Modern White Chair options

I’m in search of white stacking chairs for my dinette table. Our table (and current chairs) are a honey-colored oak and are quite old. In fact, I grew up sitting in these chairs and eating at this table. When my parents replaced it 6 years ago with a new set, I snatched it up because of sentimental reasons (oh, and my college dinette set was white and pink and gold  on rollers and needed to go). <cringe> Since this dinette set is nearly 30 years old, it isn’t looking pretty nowadays–especially the chairs which could use a new coat of paint, lots of gorilla glue, and god knows what else. Perhaps a miracle? The table, on the other hand, is still in usable condition so I think it’ll stay for now even though it isn’t my style. I’d repaint it but the top of the table is a veneer so painting is out of the question. Nonetheless, I’m looking for a set of modern chairs to freshen up the table and dinette area. I think a modern white chair would look fabulous so the hunt is on. Though the West Elm chairs are my favorite, I think the mega-affordable Target chairs I saw at my local store will do just nicely.

Dinette area with current table and chairs

Ikea Gilbert chair, $49.99

Target chairs $69.99 for 2. Available in Store.

$396 for 4 (plus shipping) from West Elm

CB2 Toro Chair, $89.99 (plus shipping)

CB2 Orbit chair, $119 (plus shipping)

Tonic Living Fabric

You must add this fabric shop to your list! It’s based in Canada but they ship to the USA too. I love their selection of modern and funky printed fabrics. And I love their website design, too–It’s very easy to search their inventory. I ordered some black and white fabric from them and just received the goods in the mail. The trellis fabric is a very lightweight brushed cotton and will make a wonderful, soft pillow or maybe an apron! The polka dot fabric is a heavy duty linen and will work perfectly for as a high-traffic throw pillow. You can visit Tonic Living at www.tonicliving.com.

Trellis Pillows are BACK!

ZGallerie had a beautiful pillow in stock last year called the Tango pillow (but also known as the Trellis pillow). It was a hot item and was discontinued earlier this year. The design on the pillow is reminicient of Kelly Wearstler’s Imperial Trellis fabric. Schumacher, a decorative textiles company, describes the pattern: “This geometric design, first introduced in Spring 2005 in the House of KWID collection, was inspired by Asian fretwork, enlarged to a bold yet completely versatile scale for both fabric and wallcovering.” So ZGallerie’s Tango pillow is a knockoff of this fabric. Well, word on the block is that ZGallerie has brought back the discontinued Tango pillow. They updated it a bit with new color schemes– for example, they reversed the Chocolate pillow (cream pattern on a chocolate background instead of last year’s chocolate pattern on a cream background). The  24 inch pillow is not yet available online but can be purchased at stores for $39 dollars (and all pillows are currently 20% off!). Go check them out!

Tango Pillow

Latest Craigslist Find

You can find almost ANYTHING on Craigslist… from furniture, jobs, and cars to hotdog buns, a lunch buddy,or maybe a fiberoptic Christmas bear. As we all know, Craigslist can be dangerous so don’t give out too much info, bring a friend if you can, and be aware. That being said, searching Craigslist can be like hunting for buried treasure. It’s better than the newspaper classifieds (pictures, more info,and email communication) and better than ebay (no paypal, shipping or listing fees)! Depending on where you live, Craiglist might be HUGE. My Craigslist, for example, is magnormous!

My latest Craigslist find is a vintage mirror for a console table in my basement. The table is a flat white color and the wall color behind it is Benjamin Moore Texas Leather. The mirror is large (42 inches), weighs more than me, and needs to be spruced up with some new paint. I can’t decide, should I paint it black or white? Or maybe some other color? I polled some friends at DecorPad and black was the winner.

This beast cost me only $10

Antique Hunting {Tesson Ferry/South County Antique Mall}

I’ve never gone antique ‘hunting.’ I don’t know why, really. Perhaps I always thought antiques=junk. Why would I want some someone else’s beat-up, used, old, smelly piece of home decor? Harsh, I know. But to be perfectly honest, that was my snobby attitude– only something NEW can be chic and stylish and contemporary. But to be perfectly honest, yet again, my wallet and the planet cannot afford my need for interior change. I love change and I love to mix things up in my house. My sense of style is constantly evolving. I still consider myself a contemporary lover, but I enjoy splashes of Hollywood Regency, Traditional, and most recently, vintage. The lovely Tori Spelling (c’mon, I was a huge 90210 fan) labels her style as ‘Modage,’ a combination of Modern & Vintage. I dig that. And I dig her style (just check out her reality show on Oxygen). Pottery Barn’s fall collection is label ‘Vintage’ but uh, it’s NEW stuff. And, uh, I don’t like ANYTHING in their glossy catalogue. What I do like is vintage that’s been updated with high gloss lacquer or antique chairs upholstered in funky patterns. Modage, baby!

So, this weekend, on a whim, I ran over to our local antique mall (across from the hospital where Xander was born). Apparently Missouri has a ton of antique malls and shops, but this one was close and quite large (55,000 sq. feet of stuff). Boy, there definitely was a LOT of ‘junk’– things you’d expect to see on an episode of Hoarders. The mall was divided up into many, many rows of ‘booths.’ Antique dealers rent space in the mall and set up shop, displaying their treasures (and junk). The booths are unmanned so visitors can browse without pressure from sellers. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience! Most sellers arrange their antiques beautifully– cups and saucers lovingly set out on antique cabinets, antique chairs arranged around an antique coffee table with crystal, tear drop chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I adored all the vintage cooking pots and appliances, the old Life magazines, 1950-esque toys and books, and, my favorite, a 1957 Cadillac white and emerald baby carriage!! But, there were some weird things displayed too– a high-heel shoe chair, bizarre bar lights, military submarine shells, horribly tacky ‘art’ and an array of metal junk (not sure what it even was?!).

Here are some photos from my first Antique Hunting trip last weekend. These were taken with my camera phone, so I apologize for the poor quality!

Note: I came out empty handed, but I did LOVE the refinished antique white dresser. It had a SOLD sign on it, but it gave me inspiration for a future Craigslist find.

love how the hardware was painted white too!

baby carriage

Ronald McDonald Chucky Doll

anyone want a bomb?

or perhaps a piece of art depicting a snaggletooth drunk?

I'll leave you with something pretty. This piece is EXACTLY what I envisioned as a little girl when I first read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

What is old is new again

I call it a peacock chair because it sounds exotic and I love peacocks! But there isn’t any blue on this large wicker chair. Instead, the name refers to the large fan-shaped chair back. My mom use to have one in our Orlando living room during my formidable years and I recall thinking it was pretty cool. But I didn’t really like our living room overall– it was straight out of the 1970s with browns and oranges. My parents didn’t change out that hideous furniture, drapes etc. until 2003! Well, just recently I discovered an inspirational photo of a black peacock chair and said to myself “I want it!!” Sadly, my mom’s peacock chair found a new owner during one of her many garages sales so I scoured eBay and Craigslist. The ones on eBay were well over $100 dollars but I did find one on Craigslist for $35. Next, I picked 4 cans of Krylon gloss black spray paint at Walmart for $2.50 each. Within a week, my peacock chair was updated! It’s going in my soon-to-be black and white color scheme ‘library.’ Just need the Ikea Billy bookcase system now so I can move my book collection in!

before

After