Things that I like

From the Pearl River Mart. When I visited my friend Alex in NYC during med school, we had a grand time. Including this one time when we got locked out of her apartment and tried to climb down via fire escape and got stuck on the roof; the people who lived on the top floor heard us being loud and let us climb out their window and down the fire escape to Alex's bedroom window:



Anyways, Alex had to work during the day, so I would go out and wander on my own, with the "City Walks of New York" cards as my guide. One of my favorite places was Chinatown. Because after being on Manhattan for only a couple of days, I really enjoyed finally finding a healthy dose of CHEAP.

That day, I think I spent about two hours wandering around the Pearl River Mart picking things up, wondering over them, and ultimately buying a large bag full of stuff (and most of my Christmas gifts for that year) for less than $100. And I still love to look at their store online to see what awesome deals can be had. here are my favorite things:

Foo Dogs



Lacquer tray



A 36 inch white rice paper lantern



Pretty Packaged soaps



Stacking lunch box



Tea in cute tins (let's be honest I don't care about the tea, but the packaging is so nice!)




Blue and White geometric bowls




I could really keep going but they DO have their own website, so there's not really a need for me to list the entire store's wares on my blog.

I cannot for the life of me remember where I read this, but I do remember this tongue-in-cheek formula for how to make a room look like you've hired an interior designer: you just need something Asian, something animal print, something red, and something metallic. Perhaps I should do a series on each so that we can all be so CHIC.

this one's for the boys

In line with the imaginary little girl's room, I thought I should do one for the imaginary boys.

I would start out with the same Fjellse Bed from Ikea


with headboards upholstered in a cowhide



(most cowhides are big enough to cover either two twin beds or a queen- possibly a king if you got a big hide)

I would use a cozy and tough-wearing blanket from Pendleton for bedding.






Each bed would have a small storage ottoman at the end, like this one:



Upholstered in this Ikea fabric:


For a bedside table, I would get a Rast chest from Ikea, and hack it like so:



They would each have an industrial-style sconce over the bed:



For reading bedtime stories, there would be a pair of club chairs:



Between which would be this little table:



I would use this rug:




And get a canvas made of this painting by Henri Rosseau



Just as cool as the girl's room, but yet totally different. And I think that both the rooms could grow with children for more than a couple of years--smart AND cost-effective.

alice in wonderland little girl's room

My sister has two beautiful little girls, and she has mentioned in the past that they may end up sharing a room in her house. Today I was playing around with the idea of how I would decorate a bedroom for two little girls.

I would start with two Fjellse beds from Ikea;


I would upholster them as per the tutorial created by Dan of Manhattan Nest. Here's his end result


using this Premier Prints fabric:


For bedding, I would get something easily washable and brightly colored like this





They would get an extra-girly nightstand like this one (from Euro Antiks):


Topped with a lamp like this


for some glitz, I would add a golden pouf (what little girl doesn't need one of these? I think we may be needing one in our grown-up house if I can find a place for it.


they would each get a hook like this at their own height (because since this is a fantasy the children would use the hooks and keep the room tidy at all times. fat chance since I don't do this myself):


and since this is a dream room, I would buy a painting by this artist:



Or I would attempt to do an homage to her work. which I think is so pretty and interesting in a way that I can't exactly pin-point.

for reading bed-time stories, I would get this settee


and to tie everything together, this rug



All together, it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland!

white rock

Today I got off of work around 2:00 (only an 8 hour day! woohoo!) and came home and enjoyed the beautiful spring day by going on a bike ride about White Rock Lake.

can you believe that we get to live just a mile away from this beaut? one more view, just for fun.

I'm thinking that next year, when I have more free time in my schedule, I may even try to get back to rowing. Here's a picture of me from my glory days:

There's a boat house at White Rock, and I would really enjoy getting out in a single and looking at the scenery from on the lake, rather than around it.
Today was a good day.

new pillows

I used my stalked Robert Allen Ikat to make some new pillows for the sofa.



doesn't this look like a nice place to sit down and have a glass of wine?



Possibly even better with a hand-made blanket



I am actually not in love with the sofa; its lines are a little too Italian-modern for me. But it is a nice one, and it's cozy, and it is one of the only pieces of furniture that Ethan brought to the house and really liked, so it stays. At least until we can save up for something that we both like, like one of the beauties below (all from customsofadesign.com)

hutch

despite the fact that our house is quite small, I have been very frequently bringing new furniture home. The catch is that I'm replacing inefficient larger pieces for pieces with storage and efficiency, often scaled towards our house.

One of the things I recently thrifted (Salvation Army, half off because it had been there more than one month!) was a walnut hutch to house all of our Fiesta Ware! It's extremely solid, it fits into the kitchen nicely, and it lets me display the collection of Fiesta on top, and put ugly food packages in the bottom parts.

But for now, no more thrifting. I gave it up for Lent out of fear that I was on my way to becoming a hoarder.

pretty

when we have a formal dining room someday down the line, I'm going to get chairs like this:


and then I'm going to get my talented and lovely sister to put a giant monogram on them, in a bright color like cobalt blue or red or if I'm feeling subtle, yellow.




I like the style of these three, from the leontine linens website.

I'm going to get a big round or octagonal table like these (all found on first dibs)




The last one is an Althorp table, which is awesome. It is an expanding table that can expand from six to ten seats, by growing in diameter rather than changing into an oval. I think the mechanism and the utility are as beautiful as the table itself.

I also like this one from Crate and Barrel:



Surrounding the round table and monogrammed chairs, I'm thinking walls and walls of built in bookshelves, like these

(from Lonny)

so pretty.