Archive for the ‘den’ Category

Thrifty!

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Still have the chesterfield sofa. It’s safe for now.

But I did recently thrift this giant ceramic lamp to balance out all the brown. Also, I feel like it must be known that all giant studio pottery lamps are the shiz and I cannot be dissuaded from this belief.

Oops, just noticed my book is upside down. IGNORE ME.

Also picked up this wacko still life painting that has now replaced the Navajo rug in the guest bedroom. So fresh, so clean – except for the painting kind of looks like it could give you gonorrhea.

Gonorrhea in a good way? Mmmmmhmmmm.

Brown Town

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Maybe it’s been made obvious over these past few years, but I have a lil’ bit of a sofa problem. Just a wee little problem. You know, just a small, minuscule, tiny, insignificant issue with obtaining sofas. No big thang. No real worries. No extremism. Nothing to call a specialist about. No deep rooted psychological pathologies.

Shut up.

I’m blaming The Boy…kind of. He and his less than design enthused friends have complained over and over that the sofas I buy are too low or too hard or too uncomfortable or too mid century or too whatever. In the comfy television watching den this debate has raged on and on while they sipped crappy beers and watched Nascar. Yes – NASCAR. In my home. The nerve.

Sharing my long unrequited love for chesterfields – Summer found the perfect little petite sofa and begrudgingly emailed it to me. I thought nothing could be more Boy pleasing than a deeply comfy and broken-in vintage chesterfield to sit on while watching manly things on the tube. He has yet to really wax lovingly about my thoughtful gift, but has taken the time to remark, “No more goddamn sofas. Aren’t you tired of moving sofas?”. NEVER.

The den is shifting into all brown town and getting a bit more masculine than I’d like. Now I just need some new art and new pillows and a new shelving unit and a new light and a new chair. Just a whole new room, no biggie.

Bowie likes it a whole bunch and he’s adorable, so therefore by the bylaws of adorable transference the sofa is now legally adorable. I called Iggy into the room to take some photos and add to the adorableness quotient, but once he rounded the corner and saw the camera and Bowie, he briefly sized up the situation and then turned heel and hopped back into bed to continue his nap. Iggy ain’t having none of our crap anymore. I don’t know how any of them put up with me.

Coffee Table

Monday, February 7th, 2011

At this point I don’t even know how to say that I found another coffee table without feeling deep pangs of guilt and embarrassment. It’s turned into a bit of a sad joke, this whole switching coffee tables every month thing, but I just can’t stop myself when I spot something I really dig.

I’m addicted. I love coffee tables. Probably even more than I like sofas.

But, it could be worse, I could be addicted to eating a “household cleanser” or sofa cushions like those folks on My Strange Addiction.

Amazing what teak oil, Feed ‘n Wax and some elbow grease can do. Seriously, if you find a piece of wood furniture and it looks shabby and neglected but is structurally fine – GOOD. Ask for a discount and then get your oiling on! Trust me, it will look perfectly amazing with just a little bit of effort.

Curious about how to spruce up furniture? Check out this tutorial.

The Boy gets mad when I freshen up furniture on our patio since oil and debris get everywhere. Now I’m trying to do it out in our driveway to avoid the mess, which I’m imagining is such a great show for the neighbors. As if we weren’t weird enough already.

Come on. Give. It. Up.

This is a pretty incredible table.

I even vignetted it up like a proper stylist.

I can stack books! With things on top of them!

Are you guys coffee table vignetters?

I’m normally not. I don’t like a bunch of stuff cluttering up a table I use everyday since I like to put my feet up, have drinks and other things strewn about that are frankly, fairly ugly. I noticed that the first batch of pictures were looking kind of sad, so I thought “styling” would help liven this table up. Don’t expect my coffee tables to be like this if you come over.

I imagine there is this question of why the den’s furniture is laid out the way it is. It’s a weird little room. Difficult to photograph and harder to understand in pictures. It’s kind of like a big L with a built in desk on the other side and an entrance to the kitchen smack in the middle. Definitely challenging to space plan.

Oh, did you notice the old sofa is back. I know, I foretold it.

I also know that the portrait of what people like to refer of as “Lindsay Lohan” should be way lower. As a former gallery director and curator, I am ashamed that I’ve let this hang way above eye levelĀ  for years. Art hung too high or improperly is a giant pet peeve and I am a complete hypocrite for letting this happen.

Problem is, that if the painting hangs at the proper mid line it hits the wainscoting and hangs all wonky…then you hit your head on it when you sit on the sofa and it falls on you and hurts you and then people sue me. It’s one of those things I don’t think about in real life until I see it in a picture. Different art for above the sofa is a must, but I haven’t found anything appropriate so “Lindsay” stays super high. Tee hee.

Also, screw the wainscoting. It ruins my life.