No more cold feet

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I sure did!

I'm sorry I lied and told you that I had lots of posts for last week...but it turned into such a busy week!!

First of all, I started painting 15 of these:

The new ones on the left.  BIG improvement from the ones on the right, right?  I can't say I got very far though on my painting, one coat of oil base on only 12 doors...but I'm still working on it (as well as my wedding thank you notes : ).

Anyways, so I started painting doors, ordered some windows (BIG...HUGE YAY!!!!!!!), went to Mississippi for Thanksgiving, and drove up to Nashville for the rest of the week. Very fun, busy, fulfilling week, but I am exhausted!

But really the point of my story: my new bedroom rug.  My mom found this rug in Nashville over a year ago and I have loved it since.  The problem was, the rug was in Nashville, not in Memphis and if I bought it in Nashville it would some how have to travel to Memphis which really wasn't ideal.  So after looking and looking and looking I couldn't find anything else I like in Memphis, so I ordered the Nashville rug and THEN realized it was not going to fit in a truck, or SUV, or anything. So we dad jammed it in my mom's SUV until only 2 feet hung out the back and rode like this for 3 hours, back to Memphis, in the right hand lane, with all the windows down (so not to die on carbon monoxide (oohhh was I warned!) in 50 degree weather. Needless to say I got TONS of looks.

via google

Ok, so not really like that, but this was only image I could find on google that somewhat resembled how I felt. (On a side note, the search terms, "packed trunk" does not get the desired image results (I do not suggest googling it), instead I used "car packed with mexicans" and found exactly what I was looking for! hmm...)

Soo I got the rug back safely to Memphis and I think the unloading process is shown best with pictures.

Before:

Step 1: Carry the rug pad in the house and center on floor: SUCCESSFUL.

Step 2: Carry the rug in the back door: UNSUCCESSFUL.

Step 3: Carry the rug in the front door: UNSUCCESSFUL (see image below)

Also pictured: a pair of hunting boots. Not pictured: the owner of the boots whose thoughts, while not heard (thank you for that!), were probably not appropriate to be posted on this blog. 

Step 5: Brainstorm about what to do while considering cutting my arms off.

Step 6: Realize there is one way left:

Go through the window (duh!): SUCCESSFUL!!

And voila, we finally have a bedroom carpet!!

I couldn't be happier with it and even more happy that I have no more cold feet in the morning :)
Perfect timing, too, might I add because the high was only 45 today. Burrrrr....

Love,
Leigh

Pretty Picture

Look what I found this weekend at an estate sale:

It's an Edna Hibel "Heidi" print. I found it as soon as I walked into the door and was drawn to it.  I love the colors and the way it was framed.  I know this picture is hard to see, but the print is matted in linen then framed in a gold leaf frame.  In this picture the girl looks kindof sad, but in real life she really isn't (does that make sense?)

Anyways, I decided to do a little research on Edna Hibel and the first print that came up on google was worth $10,000!!! Holy Cow! My heart skipped a little beat and I ran up to the painting, looked on the back and saw that my print was #54.  I knew I had hit the jackpot and had just made $9,900!! Oh my goodness I'm rich!! I finally found my print on the internet and was waiting to see that huge 4 digit price tag, and this is what I saw here:

Heidi
Edna Hibel Collectors Series II. Edition of 1000. Image size: 10 1/4" x 9 1/2". Frame size: 16 1/4" x 15 1/2". To select the unframed version of this product, use the drop down menu, and ask for R406 under comments at the end of the order.

Price: $185 Framed.

Really??? That's it!!!

Apparently Robinson-Finch estate sales did their research too.  Darn.

But I did make $85.  Not bad.

