Hidey Ho everyone!!  I am almost ashamed to show my face around these parts, what with all the CRAZY INSANE HUGE HELP you all were with my mondo-lamp dilemma last week.  Erin told me you dudes would be able to find the lamp of my dreams but she didn’t mention that you would find the 1,012 lamps of my dreams.  Seriously, it’s kinda amazing.  So amazing that I won’t let your hard work go for naught and instead will be rootin tootin your lamp finding skills today.  right here.  on this blog.  right now.

let’s go.

In case you’ve forgotten, I was looking for these million dollar lamps for (far less than) half of a a million pennies.

Here’s what you found:

Colleen, E. and NKP all have me drinking the kool-aide from team wo and we

Everything out of this French design house is amazeballz (do people still say that?) but the Applique Potence Industrielle Ajustable in particular is insane in the membrane.  (Ok, I know people no longer say that) and at 325 Euros, the price is pretty great too.

Commenter KVH pointed me to her friends studio: Yes Cincinnati

The Pivoting crane light is excellent at an even more excellent price (ahem!  $99 for the 3 foot model)  With a variety of sizes, I strongly encourage you lamp-hungry dudes to check it out pronto.

Elizabeth of Modern 24/7 sent me this (seriously you guys are really out doing yourselves)

The Anita lamp from KMP Furniture is a steal at $245 for EIGHTY INCHES of lamp.  It’s too big for my kitchen, but I feel like I could find a place for this somewhere.  It’s soooo gooood

Kate and Rye tipped me off to Atelier de Troupe, which is pretty badass all-around but wins gold stars for their a de t ‘potence’ bronze jib lamp

Oh yes, me likey.

MB from the Big D.  (That’s Dallas to you non-Texans B-T-dubs) pointed out that Restoration Hardware is sporting quite the lamp selection as well.  They have a flash site with embedded images so you’re going to have to go over there to see the lovelies there for yourself.  I’m too lazy to download and re-upload.  Sorry.  But I do LOVE the lights so it’s worth the mouse click.  promise.  Here and Here

Long-time-reader Alison of Lipstick on Your Teeth knows my test well and sent a link to workstead

they too have flashy images so you will have to cruise over after you’re done reading my brilliant and amazing post.  Worth it.  Totes.

Cassie, Rosenatti and NKP all gave a shout out to One Forty Three on Etsy:

Here is his totally amazing and totally affordable Potence Lamp as seen on The Brick House

Kathy at My Interior Life and Jenny over at My Favorite and My Best pretty much nailed it with this West Elm find:

Their Long-Arm Wall Sconce is simply awesome at only $99.

So which will I choose?  Hmmm… did I mention I’m even worse at making decisions than I am at finding lamps on my own?  Ok, I promise to keep you posted.

But for realz ya’ll, thanks for all the amazing links, every single one of you sent something fantastic.  Seriously, you’re simply the best.  better than all the rest.  better than anyone.  anyone I’ve ever met.

Hey All, it’s Karly!  I’ve come out from under the demolished-kitchen-shaped rock from which I’ve been hiding under to seek your renovation assistance.  Since I’m standing knee-deep in rubble over here and icky dust has settled in my brain, I’m having a hard time finding the light I’m lusting after at an affordable price.  But I know I can.  Despite the mess crumbling down around me I still hold strong to my motto:  I will buy it for half the price.  Also to my other motto:  no more horses.

So, can you help me or what?

I’m looking for a light sorta-kinda like this one.  It’s baby brother.  A wee bit shorter.  I have a very large window over my sink and want to mount a light like this on the wall beside it.  For less than $1,000,000 ok, less than $1,000.  who are we kidding, less than $10.

Certainly not $2,700, otherwise I would buy this:

Yes, this Serge Mouille light would do the trick if only it were (say it with me now) half of half of half of the price.  half it again.  yep, that should do it.

So, any ideas on where I can find something similar with a nice wingspan?  3 feet would be amazing.  okthanksbye

A-hoy-hoy maties!  Sorry for the mega silence, between all the summer travels, interweb zombie attacks and Persian rug buying I’ve had zero zilch time to send you design love letters.  Please accept my sincerest apologies and give Erin a WhatWhat for, as always, keeping it ‘tril.

So, you cats want to know the down and dirty details of what I’ve been up to?  Well, apparently I’ve started saying cats, which is concerning, but also I’ve been slowly sprucing up my living room, which is not concerning but instead very very exciting.  Let’s have a look see

So, what’s new here?  1!!!!  I replaced my junky 8 x 10 black leather rug with this mega 11 x 14 persian beauty.  Thank you ebay for the deals, it was totally worth a week of sleepless nights and mouse-hand-cramps.

