Second Chances

On my last post, I neglected to mention a couple of other tiny purchases I made about a week ago. This was mainly because they didn't look that stellar in their found state.

 

They were two rather unimpressive violet prints from the Goodwill store. But at just $4 each, I knew I could reinvent them. I was drawn to the fact that they had matching gold frames and decent-looking matting. Once, I got home I quickly dismantled them. Unfortunately, the matting was not the same color on each. One was a fairly decent pale greige but the other was an unfortunate anemic sage. I accidentally tore the sage mat while removing the print from it (it really was an accident), but mended it as best I could. Then, to conceal its color and the slight tear, I covered the mat with brown craft paper.

Now onto the replacement art. I bought some drawing paper and charcoal at Michael's, looked for inspiration, then got to work. An artist I am not, but I can imitate simple lines so I went with some very simple subjects. I know my limitations. Here is what I came up with . . .

a nude figure drawing

and some random abstract.

What do you think? Anything would be a vast improvement over those violets.

The nude is the one whose mat got recovered. Also, it has glass whereas the abstract does not. Details. My children shriek with laughter whenever they see the nude. I forgot how hysterical naked people can be to children. I reprimanded them and told them art is not funny. That didn't seem to help. So, the drawings may be going in my bedroom. For now, they're parked on top of my grandmother's china cabinet in my kitchen/breakfast area. I'll have to live with them a while to see where they need to be.

In other totally unrelated news, my husband came home from work this evening and surprised me with these:

Isn't he the best? Today is the anniversary of the day he proposed to me 14 years ago. Isn't that sweet? I totally forgot. He likes to surprise me from time to time with little romantic gestures like this. He hates Valentine's Day and its artificiality, so he thought this was much more original. I agree. So what's that little fake yellow flower ring doing in the rose? When he proposed, he stuck my engagement ring down in a rose for me to find. I swear it's not as cheesy as it sounds. Or maybe it is, but I don't care. Thank you, Matt, and I love you!

And just to balance that bit of sweetness with reality, my daughter just threw up about an hour ago, so no school for her tomorrow. You win some, you lose some.

Hope you had a happy Monday!

Show and Tell

Yesterday I downloaded a lot of photos off my phone from the past month. I tend to snap photos whenever I'm out and about and see something interesting. Just to prove that I don't buy everything I see (I show a lot of restraint, really), here are things that caught my eye that didn't go home with me.

These first two are from the Downtown Antique Mall, a bastion of coolness.

These Parzinger-style floor lamps were very cool. Someone else thought so too as they were marked "SOLD."

The wood sculpture initially caught my eye, but check out the unique table it's sitting on. It's the capital of a column! Loved the Greek key pattern, the aged patina, the marble top, and the fact it was on casters.

What's not to love about this tole wheat sheaf table? Reminds me of the one Julie at Monkey Grass Hill snagged for her home.

Julie's table. Check out her story here. She got quite the deal.

The tole table and the three items below are all from Gas Lamp Antiques. While I was there poking around, a very nice lady (Hi, Laurie) actually recognized me from my blog. I was beyond flattered. She was super nice, and it really made my day!

Loved the shape of this bed. Would be a great contrast against light walls.

Great conversation piece. 

Such a cute and delicate little chair. Love the fabric. Would look great in my daughter's room but it's not in the budget.

 

Cool X-base console tables. And for $169, I thought they were a bargain.

The console above and next several items are from Southeastern Salvage, a great place to find some bargains.

Nice round mirrors. I think they were about $80 each. 

Not sure I'm on the horn bandwagon, but if I were I'd be in luck.

Cowhides galore for cheap, about $130, I think. I still love these (as I blogged about here) but can't figure out where I would put one. May revisit this issue.

And petite little gourd lamps in bright colors. Almost got one for Meg's room. Might still. They were about $30.

Liked the colors in these bird prints. The greens and oranges were very vivid.

The following items are from a new consignment store I happened upon called Remix Furniture Consignment on 8th Avenue in Nashville just down from the Habitat for Humanity thrift store. I thought they had a great selection. Here are some of those finds . . .

Still looking for an Asian-style coffee table? This one was only $75.

More Brno chairs! They had 8 of these. Of course, they were $650 each. I really love the look of this flat arm version. Sigh.

Loved the shape of this vintage wingback. There were two of these for $70 each. Of course, they would require new upholstery.

The next two items are from a little consignment shop called Consign 2 Design.

Loved this green vase. There were two of them (oh joy). Thought they would look good on a mantel.

Great little pillow for $12. Looks similar to Scalamandre's Le Tigre.

Fun flamestitch or zigzag loveseat. I believe it's on sale now. Would be great in dark library. Hard to tell from the photo, but it's kind of rust and blue. This I found at Clearinghouse Consignment in Belle Meade.

The next five things I found at the Antique Shoppes at Belle Meade. Definitely not a thrifty place, but somewhere to buy investment pieces for sure.

I believe this beauty actually is Scalamandre's Le Tigre. Oh, how I wish I could afford this. Sigh.

Beautiful antique sunburst mirror. Also out of my price range. A girl can dream.

Love this pop of orange, nailhead goodness. And there's storage inside.

