2/01/2010

The State of Things

Been moving some things around and a slight bit of progress has occurred, however, I'm a bit frustrated with the unfinished state of the front rooms of the house. The dining room is shaping up pretty well, but the new dining chairs are MIA and I will need to buy a skinnier, longer console.

As far as the living room goes, I just can't get the area in front of the fireplace right...at least without spending a bunch of money. If I had more spare change and time, then I would:
1) change the rug...problem is, it's an odd-sized area so this will be a tough find
2) reupholster and refinish the little bench move it to another room...then have a wide, tufted bench like this made in a smoke colored velvet to use in that place
3) replace the glass insert with mirror on the gold campaign coffee table
4) reupholster the scroll arm chair and the settee

Voila - welcome to my conundrum. The goal is to get a more cohesive look going here. That striped silk chair is pretty, but throws a wrench in my cool-toned color palette. It didn't look so gold on the web.
 
 
 

Check out my new lamp...shade was $10 at the Arteriors warehouse sale!!

View from the entry...
 

Dining room changes: hung mirror and chandelier, got new custom 72" round table (thanks to my in-laws), and put down new rug.
 

China cabinet that was a floor sample steal at Macy's. They sell a VERY similar one for much more $$ at Horchow.
 

Lamps from HomeGoods...$40 a piece including the shades! 

Temple of Flora framed prints flank the mirror.
  

 The "rug" is from FLOR in a pattern called Side by Side. I decided to try this instead of a normal rug because I could get the size just right for the table and it wasn't expensive. It comes in 19"x19" squares, so installing it tested my patience as it required lots of carpet knife usage (but that's because I chose to line up the stripes instead of doing it parquet-style like they recommend on the website). No pain no gain, right?
  

We substituted the white chandelier for this one from Z Gallerie...the white one is now in the breakfast area. I love how the inside of the shade is gold!
 

Now if Restoration Hardware would get their shit together and deliver my chairs, then I'll be pleased as punch. I ordered the chairs last September and they've been backordered TWICE. As you can imagine, RH is #1 on my list of disappointing retailers right now.

9 comments:

  1. Hello! I really hope you don't mind but I wrote a tiny lil blog posting about your spaces. I found you on rate my space and was speechless. I have to share your beautiful spaces. If this is a problem please let me know and I will take it down.

    truly beautiful home you have!

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  2. I love your design aesthetic. Your home is beautiful. Question: When you entertain do you keep the lamps on the buffet if you are using it for serving. I have the issue that in my dining room its not as well lit in the buffet area and I have been compensating by using candles. I don't want to pin lights above or sconces since that would require an electrician and we are not planning to be here more than a year.

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  3. Mrs.H - thanks for the kind words and I love that you posted the pics on your blog! You're always welcome to them :)

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  4. Nicole - on the entertaining question...so far I've been able to keep the lamps where they are since the table is large enough to accomodate big serving pieces. I am on the hunt for a longer buffet/console table so that a) it will fill that back wall a little better and b) allow for more usable space. For your predicament, maybe you could use a skinny pair of buffet lamps? Ballard Designs has 2 styles that are pretty well priced.

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  5. I love your study especially the wall decor. What did you use to hang the art (the clothesline affect)and what type of art is it? Is it sheets of paper of or canvases? I loved to hear more as I was thinking of doing something similar to this. Thank you.

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  6. Thanks KSK. I am going to hop over to the website tonight and look :)

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  7. Great home! I've seen similar chairs on homedecorators.com recently! That's the longest I've ever heard a backorder... I'd never be able to handle it!

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  8. Kristie, I used a curtain system from IKEA called Dignitet, hanging from the clips are Arts & Architecture magazines from the 1940s-60s. We bought a set of them and the covers are so amazing I had to figure out a way to display them (and avoid framing costs). I plan to do another row above the one you saw...just haven't made it happen yet!

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  9. Is your dining room square or rectangle? I love the round table but I have a rectangle space and fear it would not look good. Please advise?

    Thanks, Selena

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