A Huckleberry Over My Persimmon

TJMaxx here in Athens, GA has recently moved and updated its rug inventory. I don’t swoon over stripes, or scratchy materials, but these natural fiber rugs are really nice.

We’re in need of a rug for our very small toilet and shower master bath area. This green and periwinkle rug is too long for the space, but I love the colors, weave, and style. It’s also very thin, which would have been great in aiding closure of an oddly placed door.

Natural fibers are easy to match, but I haven’t found the right jute for a kitchen that I’m often barefoot in. Ralph Lauren’s rug was high quality and probably durable for heavy kitchen wear, but too rough for bare feet.

 This jute was the softest I’ve felt, and I love that its round shape, which could add a new dimension to my rectangular kitchen. The only problem? It was too small for the area seen below:

This is a during shot of the great cabinet makeover of 2012. I still haven’t moved a lot of dry goods in to my newly updated pantry. I can’t do so until we install a few more shelves. So for now there’s a tease.

 I see a lot of you ladies pinning sunburst mirrors. PSA: TJMaxx has this one right now for 39 bucks. Run, don’t walk- there was only one.

Glass bottles/jars like this are in every home decor catalogue I receive, but they’re listed for 60-70 dollars. I believe this one was 20.

I’ve almost finished decorating our living room, minus new built-ins around the fireplace and decor/wall hangings around a long, thin library table that once belonged to my parents. I’m getting closer, but the table is lanky, narrow, and needs added depth via accessories. I’ve added a basket to house blankets and some soft toys, but it’s hanging out in solitary confinement underneath the long, skinny table for now. Something else is going to go perfectly under that spot, I just have to find it. Hopefully something with function will cross my path. It’s not these leather ottomans, they would add too much of one textile near David’s leather chair. A petite ottoman covered in a contrasting fabric to add bonus seating for impromptu guests might work nicely. I measured them with my tailor’s tape to get an idea of the size I’m looking for. I have to be careful and choose a cover that doesn’t attract dog hair, that’s always in the back of my mind.

Additional leather would definitely be too matchy for my tastes in this area. The library table is 15 inches wide, it could house an extra seat anywhere from 12-15 inches, due to it not being pushed directly against the wall.

You can ignore those baby handprints on the mirrors, right? I obviously have. They aren’t hanging yet because I don’t have all of the components for the mirrored wall. We recently switched out the old solid wood front entry door for one with windows, thus adding a lot of light to this formerly dark side of the living room. The mirrors are going up to help reflect the light on a long bare wall which will help brighten up the room even more.  I’ve thought about adding another layer to the table by installing some whitewashed wood towards the bottom of the table. But looking at it here, I think I like it the way it is, and where it’s headed. I’ve also thought about stacking firewood underneath it, although I’d rather add that feature to a bottom storage solution in our future fireplace built-ins.

The coffee table is finally beginning to take shape. It was crucial that I toddler proof it, and that added to the length of time that it took to find the right objects. She can’t reach the candlesticks, for now. The balls are free range for her to play with. As are the books and tic-tac-toe board. I’m thinking about spraying the base a fun color. It seems like too much wood, I like a little contrast. By the way the candles smell wonderful. They’re every hippie’s favorite scent, sandlewood, from Target.

What do you think? Do you like the direction I’m headed? Do you have ideas for what might work in the spaces I’m still trying to fill up? Did you love one of the the items I posted so much you had to run out and buy it?

At the moment I am trying to hold off on buying much ikat, Aztec, or Inca textiles. Designers keep saying they are going to have lasting power.. I’m not so sure. So the 6.99 a square foot ikat fabric for curtains is enough, for now, if I can stand it. I don’t want these fabulous patterns to go the way of paisley and polka dots. Ever.. or my wallet to grow thinner on something that might soon be annoying. (to me) But this mirror is darling. (Steinmart)

These stick candle holders are every where I look right now. I gaze at them each time I see one and then I snap out of it. Mostly due to flashes of toddlers destroying its delicate twigs, or thin glass housed inside. (Steinmart)

There’s something about this lamp that I like, maybe because it’s almost like a globe hanging there in suspension. This is a piece that I might go back for. It’s really big though, and I’ve found that really big lamps get in my way. Marination incomplete. (TJMaxx)

I hate it when people say this but, you could make that. It bothers me more (really only) when it’s an antique, or handcrafted by a local artist though. This is mass produced China crap, I assume. I guess one day it will be an antique. (TJMaxx)

Oh hey there Mr. Elephant, let’s make friends. I didn’t buy him, though I think he would be a happy addition to the front door… (TJMaxx)

 These ikat boxes are so feminine. I adore them, but they don’t match anything in my masculine home. (TJMaxx)

