Home > Habitude > Archives > 2008 > August
August 2008
Wicker Furniture Indoors?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m not sure why, but I’ve always been one of those people who thinks wicker furniture belongs outdoors.
I vaguely remember a small white wicker table in the basement of my parents’ house, but other than that, wicker furniture was something reserved for the porch or the backyard.
Still, Domino Magazine recently proclaimed indoor wicker chic (Sept. issue, Pg 48).
I wasn’t convinced until I flipped a few more pages and saw a lovely vanity (yes, I’m still craving a vanity set) from Maine Cottage (table $1480, chinoiserie toile seat, $490).
I’m not so sure about the color, but I do like the style.
Would you put wicker furniture indoors? What pieces have you found that work?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: design trends
Sale alert: Kolo Collection sale starts tonight!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kolo Collection, a high-end outdoor furniture retailer, kicks off its annual Labor Day sale tonight. Those shopping from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. today will receive an extra 10 percent off already discounted pieces.
Sale runs through Sept. 6, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Kolo is located in the Howell Mill shopping district, 1189 Howell Mill Road.
Nedra and I may not make it out tonight, but if you go, let us know what you think!
(Images from Kolo Collection.)
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Sales
Clutter causing stress in your relationship?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Open your eyes and take a hard look at your home — are you holding onto items you no longer use, wear or enjoy? Maybe its an old treadmill you’re sure you will return to, or a television you don’t use but may give to a friend, or perhaps clothing you plan to fit into once more.
According to a survey by Kijiji.com, a free classifieds website, Americans keep an average of 35 unused items in their home. Further, the survey found that 81 percent of couples gripe and grumble over items their partner won’t let them toss.
The survey found that 38 percent of men and 35 percent of women hold onto unused electronics, while 31 percent of men and 40 percent of women also keep old clothing.
Of course, Kijiji’s mission is to encourage people to sell their junk on its classifieds website, but I usually take my castoffs to charity unless its something I could sell for a couple hundred bucks, such as an upholstered chair.
Do you and your sweetie argue over clutter? What types of items do you hoard, and why?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: "Roominations"
Scrimp or Splurge on Furniture?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
These are tough economic times, which puts a little pinch in my home furnishing plans.
The most important items remaining on my “still to purchase” list are fairly big ticket, namely a new sofa and chairs and those are things on which I’m not willing to scrimp.
I admit I cut corners in my office by purchasing my massive desk from Ikea (this despite swearing I would never buy furniture there once I got a real home).
Here’s my desk which came in at just a few hundred dollars.
Still just as it goes in fashion, when times are tight, the mixing of high and low becomes a necessity.
Which furniture items would you be willing to go low on?
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: design solutions
What is Southern style?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I just returned from my first trip to Savannah, where I interviewed a number of home furnishings boutique owners about quintessential Southern style and how it’s changing.
Antique engraved silver, monogrammed dining chairs, beat-up rugs and Boston ferns swaying on the sleeping porch were mentioned as design symbols of the South. And one shopkeeper, Sim Harvey of Arcanum Antiques, noted that Savannahians devote their attention and money to extravagant garden decor both in furniture and sculpture.
But Harvey believes that Southern style is moving away from uber-traditional to something more eclectic, and it’s not the young 20- and 30-somethings leading the charge. Empty nesters may keep their Persian rugs and antique secretary, but they’re trading in the Chippendale coffee table for a lucite look, he said.
Yet always, gracious living grounds design.
What’s your idea of Southern living, and how do you incorporate it into your home? Are we on the verge of “New Southern” design?
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment | Categories: "Roominations"
Where to Hang Family Photos?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maybe I’m just nosy, but one of the things I most enjoy most about visiting a friend’s home is seeing his/her family photos.
There are some people who feel family photos should be restricted to certain areas of the home, but I remember my great aunt, a woman of impeccable style, placing or hanging family pictures throughout the living room, bedroom, and dining area - all places that have been considered off limits.
In my own home, I have photos of friends and family on display in my office, and I plan to create a hanging gallery of family photos in the currently unused space just off the front entrance.
I’ve also seen fantastic displays in hallways and on staircases (see image at right from Real Simple which offers great tips on arranging and hanging photos). What’s more important than location, I think, is planning the display, and not haphazardly throwing any picture in any frame on just any wall.
Where do you hang your family photos?
What are your strategies for organizing them?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: design trends
Doormat debate: classy or trashy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A neighbor once commented that upon arriving home one day and exiting the elevator she immediately realized she was on the wrong floor thanks to “all those tacky doormats.”
I’d never given doormats a second thought, but when I had my own elevator mishap and exited on that floor, I admit, the first thing I noticed were the mats.
Some were quite nice. Others were those rubber things you might find at the entrance of the local gas station, which seemed a poor way to welcome someone into your home.
