My enabler ( a splurge)

Do you have a design sounding board?  You know, that friend or relative with excellent taste who you go to when you're making design decisions, just for (the right) second opinion?  Mine is my friend Sara.  When we both lived in New York, there were many flea market trips and purchases approved, many sessions of furniture rearranging, many design projects completed together.  I remember, after a longtime roommate moved on and I lived alone for a brief period of time, I used the extra room as a dining room (SUCH a luxury in Brooklyn), and decided to paint it this color (based on this picture.)

Sara came over and we had a painting party.  She slept overnight, and in the morning it had snowed, one of those peaceful snows where the world goes quite and you're left with something softer than the usual.  And we walked 12 blocks to the subway together down the middle of the street (the cars were buried) and we went to work.

Now I am in Minneapolis and Sara is in San Francisco, but we happen to be decorating our first real family homes at the same time (our forever homes, if we were taken with the idea of permanence, which I don't quite think we are.)  We catch up by g-chat regularly, swap pictures of progress in our homes, share links to fabrics we are considering, get a second opinion.  I can't count the number of middle-of-the-night emails I have sent with photo attachments that start out "what do you think about....." The number of text message photos from her with subjects like "WHAT has gotten into me?"

My living room has been, for some reason, a hard nut to crack, and when I first thought i figured it all out, Sara got an email with a lot of satisfied exclamation points.  After the ottoman project got under way, and since I can't afford grasscloth just now, all that was really left were three throw pillows.  Or, rather, the fabric or covers for some blank down inserts that are sitting on my loveseat and armchair.   This should not be difficult--should, in fact, be super fun--but I had dug myself into a corner of crazy specifications, and when I finally found "the perfect" throw pillow, it was an etsy find with designer fabric and well out of my price range.  But there was that money!  That my dad gave me for the vintage lamp!  The one my mom and I found at that sale!  That I did not buy!  And really, when it's perfect its perfect, right?

Guess who got the email?

That's right.  My second opinion.  My enabler.

I said something like this (okay, this exactly, plus some more):

Well, I need a throw pillow on the green danish armchair, and it needs to pick up on/ balance the African textile on the loveseat across the room, which means it should have some hot pink or raspberry in it, plus possibly some golden/orangey color, and then, to ground it in the room, it should have either green or brown, and then to keep things bright it should probably be on a white background or have a good dose of white in it.  A tall order.  And then throw in the fact that the scale needs to work around the very small pattern in another pair of throw pillows and the large tile pattern in the rug.  Plus the fact that it needs to work with the three rigid patterns in the room without being TOO rigid itself.

Oh, and it should be 20 inch square to work with the down insert I already have.

Oh my, writing it out like that makes me realize that of course this has been a challenge.

So I found this.  And I think it might be perfect.  On top of meeting all the above requirements, I like how the stripey edges pick up on the stripey ottoman and a modern painting over the fireplace which is--you guessed it--striped.  Okay, so perfect. Except it's silk moire--not the best for the kids--and it's $70--not the best for the busted budget.  But my dad recently gave me $60 to buy that lamp, which I did not buy.

So.  I should get this pillow and be done, right?

And just in case you don't want to link out to it, here's the pillow in question.

And guess what she said?

She said: yes.  Enabled.

So.  A few things.  I never fully believed in the power of designer fabric, generally thinking that you can fully get it done for less, but this may make a convert of me.  Also, thanks Dad!  And finally, for the record, Sara would have told me if this was a crap purchase.  Instead she said to go for it and then proceeded to pull and old silk jacket from her giveaway pile that might work for additional fabric in the room, and is in the process of sending me a picture.

Are you lucky enough to have a design confidant?  A style enabler?  Someone who will tell you the truth, yet support your crazy plans?  (I'm slightly jealous if this person is your partner.)  Also:  have you ever splurged on designer fabric?  Of course I'll share the outcome when this little old pillow cover arrives.  I'm strangely excited.

Quilted

I've been kind of into quilting lately, when it shows up in unexpected place, like these leather chairs from overstock, kind of like a Chanel handbag (only cheaper! ha.)


This quilted headboard is underscored by the simple quilted-silk coverlet (I almost bought a remnant of black quilted silk like this for the guestroom headboard, but ultimately decided it would be too dark.)

[decorpad]

A geometric quilted version of the ubiquitous garden stool

[decorpad]

And this insane vanity. (Okay, in this case there's a fine line between "tufted" and "quilted" but I'm just going with it.)



Last time I was at S.R. Harris, I asked for some samples of quilted silk. The Russian guy who always thinks I'm crazy gave me the teeniest sliver of this pink one, (it's $60 a yard, well minus 50%, but that is WAY high end for this place.) It's not really for any specific project, I just felt like I had to have it.


The woman who mans the registers was a bit more generous with her cutting of this green woven-look quilted silk, which I would like to put on the headboard in a guest room, if I can get the "client" on board with the project (Mom?)

The scans totally don't do them justice, but believe me, they are gorgeous.


And so, when the most recent House Beautiful came out featuring this crazy sunroom, where the designer Rob Southern had this salmon Brunschwig & Fils chinzt hand-quilted for all the upholstered pieces, I nearly died and went to heaven.




So old fashioned, yet somehow fresh, and, of course, pretty over the top.

Maybe I'll get myself some quilted chucks to satisfy the craving, for now!

Shopping round up

I made the rounds to a couple of big box stores yesterday, looking for bits and piece for various projects, and found some surprises that I thought I'd pass along to you.

Target has this new blue and white ikat melamine plates, just a few dollars a piece. (If they were ceramic, I would pick up the bowls to go with our royal copenhagen blue fluted mega china, but alas.)



