Me, Craig & His List

Hi! Long time no talk. Sorry about that! February was a busy month with Brent out of the country in Asia for a week + lots of planning, sourcing and scheming about several big projects we have coming down the pipe at our house. We are kind of in this in between stage right now. We have a lot of projects and plans on the horizon but nothing is quite ready to share. Hopefully, things will fall into place soon so I can start updating you. In the meantime I thought I would tell you a little bit about my friend Craig. Craig is a longtime friend who helps me sell items around my house in addition to buying treasures from others. He keeps things organized on his list and I'm a fan.

Yes, I'm talking about Craigslist and guys....I'm good at it. Like, I can and have sold so many random things. Not only is it fun to make money on stuff cluttering up your house, but it's a fun high for me to see how quickly I can sell something and how good of a haggler I can be when looking to buy for myself. Did you all catch my latest purchase on Instastories last week?

I happened upon this antique Pyrex "cooking set" as the buyer listed it, and knew instantly these pieces could be great to use for staging on projects or even at my own house. There is a tea pot, coffee pot, double boiler and single boiler. He was asking $75 for the double boiler and $55 per piece for the other 3 items. We emailed back and forth for a few days negotiating price and finally ended up at $140 for the set ($35 each). I was so excited to see the near perfect condition the pieces were in and really felt like I got a great deal.

Below are a few of my top tips for making the best of this great resource!

Tips For Selling:

1. Don't underestimate what will sell on Craigslist. Remember, that one mans junk can quite literally be another man's treasure. I've sold everything from a ceiling fan, old refrigerator, boob lights, a bike, a cradle, a dryer to my most recent sell - a popcorn cart we bought for Croix's 2nd birthday and a baby gate we never used. It's always the random items that sell quickly. Like the popcorn cart, it sold almost instantly and I had more than 10 people asking to buy if the buyer dropped out. Anything is fair game on Craigslist. So, even if you can't imagine why someone would buy something, list it anyways and just see what happens.

2. Be flexible on price. You are not looking to retire from the money you make selling stuff on Craigslist (hopefully), so be open to negotiating the items you list and never expect to get your list price. Some money is better than no money as far as I'm concerned and if I have it on Craigslist it's nothing that precious to me to begin with, so getting paid anything just to de-clutter my house is a win-win to me.

3. Be up front and honest about what you are selling. I sold a refrigerator a few months ago and was very clear in the description that the freezer had never worked very well since we moved into the house. I priced the refrigerator to sell and was happy to find a buyer that felt confident he could fix the freezer. Awkward interactions at the time of pick up due to misleading items are not ideal. Honesty is the best policy to ensure a smooth transaction.

4. Good Photos. Professional photography is certainly not needed. I use my iPhone for all of my shots BUT do try and take well lit photos with a clean background. With anything in life, we buy with our eyes so the better the picture, the quicker the sell.

I love to sell to de-clutter my house, and making a little money along the way is icing on the cake. But I also love to buy because Craigslist truly is a great source for finding unique items that not everyone else will have.

Tips For Buying:

1. Check-in regularly. I peruse Craigslist at least once a week. Sometimes I'm looking for something specific and sometimes I'm just looking to see what jumps out at me. Earlier this year I bought the Magnolia umbrella holder from Target for our mudroom area. I was on the hunt for cool umbrellas to fill it with and was kind of disappointed with the findings on the Internet. Then one night I happened upon a listing for a "Gentleman's Umbrella" that looked to have a really cool handle. It was listed for $20, I haggled the price down to $15 and now my umbrella stand is in business! 

2.  Have exact cash. During my umbrella buying transaction (above) I did haggle the price down to $15, but on the way to get the umbrella the seller told me he had no change and I only had a $20 so I ended up paying "full price". Womp, womp. Most sellers won't have change, so be prepared with the exact amount so you don't end up paying more in a pinch. 

3. Ask. Regardless of the price, ask if items are still available and if price is negotiable. 9 times out of 10 it is. Also feel free to ask to come see an item before committing. I purchased a great antique rug for our Bell Cabinetry & Design Showroom last year, but definitely made a point to go see it in person to ensure the coloring and size was what I had in mind before letting the seller know I wanted to purchase. 

