How I covet thee

Not much inspires me in the morning. I am especially not inspired with a lack of sleep. In fact, I probably am much less agreeable this morning than I am usually as I am not a morning person with 6 hours of broken sleep...

Anyhow, I saw this and I jumped an inch out of my chair:



Okay, I didn't jump as I don't have the energy but that fabric is just my style. It's casual as demonstrated in a painted log cabin room yet adds a bit of sophistication with it's structured pattern. This is what I could see stand the test of time in style vs. trend.

This fabric design would fit with most any style of furniture in a wide variety of settings. Of course I could see it in my home! I also could see it in a variety of beautiful colors but I personally like it as is.

Now I am feeling a bit less dramatic in the head and that's a good thing.

Oh how I love my morning blog run.

Happy Friday!

Hubba! Hubba! Parquet flooring!

See, that's what I am talking about!

(Both pics below belong to Apartment Therapy, click above for article and slideshow.)





I must admit that the title "Alex's Granny Chic" is kind of off-putting because as a child of the 70s, my grandparents (on both sides) were far from that hip and cool but my parents were - haha (grandparent age now though my mom died when I was 15). Since I am far from being young and hip myself, I guess I will accept that and lust after that flooring!

I LOVE it. I think parquet floors get a bad rap and are a style that never really goes out of style. That or I am just wishing I was in my toddler years again?

Eh, no matter. I like them and they look fabulous.

Mondays, blogs and I need to upload pictures

Happy Monday everyone.

I go through a ton of home decor blogs every morning and they prove to me I need to get a part-time job. Long story short, my web design biz hadn't been tended to (alcohol is a bad thing for me) so the income levels are pretty low. When I go through these blogs, I drool over the creativity of so many people around the globe. It's a feast for the inner "hip" woman inside.

I started thinking about my attempt through the years to make my houses (apartments, houses, town homes that I have lived in through the years) a home I can love and enjoy regardless of where I am. Since I've moved from a house to an apartment recently and hopefully will be in a house again by the end of 2009, I want to focus on core items that I can take from drab to fab. The sad part is, it's only the smaller things I can afford at the moment so the blogs help me dream a bit.

Now, one thing I have learned from looking through the blogs and doing a timeline in my head of things I have purchased (and gotten rid of) over the years, I am finding that it's better to try to stick with timeless and stay away from trendy.

The 80s mauve dishes went bye-bye many, many years ago to be replaced by Pfaltzgraff "Midnight Sun" in black around 1995. I got them at the outlet stores in Silverthorne, CO and had been discontinued. With a quick gander at their site, low and behold, they are back. A testament to design and quality that don't go out of style and if they do, not for long. Probably one of the best home items I have ever plopped my money down on.

Also, in the mid 90s I purchased a bed all by myself. I know, sounds silly but I inherited the family antiques and they are all fabulous but the bed is only a full size and in dire need of some serious TLC anyway. I will have to upload pics of it but it's a black wrought iron looking bed that can have the canopy or you can leave it off. With the smaller size of this bedroom I elected to keep the canopy off so as not to overwhelm the room. A bed frame that has options and still has style? I would say that's a great investment.

What about trendy? Well, I think trendy is fun but I am also not into cookie-cutter interiors that look like an IKEA catalog or what have you. I think developing your own style is much more creatively satisfying and that's why I drool over the "good" home interior blogs. They may not have my style but I appreciate that many have adapted old and new to make it right for them.

So, with all that said, I will hunt down pics of past and present (I also need to get batteries for the camera) of my stuff to show you what I have to work with. It's not all saucy and I am still living in my 20s with a lot of my furniture but as time goes on, I hope to have grown-up things or hacked my 20something stuff into something fabulous. I have a pretty good blank slate to start even though I am in my early 40s...oy, where has the time gone?