Pergola.

I want my better half to build a pergola for me so I can park my teak table & chairs out there, hang a chandelier, grow wisteria on it, and enjoy some grilled meals out there under my happy little canopy of vines.

Is this too much to ask?

If so, then I just want this for now. Get on it.

We now return to our regular programming.

I had a really busy week. Sorry I was gone.


A few things:
1. Kitchen counters AREN'T going in this week. It will be next.

2. I had a HORRIBLE customer service experience with the store from which I bought my faucet and I plan to dedicate an entire post to it. More to come. Seriously, I tried to support a local Seattle merchant, but what a joke. And all this crying about independent stores going out of business? Well, now I know WHY some of them are (and only some of them. Many are GREAT). Because the service in this case was incompetent.

3. What is up with those halogen high-beam lights on cars? You know the ones. When you look in your rear-view mirror and you get blinded. THOSE. It's like looking at the sun! They are like x-rays. What was wrong with regular old headlights?

4. Why did I remove some posts? I needed to bowdlerize the blog a bit so I could show it to someone for a project. Thanks for your understanding. Everything once gone is back up.

5. I bought a birdhouse. I know, you're like, "Wow, Decorno. Thrilling." But seriously, I woke up the next morning and walked my bleary-eyed, coffee-mug-clutching tired-ass self to the kitchen window that faces the backyard and there were like 5 finches just having a party. They found it so fast. And who doesn't want to see Wild Kingdom right in her backyard? Delightful.

6. We have eaten so much take-out and pizza during the remodel that I think I am getting stretch marks on my wrists. Honestly, I bet I have gained 7 pounds. Gross. I can't wait to have the kitchen in order so grilling chicken and chopping up lettuce and tomatoes is, once again, an easy task.

7. Spring is coming. It's been a really long winter in so many ways, hasn't it? The constant bad news, the economy, layoffs. All of it. But spring, man. It's the salve. The answer. Cherry trees seem to burst with joy, those tiny pink pom-poms cheering on every other plant around them - HERE WE GO! they seem to say.

Yes, here we go. We are just a few weeks away from that excellent show.

On a blogging vacation.

Back in a few days.

Oscar round up.

Anne Hathaway was robbed.

Most of you didn't see her movie (numbers don't lie) but let me say this: she played a jerk. I don't really love the girl when I see her on TV and doing interviews, but when you see her in Rachel Getting Married, you see that she plays this jerk - this crummy, self-involved, addicted mess and she makes you love her despite her un-likable-ness (is that a word?). It's remarkable.

Oh, and god bless Sean Penn and his scoldy speech. God bless him.

Kate Winslet's hair... yikes.. And Sophia Loren looked like an old plastic hooker doll plopped on top of a wedding cake. I know she's 74, but if she's competent enough to read lines from a teleprompter, she's competent enough to hire a stylist, for the love of god.

And what was up with the bad dresses? And let's talk about SJP and her husband. I know that their marriage is their own business and that a lot of couples make it work after an affair, but there is something unseemly about his sloppy portliness and the fact that she's chosen - as many women her age must do - between her ass and her face, and her face has clearly lost the battle. Something about them together there bummed me out. I like the wicked optimism of Brangelina - like they might just pop out triplets while we watch! I do not like the parade of SJP trying somehow to remain relevant and her emasculated and wandering man showing up just to hold her Lieber clutch. And on another note, did Queen Latifah and Reese Witherspoon wear the same navy "Hey-it's-a-present-wrapped-in-a-ribbon-dress!"? I think maybe so.


Did you guys watch? What did you think? Please tell me you all snickered a little when they showed Jennifer Aniston and then Angelina. Those directors are filled with spite. I love it!

Shab-a-thon.

This shabby collection is in your honor, douche-y commenter from HERE.


Anonymous said...
Like the faucet wasn't hideous enough. You decorate your HOME like the "shabby chic" dumps in Maine that my family rented before we had money.