A-hah!  That is not all.  Some of you may notice and mourn the loss of my gold panther table.  I’m sorry.  I was done with it.  The fact that it was only mildly baby unsafe was enough to justify it’s banishment in exchange for this Milo Baughman / Thayer Coggin sparkly white parsons number.  Tada.  Love.

Also, the table to the left of the couch is a blue laminate piece i picked up for a whopping $15 at Salvation Army.  It kills.  The lamp on the opposite side of the couch is a gagillion pound solid lucite piece that I nearly stole from my new secret favorite store.  Sorry, I don’t kiss and tell.

What’s in the works?  Art overhaul.  Tupac, I love you.  I love your mommy Hope who painted you, but you have been over 2 consecutive fireplaces and a television totaling 7 years of front-and-center display.  I’m going to put you away for just a little while and replace you with great aunt Tootsie’s antique, geometric wooden mirror.

Dining room art?  I love you too, but I’m afraid you no longer fit in the mix.  I’m seeing something simple and graphic, perhaps several framed eye charts?  Readers, I’m open to suggestion here.

PS sorry for the crappy photo, i’m not erin.  It’s a wonder i can even hold my camera still at all.

Ok, so these are actually not staying in my house despite the fact that they are stunning beyond words.  Good ole erin sleuthed them on the CL and we decided to split them among ourselves.  Despite our well-laid plans we have decided that the pair simply can’t be parted and they are currently living in living room limbo until we hammer out plan B.  Hint:  Plan B may or may not be on our website soon and could possibly mean that these 6’4″ beauties could land in your living room.

Side note, pretty please ignore the bear in this shot, I leave Eero’s toys on the bottom shelf for him to fondle and forget to take them off before my high-profile photo shoots.  Good mommy loves baby more than decor.  Who knew that would ever happen?

Speaking of babies!!!!

I thought I would show you a couple of shots from the past few weeks since I haven’t been around to sing your praises.  (did I mention that you are awesome?!) Here’s one of eero at Grandmommy’s house.  Why is he so confused?  I don’t know, swimming seems pretty clear to me.  Maybe he’s wondering how he got so cute?

After the family trip to g-ma’s I had to venture to vegas for work.  Should you ever be so unfortunate to find yourself stuck on the strip for more than 1 day, do yourself a favor and zipline over freemont street.  You can thank me later.

PS, to anyone who lives in Vegas, I have no doubt that life outside LV Blvd is lovely.  Life inside it on the other hand…

So there you have it, living room make overs, giant lamp take overs, grandmommy sleep overs and zipline flyovers.

WTF was that ending?

Not even 4 days back into the design blogging lifestyle and I’m already trying to justify a $650 coffee table purchase.  Let’s start with some back story:  Some of you may remember that I’ve been living large with the panthers for the better part of 2 years:

But since the introduction of the tiny blessing baby Eero into my life, I’ve come to realize that the wobbly glass topped felines may not be the best-baby-walk-trainer out there.  After several frantic craigslist and ebay linked emails with Erin I found this:

$650 of pure, swirly, formica and bronze cocktail table magic (plus $180 shipping).  I tried.  I really really tried to justify this purchase but if I were going to spend $830 on a coffee table, would this be the one?  Ok, yeah, probably.  Can you guys save me from myself, or is this actually justifiable keeping in mind that my budget was $200? Share your wisdom.  Pretty please.

In anticipation of our wee little bundle of joy I’ve finally finished the nursery I’ve been planning for the last 9 months.   Luckily, our very own Erin is an A++ photographer and somehow or another I managed to sweet talk her into coming over for last week and taking some pics.  You dudes get to reap the rewards.  Let’s not waste any time:

Tada!  Ok, let’s start at the top: The light fixture is a repurposed bird cage that had originally been used to hold rolled silver at my wedding.  I painted it black, Matt made it work.  Art on the gallery wall was covered in this post.  The pouf is from this ebay seller, I made the curtains, which are covered in this post.  The bumper was made by yours truly and the rug* used to live in Erin’s dining room.  I traded her a night of babysitting for it, which, by the way, she never took me up on.

*BTW, I understand that there is a vicious anti-zebra rug movement going on right now, but guess what, I got this rug for free and I don’t have to feel bad if the baby messes it up.  Plus, it goes.  Winwinwin.

Pretty damn cute, right?  You want to know where I got this stuff?  The light was a round top score ($10!) and the swivel rocker was purchased at Uptown Modern, I had the cushion made for it because the one that came with it was gross brown.  The pillow was bought on super clearance at anthropologie.  The terrarium used to hold plants but, despite my green thumb, they died, now it has toys.  The star hooks are from hobby lobby and the clock was a whopping $7.99 at Marshall’s.

