fun & affordable lighting options

I love unique lighting but I don't love the big price tags that so often accompany these pieces. Amen?! Below are a handful of finds that will elevate your design without emptying your pockets.

Click here: 1/2/3/4/5/6

Happy weekend, friends!

Dallas Shopping

I was oh so excited to hit the Dallas Design District yesterday for the very first time. Apparently, we "didn't even put a dent in it" but I was smitten with what I did see. Resources upon resources upon resources. They can turn anything into something in this town, I tell ya!

There were so many treasures that things were literally hanging from the ceiling. Filing these chairs away for my own design needs. Kinda loving that color! Hummm, now if only I could make up my mind and commit. If I were my own client, I'd be pulling my hair out at my indecisiveness. Commit, already, commit!

And, I'll leave you with something a little random but really funny. Talk about being noncommittal...I posted my chandelier on Craigslist then withdrew the post within 8 hours. Who does that?

Here's the story. I rashly decided that I needed to purge everything that was "getting in the way." Too much clutter and I'd love to build a little stash to buy the "new to me things" that we need, aka want. So, I snap a few shots of the chandelier that was left behind by the previous owners and without any research, decide $200 is a fair price.

Let's take a look...

Well, let me tell ya, I have never had quite the response from any other CL listing. Immediately, people were contacting me. Red flag, red flag! Darn...there must be something about this chandy that I don't realize. Guess I should see what similar chandeliers are listed for...do you realize I'm doing this backwards? Genius, I know!

Uh oh, looks like I've underpriced this piece by at LEAST $145 according to craigslist standards, not to mention, if it's actually a vintage piece, we're potentially talking a lot more than that! While I was out shopping yesterday I took note of other chandeliers that were selling in the $800- $900 range. No wonder people were practically racing to my house. Good thing I didn't list my address...whew!

So, how did I handle this awkward Craigslist moment, you ask? I admitted my stupidity to each interested party and gracefully explained I'd be re-listing this piece after having it appraised. Moral of this story? You can buy a lot more dining room chairs if you're smart enough to do a little research before making your next Craigslist post.

Client Living Room Snippets

Is anyone else having a hard time figuring out what day it is? Throw in a holiday and the hubby being off work and everyday seems like a weekend. I'm having trouble figuring out which way is up right now!

My clients made it home yesterday and walked into their fully furnished living room! They've been living without furniture since summer, but good things come to those who wait.

I'm only giving you snippets of their gorgeous room today because we're still waiting on a few key pieces to be delivered. We have some tweaking to do, but you can definitely get a feel for the direction things are headed with these shots.

This fabric is to die for. I may or may not have tried to talk the delivery men into taking it to my house instead.

Lots of color injected into the room through fun accessories.

What's a room without a fiddle leaf fig tree?!

Does this Chesterfield sofa even need descriptive words? Nope...I think it speaks for itself!

Oh, that chandelier! Its simple elegance really makes a statement.

Aren't these accessories fun? I only added the jug and the apple, everything else came right out of their cupboards.

Well, that's it for today folks. Here's to wishing you all a Happy New Year! I may sneak in one more post before 2013 but it's likely that I'm calling this year a wrap.

Client Living Room Moodboard

Work has been amazing this week! My clients are out of town and have trusted me to do their living room installation while their gone. Their furniture was delivered last week and I've been accessorizing like nobody's business. Headed to pick up their rug as the last piece of the puzzle today.

Here's the moodboard that provided our jumping off point. This was primarily used to help them visualize the sofas they were considering. You're going to flip when you see these beauties in person in the after pictures. See that cool chesterfield sofa?...It's white leather. And the curvy navy sofa?...It's a navy and cream geometric print. So pretty.

The art we found sent us in a slightly different direction in terms of color scheme, but it turned out great. My client likes lots of color and that term was definitely achieved. Check out the ottoman that's still to be delivered...

And, here's the chandelier that's hanging in the breakfast area near by.

There's so much much more I want to show you but I need to be careful just in case they're being sneaky and trying to catch a glimpse while on vacation. ;)

Can't wait to show the final shots!