Credenza Love.

The den is coming together: the couch is ordered, the ottoman is here--all that's left is a credenza to hold our tv.  The wall is pretty big, about 11 feet, so I need a substantial piece of furniture.  Enter in the Santorini credenza, which is 8 feet long, from roomservicestore.com out of LA.

Are you drooling yet?  I am.

Sofa so good.

I've been looking for a new sofa for our tv room for quite some time.  I knew what I wanted: big, stylish, tufted and what I didn't: expensive.  I am happy to report that I finally found my dream couch and it was on sale to boot.

The elliot sectional from Macy's in vintage. A cool feature is that the pillows can be reversed to show the buttons or not.  It is very big and plush and will be the perfect addition to 2404. 

Now that the sofa is purchased, I have moved on to some other pieces. Such as this fab ottoman, which adds a bit of whimsy and funkiness to the room and it's on casters, so it can move around pretty easily.

Zebra cocktail ottoman with storage cubbies and trays from Overstock.com.

I am also thinking of this chair, as additional seating. Love the color.

egg chair in blue wool from Lexington Modern.

As for entertainment center, I am leaning towards this one from cb2.

 chill console (2 shown, which is what I'll do).

I'll post pictures soon.

Missoni Madness!!!!

Ok, must admit, like many I was pretty excited for the upcoming Missoni line for Target. I especially had my eye on the rose pouf I saw in last month's House Beautiful and knew I had to have one (or two).  I woke up early yesterday morning and logged on to get my goodies and popped by my local target to check out the wares in person. HELLO Crazies!! The store was crawling with people grabbing up anything and everything Missoni and most items were sold out! This made me wonder: Just how fabulous can things be when everyone has them?  With that said, my daughter does look pretty darn cute in these flats and this adorable poncho:

Basement --Phase 1

The basement is almost finished.  The floor, ceiling and walls are painted and our IKEA stuff arrived (and after a few swear words and a cut or two, is assembled).  The kids have spent the majority of the day down there, which is the best compliment a mom can get. All that's left is for our electrician to show up and finish the recessed lighting, a bathroom update and for us to move the couch and tv from upstairs down. Oh, and some sort of bar configuration.  So nice to finally have a spot to send the kids to.

Art.

When I first started thinking about decorating 2404, I knew each item had to have two characteristics: have a lot of impact and be inexpensive.  I started looking at oversized canvas prints on Overstock.com and came across an artist that I like. I googled her and it lead me to another website. The holy grail of cheap, awesome art, if you will, GalleryDirect.com. Here I came across another obsession, artist Darvin Jones, who is from Austin, where we lived for a bit.  I loved his big, in-your-face abstracts and the funkier anime-inspired ones.  I ordered 5 in all from him and 2 other ones from another graphic artist.  Each canvas is huge (4 feet x 3 feet) and was only $129 with a coupon.  Oh, I forgot to mention the best part: shipping is only $9.99 for EVERYTHING.  Seriously, folks, I had 5 huge canvases delivered to my house for $9.99.  Can't beat it. 

Here are the pieces:

 This is from another artist, Sean Jacobs

 

This subway scroll came from Art.com

 

These posters are from acts we've seen and were bought on amazon.com. I used cheap poster frames from ben franklin and had mats cut for them there. 

These are fabrics, I've collected from IKEA and fabric.com, stapled to cheap canvas

.

This is some fun art I made for Z's nursery, which has translated well through the years.

Finally, here are some fun wallpaper decals I got on clearance at our science museum. 

Chevron Help Group?

Since early Spring, I have been mad for chevron.  Chevron rugs, chevron chairs, chevron floors....I even came across chevron during the driving school course I took and now fondly think of my latest obsession whenever I get off an exit ramp (seriously, next time you are on the highway, look out for them, they're there). Who knew the Department of Transportation was so chic?

My recent homage to chevron via a target bench recovered in this glorious print. 

My DIY wall art for Master Bedroom

and my fabulous rug

here's my next addition to the chevron collection:

ziggy chair

SWOON. I am in love.

Pretty Pink Poodles

How's that for alliteration?  Zara is a girlie-girl. She is a huge fan of feather headbands, anything with sequins or ruffles and of course, the color pink.  She is a master stylist of fabulous and quirky outfits and uses the term "Coco Chanel" to describe something that is over accessorized.  Oh, did I mention she is 5 1/2? Anyway, when we bought the house, she asked for two specifics when it came to her room: pink and poodles.  I remembered pulling a DIY project from Elle Decor years ago and once I found it, knew it was the perfect choice.  Z loved the result and the words "Coco Chanel" were never uttered. 

