housing works vs. cb2: a story of self-restraint

On a thrifting excursion around my usual haunts this weekend, I came across a heart-stopping piece at Housing Works. A gleaming lucite coffee table. First thoughts? OH MY GOD I HAVE TO HAVE IT.

Of course there was a little problem.... the price tag. $350. Sure, I've been googling and Craigslisting trying to find one of these for months with no luck. But $350? I tried to forget about it.

I went home.

I read all my fashion magazines.

But when I got into bed, I found myself still thinking about it.

So this morning, I took the boyfriend back with me to see if it was still there. Living with a boy means, after all, that you have to get approval on such purchases. And there it was! Still in its prime location at the very front of the door... and still $350.

"I don't get it," he kept saying. "I mean, it doesn't make an impact."

"But that's what the impact is! That there is so little impact!" I imagined throwing out our disgusting, clunky, industrial coffee table and watching the air move around this barely-there piece in a fresh new way. I imagined it's hardly-there visual impact doubling our perception of the size of our little apartment. I imagined this would CHANGE OUR LIVES. 

Of course, we had to make sure it was the right size. So we got the measurements (37.5" W x 21.25" D x 13.75"H) and went home to check with the dimensions of our current one.

Um, it was perfect.

So I got on my tennis shoes--which meant it was really serious, that we fully inteded to lug this thing home.  But when we returned, I started noticing the quarter-sized scuffs that couldn't possibly be buffed out. And the pin-sized scrapes all over the top. But... I loved it! So what's a girl to do?


Sulk on home, I guess.

I logged online, in a last ditch attempt to feel better about my decision, and through some Ebay comments found myself on CB2, looking at...


A lucite coffee table.


For $249.


With the same. exact. measurements -- 37.5" W x 21.25" D x 13.75"H.


Oh Housing Works, you sly devil you! Suddenly I realized those crazies didn't do their research, and I'd almost been seriously ripped off.


So thanks to hesitation (and my wary boyfriend), we've found our new addition--that doesn't break the bank! [As much.] There's a lesson to learn!


* lucite coffee table photo via cb2
* room photos via decor pad

chair candy

I'm always replying to interior design posts about how much I LOVE colorful interiors, and the writers must think I'm crazy. For one thing, I blog mainly about fashion. For another, if you visit my home I have the saddest wooden Ikea furniture you'll ever see. So I decided to post some proof.

When I was in Versailles last summer, the majority of the photos I took were of candy-colored chairs and outrageously amazing over-the-top rooms.

Sure there were the random photos of light sliding in through windows

and the odd landscape shots

but really it was the great, colorful fabrics and wallpapers that spoke to me.

How amazing would it be to have an interior like these? Makes you question the whole minimalist movement...

i need a stir-crazy cure

Maybe it's because I'm feeling trapped in my small apartment with an endlessly-barking-for-no-reason dog, but I'm finding myself drawn to interiors that have a carefree feel... and perhaps a big yard not too far away.

I love how these rooms range from naturally contemporary (that sunlight!)

to having touches of earthiness

to being over-loved and overgrown

Doesn't looking at them make you feel happier? Sometimes I get lost in my world of Ikea furniture and air shafts.

Please send me to one of these rooms--or send a dog whisperer to me--lest I banish this animal to the roof of my apartment building!

1. coco + kelley

2. delight by design

3. my cakies

if i were a millionaire..

..I'd be tempted to go over the top a la Joan River's apartment [have you seen her documentary? Run!]. But hopefully I'd settle for a just-luxe-enough interior like these:

It's not that I'm a flashy person--quite the opposite, I think--it's just that I fall in love with lots of things. Just this weekend, I spent some semi-serious cash on two vintage frames... and then the next day had to peel myself away from a[n awesome but expensive] hand painted drum. I mean, really.

1. design sponge

2. via destined to design

3. via vintage glamorous

cottage in the city

I'm feeling uninspired about my workwear this week, so I thought I'd post about a new interior-design-way-of-thinking instead:

COTTAGE IN THE CITY

Sometimes I get a little antsy in the big city and start yearning for dandelions and big trees and beachside huts...or something to that effect. One day I thought, why not turn my apartment into a little shabby chic oasis?

I mean... who says that living in NYC has to mean an ultra-modern, sterile apartment?

I want kitschy accessories

outdoor furniture as indoor dining sets

and over-loved sheets

If only I had a big country truck to get this all home!

1. montauk surf lodge via nymag

2. via semi-fab

3. accessory addiction

4. anthropologie

5. urban outfitters

tuesday snoozeday: comfort food

I don't know if it's the surprise of summer's steamy return, or if I'm just recuperating after waking up at 4am yesterday for my flight, but these days I am lazylazylazy and playing it safe. I'm finding myself drawn to easy, subtle-but-chic styles and soothing, easy-on-the-eye tones.

Like this fluid, casual but sophisticated Vera Wang resort look

and this modern yet traditional home...

Or this easily perfect Malandrino jumpsuit

and an effortlessly ornate sitting area.

Do your tastes change as often as mine, or am I uniquely fickle?

* all home photos from realsimple

summer friday: a touch of chartreuse

It all started with one little pillow from Ikea and now I'm obsessed with chartreuse as a home accent color.

I didn't realize it 'til today, but maybe I'm drawn to it because it reminds me of sun shining through fresh spring leaves...

1. sacramento st

2. & 3. design crisis

4. dress design decor

if i didn't live with my boyfriend...

Living with a boy is fun, but it can also cause serious debate over interior design. Although my boy told his friends he was glad I took the decorating lead for the apartment, he's vetoed lots of my favorite things. Here's what I'm dying to do once I can convince him--or once I can build a girl-cave of my own.

I'm obsessed with UO's pink damask wall paper [not pictured]. I'd love to cover the bathroom with it--or just a wall! I'd even settle for black, if it'd make him happy.

I also like the idea of using wallpaper as a panel standing in for artwork above the couch.

My living area would probably have ultra-girly furniture...sacrificing comfort for cuteness [maybe a boy's opinion is good, there].

Little things like replacing our generic drawer pulls with vintage and glass ones would brighten up our kitchen so much!

I'd kill for an extravagent chandelier, in black or hot pink...even that great cobalt blue.

What a great conversation starter for the kitchen!

Or a kitschy add-on for the bedroom.

Hell, I'll settle for the stick-on at this point!

1. & 2. design shrine

3. urban outfitters

4. anthropologie pulls from peacock feathers

5. french bedroom company

6. life is bananas

7. decor pad

8. deal rocker