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?

Bet you thought this blog wasn’t updated because I was out having a baby. Ha! Wrong! I’m still here, and with TONS of time to kill I’ve returned to my very favorite pass time: thrifting! Check out my most recent find:

She’s 23″ x 27″ of pure awesomeness. For that, I have to thank my darling son for taking his sweet sweet time. It may have cost mommy $4.99 and several days of impatient heartache, but it’s paying off in spades.

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.

Last week I posted my scribble curtain inspiration and promised to make headway on said drapes over the weekend.  Guess what?  I did it!  Unfortunately, projects that used to take an afternoon now span several days:  carrying a baby in your belly makes you sleepy and decidedly less agile.  Go figure.

I apologize for the craptastic photo, my camera has gone kaput and I had to shoot these with the camera on my phone.  And, no, I haven’t bothered downloading any radical filter apps.

Anyhoodle, above is curtain #1.  Measuring in at 9′ high and 12′ wide it took about an hour to paint.

And here is curtain #2, which took about 30 minutes (I got a real rhythm going by the end).

Now, in normal, un-impregnated life I would have painted these, sewn tabs on the backs, mounted a curtain rod and hung them up all in an afternoon.   As it stands, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this entire project to be complete by the end of next weekend.  When it is, I promise to find a real-honest-to-god camera and take some decent pictures for you dudes.

xoxo

K

G’morning!  I’m back from Vegas and with zero trips planned between now and bambino arrival it’s time to move full speed ahead on kiddo decor.  I’ve acquired most of the items needed to create the world’s most precious and heartwarming nursery, now I just need to give everything a spit-shine and drop it in place.  Ok, easier said than done.

My biggest project?  Curtains.  I got the brilliant idea to use drop-clothes as curtains from the always inspiring AB Chao.  As soon as I saw her post I knew I wanted to cover the window wall floor-to-ceiling with some fab chunky drapes.  I ordered bleached white drop clothes online*  but decided that bleached white wasn’t quite awesome enough for, what is sure to be, the world’s most radical baby.

I’ve decided to paint on my pristine white drapes.

I had a few ideas for prints and patterns but none quite worked (the yellow raindrops were quickly nixed when I considered the allusion to golden showers).  A panicked email to blog BFF Raina quickly subsided my woes when she suggested I emulate the work of scribble genius Cy Twombly.

I relayed Raina’s suggestion to Erin who instantly agreed and reminded me of this Kelly Wearstler entryway.  This is about the time when my heart started beating out of my chest and I knew the curtains had to be made.

Again, this is an inspiration post, so, no curtains today (they just arrived at my house yesterday and painting should commence this weekend).  BUT!  Look at the awesome interior shot above which I found ages ago on Designalogue and have been fantasizing about ever since.  I will be channeling this heavy handed painting while wielding my brush-sword this weekend.

Proving herself to be the fountain of pure link magic and knowledge that I knew her to be, Erin also sent me this link via Eye Spy which continues to confirm that Raina’s scribble idea is great and good.

Once I got the scribble bug, I started to see scribbles everywhere.  Yesterday’s post on Desire to Inspire conjured up scribble images when the cord of this lamp formed a lovely 3 dimensional scribble.  Maybe, just maybe, I’ll emulate the cord drape in the little dude’s room for the sake of repetition.  Or not.  I promise to draw the line just before overkill.

For the ultimate 3D scribble I bow my humble head to the appropriately named Scribble lamp by Thout.  I will be conjuring it’s warm glow as I take paint to canvas this weekend.  Wish me via con Dios and, with some luck and all that via con Diosing I will hopefully be showing you some yellow and white scribble curtains next Tuesday.

*If you’re wanting to do drop cloth curtains and you want them to be bleach white, skip home depot and lowes, theirs are canvas color and no amount of bleach on the planet is making them white.  Believe me, I’ve tried.   Buy these instead. You’re welcome.

