homemaking with loojie: 08/01/2007

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

coffee table: check!

Yay, Crate & Barrel outlet! Even Moxie approves.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Corner bookshelves for the living room

I like the idea of a corner bookshelf like this one.

Although this wall-mounted unit could be an interesting variation on the theme.

This is the basic bookshelf style I was thinking about (again, yay Target for selling Crate & Barrel designs at cut-rate prices!)

Labels: bookshelf, living room

Monday, August 27, 2007

Target furniture

Huh. It looks like the chairs and barstools I loved at Crate & Barrel are sold at Target for nearly half the price.

Brown leather parsons chair

Brown leather parsons bar stool

I'm also thinking good and hard about this table. It sure is pretty for such a reasonable price.

Labels: bar stools, chairs, dining room, table

Sunday, August 26, 2007

A rug for the kitchen?

I think my kitchen needs a rug.

This one was perfect -- cobalt blue (the color of all my kitchen implements), the right size, and at Ikea, the right price. But my stepmother talked me out of it, because it's wool and would need special cleaning, which a well-trafficked kitchen rug shouldn't. Sigh. It was otherwise-perfect...

Labels: kitchen, rug

a Persian rug on sale in Woodley Park

I found this rug at Silk Road's going-out-of-business sale and quite liked it, but I fear it's too busy for either my living room or my bedroom...

Labels: bedroom, living room, rug

Friday, August 24, 2007

Ideas from a Pacific Northwest B&B

Mirrors hanging on ribbons -- too Pottery Barn, circa 2004?

A neat use of Early American stencils -- ferns in two neutral shades of green around the bathtub. I really liked this effect, although I'd do weeping willows.

Labels: bathroom, bedroom, decor, paint

Thursday, August 23, 2007

the sink I saw in Washington State

...in a housewares store on Main Street in Bellevue:

It's ceramic, but glazed in copper and nickel finishes. Striking.

Labels: bathroom, sink

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Paint colors

My poor cameraphone is so overtaxed by unnatural light; it's tough to get it to represent anything like reality in anything less than midmorning sunlight. That said, here's a shot I took in the living room right next to the window at about 3 pm, as close to reality as I can get right now.

I plan to paint the living room a fairly dark green, but leave the reddish-odd color in the kitchen. Do you think Weeping Willow would work?

Labels: living room, paint

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Dining room chandeliers from IKEA

At the total opposite end of the spectrum from the $3000 Murano glass chandeliers...here are the cutest things in the bargain basement:

RIST -- love the globes! Circles are good energy. My favorite.

HÖRBY -- the bendable arms could give it all sorts of character.

KRYSSBO -- unclear whether these arms are bendable though.

UPDATE: I checked out these fixtures in person at the IKEA in College Park. Sadly, they all looked...cheap. Bummer.

Labels: dining room, lighting

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Oxford Couch

Crate and Barrel no longer offers the Club Couch in the shade of leather that matches my armchair (from two seasons ago) as a stock item. I can special order it...for upwards of $4000. Um, for one couch? No thanks.

Here's an idea for a much more cost-effective alternative: an Oxford sectional, with a comfy chaise and a sofa bed in the non-chaise part.

Thoughts on this:
- is it too big for the space?
- what color would go best with a green wall, a brown leather armchair and a nearby kitchen painted that odd shade of reddish-mauvey-terracotta?

Labels: furniture, living room

homemaking with loojie