Archive for the ‘den’ Category

PILLOW ACTION

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Bowie wants you to know that I got some pillows and they happen to be perfectly sized for naps.

Now leave him alone. He’s exhausted.

While the world watched the Oscars, I was busy buying vintage kilim pillows on eBay. Just like the stars! That’s what celebrities do.

Check out that anorexic Turkish crux style action up above. Apparently the crux ain’t just for the Swedes anymore.

This pair may be my new favorite thing, being all sassy and such with their southwesternish style charm.

Some of the last batch of kilim pillows I ordered up have since moved on to new and more exciting homes, so obviously this restocking was vital and deeply necessary. So vital that there’s still a few more on their way here from Turkey.

Go big or go home.

That might be too aggressive for a pillow themed motto.

By the way, I got that new couch and it is glorious.

It may be a keeper…for now. The sofa switching situation around here is the stuff of your and my boyfriends nightmares (this makes sofa number ten or so? In four years?).

With the addition of the new sofa the den has subsequently been going through a slow makeover that needs some massive wrapping up. Shocking that neglect and ordering pillows on eBay hasn’t somehow made that happen, but hey, one more neutral pillow is one more step closer to done. Now who wants to help me move a five hundred pound marble coffee table?

I know. I KNOW.

Sometimes retired Muppets get turned into ugly pillows and sometimes I buy them. So what. I don’t care.

Somehow the love I feel for fiber art has grown so immense that it needed to be portable. This sucker has dreadlocks and probably witnessed countless unimaginable horrors in the 1970’s. You hate it! And it’s perfect.

Bowie is so depressed. Probably because he’s the exact same color as the couch.

What a nerd.

*For folks curious about what eBay sellers all these kilim pillows keep coming from, it’s honestly a big mix with no particular favorites. Usually I go for a pattern that catches my eye and has Buy It Now or free/combined shipping. If anything, just keep an eye on the shipping costs since those international fees add up incredibly quickly with these mofos

FILED UNDER: bowie, decorating, den, ebay

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THRIFTY!

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Yup.

This happened.

Is that an early production Saarinen oval marble coffee table? All up in Knoll town?

Oh yes.

I know I’m a dirty, no-good furniture dealer, but because I’m never ever selling it. Because this is my dream coffee table. Because it would have to pried from my cold dead hands. Because I am bursting that this happened. BECAUSE I CAN’T SHUT UP.

One.

Hundred.

Dollars.

Yeah. $100.

I hate me too.

Although, you gotta trust that this was a crazy unexpected fluke of chance and lucky timing.

Of course, I was browsing the Craigslist (come on, no way I found this in thrift store) and saw a posting for a vintage hutch that was super cheap but of course no freaking picture. Why people post furniture for sale on CL without a picture, I’ll never grasp, but the ad said to email for a picture and I randomly decided to just contact them and see what was the whats. When the pictures popped in (again, why not just upload them?) the hutch was pretty, pretty, pretty terrible, but something else looked mighty interesting in the far corner of the frame. Which leads to me asking if they had anything else for sale and apparently they were getting rid of everything in the whole house and they sent lots and lots and lots of pictures.

In the far distance, out of focus and sitting casually in front of a shredded up sofa was this tulip beauty. Just sitting there. Like no big deal. Whatevers. I’m just your favorite thing. Big whoop.

I got my ass down there and pulled out my big bag of negotiating tricks and walked away with some STUFF.

On a side note, apologies if I have to negotiate with you in the future or have negotiated with you in the past. I KNOW how I am. I’m an awful stubborn terrible monster.

It’s not in perfect condition.

There is some staining on the marble and I’ve been researching around about how to lighten it up. WHATEVER. Stains? On my 60 year old marble Knoll? I don’t care. I’ll never care!

Good news is that there are no chips and no cracks, just vintage goodness.

This table does weight about a thousand pounds. The tulip base is cast iron and the marble is chunk-y – like 36″ wide by 54″ long.

I really loved my old coffee table.

REALLY loved.

But there can be only one!

(It’s the Highlander. Lightning. Swords. Coffee table and such.)

 

FILED UNDER: craigslist, den, furniture, thrifting, thrifty

102 Comments »

AUCTION

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

I recently attended a local auction I’ve outright avoided for years because their offerings are usually very heavily gilt and super antique. The auction house took a chance and for the first time offered up a huge modernist estate that appealed to, what I’m completely assuming, was a younger and more aggressive crowd than is normally in attendance.

The local mcm dealers came out to represent and apparently all the dealers are dudes. Which seems weird? Male heavy auctions force me to represent with my lady-ness.

And lady bits.

Along with a thousand other things, I’ve been hoping to run across a smallish simple cabinet to replace the danish secretary (barely seen HERE) that had replaced the tension shelf in the den. Yeah. Fickle. I know.

Anyway, I spotted this simple teak cabinet during the auction preview and it appeared to be a good fit for the den.

The simple design, small scale, masculine tone plus lockable storage was sort of just what I needed. I’ve got stuff to lock up. Like ceramics.

Anywho, auctions are terrifying.

Everything happens very quickly, which is confusing to begin with and then compounded by adrenaline fueled terror. But, when things got rolling, there seemed to be just a few serious bidders that included myself and about five guys – like this dude who won a few things I eyeballed very seriously, i.e. THIS and THIS. Not that I’m jealous.

[I am]

Jealousy aside, I did come home with a few nice pieces and for now, I’ll be holding onto this little chest and probably updating the art and rug and other bits of the den in an ouroboros style of fickle decorating that never ends.

So, in summation…

Auctions are fun and terrifying.
I got this cabinet.

Otherwise, billy balls are my favorite ball style plant.

BEST POST ENDING EVER.

 

FILED UNDER: auction, decorating, den, furniture, vintage

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