Category Archives: Furniture

Finally – a reveal! Kind of . . . .

Posted on October 24, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Well folks, I had other projects and things to tell you about from this past weekend but the office/music room just can’t wait. 

It’s (mostly) done!

We put together the FLOR area rug and cleared out all the furniture orphans (banished to the basement with my ever-growing alley finds collection).

We managed to fit in all of JT’s amps, guitars and miscellaneous equipment.  Thanks to my luck at IKEA, we had an extra faux sheepskin to create a bench on our Gap sweater drawer (right now holding, you guessed it, miscellaneous musical equipment.)

This will be a great room for listening to our vinyl collection.  Although once it was all organized (alphabetically) on the shelf, the vinyl collection didn’t look so big.

I was finally able to get all of our books out of storage and organized.  Feels good.  The little black clip lamps came from our IKEA escapade as well.  I spray painted the wire pulls black as well to give it a little extra pop.

We’ve been hanging out in here all weekend.  Sophie and Shenanigan stayed away for a while because all the furniture re-arranging seems to frighten them.  But after things had been settled in for a little bit, they came sniffing around to see what was going on.

That may be one of my favorite pictures ever.

Sophie and Shenanigan love listening to music.  We call them studio dogs because they like to hang out while JT plays.

That’s Shenanigan posing with JT’s newest guitar.  I’m still not sold on it as he traded the Gretsch for it.  I really liked the Gretsch . . .  maybe I would like the new one better if JT would hurry up and make me an Explorer? (Hint, hint.)

Sophie seems to like it though.  Traitor.

So, for now, things are in good working order in the office/music room.  I still need to figure out a window treatment situation as the bamboo shades we have on the windows now don’t really provide privacy at night.  We did go look at the office from the backyard and alley and thankfully you can’t see the hanging guitars from the street.  I also have two more alley orphans downstairs awaiting money for reupholstery, so I want to eventually change out the two chairs for something more comfortable.  I also am working on lighting and a few other little projects.  My house will never really be “finished” though, so we’re going to enjoy the music room as it is for now.  It’s come a long way baby! 

PS — The before pictures are so horrible I didn’t want to put them up here.  If for some reason you want to assail your eyeballs, you can see them here.

PPS — If anyone knows of a good photographer in the STL area willing to barter me some good music room photos for design help on their own house, put me in contact.  My photos need an upgrade!

Leave a comment

Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs, Furniture, Music related

Friday Fun = Furniture

Posted on October 21, 2011 by | 1 comment

I am working over here you guys, I swear.  But a furniture rep dropped by with these for our office (temporarily) and I had to share.

The kids Panton chairs!  The Eames elephant!  What every design snob parent needs to raise their kids up right, right?  Right. 

I snooped through my Ideas and Inspiration file real quick (cause I’m working!)  and pulled up an image I have of the adult Panton chair.

It’s from the home of Wes and Kayla, two Apartment Therapy bloggers.  Can you imagine that with a little “Mommy and Me” desk next to it with the child’s version?  I die a little.  It’s not quite doll house sized like the “I’m a Giant” challenge I started in on, but children’s scale furniture is pretty freakin’ cute.  Good thing we’re about to start on a bunch of early childhood centers at work — I can get my fill of little tiny furniture!

Happy Friday!

PS – The carpet under the uber-adorable elephant is Interface Anagrams.  Remember my love letter here?  Yep.

1 Comment

Posted in Furniture, I'm a Giant (doll house) challenge, Miscellaneous Diversions

I Survived IKEA – barely

Posted on October 17, 2011 by | 2 comments

This Saturday was the epic IKEA trip.  My mother, sister and I left St. Louis while it was still dark (5am) and headed northward to the great city of Schaumburg, Illinois. 

We came, we shopped, we conquered.

I thought I was ready for this trip but it took every ounce of planning, preparation and group ninja shopping skills to pull this one off.

The store opened at 10am and we were in the more-than-half-full parking lot by 10:30, ready to go.  I saw cars from Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa and Michigan besides the scores of Illinois plates and of course us with our Missouri-mobile. 

We plunged right into the fray but didn’t make it more than halfway around the top floor (which we hit up first) before we decided to break for some Swedish lunch.

After trekking through the 3rd and 2nd floor, the three of us had three very full carts.  We decided to go on down to the check-out line and pay up for Round #1.

