The Goody Life

Coveting: Pillows

The pillows on our couch are starting to look a little worse for the wear.  We got some really nice silk throw pillows from Pottery Barn for our wedding, but the corners are starting to shred and fray. (Stewart tried telling me that they look fine, and it adds to that "cottagey" look I'm always talking about, but I think he's just trying to talk me out of spending money on new pillows.)  Plus we swapped out the living room artwork when we moved into our new apartment, and the current pillows are doing nothing to pick up on the colors in the room.  Realistically, I'm not going to buy new pillows.  I'm just going to deal with it for the time being.  But I can still wistfully admire the pillows I would buy, if it were in the budget!

I love these recycled pillows Skout.  They were originally $245 but are on sale today on One Kings Lane for $109.  If anyone has an unlimited budget and would like an invitation to One Kings Lane, let me know.  They do occasionally have more affordable things for sale, although I have never ordered anything. 

This pillow in green from World Market fulfills my white obsession AND would look great with the artwork in the room.  But still, $50 for two pillow covers?  I'll wait for a sale, thanks.

I guess I never posted the new artwork that we have up in the living room, did I?  I bought this print for Stewart for our 1st anniversary (traditional 1st anniv. gift=paper), and it was in our guest bedroom in the old apartment.  We took the cheap route when it came to framing and just had it mounted, frameless, on some foam core.  We like the way it looks, but since it's not protected by glass, the edges are starting to buckle and warp.  Oh well, it works for now!

Obsessed: White Sofas

When we moved into our new apartment, I decided that I didn't like the way some of our old apartment was decorated.  It felt too dark, too formal.  I ditched the dark striped curtains in the living room and we swapped out the artwork over the couch for something brighter and more fun.  We returned the too-big-for-our-apartment recliner to the friends who originally had it, and replaced it with this sleeker chair from Target (which we got on sale, with free shipping!)  I'm happier with the way it looks, but I quickly have come to realize that the problem is the couch.  Our couch was given to me by a co-worker in Panama City, who was going to donate it to her church before I begged for it.  It is around 20 years old, and a lovely pink-blue plaid.  We have had a taupe-ish slipcover on there for the last couple of years, and it's a big improvement over the original fabric but now looks too dark to me.  Enter the white slipcover obsession.  For the last two months I have been looking for a white slipcover, that I really feel would pull the room together.  But, I haven't been able to find what I want for a decent price, and I'm not about to spend a lot of money on a slipcover for this couch that we probably will replace in a year and a half.   So I'm going to stick it out with the slipcover we have for now, but feel the need to post some white sofa pictures to hopefully get it out of my system.  I know not everyone loves this much white, but it's the look I've been loving lately...

Don't you want a white sofa now??

Ikea style quiz

This Ikea quiz has been floating around blogland the last week, and I can't pass up a chance to take a quiz (or make Stewart take one!) Here are my results::

And here are Stewart's results:

I admit I take slight exception to the "country" label....that just conjures up images of dried flowers and pastel pink and blue flowered curtains.  I like the analysis of Sherry of This Young House that "cottage is the new term for country."
Anyway, the quiz takes two minutes, so go take it!

Style Diagnosis

Way back in November Kirsten of simplygrove was offering a free style test, in which you sent her five pictures of homes that you liked, and she would diagnose your style.  Of course I jumped right on it, and she finally just get back to me with my result.  Here's my diagnosis:

Courtney's Style-  Classically traditional with much Whimsy.
This style loves classic pieces that will be around for time.  Accessories are fun but fit right in.  Colors are soothing and romantic and textures are serene.  Spaces are clean and simple but style is never removed.  The old and new have met and it looks great!

Hmmm, is that code for for "boring"?  I'm not sure.  Now looking back at the pictures I sent her, I'm not even sure why I chose those.  They are a little more formal and frou-frou than what I typically like, especially the living room and the dining room.  But anyway, here are the pictures from my style test.

Dining Room

Kitchen

Living Room

Office

And just one for inspiration (I love the colors and the light)

Valentine's Day Decorating

I don't like to go overboard when decorating for holidays.  (I have a perpetual fear of that word that starts with "t" and ends with "acky".)  I've certainly never decorated for Valentine's day before, but for some reason this year I've felt a pull toward the pink and red.  Must have something to do with being head-over-heels-in-love with my wonderful husband.  Oh sorry, sappiness over!  So here's what I came up with:

I swiped a red heart doily from the pack I bought at the dollar store for a school craft project.  The pink candles were 33cents each, and I already had everything else.

