Local Find

How awesome is this mirror? It's about 4 feet long and it's at one of my favorite local shabby chic/country/vintage stores right now for $89

Nice Try, Ballard.

Ballard Designs has a knockoff? of the Marjorie Skouras creation as seen in my heading. It's no $7000 chandelier, but to some, it'd suffice. 


See it here ( small and large sizes )

Candle Snob ( and a coupon for u )

Hi, my name is Steph, and I'm a candle snob.
Here's the deal...I only buy scented candles from Pier One. Yankee is too expensive, and I'm very very picky with scents. In fact, the only candles I buy are "Oceans" at Pier One. I buy the room spray like it's goin outta style, I have the diffuser in the bathroom,  and the candle's throughout. The fragrance beads have impressed me the most though. I've had this thing for over 9 months, and when it gets dry i just fill it with water and the entire bathroom is scented. Impressive for $5.
Here is the link

Other than that, ( and the occasional vanilla or pumpkin candles )I'm sticking with my LED candles. They are back at Costco, this time in a couple different options, under $25. I'll try to get there today and get pics.

For you Yankee fans, BUY ONE GET ONE FREE COUPON HERE! ends 10/3! Hurry! You're welcome.

Anyone else bored?

I had high hopes for Nate Berkus show. But I've been completely underwhelmed and bored. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I think he's got mad skills, but his show is all over the place and I feel like he's such an awkward host. Maybe he's just warming up? Or maybe he's not meant to host?

Mums

I've been looking for the best deals on Mums for fall, and I've only been to a few different stores to check prices. So far, this is what I've got:

Costco $10.99 for a big pot of mums ( 14" i think ? ) ( *edit* my local Costcos have sold out and are not restocking. SAD )
Safeway $9.99 for 3 small 4" pots
Home Depot $3 for 2 small 4" pots ( they are really small here )
Winco $3.48 for a small pot

So, if you would, contribute to this list and comment below. Maybe you've seen them somewhere else and cheaper? Obviously Costco is your best bang for the buck here.

Indiana Trip

I've been MIA a lot lately, I know. I just got back from a trip to Indiana for a family wedding/reunion. One of my favorite parts to midwest trips are the homes back there. Here are a few highlights

This house ( below ) was a model home. It's an astounding 7500 square feet, and was just sold for $850,000. This home in my area would go for over 2 million if sold. ( our market is stuck, and no one builds these homes  anymore )

It was modeled with a few ridiculous features, such as a massage room, theatre stage, wine room, video game/tv room, and many other things.

On another note, I went to HomeGoods for the first time. ( finally ) Many of you rave over this place, and although there were a few highlights, it's basically what we have at Marshals.

kitchen tile quote

FYI I got my quote for the white moroccan tile, and for my little kitchen, it'd be $1000. * passes out*

Home styles

Lets take it a step further.
Like I mentioned in the previous post, for me it's always Med vs Bungalow/Craftsman. Because I live in Washington, I think the choice is kind of obvious :)
So here are some faves I've collected over the years.

Mediterranean/Stucco:

Now, the craftsman/traditional/bungalow:

Favorite Kitchens

I have 2 very different sides of me when it comes to kitchen taste.Same goes for style of dream homes. I have my Mediterranean/stucco side of me, and my old craftsman type charmer. If you asked me to choose today, I would lean towards the whites, because of the type of house I'm in. Kitchenwise: Side one, is very clean, white, and traditional, and side two is very contemporary. Like Jeff Lewis, Contemporary.

So here is side one, of my favorites. The white group.

( some images I saved years ago, but from my memory the pics are from HGTV, Coastal Living, August Fields ( blog), House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Domino )

And for Side two, the dark, contemporary side of me:

( Jeff Lewis, HGTV, Polygon Homes )

So there you have it. What do you prefer?