our family room, some more updates

earlier this week on my blog i shared some of the things that i bought for our family room, and yesterday i made another purchase.  i finally decided on the fabric for my pair of antique channel-back chairs.

i have been trying to decide on a fabric for months now.  here is what the chairs look like at the moment.

i inherited them from my grandmother after she moved in with my dad and for as long as i can remember they have had this fabric on them. 

i originally wanted to cover them in a bold pattern.  something like this romo fabric…

pattern: adelphine

then i decided that a solid would be a better choice for me since i like to change things up so often.  i was thinking of using a dark slubby linen.  something like this p. kaufman fabric.

that went out the door when i found and bought these drapes from west elm in an almost identical slubby linen. 

i didn’t want the chairs to have the same fabric as my window treatments. so i was on the search again. 

i have always loved the java java print from quadrille but wasn’t ready to pay the price tag that comes with it.

but then when i was at lewis & sheron yesterday and i found the PERFECT fabrics, not only for my chairs but also for an accent pillow.

pretty similar to the quadrille fabric but it is a printed linen.  both fabrics were only $16.98 a yard.  the geometric pattern is for the chairs and the ikat is for my accent pillows on my sofa {the one that i haven’t made a decision on yet}.  and yes, i know i need to steam my window treatments.  i was just glad i had time to get them up.

now the search is on for some more fabrics for accent pillows.  i know for sure that i’m going to throw some orange in the mix.  i like these ryan studio pillows a lot.  you can purchase them through inside avenue.

i like this thomas paul print,

and i think he’s pretty cute too.

i’m sure i’m going to end up with a mix of all different pillow fabrics. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

billy and i are headed to the beach for the weekend.  we are flying down to palm beach to stay at the omphoy hotel.  i’m so excited…not only because we will be staying in an amazing hotel but also because we will be celebrating our 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY.  i can’t believe that we got married two years ago.  time flies when you’re having fun.

have a great weekend!

LiveJournal Tags: our house,romo fabrics,p. kaufman,west elm,quadrille,lewis & sheron,ikat fabric,ryan studio,thomas paul

online and archived

atlanta homes & lifestyles magazine has archived their issues back to december of ‘05 on their website.  the further back you go the fewer stories you’ll see featured but there are quite a few stories featured out of their most recent magazine releases. 

i’m so excited about it.  what a great resource!  i wish that more magazines would do this.  it’s great to be able to see the magazine cover and then flip through each of the stories from that particular magazine.  {all with the click of a button instead of flipping through all of your paper magazines.} 

LiveJournal Tags: atlanta homes & lifestyles,online magazine

i like it

our ikea store has been going through some major renovations so i’ve been staying away from all the chaos.  i got brave and took a trip last week to see how things were coming.  i really liked what i saw.  they still have a little work left to do but it’s coming along nicely.  it always amazes me at the creativity used to decorate the small living spaces they display.

here’s a sampling of some of the new products that i saw and really liked.  i was in a hurry so i only took a few pictures but i pulled other images from the website.

double-bowl farmhouse sink for $312

commercial-style kitchen sink faucet for $249

another great faucet *you can’t beat $49*

woven dining chairs for $49 and $69

a woven mirror for $79

and everyone loves industrial lighting especially when it only costs $29

i can’t wait to check out more of their progress in the next few months.

LiveJournal Tags: ikea,farmhouse sink,industrial lighting

what*s been going on

recently, i purchased a pair of these for my family room,

and one of these {the smaller one}.

i also purchased this rug,

and i’m thinking about purchasing this sofa in a natural slubby linen {definitely not the blue}. 

or this sofa, i can’t decide which one.

i’m still waiting on my purchases to come in.  i feel like i’ve made some progress on our family room.  i still have a lot more to go but at least i’ve started. 

what have you been up to lately?

LiveJournal Tags: my design,our house

scad style: the rise of the blog

last thursday i went to the scad style event “from magazine to monitor – the rise of the blog.”  it was a panel discussion led by richard mishaan.  bloggers nick olsen, rita konig, jaithan kochar and eddie ross sat on the panel and discussed topics ranging from their blog beginnings to what they think about giveaways on blogs.  i enjoyed hearing the panel’s perspective on blogging because most of them got their start in print publications.  it was very interesting to hear their thoughts on the evolution from print publications to the blogging era and how it’s changing the design world.

here are some key points from my notes that i jotted down during the discussion:

- the printed page will never die…but it will evolve.

- everyone loves beautiful pictures!  (i thought it was interesting to hear that nick doesn’t like too much text.  i’m the same way.  i get lost in the text sometimes.  the more pictures the better for me.)

- elements of authenticity are key.  it’s nice to feel like you know the reader. 

- there are no rules in blogging.

- blogging is one of the best ways to get your brand out there.

i figured i would run into some of my blogging friends there and i did.  i saw lakeitha from home to three duncan boys and claire from high gloss blue.  erica of bluelabel bungalow was also there.

you can read another review of the event here on erica’s blog.

LiveJournal Tags: blogger event,blogging,eddie ross,jaithan kochar,rita konig,nick olsen,richard mishaan

knock off

target has a great knock off of west elm’s branch side table.  west elm’s table retails at $179. 

the target version is only $79.  it’s slightly different but could easily be painted high gloss black to look very similar to west elm’s table.

they are out of this table online but there were two at the store closest to me.

LiveJournal Tags: knock-off,west elm,branch table

baby cakes

about a month ago my bloggy friend amanda posted the cutest idea for a baby gift here on her blog.

{baby sweet treats}

i had been dying to make something like them every since.  i finally got the chance to make some “baby treats” over the weekend because we had a baby-on-the-way party to attend for a friend of ours.

i think they turned out okay for my first try.  i’ll definitely be making more of them.  i think this is going to be my “go-to” baby shower gift now.  it was pretty easy once i got the hang of it too.

this was my burp-cloth cake. 

and this was my first set of washcloth ice cream cups.

maybe i’ll tackle onesie cupcakes next time. 

LiveJournal Tags: baby shower gift,diy,crafts