Remember this dresser restored by the lovely Brittany as memorialized in this post? She worried she had turned it into a Ninja turtle dresser!
Well, she’s gone and done it again, this time with nightstands. She had some leftover veneer and paint and renovated these lovely little beauties too! I think they look awesome. What about you? I especially like the Orla Kiely wallpaper pattern in the back. Despite all my ranting, I am obviously in a co-dependent relationship with Orla. Will I never be free?
And voila!
Wow. Yet again another extended holiday from the blog. Emphasis on holiday because the holidays did me in this year. Starting a new job and juggling all the chaos around Christmas and New Year was more than I could handle and the blog suffered. But things did get done, believe it or not. The happiest of which are the new fixtures in our bedroom. We had Brett’s parents over for dinner last night and Ida the Great commented that our new fixtures were a bold choice! Bold indeed and I love them.
Okay, I know it’s overdone. And I know that even in a short amount of time, people are sick of it. There are some really amazing Ikea-hacks done to the Maskros lamps, too. However, I like it as it is. I just like it. I fell in love with it when I first saw it in the post I did on Farralone, where is hangs in the guest room that Marilyn Monroe stayed in.
And yes, when IKEA first showed it at the ICFF it started to multiply all over the world like rabbits. People began to whine about seeing it everywhere and I am sure I will get a response to this post that makes me seem unoriginal and banal. (Probably not. All you people are too nice for that.)
I would like to argue that perhaps what we have on our hands with the Maskros is a classic (or a new classic according to this post on Houzz). Design-forward, unique, accessbile. Aren’t these the criteria used by our favorite MCM designers to guide their work? Why does good design need to be exclusive to the elite? None of those designers would agree with the design snobs of today and are likely rolling over in their graves in despair of those who ‘just don’t get it’.
Well, we get it. And we fell in love with it. To replace these decade-appropriate fixtures with something so fun and bold seemed to me the perfect thing to do. (And, according to my husband, much easier said than done.)
Plus, I love the way the Maskros echoes the design on our window panels from West Elm.
First of all the top of the Masksros is a narrow cylinder about six inches in diameter. The hole cut for these lights is more like 12 inches. We found some covers at Home Depot for less than $10 each. Granted, I would have prefered a style without the faux molding around the edge, but we couldn’t find any.
And let’s be honest, putting these fixtures together is quite time consuming! They come in this little box with the usually unintelligible IKEA directions.
And the pieces look something like this…
Ummm…yikes. So I got on the handy dandy internet and found this lovely stop-motion video about assembling the lamp.
Mind you, I put on the flowers before hanging the lantern, but either would work.
To show the progression, the room has gone from this… (You can’t see the flower printed wallpaper!)
To this…
To this…
And now with the lovely Maskros…
Almost there, but not quite. In the nook at the end of the room where the dog beds and random nightstand live, I imagine a lovely gray chaise lounge like this one from West Elm. (My entire bedroom is becoming an homage to West Elm!)
And perhaps a hanging floor lamp like this one.
Thought that might be a bit much with the Maskros lamp. Not sure, but I want something softer than an overhead light for reading in my perfect little corner.
And of course, we need some area rugs and artwork. As mentioned in this post, I think a painting by Maeve above the bed would be the perfect finishing touch. And she is already working on, so stay tuned!
Because clearly this weekend, I can’t get enough George.
You know how sometimes you want something so badly and for so long that when you finally get it, it can’t possibly measure up to your imagination and expectations? Well, that’s not what happened.
I have pined and dreamt of a George Nelson bubble lamp for as long as I can remember. (Okay, total hyperbole, but roll with me here, people.) So when my birthday came last month and I got birthday money from family (I heart birthday money!), I decided to take the plunge and buy myself a bubble lamp.
At first, I didn’t want to pay full price for a new one. Plus, I had heard other bloggers wax on about how lovely the warm light was from the vintage ones. However, as I looked at Ebay and other sites, I just didn’t have the confidence in the state of the lamps that I wanted to. And honestly, the prices weren’t that much better. (What has happened to Ebay? It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a good deal there anymore.) And because I seem to have a ‘why pay less’ disorder, I went to Modernica and bought a new one…a 25″ saucer for $329. The good news? No tax and no shipping, so that made me feel a little better.
What also made me feel better was getting rid of this:
Now to be perfectly honest, I didn’t find this fixture as offensive as some other members of the family. In fact, I kind of liked its very atomic MCM vibe. However, once that big white box appeared on my doorstep, I knew me and the Jetsons light fixture were going our separate ways. (Any thoughts on what I should do with it? Is it worth putting on Craigslist? Think anyone would want it?)
I love Thanksgiving and I love cooking for a crowd, so more than anything I wanted that lamp up for my Thanksgiving dinner. And you know what I am thankful for? A husband who not only know how to do things like that, but who also does it willingly on Thanksgiving day so my vision would be complete. Now the dining room is almost finished. Just need a rug and to recover the chairs of our wonderful Drexel dining room chairs.
From Apartment Therapy, one of my favorite blogs, comes this amazing idea of a Decor Swap Party. I LOVE this. Anyone game? The best thing about it is that at least you know everything will fit!
If you have ever been to a clothing swap party, you know how great it is to see your once favorite pieces begin their new life with a friend and also get to come home with the feeling that you just went shopping and got a really good bargain. Well, why let clothes have all the fun? Let’s get homes in on the action too!
A decor swap party is a great push to finally get to the things you have been needing to clear out from your space. I know I am always headed to Goodwill or the like to donate the things that I ‘just had to have’ way back when, or the stuff I bought thinking ‘this would make a great (fill in the blank) one day’ and just never got to it. Remember, just because you have outgrown something doesn’t mean someone else will view it in the same way.
You could make it general and bring whatever you want, or have a specific theme like ‘things that make you go hmmm’, ‘shabby chic’, ‘organize this’, ‘things that light up’, ‘everything chartreuse’, ‘have a seat’, ‘vessels’ or even ‘funky furniture’. If you want to swap larger furniture items, just bring pictures of all side of the piece along with the dimensions.
So now all you have to do is shuffle through your stuff, toss out an invite, throw together some wine and appetizers and start shopping. Whatever doesn’t get chosen can be brought to the thrift store the next day. Have fun!
(Image: from Pop of Sunshine: 10 Yellow Accessories For Under $50)