 

 The Elle Decor project:

 

Here's Z's room mid-project.  I cut out circles (they weren't even remotely perfect) and traced them on the wall.  The article had a stencil you could transfer on to stencil paper, which I did and then used a removable spray adhesive to apply the stencil within the circles.

She was pleased with the result. 

Lights.

2404 came with bevy of dated brass chandeliers (remember "tarantula"?) and ceiling fans, which have since gone in to the basement. I've had my eye on a few lights for years now, the dramatic IKEA pendant, the faux-coral chandeliers from ballarddesigns.com and the dandelion light by moooi, which retails for $2683 (!!!!!). Seeing that I had a budget and had to replace 6 fixtures, I had to get creative. I googled "moooi light" and found a cheap reproduction on Ebay for $175. It came directly from China and I had to wait 4 weeks, but I have to say, it is pretty amazing in person. Here are a few of the lights:

IKEA pendant light

These faux coral chandeliers are pretty fab, but the coolest part is the shades, which I custom made using Lampsplus.com custom shade site. Seriously, for $70 you get 6 giclee shades that are customizable by pattern, color, and trim. So fabulous! I have designed shades for three of the light fixtures: both coral lights and the white spray-painted chandelier in the den.



This was one of the brass chandeliers. I ran out of money, so I spray painted it white and added some of those fabulous custom shades, I previously mentioned.


Gotta love Overstock.com. Where else can you get this fabulous reproduction of a very expensive arc lamp for less than $200? I'll save you the suspense, NOWHERE.



This pendant from LightsUP is in our kitchen. It replaced a functional, but ugly ceiling fan . Yeah, so it get's a little smoky whenever I grill a steak, it is AhMazing and worth the asthmatic episode any day.



This small pendant light is in our downstairs bath. I wish I had a photo of its predecessor, as it was something out of Beetle Juice and a sight to see. I had to go with the rubbed bronze finish already in the bath and this cute pendant was the least offensive of Lowe's offerings.



Here is a pic of the MOOOI light I coveted for years, that retails for $2683.

And the reproduction I found on Ebay for $175:

Stair Makeover

When we first purchased the house, the previous owner had a china blue, oriental-style runner rug on the stairs. The colors didn't match my color scheme and had to go, however I wasn't ready to say good-bye to the idea of a runner all together. Instead, I installed (via my trusty staple gun) a more neutral striped jute rug. It was fine, but I knew that I eventually wanted to go au natural with white fronts to add light to the entryway.

Here's the temporary runner in place @ move-in:

It took some time and a little elbow grease, but I was able to remove the tack strips and padding. Here are the stairs au natural. Pretty, but still need a little somethin'-somethin'.

Let the priming begin:

1st coat of primer. I'm lovin' it. Really brightens up the space.



After one coat of glossy white paint:

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

I tend to take a very OCD approach to design. That is to say, I start to obsess about a particular item, in this case a mirror, and find that I start to accumulate mass quantities of said item. It all started with this 60s mirror found at an antiques mart for $40. It was gold, but a little glossy white spray paint glam it up a bit.


Found this mirror @ Steinmart on clearance for $83. I wasn't sure it would work, so I waited a day to consider the space. Then it dawned on my what an amazing deal and huge impact it would make, so I ran over there at opening and grabbed it.


Another fab find at the antiques mart. This one was $47 and again came gold. So much better in white, don't cha think?


A cheap Lowe's find for the once hideous downstairs bath. Seriously wish I had a before pic of this room, but, I'll save that story for another post.


Hobby Lobby find for $50. This one came glossy black, so all I had to do is hang.

Home Goods beauty $69). This one came gold, but I painted it white. Fabulous!


Another Home Goods stunner ($99). Also came gold and I spray painted a glossy black.

Found this one at Home Goods for $29 and spray painted aqua blue.

Pardon my dust, or in this case, the mess that is my entryway. The mirrors are also from Home Goods ($24) and I spray painted glossy white.



Finally, this mirror was from Hobby Lobby and was $69. It came a rubbed bronze and looked kind of Tuscan, but a fresh coat of sunny yellow paint did the trick.



See what I mean about my OCD approach to decorating?