Friday Favorites 9.26.14

Happy Friday, loves! Here are a few of my favorite links from the week.

This House Tour

Lauren Conrad’s house tour in In Style is to die for. Somehow she transformed herself from reality TV star to my generation’s lifestyle icon, and I’m so jealous of her style, both in clothing and in her gorgeous L.A. home. It’s the perfect blend of California and Parisian style, casual but sophisticated. See more photos here.

This Sofa

I popped into Anthropologie last weekend to take a break from the Plaza Art Fair crowds (so much fun, but so many people!), and this navy velvet chesterfield sofa literally stopped me in my tracks when I saw it. It’s that gorgeous in person. It’s not exactly cheap ($2498), but it is stunning. It also comes in a ton of other pretty colors, including teal, yellow, and rose. Check it out here.

This Kitchen

I love a bright, white kitchen, so it’s no surprise that I love this kitchen remodel by designers Owens + Davis. What is surprising though is that according to their instagram page, this is an Ikea kitchen! And obviously I also love the colorful kilim rug by Amber Interiors, it goes so well with the white cabinets and counters. Owens + Davis are seriously talented, see more of their gorgeous rooms here.

This DIY Project

The lovely Erin from House of Earnest (who I had the pleasure of meeting at this year’s Go Blog Social conference) comes up with the prettiest, expensive-looking DIY projects, like this copper rimmed glass candleholder. It looks seriously sophisticated and high-end, don’t you think? I think it’d be perfect for a modern fall centerpiece. For more photos and instructions click here.

That’s all for today friends. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. to see more Friday Favorites from past weeks, click here.

Thrifty Find: Faux Bamboo Chairs

Over the past several years that I’ve been reading design blogs I’ve noticed that faux bamboo furniture has been popping up all over the place. I don’t really know where this trend began but I love it! I especially love a good faux bamboo chair at a desk or dining table.

via Better Homes & Gardens

via Southern Living

via Glitter Guide

via ColorDrunk

via Jonathan Adler

I’ve been hunting for inexpensive bamboo pieces for a long time, and with a few exceptions (like my awesome mirror), I haven’t had a lot of luck. Turns out that the Midwest isn’t the hotspot of Chinoiserie furniture, who knew?

But I finally had a spot of luck the other day when I came across a set of four faux bamboo Thomasville chairs on Craigslist for $300. I really only needed one chair, but the seller had another buyer interested in two chairs and would only sell me the other two. I didn’t want to lose this purchase so I went ahead and bought two of them, but I did negotiate the price down from $150 to $115 for two armless chairs. It may not be thrift store prices but I think they’re well worth it, especially because they’re in perfect condition. The previous owner had used a sprayer to repaint them and she recovered the seats in a durable black faux-leather vinyl. Plus it’s much less than you would pay for two new chairs, especially ones this stylish.

I’m using one as my desk chair and the other is hanging out next to the fireplace in the living room, although I may end up moving it someplace else. I tried it in the entryway but I missed the color of the dining chair that’s there now.

What do you think? Have you jumped on the faux bamboo bandwagon yet? Or have you found any other treasures on Craigslist lately?

Affordable Outdoor Furniture

On Wednesday I showed you my house’s landscaping makeover and I think you guys liked it! Thanks for all the kind comments on the blog and on facebook, I really appreciate your feedback!

The only major thing left to do is figure out some furniture for the front porch. I’m not sure what I should do so I’d really like to hear what you think. The first thing to decide is if I want a bench, 1 chair with a small side table, or 2 chairs. It’s a small porch so I don’t want to make it too crowded with furniture, but I also want to make it look inviting.

I really don’t want to spend a lot of money on our patio furniture since it’s mostly for curb appeal. Luckily there are a bunch of affordable options out there, especially over Memorial Day weekend when all the sales are going on. Here are a few pieces that I really like right now:

 

Threshold Holden 2-piece Metal Patio Chair Set, $111, Target / San Martin Chair, $100, Pier 1 / Eucalyptus 2-seater Bench, $152, Overstock.com / Maze Metal Garden Bench, $105, Wayfair / Sophia Hot Pink Dining Chair, $70, cb2 / Threshold Harper 2-piece Metal Patio Chair Set, $133, Target / White Durresi Metal Chair, $80, World Market / Threshold Harper Bench, $151, Target / Golden Rod Yellow Cadiz Metal Chairs, Set of 2, $120, World Market

*all prices listed are current as of May 23*

What do you think? Which option do you like best? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday weekend!

The Mindy Project Apartment: Part Two

Guess what day it is?! No, not Hump Day. It’s Mindy Day!! One of my very favorite TV shows, The Mindy Project, airs tonight and I am so excited for it! What is going to happen with Mindy and Danny??! I can’t wait to find out! And as a special treat Mindy Kaling is going to be live tweeting tonight’s episode, yay!