A cursory look around yielded some nice options such as these pictured. But I’d love to hear your thoughts.
What is your stance on doormats? Where have you found nice ones?
Permalink | Comments (24) | Post your comment | Categories: Fine floors
My first Persian rug
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m officially an adult: I bought my first true Persian rug.
You’d think my first mortgage payment would’ve given me such a grown-up sense of pride, but no — it was this rosey-red, brown, turquoise, cream and dark brown hand-knotted rug made some time ago in Tabriz, Iran. It’s somewhat worn, but I like its aged look and have more than once thought it will be with me for decades to come.
But despite all the years my mother took me to rug dealers and my own appreciation of their beauty, it wasn’t until last weekend at the Scott Antique Market that I observed the dramatic difference between the light and dark side of the rug.
Standing at one end, a rug can seem muted and pale, while walking around to the other side gives a richer, deeper look. I currently have the light side of my new rug facing oncoming traffic, but will switch it out in the winter for a homier feel.
How often do you rearrange your rugs for a design effect? Do you have any rugs inherited from your elders? Are you interested in knowing its origin, or just glad to have those hardwoods covered?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: "Roominations"
House plants for cleaner air
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With summer days too hot for open windows and winter months too cold, I begin to feel squeamish about the recirculating air. To help combat this feeling, I long ago turned to indoor plants research has suggested can clean the air of toxins.
My peace lily (like this pic from the University of Washington) is just now acclimating to my new home, blooming with numerous white spoon-like flowers. I also keep a Norfolk Island Pine (not the most effective in toxin removal, but I like its look) and a pretty pink anthurium.
According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, NASA research has shown the root systems of these plants as effective in removing formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide from the air. That said, jury is out on whether having a couple plants really makes a difference, though all agree some extra green can’t hurt!
- Bamboo Palm
- Chinese Evergreen
- English Ivy
- Gerbera Daisy
- Janet Craig
- Marginata
- Mass cane/Corn Plant
- Mother-in-Law’s Tongue (snake plant)
- Pot Mum
- Peace Lily
- Warneckii
What plants do you keep in your home?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: "Roominations"
Whoops! I broke your chair. A question of furniture ethics.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Strolling through an antique store the other day, my friend pointed to a Chippendale dining chair and said: “That’s like the chair I used to have before my cousin broke it.”
Apparently, her late chair collapsed under the weight of a rather hefty cousin.
A co-worker of mine has a similar tale. Her obese niece (rhyme unintentional) sat on her pedestal-legged antique settee, only to have one of the legs break underneath her.
I can’t imagine how embarrassed either party felt; the hostess for having furniture fail, the heavy person for breaking it. In both of the above cases, neither guest offered to pay for the furniture repair, prompting this ethical quandary:
Who should pay for the repair? Should the host or hostess apologize for the incident and take care of repair quietly, or should the guest offer to help with the costs, perhaps assuming responsibility for the antique furniture’s demise?
Do we assume all furniture, even that made centuries ago, should support today’s larger society?
What are your thoughts on handling this delicate furniture faux pas?
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: "Roominations"
My home, my office, my everything.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I love my roommate, but I secretly dream of the day I can convert my second bedroom into a home office/guest room.
How will I do this? Not sure, but it will likely include a gorgeous antique secretary, lots of filing cabinets, a large-scale framed corkboard like this one from Ballard Designs, and a comfy daybed that will pretend to be a couch.
I have every reason to work from home at least a couple times a week. Sky-high gas prices aside, all I really need as a writer is a telephone and computer.
I’m not alone; the U.S. Dept. of Labor reports that about 15 percent of people worked from home in 2004, a number that I suspect has risen in the four years since the poll.
If you work from home, do you prefer a laptop on the kitchen table, or an office suite in a spare bedroom? How did you make the transition and establish your new ultra-personalized professional space?
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: "Roominations"
No Shoes in the House
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember the episode of Sex and the City when Carrie and Stanford attend a baby shower for friends only to discover that the house has a “no shoes” policy?
Carrie leaves her Manolos at the door but when the party is over, someone has stolen the $485 shoes. Carrie then hatches a plot to force the hostess to replace the shoes.
I thought it was hilarious, until I noticed my hardwood floors were getting excessively pockmarked in high traffic areas like the entryway and the living room.
I had no choice but to institute a “no shoes” policy of my own.
Problem is, I can’t decide how to evenly enforce it. When the repair man comes, do I make him take off his work boots even though he’s probably going in and out of my house to repair whatever needs repair?
What if someone is just popping in for a minute? Do I have him/her stand at the door? Maybe there should be a five-minute rule for shoes in the house.
How would you enforce a “no shoes” policy?
And would you pay if someone’s shoes got swiped?
Permalink | Comments (66) | Post your comment | Categories: "Roominations"
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
