Do I need another lamp?

Posted in house, lust by
I love these E27 pendants, designed by Mattias Ståhlbomand.  I love the colors and I love the fact that they are so colorful yet so simple.

I am tempted to buy one of these even though I have no idea where I could us it.  My resolution lately has been to only buy things after carefully planning and deciding where I could use the item.  I do make exceptions for things that are absolutely fabulous…then I buy them even if I have no use or space for them!  These lamps don’t get me that excited, so for now (sigh) I won’t be buying one.  I will however keep scrutinizing each room to figure out where I could use a E27 pendant. 

Planning a Roof Deck

Posted in exterior, house by

This is the view looking north from the roof of our house.  The views in all directions are absolutely stunning.

So why don’t we have a roof deck you are probably asking?  Well, we would eventually like to put a deck on the third floor roof.  However, even though I am planning (and dreaming) of the deck we first need to extend the third floor out, put a bathroom on the third floor and plan the access on to the roof deck before we can build the deck.  We would also need to remove the carpeting on the third floor and install new wood floors, replace the roof on the third floor, and figure out where and how to move the 100 pound air conditioning unit. 

The picture below shows the view from the third floor.  You can see the roof above Kiran’s room.  We would like to  build a room and a small deck on this side.

The window to the left in the picture below (now without the bars) is the guest room.  We would like to extend the wall out to the edge and put a bathroom in the area that is to the left of this picture.

This is one of those things that we would eventually like to do but there are simply too many other things that need our immediate attention.  Once we finish the basement stairway and install shelving/organization units in the basement and renovate the first floor bathroom we will be ready to start on the third floor!

EDIT: I can’t believe that I forgot to mention the small fact that this will be a dream for a while because renovating the third floor and building a deck is not in our budget for right now.  I guess the beauty of dreams is that they aren’t grounded in reality.

Vintage Teak Lamp.

Posted in house, Kiran's Room, thrifted by

I bought this lamp, a couple of months ago, at an outdoor flea market in New Jersey.  It is a teak lamp in working condition, on a marble and wood base.  It is beautiful and a total steal at $15 for the two lamps.  While one lamp was in great working condition, the other one needs to be rewired.

The lamps came with their original shades but they were ripped and dirty.  I would eventually like to re-cover the original wire shade skeletons but as a temporary fix I have been looking for an inexpensive black shade.  I went to Ikea last week and I almost fell over with excitement when I saw the black shade which was the perfect size for the lamp.


The Ekas shade cost $13.  It works perfectly with the lamp and it looks great in Kiran’s room.

Scored!

Posted in house, scored by

I decided to run into Marshall’s a few weeks ago on a whim.  I was really excited to find this amazing garden stool. I have been wanting a blue and white garden stool for a very long time but I wasn’t compelled to pay $150 or more for it.  I found this beauty for $29.99.  What a score!


I also found this LOVE sign which looks a lot like an Alexander Girard print.  I love the whimsical designs by him and I have been contemplating buying the LOVE  canvas print  from Urban Outfitters.  This one was another steal at $7.99.

It is hanging on the wall behind the staircase that goes up to the third floor.  I love being able to see it from inside Kiran’s room.

Spring Cactus

Posted in house, plants by

Spring is one of my favorite seasons mainly because it signifies the end of short dark days.  Nothing says Spring for me like the blooms on my Spring Cactus.  Every year, around the end of April, my Spring Cactus sprouts lots of red buds and then come the wild red flowers.  So beautiful. So Spring.

Spring Cactus in my “office” room

This cactus stays on the window still in my room all year round.  It is really a perfect spot because this room gets pretty cold in the winter which is necessary for the cactus to produce blooms in the Spring.  Also the window is South facing so it gets lots of direct sunlight.

Love. Love. Love

Posted in Inspiration by

I love these interiors styled by Sasa Antic. I love all the colors, patterns and textures.  Her website features lots of great interiors.  Here are some of my favorite images:

Sorry for the skimpy posts lately.  I am really busy at work and I’m also trying to throw a huge party next Saturday for Kiran’s birthday.

Treasures in the Trash.

Posted in Trash picked by

The first treasure:

 Eames Chair

I recently found an Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair, on trash day abandoned on the side of the road.  I drove by it, saw it, and called Scott who was still at home and asked him to pick it up ASAP.  After I hung up the phone with Scott  I realized that he was not the slightest bit moved by my shrieking over the phone that it was an original Eames chair! I decided that if I wanted that chair  I would have to drive back, around the block, in the middle of rush hour, and get the chair (we live on a one way street in a maze of one way streets) .  As I jumped out of the car, and ran towards the trash I couldn’t believe my luck at finding this chair.  When I got close to it I realized that it was in amazing condition.  The back piece was not attached to the back rest but it could easily be fixed.  With my heart pounding in my chest I picked up the chair and ran towards our house and dropped off the chair in Scott’s arms.  All this time (which felt like an eternity) I was double parked on our street, and there were a string of cars all honking their horns at me. Finding this chair made my whole month! 

The second treasure:


The Mirror

We were visiting my father-in-law recently when he mentioned that he saw a huge mirror on the side of the road.  Within seconds of him mentioning this we were both in his truck driving towards the neighborhood where he thought he saw the mirror.  We found the mirror and it was in great condition.  It is HUGE.  I can’t believe that someone would want to get rid of this fabulous mirror.  All it needs is a couple of coats of oil paint.  My favorite oil paint is Hollandlac by Fine Paints of Europe because it makes everything look amazing.

In case you are wondering the  vintage settee was a gift from Scott.  I am currently obsessing over the right fabric and I plan on getting it re-upholstered (professionally) soon.

Second Floor Hallway.

Posted in basement, house by

We have been working on removing the wallpaper on the second floor hallway.  Once all the wallpaper is removed (which is a never ending process because there are multiple layers of wallpaper and the walls are about 11 feet high) we have to repair the plaster.  We have removed one small area of the wallpaper and this is what the wall looks like:

The plaster is in pretty bad shape and we need to repair all the walls in the hallway.  It looks like the previous owners attempted to “fix” the crumbling plaster by slapping on many layers of wallpaper.  Also this hallway has a beautiful curved wall so I think that this is one project that will last through the fall (at least).  What is really cool about this plaster is that it has horse hair mixed into it.  Yes your read correctly! Apparently this was very popular back in the day.  To find out more about the fascinating history of of plaster in old buildings click here.

Once of the first things that I did after buying the house was to buy rolls of black and white damask wallpaper.  I fell in love with the curved wall in the hallway and I couldn’t wait to get the new wallpaper up.  Now almost three years after buying the house I am finally close to getting a black and white hallway.  This is what the hallway looked like when we first bought the house:


This is what it looked like after we removed the carpet and refinished the floors:

Successful upholstery project.

Posted in DIY, house, Kiran's Room, Trash picked by

My friend and I were taking a stroll through our neighborhood (with Kiran in the stroller) when we found a stool on the sidewalk.  I was pushing Kiran in the stroller so I made my friend pick up and carry the stool home.  My friend obliged but she complained the whole way home about how ugly the stool was!  I recently upholstered the stool, in some fabric from Ikea and I think that it looks fabulous.


The stool is being used as an end table in Kiran’s room.