It’s no surprise that I love Mindy Lahiri’s apartment. It’s colorful without being overwhelming, feminine without being too girly, a good mix of modern, traditional, and eclectic…I could go on and on. I blogged about Mindy’s apartment last February and it’s been one of my most popular posts to date. I’ve been wanting to do a follow up post for a long time now and today it’s finally happening! Enjoy!

Photos from Mindy’s house party in the episode “Be Cool”

Aww how cute does Morgan look?! I’ve grown to love this quirky and weird character.

Puppy! And Jonathan Adler pillows!

To recreate the look of Mindy’s living room I needed a clean-lined white sofa, round mirrored accent tables, and some white or gray gourd lamps. I love the oversized scale of Mindy’s lamps but I couldn’t find any exactly like it so I went with some more traditional gourd lamps. I found almost the exact same throw pillows though: the Jonathan Adler pillows are the same print, just a slightly different color way, and the blue velvet pillow from a Pier 1 is a great match to the one on set.

White Nova Sofa, Bryght / Marilyn Mirrored Round Accent Table, Lamps Plus / Safavieh Amy Gourd Table Lamps, Wayfair / Multi Flame Bargello Throw Pillow, Jonathan Adler / Teal Velvet Pillow, Pier 1 / Multi Diamond Bargello Throw Pillow, Jonathan Adler

And now for the bedroom:

If you’ve seen this episode then you know how heartbreaking this photo is!

The last few episodes have featured some new springy orange bedding. I loved the old Chinoiserie duvet cover from Dwell Studio but I also love the updated cover. I also love the teal and lucite bench and I’m so excited I found the same, or almost exactly the same, bench! Mindy’s love of Jonathan Adler extended to the bedroom with the Aquarius pillow. That abstract art print is fabulous, and I found a great print with a similar feeling from Etsy artist Cortney North. The largest available size is 13” x 19”, but many Etsy sellers are willing to print custom sizes if you want something closer in scale to Mindy’s art.

 

Coral Lamu bedding, Serena & Lily/ Aquarius pillow, Jonathan Adler / Teal Glamour Bench, High Fashion Home / Blue and Orange Abstract Art, Etsy

Be sure to check out my first Mindy Project post for more ways to recreate Mindy Lahiri’s apartment in your home!

 

P.S. I really love creating these posts, so if you have a favorite TV or Movie home that you’d like to see recreated let me know! I already have one request for Olivia Pope’s apartment from Scandal!

HomeGoods Blogger Event Recap

This Saturday was a busy, busy day for me. I got up early so I could attend a private shopping event at HomeGoods that started at 8:00 a.m. That’s much earlier than I like to be up and about on the weekend but it was totally worth it. Angela from Handmade in the Heartland worked with the HomeGoods on Ward Parkway in Kansas City to put together an awesome shopping event for her friends and followers. Everybody got a $10 gift card just for attending, and we had opportunities to win extra shopping money by playing “The Price is Right” and by instagramming photos of a favorite item in the store. This photo won me another $20!

Of course I took advantage of the private shopping time before the store opened to browse the store and pick up some new goodies. Look at all the fun stuff I spotted there!

I wanted to buy just about everything I saw but I limited myself to only one cart’s worth of new treasures . I bought a set of nice new plastic water glasses and some birthday gifts for my sister in law: a pretty picture frame, a scented candles, and a box of French chocolate cookies.

I also bought a new pet bed and some new throw pillows: 

In addition to the gift cards, Angela also gave everyone a nice handmade present. How cute is this sign?!

I’m so glad I went to the HomeGoods event, not only because of the shopping and free gifts, but also because I got to see a bunch of my new blogging buddies I met at Go Blog Social! It was great to see these girls again!

The rest of the day was spent downtown at DIFFA KC’s Conversations on Dining and Dining by Design. Come back later this week for my recap of these amazing events!

Currently Loving: Bright and Colorful Sofas

Hello everyone! I wanted to share a new love of mine: bright and colorful sofas. I know a neutral sofa is usually the smart and safe way to go (and the way I went), but I am loving the impact a colored sofa makes in a room. Take a look.

Caitlin Wilson’s Living Room via Décor Pad

Living room by Anne Elliott via bossy color blog

via Décor Pad

Lindsey Harper’s Living Room via Style Beat

Jenna Lyons’ Living room via breakfast at toast

A sofa is normally an investment piece, which is why it is a safe bet to buy a neutral sofa and add color and prints with pillows, accent chairs, and other textiles. But there are a lot of affordable options for sofas in amazing colors, so I say if you love it, buy it. Here are a few sources for you.

Stockholm Sofa in Sandbacka green, Ikea, $999; Crosby Sofa in Lagoon, West Elm, $1249; Rue Petal Apartment Sofa, CB2, $999; Clare Fabric Sofa in Ocher, Macy’s, $699 (sale); Modern Purple Velvet Sofa, Overstock.com, $867; Chloe Velvet Sofa in Seafoam, Macy’s, $699 (sale)