P.S.

Clearly, I should've also mentioned this:



It's late. I'm tired as hell but bored and too rebellious to go to sleep. I thought I could get by with a quick little shout out rather than waiting until I'd collected three things (my little rule)...but that was just plain wrong now that I see this dresser listed, wasn't it? Who knew the Interwebs were going to provide such a bountiful harvest on Thanksgiving Day?

If I find that third thing that is too cool for school, I'll letcha know.

Love Mid-Century?

If you are a regular reader, you probably know I've sworn myself off of more mid-century furniture for my living room. I want some modern stuff to balance the mid-century pieces I already have, lest the place starts looking too themey. But if you're not in the same restriction mode, you're gonna love this:



At $15, it's a steal even if it's all scarred to hell.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Holiday Short List

I typically don't like to use standard red and green for my holiday decorating...but our new house and new decor beg for red. Here's a smattering of what I'm going for this year:

Home Decor by Larry

I realize we've been in this house for (over?) two months now, but I haven't taken the time to select decorative pillows to go with our new decor.

Apparently frustrated by my procrastination, my cat took matters into his own hands today...

Mini Makeover

How many times have you looked at your built-in entertainment wall unit and thought it was just too much? Too much wood, too heavy-looking, too much of the same 'ol same 'ol? Here's a project I recently completed that will illustrate one easy way to transform that area of your room:

BEFORE:



AFTER:



Lining the back of the bookcase area with grasscloth broke up the mass of dark color and added a textural element to the built-ins. What you cannot see in this snapshot is that I didn't even permanently adhere the wallpaper to the wood. My client wanted to give this idea a trial run as well as protect the wood finish, so I simply mounted the wallpaper to tightly-fitting foam core and let the adjustable wood shelves hold it all in place.

The beauty part is that if she wanted to, my client could easily create another look by flipping the foam core around and mounting a different wallpaper pattern to the reverse side.

Presto, change-o.

Cool Toys

If kiddos are on your shopping list this holiday season, check out this line of stylishly simple wood toys by Plan Toys. If they made all toys (and judging by their product line, they soon will), it wouldn't be so nauseating to hang out in the playroom. Oops...is my anti-Disney-Princess showing?

Super Cheap

It's not every day you can order six stylish items off the Internets and only pay eighteen bucks including shipping. Here's what I snagged this morning:

These small planters will be great for fresh herbs or a little bamboo on the bar in my kitchen.


I picked up one of each of these Andy Warhol plates for my little Princess, who currently has a butterfly fetish. They're just the right size for a three-year old, and they'll be a great, inexpensive Christmas present. My first gift purchase of the season!

Thought for the Day

Just a note about an easy way to beautify your space without spending a dime. All it takes is some Windex (or similar product), a pair of scissors, a scraper, and/or your fingernails.

Removing tags and stickers.

Since I just moved into a new house, there are stickers and tags in every room. Over a long weekend spent in a luxurious cabin, I noticed a similar affliction, so I’m not the only one who’s procrastinated on this score. They’re on toilets, pedestal sinks, bottoms of blinds, wrapped around light fixtures, sticking out of throw pillows, and stuck to windows. You’ll also find a myriad of warning stickers wrapped around electrical cords on every lamp in the house.

Pull those suckers off! We don’t need to be reminded that your vanity light fixture was Made In China or that your favorite accent pillow is stuffed with fiberfill.

I have removed a lot of them in my own place but there are a few more I resolve to eliminate when I get back to town. I don’t mean to be all Suzy Homemaker about it, but if you’re looking for ways to declutter, this is a great first start.

Red, White and Blue

After such inspiring speeches Tuesday night, I'm feeling drawn to the ol' red, white and blue...