A Little Knock-Off Decor: Toilex Stools

I saw these stools and stopped turning the pages of my Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. 

I HAD to have these stools.  In this color.  NOW. 
I rhallly need some pops of color in my house.  I have only been able to stay in my safe neutrals decorating zone up in here, thus far. 

A little research lead me to find that Toilex stools are around $300 dollas a piece.  Oh the shame!!! They were not to be mine. 

BUT.  I did find some crazy cheap knock-offs at Overstock.  I had to do some convincing with Mr. B ("But they're METAL" he says..."We don't have any metal in our house, I thought we were getting some cross backed white wood ones?".  This boy REALLY likes his Pottery Barn stock.)
Soooooo I got four stools for half the price of one Toilex!  Yay for Knock-offs. 

I still wish they were blue.  I had a breif moment where I thought I would paint them, but realized that that would involve some pretty snazzy clear-coating expertise that only an auto body shop could pull off...

xM

Turn Me On

Since moving to California, I've been imaging my new space to be (currently in progress) and with the addition of my new dining chairs as seen below and my new bedside tables soon to be featured here (also a free be and a huge design score!) I've been scouring the internet for home items the will add to the composition of furniture I'm creating. I've especially come across lighting that I've now been coveting for some time and am now proud to say I now own 2.

Light 1 and 2 are now mine! 3 is in my reach if I ever have a need for a wall scone in an area which would accommodate the size and shape. Light 4 I will only attain if we some how find a bag full of easy money.

1. Industrial Pendant from West Elm: This is a fantastic pendant and I just bought it today! It's elegant and works well with my dining furniture. I comes as a plug in light, but you can buy a $15 upgrade to turn it into a hardwired light - which I will do. And it was only $99! Deal!

2. Mack Table Lamp from Crate & Barrel: Also $99 a light. This lamp is fun, provides excellent light that is neither too bright or too dim, and I think it will go with any decor through the years to come. I found it online last summer and, like a good girl without a job, patiently waited for it till our financial situation improved. When I moved into my new apartment in Portland and was ready to buy it, guess what - it was DIS-continued!! I couldn't believe it, I missed it by a week! I felt depressed, and moped around all night. Mr M thought I was silly to feel that way about a light. But I had waited so long for it! I frantically called around the next morning and found 2 in a store in Seattle - 1 in the box and 1 was the floor model (few! Crisis averted!) I had them shipped and now they are MINE - sorry - I got the last ones! HA!

3. Possini Wall Sconce $150. Simple design. Quality finishes at an affordable price.

4. Caboche Pendant by Foscarini $1,000 - $3,500. Beautiful, no? Quarter sized glass ovals reflect the light elegantly. Perfect for an entry or dining pendant or get the ceiling mounted version for your dream closet like my client did (wow).

Well, I may not be getting the Foscarini light anytime soon. But I'm very happy with the lights I did get, pics of which you will see installed soon!

Signing out for tonight.
-L

This Crafternoon: A Dinosaur Tail

I made a child into a dinosaur for his birthday.  It only took me about two hours, and Viola!  Dino-boy (rides a bike?)! 

It all started when I found this Brother Sewing Machine on amazon for $75 bones.   I've never particularly liked sewing, in fact I've flat out refused to sew anything even when my friend Lydia insisted on dragging me to the fabric store when we were both pregnant so that she could make pillows for her couch.  We were both in full throttle nesting mode, and I vehemently insisted that my instinct did not instruct me to sew.  I just wanted to organize, and organize...and organize...and shop!  My credit card sure got some miles on it when I was pregnant.  Actually, It's still seeing quite a bit of action these days with a growing toddler who NEEDS to have so many things...like these $30 old fashioned blocks.  This same toddler is the reason I bought the sewing machine.  She HAS to have one of these pillow case dresses, don't you think?!