Pink candles on the sconces:
 

Pink bow (previously a ribbon belt) on the bed

And just so she didn't feel left out, a little red bow on my beloved KitchenAid mixer

So what do you think, did I stay within reason?

Blog Love: This Young House

A fairly new blog on my google reader is This Young House.  This stylish husband and wife duo provide color and decorating consultations and post their recommendations on their blog in the form of "mood boards" this this.
 

It's then up to the homeowner to take the ideas and run with them.  Often they post pictures of the completed rooms, which I like because I'm a fan of a good before-and-after.  There are lots of other great decorating and design ideas too. 

I like their overall design concepts and style, especially their color choices of lots of neutrals and soft blues/greens.

I actually drew some inspiration of my own from this blog, where I saw some mercury glass candles holders that caught my eye.  I looked for some all throughout Christmas break, and ended up getting an awesome deal at Target the day after Christmas.  Because they were included in the holiday clearance, I got four candle holders and all the candles for less than $30 (which is the original price of the largest candle holder!)  I actually wish I had bought one more....now that I have them on the table it looks a little bit too symmetrical.  I think there's some design rule about using odd numbers, but hey, I'm still learning. 
 

(first three images from This Young House)

A sad day in the magazine world

I am a confessed magazine junkie.  This is not a new problem.  It started with Teen and Seventeen, and then I upgraded to Glamour and Marie Claire.  Some of you lived through the wedding magazine phase with me.  Now it's home magazines, as I daydream and plan for the day when we have a house to decorate.  Well, in the last several years, Cottage Livinghas emerged as a clear favorite in our apartment.  I originally got a subscription for my Mom, who has long said that all she wants is a cute little cottage in which to live.  But after looking through a couple of the issues, I quickly decided to get a subscription for myself.  I have a hard time pinning down my decorating "style", but Cottage Living comes pretty close to hitting the nail on the head.  It's kind of a mix of vintage, antiques, and distressed materials mixed with just enough modern touches and clean lines to keep it from being too country.  Luckily Stewart and I are usually in very close agreement when it comes to this type of decorating, so when we are at the point of choosing furniture and decorating our house, we shouldn't have too many arguments.  But unfortunately, when that day comes, we won't have Cottage Living to use as our guide!  Word on the streetis that our favorite magazine will soon be no more.  *Insert pouty face here*  And I'm having a very hard time finding something to replace it!  Domino is a favorite in the decorating scene, but it's just a little bit too modern and out-there for me.  I generally like about half the articles, which just isn't enough to make me pledge my devotion.  Traditional Home can be a bit too formal, and Home sometimes has articles that just don't interest me.  I love the "home" section of Better Homes and Gardens, but I couldn't care less about the "garden" half.  Oh the dilemma!

  
Images from this month's Cottage Living

In other Cottage related news, one of my favorite Tallahassee shops is now on the web.  Not everything is available to be purchased online, but I understand that eventually it will be.  Can you guess the name of the shop?

Target love

This rug caught my eye at Target this weekend.  Strangely, it's not on the Target website, so all I can show you is the picture I surreptitiously snapped in the store!

 

It's totally a copy of this Pottery Barn rug, but of course is tons cheaper.  I kind of wish Target had it in that great orange color like PB, but I would probably get tired of that faster anyway.

On the way out I spotted this orange scarf, which I almost bought, but my self-control kicked in.  I just love the color and think it would make the most boring outfit (like jeans and a white shirt) look put-together. 

Decorating Inspiration: Kitchens

Oh, how I long for the day when I don't have the standard-issue apartment kitchen with the light wood cabinets.  Any of these would do...

 
from Better Homes and Gardens

 
From Better Homes and Gardens

 

 
from Cottage Living

 
from Cottage Living

 
from Cottage Living

  
from Country Home

 
from Country Living

 

 

 

   

   

 

 

 

I realize that these decorating posts are more for my benefit than yours.  It helps me to see all the pictures together, to see the similarities.  It wasn't until putting all the kitchen photos into this post that I realized that almost all of them have white cabinets.  Had you asked me yesterday what color kitchen cabinets I liked, I wouldn't have had a clue!  Anyway, I hope I'm not boring you with these house photos...don't feel obligated to look at them if you're not in a decorating mood!

Blackboard in the kitchen

I love this:

 

I think it's something about the combination of the blackboard paint, the red espresso maker, and that striped bowl.  I had to look up "sagacity"...it means "acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgement".  Photo from November '08 Gourmet, via Brown Turtleneck Sweater.

(By the way Mom, when you move someday, I'm claiming the big blackboard in the foyer!)