It just keeps coming, right?  Let’s see… the dresser was found by Erin on craigslist (she has CL talent, yo) the tiger painting was purchased by Erin at the thrift store for (wait for it) $3.99 – I think I still owe her for that.  I purchased most of the lanterns at the cleverly named, paper lantern store.  The orange light is another round top score.

Here’s a shot to put the corner with the dresser in context for you dudes.

How’s my sweet little baby angel supposed to recognize his family without a little educational tool?  Pics of the crew live on a magnetic board over his changing table.  (table base bought at Salvation Army and painted black by me).  FYI, the magnets are made from wood cutouts bought at hobby lobby that we glued magnetic backings onto.  It’s hard to find cute magnets these days.

Gratuitous lantern shot.   Did I mention that the walls are Benjamin Moore Harbor Grey? I just can’t get enough of it.

And a last look at the top of the dresser.  I forgot to mention above that the room is tiger-friendly, not to be confused with tiger-themed.  Our little man is going to pop out in the year of the tiger, just like his daddy and his uncle, it’s cool, we’re into it.

So, there you have it:  the only completely complete room in my house… minus the occupant.

So you know about this little project I’m spending 9 alcohol-free months cooking up?  Turns out he will be taking up an entire room in my house once he arrives in October.  Do you know what that means?  I’m losing my guest bedroom.  Le sigh.  Well, my loss is your gain as I have to part with my dearly beloved headboard and side tables

Be the envy of all your guests with this spectacular padded queen-size-bullfight headboard.  Have your eyes ever beheld such a site?  I thinkith not.  Imagine seeing this everyday.  In person.  Sweet dreams, right?  I’m selling the headboard, which could just be used as a wallhanging, for $80 and the pair of side tables (sorry for the bad picture) for $50 (that’s $50 for the pair).  The lamps are staying.  Booya.

If you’re interested, leave a comment or shoot me an email:  hollaback@design-crisis.com

Kisses!

I’m a Gemini.  I’m not so sure I completely believe in all the astrological brew-ha-ha, but I do think there’s something to be said for a belief system that resides in the international social subconscious.  Be it the moon’s pull or a self-fulfilling prophecy, my Gemini-ness is most evident in my split personalities.  I’m not crazypants, but I do have two equal and opposite forces fighting tooth and nail with in me at all times:  I have expensive taste but I am cheap frugal.

Luckily, I have cultivated other characteristics to assist in marginalizing the internal struggle:  I’m a superstar at haggling and I’m not so bad at fixing things up.  Here are 3 projects I’ve worked on in the last couple of weeks that have satisfied each twin that lives inside this little gemini:

I found this lucite gem at the City Wide Garage Sale last weekend.  Normally I go when the best deals are to be had:  just before close on Sunday.  This time, I tried something different:  I went when the doors opened on Saturday and the, ahem, planets aligned and the gods presented me with this vintage lucite barrel chair.

The price was $130, which is approximately 13 times more than I like to spend on a chair, but my frugal side also knows a good deal when it sees one (similar chairs are going for $800 – $900 online).  I talked them down (of course) to $100 and hauled ass out of the convention center.

Now, don’t be fooled by the quasi-good lighting.  That fabric is one thousand percent polyester and had enough dirt to fill a shallow grave.   I ripped it off post-haste.

After taking off the offending upholstery, I realized why the seat was so uncomfortable:  most of the rubber supports were rotten and torn to shreds.  I cut new ones and Matt stapled them on for me.  Look, I’m crafty, I can make things, but few people on this earth are strong enough to work the devil’s hand-tool that is Matt’s staple gun.  One half-clutch of the handle is enough to give you a life-long battle with carpal tunnel syndrome

Once the internal repairs were complete it was time to spiff up the seat.  I chose to cover the seat with fabric cut from a vintage silk scarf that I had purchased at a City Wide Garage Sale several months ago for two whole dollars.

I then covered the scarf with clear vinyl.  I chose to use the vinyl for several reasons: 1.  Putting plastic on furniture is hilarious.  2.  I wanted to protect the scarf and 3.  I wanted to give the seat the same wow-pizzazz as it’s lucite shell.  In person, it looks lovely together.

Because I didn’t have enough fabric from scarf #1 to line the outer edge of the seat, I used fabric from a second scarf also purchased from the garage sale several months ago for $.99.  See, Erin, I do have a use for all the fabric I hoard.

Moving on to project #2

I bought this sad little excuse for a chair at a yard sale for $2 a year or so ago.  When I brought it home I could see Matt’s little mind adding up the plausibility of filing for divorce.  I promised him glory and grandeur then the chair sat for months.   Now that my office is almost done (pictures coming soon, promise) I finally had a need for it at my sewing station.

