Year of the Fox

Has anyone else noticed that foxes seem to be everywhere now? There’s always one or two animals that are especially popular in home décor, etc at a given time, and right now I think foxes are the “it” animal. Take a look at the wide range of fox stuff out there.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

 

I have a soft spot in my heart for foxes due to the fact that my Finnley dog bears a strong resemblance to this cute little animal.

 

Are you into the fox trend? I think they’ll continue to be popular for a while, especially since this awesomely weird music video is so big right now.

Hunting for the Perfect Sofa

My plan for Kate’s apartment initially included this cute gray tufted loveseat from Target, but now we’re looking for something else.

Although Kate’s living room is small we probably need something a little longer for the space. The problem is that most standard sofas are too long for her apartment. So we need a large loveseat or a small sofa that is still affordable and stylish.

Turns out this is not the easiest thing in the world to find. I have found a few options that might work. I’d love to hear which one you like best.

 

Emma Tufted Sofa

Capetown Linen Blend Loveseat

Cumberland Grove Loveseat

Contemporary Blue Sofa

Henry Sofa

So, which sofa would you pick?

Everything Old is New Again

I was browsing Target’s home décor new arrivals yesterday and I found these brass egrets.

Do they look familiar to anyone else??

Yep, they are definitely reminiscent of my vintage brass cranes I have on my coffee table. Obviously they’re not a direct rip-off but they definitely do have that vintage vibe. The new cranes do come with a new price though. The Target versions are $18.99 each, whereas my thrift shop finds only cost a few dollars.

Apartment Makeover Progress

Hello friends. Sorry for the radio silence this week; I blame my husband for that. He has been working nights which has officially screwed up my schedule. So instead of blogging I’ve been going to bed really late and sleeping until noon.

Thankfully he is now done with nights for a while and he actually has some time off, so we have a fun weekend planned. Tonight we’re going to the Mumford & Sons concert, tomorrow we’re going to the Plaza Art Fair and then tomorrow night it’s my friend’s birthday/house warming party. Should be a great weekend!

So excited to see these guys again!

But enough about me. My friend Kate’s apartment is starting to come together nicely! I picked up her curtains from HomeGoods and the little pink side table from Target (for 50% off!) last weekend. I love how we decided to hang the new curtains and her existing sheers.

She also ordered the rug from Rugs USA and it just came in. Doesn’t it look great?!

We still have a long way to go but I think we have a really good start!

Beautiful Bar Carts

Maybe it’s the Mad Men effect, but bar carts seem to be popping up everywhere online and I am enjoying this trend.

Society Social Bar Cart via The Glitter Guide

via Lonny

via The Glitter Guide

via Lonny

via Lonny

I’d love to add a bar cart to my office one day. As it is now I just have this little metal shelf with a tiny makeshift bar on the top shelf.

 

Here are some really beautiful options for new bar carts in a wide range of prices.

1. Dorothy Bar Cart, $1345, Furbish Studio; 2. Lisbon Glass Bar Cart, $1200, Interior Home Spaces; 3. The Hayworth, $515, Society Social; 4. Threshold Wood and Brass Finish Bar Cart, $130, Target; 5. Turquoise Palm Beach Bar Cart, $950, Furbish Studio. 6. The Double, $295, Society Social

There are also a ton of great options on Etsy, often for much less than a new cart would cost.

1. Brass and Metal Foldable Bar Cart, $225; 2. Mid Century Lucite Cart, $195; 3. Vintage Inspired Gold Bar Cart, $300; 4. Small Gold Bar Cart, $30. 5. Deco Style Vintage Bar Cart, $895; 6. Milo Baughman Chrome Bar Cart, $895

$1000 Apartment Makeover Mood Board

My good friend Kate just moved into a new apartment and she asked me to help her decorate it. She specifically needs help with her living room; there are a few pieces she wants to keep but there’s a lot that she needs to buy. And she’s starting her first job out of law school so she’s on a limited budget of only $1000. It’s a tough challenge but I am up for it!

Here’s a few before shots of the room. And FYI, these were taken very soon after Kate moved in so she was still in the middle of unpacking…

The only things Kate is set on keeping in the room are the yellow chaise lounge chair, the coffee table, and the TV/ TV stand. She wants to add a small sofa or loveseat, another chair, curtains, an area rug, and a floor lamp or two.