PLEASE cancel your subs to the follwing "Lucky", "Domino", "BHG".

UGH I started reading this blog because of the Rachel Zoe comments. They were so funny that I cannot imagine you decoundering your HOME like this.

February 20, 2009 11:17 PM



Let's all get back to "decoundering," shall we?

Just looking.

Visited good ol' Pacific Galleries today. Here's what caught my eye.



Seriously. I mean... come on. My fiance's mother has one like this - not quite as long - with grey-blue paint. It's something else. She keeps it in her kitchen. Love it. Can you imagine having a kitchen big enough for this along one of the walls? Dare to dream.



So crazy and over the top. Love. Have no use for them, but was happy to see them.



I'd like to give it new-ish handles, mirror the inside, and put all the booze and glasses in there. I love anything beat-up and needing a second life, so of course this called out to me.



This photo does it no favors, but the color - in person - was a real wow. Not sure what I would do with it. Maybe stock the booze on top and put silverware and napkins and such in the drawers. Or magazines. I am running out of places to store mine.

Faucet: Final pick.

By Rohl. In all its polished-nickel glory.

Love this.

HERE.

Agenda for day off:

Wake up.

Read the gossip blogs.

Read the Times online.

Email Joni to ask a question about marble.

Print Oscar Ballot, grab pen, read Entertainment Weekly's picks and think, "Ha, ha, suckas! I am researching this shit!" in preparation for our annual Oscar pool and viewing event.

Shop online for new faucet. I *must* decide today.

Hear painters come into the house and get started on their last day of work. The boombox is tuned to oonce-oonce-oonce dance music, which I love, and the fiance hates. (Viva Lady GaGa!)

Breakfast with the man.

Oscar movie double header: Milk at 3:30ish (Viva Sean Penn!) and Slumdog Millionaire at 7-something.

Consume massive quantities of movie popcorn, butter, and salt.

Come home. Pour glass of wine. Bite the bullet and order that stupidly over-priced new faucet to replace THIS one which is going back.




(This is the faucet I plan to order... send links of you have other options for me... photo from HERE.

Mini kitchen update:

I came home yesterday and was like, "What??? What is all this shit?" Drippy patches were hanging from the walls. It was painting day.

And then my better half said, "I think it's like spackle or filler." And then I realized that the painters skim-coated ALL the walls to even them out. Holy cow. So in a moment I went from, "What the fuck?" to "My painters are geniuses!"

I didn't know this was part of the deal. I just expected dudes to paint - simply paint - as I would. But it's a good thing that is not the case because I am the kind of person who would paint a cobweb or a hair into the wall.


-Counters go in early next week.
-Sink is in, but I can't see it because all the cabinets are covered up for the painters.
-New faucet needs to be ordered stat. I am sending the old one back (Everyone was right about the skinny handles.)
-Still need to figure out lighting for two more spots in the kitchen, but I'm not rushing that decision.
-Ditto on the backsplash. No decisions there yet. Oy.
-That's really all that remains to be done. I should be making a mess again in my kitchen by end of next week. Thank the lord.

Can we talk about important topics today, like this one:

Seriously, what the fuck?

Chalk paint, yes or no?

Big Ebay day...

Chloe riding boots and a Chloe Heloise bag in distressed silver (hopefully... the bidding war continues), a LeSportsac crossbody, the J Crew Jenna bracelet, and new Miu Miu prescription frames (such a bargain on Ebay... who knew??).

And I'd forgotten about these python Prada platform sandals I bought on Ebay last fall... haven't been able to wear them, of course, because it's freezing out. I can't wait for spring to break those bitches out of winter prison and wobble around town in them. I will fight this recession with fierce shoes.

I love Ebay.


And speaking of shoes, how much do you love THIS girl?

And also speaking of shoes, I am looking forward to other brands doing interpretations of Prada's insane platforms with this stitching detail. Get ready to see it elsewhere, and hopefully for less than $690 a pop.

