Around Here

I recently found some Persian rugs on clearance at Homegoods for $25!

Yes, my hardwood floors are orange. Trust me, it's on the list.

 

 

 

Of course, I had to get one, and actually bought one for my friend Becky too (she paid me back). It now sits in my entry replacing this one that I bought for $20 at an estate sale . . .

While I still love this rug, unfortunately, my puppy has had a couple of "accidents" on it, and it has a couple of large bleached out stains on it. Ugggh. I'm going to check into having it professionally cleaned (my amateur cleaning didn't do much good), but for now the new one is taking its place. 

Speaking of my puppies, when I left the room for a moment to get something, I came back to my seat on the sofa to start my blog post to find this . . . 

Seat stealers! And I think Zoe is trying to take over my blog as well. She's basically sitting on poor Piper. Aren't they the cutest?

And some of you (namely Nelya) have admonished me for teasing the painting of my basement room Hague Blue and not showing you at least a sneak peek. So, I ran downstairs and snapped a shot to give you an idea of what it looks like. So, without further ado, ta da . . .

I hung one of Matt's photos on the wall just to show you the contrast.

This is about all you're gonna get for now for several reasons. A. There's a bunch of furniture in the middle of the room. B. We need new carpet down there and C. It will be a while before the room comes together because we need to get a new sofa upstairs so we can move the old one (the one the dogs were lying on) downstairs. This will take time. But, I love the color. I may have mentioned this before, but this room has NO windows, no natural light, so rather than fight that, I decided to embrace it and paint the room a dark blue (Sherwin Williams color-matched Farrow & Ball's Hague Blue in semi gloss). It's very cozy and enveloping. I can't wait to share the final product, but it may be a little while so please bear with me. 

So is there anything new going on around your house?

$20 Can Go a Long Way

So, what does $20 get you these days? Or more to the point, what did I get for $20? For starters, this 3x5 wool rug at an estate sale . . .

I love it! It takes the place of a rather chewed-up rug my puppy got to. It adds a great vivid punch to my otherwise rather black and white entry and pulls in the blue of the adjacent dining room. I think it's a Gabbeh tribal-style rug from India (from my extensive eBay research), and the lady who sold it to me said she bought it from ABC Carpet & Home in NYC. I think I got a deal!

My next $20 purchase, a pillow for my sofa . . . 

It's the new Tokyo Garden pillow from World Market:

Well, I actually went back and bought another one after I decided I liked it, so technically I spent $40 on two pillows . . . but I still think that's pretty good.

My home is not styled at all in this photo so there is crap on the table and in the kitchen. I'm keeping it real, people.

Here they are on my sofa. I've been needing a punch of color on my sofa for a LONG time but kept changing my mind about the fabrics I wanted for throw pillows. Now, these World Market pillows are not the best quality of course (rather thin cotton) and the inserts were pretty pitiful, but I changed them out for down inserts and I think it makes a world of difference. Of course, I don't think they match my rug at all, but for now I'm going on the delusion theory that all colors match. And yes, I know those columns in the background (that have to be there structurally so the house doesn't crash down) need to be painted. Once again, I was crippled by indecision for the longest time . . . that's a whole other post . . . but now I've decided to paint them to match the rest of the white trim in the house.

I'm loving my little $20 pops of color. Have you made any little changes lately that make you happy?

Sources: World Market

Craig is Looking Good

Sorry, I was planning to post this on Thursday before I went out of town this weekend but Blogger had other ideas. During one of my recent Craigslist trolling sessions, I found some interesting pieces. First up, this Brutalist/Cubist-style mid-century dresser/credenza . . .

It looks to be a twin of Nelya's (of Head Over Heels) that Naomi (of Design Manifest) was lusting after . . .

I alerted Naomi to its presence, but alas it's too big for her space and she can't truck down to Tennessee to get it anyway. So, if anyone out there is looking for a cool piece, it's still available. A slight hitch - they're only selling it as a set (with a bed, highboy and bedside tables).Why people refuse to sell things separately is beyond me. Here is one of the bedside tables . . .

And speaking of bedside tables, I also spotted a pair of these up for sale . . .

which bear a striking resemblance to these on 1st Dibs . . . 

And while we're on an Asian kick, I thought this little side table/cabinet was pretty cute . . .

I also saw some great mid-century modern chairs . . . 

and barstools . . . 

Lastly, some cool rugs.

Love the colors in this kilim rug. Where could I put this??

I usually see these in red, so cream is a nice change.

And last but not least, this handmade Greek rug. Just loved the colors . . . 

So, have you found any great Craigslist goodies lately?