blahlblahblah lame-o blahblah

Alright. I am a bad daughter. I am withholding pictures of your grandsons. This is not personal. This is just laziness. Chris is going out of town on business this weekend so I will have no excuse to not get it done. In the mean time... feast your eyes on these beauties.

The Jacqui coffee table. Tonic home. love at first sight. Then, heartbreak. $750.

sigh.



If a room could be labeled "a breath of fresh air", this one would be it:
don't you love the lattice detail on the widows in the back ground? And how it is repeated in the loops on the arm chairs?
And the coffered ceiling?!
Augh! I need a house!

picture also from Tonic Home.

The rug search continues.
It was harder than I expected.
Complications were:

-cost- just can't justify spending more on a rug than our car is worth....

-color/pattern- coordinating with the chair patter/colors of the one my mom just did "with" me.

-size (the room is long and narrow. I rearrange the furniture. Now: the tv is in the middle of the bookshelves= 2 bookshelves on each side. the couch on the piano wall. piano on the tv wall. I did this because the room felt completely out of balance with the weight of the bookshelves on one side and the piano on the other. This new arrangement balances it visually, but it emphasizes the tunnel effect- long and narrow. I needed a rug to cover most of the area. Bigger than 8x10, which eliminated a lot of choices)
(oh how I would love to paint the trim and the orange wooded coat closet- to the left, next to the couch- a nice white. Maybe I will ask... it won't hurt to ask....)

The finalists:


The Fallon Rug in blue


or sky

Or these others.

Marrakech_

Fez II

Melrose

I want a geometric/graphic element to the room to balance the floral chair. I originally was thinking damask or lotus print (I think they are a good balance between graphic and floral- a little of both) in a monochromatic design- blue on blue. No luck. I ended with the Moroccan lattice by default. It's growing on me though. I have admired the West Elm rugs similar to this (pictured below) for a long time. And, of course, now that I am ready to buy a rug, WE has discontinued them!

My plans for the room:

I am going to work with what I have. Of course, I would love to scrap everything and start over. Who wouldn't? But I know I will want to do that when we move into a house in a few years. With that said, the couch has to be re-slipcovered.

If I have the nerve I want to slipcover the couch in white. If I don't have the nerve, it will be a pale blue. With a short, box pleated skirt like this:

I think I will paint the wall behind the couch and stencil it. I love this wallpaper from BD, but don't want to spend $120 a roll.

And I don't want too much Moroccan tile pattern.


I think I will change the green chair to a blue velvet.

I am loving velvet right now. I think it's a little sassy.
I think I am going to send the piano back to Iowa. Design-wise, it is killing this space! Plus, we have books coming out of our ears, so I plan to have the bookcases wrap around the corner and line the wall that the tv was on in that first picture. .

That still leaves me with decorative art and window treatments.I have a few things stirring around in my head, but I have to get these main pieces of the puzzle put together before I start working on those.

And this is all driving me nuts! I want to get this room done so i can enjoy! Instead, right now, I sit in there and think of all the things that I want to do.

So now you know what I am doing. I have spent every second of internet time looking for rugs rather than blogging. Hopefully I will be done soon!

What about you guys? Anyone working on any projects?

And I will leave you with these beauties.

The Nixon Rug. Jonathan Adler.


Block Party. http://www.lampsplus.com/products/Block-Party-Blue-Area-Rug__F4468.html

Maybe for the boys room.....

and one more fabulous piece
of course, I need this lamp shade.

Getting back to it

I will upload pictures from the holiday tomorrow but right now I am in the market for a rug. I need to get the rug for my living room first so that I can then pick the fabric for my couch that I am going to slip cover. After I do that I can then pick my window treatments and what color and design I am going to paint my wall behind my sofa. Follow that? So, basically, I need to find one soon!
Here are some fabulous rug websites if anyone else is jonesing for a new rug

http://www.companyc.com/handmade-area-rugs.htm?p=all

Their wool rugs make me drool:
http://www.laylagrayce.com/Departments/Home-Store/Rugs.aspx

Cool, outdoor rugs:
http://www.outdoorrugshop.com/outdoor-rugs/11447+11434.cfm

can't you see this in my house? one problem. It's really expensive.... as in over $3,000 for the size I want... curse you, my good, expensive taste. Curse you.

