Friday, April 29, 2011

Orange and Green.... a Color Combo I'd like to get to know!



Want to know what I'm REALLY loving lately?
Of course you do, you're reading this blog.

Orange and Green Decor Combos.
Yes please.
I love that it's classic and unexpected all at the same time.
And it can work with a host of different styles.

I'm talking about a little of this Kelly Wearstler Faboo-ness


Meeting some of this KW Faboo-ness.


And some more examples...











I may or may not be liking this color combo because 
I really want this pillow for my tufted orange chair...


Thoughts on this color combination?

Love it or Leave it?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Wedding Wednesday.... Fashionably Late of Course!



I'll be honest, I had NO clue what this Wedding Wednesday (or Thursday...) was going to be about.

And then I logged on to Martha Stewart Weddings.
And I realized that the Spring 2012 Wedding Dresses were out.

Praise Vera!

LOVING some of the designs right now!
If I had been trying to get married last year, I would have been IN TROUBLE, because I was not impressed by the last few seasons of dresses.
But we're seeing a very chic new frontier in Wedding Garb.



 Monique Lhuillier

I'm LOVING this Monique. I love the color, and the layers of fabric.
It reminds me alot of the bride's dress in my all-time FAVORITE wedding ever
featured on Style Me Pretty last year.
Take a gander.



Are you in LOVE?
Oh, and if you feel like crying your eyes out,
Follow This Link to the post on SMP and watch the wedding video at the bottom.
I cry EVERYTIME I watch it.


Oscar de La Renta

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A New Series on MP....The Frugalista Decorista!


Since I started this blog, I have started receiving a lot of decorating inquiries.
While these questions range from Home to Wedding Decor, I find that the most frequent questions I receive are about "Budget Decorating." 

More specifically, How to furnish your house with Neiman Marcus taste on a Target budget.

Well, Friends, Today is your LUCKY DAY.

Because I am going to teach you JUST THAT.

Welcome to my new blog series, entitled "The Frugalista Decorista."

I find that the best stories are often personal accounts, so what better to start with than my own house.
Apologies in advance for the iPhone quality photogs.

Before I moved in with my man-friend, the house was a man-dump.
I'm talking leather couches and deer heads. YUCK.

So I decided I'd GIRL-ify it a little, while still keeping it a place that he wanted to hang out.

TA-DA!

After we moved all the man-dump furniture out, We coated every surface with fresh paint.

The color I chose for the living room was a mocha-grey.

Which brings me to Frugalista Lesson # 1:

Loew's and Home Depot's paint departments can color match ANYTHING.

Restoration Hardware? Yup.
Farrow & Ball? Yup.
You name it, they'll do it.
At a FRACTION of the cost.


The white sofa is from Ikea. It retails for $399.

Frugalista Lesson # 2

Ikea is amazing. The quality is super and the prices are even better.

Now, I have some friends that refuse to shop at Ikea. 
It makes me want to laugh in their dumb-A faces.
"But, it's not good quality" they protest.
"Really?!" I say. "Because I've had my white Ikea sofa for 6.5 years and it's still in perfect condition."
Oh, I take that back. I replaced the slipcover earlier this year. It cost me a whopping $49.

Now, let's do some product comparison, shall we?

Can anyone tell me what sofa looks EXACTLY like the Ikea Ektorp?

Ding Ding Ding, That's Right!

The PB Basic Sofa from Pottery Barn.

image via PotteryBarn.com

Except that this one starts at $1,200 and goes up to $2,099 depending on the fabric you pick.

Do you know what you could do with an extra $800-$1,700?
Pretty much decorate the rest of your home.

Let's think about that.

My coffee table is from an Estate Sale. It was $50.

Which brings me to Frugalista Lesson # 3

Estate Sales and Flea Markets are like the crack dens of Design. You NEED them.

The two black side cabinets were bought from a parking lot and I bought them, along with the grey side table between my chairs for $15 TOTAL. For everything. 
And the man-friend repainted them.

The side table lamps are from Marshalls

Frugalista Lesson # 4

Discount Stores: i.e. Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, etc. are great for things like lamps, home accessories, sheets, frames, dishes, & cookware.
Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT, go to a department store for stuff like that.
Or do so, knowing that you're flushing money down the toilet.

The mirror above the sofa was given to me by my Aunt Dixie. 
It was collecting dust in her garage.
And it was a burnished gold color.
So I spray painted it a gloss white.

