I’ve kind of been on a roll with the thrift shop finds lately… Check out these beauties:
Pair of HUGE woven table lamps that I got from St. Vinnie's.
All they need is some shades and a fresh coat of paint! I’m undecided on color… Any suggestions?
So, my sister calls me up and says that she was looking for free boxes on Craigslist and that she ran across a listing for a thrift store that was going out of business and was GIVING everything away. Yeah, you read that right. Well, I was still putzing around the house and she gave me exactly 20 minutes to get ready… Do I need to tell you that I was showered, dressed, and ready when she got here?
Anyway, we drive to the Renton Highlands and it’s two store fronts away from a St. Vincent De Paul (which are my favorite thrift stores on earth) and one away from a smallish JoAnn Fabrics (my favorite fabric and craft store in earth) but I digress…
When we got there half the store had been cleared out but my sis was able to get two carts full of clothes for her and her three youngest kids, including enough name brand and designer jeans for my eleven year old niece to be able to render her recent mall purchase obsolete.
I was not doing as well… I scored a few pairs of shoes and two handfuls of CDs (including HS fave Bros., Recoil, Cesaria Evora, Underworld, 808state, Erasure, Tom Petty & The Heart breakers, The Verve, and Handel’s Messiah) but I wasn’t finding something that said TAKE ME HOME! Until…
This retails for $205 on Artaissance… and I got it for FREE!
I was wandering in the very back of the store and saw a print pinned up to the wall. It was from Artaissance. It said that it was Breakfast Treats II by Carolyn Biggio. It was absolutely gorgeous, vibrant, large (at least 2’x3′), and… FREE! So, I snagged it.
Then, I found this silver or pewter bowl-y thing with a hole in the center. It has Hotel Sorrento engraved into the outside surface. Maybe it was a dome to go over a plate and it’s missing a piece or something? I don’t know. I just think it’ll look good on my desk.
Pretty sure I’d found all that I was going to at the going out of business place, I stepped over to St. Vincent De Paul while my sister shopped for more stuff at the first place and found this:
Found at St. Vincent de Paul: a $5 lamp. You can’t beat that!
Isn’t it sweet? I couldn’t pass up the texture and color. I’m not sure where it will go yet as I kind of love the brown lamp (that still hasn’t been projected) on my desk but I’m thinking that it may end up on the desk at some point. We’ll see!
So, overall today ended up being kind of a good day for me on the thrifting front. I mean I spent five bucks! It doesn’t get much better than that… unless you count the time that I got a vintage Henredon sofa for $35. But that’s another story!
Until next time…
I’m terrible about projects sometimes… You’ll remember how a few weeks ago, I showed you the lamps I bought that I wanted to do the neon + neutral bottle wrap project on? Well, when I went to Lowes to pick up the masons line (neon yellow and pink nylon) and twine to do the project, I didn’t like it! So now, I’ve got to back to the drawing board on that lamp project. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it now. I definitely want to paint it because brown is not a color I’m fond of (even though the brown on my lamp is a dark, glossy chocolate brown and not at all ugly). Since I’m bankrupt for a solid idea for the lamp, I’ve decided to try and do some planning for the desk I bought a while back:
Craig’s List desk.
It needs serious work! At first I thought that I wanted to do a standard white or ivory paint job on it but after seeing this room by Kimberly Ayres design (thank God for Google image search, btw! I actually first saw this picture on a blog without a photo credit and it took me ages to figure out who designed the room).
The main inspiration for my CL desk find is this room by Kimberly Ayres Design.
High gloss mint would look great on my desk, don’t you think? I think it would look awesome. I’ve been gathering paint chips for the perfect shade of mint green. Today I started looking for drawer pulls because I don’t really like the original pulls. I found these at Anthropologie:
Sardinia Knob, $12 each at Anthropologie.com.
I’m hoping to find some decent sized unpolished square brass backplates for the knobs to sit on. I think that’d look nice on the flat edges of the drawers. I’ve also wanted to use some of the metallic fine papers from Paper Source to line the inside of drawers for a while… I’m thinking this marbled gold would look good:
Gold on Natural Marble Fine Paper, $6.50 per sheet at Paper Source.
Well, that’s my wish list for my desk project. I’m hoping to find some inspiration for the lamp project soon as I think I’d like to tackle the smaller project first. Any suggestions for my lamp?
Ralph Lauren Paints in (left to right): Palais Royal, Washboard, Oatmeal, Spring Violet, Bold Orange.
I was surfing around for something else (isn’t that the way it always is?) and discovered this lovely palette of black, gray, cream, lilac, and dark orange from The Pink Couch blog. The colors seem really fresh and current… even though the blogs author picked this palette two autumns ago! In the spirit of this awesome combination of colors, I’m sharing some of my fave rooms and pieces featuring these colors.
Sources from top left: unknown, unknown, Crate & Barrel, Elle Decor, Patricia Gray.
Top Row: Calluna Vase/Crate&Barrel, DIY chairs/BHG, Close rug/Christopher Farr, Tod Table/Zanotta.
Second Row: Benson chair/Anthropologie, Flynn lamp/Arteriors, Hee tray coffee table/A+R, Azure Sofa/Crate&Barrel.