So thats one story of the weekend. I have the week of work this week (**yay**)! So am going to try to post a couple things this week.  So check back tomorrow :)

Love,
Leigh

P.S. HUGE disclaimer: the paint color of the wall in the photograph is the color that the every wall was painted when the house was bought. I have painted half the house, in the process of painting every door in the house and just haven't gotten to this one yet. :)

The Dressing Chair

via Southern Chateau

So this blogging takes a LOT more time that I thought it would! Sorry its been so long! This past weekend we travelled to Knoxville for the Ole Miss/UT debacle and to visit my little sister who is in law school there.  I got to hang out with Anna and her precious friends.  Here they are:

Aren't they beautiful? Not only are they super cute and fun, but they also read my blog!!! Image that! I have followers! That means so much to me! So this blog is for you :) Well...kindof...I promised one of you that I would write a post on my home, but I didn't have time energy yesterday to clean my house and take pictures so instead you get a blog dedicated to another estate sale find:

The cane back dressing chair:

Isn't it fabulous? Yes, I know the seat needs to be fixed, but I think it would be perfect in a dressing room.  Hence, why I call it the dressing chair...absolutely needed to put on your tall boots over your skinny jeans, tie a pair of tennis shoes, or pull up a super uncomfortable pair of tights (can you tell I have some on now that just aren't working?)

I know in my previous estate sale find post, I showed pictures of fabric and how I would update my find.  But I think this pretty little chair holds it's own.  I think its just perfect the way it is (minus the broken seat) and needs to be here:

Barbra Barry via Architectual Digest

Or here:

    

Home for sale in Illinois via Cote de Texas

I just love this dressing room. I love the subtile colors, the pretty chandelier, the rug, the little orange jewelry box on the right that adds the perfect touch of bold color, and the pretty framed portrait on the left just waiting to be hung. I also LOVE the window.  In my dream dressing room I will have a window that gets just the perfect amount of sun in the morning (10am) to brighten my day while I am getting ready. 

 

via Domino

This room also has a window (on the left), but out of the picture.  I could fall asleep in the fuzzy chair in this room.  And my cane-back chair would sub perfectly for the little chair here.

Touch of history, this is Jackie Kennedy's dressing room from the White House.  Still looks in style today. And my chair would look great in front of her dressing table (by the window of course)

Paul Schulman

Love the cleanness of this room (TOTALLY not realistic)...and the chandelier and the windows (of course!). I'm sure there are very beautiful things hiding in those mirrored closet doors.  And lastly, don't you see my chair at the desk here?

Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe via Cococozy

Or here? P.S. If you look verrrryy closely, you will notice all the drawers and doors are nailhead trim. Pretty cool...and of course, the rug is awesome (and the window....)

via Nest Egg

I know my exact chair is here...just off camera. Love the chandelier and the pink is so femine.

I want to be her (Olivia Wilde).  WITH her hippie dress.  (just thought I would throw this one in just...because :)

via House Beautiful

And this one too...because I love the wallpaper here.  And it looks like the clothes were bought to match it.  And check out the window. And the orchid...love it!

Talking about matching...check out Tory Burch's dressing room.  I spy...an orange cushin that matches an orange TB box and an orangy drawer handle and an orange fabric island and an orange sweater AND an orange purse. Do you see it?

This dressing room is from the set of the movie Somethings Gotta Give.  Look familiar? I think if I had this many doors in my closet they would have to have to be see-through or they would all be open and look messy and stuff would be everywhere.  Kinda like this closet here:

Again, look familar? Carrie Bradshaw's closet from Sex and the City. But I can see my pretty chair here too.  Its just under all the clothes she tried on to wear this morning.  Do you spy it?
Ok, just a couple more.

Joan River's dressing room

Again, the window, the chandelier, the painting.  Just need to sub my chair for the leopard print one.  Picture it? Makes the room alot prettier right?

Unknown

And another one with wallpaper and a pretty framed portrait.

via Canadian House and Home

So to note, I will need the following in my dressing room with my pretty chair:

1. A window

2. A framed picture (preferably a woman's portrait)

3. A chandelier

4. Doors (WITH see-through glass)

5. Wallpaper (that may or may not match my clothes)

6. And lastly...a hippie dress (to wear in my dressing room of course)

I'm going to leave you with one last very glamorous dressing room: 