4. Don't give up. If you are looking for something specific, be patient. My long time dream is to have a SMEG refrigerator in my laundry room. They are expensive and some  may find them impractical, but a dream is a dream people. About a year ago Brent found one on Craigslist! I'd never even thought to look on there and was so excited to see one listed. That particular refrigerator didn't work out because he wasn't wiling to budge on price, but it gave me hope that maybe one day I will find another one. So, now part of my CL routine is typing in "Smeg" to see if anything is listed. I know the chances are pretty good that eventually something will pop up again. Fingers crossed!

They say great homes are those that feel collected and finding treasures on CL is a great way to find  pieces that can give your space that edge.

All photos are my own. 

Living Room Updates // Coffee Table + Curtains

Before Christmas we checked off 2 more boxes on the living room front, making this space one giant step closer to D O N E.

At this point I'd say it's safe to assume the other rooms in our house are definitely starting to give the living room the side eye. Ok, on to the details....Up first....

A Coffee Table

A coffee table had been high up on our priority list from day one. The coffee table we had purchased from Scott's Antique for our last house was not big enough for the new living room set-up, so we sold it on Craigslist and kept our eyes open for a new one. Trouble was, with every option we saw, we became less and less inspired. We had either seen it a thousand times or it was too sharp (Croix), fragile (couldn't use it as a table when we eat our dinner in the den for fear of spills) or it was the wrong size. We know how we live and we didn't want to invest in a piece that would feel too fancy or too dangerous or too run of the mill.  In addition, with a new tiny, mobile family member to consider now we wanted to be mindful of a selection that would be pretty, functional and safe-ish. So, as is typical right around the time we stopped talking/looking for a coffee table we found one without even trying.

One Saturday afternoon before a UGA game we ran over to Publix to grab some homemade pizza ingredients (yes, the pizza oven is up and running...more on that later....) and popped into Nadeau, a furniture store in the same strip. We were casually perusing around when we came upon the coffee table.

I'm not going to say it was definitely the donut detailing that stopped me in my tracks, but this detail didn't hurt. Not only did we like the color and details but it was the right size and the right price so we bought it, loaded it and Croix has been walking around it, knocking anything and everything off of it from that day forward.

Curtains

There are a lot of windows in our living room. Two high ones on either side of the fireplace and then an entire wall of windows/doors with glass that looks out to the patio. We love all of the natural light but in the late afternoon the sun that streams through is so intense that it makes it uncomfortable to sit in there, especially to watch TV. So, curtains have also been high up on the priority list for sometime. Trouble is, it's real hard to pick curtain fabric when you don't have much direction for the overall vibe of the space. I didn't want to commit to curtains and then box myself in to bringing the rest of the room together around them. So, we kind of sat back and let the room organically evolve and then by late Fall the room was really starting to come together with our new built-in doors + succulent wall and giant art for over the couch so I felt comfortable moving forward with curtains. 

We headed to several fabric stores and hung up our favorite swatches on the walls around the windows to see which one would be the winner. 

In true "us" fashion those swatches hung there for um....months. Ugh, yes months. BUT finally we narrowed down our favorite and our in-family seamstress  (Brent's Mom, Cindy) got busy making them for us. 

We planned to use the metal rod hardware we had used for our living room curtains at our first house, however when we went to install them we quickly figured out that wouldn't work. The span was too long and the weight of the curtains was literally pulling the brackets out of the wall! Oooooh the joys of home improvement projects. At the end of the day it was the fact that 3-4 smaller rods had to be screwed together to achieve the length we needed. We ended up finding a wood rod that is a lot more sturdy because it's broken up into only two pieces that meet in the middle.

We ended up going with a nubby rough cotton weave. The color is very similar to that of the walls so the curtains add layers of texture and interest without overwhelming the room with another statement.   The ceilings in this room are 10' high so in order accentuate the height we hung the curtains right under the crown moulding for a little drama. We also ordered enough fabric so the curtains could actually close all the way. This is especially nice in the late afternoon when that sun is pouring into the room.

