Design Debate
A Little Bit Country
We opened the mailbox this week to find the latest and greatest issue of Country Living just sitting in there waiting to be read. This is a very exciting day for me. Almost as exciting as when Chad gets the newest issue of Garden and Gun or Texas Monthly.
Being the nerd that I am I was super stoked to see that our vintage green picnic basket, scored from CommunEcos, was featured on the cover.
See it sitting up there on top of the refrigerator? Doesn’t it look festive up there? You can read more about our basket here, which was thrifted in Durham and now lives in our guest bathroom floor. She’s a celebrity.
However the sad truth was that this incident only solidified some test results that I got last week that I had not yet shared with all of you. No, not a life threatening disease, just a surprising diagnosis a la Deborah Needleman’s online style quiz. Deborah Needleman is the brains behind the now deceased Domino Magazine by the way – and know for fun quirky yet affordable design ideas. Get the book here take the quiz here.
It will ask you a lot of questions about your home and even ask you to choose images that you prefer over others.
And then it gives you results like “Country Classic” that make you sound like George Jones.
Well, I’m not sure I want to be George Jones. Although his house is pretty old man pimp.
He’s got neon in his veins – just so you know.
Anyhoo, here was my evaluation.
What it says is nice and actually pretty accurate I must admit. I’m just not a fan of the title.
Chad: Well, what did you want it to say? “Country chic?”
Amy: No “country.” Maybe “eclectic” or “quirky classic.”
Chad: Grins and looks up at the longhorns over the tv. “Ok.”
A Desk for Weekends
Forget the things that I said yesterday about my new blue porcelain lamp not working on the guest bedroom desk. I take it all back.
Even as I typed that post I wondered, why would I say that the only place I need a lamp is on this desk – and that I bought it even though it didn’t “match.” Well, things don’t always “match” in my world. But somehow a bunch of clippings and a stack of magazines ties this baby in pretty well. It’s like I try to tell the hubs, if nothing matches then it all matches.
Who needs things to match anyways?
The rattan jar used to be available in our shop, but no more because it’s my new ribbon holder. That little Chinese tea tin came from Goodwill for 59 cents. It holds my price tags now. The zig zag tray and tortoise glass of course are also available in the shop. We have lots more so hop to it.
With so much going on, you suddenly don’t notice the contrast of the blue in the lamp versus the desk. The extra light for sewing is definitely a plus too. Everybody wins.
Where is your crafting/sewing/blogging happy place?
Design Debate: Who’s Coming To Dinner?
What do you guys think about having a dining room table that is always ready for guests? You’ve seen our set-up several times, most recently here with our lovely hydrangea courtesy of Taylor and Jenny.
With a pretty cozy casa, we tend to use every clear surface in our house for projects, laptop time, grocery unloading, you name it we’ve used the table to get it done. But every now and then ready to eat tables will catch our eye, like this one from our trip along the Parade of Homes last fall.
Or this image from Southern Living a couple of years ago.
You usually don’t see the whole shebang, with wine glasses and flatware. Normally we see eye-catching plates and funly (is that a word?) folded napkins.
What do you guys think when it comes to dining room tables? Dress ‘em up or stick with the function? Maybe it depends on the size of your casa and if you have a kitchen table?
Design Debate: Painted Wood Floors
Flipping through our most recent issue of Better Homes and Gardens we stumbled upon their latest “I Did It” article. In these articles the BHG editors feature unique and creative home improvement and decorating projects that readers have taken on themselves.
We love the way that this reader’s floor turned out, but also admire her bravery. I don’t think we could every bring ourselves to run a paint brush across our timeless wood floors.
Scan: Better Homes and Gardens
I spilled a quart of polyuerthane on our office floor once, while staining our built-in shelves and almost had a heart attack right there on the spot. What do you guys think of this type of project? Worth the unique effect if you can get it right? The perfect solution for beaten up wooden floors? No way Jose?
He Said, She Said: Ceiling Fans
We have quite a few ceiling fans in our casa, four to be exact. There is one in each bedroom and one in our office. Chad and I feel pretty differently about ceiling fans. We both agree that they serve a function for sure, but being the cold natured person that I am, don’t feel like that function is always an absolute necessity.
The one in our office is the one we debate most. It never gets turned on and I find that a mounted light fixture (no blades attached) would differentiate this room from the bedrooms and make it feel more like an office, and it’s own space. Chad’s argument? He loves ceiling fans.
Well, I haven’t won the battle or the war, so we thought we’d see what you guys think about the topic in general. Are ceiling fans a must have in your home? Can you even dream of sleeping comfortably in a room without one? We’ve got one in the guest bedroom we’ve been working on and while we have no plans of switching it out due to expense and necessity, I still catch myself daydreaming of a more exciting light fixture.
It definitely seems to be the trend to go glamorous and throw a big ‘ol chandelier up in bedroom now, but that too seems a bit impractical.
Photo: Country Living
What do you guys think?
Design Debate: Ceiling-paper?
We would imagine that as any good home of the 50′s, Casa de Whited has probably had some wallpaper in its past, maybe even a lot of wallpaper, wallpaper whose names it can’t even remember.
We don’t ask too many questions. It’s in the past, well before our days with the Casa.
Now we’re even being tempted to revisit the wallpaper days, with a slight twist. Just look at this ceiling candy.
What do you guys think about wallpaper turned ceiling paper?
We’d promise to go easy on the design – we know things could spiral out of control quickly.
Let’s take a vote.
Photos: House Beautiful, House and Home, Country Living, and Fox Searchlight (from the movie Garden State)