I painted it with high-gloss black spray paint, then recovered the seat with this awesome black and white Native American graphic print fabric I purchased when I lived in Albuquerque a gazillion years ago.  I’m almost positive that I got it off the $1/yard table.  I bought every last inch and have used it for several projects over the years, this is the first time it’s appeared on an item for my home, though.

And finally, project #3

I bought this lame lion head print from the thrift store for $7.99.  It felt a bit steep for all that mucky beige art, but I had a plan and figured that, even if I failed, at least the frame was worth 3 times the price.

I used a straightedge to draw laser-light-show lines across the background, then taped off each area separately and painted as needed.  It should be noted that I originally planned to cut out the lion head and put him on a new background, but the print is mounted on thick cardboard and I wasn’t sure I could cut it out cleanly.  The result?

This little lion was relocated from depressingville to crazytown.  I think he likes it better there.  Oh, I painted the frame black, too.

All of these projects are living in my office now.  Here are all the before and afters together.  Are you starting to get a sense of the color scheme?

After months of zero zilch nada progress made on my home due to analysis paralysis, I finally made some decisions and got to work this weekend.  Everyone had awesome suggestions for my room last week, Sherry had the genius idea to use photoshop to test drive designs and I loved From the Right Bank’s idea to switch the black wall and paint my fireplace a bright color… but I wasn’t up for painting over black.  In fact, you all had so many awesome ideas, I almost had to spend another 6 months in hibernation trying to figure it all out.

But!  My mind was about to explode and I had to make a move.  I decided to go with my gut and laser-light-show it up.  A visit to the always brilliant Sanders sealed the deal when he gave his nod of approval and pointed me to the metallic paint (!!!!) display.  Sanders and I quickly agreed on pearl white and I was out the door with some fancy paint and lots and lots of tape:

I started by free-form taping the wall behind my bed, making each stripe about 1.5″ wide.

I continued around the corner and onto the 3rd wall.  I didn’t tape the entire 3rd wall, I let the design taper off so that there would be a spot for your eye to rest.  Fancy, huh?

I was actually pretty smitten with the kelly green tape (of which I used 180 yards) and was almost remiss to paint it all white, but green angles are too crazy for a bedroom and I had a plan and I was going to stick to it, dammit.

Ta-Da!  Laser-Light kicks kelly green’s ass!  To understand how amazing and fabulous this looks in real life, please take the awesomeness of this picture and multiply by eight hundred thousand, give or take.  It is seriously out of control.  Do you want to see more pictures?

A close up.  Don’t worry, we’re shopping for new lamps next.  (I will be taking Camilla’s advice and finding some with black drum shades)

Doesn’t the dog bed just make this picture?  What about the crappy bathroom door that’s about to be replaced?  Ok, Ok, focus on the wall… j’adore?

last one, promise:

Once Erin comes out of maternity leave, project #1 is to have her take some decent looking photos of this joint.  You’d think I could have at least photoshopped myself out of the mirror.  lazy lazy Karly.

This project was actually super simple despite my gigantor walls, from start to finish (including clean up) it only took about 5 hours.  With all that extra time left over, I decided to tile my living room fireplace.

WHAT?!  HUH?!  But, Karly, you’ve been indecisive about tile for months!

I know, I know, but Friday night I was having cocktails in Hope’s back yard when I spotted a stack of white marble 1/2 inch tile going to waste on her porch.  Apparently it had been given to her roommate who never got around to doing anything with it.  A few drinks in and I was ready to end my tile misery and make an offer:  $3 a sheet.  Done and done.

If I were to search the world over and could have my choice of tiles, would I pick this?  No.  But is it 800 times better than the bare fireplace I’ve been living with for the last year?  Can I get a hellz yeah?!

Here’s a close-up:

It’s marble, it matches my room, and it shimmers, so I’m happy with it.  Oh, and it was dirt cheap, so I’m really happy with it.  I did some web sleuthing and found out that in the real world it costs $11 a sheet here, still pretty cheap.

I have visions of finding the world’s most perfect tile one day and replacing this but until then I don’t have to hang my head in shame when the first thing people see when they walk in my house is a bunch of junky drywall surrounding my fireplace.

So, there you have it, my weekend in a nutshell:  cocktails and decorating, what more could a girl ask for?

PS. stick around this week as we have some badassical guest bloggers in store:  tomorrow Andrea from House of Slappy does a fantastic (I mean really fantastic) artist roundup; Thursday, the always lovely Tula of Whorange brightens up the joint with my favorite palette; then Friday, it’s lame old me again wrapping up the week.  Come on back now, ya hear?