Book It, Barrister!

I have been obsessed with barrister bookcases for quite some time. All I kept telling B is how much I love bookcases, barrister bookcases. He must have been listening because he started scouring estate sales for them. He found quite a few.  Sometimes we would even head to one, hoping it would still be there (especially on half off day), but the bookcases were always sold.

Imagine my surprise when I came home one night and found this in the living room casually leaning against the wall:

My beautiful barrister book case

So gorgeous! I asked B about this new addition and he told me he finally found one at an estate sale that hadn't been sold and actually got a good deal on it. He was excited to find out that every piece is removable so you can make it shorter.* However, I like it just the height it is.  Plus, the removed pieces cannot form another bookcase without a bottom, so they would just have to go into storage.

I also told B that I loved the bookcase right where it initially landed. This spot originally held a fish tank as seen here.  Since that tank is no longer with us, that spot has been empty for a while.  I love seeing this in its space.  It seems to complete the room.  

This is one of B's best finds although honestly I love them all.


     

*I later found out that all barrister bookcases have removable pieces hence the beauty of them. When a lawyer ran out of space, they could just order another piece. The more you know...** 

**Thanks for the knowledge, Dad.

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

I thought I would share another piece of furniture that is sharing space in the dining room with our new dining room furniture.  

This piece came from my childhood home, which we recently bought (more on that later).  In that house, it sat in our very tiny vestibule as soon as you entered.  It became a haven for keys, mail and various other random things thrown down there.  You can tell this by how much the main part is dinged up.  While my parents were cleaning out the house, they discovered they really did not have room for this, but my Mom did not want to get rid of it. I generously offered to store it for her. Aren't I so sweet?*

I seem to recall my Dad telling me this was an old barber shop piece. The little knob below the mirror, opens up a folding down type storage area. There is a drawer underneath the main part and then a cupboard at the bottom. I would envision this in an old time barbershop with a strap to sharpen the razors hanging on the side.

The title comes from another little Dad-ism.  My Dad always had a unique knock. When we asked him about it, he said it was based on the singsong phrase, "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits."  I always thought that this was based on old time barber shop prices. Apparently, it is recently based in music and is a common riff at the end of a musical performance for comedic relief.  I later found out my Dad was a drummer. It all started coming together then.

Also, two bits is equal to a quarter.

I need a shave!

The more you know.
   




*I may not give it back :)

Can I Interest You in a Little Fine Dining or at Least the Furniture to Do So?

Remember back in May when I informed you I lost my dining room set when B took my offhand comment super seriously? Well, just as I thought we would never have a place to store our once a year dishes and platters, it was B to the rescue once again.

As this set is so amazing, I have almost forgiven B for forcing me to relocate things into our way too small kitchen.  Almost.  This is Jacobian furniture which, from what I understand from GTS*, is the form furniture took during the Renaissance in England. Yes, our furniture is THAT old. Or based on ideas that old. Whatever.

This picture doesn't do the size justice, but B informed me that he didn't want to take a straight
on picture because then he would be in it through the mirror. So camera shy, that one.

This is our buffet. B may or may not have broke it immediately upon trying to move it.
It has super heavy drawers and is awesome.

This is the china cabinet.  It is also awesome and now holds all of our glasses.  It also is a haven for cats trying to escape dogs.  

You can see the carved detail in the chair and buffet. This is my favorite shot.
Good job B!

Closer shot of the cabinet.

Up close to the buffet.

This set is ever way huger than it looks because there is a leaf. And by a leaf I mean the top of the table lifts up and goes between two extenders. The whole top of the table is a leaf. One day I am going to make B do that again and put all of the chairs we got with it to show you just how regal this set really looks.

I actually like the table with all 6 chairs around it, but it makes it kind of crowded and one chair may or may not be in the midst of repair as well.  

We got this set for a very reasonable price.  Thereafter, my friend whom I stole the trash chair from got a very similar site at an even better price. I might hate her now. The jury is still out on that one.

Also, you will notice the glass on top of every piece. The set did not come like that. B brilliantly stole the idea from our neighbor. With three cats with three sets of back claws and the never ending desire to launch off of our furniture with said claws, the furniture is grateful for B's idea, as am I.

It's the little things.