After off-loading Round #1, we went back for seconds.  The main floor has the warehouse aisles of all the furniture and items in boxes.  This part was a lot easier because our handy-dandy IKEA lists told us exactly what Aisle # and Bin # to look for.  So we swept through Round #2 in record time.

IKEA is nothing if not efficient but my one complaint would be at the end, we were herded like lemmings to a loading zone surrounded with rails that wouldn’t let the carts out.  So we were forced to bring the car up to the loading zone after each round of shopping.  We looked pretty hilarious trying to fit Round #2 (the bigger heavier furniture stuff) in UNDER our Round #1 (the lighter, more breakable, decorative stuff).  Maybe we would change the plan in retrospect and do the heavy stuff first.  Who knows.

We cruised back to STL as the day faded to dark.  JT helped us unload everything and I crashed and burned to an un-funny Saturday Night Live.  I awoke in the morning to the aftermath of what I had done.

Disaster zone!  While I was out shopping all Saturday, JT rewired and redid T001 to be an Esquire.  You can kind of see it hanging out over by all his amps and equipment which have been living in the living room since I still have the office/music room all tore up. 

  Mr. Shenanigan at least seems grateful for my IKEA finds.  They had some faux sheepskins!   I didn’t have to be a sheep murderer to have my house covered in furs.  Since the faux version was only $9.99, I grabbed up 4 rather than the real versions of which I had budgeted for 2 @ $29.99.  I saved $20 and got two more sheepskins than anticipated!  (Disclaimer:  I didn’t really SAVE money, I just tell myself that to make myself feel better.) 

So Shenanigan and Sophie now have their own sheep friend to cuddle with.   In the picture above, Shenanigan is hanging out with his sheep friend (I call it Hairy Potter actually) and his “baby” which is actually a squirrel toy he alternately loves to cuddle or loves to destroy.  Maybe it’s the Rally Squirrel?  Cardinals move on to the World Series!!  More on how the IKEA finds slowly make their way into our house.  Have a great week folks!

2 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Furniture, Miscellaneous Diversions

Flor-ed Part Deux

Posted on October 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Before I lucked upon the FLOR carpet tiles at the thrift store last weekend, I had already been considering FLOR for our bedroom.

The blue colored area is what I had been dreaming about for some comfort on the wood floors.  But here’s the problem.

These two monkeys.  (We think) Sophie used to pee on one spot on all the rugs we ever put in the living room.  So we’ve been rug-less for the last three years or so.   I think that the FLOR carpet tiles will be a good solution for us and here’s why:  If Sophie pees on a tile, I can pull it up and hose it off or replace it with another.

I had ordered some samples before JT and I went crazy and decided to paint the bedroom blue.  So at one point I was thinking of bringing the color in through the area rug.

Now that’s out the window so I want something textural and graphic but not too crazy for the floor so I ordered a few more samples:

Yeah, #1 was too crazy, but I had been considering it for the office before the big score.  Isn’t it gorgeous though?  And those chairs . . . and that table . . .

Option #2 was much more subdued but still had that graphic punch.  For the bedroom I was picturing a warm gray to match the new sheets.  The only picture on the website had the much louder purple.  You can see how the cut pile and the loop combine to create a really elegant texture.


My favorite and the current leader of the pack is #3.  It’s a pattern called Sophistikat and I love it.  The only picture from the web has it in a delicious teal color but I think we will get it in the more neutral grey/tan colorway shown in my swatch.

Guess what – tomorrow is IKEA day!! One step closer to having this bedroom thing wrapped up!  After I posted the floor plan above, I realized that the only thing I had in this room originally was the black chair.

It was a gift from my grandmother when she downsized from her house into her condo.  I should ask her more about its origin as there are no markings.  I’m thinking about having another adventure in sewing and trying my hand at a tailored slipcover.  Not like you see the chair a whole lot, usually it’s covered in clothes.  Just keeping it real.

Have a great weekend everyone!  If you see someone hyperventilating in IKEA Schaumburg from over-exertion and general exhaustion due to awakening at 4am to drive there, it’s me!

Leave a comment

Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs, Furniture

Countdown

Posted on October 10, 2011 by | 2 comments

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have 5 glorious days until my next IKEA trip. 

My mom and sister and I have decided to dash up to Chicago for one day to stock up on all the Swedish delights we can handle.  I’ve been plotting and planning for some time now and finally think I have it narrowed down.

All good stuff — some light fixtures and storage pieces for the music room shelving, a neutral duvet and some curtain rods for the bedroom along with the new bedside table that is a fill-in for my Tulip.  And more sheepskins.  I can’t quite reconcile this with my vegetarianism, but I can’t seem to help myself either.

