Thursday, December 4, 2008

Over the Fireplace Perfection!

I've been searching and searching for the perfect piece of art for over our fireplace.  This is the room where the trim will soon be white - so keep that in mind.  I am envisioning something on canvas - as the canned light in the ceiling creates a nasty reflection on glass.  I'm thinking something with reds, oranges & golds.

Here are a few contenders - apparently I am drawn to trees and poppies...

Brilliance - by Gregory Williams


Maple Road - by Vasil


In the Sun - by Andrea Kahn


Festa Di Papaveri - by M. Luffarelli


Anyone care for a vote??  All of the sudden I am leaning towards Festa de Papaveri.  Hmmm....Art.com is having sale - and they will transfer to canvas for me....

Grand Plans

Alas - the audit busy season wins out!  I have neglected my blog yet again.  Well - this time I beg for forgiveness by teasing you with a bit of things to come.

YAY!  My husband sold the second love-of-his-life (I'm the first, duh!) and we now find ourselves with the capital to do some home improvements that have made our list since the big move-in back in September.

1.  Paint and new carpet for the basement.  To refresh your memory, it looks like this, currently:

Couldn't find a better pic - so there is one of my son from behind!  Anyway - you get the picture - lots of dark trim and some old, white berber carpet.  So this is our first stop - new carpet, new paint!

2.  Trim painting & wall opening in living room.  Our living room currently looks like this (not our furniture!):
This trim will be painted white - and that wall you see will have a large cased opening in it.  And we plan to build a TV entertainment cabinet in the bottom of the shelves you see.  And of course - I cannot leave out the plantation shutters for the large windows off the back of the house:


Soooo....I promise I will get back to all of this very very soon!  Plans are underway!  I'm very excited!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

NEWS FLASH: NADEAU FEATURED VENDOR AT EAST COBB URBAN MARKET AT PAPER MILL VILLAGE

I received this email today - and just had to share:

Nadeau will be a featured vendor at the East Cobb Urban Market at Paper Mill Village (Johnson Ferry & Paper Mill Road).

Don't miss this European-Style Market shopping experience! Tons of local artisans and vendors participating!
*Holiday Treasures
*Children's Fashions
*Handcrafted Jewelry
*Gourmet Edibles
*Antiques & Home Furnishings

*$3 Admission benefits the Empty Stocking Fund & USO Georgia!

Novemeber 14-16
Friday & Saturday 10 am - 6 pm
Sunday 11 am - 5 pm
For more info, please visit:
www.papermillmarket.com

**REMINDER: Nadeau is also opening its 10,000 sq. ft. Atlanta warehouse to the public, every Saturday from 10-4 until the end of the year!!! Thousands of unique items to choose from, at wholesale prices!!! Please call (770) 449-9770 with any questions!

See some of our photos at:

www.photobucket.com/nadeauatlanta and www.furniturewithasoul.com

So, I'll be stopping by this market for sure!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

I'm a Woman of My Word...

Well, not so long ago I pledged here exclusively that I would someday own a piece of furniture from Nadeau.  Just to prove to you all that I am NOT just a lot of decor talk - TADA!  I now own my very own piece of Nadeau furniture!

I bought this Queen Anne cabinet for the bargain price of $246!  I'm telling you - Nadeau is a deal!  (Between now and the end of the year, they are opening up their warehouse in the ATL every Saturday - more about that later.)  I also purchased a bamboo chair that I had imagined sitting next to each other in my entry way - but I have found another purpose for the chair.  I will post about that another time.  My entry way is a work in progress, so I will post pics of the entire area when I reach the finish line.  I'm almost there...so for now you can check out the cabinet.

And in another twist this weekend - I went for some birthday shopping at the outlet malls up in Dawsonville, GA (where it just so happens I bought myself a Kelly Green Kate Spade purse - but, I digress).  I found my way to the Restoration Hardware store - and found the coolest lamps I have ever seen.  Our front living room has been sans lighting since we moved in.  So - we haven't really been able to use that room after the 7 o'clock hour.  I have been searching all about - but just haven't been able to find the right fit.  Well - Restoration Hardware has won a special place in my heart - right next to The Barn!  I had never seen these lamps in the store or online - and I am an avid follower of this fine establishment's website.  The ladies in the store could not tell me from what collection the lamps were - so I am unable to provide details - and cannot tell you where to find these lamps for yourself.  (sigh)  But here they are - and I paid $230 for both of them!  Any of you who have purchased, or coveted, Restoration Hardware items know that this price is a modern miracle...
   