Frugalista Lesson # 5:

Relatives and Friend's garages are GOLD MINES and 
cans of spray paint make EVERYTHING better.

I bought all the sofa pillows on SALE!

Moving on to the "Bar Area"


The bar was a cabinet my mother had sitting up in our garage apartment. I painted it a blue-grey, added new hardware and made it a "bar".

The mirror is from a local antique shop. 
The man friend gave it to me for my birthday a couple years ago.

Here's the part of the seating area you can't see from the other angle.

The orange chair is from Salvation Army

A friend once described Salvation Army as a shop for "Poor People".
I fought the urge to tell her that it was actually a shop for "Smart People".
Here's the deal. It cost me $70. 
Will I recover it one day? Yes.
Do I LOVE the orange fabric for now? You betcha.

Frugalista Lesson # 6:

If the fabric is in great condition and you can make it work for the time being, live with it for a bit.


The white arm chair is from Ikea's Ektorp collection and it retails for $249.

The telephone table was part of the aforementioned $15 set. I painted it grey and added a carrera marble top that I payed $29 for at a Marble Shop. They cut it from a scrap.

The curtains are from World Market. I payed $25/panel for them.  They look just as good as some I've seen for four times that much.


Apologies for this hideously un-styled photog, but I wanted to show you our mid-century modern television console. Picked it up at a local antique shop for $175. They wanted $250.
We Bargained.

Lesson # 7:

Bargain your ass OFF at antique and flea market shops.
EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE.


A close-up shop of my coffee table set up.
The white lacquer box was purchased at Home Goods for $15.
Home Goods is super magical.
The pineapple figurine was $8 at a gift shop.
The coral was sitting in my mother's beach house from the previous owners.

Lesson #8

BARGAINS are EVERYWHERE.

I've collected the coffee table books over the years.


 A close-up of one side table.
Lot's of Mercury Glass.
DUH.


The Bar Tray is from Italy.
Mercury Glass from Shops in Austin and Fredericksburg.
Frame is from TJ Maxx. It was $7.
I grabbed the liquor bottles from my parent's cabinet. It was stuff they don't really drink.
And I don't really drink much liquor, but it makes a pretty little display.






 View of the other side table.
The tray was on sale at World Market for $11.
It was an outdoor serving tray, but I knew it would add a punch 
to my living room and play off the orange wingback.


The white dogs are from my mother's beach house.
The orange frame was $4 at Marshall's.
The orange candle is Jon Hardy. Got it for Christmas.


Let's Recap.

Discount Shopping is Easy if you know where to look.
And try to have some imagination.
And ask yourself questions.

 Like this:

Would I like this if it were at an expensive boutique?
Could this be repainted or recovered?
Does it have good quality?
Will it work with my room?

Now Readers, Why don't you put the Jedi Decorating Tips I've given you to good use?

More to Come.

Wedding Wednesday's will be here tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Mad Men Inspires.... Once Again.


I've been finishing up the third season of Mad Men on DVD. As always, I'm pretty thrilled with the decor.

I am IN LOVE with this green/white stripe tent at the Sterling's garden party.
I spend most of the time watching Mad Men thinking about my imaginary love affair with Don Draper.
And now I'm thinking about my love affair with this tent.

I'm also pretty into the re-do of Betty Draper's living room.

As you'll recall, 
this is what it used to look like...


And after the re-do...

images via amctv.com

Alright, Let's talk about this. 
1. AMAZING Orange sofa. LOVE the lines of it.
2. Gorgeous orange edged cornices and curtains. STOP IT. Too good.
3. Gold Coffee Table
4. FAN-freakin-TASTIC cane print chairs.

Those cane print chairs made me think immediately of this Chartreuse Schumacher Fabric


And then my decorating wheels started turning.

Very much like this book.....


 So Here's what I'm thinking for a Draper-esque living room

This Schumacher Wallpaper.


This gorgeous bamboo mirror from Pieces....


Over this console, also from Pieces


This sofa from Room Service


Covered in the St. Tropez fabric from Schumacher


Paired with these chairs from Pieces


Covered in the cane print fabric


With this chevron print rug from West Elm
 And two of these Room Service side tables flanking the sofa


With these Pieces lamps


And this gold/glass coffee table from Pieces
 Love these greek key lowballs from Pieces to serve drinks in your living room!


And I'd top the couch with tons of green/gold Madeline Weinrib pillows






Tada! A pretty green room worthy of a Mad Men set!