Fantasy Craigslisting: Portlandia Edition

Last week my brother and his fiance moved to Portland from Virginia with only the goodies they could fit in their car.  Being the altruistic older sister that I am, I took it upon myself to scour craigslist for all the Pacific Northwest has to offer.  I found quite a few bodacious goodies for their downtown loft, some they loved and bought and others are making their big design crisis appearance today.  And guess what?  Not a single item has a bird on it.

First up was this leather sofa, at $900 it was a bit steep, but oh that charcoal leather looks so soft and dreamy.  Plus it's in amazing condition.  Also, the number one rule of craigslist is don't talk about craigslist, but the number two rule of craigslist is this:  always talk the sellers down.  It's so important it really should be rule number one, but, hey, I'm not in charge of these things.

Next was this mid century teak coffee table.  Since I'm in the market for a coffee table myself, and a big square block of wood is exactly what I want, I was pretty excited about this find.  Turns out the table is much to large for their small condo, so it was a negatory.  It's $100.  Someone go buy it.

Since I've never met anything in white tufted leather that I didn't love, I was pretty excited to stumble upon this sofa.  Turns out the bro and his lady already found a couch just right for them, which means I won't get to visit this gem in the fall.

Pick your chins up off the ground.  This was easily my favorite Portland Craigslist find and for $20 (twenty dollars!!!!) I prayed to all things holy that D & E would share my sentiments.  Luckily my bro has great taste in women who has great taste in tables and they bought that mofo.  Dear portlanders, this table had been on craigslist for a week.  You should be ashamed of yourselves.

If you're hankering for a piece of brass in front of your sofa after seeing the last dreamy table, they had two of these tray tables, this one here and this one here.

Or get some brass for behind your sofa here

This arc light was priced a bit high (remember rule number 2!) but I still think someone should race out and get it.

I usually defer to ebay for all interweb lighting purchases, but I thought this little gem was just delightful.

Turns out there's lots of burl wood laying around in Oregon (go figure).  I found this tabletop here and this one here

Ok, this is where I pull out the showstopper:

I found and developed an obsession for this rug early on (wouldn't it look AMAZING under that brass coffee table???!!!).  The young couple decided to pass and their loss is your gain, Portland readers.  Go, roll around on this rug, stare at it longingly for hours, I will hand write some love letters for you to read aloud to it, the rug will like it, I can tell.

I've seen pics of all the pieces D & E have selected so far and it all looks awesome, I can't wait to check it out in person.  As for Portland craigslist:  All in all, I found some pretty good stuff up north, you dudes have a pretty nice well to tap into.  And to whomever ends up with the rug:  sleep with one eye open.

Oh, PS, if there are any amazing secret stores the new Portlandiers should know about, leave a comment, yo.

Rooms I Don't Get Tired Of

Every few months I purge my interiors inspiration folder (once it gets too full for me to flip through enjoyably) and start fresh.  I'm usually pretty glad to move most of the images into an archive folder but there are always a few that I keep in my active file.  I just never seem to get sick of them.  Here are 2

Not too exciting, I know, but something about it just calls to me.  Erin would probably kick me off the blog for lusting after a room with such an offensive floral display, but I would defend myself by reinforcing the awesomeness of that sofa and coffee table.  Perhaps if she were to spend a quiet baby-free afternoon on that couch all would be forgiven?

If I took Erin's chesterfield and reupholstered it in white leather, then placed it next to my Oasis and followed that with a complete redesign of my living room, I'd have this.  See, I'm like almost there.

There were only a couple of other rooms that made the cut during my interior folder reorganization, but I feel like I've shown them to you 872 times, I was worried that if I went for 873 you just might stop reading the blog altogether, and we don't want that, now do we?

Weekend Bonus: For Anyone Who Would Like Their Retinas Burned

Ahhh, it's that time of the week again:  weekend bonus time, where, if you're lucky, I find the most ridiculous +/or hideous piece of decor currently on the market.  This week's edition is especially exciting because I know so many of you (I'm talking to you Erin) LOVE them some tufted leather.  Watch the leather craft get violated before your vary eyes:

ha ha

What's that?  You need a closer look?  You're the boss:

ha ha ha

Get a load of those arm rests!  I get that this chair is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but it really isn't funny.  It looks like it should be in a die-hard-sports-fan's game room.  And I never ever want to go into a die-hard-sports-fan's game room.

Oh, if you want one of these (?????) you can get it here: chesterfold