Here’s what I came up with:

Tufted Gray Loveseat, $399, Target; Slipper chair, $128*, Target; 6’x9’ Moroccan Area Rug, $168*, Rugs USA; Blue Floor Lamp, $40, Target; White Floor Lamp, $64*, Target; Pink and White Side Table, $20, Target; Gold Chaise Lounge Chair, $500, Lamps Plus; Curtains, $60 for 2 panels, Target

What do you think? The gold chaise lounge from Lamps Plus is just to show a similar image as Kate’s existing yellow chaise. I also have some different curtains in mind; I saw these last weekend at HomeGoods for only $30 and I think they’re perfect for the space!

So the total for the loveseat, rug, lamps, accent table, curtains, and chair comes to a grand total of…$850! Not too bad!

We are also planning to buy a little console table for her entryway, repurpose a storage bench to place in front of her windows, and construct some kind of DIY bookshelf shelving under the kitchen bar area.

I can’t wait to share more with you as the room starts to come together!

Furniture Finds from First Friday

Today I’m really excited to show you guys the new furniture I bought for my office!

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone that weighed in on my options for a new desk. I was all set to buy the most popular desk (#4) but by the time I logged on to Target.com to buy it it had gone up in price . So I stopped and reconsidered a little and I decided to look for a vintage desk.

Luckily, this weekend was First Friday when a bunch of huge vintage stores in the West Bottoms open for one weekend only during the month. Unluckily, it was also 95 degrees out so shopping was not as much fun as it could have been. Even in the heat though we did manage to find a couple great pieces!

The first piece we found was this desk at Hickory Dickory. I don’t necessarily love the finish—the top especially needs to be repainted—but it’s solid wood, it’s in really great shape structurally, and it’s the perfect size. Plus it was only $55! Sold!

I was also on the lookout for another piece for the office to give me some storage and display area. I wasn’t sure if that was going to be a buffet, a hutch, a repurposed dresser, or something else, but I was sure we could find something that would work. After browsing through 3 or 4 stores in the heat we were about ready to call it quits but we stopped into one last store, Rag and Bone. It didn’t take long to spot this really great mid-century modern hutch.

Don’t you love it?! It’s the perfect piece for this room. It has plenty of room for my textbooks and design books, plus space for some picture frames and some of my favorite tchotchkes. It was also important to me to find something that had some cabinets in which to store supplies and things that I’d rather not have on display. The full-width top drawer is an extra bonus.

The hutch is in excellent condition. It has a few little dings and scratches but they’re not very noticeable. A good wipedown with some Orange-Glo and it was basically as good as new! I also got it for a fantastic price. The dealer had just marked it down from $195 to $125, and when I asked him if he could do any better on the price he dropped it another $10! Done and done!

The office is not quite finished yet though. I’ve ordered new curtains to replace the ugly white ones in there now, and now that I finally have real furniture in the room I’m ready to hang some art on the walls. I can’t wait for it to be all done!

Vintage Shopping in Illinois

Hi friends! Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I went back to my parents’ house in Illinois for the long Labor Day weekend. It had been a really long time since I had been back for a) more than a couple days, b) with no big plans, like a holiday or a weekend, and c) by myself. So it was nice to be home and have time to just hang out and relax.

Saturday my mom took me shopping at a couple vintage shops in Champaign. The first one had lots of good stuff at great prices. The second shop was actually a high end clothing boutique and vintage shop all in one. It was really cute and well curated but a little more expensive. Here are a few pictures of some pieces I really liked at the second store.

I loved this faux bamboo coffee table. I’ve seen pieces really similar to this but I’ve never seen anything with that shape. It was a good deal at only $115.

I thought this chandelier was so sweet. It would be perfect in a little girl’s room. I like how they had it displayed in this vintage window frame too.

Another unique coffee table. There’s something about this piece that I really like although I can’t tell you exactly what.

This is a really nice Danish modern dining set. I might agree with my mom when she said they ruined it when they painted the wood, although I think they did a really nice job with the paint. I like the turquoise with the natural wood.

Another painted wood mid century piece. I think this style is easier to pull off in an accent table rather than a dining table.

This coffee table was one of my favorite pieces in the store. It was a great table to start with, and although some purists would argue that you shouldn’t touch a mid century wood piece but I like the blue border and the Moroccan stencil.

Last mid century wood and paint piece of furniture, I swear. I thought the vignette with the vintage red and white vinyl chairs was really cute.

Sorry for the blurry picture but I loved this little Indian brass table. If I had a few extra hundred dollars laying around I might have brought it home with me.

This table is a little too shabby-chic for my taste but I thought it was really cool that they turned an old door into a coffee table.

This bright orange beaded hanging shelf is just gorgeous. So chic and stylish for any home.

Okay…so I was kidding about the orange hanging shelf. It’s delightfully tacky and just…bad.

I didn’t make it home with any new furniture but I did find a couple cute accessories at the first consignment store.