Okay, my kids are screaming and hitting each other. Time to go.

Vacation

Taking a blog break to enjoy the holidays. Be back after the first.
Merry Christmas.
And don't feel bad that I didn't send you a Christmas card.
I didn't send any.
I know, I am lame.

Obsession

Since I missed my Things I Love Thursday I will do it now. I am still working on my kitchen (reason I missed Things I Love Thursday) prime and paint and prime and paint and prime and paint those chairs and table. And I am waiting for a fabric swatch to come in the mail before I do something for the windows...

Anyway,
I kind of... I do...
have an obsession.

With silhouettes.

Get your own ornaments made here
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36286266

Cutest wedding present idea
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36615937&ref=sr_list_16&&ga_search_query=personalized+silhouette&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=3&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

I want one
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36337548&ref=sr_list_7&&ga_search_query=silhouette&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=2&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

They are classy, classic, interesting, charming, beautiful, personal, sophisticated and stylish all at once. What's not to love?

Wouldn't this be fabulous in a playroom?

Some noteworthy websites to pass on:

Lonny Magazine: http://lonnymag.com/
an online decor magazine created by a staff of Domino magazine



http://www.frugal-fashionistas.com/
How to look good on a budget!
making bargain shopping even easier!

SNOW Day (again)

Hot Chocolate
Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

2 oz. unsweetened or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1/3 c. sugar

4 c. milk

In a medium saucepan combine chocolate, sugar, and 1/2 c. of the milk. Stir over medium heat until mixture just comes to boiling. stir in remaining 3 1/2 c. milk. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil.

Remove from heat. If desired beat mixture with a rotary beater until frothy.

Celebrate!

Have I ever told you how much I love the internet.
Cute graphic trellis print.
blue.
$7.86/yard.
booya!

Ouch!

Dear blogging friends,

I love this fabric (in blue, of course- I couldn't pull a big pic of the blue to post). My MIL is getting her design degree and I had been having day dreams of one day having access designer fabrics.... until I google Schumacher Fabrics and found most are in the $250/yard price. Talk about a punch in the stomach to a dreamer. Does anyone know why designer fabrics are so expensive? They must be hand painting the color on because that is the only logical, rational reason.

Sincerely,
Heartbroken fabric lover

Snow Day

Friday was our first day of snow and up north you have to relish every bit of it,
lest it destroy you.

I do not jest.




When the first flakes started to fly (and before it accumulated to a playable amount) we played with "snow" inside. I think I need to stock up on this fake snow after Christmas to last us through the rest of the winter.... which I believe lasts until May...


Around dinner time there was enough to play with and Nate declared it was time to make "snowball soup" (idea taken from one of Nate's favorite books. you should buy it)


We were still hungry after eating snowball soup so we made snowball waffles and ate snowball doughnuts. (my camera battery died so I didn't get to upload pics of those- it was just waffles with powder sugar sprinkled on it and white powder sugar doughnuts). And syrup of course because we elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.


Then we snuggled.

All the rave

In the crafty blogging world, everyone and their mom is making these

headboard benches

so mom, do you have a bed frame I can have and make in to a bench? I really need.

Things that I love {part3}

This is a day late because I am working on my own things that I love installment in my apartment. I will have that ready to post by next Thursday. Until then...

Cozy in to this...


Library....

I want one.

and because this one was just ridiculous- you might as well take a look
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker?currentPage...

Blog Love

I love this post (and, all together, this blog)

http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-are-red-green-colours-of-christmas.html

Thanksgiving

I am thankful that I came from a wonderful family and that I married in to one also.

and that my eye was better yesterday with only a little swelling and today I am back to normal!
Christmas decorations up, time to start on Andy's stocking.... I am really looking forward to it... if you remember this. It's going to be a blast. Better get started now. I think I have enough episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place to last me through it all. If not, I have heard Vampire Diaries is good, maybe I will start dvr-ing some of those.... I have a great project in mind for my kitchen...I think I will do that tomorrow.... see this is why I get nothing done! I have too many projects in mind, can't pick one to work on, so I read and get none done! Tomorrow I will!