The Search for the Sofa

Is anyone else wondering where September went? This month always seems to fly by, and the next thing you know, you're bracing yourself for another miserable winter (I am not a fan of snow). Now I suddenly find myself one month closer to my tentative move in date, and it just hit me that I have no furniture. You might think that since I'm a designer (sort of?), and I can, in theory, choose whatever I want for the house, I'd be stoked. But not so much. Of course I'm excited to pick everything out and finally have a couch/chair/table/etc of my very own, but it's stressful, too. I like too many things to choose just one, and I change my mind about what I like every couple of months so I'm incredibly nervous about making an investment on a single piece, only to hate it a few weeks later. And there's also the small (no pun intended) matter of my budget. Or lack thereof. So I've started searching for more affordable versions of some of my favorite pieces....

Like the Petrie Sofa. Le sigh. Isn't she pretty?


But at $1,499, she's more than a little out of my price range. (I know some people would consider this a reasonable price, but not me.) So imagine my delight to find this knock off for half the price over at AllModern.com

It's a little bit bulkier, and with only two dark color options, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. But at $735, it was still definitely a contender.

Bouncing around the blogosphere, I had also come to fall in love with the Bantam Sofa from DWR, but again was only dreaming, as it costs $1,780.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for tapered legs and button tufting. Then, one day as I was clicking around Apartment Therapy, I came across an old article that led me to the Corona Sofa.


At $699, I think this might be it. It has the same sleek, tailored proportions, tapered legs, and tufting as its more expensive counterparts, but for half the cost. Now, $699 is still a lot of money for me to drop on a single item, but considering the fact that I was thisclose to spending $599 on a plain Karlstad from Ikea, I think its a pretty good deal. I tried looking for something cheaper, but it just isn't happening, and buying a couch secondhand skeeves me out. If I can get that much more tailoring, detail, and quality for an extra hundred bucks than what I was planning on spending, I'm willing to do it, especially since it's one of the few pieces in the house that will actually be new.

Or maybe I'm just trying to talk myself into an uneccessary splurge? Meh. Either way, I'm gonna try to go see it sometime this weekend to do the official comfort test, and then we'll see.

Super Nova

Oh, you know, just a little sneak peek of things to come...

Just Because: Treehouses!

Monday Music

The "Best Movie Ever" Edition

Call me cheap, but...

...who else thinks they could pull this off for less than $399?




Or this for $299?



I mean, really, Pottery Barn? Really? What kind of idiot with too much money is actually falling for this? I think both of these are kind of fug, but I'm tempted to try to make them just to prove a point. I can' decide if the reason why I find the new PB catalog so awful is because they dropped the ball this season, or because my tastes have improved beyond mass produced imitation vintage stuff...?

Genius

Saw this and just absolutely HAD to reblog from CarrieCan. Zaha Hadid is a creative genius.

Damian Ortega

Can't wait for this opening at the ICA tonight. Floating stuff is awesome.

Just kidding. Thanks to multiple fires (?!!?) inside the T, I didn't quite make it to the museum. Instead I was stranded in Central Square for 40 minutes, where I walked directly into a crackhead with a crusty eye patch. Eventful night.

"I Want To Go To There" Wednesday

New requirement in my job search: an office with a built in swing.

I Wish...

By now, everyone knows about the Domino design bible (and if you don't you should), and in addition to having amazing interior shots and fail proof design tips, it also boasts some of the most beautiful watercolor renderings I've ever seen. I've mentioned my love of interior renderings before, and even shared one of my attempts here. I love the lightness and luminosity that watercolors lend to rendering, but it takes some serious talent and control to produce art like this. These images are definitely going to serve as inspiration when I start my watercolor class next month. For now, let's just stare at the pretty...

Monday Music

The "Another Amazing Concert" Edition



I wish I could embed the official video, because it's so much better - watch it here.

Color Inspiration: Aqua and Hot Pink

This combo is so much fun. I'm normally a little weary of pairing such bright colors together - it can come off a little shocking or juvenile. But here, heavy doses of neutrals, like beige, white, and black, keep it balanced and sophisticated.

Loves It

Genius! This goes on my list of projects....

The House: Little by Little

It's been awhile since I've updated you (possibly 5 readers?) on the progress happening up at the house. It felt a little slow going for awhile, despite having working every weekend, just because of the sheer amount of stuff we had to sift through in each room. But this weekend, we busted it out - literally - and I feel like I can finally see some real progress. (And by we, I mean my brother and my dad - turns out I'm not great in the heavy lifting/demolition/general renovation area. I hope to redeem myself when it comes time to paint every single room.) We decided to tackle the bathroom as our first 'major' project in the house, and as is true for all renovations it seems to have snowballed into a much bigger project than we had first anticipated. I thought we would get a new sink and paint the walls. But then the the toilet was cracked, and the tub surround was a little grungy......then the plumbing was funny, and then we found a gaping hole in the floor.....so plans changed a little bit, and suddenly my brother was hacking away at the walls with a hammer. And we got this:



So now the plan is to re-tile the entire shower area and chunk of missing floor, redo the plumbing in the shower, new vanity, new toilet, new light fixtures, new mirror, sand down the walls/wainscoting, and paint. Whew. I'm not sure how fast it will get done or how smoothly it will go, but it's really exciting to think that something big is actually happening up there. The before and after is already kind of crazy to see:

Around the rest of the house, my dad managed to get off all of the old wallpaper, we pulled up the old carpets, and we've just been cleaning things out and making all sorts of piles. We've been putting out a Freecycle table every weekend to clear everything out, and this weekend we were particularly successful. It was insane to see the traffic jam that our table of junk caused, and neighbors are loving it. One woman told me the hilarious yet slightly creepy story about her best friend picking through our trash every Wednesday night looking for goodies. Nearly everything we put out was taken, and now the house is finally starting to feel more open. It's not nearly close to what I'm hoping the end results will be, but it's a vast improvement, if you ask me - a few before and after shots:

That's it for now, hopefully more to come soon!

Color Inspiration: Cobalt and Chartreuse

I've been mildly obsessed with this color combination for awhile now, ever since I saw this first image in my trusty Domino Design Guide. I love how this combination uses such strong colors without being too heavy or overwhelming. I think the key to that is balancing them with lots of crisp white for contrast. I also love the addition of warm wood tones and neutrals with these cool colors to keep things feeling cozy and grounded.

Since the bathroom at the house is going to have lots of white happening in it, and I already own some limey green towels, I'm considering a deep sapphire in the bathroom. It's one of the few rooms in the house that gets decent light and I think all the white is enough to balance out a darker color. And now that the walls are gone, I need to get crackin' on a decision pretty quick......Oh, yes, you heard right - more on that tomorrow...