I know a lot of people disagree with IKEA and the mass manufacturing of home goods.  I think IKEA makes great filler pieces and background items that can let all the more original items in your home shine. 

Speaking of my home (we were, right?)  I feel like I always show the same few views on this here blog.  First, because I suck with a camera and second because I still have a lot I’m working on.  One of the things on my list is a “House Tour” or something like that.  I did add a “Floor Plan” tab that shows the whole floor plan with its current furniture arrangement. 

Here’s a new view for you — the buffet opposite the dining room table.  It’s where things land when we get home — keys, phones, junk. 

It’s a mixture of such random things — an IKEA lamp, a Pottery Barn tray, a glass hand from Urban Outfitters and an Elvis postcard we received as a gift.  The buffet we found at an antique/junk mall a few years back.  It had more primitive wooden handles on it which I switched out for the brushed nickel to class it up a little.  The top of the piece has some water damage and needs a little restoration, so for now I use runners.  The one I have on there now is some extra fabric I hemmed up after my last pillow making adventure. 

So I’m not worried about it looking like we live in an IKEA catalog because I know I’ll always mix it up.  In the words of Violet from Downton Abbey (I just watched it all on Netflix and AM OBSESSED!) — put that in your pipe and smoke it!

2 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Furniture, Miscellaneous Diversions

Every (furniture) addict needs an enabler . . .

Posted on October 4, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Living in South City as we do, amongst many two and four family buildings, it is often moving day for the apartment dwellers.  The end of the month will reveal some marvelous treasures left behind in the alleys as the apartment dwellers head on to greener pastures. 

Right now, the basement is so full with said alley treasures that I didn’t think bringing in any more would be fair to the chairs I already have. Last Saturday, with such gorgeous weather and JT tethered to his work computer on call, the dogs and I ventured out for a long walk.  On the way home I spotted some more alley orphans.  They looked sad in the alley, cast aside and hopeless.  They didn’t deserve to go to the orphanage yet.  Once Shenanigan, Sophie and I got home, I told JT of my trouble. 

Me: “I need your help.  I spotted some more alley finds.  I know I don’t have any more room in the house though so I probably shouldn’t bring them home, right?”

JT:  “We could go get them if you want.  Maybe you should start an eBay store for all your furniture.” 

That was not what I was expecting!  But away we went to rescue some alley orphans and bring them home.

This guy (above, with Shenanigan watching over) didn’t have any cushions, but probably so much the better.  It has great lines and a good solid frame and I am going to have some fun picking out its upholstery fabric!

This was a matched pair, which is nearly impossible for me to leave behind.  They will need a little more help but overall had a good shape and were solid wood.  I want to try out the Minwax Antique Finish Restorer that Mr. Modtomic has posted about a few times (once here). 

At some point I’ll have to delve into the basement and really document all the extraneous furniture I have adopted.  You may be suprised at how much I have been able to hoard away down there.  It’s both a blessing and a curse of being able to space plan — I am able to fit a lot into a very compact area!  It’s probably a good thing the Fairlane takes up the garage or that would be full as well.  As to the eBay thing, I’m still not so sure, but it’s definitely something to consider. 

Anyone else had a really good alley score?  That’s the best kind of recycling to me!

Leave a comment

Posted in Furniture, Thrifting

Sometimes I feel like the internet is taunting me . . .

Posted on September 30, 2011 by | Leave a comment

. . . . like today, for instance.  Browsing through the interwebs, I clicked through a few blogs to end up at Rocket Century, a local STL  MCM resource (but really it’s online only/mostly).  Not only do I find out I had missed an open house/warehouse sale there, but I see this  on their site . . . .

My dream home for my ‘ZZ’ plant, also affectionately known as Zappa or George.  He’s still sitting there in his sad Home Depot pot on his sad wanna-be-Alvar-Aalto-but-really-from-Target stool.  Sigh.  And this is honest-to-goodness vintage.  $125 is still a lot to spend on this right now considering all the other projects I want to do . . . Sorry Zappa.

The Internet continued to knock me around when I spotted this on SF Girl By Bay’s site:

The image was originally posted here on a Spanish (?) design site.  Even in Spanish (not a language I know, except maybe those few words that everyone knows – burrito, chihuahua, etc.), this image says “Here’s the Saarinen table you’ve been searching for to make your bedroom complete and perfect forever and ever.”  Well maybe not that, but you know, what I was thinking when I posted about my search for a Tulip Table earlier in the month.

