"i'm just going to look, i'm not gonna buy anything"

i uttered those words to my husband as i walked out the door saturday morning. i was heading to a design center's warehouse sale just a few miles from my home. they hold the sale twice a year when they have overstock and too many items that they've cleared out of model homes. they have quality, name brand furniture, rugs, artwork and accessories at up to 90% off.

most people show up 2 hours before the sale starts to wait in line for the doors to open. i don't. i show up 1 hour after it starts, after the craziness ends. they tell you to bring stickers with your name and phone # on them so you can walk run through and label the items you want to buy. it's an honor system. you don't touch another person's marked items.

i spotted this sofa stacked with items that weren't marked sold. the sofa wasn't marked sold. i gasped. i checked with several clerks and they too agreed it wasn't sold. i slapped my sticker on it. i texted a photo of it to hubby. i had been wanting to update one of our living room sofas for awhile now. this was the look i had in the back of my mind. and i found it. the perfect color, wooden spindle legs, rolled arms, and comfortable... all at an unbelievably low price. there wasn't a thing wrong with it. fast forward a few minutes and it was on a delivery truck to my house.

"i'd have been crazy not to buy it." those were the other words i uttered to my husband later that day.

as you can see, someone else likes it also.

wisteria

i had only ever received their drool-worthy catalogs, and visited their online store,  ...until saturday. i made a trip to wisteria dallas, by love field airport, where there is a flea market in the back of the store. the front of the store is gorgeous. i was in awe of their beautiful furniture, pillows, lighting, and accessories. i managed to snap a few photos.

i bought one of these. everyone needs a chinese calligraphy brush... don't they?

this stopped me in my tracks. i would have bought it if not for the price tag. just a little a lot out of my range right now, but it is gorgeous.

and this. just beautiful. i've seen this fabric before but can't recall the designer. i adore it. and those lavender pillows were just the right shade.

i really wanted this for a side table in our living room. but again, the price was a little out of my range. (and actually, when i got home and looked through my wisteria catalog, i saw it for less... what's up with that, wisteria?)

i bought one of these tall navy jars.

loved the ikat chandelier shades.

i would have gladly taken this velvet sofa off their hands if it was half  one-third one-quarter the price.

i'm not sure when my love affair with green started. i didn't decorate with it at all in seattle, but i do decorate with it here in dallas. maybe it's because i miss the lush green of seattle and am trying to subconsciously bring it into my home here.

and, another chest like the green one above, but in cobalt.

i have to say that i was disappointed with the flea market section of the store. i saw several furniture pieces heavily damaged that were the identical price as the same items in the front of the store in perfect condition. and i found only a few items heavily marked down.

i now request that all our visitors requiring airport pickup fly into love field airport so that i can stop by wisteria enroute. it truly is a beautiful store with beautiful merchandise. and very helpful sales associates.

again and again

this past weekend, steve and i made a trip to again and again, the fab vintage furniture store opened by leslie pritchard in dallas. we went first to the warehouse/slice of heaven on howell street and then popped over to the smaller store on bonita street. we were on the hunt for dining room chairs. (the hunt is getting exhausting.... chairs that look good aren't comfortable, chairs that are comfortable aren't our style, chairs that are both comfortable and our style are out of our price range. you know the drill....)

the very kind gentleman who was working sunday allowed me to snap a few photos to show you all. i loved this white dresser.. and those blue lamps. gorgeous!
in my opinion, this is the showstopper of the warehouse. fabulous hot pink linen twin headboards with nailhead trim.
and the second show stopper. this aqua blue lacquered dresser. i love the detail!
we also spotted this brass chandelier. it would be perfect over our breakfast table. i'm still not sure why we walked away from it.
i spied this little fella. loved his pull.
these would be perfect end tables in a family room.
beautiful white leather chair.
gorgeous campaign style low dresser/media shelf.
my eye kept wandering to white pieces. here's another one...
if you'd like a sneak peek into leslie pritchard's lifestyle, check out this post on hilary inspired showing leslie's apartment. (wonder what her kitties' names are?)

and another post on the furniture warehouse. total eye candy.

if you're in the dallas area, be sure to stop by leslie's again and again. you won't be disappointed you did.

foyer redo

this is the before. a little boring, huh. or rather a lot boring. it's ok, you can agree with me. actually i did have a few more items on display (like stuff with some height so the picture doesn't look like it's hanging in mid-air like now) but removed them in haste, stored them and then realized i hadn't taken a photo. i was too lazy to put them back. in the foyer, one level lower than the rest of the house, there's only one wall to style. to my right is the front door. to my left is the door to the garage.

i'd outgrown the red. and it wasn't representative of our decor any more. i have no other red in my house. therefore, time for this puppy to get a new coat of paint.

here she is. sporting rainstorm by sherwin williams. in high gloss enamel. and some dazzling jewelry from anthropologie.


atop sits my matchbook collection. i love these. i pick one up whenever i see them.

and the full gallery wall, using my train photos.
please ignore the glare. it's very hard to get a photo without one since there's a window directly behind me here. i think it's definitely an improvement from the before and more representative of the style and colors of the rest of the house.

lesson learned.... next gallery wall i do will be random. photos at random widths and heights. this was tough. 4 hours of my life i'll never get back.

for the love of turquoise

do y'all remember this episode from the oprah show? cutie nate berkus makes over the main living areas of colette's home in alabama.
i loved this makeover. the above photo has stuck in my mind for years. i love the chest. the color. the high gloss. and turquoise IS the 2010 pantone color of the year.


this is the chest in my foyer now. it's red. i've come to dislike red. i'm thinking of painting it that turquoise this weekend. and doing a gallery wall of my photos of the local defunct train in black frames above it. what do you think?
my only hesitation is the wall color behind the chest. it's a yellow-camel. maybe if i made steve a really, really good dinner and let him watch what HE wants to watch on tv, he'll wallpaper the 2-story wall behind the chest in grasscloth. but first i'd have to get him to like wallpaper. he hates it. hmmm... i think i'll have to work with the paint color as is. i'll let ya know how it goes!

i want one!

a brightly colored credenza that is. that i paid nearly nothing for but turned it into a beauty... like these two ladies did. i'm in awe of their transformations and their diy-ness.

jenny of little green notebook turned this $40 credenza
into this!

image from lgn

you can read all about how she did it here.

and then michelle from three men & a lady turned this

into this! again, i'm in awe. it's just gorgeous.

nice work, ladies. so inspiring.