Slowly but surely this 2nd house of ours is coming together. As much as I sometimes wish I could just blink and it would be all done it's pretty fun watching it take shape, layer by layer, piece by piece.

All photos are my own. 

At Home With Christian Louboutin

When fashion and interiors collide, consider my interest sparked.

 I love and appreciate fashion almost as much as interiors, so needless to say I'm always very excited when the opportunity arises to get a sneak peak into the lives of fashion designers I admire. Because I believe how someone chooses to decorate and furnish their home is a direct reflection of their style, interests and personality, I always feel I "know" the designer that much better after seeing photos of their home.

This month the Wall Street Journal Magazine has a feature on shoe designer, Christian Louboutin's home.

September 2012 Issue.

For all of you shoe lovers out there, it's no secret that Christian Louboutin is one of the most influential shoe designers of the 21st century. His shoes are easy to spot as they feature the highly coveted red sole.

The red sole has become a symbol of the highest level of luxury in shoes. His shoe designs are a dream and range from uber elegant and classic to outrageous.

As is the case with most creative genius' Christian Louboutin is a bit eccentric, which is one of the many reasons I so enjoyed reading this article. He enjoys collecting pieces from across the world, regardless of if he actually has a specific place in mind to house them. The magazine states, "Nearly all of the decorative pieces in Louboutin's home were purchased on impulse.  I'd say with 5 homes across the world - in Paris, Portugal, Egypt, Los Angeles and the French Countryside he has plenty of space to house his treasures. 

This particular feature focuses on Christian's regal 13th century manor in the French Countryside.

Entry Hall.

 I love the grand curve of the mahogany stairway, it gives the space a very elegant vibe. Notice the venetian crystal globes at the base of the stairs.

The orangerie.

This sun room of sorts is the perfect mixture of foliage, earthy tones and textures. I would love to see the whole room, there are clues in this photo that suggest the room holds even more interest than you can spot in this shot. If you look closely you can see a tiny bit of what looks to be a very interesting and rustic beam structure in the ceiling. The sofa, chairs and table are from 1910 and were found in Egypt.

Living Room.

 To me, this room just looks so french and elegant. I love the soft color palette mixed with the gold furnishing and detailed trim work. The mirror and marble countertop shown in this photo were bought at auction.

This is a photo of Christian Louboutin in his archive.

The above photos shows Christian in his shoe archive at his home in the French Countryside. Yes, you read right -  SHOE ARCHIVE! This space was completed earlier this Spring and houses eight THOUSAND pairs of his shoe creations spanning twenty years.

The archive is housed in an oak barn. How ironic, right? Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of shoes housed in a barn. Love it.

This photo shows off the spectacular interior of the shoe archive. The space is filled with treasures Louboutin has collected from all over the world. The shelving you see to the far left houses all of the shoes and is decorated with pressed botanicals from his garden. The two large searchlights you see in the middle of the space are from a Paris Antique shop and  the Suez Canal. One was purchased in Egypt while the other was found at a Paris Flea Market. In addition, there are two Aztec totem poles, a pair of Indian rococo columns and Syrian columns that were picked up from Mexico City and a Paris antique shop.  The magazine states, "the mirrored 'basin' on the floor was modeled on the Canopus pool in Hadrian's Villa near Rome. " Finally, the walls are lined with  photographs, including a series of nudes wearing fetish shoes Louboutin designed. I really love how the space is a hodgepodge of all things loved by this artist. The space is bright, airy and filled to the brim with inspiration. Maybe the best part of all is the irony of the collectibles, expensive shoes and art work being housed in a barn. But what beautiful backdrop it offers.

Louboutin said, "I prefer buying things and figuring out where to put them later than regretting not buying them." I really admire and relate to this concept. I can't tell you how many times I've passed something up while shopping only to find myself obsessing over it hours later. More times than not, when I return the items have been snatched up and the opportunity has been missed.  I truly believe the most interesting spaces are those filled with decor and furnishings with a story attached. Stories describing the journey to finding those one of a kind pieces, handmade pieces, passed down pieces or random finds always intrigue me and make rooms feel warmer and more personalized.

All photos are from google search.