   




*Google That Shit, or in this case, Googling That Shit

I Chair You to Say This Doesn't Look Better

It has been forever since we got the chair that came with out house upholstered, but I am finally getting around to the grand unveiling.

Thankfully, I got my local photographer a/k/a B on the job. He took many wonderful photos of all of the furniture I am supposed to catch you up on here.  You can thank him for the next couple of posts.

Let's start with The Chair. Remember The Chair? The one the former owners left behind that was all chewed up and ugly? The one I said had good bones?  Here is a picture of it in its original state to refresh your recollection:

Good lines. All chewed up.

Look at it now in its magnificent glory:

Good lines. Gorgeous fabric. So pretty.

The people that upholstered it, fell in love with as did I.  I think this was a wise piece to keep. Now, you can even sit in it without thinking your ribs will be cut by an arm.

Ooohh...

Ahhh....

Posting these pictures makes me excited to get the other New Chair going. I will have to get B on that!

 

If You Write It, It Will Come...

Remember when the other day, and I mean LITERALLY the other day, I wrote about how B sold our dining room set right after Christmas and after my casual remark about wanting a new one? Guess what we finally got?  Yes, a "new" dining room. It is like B read my mind. Or my blog.

Do you want a sneak peek?

Of course you want a sneak peek!

That is our new china cabinet. How gorgeous is that? Not the best picture, but I promise when the whole set is in place, I will use a real camera instead of my iPhone. The carving is so beautiful and the wood so heavy. In addition to the china cabinet, there is a long buffet, a table with two leaves and six chairs including two captains chairs.  Larger than the last set, I think it is going to look amazing in our dining room. I am even fond of how it goes with the color-that-was-picked-by-readers-and-then-changed.  

Speaking of the house...there have been other new things added in the past months that you haven't seen.  Keep your eyes peeled for future posts to catch you up.  

As for this addition, the whole set should be here tomorrow.  Then you will get the big reveal.

Stay tuned.

 

Sunday Sweats: The Walk-In Closet Gets a Face Lift

When I told you about our walk-in closet here, I told you that we were not done with it. It was a beginning.  Now we are somewhere in the middle with our recent add-ons. Excuse the crappy iPhone pictures, I will take more quality pictures when I fill up the closet (can you say SHOPPING?).

Remember that by the closet door and window there was empty space? Not anymore.

There are shelves and a lower hanging bar near the closet door and shelves under the window. Now every wall is covered in some form of closet shelving/clothes bar unit.  Can you see the "real" closet door peeking out there on the right?

What you are looking at below used to be a ceiling to floor shoe rack as evidenced by the shelves that still have shoes on it. We added some drawers there as it was really the only place we could feasibly add drawers and I moved my shoes to the other ceiling to floor shelving unit.

When B asked me what other things I might be interested in, I did not ask for this. However, it is certainly something he needed and it is pretty cool.  A little organizational rack for belts in the area by his shirts (to the left of the window):

What I did ask for was a valet, or a pole that would pull out so I can hang the next day's outfit from it:

Like so:

It should be noted that I have only used that pole so far one other time. I am not that much of a planner. It should also be noted that B immediately said "why does this suit still have tags on it?"  Huh. 

Another thing I *had* to have was a hidden/retractable ironing board.  We had the regular ol' kind and I hated putting it up and taking it down every day or so, which meant that I inevitably just left it up in the middle of the room all the time which B *loved*.  So we got one that can disappear. Can you see it?

It pulls out and to the left like so:

Then you just pull the legs down and it is good to go:

My only minor complaint is that it is really half of an ironing board, but since I am not entering any ironing competitions, it seems to get the job done.

Another view point of the room:

See where those sweatshirts look like they are about to fall off the shelves to the right? That is because they are making way for my shoes. That is the unit where I moved all my shoes to. It is not because I am sloppy and cannot fold properly. Not at all.

Don't you just love it??

*UPDATE* I was just watching the show SuperNanny and saw that the Nanny was wearing that exact same suit that I hung to show off the valet. I mentioned this to B and he stated "it probably WAS that suit since you are not wearing." Whatever.

The Back Bedroom Reveal...Well, Kinda, Since it is Not Really Done But Better Than Before?

Remember when I told you ages ago that I was going to reveal our back bedroom and what we had done with it and what we planned to do with it? Stretch your memory, folks. It was a while ago. So far, in fact, that I cannot even take the time this morning to go find the link.

