get thee to target

friends. our local target was recently renovated to include a grocery section, and it has given me the excuse to be ten kinds of all up in that store on a weekly basis nowadays. target also happens to be totally bringing it in the home decor department, and i feel compelled to share.

exhibit a, $25 quatrefoil mirror:


in not my finish of choice:


but no matter. a little gold leaf and glaze later...




i wanted an antiquey chippy look (try to hide your surprise), so i got all haphazard with the gold leaf application, which resulted in the desired finish. considering getting another one to hang above it. because mirrors need friends too.

exhibit b, $12 outdoor fabric pillows in a suspiciously familiar pattern:


headed to team stone's lake house for phase one of our lake house bedroom makeover. which brings to mind another target purchase...back in the bathroom reno days, i got a simple mirror-framed mirror there like this:


when i got it home, i realized that there was a crack in the frame that had been hidden by the packaging. being too lazy to return it resourceful, i decided to give it a little nautical flair for ye olde lake house, inspired by this:


of course, that project is still on the to-do list at present. again, try to hide your surprise.

for funsies, here's my main inspiration picture for our room at the lake house:


i'm thinking blue & white, with a hint of rainbow trout. captain fantastic spends a lot of time fly-fishing in the river that feeds the lake, so it would be appropriate, no?

the room is currently decked out in the previous owners' choices of wood paneling painted a pale pepto pink, with a lovely accent wall of metallic floral wallpaper and a smorgasboard of mismatched furnishings. big plans, friends. big plans.

mood board monday

i'm trying to make friends with photoshop again, and what better way than to pony up to mood board monday over at pewter and sage! (ok so it's technically friday...but i'm going to post this anyway and link up on monday. whatev.) this is my first time to participate in a mood board link party, slash make a mood board at all, so we'll see how she goes...

the challenge this week was to create a bedroom inspired by one of four of bedding options. i chose barbara barry's "poetical" from macy's, which i have long admired. well, like as long as a bedding line exists...so for a few months admired.


the first thing that came to mind was to compliment the silhouetted pattern with the addition of some other long-admired bedding: applique monogrammed shams from leontine linens. in choosing my color scheme, i decided to go for gray, white and hot pink, with metallic accents and pops of green. so i give you a teenage girl's room:




1) barbara barry's "poetical" bedding, the inspiration, against a white upholstered headboard.

2) leontine linens "alcott" shams. i die. so hard. also a zebra needlepoint pillow from lilly pulitzer for garnet hill.

3) a pair of serena & lily "parker" x-benches at the foot of the bed, and a pottery barn chenille jute rug underfoot.

4) annie selke home "atlas" side tables (via horchow) as bedside tables.

5) serena & lily "pagoda" lamp on bedside tables

6) pottery barn "ribbon roman shade" on windows

7) "seaside" chest of drawers from well appointed house in gray

8) stray dog designs "camilla" chandelier; i like to mix metallic finishes, as in this chandy with the silver bedside tables.

9) ballard designs "stella" mirror - grand, because every gal needs a full-length mirror

10) and a variety of festive accessories, like this worlds away green zebra wastebasket set via well appointed house, this stray dog designs peacock objet d'art, and an ever-changing inspiration board like this one from kelly green interiors.

i need to birth a girl someday, in order to obtain a license to decorate in pink and green. and play barbies. and smock dresses. like, real bad.

this room could also work for a grown-up if the pink and green were traded for subtler colors, like powder blue and camel.


did you see that? did you see how i changed the colors in photoshop? and added that blurry bamboo mirror thumbnail from horchow? i told you photoshop and i were making friends.

two mood boards for the price of one. ba-da-bing!

dining room chizzairs

so my dining room. it needs some chairs. actually, it needs a lot of things right now, arm chairs being just two of those things. but i'm trying to focus here, people.

we are lucky enough to have a great dining table and set of shield-back chairs that my in-laws previously had in their dining room. the table needs refinishing, but the side chairs are in pretty good shape and have already been recovered in my fabric of choice, thusly:


the problem is that only one of the arm chairs still exists. ergo, we need to procure host/hostess chairs for the heads of the table.

now. do you ever see a trend, like pointy-toed shoes or skinny jeans, and you're all "that is heinous. i'd never do that." and then like a month later you own a pair in every color? that happens to me. it also happens to me decor-wise. for example: mismatched chairs at the heads of the table. read about it on design blogs. gagged. hated it. swore never to do it. changed my mind a week later. decided to do it in my own dining room.

i'm nothing if not open-minded.

then the other day i was waxing poetic to my father about how fancy and on-trend i am in my interior design plans and he's all, "your mother and i have used different chairs at the head of our dining table since before you were born." right...totally forgot that. mkay, so apparently my awesome taste is genetic. noted.

here are some examples from my inspiration files:

windsor smith

zoldan interiors

sara tuttle

via coco + kelly

horchow

horchow

and here are some examples of chair styles i think would be pretty neat in contrast to the shield-backs chez stone:

lee industries

calico corners


lee industries (but 'cept not orange)

zgallerie

z gallerie

or even, for an unexpected casual twist:

ikea


crate & barrel

what do you think? anybody rocking the mismatched chairs?