On charity.

Here's a comment from THIS post:


Anonymous said...
You should read Peter Singer on morality. He makes the case that all surplus income after we take care of our most basic needs should be given to the poor. One can make a comment about the political economy implications of this, but he's a ethics philosopher, and the point he's making is about ethics. This story isn't about "putting things in perspective" - it's about how do we reconcile our conspicuous consumption with our sympathy for people who have nothing and are living in misery.

I'm actually curious to hear how people in this community react. I can recommend some Peter Singer articles if you'd like.

-Chase



Thoughts?

This is how you do it.

I love sleek lamps and fussy old alabaster lamps and was never sure how to reconcile the two loves in one room. I think this is how you do it.

Image from HERE.

This is the song that will be in constant rotation...

...when I open my long-awaited gay space-age disco.

So I am in Las Vegas for work...

and I am in a cab going from one early appointment to the next. I am at a stop light. I look over to my right, where this enormous patch of land is cordoned off by chain-link fence, ready for Steve Wynn or somebody to build the next $2 billion-dollar hotel complex and I see this rustling on the corner, right next to this fence.

A guy pushes back some blankets and gets up and it hits me that he slept there. He was maybe 50, with grey hair, kind of wiry build. And he moves his backpack out from under the blanket, where I presume he was keeping it maybe wrapped around his ankle for safekeeping. And then what did he do? He made his bed.

Something about the sight of that was the loneliest feeling in the whole world. Safety is a chain-link fence on one side of you. And dignity is taking the time to smooth out and fold up the blankets that keep you warm during a wintery desert night.

Wide open spaces.

Could you live HERE?

A heartbreaking work of a Chocolate Genius.

Please listen to THIS. All of it. Or else.

More snaps from ABC Carpet & Home

Ikat graveyard.

Chair covered in Obama fabric. Who knew?

That slab on top is like 6 inches of marble. Holy cow. I totally want it. 

I think it was $4000 or something. Ouch.

Madeline Weinrib rugs as far as the eye could see.

You know, I want to dislike all her rugs now because she's just... everywhere.

But there were some really interesting rugs in these piles.

Loved these tables.

Totally batshit crazy chandelier. Loved it.

Pink Lamps, Red Ticking.

Stopped by Red Ticking here in Seattle yesterday. It's only about 4 minutes from my house so it's kind of dangerously close. Way too tempting. Like these pink lamps, for example. Yum.





These lights are little vintage zinc pots that Pam, the owner, wired as little hanging lights.




And based on comments from a previous post, perhaps this is the sofa I should get.




If you're in Seattle, Pam's shop is in Madison Valley and worth the trek. Go on a Saturday when the shops are open, and you can also stop by Apogee for random antique finds, Veritables, which has an amazing selection of lamps, and City People garden shop.

Songs on repeat:

I love every single cover of "Sexual Healing" that I have ever heard. What a great fucking song.

But Ben Harper's version really makes it happen for me.




I've also been really stuck on "Thieves Like Us" recently. Takes me way back to middle school. Oh, yeah. The only thing that could make it better is the wafting smell of clove cigarettes. Good times.

A little more progress.

Came home from NY to see that all the cabinets are in. Lots of other things to do to finish them and the whole room, of course. The best part was that all the cabinet boxes piled high in the front room were now empty and the boxes themselves were repurposed in the kitchen to protect those ninny fir floors. I was glad to see the messy tide in my house begin to recede. Shit had taken over every room.

And now that the promise of a new kitchen is starting to seem so real, I am trying to imagine what it will be like to really use it. I was thinking I can't just put my ratty old Ikea flatware back in my new kitchen drawers, can I? No. Answer is definitely no, since this seems like a good time for an upgrade. So maybe today is the day I buy new flatware.

