Friday, May 30, 2014

Do you remember the "Kooboo" chair from World Market?



Wasn't that such a great deal at $129.99?!   Fast forward two years, I am now considering kubu chairs for our breakfast eat-in-kitchen.  Unfortunately, World Market has discontinued their kubu chairs.

Kubu rattan is considered a very sturdy and hard material which has a natural 'gray' finish.  I recently found a similar option on Overstock - Safavieh Banten Kubu Soft Gray Rattan Club.


It is VERY similar to WM's Kooboo chair except for the cost - $258.99.  I ended up ordering two of them to see how it would look in my eat-in-kitchen.  I want to use them as 'hostess' chairs when we have guests over.  


Once again, please IGNORE paint color on my walls.  I have the new color picked out, but we haven't painted it yet.  So, I really, really like the warmth the rattan adds.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but every time I walked in the kitchen and saw the chairs, it made me happy.  

I called my girlfriend to come over and see the chair because she too is looking for new chairs for her breakfast area.   She really liked the chair (as well) and we played around with some fabric choices for her kitchen.  


A great outdoor fabric - Calico's inoteca (especially if you have children)!


I love the above fabric in the smaller pattern.  It reminds me a bit of the below fabric which I would love to use  - Petite Fleur in lake blue by Kerry Joyce. 


Good 'ol standby, KWID imperial trellis (see below).  I actually think the seat cushion should be done in a solid white and then use the KWID fabric as a throw pillow in the chair.  That way you can use the pillow in more than one place if you wanted too (get more bang for your money)! 


At the end of the day, this Safavieh is a great option if you're in love with the "Kooboo" chair from WM. I'm still on the fence as to whether I am going to keep it (as I am considering other options).  

But, I am in love with the kubu material!!  It automatically added the texture and warmth that my kitchen space needed!  


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Scenes from around the house

I thought I'd give you some updates on what's been happening around our house.   First up, I finally bit the bullet and after years of wanting a lantern pendant in our home, I bought one.

My husband and I hung it up in our dining room (no easy feat because it is SO heavy).  You should've seen us.  It was a sight for sore eyes.  It has yet to crash to the ground or burn our house down, so I guess we did it right?!?!

The walls in our dining room have yet to be painted (please ignore the color) and the dining table and chairs have yet to be purchased.  See……I'm trying to take it slow and only buy the items I know I want in my house forever.  But, as you can see below we hung the lantern.


I plan on keeping the bookcase in the background.  I picked those peonies from my garden.  They just bloomed.

In our dining room, we have a tre ceiling and I am not a fan.  Why can't they just make the whole ceiling the same height??   But, regardless, the square of the lantern fixture works really well with the tre ceiling.  Something about square on square.  It is easy on the eye and symmetrical.  I couldn't get a good enough shot to show you, but you just have to trust me.

Next up, I picked up my daughter's window treatment.  It's a beauty.  A london shade done in a buffalo check.  I LOVE it.


I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but until I have it hung on the wall, I won't be able to get a good picture.  Can I just say I might add buffalo check in every room of our house?  I love it that much.

Next, I've been playing around in our guest room with the new duvet and pillow covers I bought from Ikea.  I've yet to decide on color of bed skirt, shams (scalloped or flanged), coverlet, etc.  But, here is a a picture prior to having all those decisions made.


You can see here the desk area in the guest room.  Still working on that too. 

Lastly, my handy husband and I have been working on a little project.  I am really excited about this one because it'll save me the frustration of a continually messy entry.  I'm not going to say too much right now, but it'll add much needed functionality to our home.


I HOPE to post before and after pictures of this little project after Memorial Day.

So, that is what I've been up to these days.  It probably doesn't seem like a lot, but I am really happy how things are progressing!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Mother's Day and Miscellany

For all you mothers/grandmothers/moms-to-be, I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I did - I received a card from my son with a coupon for "5 free chores"!  I can't complain about that!

On Mother's Day, we tend to think of our own moms and thank them for all that they sacrificed.  For as long as I could remember, my mother was always 'giving' - her love, time, gifts to others, her "shirt off her back", etc.  This year, I made a couple of lemon cakes and gave them to some of my favorite 'moms' here in Louisville.  In many ways, the act of giving reminded me of my mom.  I was very thankful.


In other news, right before we left for vacation, I spruced up our front entry and back deck with some small updates.  Nothing major.  For our front door, I spray painted two terra cotta containers black and planted mini boxwoods and got a new doormat.


I don't love the black pots, but they are fine for now.  In case you're wondering, my inspiration for our front is something like this….


I also planted two containers/planters (that I bought in CT for a steal) and planted them with my favorite flower - geraniums.  My mom always had red geraniums planted in containers during spring time.  I love geraniums and lavender.


I SO want to paint our deck gray, but it isn't high on our priority list of things to do right now.  Our old house (in CT), the side deck was painted gray and I loved it.   See below.


I love the color combination of honey brown with gray and touches of either green or powder blue.  Rene, from Cottage and Vine, just painted her deck gray and it is lovely!

Ok, I know this post is all over the place so I'll stop while I am ahead.  I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

A Much Needed Break

Last Friday my husband and I left for a little getaway sans children to Florida.  I am almost embarrassed to say how long it has been since we've been alone on vacation.  See post here.  Four years!!  Yikes.

It was just what we needed.  My father and stepmother live in Winter Park, FL., but they have a beach cottage on New Smyrna Beach.  We spent 4 days on the beach!  It was wonderful.  Complete relaxation.


I did a lot of reading and laying on the beach.  The beginning of the below book is very depressing, but I am now almost a quarter into it and am hooked.  I loved Tartt's book The Secret History (read years it ago) so I decided to give The Goldfinch a try.


We had beautiful weather, but the sun was HOT, HOT, HOT.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky for three full days.  The best part of the trip was just spending one on one time with my husband.  I selfishly wish we could have more time like that.


We came home last night and the kids were spoiled rotten by their two Aunts!  It really makes it so easy to leave when you know that you have family members who are very reliable and on it!  Well, it's back to reality and with only 2 weeks of school left, I am getting a little nervous!!  I'm used to CT where kids didn't get out of school until end of June!


Thursday, May 1, 2014

How Do You Polish Silver?

There are probably a million and one ways to polish silver, but the one way that has worked best for me over the years is baking soda.  And, if you have children, you can kill two birds with one stone by letting them watch while you teach the chemistry behind it! :)

Basically, I line a large cooking pot with aluminum foil.  You can also line the bottom of a sink.  I then place my item to be polished in the pot.  In this particular case, it was my tarnished silver plated footed bowls.  See below.


See how black they are?

I then take another pot and boil water.  I pour 1/4 cup of baking soda and a couple of teaspoons of salt into the boiling water.  I then pour the boiling water (with baking soda) mix over the silver item and cover it with a tight fitted lid.  This is when the chemical reaction happens (aluminum foil, baking soda and salt).  I let it soak 5 minutes and then remove.  I rinse with water and rub dry with a microfiber cloth.



And, viola!  Aren't they so pretty and shiny??  So easy and quick to do!