fab(ric)ulous

i got an inquiry via comment from sweet kathryn as to where i find fabric. short answer: everywhere. i have a hoard of fabric chez stone that includes not only yardage cut from fabric stores, but also place mats, towels, blankets, sheets and even ill-fitting or torn clothing with great prints that send my mind spinning with possible future uses (recall the falltastic pillows made from napkins?) i always keep my eye open to the possibility of finding great fabric in unusual places.



as far as fabric stores, i know there will always be quality fabrics at calico corners, broomcorn (local) and johnson's fabrics (local). johnson's is my current fave - they are a big warehouse with a nice variety at many price points, an outdoor fabric section, tons of trim and lots of intense upholstery supplies at great prices. you can also get furniture legs, bare ottoman forms, plywood tables for skirting and the like there. i also usually go to joann and hancock; though the quality of their decor fabrics are generally lower, i have found plenty of great stuff. they also have upholstery supplies, but generally the quality and price are much better at johnson's.

bedford gingham, calico corners

bocce, calico corners

tommy bahama sea breeze, joann

fabric on my chairs from joann

there are also great online sources for fabric. i hesitate to order anything online without having seen it in person, or at least having the recommendation of someone who has seen it in person. it's hard to tell the exact color and texture of a fabric online, and it's generally not returnable, so you don't want to order a lot of yardage of something only to not like it once it arrives. it's also hard to tell scale online - even though most vendors list it, it's difficult to envision a 1 inch square of pattern on your screen blown up into a life-size piece of fabric. i do like to comparison-shop online. many times i've been able to find a nice fabric i liked at calico corners or broomcorn for a lower price online, and i know that it'll work because i've seen it in person. buyfabrics.com is a good source, as is lewis & sharon textiles. i often google the name of a fabric i like and see where else it pops up for a good price.

sheshimmers latte by robert allen, buyfabrics.com

sudan, lsfabrics.com

crossection, lsfabrics.com

medici, lsfabrics.com

i've been in a neutral mood lately. can you tell?

i've also ordered fabric from online decor stores. the linen for my living room pillows came from ballard designs. i knew i would like it because a) i'd seen it in person in another fabric store and b) ballard carries pretty quality stuff. you can also order fabric by the yard from places like pottery barn and williams sonoma home (if you're feeling spendy).

fabric for my pillows from ballard designs

tile print, pottery barn


creme mini grid, wshome

of course there are higher-end designer fabrics like schumacher that are only available to the trade, if you're wanting to make more of an investment. you can get it through a local designer, and a lot of your friendly neighborhood interior design bloggers will order it for you if you ask. i'm pretty sure high heeled foot in the door, little green notebook, caitlin creer interiors and high gloss blue have all mentioned taking fabric orders. i also subscribe to the designer's attic, where shannon of pink wallpaper sells small increments of yardage (usually 1-4 yards) leftover from her projects for insane prices. these also happen to be some of my very favorite daily reads - these ladies know what the heck they're talking about. do visit if you haven't already.

schumacher crosstown

schumacher's ubiquitous chiang mai dragon

the equally ubiquitous kwid imperial trellis

i obviously spend a lot of time looking at fabric. it may be a sickness. but it hurts so good...

any other favorite fabric haunts to share?

excuse our mess

hi, hello, remember me? we had our big annual event for work last week/weekend, i'm on deadline for multiple publications this week, and i'm going out of town for a conference next week....so i have barely done my laundry, let alone accomplished anything blog-worthy recently. but there are plenty of supplies waiting at home and ideas marinating in my head, so never fear, i'll be back!

and since a post is no fun without a picture, please join me in enjoying this eclectic-yet-unified gallery wall:

(via a perfect gray)

i want one.

operation festive living room: go

hilary has inspired me. to punch up my living room. so here is the plan...

make drapes out of this festive linen:


it speaks to me. loudly. so there's the distinct possibility it'll become an upholstered stool or throw pillow too. there will be pom-pom trim involved. on the drapes. in yellow? undecided.

speaking of throw pillows, i'd like to make a borderline ridiculous amount of them for the couch and chairs. contenders include:




depending on how the colors look in real life (i have only viewed these on the interwebs).

this fabric is also in the room, recall. on the chairs i redid a while back:


here is the couch. featuring our dogs, as usual. and jacob's dog. and the shams from the guest room that we use when we watch teeeeeevee (i've been told i say it like that, and that it's weird):

see the side tables that i got a while ago? still haven't redone them. surprise, SURfrigginprise. i know. anyway they are either going to be painted creamy and distressed like the aforementioned chairs, or they are going to be stained/painted rill dark. either way, imma outfit them with something like this:

but in gold or bronze. or maybe even, if i'm feeling REALLY festive, this:

because he looks like marley bear. see the resemblance?


he is part lion, part grizzly bear. all awesome.

i digress. the couch. i'd like to reupholster it in a nice neutral, burlapy-woven fabric that i found on saturday. the clincher: it's OUTDOOR fabric, so it's durable. but it looks faintcy. booya.

but first, i must complete the chairs. at present, chair numba one looks like this:


because i'm a slacker slash busy person. eventually, it will resemble this in color and nailhead detail:


also on the docket - a pleated slipcover for the hand-me-down coffee table, like this one from much to do with nothing:


i am pumped. you?