And to add insult to injury, I saw on The Brick House (another blog I follow religiously) that Morgan just found a Tulip (Coffee) table on Craigslist for $100!!!  I’m glad the thrifting gods smiled on someone, even if it’s not me. 

The knock-out punch came this morning when I got an email from Design Within Reach (of rich people) that the Knoll sale (Tulip table is Knoll) was ending.  Sigh again. 


I think I may need to unplug from the internet this weekend to keep from being battered any more.  Is there a support group for Internet Bullying of the Online Shopping variety?

In all reality, I have my health, I have a wonderful husband and supportive family and fun, great friends.  I have a job that I enjoy, I have a place to live and I have the dogs for entertainment and companionship.  I have this blog to vent my frustrations and share my design ideas.  I don’t need a tulip table or a bullet planter to complete any happiness of mine. 

However, I do believe in surrounding oneself with beautiful, artistic, inspirational things that will last for generations to come, so one day when I’m making the big bucks (call me in thirty years?), they will be mine!!

Leave a comment

Posted in Furniture, Miscellaneous Diversions, Thrifting

Music Room comes (back) to life

Posted on September 22, 2011 by | 1 comment

Because I seem to have decorator’s A.D.D., I jumped from the bedroom makeover to the office.  The bedroom is still moving forward but I am waiting on some swatches and my MISSONI to ship in.  I don’t want to pick a paint color until I have some of the larger objects together and so . . . . I got bored and looked around the house for another project.  (JT and I have also started drinking coffee in the evening which has prompted much more caffeine-fueled work than I ever thought possible, which may be a big mistake.)

So, the office.  When we first moved in to our house back in 2005 (yes it’s been that long and I still haven’t accomplished anything!  But I’m working on it!)  it was our bedroom for about two weeks.  But we realized quickly that the front room was more private and moved things over.  The office had gone through many many iterations since then, mainly a furniture warehouse for all the things I drag in and out of the house. 

Case in point — these pictures I unearthed from a few years back when I started doing the Apartment Therapy Cure on this room.  It didn’t quite stick.  Here’s the embarrassing evidence though —The desk and vinyl MCM sofa have already made their way into the living/dining room.  Those two dressers are currently in the bedroom but headed out of Dodge to make way for the armoire and dressing table.  The lamps have also relocated to the living/dining room as well. (PS – I’m not a huge fan of guns, like at all, but those were my dad’s and right now we don’t know quite what else to do with them.)
For the two weeks it was a bedroom, we had painted it Sherwin Williams Decorous Amber, which is a nice burnt orange color.  Then I painted back a few of the walls to Amazing Gray (the color of most of the walls in the living room) and I thought I would paint the ceiling too.  It has since been painted back to white.  What a disaster!  As you can see, the office is really a music room and there is a lot of gear that needs a home.

Here’s what the office looks like more recently:

( You may have noticed from the photos that JT has revolving guitars going on, so he can’t really give me any grief about revolving furniture.  We’re a good match like that.)

We got that giant white/wood drawer from Warehouse of Fixtures — it used to be a sweater drawer in the Gap I think.  Great storage and JT’s speaker cabinets look nice sitting on it.  The mahogany piece sitting next to the drawer is on the way out and next to it is my future dressing table, which currently holds JT’s recorder/mixer thing and needs to be painted/made pretty before its debut in the bedroom.

Remember a while back I dragged home some more furniture from Craigslist?  Well on a coffee-adled binge last night, I convinced JT to help me start assembling/moving/changing the room around.  AGAIN.  And he agreed.  What a good husband.
It doesn’t look like much just yet . . . but it’s gonna!!! 

Here’s the plan —This New & Improved Music Room/Office has me excited for two reasons and they are both things I had on my 2011 New Year’s resolutions.

1.  I have always wanted a proper place to display our books (a library!) and now with the new shelving they can sit out instead of languishing in storage bins.  Also, all our vinyl will have a home too, yippee.
2.  I want to have a piano/keyboard/organ in the house to encourage me to work on my music more and for JT to master (he masters all instruments almost immediately).

Before we get the shelving all bolted together and settled along the one wall, this room needs a coat of paint desperately.  I’m on the fence right now between A) a creamy white that will blend the shelving into the wall B) the deep turquoise/teal/sapphire blue color that I’m digging right now or C) a nice gray color that I am leaning towards for the bedroom.  I think if I do Option B I may have to paint the ceiling as well, so that makes me a little nervous.  Anyone want to vote as to what color it should be?  I’d love to hear some input!