As you can imagine, the largest decor undertaking in my house right now is la bambino’s room.  In fact, I was more stressed about how to decorate it then I was about whether he’d be a boy or a girl (I figured I had no control over that).  Over the last few months I’ve already picked up quite a few prints that will eventually form the little dude’s first cluster art wall.  Don’t you just think he’s going to be so excited to come home to all this:

Since he’s going to be born in the year of the tiger (as was his father, uncle, grandfather, great grandfather and great grandmother) I thought we should pay homage with a few pieces of tiger art.  Note: THIS ROOM IS NOT TIGER THEMED, just tiger friendly.  This print, rock candy, was found by Erin and purchased by me in approximately 2.2 seconds.

Continuing the tiger non-theme I also grabbed this year of the tiger print from the same shop.

And finally, I picked up Tiger Phone from the Two Rabbits Studios booth at the Renegade Craft Fair.

In fact, all the remaining prints were picked up at renegade.  If you have one happening in your area, I highly suggest you go.

Because I am having a wee little baby, I thought I should get a few little-kid friendly prints too.  Not just a bunch of insane tigers.  I grabbed this beep beep bike print from Tad Carpenter.

This 2-part pink monster is also by Tad Carpenter, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find it on his site and I think he’s sold out.

And because I bought so much at his booth, Tad threw this tiny bird print in for zero dollars.  Thanks, Tad!

Having stocked up on some baby goodies, I felt like I could return to my crazy art comfort zone.  I bought this Will Bryant print at the Public School booth.

And finally, because babies go goo goo ga ga over black and white prints, stimulating their little brains straight into mensa, I picked up this crazy eye print for the little dude.

Don’t be scared if you feel like some of these don’t go together, remember we have several walls to work with here.  Anything that doesn’t make the baby’s room cut will land in my office, but overall I’m feeling good.  I think he’s just going to swoon when he comes home!

Last Friday my new couch got totally upstaged by my panther coffee table.  Yes, my brand new most expensive piece of furniture was put to shame by a pair of panthers purchased from craigslist and spray painted by my mom.

So let’s talk about them.

Note, this is actually a super old picture with my old couch and old rug and tile-free fireplace.

I purchased 4 of these panthers from craigslist for a whopping $100.  They were black with eyes and mouths painted on their silly faces.  I think the rocks under them where gray.  They were pretty silly.  I bought them from a former bachelor who had, according to him, spent years looking for a panther table only to marry a woman who demanded they vacate the premises.   While I may have reconsidered the union, he instead chose to sell them to little old me.

I carted them home (breaking one along the way) and made a plan to paint them gold.  Before I had a chance to give them the Midas touch, my mom came along and did it for me.  Thanks mom.

I know these panthers are pretty rad and you probably think there’s not much more i can say about them but you would be wrong.

Recently, while watching old episodes of the most awesome show ever made in my lifetime I observed that TRACY JORDAN HAS THE EXACT SAME PANTHER TABLE IN HIS FREAKIN DRESSING ROOM.  Ok, his are black, but that’s fine, because TRACY JORDAN HAS ALMOST THE EXACT SAME PANTER TABLE IN HIS FREAKIN DRESSING ROOM.  I wish to all things holy that I had paused and taken a screen shot but I didn’t have the foresight to realize it then and now the only episode I saw them on is a distant memory (I had a 3 season marathon and it’s all a blur).  This is the best picture I could find online.

Find me a better picture and I’ll think of something crazy nice to do for you.

Before I hit the road, I want to apologize for this quasi lame post BUT BUT BUT, I’m working on a big huge post for Thursday that involves a big surprise announcement that’s not to be missed.  Unless you have the option of taking the day off work and going shopping or swimming, then I would probably miss the surprise in that case.

Kisses!

It’s official, la horse print is sold out forever until the end of time.  Thanks to everyone who bought one, I’m beyond flattered to have my work around the world and in your homes.  Seriously, you’re awesome.

For those of you who were on the horsey fence but were hoping for a bit more metallic gold, might I remind you that lasers in general is still available

The general is ready to give marching orders HERE.