Aerin Lauder's dressing room via Elle Decor

**SIGH**

Love,

Leigh



Estate Sales

Oh how I love thee! Yes, I know I am weird.  But there is just something that gets me when I know I can get things, big things, house things, things that I know I can't afford the full price of at a bargain. And even better, I can usually ask for a price that is below the tag and I win (well sometimes...). What's better than that??
Here is a picture of my biggest estate sale find so far:

Isn't it pretty? And looks so very pretty with all of my wedding china (special thanks to mom for helping me bargain my way to a better price and even bigger thanks for unwrapping boxes and filing the bookshelves up :)

Has anyone heard of estatesales.net? Its super dangerous.  It's a preview website that shows pictures of upcoming sales.  The majority of the pictures are junk, but I find enormous pleasure scouring through them looking for great buys or pieces that could be painted or recovered.  I then start thinking about how I would update it and where I would put it in my dream house.  The worst part about this website (at least for me) is that new pictures are released every day....soo that means that I have to check the website everday and hence the process begins again.

Does anyone else do this?? Please say yes so I'm not alone. 

Now that I have this new blog though, I am giving myself a reason to scour estatesales.net. I am going to find a couple pictures a week of things I think would be great buys.  I am also going to tell you how I would change/update it and what kind of room it would look great in.  How's that sound? Alright, here it goes:

First piece up:

Orange retro loveseat

I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about picking this one out for my first estate sale pick, but I keep going back to it because I think it has so much potential and so many different uses. I love the nailhead trim and it just looks super comfy to cuddle up in.  And look:  here is a similar piece at Restoration Hardware.

See! Still in style! This Restoration one has some cushions, but besides that they are very similar.  The same hand tufting, rolled arms, legs and nail head trim! And personally, I kinda like the orangy leather in the estate sale couch; it gives it some personality. Can't you see it perfectly here in place of the white couch? 

A perfect reading nook.  Of course, you would have change the curtains to match.  I actually really like the style of curtains that are already there.  But I would maybe change the yellow it to an orange or a green maybe.



Like this one.



Or I really like this pattern. And the color too because it matches the wallpaper.  By the way, can you tell what is on the wallpaper? At first I thought they were birds, then a man pushing a lawnmower or a little boy on a scooter...I don't know. What do you see?

Changing styles for a more formal approach...the couch would look great in a smaller scale of this room.  The colors actually work well because the lampshades would pull in the color of the leather and tie everything together. BTW, I love the gray wallpaper and carpet in this room (may have to do a separate entry dedicated to grays...stay tuned).

I'm not sure why, but I feel that a leather couch just begs to be put in a library.  Maybe beause it just seems sophisticated. Or maybe because I found this picture here:




Thats my couch!!!  And just because here are some more library rooms that I could cuddle up in my new couch and read a book:

I think the tie dye painting is perfect for my retro orange couch.

And lastly, for the log cabin of my dreams, my couch would look perfect here:

Especially in front of one of these: 

Ahh thats more like it!

By the way, today I was told Christmas is 7 weeks away...seriously ?!?! I don't think I'm ready. Are you? But I am ready for a big nice warm fire and a good book to read with or without my orange couch.

Love,

Leigh

Here goes nothing...

Ok, so I have decided to start blogging.  For those of you who know me, this is nuts.  I'm not a very open person, my facebook page is practically blank, and i HATE writting papers. However, my extremely boring desk job (tax accountant...told you) is driving me to do something I never thought I would before. 
I need an outlet to be creative.  I was accepted to interior design school, but turned it down because I HAD to go to Ole Miss (which, of course!, didn't have interior design as a major).  While I don't regret one second of my choice in college, I am kicking myself now that I don't have a degree in something anything creative. 
I have only been married for three months, and my sweet husband has already started tuning out my design plans to drastically convert our 1952 ranch into the house of my dreams (dreams and thoughts and ideas is what I tell him, but all he hears is $$$$$).
So this is where this blog comes in.  Even if no one reads it, I can at least pretend that someone is listening to me.  I'm going to use it show designs that I love, ideas that I have for remolding houses or updating old furniture, and maybe, just maybe (fingers crossed) changes that actually happen to my own home.  And I'm sure in the between time, I'll talk about everyday life and my crazy cats.