I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to edit all the crap that we will put back into the cupboards and drawers. When we had to remove all the food and dishes from the cabinets before Contractor Gary scrapped all the old cabinets, I kept thinking, "WHY exactly do we have these disgusting old college-era cheap-ass pans in here?" Things we never or rarely use are going to go. We really only use like 3 pans anyway. Time to tidy up.

Confidential to Jules:

For you, Jules:

HERE.

It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

Sofa.

I think this is the one. The colors here are a little wonky. The fabric is a really nice silvery-beige linen.

I saw two good options at ABC the other night, which was a relief because other slipcovered/washable options out there were pretty scary.

Who doesn't want a classic six?

Fishs Eddy is this great NY store full of well-priced dishes and flatware. I popped in to find that they now stock their own pattern called "Floorplan." Kind of a perfect gift for the decornophile in your life (namely, you).

The tiny bread plates (not shown) are the floorplan of a studio apartment. Adorable.





Incidentally, someone asked where to get the knives featured a few posts ago. I am not really sure, but these seem like a very good option.

You can see more good stuff at fishseddy.com.

Butter is the new olive oil.

Especially at Le Pichet in Seattle. What IS it about French butter? Seriously. What is the deal? WHY is it so good? Explain it to me.

See the light.

Here's the little pendant light I spied at ABC Carpet while here in lovely NYC. Just FYI for those following along with my kitchen updates.

Isuwannee!

Friend of the blog Jamie Meares is in the NY Times today. Not just a mention, but a quote, a photo, the whole enchilada.

Jamie writes Isuwannee one of my all time favorite blogs. At least it always is until I see yet another one of those "Hey-I-am-going-on-a-vacation" posts, because I swear to god that lucky bitch goes away every other weekend. But I'm not bitter or anything.

You can read the article (about the demise of Domino) HERE.

Calm. Cool. Collected.

Love this place. You can see more HERE.





(Those lamps are from one of my favorite stores, Red Ticking.)

Miscellaneous updates from NYC.

1. Just barely made it to ABC Carpet & Home before it closed. I took some photos but can't seem to get my iPhone to talk to my work-issued PC, so unfortuantely I can't show you the lights I found that I think will work in my kitchen. The are sort of vintage-y and mercury glass-ish and small in scale. Thinking one over the sink and a group of 3 hanging from their long skinny cords as the pendant light for the center of the room. Pending approval of my better half. I trust his good taste.

2. The weather. I was walking down the street around 8am and these little chunks of ice fell from above me. When I looked up, I saw more coming down around me. It was the weirdest hail I've ever seen. I swear to god, these were long and rectangularish and were big. They looked like diamonds. Seriously. It was like Elizabeth Taylor died, went to heaven, and spilled her jewelry box. Or something. It was the damnedest thing ever.

3. Impactful is not a word.

That is all for now.

May I redirect you?

To HERE.

Please discuss the kitchen. I noticed three different kinds of pendant/chandelier lights, which makes me think I can go for a little variety. Maybe. Although that kitchen is like the size of my house. Anyway, discuss.

And maybe even more exciting, please note her remarks about this month's Elle Decor editor's letter about Top Design. You would think that writing a decor blog would mean I watch those shows. I don't. I don't have the patience for them (yet I watch Real Housewives of Orange County. Go figure.). But I feel like I missed some good shit because after I read HG's post (linked above) where she mentioned Margaret Russell's letter, I had to read it for myself. How carefully crafted was that dismissive missive? Loved it.

Anyhoo, discuss.

I love a good fancy-bordering-on-vulgar chandelier. Yum.



I am in NY. I am very tired. I am hoping after a long day of meetings tomorrow I can scoot down to ABC Carpet & Home and find a few things for the kitchen. Maybe a light. Maybe a little rug for the kitchen. We'll see.

The lighting links have been very helpful, so thanks to everyone who left suggestions 2 posts ago. I think Hello Gorgeous is the winner, though... you're right. I am so undecided at this point that I should do nothing and just wait until I find exactly the thing I want. My kitchen has been a wreck for 4 years. What's another few months, right?