It's a corker!

I've been away again, and for that dear reader(s?) I apologize. Our floor replacement efforts are now in full-swing, and by full-swing I mean the dogs and I are currently holed up in the bedroom while the nice men install the bamboo in the living/dining room and hall. Hooray!

As you may know, home improvement projects like these tend to...um, balloon, and this one is no exception. We've now got our sights set on knocking out the horrible kitchen tile since we found a ridiculously good deal on some cork. This cork, as a matter of fact:


(You'll also notice said horrible kitchen tile to the left of the lovely cork plank.)

AND, it looks like we're also going to be replacing the unimpressive red hearth tiles with some type of natural stone.

So again, my apologies for the leave of absence. Finished floor pics to come!

Homegoods Scouting

I went over to my local Homegoods to see what I could see. Here are some photos from my decor reconnaissance mission:

Black lacquer table with shapely legs – $199

If you want to personalize a bit, it would most likely look pretty-as-you please with this knob:

Anthropologie Gothic knob – $14
(Yeah, it's mother-of-pearl and although I'm not 100% sold on it I don't deny its appeal.)

Racy red lacquer chest – also $199

Methinks this one could use some different knobs too. Any of these would do nicely...

Anthropologie Pietre Garden and Flower knobs – $12

Anthropologie Toscana and Nacre Daisy knobs – $16 and $12

Anthropologie Royal Menagerie Crow, Ram, Stork and Squirrel knobs – $12
(Why not try one of each?)

Okay, moving on.

Nifty black lamps with shades that have pattern on the inside – $39.99 each

Lovely green lamps that would look pretty great in my living room – $39.99 each

This lamp on clearance sports a nifty textural pattern and a vivid turquoise shade – $32

These lanterns are HUGE and marked down – $30 each

Another shapely metal lantern on clearance – $15

Flame stitch patterned wing chair – $349
(This looked much nicer in person than in the iPhone photo.)

I like this patterned rug for a kitchen – $14.99

Not sure why it was sitting horizontally, but this gold chain link mirror is awesome – $24.99

I could easily be persuaded to buy this sunburst-y mirror and spray paint it the color of my choice – $24.99

I've had a soft spot for Poe ever since I did a term paper on him in high school. I dig this black bird figurine not only for its poetic significance but also for its slight resemblance to a certain Pigeon light I've been coveting – $12.99

Moorish pattern quilt – $39.99

Trellis pattern pillow on clearance – $7

Why, why did I not buy that pillow?

Oh and by the way. If you've ever wanted a moose sculpture that's roughly 3/4 actual moose size — and who doesn't really — you're in luck!

And for the bargain price of $249. Fantabulous.

If I happened to be going back to school...

...I think these items would come in handy.

Oilcloth Lunch Bag from All-Pop.com, $10.00
Cavellini Sticky Note Set from Touch of Europe – $12.99

French Marble Paper (for book covers!) from Paper Mojo – $7.25/sheet

How I spent my weekend

Tearing out the last of the icky old laminate in the living/dining room that was damaged by the air handler leak in back in May, and busting out the horrible white tile by the front door. All of this was done in anticipation of our new bamboo floor being installed, which will look like this:


Yay!

Score!

Check out what I picked up on CraigsList this morning for $40!


Yep, it's a working vintage tole chandelier in fantastic condition! Thank you, thank you lighting gods.

I've had a crush on these things for a long time now. So much so that I bought one on eBay a few years ago in hopes of restoring it to its original splendor. Tragically, it had been spray painted metallic gold and needed to be rewired. The best I could do was repaint it white and call it a day, so I'm pretty stoked that now I've got the real deal.

Here are a couple of nice photos featuring these beauties:

by Celerie Kemble, via Matters of Style
This one has lemons on it!

via Decor Pad

Bone nuit

No, that's not a typo — just a really, really cheesy title. Forgive me, I'm very tired and no doubt I have no business coming up with any titles at all at this hour.

But you know something, I've been thinking. I've accumulated enough shelter photos from the Interwebs to realize I seem to like the look of inlaid bone and mother of pearl furniture and accessories. This mirror from Wisteria might be my personal favorite of the bunch:

Wisteria Inlaid Mother-of-Pearl Bird Mirror – $449

Here are a few more examples, three out of four appear via a great post on the subject by Jenny at Little Green Notebook:

via Little Green Notebook

via Little Green Notebook

via Little Green Notebook

Wisteria Inlaid Bone Floral Mirror – $429

What I don't like so much is the fact that these pieces are made from...well, bone. And mollusk shells, respectively. Which led me to ponder how I might somehow mimic the look without (a) the by-products and (b) the hefty pricetag that normally accompanies such pieces.

I'm generally not opposed to the idea of hard work in the name of craftiness, so I'm thinking of trying an experiment. I believe perhaps a similar, although not as intricate bone-like effect could be achieved through decoupage using cutouts of iridescent paper, such as the quartz color sold at Blue Dot Paper Shop — $12.99 for 50 sheets. Similar things are no doubt available by the single sheet, but at this point I'm not sure how many paper cutouts it would take to cover say, a side table. It would require patience but to put it in perspective, if you've ever done mosaic this wouldn't be nearly as messy.

I admit that hand-cutting a bazillion of those things would probably get pretty tedious, so I propose the solution of paper punches available in leaf and flowery type shapes from your local craft store. I bet you'd only need about three shapes to create a motif.


There's also pearlescent paint out there. This company sells stuff that was made for painting cars. It's a powder you can mix with paint and it's $9.99 a bag. Could be tricky to work with initially, but I'm trying to think creatively here.

So what do you think? Is this just extreme fatigue playing tricks on my brain, or is it possible that with enough effort I could make this $15 coffee table for sale on my local CraigsList...



...into something not entirely dissimilar to this?

On the subject of books

Color coded?



Carefully curated?



Or not?

Discuss.

Lovin' you is easy 'cause you're beautiful...

I have a thing for grey velvet. Especially grey velvet sofas.

Anthropologie Ditte Sofa (Sadly no longer available, but I'm sure it was pricey.)

Urban Outfitters Basketweave Velvet Pillow



Pottery Barn Velvet Drape

Giovanni Grey Velvet Chair


Overstock.com Cary Gray Velvet Sofa

photo from Kishana Perera's blog

Urban Outfitters Velvet Tufted Headboard

I generally like my grey velvet a bit more on the charcoal side, but here's my pick for an affordable grey velvet sofa — and with a great shape to boot:

Macy's Chloe Custom Color Sofa in Granite – $899

Some Sunday serenity

Brought to you by the color blue...

photo from Kishani Perera

photo via House Beautiful

photo via Elle Decor

photo via Domino