At Home Goods, in addition to snagging lamps in the right shade of green for the living room (more on that later), I spotted this little slipper chair with a vintage polo print. So cute for a little boys room and just $99.


But the real surprise was Pier 1 imports. I remember shopping for CLOTHES and jewelry at Pier 1 when I was a kid (I remember one dress in particular in blue, black, and white ikat--it would be so "in" again today), but their home stuff is kind of all over the map, and often seems a bit pricey for the quality. I have found good deals on occasion though, like our outdoor chairs, so I popped in on a whim yesterday, as I was in the market for some "global" throw pillows. While they didn't have quite what I was looking for, I did snag this teeny tiny geometric pillow for just $3 (one corner is missing its pom poms--adds character, right?)


And I saw many other items of interest. Another good choice for a boys room, I love this little rattan bucket seat for $129


Love this modern red X-base table, though I couldn't find the price


Was very tempted by these beaded-edges cloth napkins in great colors for less than $5 a piece (but worried that the bead trim was not the best for daily use, and we use cloth napkins every day)


Caught sight of this chain-mail pillow on my way out the door


Love this outdoor lantern for inside--kind of reminds me of those franco albini rattan ottomans that I do so love

But my absolute favorite is this outdoor throne.


It reminds me of these 60s outdoor sets (of course not as cool, but much more accessible), which I covet intensely.

[House Beautiful]

I also picked up to excellent little surprises for Oliver's room, but I think I'll hold onto those until we reveal the "after."

Have you had any good find lately? Let me know!

Deal: Mongolian Lambswool Pillow

Today on One Kings Lane, the Mongolian Lambswool Pillows are on special for $59 (retail $150), but they're all already on hold.


You could get the same thing at West Elm, where the 16" square is always $59 (above), or you could do what I did: snap one up at Target for just $12.99 for an 18" square. There it is, on the new loveseat:


That's right, $12.99. It's not actual lambswool, but hey, isn't that maybe a good thing?

You should definitely sign up for One Kings Lane if you haven't already (and if you're in the market for all kinds of home goodies at substantial discounts.) Here, I'll invite you.

You're welcome.

The verdict

I wrote last week about the hemming and hawing over the purchase of a new, custom loveseat, one of the most expensive purchases for this house (or any other house) that we have made. If you read that post, you know I was nervous because I almost always hate something new when it comes into my home, at least for the first 24 hours.

Well. The loveseat arrived Friday, and true to form, I hated it. I mean, I recognized it as a thing of beauty, particularly its sinuous, curved sides and the way the metallic thread in the fabric sparkled under direct light.


But I hated it in the room. The tweedy fabric felt, well, too tweedy on the stark, moorish tile pattern of the orange and white rug. The back felt just a little too high with the low-slung profile of the DWR bantam sofa, a little too proper with the slouchiness of the vintage danish armchair. The stupid thing is, I knew these things when I ordered the sofa. I had measured, and knew the back would be 2 inches taller than the sofa's back, but somehow thought it wouldn't bother me in real life. I knew that the tweed was a bit dull in flat daylight (though gorgeous in the bright sun and under the overhead.) I knew that the shape was more sophisticated than the two big pieces already in the room. I CHOSE it for its sophisticated and feminine counterpoint to those pieces. Which just goes to show, it's all in the mix, and the mix is more art than science.

Over the weekend, I stole many furtive sidelong glances at the little lady, wishing she was this guy,



and that I had snapped him up at the antique store and had him recovered in deep brown velvet. (In my pining, I conveniently ignored the fact that Dave nixed this piece on comfort, and that I had rejected deep brown velvet for sucking the light out of the room.) I think part of the problem is that the vibe of the room came together in my mind after I decided on the loveseat, and I had settled into something slouchy and bold and a little more masculine than I typically go.

Now, of course, I have visions of upping the sophistication to match this new piece, with a white shag beni ourain rug
and gold poufs (Nate Berkus peddles a version on HSN for just $99 each, compared to $325 for the John Derian ones),


maybe even some kind of round marble and bronze midcentury coffee table. But of course the whole idea of a new loveseat was to bring together everything I had already put in the room. This is the other trouble with bringing in a new piece: it changes the way you see everything else.

But another thing happened over the weekend, too. I fell asleep on the loveseat watching a movie, because it is super comfy. (The movie was Network, circa 1974, which has the most incredible 1970s furnishings and interiors). My girls snuggled in to it (and jumped off the seat one too many times.)



And I kept admiring its corner when I looked down the hall from the kitchen and dining room.

As things will, it grew on me. And I knew that a little styling might go a long way. Today was NOT the day to drive all over town, with 3-5 inches of unplowed snow on the ground, but I had a bee in my bonnet and persevered, like an idiot. One of the pillows I set out to get, the gilded grasscloth you see here

eluded me on the grounds that west Elm is closed for inventory today (it shocks me how often this happens to me), but the pillows I brought home were cheaper anyway, and it's possible (though I can't believe I'm saying this), that the gold thread in the pillow + the loveseat might have been too much gold. I think the white and the graphic zigzag bring the couch to life and play down the sophistication. In a good way.


Plus, the white flokati was $12 from Target and the brown and white zig zag was on sale for $13 at Kohls, and free to me, because I had a merchandise credit from Christmas!

What do you think?

p.s. These are the first photos of the living room on this blog, and I kind of can't believe I'm putting them up with the mess on the coffee table. Keeping it real, I guess. Keeping it real.

A Colorful Accent

Faith Sheridan has my husband's favorite colors: Malachite and I call it a cinnamon.



Bev & Mike
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