How cool are those?  I've never seen anything like them - and they really give the room a nice twist.  This room, too, is a work in progress - so I will post pics of the whole room once we finish hanging pics, etc.  But I am loving my find!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Lamps

Well folks, Layla Grayce does it again!  I am looking for lamps - and a chandelier/ceiling mount for our guest bath.  

Love this lamp:  From Jamie Young Lighting - the Luna Lamp in Chocolate Brown. Unrequieted love.  $212 on Layla Grayce's site.  I'm tempted.


And this ceiling mount would be perfect in my guest bath.  The Paris Crystal Ceiling Mount.
Imported from Italy, it is a little piece of Tuscany in your house.  And the price, well - the price is a bit depressing at four digits worth of benjamins.  No fair.  Those Italians have all the fun.
The search continues....

Our First Upgrade

So it seems I've been a little slow on the up-take these days with the posts.  I apologize.  Can you ever forgive me?  You - my avid readers - the number of you I can count on my hand - please take this post as a token of my apologies....and a promise of more posts to come!

A quick recap - we moved about a month ago in to a house 30 years young.  It is a fabulous house - with some upgrades (kitchen, thank god, among others).  However, there are still a few remnants of the old days hanging around.  And I wish I could use words such as vintage, charming, even old-fashioned.  But alas I cannot. Instead, the words that come to mind are dated, ugly, and what-were-they-thinking?  I mean, were these things really in style circa 1979? The year I was born is made of decor that is really this misguided?  Oh well.  

This leads me to our first upgrade:  The Guest Bath
Right off the kitchen, this is the bathroom where you find yourself running to as you come in from the garage, as you are cooking dinner (yes, I wash my hands), and as I am watching TV. (Again, I wash my hands)  And each time I would run to the sanctuary of the guest bath - to have a moment (or two, #2 that is) to myself I found myself wanting to hurl chunks in to the toilet each time I saw this mirror. 
     
One other horrifying feature is the counter top - it would not be horrible in its creme & chocolate brown marbling - but the sink is scalloped.  I just hate it - but the upgraded faucet (antique bronze - I love it) makes it a little better.  Point is:  it will be replaced with granite one day - but for now it can be "worked around."  But the mirror just had to go - there was no working around that mess.
But I didn't want to spend a lot of $$, so I found myself at HomeGoods searching for a deal. And a deal I found.  This bathroom is very traditional - so I wanted to add a little bit of contemporary for some balance.  So, drum roll please:
      I've played up the chocolate brown from the countertop in the toilet cover and contoured mat.  The paintings I had from the other house - if you recall I used them in our guest bath there, as well.  (See this post for pics)

The light fixture in this bathroom hangs from the ceiling and is just too embarassing to show it here.  I am looking for a smallish, vintage looking chandelier to replace it.  I'll show that upgrade once I find "the right one."  Lighting is like marriage: jump in to a relationship too quickly and it just won't be flattering.  (I just made that up - not sure how I like it - but it's late, so it's good enough.)

Let me know what you think.  I'll be posting more upgrades, changes soon.  Our basement is finished - but the carpet is old, and the woodwork is stained (gasp!) and the more I go down there, the closer I am to redoing it all - paint, new carpet, etc.  So I'm sure that change won't be too far off in the distance.

Until next time....and I promise it won't be so long.  The Barn sent me a new catalog - and I'm itching to review it's contents right here.  You won't want to miss that!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

NEWS FLASH: NADEAU ATLANTA SALE - SAT, 10/18

Extra, extra - hear all about it!  In case anyone is looking for me this Saturday - Nadeau (see my last post) is having a sale this Saturday, October 18th!  Tons of dining room tables on sale!  Holy crap - I'm working out a way to carve out the nickels and dimes out of budget.  I need a table for our entry way - cannot miss sale.....must save my strength.....need essential rest....sharpen shopping skills....

Race you there!