Knight Moves: austin

Showing posts with label austin. Show all posts

8/02/2011

Low Ottoman Cubes

I saw this set of short little vintage ottomans today on Etsy and got way too excited about them. I adore the navy and white Robert Allen fabric upholstery and of course, the orange cording just kills me. Another reason why I like them so much is that they address a common living area furniture placement issue. Before I get into that, look at the little cuties:

Via Spruce Home

In a larger space, a sofa is often accompanied by two pairs of chairs. With this arrangement, it can be tough to get a coffee table that adequately "serves" all five seating pieces and keeps everything balanced. Usually either the sofa or the quartet of chairs gets left in the cold.

Enter the shorty ottomans...place them in between the sofa and the coffee table, allowing sofa sitters to put their feet up (which is what people want to do anyways) and the coffee table can be centered between the two pairs of chairs. In this setup, just make sure that two substantial end tables flank both sides of the sofa so that the sofa peeps have a table close by. Here's a diagram of the scenario I'm describing:

Although my diagram only uses three, I think the fourth would come in handy somewhere so if I were having them made, I'd probably order a set of four like the ones on Etsy.

Via Spruce Home

What do you think of the ottomans? Would it bother you to not have a coffee table right in front of the sofa or would you rather be able to put your feet up?

8/23/2010

New Resource - the Khazana

Last Monday I was in Austin and dropped into a store called the Khazana. They had an awesome, eclectic mix of home goods and the prices were fantastic. The sales associate was so helpful and told me about their online warehouse and after checking it out, I'm blown away by the wide range of lines they carry. It's not the most user-friendly site, but the inventory was good enough for me to soldier through it. The Khazana's brick-and-mortar store isn't huge so they don't have everything available for purchase on the floor...but it's certainly worth checking out if you're in Austin because it's filled with gorgeous rugs and cool, one-of-a-kind items from all over the world. Anyhow, I'm excited to have it as a resource and wanted to share it with you! Here is a tiny sampling of what you can find in the online warehouse...the selection is unbelievably varied:

Sedia Empire Dining Chair

2-Drawer Shelf

3/22/2010

Mercury Rising...at least in Austin

I live in Dallas, which means that today it's almost 70 degrees and yesterday there was snow on the ground. Our weather is notoriously unpredictable, but hopefully that was the last cold spell of the season. I got spoiled when we were in Austin last weekend and it was warm and sunny. I'm so ready for consistent poolside conditions!

Speaking of Austin, we stopped in the most fabulous shop during our visit. It's called Mercury and I was in heaven perusing their funky-chic merchandise. They sum up the store concept on their business card as artifacts, gifts, and design studio. Here's a sampling...

This book nook is the coolest.

Art-o-Mat (guarded by a stuffed fox) is a brilliant concept. Basically, retired cigarette machines are converted to art vending machines. There are only 82 machines in the US, most are in museums and galleries.

I'm sure you'll be shocked, but I'm obsessed with this black and white accent wall. Trying to figure out where it could work in our house.

Missoni-eque chair.

They have the Temple of Flora book! This is the source for many of the framed botanical prints around our house.

Needlepoint zebra chair + Thomas Paul pillow.

What a great centerpiece this pedestal bowl would make!

Patent, tufting, cane, Greek key, and black/white all in one pic! I would take it all aside from the skunk. I can only imagine what my dogs would do to a piece of taxidermy.

Turquoise and orange phones...so cute. After dealing with the insane amount of calls my cell phone drops, I wouldn't mind going back to the good old days of corded telephones!

For purchasing inquires, check out their website or call 512.236.0100.

3/18/2010

Hotel Saint Cecilia

We were in Austin earlier this week for SXSW. My husband's company helped develop a super-cool iPhone app called Tabbed Out that was part of the interactive conference. I've been dying to stay at the Hotel Saint Cecilia for a while now, and was thrilled to book a room there for this trip.

The design aesthetic of this hotel is beyond amazing...it's unique, fun, stylish, and luxurious in an un-stuffy way. I was so impressed with the overall vision/concept of the hotel. It definitely effused a cool, Montmartre-meets-Austin vibe. Kudos to whomever designed the place! They masterfully mixed old, new, traditional, and modern. There were countless details that made it one of the most memorable hotels we've ever stayed in.

Suite 4 was our abode which included this private, fenced backyard and firepit. We did a little post-dinner fireside drinking on Sunday night.

This is the patio off the lounge. Black and white stripe heaven!

Some sort of vintage car...sorry, that doesn't fall into my realm of interests :)

Old house...our suite was located at the back corner of this structure.

View from the pool area.

Most amazing umbrella ever!

Poolside

Suite living room complete with a turntable (they have a vinyl library for guests). The decor mix in here is pretty awesome...suzani-covered chair, Noguchi coffee table, Chesterfield sofa, huge red Chinese chest, gilded mirror, and brass chandelier.