ANYWAY — back to the true topic at hand — PURCHASES! For once I was the small ticket spender, leaving after only spending about $40. There were a few things that have been on my radar from Ikea over the last few months, and I used this time — the time of no big purchases for me — to go ahead and stock up on a few accessories!

Most of these accessories have found their home in my dressing room, which I am in the process of putting together. Eventually I’ll have a post or two regarding that space, but for now, it’s mostly a disaster area! What I do have are a few small pieces that make me smile in the mean time. The new items in the dressing room include a couple of trays and a super-signature vase. The particular vase in question, which I picked up in teal (but also have its three sisters in white) found its home on one of the trays — a sweet little tray with fantastic grey and white stripes on it.

The thing I love the most about these stripes is they aren’t just regular stripes, which I thought at first, but they are a bit irregular, adding a bit of fun and whimsy to the vignette. This tray has found its home on top of my dresser, and the other tray is now living it’s life on my former desk-turned-vanity, holding some of my daily odds and ends.

Those little dots are so darned cute! By the way, it’s kind of hard to see — but isn’t the grain on that desk lovely! Remember how groudy it was before I refinished it! This tray is perfect here because of it’s longer shape — and once I finish painting the walls (you can kind of see on the right side of that picture) it’ll coordinate perfectly!

The last item I picked up was a sheep skin rug! Well, it’s more of a throw, really. At first I placed it on the floor in the living room, but it kinda looked like a dead.. well, sheep. So, because the Bertoia chairs weren’t feelin’ the love lately due to them being uncomfortable, I went ahead and tossed it on there!

Walah! In a fit of never-ending “I gotta change this place around” aka nesting, the chair now sits caddy cornered in front of the bookcase — feels a bit more cozy that way. In fact, the living room has had a few other updates in the last week or two, and I’ll be sharing those with you shortly!

So — can you leave Ikea without spending a dime? That’s right, not even on a tasty cinnamon roll or a yummy frozen yogurt — no meatballs either! When you do go, what do you normally grab up? Accessories, kitchen supplies, plants, or maybe just some tasty Swedish delicacies. I am a sucker for most things Ikea, but I always have to have some meatballs, a hot dog or a frozen yogurt before we hit the road home. Yum!

It’s funny to see a space come together separate from a moodboard. Some of the same things are still there, but things like the rug and over-head light have changed. We purchased a cowhide from Ikea and returned it a few weeks later — it just didn’t feel right. Then I happened upon the Ikea 2011 catalog preview and saw this awesome chevron-inspired rug that hit home. While there was a tinge of worry that the space might feel claustrophobic because of the busy pattern, it turned out wonderfully. It’s flat weave so cat hair doesn’t show on it and on several occasions I’ve noticed Kira digging at it but no threads are coming up. Win-win-win!

So without further adieu, shall we? Let’s start with the last image I put up of the space, beware the horror:

This was the Monday after we moved — two days in — what a mess!

And this is what you walk into now! The wall color has shown itself to be much more grey than the tan it was supposed to be, but that’s okay — it works! One of the major design principles in every field (web, print, interior, etc) is repetition repetition repetition! So I hung three square frames that will someday in the (hopefully) near future house a few pieces of handmade artwork. The boyfriend and I are both designers by day, so we’re hoping to put some of our Illustrator skills to work!

The living area! The purple couch is throwing off the whole space, honestly. I’m trying to go for a primarily yellow and grey space here, and purple does not fit the equation! (The Ikea Varnamo sofa is NOT brown..)

We went with a CB2 Eden lamp because it was plug in. It’s not ideal, and the cord drives me bonkers, but it gives us much needed light! The coffee table, while awesome in it’s own right, is way to bulky for our space. And let me tell you, hanging curtains in that bay window proved to be a nightmare. Since the window is inset, there is not room above the window frames to add curtain rods, so we 1980′s that beast and used the white clip-rods that you used to see a lot. Not ideal, but super cheap!

Eventually the guitars will be hung on the blank wall right there and the amp and accessories will be put into a storage ottoman or trunk. I’d really like to see a danish credenza here for our entertainment equipment, but they are super expensive. The Markor (from Ikea) TV stand is great, but just too big, bulky and dark for this space. And don’t get me started on that lamp shade — it’s all about progress, baby.

The living room is very oddly set up, what with passages to the kitchen/dining room on each end of it, a utility entrance behind the camera (that we covered with a shoe cabinet) and the bay window — so setting up the space was tricky. While I am not 100% happy with the flow, I hate having a couch butt up against a wall if it doesn’t have to. This is the pathway into the living area, with a good full-on shot of the bookcase in it’s new white-glory. And a peek at our dark grey dining room wall. Yum.

A close up of the bookcase. We reduced the number of books we have to only those we might actually look at again and it freed up a shelf for family photos.

And the rug up close! It’s basically charcoal grey with the slightest hint of blue to it. Ties in the bluish tinge the walls sometimes give off, as well as the blue undertone the dining room wall has.

