Patience is A Virtue. . .

Early in my marriage when I was inexperienced and poor, I tended to buy furniture based on need and a desire to have it NOW.  If the couch I wanted was too expensive, I just bought something cheaper.  I didn't search to find it somewhere else cheaper. I didn't wait and save my pennies so I could buy it later. I just found something that would work.

Then I looked around my house and decided I didn't really like what I had.  It didn't feel like it represented my style. . . if I even knew what that was.  I have recently come to the conclusion that if you have something functional in place you are less likely to go out seeking something new.  Why go looking for the perfect sofa if you have one in good shape doing the job?  It seems less justifiable.  

So when our springer spaniel snacked on our furniture last fall I got rid of the ruined sofa and table and chairs in my family room and kitchen.  I found a table I loved right away, but Rob and I couldn't agree on family room furniture.  This time I wasn't willing to just buy something that would do the job, and neither of us really wanted to spend the amount of money it would cost to get my first or even second choice sofa and club chairs. So I moved my living room furniture into my family room and lived with an empty living room. . . until this month.

My patience paid off!  We found nearly the same sofa for half the price--1/3 the Restoration Hardware sofa! And it came with the five pillows shown in the picture.  I love a good rolled English arm sofa (and a turned leg).  Rob argued it wouldn't be comfortable, and with only a picture to go on with the other two stores, I wasn't making progress convincing him, but once he sat in this beauty he agreed that it was, indeed, quite comfy.  It has down/feather filled cushions and a really deep seat--great for the two of us being 6'2" and 5'10".  

Here is the Restoration Hardware sofa:

The Pottery Barn sofa:

The RC Willey sofa (Mine):

AND we found a sofa table and a coffee table for a good deal.  A nearly identical table set can be purchased at Ballard Designs, but they cost more! I count that a double score.  Plus mine was made from reclaimed wood out of a factory.  

Ballard table:

And I got some great accessories:  the mounted driftwood on the sofa table. . .

And this lovely three teared tray, which I love everything about, even the little bun feet underneath it.  

Now I just need to find those two leather club chairs and another upholstered chair to finish the seating. . . 

But in the meantime, I am ignoring the rain pouring down outside, washing all the lovely blossoms off the trees.  I am bringing a little spring inside.  I may have to fill my house with cut flowers to appease my annoyance with the dreary weather around here!  

**All furniture and accessories mentioned in this post were purchased at RC Willey**

Basket Case. . .

(Country Living)

Last month while on my birthday shopping trip I ran across the cutest ceramic berry bowls at Anthropologie.  I didn't let myself buy any home accessories that day because I had decided my birthday shopping spree was going to be about clothes.  Then a few weeks later I was flipping through a back issue of Country Living and saw them featured in there. . . which made me wish I had bought them.  I don't remember what they were priced at, but I tried looking them up online only to find they weren't available online.

(Jayson Home & Garden)

So I went surfing around the web and found them at Jayson Home & Garden.  But they weren't cheap--small: $20, medium: $32, large: $38.  I was tempted, but since I had treated the entire month of March like my birthday and spent accordingly, I couldn't do it.

THEN, I came across this ceramic berry basket at Sur la Table.  They only have one style (though you can get it in white or red), BUT it is only $6.95.  Yep, six dollars and ninety-five cents.  So I bought three.  And now I wished I had bought more.  I can't wait for my berries to come on.  I have a strawberry patch and three blue berry bushes that will put these baskets to good use this summer.  For now, I have to resort to buying a few berries, just to hurry the season along.

Forget spring, I have summer on my mind. . . and it's looking pretty sweet!

Family, Sun & Shopping

I'm back!  

After a whopping ten days in Idaho visiting family for an extended spring break, I am home and getting busy.  I can't remember the last time I was away from home for such a long time.  Plus, I hardly even touched a computer!  I was too busy with my family AND Rob's (I have seven siblings all within 40 minutes of my parents, and Rob's parents and brother live nearby too). But the girls got their fill of their cousins and I got to see all my siblings, tried out a new cafe in my home town opened by a girl I went to high school with, and did some serious home shopping!  It may not have been warm, but since it wasn't Washington, it was mostly sunny.  I'll take it.  But seriously, the warm weather could arrive any day now. Please.  

I am getting excited about decorating more rooms (and yes, finishing rooms I have already started--focus is not my strong suit!).  Because after six months of walking in the front door to an empty living room, the end is in sight!  You'd think living a stone's throw from Portland, I wouldn't have to go to Idaho to shop.  But since Rob's father works for a furniture store, we often buy things there--and I bought a couch, a coffee table, a sofa table, and a hutch--and a few other small items, like this bird cage. . .

 I, of course, didn't remember to take pictures of anything else since I was so excited to be actually agreeing with my husband on a couch, but let me just whet your appetite by saying the sofa resembles a sofa from Pottery Barn and one from Restoration Hardware that I have been eyeing, the two tables are made from reclaimed factory floor wood and iron, and the the hutch is a lovely handmade thing in worn shades of blue and wood.

 *sigh*

We are bringing them back with us in two weeks when we return to Idaho for a family event.  But the fun didn't stop there!  A few minutes from my in-laws house there is this FABulous home decor shop, Nest {The Home Store}, that I run to every time I visit Idaho.  LOVE that store.  This time I drooled over plenty--and snapped (grainy) cell phone pictures of a few things.  I wish I had captured more, but I was too busy drooling.

She had four of these big floor mirrors.  Getting them home could be tricky, but I wanted one--and the table behind me too (you can't really see it, but it is made of reclaimed wood and it is lovely).

Two of the mirrors were flanking this lovely bed:

If this set of four metal patio chairs is still there when I go back, they might come home with me. . . along with half her garden section.

(Sorry for the glare--that would be sunshine, something I don't get nearly enough of lately!)

I didn't manage to resist buying a set of these gauzy curtain panels.  I ordered four panels of the robin egg blue striped curtain for my living room.  If I am not careful my house will have blue in every room!

These pictures only hint at the loveliness I brought home, or will bring home.  More on that in a couple weeks.

Now, I am off to ship orders and work on a few more projects so I can update you as promised!