Third Row: Hard Candy in Tangerine/Brentano Fabrics, office chair/Windsor Smith, DIY Le French dresser/Wary Meyers, Amethyst Marbled fabric/Domesticate.
Bottom Row: Drop stool/Zuo Modern, Watercolor Drops fabric/Domesticate, Purple & Black boxes/A Lille Shop, Slim Round end table/Room&Board.
One of my favorite things about this scheme is that it is truly unique. You’re not going to find it everywhere like you might with classic combos like black and white, yellow and blue, etc. It would take a lot of thought and careful searching for just the right pieces to pull it off. I love that kind of challenge!
I hope you’ve got some color in your Monday everyone! Tomorrow is another totally inspiring room. 🙂
I’m in love with brass lamps right now. The cool thing is that brass is coming back into fashion, so we’re seeing more and more offerings that are chic.
Take Vaughan Design’s Faringdon Lamp: it is a perfect example of putting a stylish twist on a classic silhouette. It is shapely, elegant, and modern. I’d love to have one on my desk! The Faringdon is available in brass, polished nickel, and dark bronze.
Have an amazing Monday!
I am really loving brass right now! I love the kind of worn, golden glow it has about it. I’ve been sort if inadvertently collecting pics with lots of brass featured and thought you might enjoy them as much as I do! 🙂
Dark & Light: Brass looks good in both dark and light color schemes. I think it brings a luxurious warmth and texture to both.
Clockwise from top left: Brass pendants and footstool – Atlanta Homes & Gardens, a brass topped iron bed – (source?), chic office with custom brass etageres, ceiling pendant, and side table – Amy D Morris/Atlanta Homes & Gardens Christmas House, Scala Klismos chair from the Brass Collection – Elle Decor Showhouse 2010.
Desk Set: What an elegant way to bling out your desk, right!?
Phoebe Howard etagere – Atlanta Homes & Gardens, Colored Pencil and Brass Holder Set – Jayson Home & Garden, desk with brass pulls and desk lamp – (source?), vintage chalkboard globe – Etsy (similar).
Light Brigade: I don’t think you can go wrong with a well placed brass lamp. I’m gaga over Anthropologie’s $1800+ floor lamp… its swoon worthy!
Tulip Family – Hive Modern, Etch Light – Tom Dixon/DWR, Gilded Glow Floor Lamp – Anthropologie, ‘Jana’ desk lamp – Arteriors Home.
That’s my roundup! What are your favorite brass pieces?
A couple of years ago I spotted my first silk floral arrangement made to look as if the stems are actually in water. I wondered where I could find some that were better looking than the cheesy discount store versions I was looking at. My internet hunt turned up online catalog Inside Avenue. They carry the now ubiquitous silk-flowers-in-faux-water arrangements, home accessories, furniture, fabrics, wallpapers, rugs, and lighting. Pretty much a treasure trove of cool home decor stuff.
Somewhere along the way I lost track of the link. I couldn’t remember the name of the company either. All my attempts to find it again went awry until I remembered what led me there in the first place: faux floral arrangements. That did the trick.
It was fun rolling through the mountain of cool stuff available at there, though there is so much that at times looking through everything takes the patience of Job (especially since their categories aren’t subcategorized in any way). But, like many a brick and mortar store, sometimes half the fun is “unearthing” something amazing… if you’re just willing to go beyond a cursory glance.
Above are a few of my favorite items from my last surf. At the top of the list is the beautiful brass and marble lamp that reminds me of a miniature version of the Arco Lamp (@DWR).
Above:
Brass and marble desk lamp
White Tulips silk flower arrangement
Silver round side table
Raffles Chandelier by Currey & Co.
All – Inside Avenue
Once upon a time if you looked at my wardrobe all you’d find was black, white, and blue. Yes, sadly, I dressed for years in third day bruise colors. Then at some point I decided that I kinda liked pink. Then purple. For a while every article of clothing I bought was some brilliant shade of green. Eventually, I even succumbed to the mother of all bold colors, that femme fatale, red. Now, I can’t get enough of anything gray… All this to say, that I’m a fairly recent fan of color.
A couple of colors that I’d never thought I’d ever have a jones for, no matter how deeply enmeshed in the color wheel I became, are orange and yellow. They just never did anything for me. They kind seemed a little too much color (this is comimg from a girl who swore she’d never be caught in red!). Orange still doesn’t do a thing for me… But yellow? I’m definitely coming around.
Don’t worry, Orange, I’m sure I’ll come around.
Inspiration photos from:
cococozy
Belle Madison
Anthropologie
Florence Broadhurst
Volume Twenty Five on Etsy
There is a new issue of Lonny out now! I LOVE that mag. I mean, could it be any cooler if it tried? Anywho, in the front with all the cool, newly discovered products are a couple of lamps that floated my light fixture lovin’ boat. Featured above:
Tom Dixon’s Etch Light – exclusive to Design Within Reach here in the US, made through some really cool use of production technology… and seriously sexy too!
The table lamp is the Tulip Family Lamp at Hive Modern. This tall, cage-like looker would be great in an entry hall or swank, Wearstler-esque living room.
I heart Lonny for finding these great pieces. It is one of the many reasons I swoon over every issue. Check out their latest.
As Is Home 