Over all, I think Kira approves. :)

So what do you think? I know there is still a lot to be done, but we’ll get there! We’ve been working on our office, our bedroom, the dining room and my dressing room as well, but the living room is by far the most put together. I’d love to hear your suggestions and comments.

Under the yellow blanket… see it? Yep! That’s right! I repainted the Bertoia chairs! You may remember them looking more like this:

Well, sans the kitteh. But she makes the photo better, because those chairs, as much as I loved the lines, were gross.  See this, gross:

See those legs?!

So a few weeks ago, after thinking about the color I wanted them for quite some time, I decided to paint them a basic, neutral and oh so graphic BLACK. I scrubbed them good and clean, managed to get the 30 year, rusted bolts undone and went to town on them with my favorite tool: spray paint.

From drab to fab in a few hours, I now have two sleek and sexy chairs that resemble art (to me) rather than junk.

Because we’ll be moving into a home with a lack of carpet downstairs (fine by me!), I’ve since put some felt glides on the bottoms of them to protect our upcoming floors from scratches. Next on the list will be to pick up some seat cushions for them in matching black so that they are actually comfortable to sit on, and don’t require a blanket to hide those gorgeous lines!

I’m sure they would have looked wonderful in a repainted white, but after seeing the grime and general grossness of the white, I wanted to go in a whole new direction. Other colors I considered were orange, green and yellow. What color would you have picked? Something to match your decor, or something more timeless like grey, black or white?

A couple weeks ago I met a guy named Doug who had a couple of storage units worth of mid-century modern furniture up in Bethesda for showing. If you search DC craigslist for mid-century, he comes up quite a bit (though now under a new alias). I’ve drooled over his stuff for awhile, and finally found a piece that I loved and could afford.

I was so drawn to it’s unusual nature — tapered legs, slatted drawers and awesome little pulls. It even has a little lip on top to keep all the stuff I store above from falling off.

Though it looks as though there are 6 little drawers, it’s actually one HUGE drawer that’s perfect for storing a ton of clothes. The handles are in great condition, brass with a black inlay that is perfectly graphic.

The legs are a nice little treat. From above they look like your typical mid-century modern tapered legs, but get down on the ground and you’ll notice the “W” detail that attaches the cross-beam to the body of the dresser, both for extra support and added style.

It was such a treat to drive up to Bethesda to check out Doug’s collection. And great news for him, he just opened a store on Georgia Ave called Modern Mobler! I’m hoping to go check it out this summer once the boyfriend and I get settled into our new place and start updating our furniture (with vintage pieces, no less). Doug’s site is still in the works, but bookmark it now and keep an eye out for new pieces! Good luck Doug, and thanks for a lovely find!

Aren’t her fuzzy paws adorable?

And of course, this wasn’t the first time she’s been on the chair…

But, when the chair is unavailable, she loves to just lay on the floor on her back with her legs sprawled!

Do your pets have a sacred sleeping spot? That sunny spot on the floor? A window sill? A pillow on your bed? I’d love to see a picture!

I wish I would have taken more photos, but when there is a lot of er.. junk around, it’s hard to take a GOOD picture. So I have just a few to share with you all…

These little salt and pepper shakers were adorable, and my current color obsession. (Imagine the photo a little less yellow..) I would have bought them, had I not just bought a new combo salt and pepper grinder a couple weeks ago!

Look at the texture on this thing! It’s a mid-century hanging lamp that I imagine would look fantastic in an entry way. I was drawn to it, though, because of the texture.

This thing was HUGE. But it was refinished fantastically. I love the green felt lining and the diamond pattern on the mirror. I just loved this piece!

I wanted to cry, I loved this chair so much. Haha! It was huge, but looked awesome! And it was the perfect size for my 6’7″ boyfriend. Too bad it was like, $3500! Some day… Some day!

There was a pair of these lamps with a delicate floral and butterfly pattern on them.. They would look awesome on opposite ends of a sideboard, obviously in the same era. ;)

What a cute table! This could totally be a personal undertaking.. Find a cheap table in need of some love on Craigslist, and with a little paint and some new hardware, you’d have something just a cute as this!

This beauty was at the end of our journey through the event. It needed a little love, but that’s a small detail — look at that convex mirror!!

In the same area as the mirror, this chair was awesome. Look at the details, all the way to the little wheels on the feet! Not my style, but every girl still has some whimsy in her!

And my favorite part.. Bertoia Wire Side chairs!! The man that was selling them bought them on the cheap from IBM years ago before they closed the Manassas branch. There was a set of them, and ya wanna know a little secret?

I bought them both. For $90. Oh yes, you heard me right. Ninety bucks. Knoll Studios makes these and they go for over $400 brand new. These are over 30 years old, and are definitely going to need some love, but I bought two of my favorite chairs this weekend. That alone makes this weekend a win!

How was your weekend?