Holiday Cheer!

This will be our first Christmas together and I really wanted to start some traditions in our wee little household. Over the weekend we went to a tree farm and cut our own little noble fir tree. We purposely chose a "table top" size because it was easier to transport and set-up, not to mention a steal at $15. There were lots of dried needles and wee little spiders clinging to it so the light weight made it much easier to shake most of it out before we brought it inside. We don't have ornaments yet but we're going to choose one each year together.

Here is our first tree! Too large for any table but kind of small on the floor, it's just perfect!


We also turned on our fireplace for the first time this weekend. We still have our fall decorations (ok, just a mini pumpkin) on the mantle but seeing the roaring fire made me want pretty Christmas decor too! I've had my eye on these elegant and luxurious holiday stockings from Pottery Barn for a while now but couldn't justify the cost for monogramming and shipping. To my great pleasure, I found that they are on sale today only for $15, shipped with monogramming! Woo hoo! I cannot wait for them to arrive! They are available in several shades and thread colors but I'm going with the classic. It's just perfect.

Contractor Please

I would like to find a contractor who can build something like this entry way divider for me. I'm sure it cannot be too hard to do but I just don't know who can/will do it. Hrm..

On point!

Woot! While browsing through my beloved design blog, Material Girls, I stumbled on a post dedicated entirely to camelback sofas! I didn't know that camelbacks are considered "traditional" design but now I realized our streamlined version is just a modern interpretation of the vintage settee. I'm glad that the sofa is considered "trendy" of the moment but gladder still to know that we didn't invest thousands of dollars into furniture that has no lasting power.

Here is an example of a traditional camelback:


A bold take--I love the fuchsia color! Such a surprising choice paired with a classic brocade.


Even Oprah is with me on this! I was googling around for other pictures and found her post on "Perfect Sofa".



Mine looks like the one in the middle. When the Ethan Allen decorator brought the swatches to our house and compared it to the carpet/wall color/baseboard, we both thought it'd be a very light ivory-just a shade more pigmented then our creamy white window trim. I knew that large swatches of fabric look more intense because we made that mistake with our new carpeting. The little carpet square looked light but after it was put it, it looked much darker as a whole. I have been mistakingly referring to our sofa as "white" when it's actually a rich creamy ivory. Memo to future sofa buyers- although our mistake was serendipitous (we love how the ivory warms up the room), keep in mind that colors look more intense when used in large proportions!

Fab or Fug?

We've been hunting around for media consoles but I'm not loving the ones we come across. Placing it above the fireplace would have been ideal aesthetically but not practically. At that angle, everyone would have to crane their heads to see it. A few upward glances here and there wouldn't hurt but sitting through a LOTR trilogy marathon would be torture.

We also considered getting a big armoire (hotel style) to hide the television but to fit our 50 inch telly, we'd need a pretty massive piece. A big bulky piece of furniture like that would just weigh the room down. Also, there is something just silly about hiding a pretty standard item. I don't want to "display" a telly but there has got to be a better way to blend it into the room. Plus, a nice media console will keep everything orderly: cabinets to store dvds and remotes, shelves to hold receivers and various game toys, and preferably a glass or lattice door that allows you to use said remote without needing to open the doors. Metal frames of our college days need not apply.

I prefer something more unique then a traditional low, rectangular, wooden media console even though it's the most useful. In my quest to find something more interesting, I stumbled upon this antique buffet on my favorite home design blog:



I absolutely love it! The worn sage green and metallic tones are so romantic and sweet. Unfortunately, that piece is no longer available but I have found other similar vintage pieces that could be remodeled for the same effect. Here is my current love. At 60 inches wide, it will hold the TV perfectly. It is about a foot taller then what is ideal but I am trying to convince the hubby that it'll be ok. A vintage piece will require more work to get it started but it is so much more interesting!



After discussing this with two trusted individuals, I now can't decide if it's fab or fug..I love the intricate wooden legs and the etched design but the color doesn't look like much right now. To modernize it, I would give it a coat of fresh creamy white paint and perhaps switch out the knobs for black cast iron hand pulls. It would take considerable effort to remodel the drawers so that it'll be big enough to hold all the equipment and as a buffet, it's about a foot taller then what is ideal for a television.



But I don't know if it'll match with the rest of our furniture. It has so much character though! Another possibility is to try giving it the worn metallic and sage green look of the French buffet to help it disappear a bit into our wall.

I guess we'll see when our sofas arrive and we can play with it some more.

10 weeks of waiting...

Soon! Soon, we will finally have our sofa! We ordered our Ethan Allen sofa & love seat way back around Labor Day and were told it'd take 8-10 weeks for delivery. Since we knew that it'd take a long time, we promptly put it out of our heads. Turns out that it'll be completed tomorrow!! Bad news is that just because it's completed doesn't mean that it'll get shipped out right away. The manufacturing facility is on the east coast and they usually hold items until there are enough of them in the local area before making the shipment. Boo! Oh well, we waited over 2 months...what's another week or so? I'm actually going to miss it a bit because the empty living room makes for great yoga.

This is a picture from EA's website but our sofa will look very similar to it. Hmm...after looking at this picture some more, I am really starting to like the bright pops of coral. I'm not sure how it'll look against our walls but it's very pretty and fresh.



I <3 Ethan Allen. There's something REALLY awesome about being able to hand pick each element of our sofa...from choosing the fabric, the pillows..down to the the wood finish on the legs. Just a few days left before it's finally here!

Chilly Fall Updates

Newest WANT from Free People but can I justify the price tag? No...not right now, not when I have a tuition bill with a comma in it due in a month. Much as I <3 retail therapy, I can't imagine going into debt for something outside of school. And perhaps our house. Le sigh. No need to add more. Must...resist!

Still...can we agree that this is the perfect transitional jacket? Lovely military style cut that gives way to Victorian frills. It's wearable early Fall or late Spring. Imagine it with a sweater dress, colorful tights, and booties! Or jeans and abubergine Hunters! Paired with a short and colorful skirt, long tank, and a colorful yellow linen scarf! The options are endless. In the words of Victoria Beckham...this is a "Majah" want.





Hmm...I just bought $$$ of stuff from Sephora that I don't really need. I could get by with Shiseido's low end facewash, couldn't I?