So take one new sewing machine and add Pinterest to that and you get a Dino Tail worthy of a 3rd birthday present.  I'll be making one for the Little Bird soon because, well, she just needs one of everything!

xM

The veggie garden of MY dreams

It's supposed to rain around these parts today.  However, all the clouds have managed to do today was show up and look ominous.  My plans for the day were to hide in-doors and escape the massive amount of self-imposed chores that have been added to my list of To-Do's by means of a gigantic veggie garden. The Weather Channel website promised 80% chance of rain.   But, alas, the rain is holding fast in those clouds and the only thing different I notice about the sky each time I poke my head outside to check for rain drops,  is the position of a pair of Hawks flying from tree to tree around this little valley I live in.  I wonder if they know something I don't about the weather and the fate of my little Love Apples this year.  Do you think animals have the connection to Mother Nature that would allow them to posses knowledge of the tidings of May, or June or July...?  They seem to know when to shed their coats to meet sunny weather fluff-free.  Maybe I shouldn't plant my tomatoes until all the horses at the barn look shiny and sleek.

Naw.  These babies look ready, don't you think?

And guess what?!  I grew these lovlies from SEED.  Yep.  They're pure heirloom seed wonderfulness.  It was my goal this season to figure out how to properly grow from a seed, and I went a little crazy and spent close to a hundy bones on inventory from the interesting folks at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.  If you have never seen their seed catalog, order it. Seriously.  It'll blow your mind.


This weekend will be the grand start to the veggie garden of our dreams (well, maybe it's just MY dream garden...somehow I think Mr. B's dream garden would involve lots of colored, stamped concrete and some potted plants...).  We have prepped our gigantic 'raised bed' garden with close to twenty yards of horse manure, procured my Mr B himself by means of a tractor and a very large dump trailer.  You should have heard the grumblings coming from him when he got home from the barn and realized the slope to our driveway was too much for the hydraulic on the truck to work properly and dump all that manure in the right place.  He had to shovel all. that. manure. himself.  TWICE.  Holy bejebus, that man must love me!  I chose to look at it as good exercise.  Ever since the Little Bird came into our lives, Mr. B has had a bit of a...how to say this nicely?... aw, frag it...a spare tire!  He's got a spare tire that won't quit!  Ha ha (insert evil cackle)! So I saw this little sang in our plan as a good thing.  But I WAS inside caring for the Little Bird while he slaved away until 9pm.

Anywho, Here's the grand 'Before' photo of our manure-enriched, rototilled, waited-too-long-to-put-mulch- down-so-the-weeds-are-growing-back, Dream Veggie Garden.

After photos to come...when I can wrangle some more slave labor out of the poor man...

xM

Today I will Blog

Today I decided to start a blog with my very good friend Merissa. I don't know why exactly, I don't like to write especially, but I think I was craving a space to put down images that inspire me or that I notice to be interesting without it being forced onto my friends facebook pages or just photo-centric on pintrest. I'd like to pretend (although it may be true) that no one will read this and I am posting for just Merissa and I for fun and to keep in touch, less pressure that way to make myself sound smart or interesting.

So for my first post I think I'll start with an project of mine that I completed over the summer. I have been, as so many other have been, into mixing old and new in the home. I grew tried of modern only - so boring, and I've never been into traditional only - too stuffy; so I enjoy the playfulness of bringing old together with the new. I do think this comes off a little girly, and sometimes I'm a little concerned my husband has to live in a girly look home - but  oh well, you have to enjoy it in the moment; tastes change.

I had already reupholstered a Louis XV1 chair in a cool felt fabric, so when I saw 4 federal style chairs for ~ FREE ~ sitting by the side of the road near my house, I didn't hesitate! I quickly dragged them to the garage and spent the summer transforming them from 4 dismal looking chairs to 4 beautiful chairs, which I then intended to sell and make a nice profit from. However, I am now attached to them as they look too good for the moment in my new apartment in Portland. I have since acquired a new chair from my friends mom, which is now in my office waiting for it's metamorphosis...
-L