craft den preview!

just a little preview... I have found a fabulous loveseat and finally finished all the painting!  Moving in all of the furniture and rediscovering some old treasures that I'd moved out of the upstairs house!  More, non-iPhone photos to come!

The Foyer Mirror Search

My good friend, Laura, who lives in Raleigh, recently bought her house-house with her new husband!  This is not a starter home, this is the real deal.  And, along with a real home comes some real space!  So, she has a void in the foyer (sorry so blurry!) that is begging for a mirror.  She has preferences for a gold mirror, but nothing crazy or boring....

So I have compiled a bunch of my favorites!!  A lot of these are from Duh, my favorite store in Pensacola, or Richard Tubbs here in Birmingham.  Some are from different other blogs (sorry for negligent credits, I have had these in my favorites file for so long), and a few are easy to buy straight from favorites like Ballard Designs, which has some great, affordable mirrors!

Duh

notice Kee!  I love this one!

Richard Tubbs

Ballard Designs

(love this one!)  Find it here

and finally, ideas from other fabulous homes!!!

as far as I'm concerned, the bigger the better - look hard to the right but this one could be IT: simple and the perfect statement!

Lighting for the craftden...

****{previous post now updated with pictures!!  UPDATE: here is the blurry lantern I got thanks to Cover and her stellar bargain hunting!}

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I am starting to think less chandelier (not really me...) and more hardware-inspired look for my basement ceiling lighting fixture.  What do you think??  I put the pictures of the pendants in the room when available so you could see the scale.  Tell me especially if you DISLIKE any of these!  Obviously I would like to keep the price a bit low... so here are some options:

 Wisteria, 13" wide, $139, Pendant Cage Lamp

     Pottery Barn , $60, 12" x 16", Sheer Lanterns

 Lowes, ?$$, 17" wide, Portfolio 3-light bronze Traditional Pendant

 Sea Gull Stainless pendant, Lowes, 16" wide, $??

  Pottery Barn, *kindof out there*, 10.5" wide, $129, Exeter Pendant

 Calhoun glass pendant, Pottery Barn, $149, 12" diameter

 Ridged Pendant, Pottery Barn, 10" diameter, $99

 Garrison Pendant, Pottery Barn, 8" square, $199

 Knotted Rattan 3 bulb pendant, Home Decorators, $219, 19" diameter

 Eldridge Pendant, Ballard Designs, 14" square, $199

 Jute Pendant, Ballard Designs, 12" diameter, $149

 Helene Pendant, Ballard Designs, 8" diameter, $169

 Bamboo Pendant, Ballard Designs, 17" diameter, $119

My new labor of love...

As you know, I live in an old house in Homewood, and

there is a very scary place under the stairs....

I have decided that, given my absolute love for going to Lowes, I am going to refinish this room!  It has such potential!  It is about 11' x 12', has walls, a ceiling, and floors (more than the rest of the basement)!  Many many challenges lie ahead, to include the huge square hole in the ceiling (can't see from this picture), the huge foil duct in the ceiling, and all the creepy little spider bodies on the floor.  A thorough sweeping was the first order of business...

  

Wanna know my vision?  I want a craft den!  A room that I can use to house my easel, my canvases, my ugly paintings that don't belong anywhere else in the house...  I can also use the table (on the right, made from an old door) for gift wrapping.  I am so excited... eventually with a rug, new light fixture, and sofa... and, freshly installed (by me!) beadboard on the side wall under the windows!

Inspiration:

From PureStyleHome, her backyard playhouse!

A girly place just for me!

Love this!!

I am painting the walls (691) eggshell Seapearl from Ben Moore, and the trim is Decorator's White semigloss.  So here is a little preview of the work to date: