Thrifting “lady date”

Hey all! Thanks SO much for all the wonderful comments and emails about our sweet Peanut! Many of you asked, and he’s a Chihuahua/rat terrier mix. They called him a Chia Rat. ;)

We had such a great day with him. He slept ALL night last night and didn’t make a peep! We had a great visit to the vet – and he’s really healthy. (That was a relief!) And tonight he “went” outside for the first time! (TWICE!) It was like potty training the Bub all over again – so exciting!! ;)

Anyway, we’re figuring things out as we go. One thing I know for sure is that he LOVES our son so very very much. OH my…they are nuts about each other. It brings tears to my eyes every time I watch them together.

I’m finishing up a few things in the basement before I show you the difference decluttering made. :) Until then, I wanted to share some finds from my recent trip downtown Indy to Midland Arts and Antiques:

Three girlfriends and I went for a Saturday “lady date” – as one of my friends called it -- (love that!) out to eat and then to Midland for some antiquing.

If you live near Indy and you love the thrill of the hunt…you MUST take a trip there. It’s an old (HUGE!) warehouse full of fabulous finds.

I snapped shots of a few things that caught my eye. As with most antique stores, you’ll find some good, bad and definitely ugly. :) You’ll also find real antiques, lots of vintage (especially mid-century modern right now) and also stuff you could also find at any Goodwill. :)

I found a few clocks turned cloches:

Do they look familiar?:

The only difference – I bought my 80’s clock-turned-cloche for $3 at Goodwill, and these were both over $40 if I remember right. :)

The fabulous light fixtures are endless! Some are funky:

If we had a wine cellar, I would totally put this there! But alas, we don’t. :)

Some just need some spray paint and they’d be a close Pottery Barn knock off:

And check out this one:

SWOON! It looks SO similar to the one hanging in our dining room:

And mine was a knock off of another Pottery Barn light. I think the one at Midland is even bigger, and is the same price as our Home Depot light (now $180 I believe).

I found a gorgeous mirrored tray that would be stunning on any dresser or buffet:

And this mirror would be beautiful as is, painted a bright white or even an unexpected color:

I loved these cane side tables:

And I kept going back to this chair and ottoman:

They were in fantastic condition! I could totally see them in hubby’s office in the basement – but as  you know, I’m getting rid of stuff down there right now (for the impending finishing off of the space).

You’ll always find the downright weird too. :)

Birds on display anyone?:

And these chairs in your dining room would be a conversation piece for sure!:

:)

I found a few goodies I took home from our trip, of course.

I loved this little bird cagey candleholder:

I won’t use it for candles though. I see a nest or something spring-like nestled in there. :)

I have wanted a vintage fan forEVER…and this one caught my eye:

It was my biggest splurge of the day by far, at $25. I cleaned it up and considered spray painting it. But I also love it as is. Hmmm…

I thought this two-sided mirror was so sweet and dainty:

It’s the perfect addition to my Mom Cave. :)

There were bins full of old Bingo cards:

I only grabbed three for an idea for the playroom. I’m thinking I could use more though.

And this little bunny letter opener was my favorite find of the day:

It was one of those things…I thought it was just adorable. It was only $2, so I couldn’t pass it up.

I had to leave midway through the shopping to get back to the sitter, but it was a good thing. I’m sure it would have been dangerous to stick around too much longer. :)

Sometime I’ll have to coordinate a shopping trip for local readers and bloggers – it’s a great afternoon of digging for goodies!

Have you found any great thrifting finds lately? Any good spots in your neck of the woods?

Searching for a sofa

Well the time has come people…and I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Yippee!! :)

Because we are now debt free (did I mention that??), I can move forward with my plan for a new sofa in our family room.

SO EXCITED!

Excited because it will be the first time we’ll pay cash for a major piece of furniture since we moved into this house seven years ago. And excited because I am so, so over our sofa, it’s just ridiculous. (More on that in a bit.)

I showed you back in January how I went against the sofa rules and removed the loveseat from the family room:

We love love LOVE it!! It’s made a huge difference in this room. I have another big change in the works as well that is going to help a ton too, but for now, it’s time for a new sofa.

Are you excited?! SO EXCITED. :)

I get emails asking about our sofas often – and from far away they look really great. They have that going for them.

They are comfy too. They’ve got that too. But that’s about it.

We bought the sofa and loveseat about three years ago from a local furniture store. They look like we’ve had them around for about twice as long.

I’m thoroughly annoyed with how they’ve held up, considering the cost. Over the years, I’ve found more and more things that bother me and have learned what to look for in a future purchase…

When you lay on the sofa and put your feet up against the arm – it pops in and out:

It feels like cardboard under there. For reals. (That’s what I’m doing in the pic, by the way. :) I can do it with my hand – it’s that flimsy.)

The sides and back are not wrapped in any way, other than with the fabric:

That’s part of the reason I ended up getting a sofa table for behind the sofa. I was so afraid the fabric was going to get punctured with some random pointy toy and then we’d have a gaping hole.

