Birthday Decor [Part I]

Since we purchased our new camera, the Canon Rebel T1i, Michael has become quite the photographer.  For months I've been wanting to display his photos on shelves in our entryway.  About a month ago we found the perfect shelves at IKEA for his photos...

The day before my birthday he walked into our living room with the shelves!  I was super excited.  He gave them to me a day early because I was going to IKEA that night to buy frames and he didn't want me to buy the shelves myself.

The big bare wall finally has some style!

Overstock [Amazing] Dot Com...

Is it just me or am I the only person in the world who is new to Overstock.com?  I've seen the commercials, read about deals found on Overstock on other blogs...  what kept me from looking myself?  Maybe I secretely knew of the "danger" that would ensue.

Between emails from places like IKEA and West Elm and my crazy searches for Mid Century Modern furniture on Craigslist, do I really have the time to check Overstock.com hourly daily?  Why yes I do!

Look at this adorable bedding I found...   I have a thing for bedding. 

This rug has been staring me down for a few days now...

Do I even need to mention this fabulous sofa for $399?

Please tell me I'm not the only one in love with Overstock.com  Please share your fabulous finds with me!

Out with the new... In with the old?

Well friends, the obsession with Mid Century Modern has been passed along to my mom.  After reading our blog, my mom was on the hunt for Mid Century Modern pieces for our place.  She found an amazing chair for $50, but waited for my approval and it sold the next day!  Although we missed out on the chair, she found a fabulous end table for our living room...  did I mention it was $25!!!  I couldn't be happier with her find and it fits perfectly next to our sofa.  It is retro 1950's and looks fantastic!

And speaking of sofa...  I was going to devote an entire blog post to the new sofa but I've opted not to.  To make a long story short, we purchased the new Karlstad sectional sofa from IKEA a few months ago in chocolate brown because the color was more "Black, Scottish Terrier" friendly.

Four days after purchasing the sofa, Morgan chewed the arm off.  It was terrible and the tears were flowing.  He never touched our old sofa, so I'm assuming the new smell to this one attracted him to it.  Anyway, it's been fixed and we've moved on.  Morgan seems to have no hard feelings either.  :)

Mid Century Modern...

I have a new obsession with mid century modern furniture.  I've stumbled upon many fabulous mid century pieces on Craigslist and have become a crazy bargain hunter for these particular designs.  Apparently I'm not the only one because most of the furniture is quite expensive, so I'm hoping to find someone who is selling a great piece and is unaware of its value...  wish me luck!

Below are a few of my favorite Craigslist mid century pieces...  yes, I've been eyeing these for several days now:

These pieces are gems!  Can't you see why I'm obsessed?  Mid Century Modern is so simple and chic.  I adore! 

The New IKEA Shopping List...

I've been dreaming of IKEA lately...

Two of these woven pendants over our dining room table would be fabulous!

This bright rug in our bedroom:

I would love two of these side tables as coffee tables for the living room:

If the above side tables don't look good, there's always this sleek coffee table too:

The hard part:  how do I convince Michael to make IKEA trip #65 to check these items out?  I really think he is beginning to hate IKEA.  His words:  IKEA = assembly which ='s work!  :)

Photos:  www.IKEA.com

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

I've been dreaming of the banana leaf mirrors from Crate & Barrel for more than a year...  kinda sick, I know.  Last week Michael and I went to the Crate & Barrel at the mall near us and found out the store closed down... SAD day!  So today we made the trip to South Coast Plaza to pick them up.  I'm loving them...

Crate & Barrel or CB2...

We still have gift cards from our wedding to Crate & Barrel and I cannot bring myself to a decision as to what to buy.  How can one store have so many pretty things?  


Do I dare buy a 3rd duvet?  I don't know what it is about duvets but I absolutely love them!  

Do I order cool accessories from CB2?

                               

I've also been dreaming about these banana leaf mirrors for months!

                         

I'm thinking the banana leaf mirror would look fabulous next to our sliding glass door.  I think this rustic touch will add texture and balance to our modern furniture.  Opinion?

What Haven't We Done [Part II - Bathroom]...

While this past weekend was chalk full of to do's, our master bathroom was at the top of our agenda.  Here is a reminder of what the master bathroom use to look like:

Before the new vanity installation

New Vanity

New Artwork

M&J Monograms from our friend Elizabeth

Close up of M&J Monograms [Anthropologie]

New Door Hooks

New Door Hooks Serving Their Purpose

Different angle of bathroom

I'm very happy with the final result.  Hanging art and adding hooks make our master bathroom feel warm and functional.  Hope you like...

Let's be honest [Part II]...

A potential buyer for our sofa visited last night. She really liked it. Her husband is going to come and see it with her later this week. I'm crossing my fingers that they buy it.

In the meantime, Michael and I went to IKEA this past Sunday evening to test out sofas.

We originally wanted this one:

But we've decided on this one:

The sofa we originally wanted is great, but far too large for our living room. We've opted for the sofa/chaise lounge combination from the Karlstad collection at IKEA. We are going to have to order the sofa because the chocolate brown material is the most popular and they're out of stock.

Did I mention it comes with a 10 year warranty and is super comfy?! We love it. It is much lower to the ground than our sofa now, so we're going to sell our current ottoman on Craigslist too!

I hope someone buys our sofa soon...

Let's be honest...

When we purchased our light cream sectional sofa we weren't really thinking about the reality of what a dog would do to it. HAH! The color of our sofa and Morgan's paws are not a good mix. We've kept it covered with sheets because as of 2 weeks ago, Morgan can finally jump up on his own [we we're dreading that day].

This past week I posted our couch [which is only 6 months old] on Craigslist. I'm hoping for a sale so we can move forward and purchase a new, much darker sofa.

Here's a reminder of our current sofa [which we love]:

Here's the potential new sofa [we need to test it out for comfort]:

and the reason we're doing this:

My West Elm Shopping List [for now]...

Retail e-mail lists can be fabulous when it comes to sales. I've found really great deals this way and been able to retrieve spent money. E-mail lists become dangerous when I am ready to purchase the entire online catalogue of fabulosity.

Thanks to an e-mail from West Elm, I'm left wondering if Santa Claus will visit me in January.

Picture Perfect [Part III]

Quick trip to Lowes for supplies - Check

Lay collage on the floor for the 10th time - Check

Measure the couch [116"] to find the center - Check

Building up the nerve to put LOTS of holes in our wall - Check

The IKEA trip...

We finally made the trip to IKEA to purchase the Expedit bookcase, Hemnes dresser, file folders, storage boxes, power strips, an accent light & photo frames :)

The bookcase looks great in the corner next to our sofa. I now have plenty of storage for my owl collection. We will eventually move the storage boxes into the bookcase, but for now, they remain up top until we can trust Morgan not to chew.

The Hemnes dresser is a match to the larger dresser we already have. This 3-drawer dresser appeared to be much smaller at the IKEA store. When we got it home it seemed too large at first, but we made it work.