I am seriously in to hourglasses. I love them. I am intrigued by their fine glass and sand, I always have been. Kaleidoscopes are another coffee table fantasy for me, my auntie had one when I was little. It was so mystical, much like an hourglass. However, this guy could go by the same means as the basket and candle holder above. (TJMaxx)

This is exactly what I was looking for on our trip! A sweet and sturdy basket to go under the buffet in the living room. Too bad it had a broken handle, or it would have been coming home with me. Can you hear David cheering? (TJMaxx)

Jute rug. I really like these guys too. (I am so in to neutrals right now because I haven’t picked out the guts of this house yet-I’m still on fixtures for now) But this one was too big for any floorspace that currently needs covering. (Tuesday Mornings)

I’m thinking about going back to get these men. I like them. I’m just not sure where they would go yet. (Steinmart)

See? I’m going out to gather twigs now.

This wouldn’t go well in our home, but I know some modernist that would love it. Right girls? (Steinmart)

If you’re paying attention (and I know Mary isn’t…) you’d say, but Michelle aren’t you trying to get rid of all the brass in your house? Yes I am. But it’s all dated, super uncool polished lacquered brass.

I like to mix metals and I think nothing mixes better with all of the oil rubbed bronze that we’ve installed in the place of the icky 80′s brass… but brass. I know I’m a walking contradiction… It’s not the same though. This lamp is plated, or shall we refer to it as antique brass? I’ve been looking for a reading lamp to go next to the couch. He might be the one. (I’m not telling you where, not that it would take a person who goes shopping every day to figure it out by looking at that picture.)

More People. I’m glad I waited on this buy because I would have gone with this one in the store. But now I’ve thought about it and I like the guys who are standing much more. (Steinmart)

Now I’m repeating myself. (TJMaxx)

That’s where my decorating mind is going right now… What do you think KR?

I’m trying to pull from online, antique/flea markets, as well as the local sale stores listed above. Hopefully it will all come together wonderfully. IF I ever decide to bite the bullet and buy an actual decor item that isn’t a piece of furniture, a rug, window treatment, pot, dish, or lamp. The guts first folks, guts first.

What did I buy?:

That non interesting, dead looking plant is a pride and joy of mine. It’ll be back soon as wild wisteria that I wrangled from an old church’s graveyard. The current abode is lacking too, an old plastic “pot” that I acquired in college has seen its better days. I’ve been waiting for the right buy on a replacement because “pottery” is expensive and I found just the right thing today at 19 bucks. (Tuesday Mornings)

Today I am playing princess, because that’s what I feel like when I walk on our new bathroom rug. Trendy looks via West Elm and Ikea have caught my eye, but I finally broke down due to comfort via a faux sheepskin/pelt feel. I wish you could feel this through the internet. It’s what heavens clouds feel like, my mama told me so.

David and I have been tied up lately with the addition of hardwood floors, closing in a random door to the baby’s room, and general nesting. He’s been a great sport, and continues to be. Soon we’ll be revamping our fireplace, now that we have the new floors in, which has been the plan from the get go.

Our home is totally dated, from the floors, to the paint, to the fixtures. Every last one of them. Lighting. Plumbing. Cabinets. Drawer pulls. The fireplace brick is dull, the brass screen screams 1987, and there is a HUGE chunky “mantel” hanging above it that needs to come down. We bought this home because of the floor plan, yard and it’s a tank of a house, obviously not because of the prior owners sense of style. Now that the floors are down I have more of a vision for what’s to come. It also helps that it was the bulk of project’s budget, everything else won’t take such a long time to plan for.

 

I love the idea of a learning based room from the go. One drenched with creativity and individualism, instead of a mass produced pattern. This way baby b can grow with his or her room, some pieces can move to the big girl or boy room with wee b, while others can stay behind for a baby brother, or sister. Staying gender neutral for another surprise.

I’m all about heirloom peices that stick with you, or can be meaningful to others when handed down. I have a lot of things like that myself. My mother hung on to them for almost 30 years, and they have been passed on to me, or are still in my parents attic, waiting. Although the majority of them are a princess pink color, my old standard issue. I believe I had a pink, seafoam green, and yellow room for at least 12 years- the color wheel of a beautiful handmade quilt that was handed down to my father, and passed on to me as a child. I hope to steer away from those pastels unless baby b 1, 2, or 3 is a gal that bats her eyelashes at her daddy and me.

I don’t want to over do it with the “learning based” room, just a few hints at it. A bookshelf, a few framed items, maybe a DIY chalkboard. I’ve been perusing my favorite websites for ideas:

chickaustin

Wee Decor