The frame is flimsy, at best:

Another reason for the sofa table – people would lean against the back of the sofa and kind of sit on it, and I would nearly have a heart attack every. time. It creaks and pops, like it’s about to snap at any second.

Those are some big issues, but the biggest for me is the fabric. OHHH the fabric. I feel like a total goob because I used to work in the decor biz and would create custom sofas for people – so I know about fabrics and those that are good for wear and tear.

This stuff is not. It’s a chenille-type fabric, and it’s already worn really, really thin:

And my very favorite part (NOT), is that when you try to clean them, this happens:

Did I mention we have a preschooler and THREE cats? It’s hopeless with these sofas – everything changes the color of the fabric. You can’t use water and soap to clean them. Well, you can, and I do…but that’s what I get.

I can’t even use the cleaning stuff they gave me to use – now how does that make sense? They can only be professionally cleaned. I’m not calling professionals every time a drop of milk spills.

DUMB on my part. I don’t know what in the world I was thinking. Gah.

So now, up close, they look positively grody. I mean, they’re clean, they just look GRODY.

SO…(excited giggle)…I’m starting to look for a new sofa.

And we’re doing it right this time…I’m doing my research and we’ll probably spend a little more, but I want something that will last and is built well.

Like I’ve mentioned before, our family room is really large, but we have NO walls for a sofa. (Again, dumb on my part when we built.) So we have space issues as far as the size of the sofa is concerned – it can’t be too large.

I’ve been researching for months now and finally found one that works perfectly size-wise:

It’s the Buchanan Chaise Sofa from Pottery Barn. It’s absolutely the PERFECT size. We need to watch how wide we go, and this one is just right. (I feel like Goldilocks right now.)

I love the chaise part, so more than one of us can lay on the sofa at one time. It’s also great extra seating for when we entertain.

I love the lines and traditional look of the slipcovered Basic Chaise Sofa as well:

But it’s a LOT more expensive, and it’s about 20 inches wider, which I think is going to be too big.

I went to check out the Buchanan in the store today and it was SO comfy – the seats are really deep (one of the things you want to look for). It was so funny though – it looked so teeny in the store. WAY smaller than our current sofa. I took some measurements – seat height, back height, etc. – and checked them against our current sofa when I got home.

It turns out it’s actually quite a bit bigger than ours. It blew my mind. I’m sure it has something to do with it’s placement in the huge showroom compared to our normal family room. But the fact that it’s higher off the ground and taller made me fall in love with it even more…so I’m getting really excited. :)

I picked out a few color and fabric options:

We’ll go with twill or canvas – I don’t care for the microsuede look, at least the PB version. And the really light options you see up there? Yeah…those were knocked out of contention as soon as I got home. No way can I keep up with that. :) On a slipcovered sofa sure, but not on an upholstered piece. My goal is to NOT worry about stains this time around.

Sooo…this is where I ask for some input my Squeezies. Do you have a sofa you LOVE? What fabric is on it? Does it hold up well? Are the cushions still cushy for your tushy? Where did you get it? Do you own or have you owned a Pottery Barn sofa? (We never have.)

I’ve heard really good things about the slipcovered Ikea sofas as well – anyone have feedback on those? I’ve also seen great things online about some sofas at Macy’s.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Like I mentioned, we’re not going the microsuede route, and won’t be doing leather either.

And FOR SURE none of that chenilley, nubby, whatever-it-is stuff we currently have. Did I mention that is the fabric we have on ALL of our sofas in the house? GAH! And OH YEAH, we have THREE cats? I swear, they are so much harder to keep up with than our son! (Hairballs people…hairballs.)

Now that I’ve left you with that lovely visual…I’d love to hear your thoughts! Fill me in on the sofas you LOVE. (And the ones you don’t!) Thanks in advance!

P.S. The Before and After Party is ROCKIN’! Check out the more than 430 links…awesome!

P.S.S. Now that I look at the pics of our sofa and realize how nasty it looks, I hope you all realize that it really is clean. Cross my heart, pinky promise, swear. But you see why I’m ready to banish it to the basement, yes? :)

Chic in New York: Etos

I've written about Etos before but they have recently renovated their space and it's definitely worth another look.  The store is owned by Mercedes Desios and Alberto Villalobos who met while they were students at the New York School of Interior Design.  They share not only a store but an interior design business and the chicest sense of style.  Mercedes is Italian and Alberto is Colombian and it seems like they are always flying off somewhere exotic to source for the shop and holiday.  They are not only talented but honestly two of the nicest people I've ever met.  Their travels mean the shop is an eclectic mix of antiques, accessories and new pieces.  I especially love the pre-Colombian bowls that Alberto brings back from visiting his family.  I hope you'll stop by the next time you're downtown. 

Etos

67 East 11th Street

New York, NY 10003

212-673-3056

www.etosnyc.com

Mercedes Desios and Alberto Villalobos

Photos by Heather Clawson for Habitually Chic