Looking For A Chair...Is Always Fun

Chairs are like shopping for accessories for me!  I feel like you can just grab one and take it home!  I have done that before ya know!  That is why I love my Honda Pilot!  You can stick anything in the back!  Anyway, these cuties have to be ordered.  How fun is the Petite Bird Armchair  above from Oly?  Not sure if I am loving that fabric but this would be a fun whimsical addition in a unexpected spot in your home or maybe not...too much?  Actually don't think it work in mine!  Moving on!

I am currently looking for a chair next to my sofa and two flanking my fireplace.  I am glad that there are so many wonderful choices out there!  However, I think I have at least narrowed down the chair for next to the sofa.  The O.Henry House slipper chair above will do the trick!  So cute isn't it?  I will be keeping the fabric simple.  Actually daring to go very light...white?  Scary!!!!  The room is kind of dark and the pop of white will freshen it up...hoping!  Also got that advice from a designer so I should be on the right track!

This Jackson winged chair from Hickory is what I am looking for to flank the fireplace.  There are many versions of this chair out there now.  I am really looking for a chair with height.  The photo below shows my fireplace.  The chairs in this photo are not there anymore and have been moved to a reading area.  I am really looking for a taller chair for here.

Or maybe something with some wood like the Kirin Chair from Oly?  DO NOT like that fabric or color so don't think that is the direction I am going.  It would be a linen fabric for sure and maybe an oat color but on the lighter side.

Kirin Chair from Oly

Hickory Chair's adorable Le Clerc Chair

Hickory Chair's leather...love it...Gunnison Chair.  Just don't have a place for this rustic gem!  I am off to go hunting today for more furniture.  That usually involves the internet and some local shops!  If you would like to see some other chairs recommended by one of my favorite blogs, Good Bones Great Pieces, go here.

Have a great day!

xojamilyn

My French Reading Lamps Are Finally Here

Finally!  Waiting forever for these petite handmade French reading lamps from Galerie des Lampes.  They are here and I am really enjoying my new reading "nook" in my living room.  I think they are just the right size for this area and are beautifully handcrafted.  However, I need something really interesting on either side of the window to hang on the empty wall space.  Space needs more personality.  Seems very bare bones right now and a little too neutral.  My one wish would be to NOT have that wall radiator right under the window!  I really despise the thing.  Ruins the whole look for me!  Thinking of painting it the same as the wall color but then thought it would just be this "ugly" thing painted!

Grasshopper Lamp in antiqued bronze from Galerie des Lampes, France

Wall color:  Camouflage by Benjamin Moore

Trim:  White Dove by Benjamin Moore

Now back to my reading!

xojamilyn

{Images property of Living It At Home and taken via me}

Dash and Albert Throws

I {love} Dash and Albert and I am determined to find a place to put a rug or a throw.  I love how this Dash and Albert rug was placed in this room.  However, this post is actually about my new desire and that is to buy one of their throws.  I just discovered them when I was out and about and think they are so sweet, comfortable, stylish and perfect for this time of year.  You can also toss them in the wash!

Since I saw one in person and was able to pick it up and touch it...I am hooked!  Price is reasonable too!

Happy "Spring like" weekend!  It is going to absolutely gorgeous here in MA.  I am thinking of doing some antiquing up in York, Maine this weekend.  About an hour and a half from were I live.  

Can't wait!

xoxojamilyn

*Images from Dash and Albert and Living Room via Linen and Velvet blog*

Decorating with Herb Standards

Interior designers are using small herb standards for their decorative value.  Architectural in feeling, they're more visually interesting than many ordinary houseplants and usually more fragrant as well.  Planted in formal containers and displayed in pairs, standards appear proper and traditional, but in baskets or clay pots, they look more like inhabitants of an enchanted forest.                  

*Both Images from Pure Style Home*

Lauren from Pure Style Home  uses topiaries beautifully in her kitchen.  I like the touch of green they add to her black and white decor.  Having a Herb Standard in your kitchen, can help you to use more fresh herbs when cooking and they also make your home look fabulous!   Lauren says that one is fake but I cannot tell, can you?

Herb standards are plants trained to grow with single stems and lush, geometrically shaped heads.  Standards are a simple form of topiary, the art of training plants and trees into fantastic shapes.

Martha says, "A lone topiary might look lost atop the table, but a group of five in staggered heights provides an arresting tableau {love her use of vocabulary words}.  The spherical forms highlight the tables shape and the soft edges of the other furnishings.  Living centerpieces can be rotated to suit the season."

I really enjoy using topiaries in my home.  I think I am obsessed with them.  When I am out and I see one, I want to buy it.  They usually are very expensive, so I hold off.  I may try and make one myself.  It has to be cheaper...right?  So much to do, so little time.  Go here for instructions.  I love this photo below.  First, the table is fantastic.  Second, I love all the lush plants.  It would be like having a mini garden in your home. I think it would make me happy to see that everyday.  Unfortunately, I don't posses a green thumb, so it probably wouldn't look this great after a few months! *image from Lonny Magazine

These "baby" Myrtle topiaries make a great gift in antique tea cups.  Adorable!

Topiaries for a wedding decoration...

I could go on and on with images of topiaries.  I hope this has inspired you to add these beauties to your home!

(images for Martha Stewart, Country Living, Pure Style Home, Living It At Home)

Lamp Love Update For Living Room

Here is my inspiration reading lamp for my living room (brass reading lamp lower right).  I have finally discovered that the lamp is by Mattaliano, to the trade.   I had posted this image before on earlier post, and Victoria from Art House Design was very helpful in tracking down this floor lamp for me, she was very nice to do so.   Thank you!  You can see my post about my "Before and After" of my living room here.   I have a reading area with two chairs and an ottoman that needs light.

*Image-House Beautiful

Here are the three lamps below that I think would work.  Top is from Circa Lighting.  I think this lamp will be the least expensive and probably in our price range. The next two are very good looking lamps and are from Galleri Des Lampes in France, to the trade.  They are really close to what I am looking for.  Very simple and small. I know that these are going to be way out there in price.

While researching floor lamps, I came across some other lights that I love.  It would be great to find a place for them all!  I think I need several houses to decorate.  Anyway, I am sure once I make my decision, I will stumble upon something else I like.  Don't you hate when that happens?  Just when you think you settled on something, up pops something you love just to confuse you more.  I am not a designer.  I am a "wanna be" designer.  I love looking at rooms and magazines (tearing page after page), searching for that one thing, or studying how a picture of a room is put together.  I think I am getting the hang of it.  However, if you are a designer or are working with one, you have access to endless resources, and you are so lucky! That is one perk that I am lacking.  But, I am still going to have fun and keep trying.  It makes me happy~ (I do stress a lot too!)           

 *The really cool looking lamps are from Oly,Wisteria, and Galerie des Lampes