Sorry for the bad photo. It is just an iphone. More orange yumminess, this time in a faux bois needlepoint version.

I have always been a fan of the Louis Phillippe mirror. Gorgeous.

These last three finds are from the Flea Market this past weekend. Let me just say, it was FREEZING. And I came home empty-handed. Boo.

I SO should have bought these lamps. $60 for the pair, and she said she would have gone lower. Original linen scalloped shades.

Close-up of its Chinoiserie details. These are truly the ones that got away. I'm claiming it was so cold I couldn't think properly.

Cute, cheap chairs. $28 each. Couldn't justify another chair purchase.

Sleek and sexy.

And the one that didn't get away (okay, so I lied and bought one thing. I'm only human) . . .

This brass gurgle vase for $19. It's pretty big. Bought it yesterday from Clearinghouse Consignment. It was 50% off! I love it. Not sure my kids do (or my friend Becky), but oh well.

I know . . . I have a shopping addiction. This could work in your favor however. If you ever need help scouting unique finds for your own home or help picking out furniture, fabric or fixtures, I'm your girl. Just shoot me an email. I'd love to work with you!

FLOR'd

While perusing my mail the other day I came across a FLOR catalog. Surely, you're familiar with FLOR carpet tiles. Their tag line is "Inspired Modular Floorcovering."

I have to admit, I've never considered purchasing carpet tiles for my home. I've often thought they might work in a basement or playroom but that's about the extent of it. And while my view on carpet tiles may or may not have changed, I must tell you what most impressed me about the catalog was the rooms themselves. The interior design grabbed my attention. A lot of the rooms in the catalog were gorgeous . . .  I felt myself wanting to see more.

The spaces ranged from traditional to modern to transitional.  A variety of styles - something I always respond to. Love the cabinet in this entryway. And who doesn't need a little leopard stool?

When I ran across this photo with the Sophistikat tiles in a modified zigzag I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew I had seen this before. A quick internet search confirmed it . . .

This image was featured in Traditional Home (via DecorPad). Now, obviously there are some small differences - mainly the styling on the console and the arrangement of boxes underneath - but this is undoubtedly the same foyer. Of course, the rug is different.

That's when it occurred to me that maybe the styling in the catalog was so great because these are actual designer rooms that FLOR has modified with its own carpets. Duh. In fact, I even emailed the company to verify this fact but haven't received a response yet (as I just emailed them around lunchtime). I'll let you know if/when I do. I'm sure they have permission to do this, and I'm not trying to rat them out. Just thought it was interesting.

Here are some other rooms I was drawn to . . .

This photo also looks very familiar. Love the green bed, the lamps and the bookcases. Not as crazy about the carpet.

If you're a fan of suzani patterns, this one is for you.

I love the colors in this Mag-Neat-O design. It's no secret, I like zigzags.

Feathers! Not sure this is for me, but how cool is that?

Just a pretty room, and I like this simple pattern.

Of course, Martha Stewart has a line of FLOR tiles. Is there anything this woman has not put her name on? The following three designs are from her line. They may be my favorites.

This Lattice design reminds me of the design down the side of my blog modeled after Quadrille's Java Java fabric.

Photo via The Designer's Attic

Love this Faux Bois pattern.

And this Serengeti pattern would add pizazz to any room.

Now, a lot of these tiles are not cheap and there are definitely more cost-effective options out there, but I think they offer a unique flooring solution for some. The idea of being able to change out a damaged or stained square is somewhat appealing in my two-child, two-dog, one-cat home.

So, what do you think? Would you ever cover your floor with FLOR?

UPDATE: Julie Zanoni, the PR person from FLOR, responded to my email with the following information: "FLOR's photography is actually shot in real people's homes. Basically, the homes are found through agencies, so it is likely that homes have probably been used for multiple publications, etc." Very interesting, I think.

Source: FLOR

The Dark Side

A few months back I decided to make a change to my little powder bathroom. Ever since we moved in over four years ago, I've wanted to change the red walls to something different. I waffled back and forth over wallpaper options (an idea which I still love), but after seeing some inspiration pics I decided to go with paint - very dark paint.

Here are a couple of those inspirations . . . 

Both images from Lonny.

I decided against black but instead went with an ambiguous navy bluish-dark gray. Seriously, still don't know what color it is exactly. It's appropriately named "Mysterious" by Benjamin Moore.

Here's the before:

As you can see, I already have a swatch on the wall. Not the best before shot, but you get the idea.

During: 

So flattering. Here, my freakishly long arms came in handy.

And, after:

The pear painting is by Montgomery, AL artist Nan Cunningham. The one above the toilet is a cheapo thing I found at Southeastern Salvage. The rug is Nate Berkus from HSN.

My mom did the sketch years ago. I stole it from her home at some point.

Found this brass towel holder at a consignment store for $15. The towel is from Marshall's. I realize I'm mixing my cats - a lion holding a leopard towel - but oh well.

 

 

I also replaced the light fixture, but it still needs some work so I'll share that at another time. I really like the way it turned out. I went with a semi-gloss finish and even painted the ceiling. Very enveloping. Sorry the photos are not great. It's hard to photograph a very dark, very small room.

So, what do you think, would you come over to the dark side?