Deals, Window Shopping & Inspiration
No More Things?
When Sherry and I heard that Linens n’ Things filed for bankruptcy last week, we panicked. Is LNT about to disappear a la Sharper Image?
Not yet. According to reports they’re just closing about 120 under-performing stores for now. You can check this list to see if your local LNT made the cut. Fortunately, ours dodged the bullet.
See, we registered at LNT for our wedding so just about all of our dishes hail from there. If they closed, you know what would happen, right? I’d break a plate or a bowl, we’d be short one place setting, Sherry would shoot me a death-look and then we’d have to replace our entire collection since we’d no longer be able to buy just one item. So we played it safe last night and purchased a few back ups:
Ok, we already had the spoon.
But for those who are wondering, these are 10 Strawberry Street dishes. They’re just about the perfect, nondescript white plates and bowls- and they’re also pretty affordable ($4.99 per plate, $3.99 per bowl). Plus you can get them for even less since LNT honors those 20% off coupons from Bed, Bath and Beyond that seem to multiply in our mailbox (we never knew this until we saw someone in line with about ten of them and they honored them all!). And now that we have a few extra plates and bowls we won’t have a nervous breakdown when one or two of them inevitably break.
Glass Act
Spring is in full swing as demonstrated by our blooming azaleas and my allergy flare ups. So it seemed only fitting to treat a few side tables in our sunroom to a quick spring makeover. Here’s one of the side tables before:
And here’s the more cheerful and spring-like after. We found that sea fan on our recent island vacay, and the glass cup is sitting on some adorable striped coasters from John’s sister.
Here’s what the other side table looked like before my spring sprucing:
And here’s the happier and shinier after. I gathered up some old wine bottles and a few glass vases (and even an old blue soap dispenser minus the pump) and grouped them on a tray. They’re like 3-D stained glass when the sun streams through the window. And a couple of starfish keep things interesting.
Here’s a close up of my favorite detail, an unexpected starfish-cork:
Variety really is the spice of life. And even though we love a white accessory (or ten) there really is nothing like a little color to compliment all those spring blooms. We’d love to know if you guys have any spring rituals. Cleaning sprees? Decorating switcharoos? Shopping extravaganzas? What puts a spring in your step? Do tell.
Walk The Line
We wanted to elaborate on our response to a question Alyssa asked on Wednesday about the framed map in the photo below:
What you see in the white frame on that shelf is a card included in the City Walks: New York boxed set. For those those not familiar with the City Walks series, they’re small boxes that include 50 “adventures on foot” through different cities across the globe. That means you get 50 unique cards outlining different walking tours, complete with a map, directions and fun facts about the things you’ll see along the way.
I got the New York edition as a gift when I moved there but had no idea what to do with them once we escaped to Richmond. But when we were looking for cheap art for our first apartment we realized they were the a fun, quirky way to pay homage to our former hometown. Each 4×6-ish card fit perfectly in some inexpensive white frames from IKEA, so we created this collage in our old dining room.
We chose 8 cards that highlighted areas of NYC that were special to us – places we lived, places we worked, places we loved – so they’ve been with us ever since we first framed them two years ago (although they’ve been displayed in about 50 different places since then).
City Walks has editions for Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Vancouver. Plus, there are some versions for kids and even a couple “Village Walks” for quainter places like Tuscany, Provence and Ireland. Each set is available on Amazon for about $15, which breaks down to about 30 cents per card-turned-art. Note: If you City Walk folks are reading, we’re more than happy to help with City Walks: Richmond.
And if you’re interested in fresh, original Young House Love art, click here to peruse our shop.
Shore Things
I know we were supposed to be devoting every blissful second to relaxing, but we caught ourselves taking beach decor inspired mental notes throughout our entire trip. Talk about inspiration overload.
This house literally took our breath away. Situated right on the water and within walking distance from a number of yummy seafood joints, we think this traditional beach house is perfection. The all white exterior and tin roof keep it simple and allow the linear details (those railings! those windows! that awning!) to shine.
This adorable beach bungalow’s exterior color palate made a major impression. How great are the pops of green with the tan and white? Thanks to two dominant house colors and a third accent color, no detail is lost (like those fabulous green brackets and that white square runner above the porch). And those blue-green planters on the railing along with the hanging fern baskets totally finish off the look. Swoon.
Perhaps the most unexpected discovery was this amazing modern beach house with balconies and windows a plenty. The calm blue color blended with the sky and the gulf that it overlooked, and the white trim accented all those windows, balconies and that fun exterior spiral staircase.
The excitement continued when we ducked into some nearby shops. The first was a store called Being in St Petersburg. And it didn’t disappoint. Choc fulla gorgeous (and wallet busting) furniture and accessories, every inch of the place was an inspiration. And although the price tags were laughably cost prohibitive, we love stealing ideas from expensive shops for free. This little snapshot begs the question, why not go a little crazy with pattern and color? The bright pillow + those patterned canisters + red coral = jaw droppingly unexpected eclectic excellence.
Then we headed over to Coastal Cabana in Dunedin (cause I love me some shells). When you’re living in a beach town, there’s no such thing as too many, and although I think an abundance of shells in a non-beach setting can be a little strange, I was so inspired by the shell encrusted objects that I immediately had dreams of DIY. Glue gun + shells + (insert object here) = a high end look on the cheap. I think a bunch of tiny white shells covering a pair of candle sticks, a round mirror or a few small frames would be beachy keen.
So as you can see, there was lots to look at everywhere we went. And it left us wondering what kind of beach house we’d prefer… the stately traditional? the adorable bungalow? the modern masterpiece? So why not take a poll. Which one do you guys prefer?