In other news…

The Oasis has landed.  And yes, it is the beacon of comfort it represents itself to be.  Why, I accidentally fell asleep mere minutes after laying my head on one of it’s downy soft pillows last night.  I’m not even kidding.

Styling it is another issue.  I can’t seem to find the right combination of pillows and or blankets to casually toss about it’s feathery mass as evidenced by the pillow graveyard across the room:

In the photo it looks great without any pillows or blankets, but it person it’s a bit too barren.  I’m totally and completely open to suggestion.  In the meantime, it doesn’t have to have a single accent upon it to be the perfect spot to nap.

As you dudes know, Matty and I have been hard at work making our backyard inhabitable. Over the past several weekends we’ve ripped out the hot tub, trimmed back the deck, replaced rotting trim, repainted the trim, REPAINTED THE ENTIRE BACK OF THE HOUSE MYSELF NO HELP FROM MATT, installed sun shade, and planted some green things in the grass. For the very first time ever in my life.

Because this is only a partial view of the yard, I’m calling it a sneak peek, because that’s what a sneak peek is, a preview. ahem, another blog.

Oh, this is also a before and after

Here is a nook at the back of my house as of last week. Before we took the hot tub house down I had never even ventured into this part of my yard. Once it was exposed I realized it needed serious work. First, Matt replaced most of the trim, I started doing some spot painting to fix dings and damage but quickly realized that I needed to repaint the entire thing. Had I known this from the start I probably would have repainted my house a new color but, as it stands, it’s the same old green just so fresh and so clean clean.

Once the house was ready I was ready to put plants in the ground.

I’ve always been pretty good at keeping potted plants alive but never before in my life have I planted something right smack-dab into the earth.

I did 2.2 seconds of research online and half listened to Erin as she dished out advice, hopefully that was enough to keep these babies alive.

First I spray painted an outline around the semi-circle I wanted to dig out (hello, my genius idea!) then I dug about 1.5 feet deep. I then poured in alternating layers of native texas mulch and the dirt that I had dug out. I mixed as I poured so everything got tousled. Then, voila, I threw in some plants.

Here’s what I planted (all plants are texas-weather friendly):
lily of the nile
fortnight lily
Canna lily
Stella de Oro Daylily
Australian Canna Lily
Bamboo Muhly (not bamboo) (also the coolest once it gets big)
Plumbago

The rocks that are outlining the little garden actually came out of the ground when I was digging. We’ve got a ton of limestone around here and while it’s a pain to dig it up, I didn’t have to spend a dollar on edging

If I’m a really good plant mommy, one day it should look like this Texas landscape. You know, in like a week or something.

I’ve decided to replace my sofa. The couch I have now is pretty cute but for every point it gets in style it looses 12 for comfort. I’m not in a huge rush (would love to have one sometime this summer) but don’t want to drag this out by looking at every couch on the planet.

I had originally thought I would get the Petrie from crate and barrel, but with a $1600 price tag I’m a bit gun shy. Erin and I went to Macy’s yesterday where we test drove the $699(!!!!) Corona sofa but I found it was only $699 worth of comfort and I left with my back cracking. Literally.

As soon as we got back to Erin’s she forced the laptop on me and pointed me directly to CB2 (You remember Erin’s documented shopping problem, yes?) It was then that I remembered this beauty:

At $999 the Bolla is $1 under my dream budget and thus, totally fair game. The only problem? The closest CB2 is eight million and sixty four miles away. This is where YOU come in.

Ok, who has seen this sofa in person? Or, dare I ask, sat on it? My husband and I are both tall. Like serious tall not like pretend tall (I’m 6′ he’s 6’4″). I get that we won’t be able to lay across it, that’s fine, I have this daybed in the same room for lounging. I want a nice, deep, comfy seat that’s not too hard and not too soft. TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW.

Also, if you own this, how does it wear? I want to know all the practical details

Or, if you work for CB2, tell me about shipping returns if I get it and it makes me want to puke.

xoxo forever!
K