Antiquarian is the New Black

Did anyone see this article on the New York Times site?  Not one to be slowed down by reading, I cruised the slideshow first and was pretty delighted by what I found.  Then, well, then I read the story.  It was gross beyond gross.  While I maintain full respect for the occupants of the homes profiled, I kinda want to barf all over the "reporter."

We start with an introduction of the Hovey sisters, who can be found on their blog here.  The reporter drools all over them and single-handedly credits them with starting the Ulysses S. Grant fashion trend in, wait for it, Williamsburg.  Am I to believe that I am watching the initial match spark that will ultimately lead to the full blaze that is the tipping point?  Oh to be so lucky.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm digging their taste - remember, I swooned when I first saw the pictures - I just can't stand by an article that notes that the type of collecting the sisters and the others profiled "requires a lot more engagement than a similar passion for midcentury furniture"

WHAT WHAT WHAT?!

I am insane about interiors.  I have spent nights fighting sleep since I was four laying in bed imagining my dream home.  Every spare penny I have goes into my house, I don't even try to justify the expense, it's as necessary as food.  Can someone honestly try to tell me that this taste and commitment to collections requires more engagement than my own?  Or yours?  Come on readers, you've taken the time to find my measly design blog.  You probably have at least 20 more in your RSS feed.  We live for interiors.  New York Times:  give me a fucking break.

Ok, I'm over it, let's just spend the rest of our time together looking at the nice pictures that sparked my interest in the first place.  Above is a couple that also collects things.  That's all I'm saying about that.

I think this room is awesome.  Again, all I'm saying.

Their collection of arcane liquors, which I don't even pretend to understand and I certainly don't think is pretentious at all, oh no.  

Ryan Matthews, his house is a 24-hour taxidermy party.

I can't get behind that stuffed dog, but the rest is fine, although it seems a bit dusty.

So, there you go, now you've gotten the lovely slideshow in it's entirety and you didn't even have to read the stupid article.

Bright White

I know it's starting to become a little passe but I just don't ever want to get over white walls and bright decor.  Here are some of my faves that I've seen recently:

via emma's design blogg

via light locations

via desire to inspire

Oh, if only my house had the kind of quirky architectural detail needed for crisp, white walls.  Thank you very much 1984 for all your south austin residential blandness.

In other news, is anyone watching this new NYC Prep show?  I just don't even know where to start with those kids.

GIVE AWAY WINNER!!! (and some other crap I wrote)

Hidy Ho fair readers! First off, a gigantic HUGE apology for my absence yesterday.  I was out of town over the weekend and suffered major flight delays on my return home Monday night.  I was so out of sorts that I didn't even realize yesterday was Tuesday until Erin sent me a gentle nudge asking where the hell I was.  Oops!  I was sure that it was still Monday and I was well ahead for the post I was planning.  So, you guys have to suffer at the hands of the airlines and my flakiness.  But, enough about me, let's get to what you want to hear about:  Our Great Rug Give Away winner!!!! We enlisted the help of Erin's techy hubby Ben who found us, no kidding, a random number generator.  La generator tells us that comment number 74 was the winner so....

CONGRATULATIONS MARMOREE!!!!

Holla!  Contact us here to get your rug on.

Marmoree commented that she will be choosing the soft and flowery rug:

As anyone who has been in my home can attest, I love me some grey and white.  Good choice, Mam, good choice.  Karly approved!

When we were first asked to do the give away, not only did I start fantasizing about which rug I would choose, but also, how I would decorate a room around it.  Because I felt like spending my blog-prep time today looking at crap on ebay rather than doing real, ahem, research, I decided to play pretend decorator just a little longer.  Here is the rug I chose:

With this rug as inspiration, I gave myself a time limit: THIRTY MINUTES ONLY, a budget: unlimited, and one site to shop from: ebay.   Oh, I also decided that my rug was 8 x 10, while our give away version is just an area rug. Here's what I got:

Ok, so a few key pieces are missing:  artwork behind the couch, a bit more lighting, a giant gold dipped poodle statue, but, well, with the clock ticking down from 30, I was RACING.  Look, I love you all, but I can get sucked into some ebay, I had to set the timer for the good of my mental health.  Here's the skinny on the goods I did find:

1.  The very first thing I decided to hunt down was a floor lamp, industrial, please.  I was delighted to find this French bendy twisty number and new we would be best friends forever.

2.  La couch:  while I wanted to go with vintage, I had a hard time finding the right look that didn't need to be recovered.  White leather is always welcome in my home, so I settled for this Tufted Leather Sectional.

3.  I spent far too much time digging up tables, my desktop folder lives to tell the tail, but finally decided that this Baughman end table was the winner.

4.  The round glass coffee table made the cut because I passed one up on craigslist once and have regretted it ever since.  Note, the ebay version is chrome, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I would have that puppy powder coated in gold faster than you can say "but chrome is so nice."  Note part deux:  The ebay table is $599, the craigslist version was $60.  I fucked up.

5.  While I didn't have time to find art, I did wrangle these German vases

6. And a few throw pillows here, here and here

Since my pretend walls are still bare, how about you dudes make some suggestions?