1 Comment

Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Furniture, Music related

Desperately Seeking Saarinen

Posted on September 15, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I am slowly but surely moving forward with our bedroom make-over.  One thing I have been mulling over is the furniture layout.  I finally worked it all out to be something like this . . . . All the major items we already own except for the round side table for the right side of the bed.  What would be perfect for that spot is a Saarinen Tulip table . .  .

As seen on the Design Within Reach website, they sure ain’t cheap.  The closest thing I could find on eBay was a reproduction and even that was $220.  But they’re so pretty . . . glossy white metal base, gorgeous white marble top . . .

This Saarinen (below) is featured in Dwell Studio’s staging of the Draper Stripe Ash Duvet  set.  Yummy.


This (below)  is the unattributed sexy man bedroom I keep coming back to.  Table looks great here too . . . .

Flipping through my latest issue of Elle Decor, what do I find . .  .

It is probably irrational, but there is something about having an original or vintage designer piece that is so alluring.  It’s a little piece of design history.  That’s why these same items show up in room after room after room.  Other designers are suckers for the old masters’ work — it’s like a secret handshake, welcome to the club kind of thing . . .  

Plus, we do live in Saarinen City, home of the St. Louis Arch, one of Saarinen’s great accomplishments.  (above image from the “Core of Discovery” Gateway Arch webpage)
Growing up we were fairly involved in the Exchange Student program and visited the Arch frequently.  Finally my mom caved in and bought the movie “Monument to a Dream” so we could watch it at home first (and save money).  It is a really interesting view into the making of the Arch.  What I find most interesting is that no one died while building it, an unusual feat given this landmark’s size and scale.  Here’s a (not-so-great) pic I took while up in the you know what with my cousin while she was visiting a few months back.

But until the day when I have some extra $$$ lying around for a table, I have been scouting around for some other options.  In order for the underbed storage to work, less leg-age is the best way to go, in keeping with Saarinen’s idea of reducing the visual clutter with the single tulip leg.  cb2 used to carry a copy cat table but I couldn’t find it on their website.   I fell back to my old stand-by Ikea, and what should I find in the 2012 catalog but this  . . . .

For $100, I think it might make a good stand-in until my Saarinen arrives and much like Janis Joplin’s dream for a Mercedes Benz,  I’ll keep praying (and singing) until it arrives.   Any other ideas for my tulip table obsessed self?  I’d love to hear them!!

(Click here to see the YouTube video for a little musical refresher in your day.  Still haven’t upgraded to that video package.  Maybe someday folks.)

Leave a comment

Posted in Around the house, Furniture

What we do for the dogs . . .

Posted on September 12, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Nothing in my house is safe now that I have brought home a can of white spray paint.

Case in point — this $3.43 vintage magazine stand goodness we picked up at Value Village. (They have really random pricing BTW).

The black handles and legs with the rich dark wood seemed to blend together too much.  A spray of white (and a wipe down with the Feed-n-Wax for the wood) later and . . .


. . . . suddenly *ta da* we’re in business.  The magazine rack also is pretty set where it is under the living room window — you  might be able to see the power cord snaking out from behind it.  Due to the nice ring we made on the floor from our 1st Christmas tree that we haven’t bothered to fix up yet, the dog’s bed usually sits here under the window.  But we were worried that having their bed right under the outlet wouldn’t be great.  So Mr. Magazine Rack came in and saved the day.

Don’t Sophie and Shenanigan look so thrilled to be in that picture?  There was major dog treat bribes going on and they still look all grumpy.  The bed is “Mr. Roboto” from Molly Mutt.  It’s great because you just stuff it with all their old chewed up towels or whatever old socks and stuff you have on hand.  Doggy eco-chic.

(Image above from Molly Mutt’s website) 
It’s nice because Molly Mutt also has some funky patterns — finding dog beds that don’t cost an arm and a leg that are not tacky = hard.  We have the Big City patterned one in the bedroom for Sophie.  Pretty cool, huh?  Shenanigan thinks so . . . .

He better watch out though, because if he lays there too long, I might get after him with the white spray paint. (Although he does already have a white tip of his tail, white chest and sprinkles of white on his front paws though).  I do have some plans for the rest of the spray paint though really . . . . coming soon!

Leave a comment

Posted in Around the house, Furniture