But today, all will be revealed. Well, all that has been done at least. If B were here this morning instead of at work, he would be shouting "FINALLY!", so just pretend you hear that being shouted in the background as you read this.

The back bedroom, if you will recall, was bright blue with white stars painted on it and red shelves. Very patriotic. Perfect for Memorial Day and Fourth of July. However, since we plan to use the room more than twice a year, we decided an overhaul was in order.

So after careful thought, but unfortunately, no poll, we picked a color and B started painting:

Actually, it started looking even more patriotic after he started painting.

There is B...painting. Isn't he always painting when he ends up in photos?

Yes, sometimes I would have to iron in the midst of the painting. Luckily no clothing ended up with paint on it. This time.

When it was all finished, a beautiful room emerged:

That's a little dark.

I just love this color.

It looks kind of orange here, but it is not the same color of our dining room. This is a much darker red kind of color.

Like this.

So what are our plans for this room?

A walk-in closet!!

I am so excited! We have seen a few of these in different houses we have been in and although each bedroom has a closet, it is really not enough to hold our clothes. Well, mostly my clothes. Exhibit A:

All of my clothes aren't even in there! Some are in the boxes you see in the room. Some are in my dresser where I forget about them. I always wanted a big closet. That I can fill with beautiful things.

When is this going to happen?

It is last on the list. Just kidding. Remember when everything was the last thing on the list? Well, this won't be, but it might be a while.

I will keep you posted.

Sunday Showoff: Go Toward the Light

This week's Sunday Showoff was supposed to be about the back room, but then I realized I never took pictures of the kind-of-finished product. I grabbed my camera, but it screamed "low battery" at me and turned itself off. It is now banished to the corner where it is charging. Sadly, the back room will have to wait until next week.

This week I will just show off two items we recently acquired. The first is one that B found and which I fell in love with. Look at this gorgeous lamp:

It gives off the warmest and best glow in the living room. I want more of them! I want one for my office. Huh, maybe I should have asked for one for my birthday. Hindsight. Anyway, here is the view from the top:

So pretty, right? I feel that it falls somewhere in between old fashioned and current. I could be totally wrong. What do I really know? This isn't a design blog, that's for sure.

The second item is a piece of art work that I picked up for my real office, you know the one I go to during the week to get paid? Not the one where I sit and type up blogs and enter contests.

I am really bad about hanging up pictures and diplomas in my office. I am trying to turn it around. One day when my Mom and I were at Marshalls, I spotted this and thought it was perfect! Seriously, I feel like this multiple times a day.

Everyone that has come into my office has smiled when they saw it. I hope that means that they like it and not that they think I am a lunatic. Well, I would settle for both.

Next week will have the back room, I promise. Also, stay tuned this week for a special post on more history of our house. I am really excited for that post.*

*I get excited easily.

**That's what she said.

***Do people still say that?

Sunday Showoff: Blueprints and Baking Powder

Remember I told you B had plans to frame and hang the original blueprints of our house? Well he did it. He framed them and hung them in the dining room. He was torn between that room and the living room. Who knows, we may change our minds later as B finds more gems to frame and hang up. He has quite the eye.

So here is one on the left side of the room which is looking more orange than usual because of the sunlight:

And the other one on the right side which looks more clay like in color due to lack of light:

Here are some close ups of the blueprints. They were in rough shape with some tears. The place we had them framed at, our local Michael's, did a fantastic job of framing the prints so the tears are minimized. This is the front of the house:

And the back:

It is so interesting to me that our house has all of the same features and designs as are on the blueprints. Nothing has changed! That is what will pain me about replacing the windows. Although they are extremely drafty and there are a few I have to literally fight with to get closed, they are originals and are so unique.

Next, B went on ebay and found an original magazine ad from Better Homes and Gardens around the time our house was made featuring a baking powder and advertising it as being used in homes in our area. How fun is that? He ordered it and framed it:

And then hung it on our kitchen wall:

I love the idea!! He is a genius and I think it looks fantastic. I cannot wait to find (or have B find) more unique decorating items like these.

Thanks for letting me show off our recent decorating gems. Next week, I will show you the newly painted backroom and share our big plan for its use.