue and Taupe.

Gulf Coast ReBuilding

Read about the effort, volunteerism, and construction of this family's new Pass Christian, MS home in an inspiring story from Cottage Living magazine.
The local organization, Mercy Housing and Human Development partnered with Lowe's, Cottage Living, the Mennonite Disaster Service, and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation in the project. If you feel inspired to help, donate to the Cottage Living Building Fund through the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

Ocean Springs Cottage Square in Ocean Spring, MS. The development was designed by local firm, Tolar LeBatard Denmark Architects and has won a 2007 Charter Award.

New Orleans' Projects

Here is a great New York Times article and slide show about the variety of design styles being used to rebuild New Orleans.

From the article, the sentiment I completely agree with is this statement:
"Among the ideas advanced by architects and urban planners is permitting New Orleans to come back as a smaller city, with some heavily flooded areas left undeveloped; commissioning innovative 21st-century architecture for new public and residential buildings, even as the city’s treasured historic structures are preserved; and rebuilding low-income housing on higher ground."

The uproar that the city/state would even suggest not rebuilding some of the flooded areas seemed more political than sensible. Why even take the chance of this tragedy happening again? Some low lying areas should be left alone as they will always be too dangerous. This does not mean those people should not be provided housing in New Orleans, just that it should not be there.

 
The Tulane Gravier and Tremé/Lafitte New Orleans neighborhoods are to be reconstructed with help from Providence Community Housing and Enterprise Community Partners.
UrbanBuild N.O.'s Central City area project designed and built by the Tulane School of Architecture in conjunction with Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.

 

Photo courtesy of JetsonGreen.org
Global Green USA, Brad Pitt, and the Home Depot Foundation project in the Lower Ninth Ward Holy Cross** area. Each home will cost about $150,000. Applicants must have previously owned property in the ward to be eligible and will be expected to contribute whatever they can afford.

In my personal opinion, these last two groups missed an important component in developing these environmentally sustainable and modern designs for the people of the Gulf Coast. They forgot to honor and preserve the history, attitude of the area and its people. I am a strong supporter of the green building movement, but in this case, I think more emphasis should have been focused on the importance of the exterior design of these projects. I was strongly disappointed in the designs as I see no connection to the regional architecture of the homes that they will be replacing.

**As of 11.21.07, the first home in Holy Cross (which will be used as a visitors center) has not been finished. More information via this incredible site from the neighborhood, HelpHolyCross.org.

SHELTER Retail Makeunder

I just saw these clever and graphic notice boards on Design*Sponge from Swedish interior designer, Caroline Löwgren. Large discs with wrapped thread, the boards are 50 inches in diameter and available in different color combinations. They strongly remind me of my childhood and making yarn pompoms when I was a kid. However, they are selling for 69 pounds in England which equals $140 here!

I don't think so!

Closeup

This is just screaming out for the SHELTER DIY treatment.

1. Create doughnut from a sturdy material such as plywood or MDF.
2. Obtain yarn, ribbon, or twine for the wrapping.
3. Wrap as if making yarn pompoms. (See below.)

Trace out two circles, one inside of the other, on your material. Make the smaller one about half the diameter of the other. Cut out the larger circle, then cut out the inner circle. The idea now is to wind the yarn, twine, or ribbon around the ring. Hold one end on the outside of the ring and feed the other end through the hole, round the back and through the front again. Repeat this, working all the way around, spacing as you go, and end up in the back. Wrap the end of your "yarn" around a few strands in the back and knot it.