Rugs: Modern and Inexpensive?

 I've been on a mission for the proper living room rug. I gotta says it's been a challenge. First of all the room is an odd shape. Second, rugs are expensive! And since all our money is blown on the construction there's not much change in the purse to buy the decoratives. So in these pics I've got 2 rugs. The first I really enjoyed when I saw it at IKEA. Enough to go back buy it, place it in our room, realize it was too small and then take it back! The second rug is a little bigger which is good and I love the color but the size is still not ideal. I got it from TJ Maxx for a great price and it is really working in the space right now. I need to get a detail shot of it because it's a rug with ridges and grooves in a cool geometric pattern. The color is also great because it pulls in the Jay Ryan print from the other side of the room seen HERE and here. We still have yet to hang art and I've finally got curtains up (that will be another post). But all in all things are getting put back in their proper places - including my fave Heywood Wakefield Lounger, Ottoman, and the Blue Modernica Eames rocking chair - deep sigh of contentment.

Cheap Fun: Milk Glass

An always fun weekend activity for me is spending an hour or two thrifting around town. The little treasure hunter in me comes out - you know the one that wants to find something beautiful for a great price but I also want the object to reveal itself to me without too much work and effort - it's the weekend after all. Milk glass has over the last couple of years been one of life's little pleasures for me. (See office post here - note milk glass ash trays as paper clip holders.) Recently I found this amazing milk glass (Brody) pitcher. I will say I used it with great gusto for about 3 months until Mr. Monkey - trying to do his best to be a gracious host for a board meeting of Cascadia Wildlands - placed the pitcher filled with water in the freezer to cool the water quicker. He got busy with the meeting and quickly forgot the lovely porcelain being in the freezer only to find it in the morning irreversibly cracked. He apologized and I know he feels bad. Nonetheless I do miss it. The great thing about milk glass is that the little pitcher did not cost too much - maybe $15 bucks max. So I don't feel too bad about it and I feel confident that someday I'll be able to find one again. More recently I found the pretty little bud vase above for a buck at Goodwill. Gotta love it. For you last minute cash strapped Mother's Day shoppers - head to your local thrift store and see if they have any little milk glass bud vase. They're collectible, beautiful, and filled with flowers they will make any mom swoon upon sight. As always reusing an item rather than having it end up in the land fill is a wonderful gift for Mother Earth too - so on that cheezysappyending - Cheers to all moms (especially mine) who are always so good at showing their children how to appreciate life's little pleasures!

Decorating New Office Space

At my place of business we've gone through quite a few office moves. This past fall I was upgraded to have my own office. The space was great with big open windows but really no room for decoration because the wall and floor space were limited. This time around I have a corner pentagon-shaped office with a window through someone else's office to the outside window. Generally speaking I really really love to have a window to look out at the outdoors while I'm sifting through the solving the problems of the modern day education system (wink wink) but now that I've moved in I'm really enjoying my corner of the office. One of the big challenges was to find a mirror that would reflect the window behind me and create a new window for me to gaze through during these intense bouts of problem-solving - not to be confused with day dreaming. So I went looking all around town for some items to spruce up my wee oddly-shaped working space. Here's a recap of items found, bought, and placed. Thanks to Oak St. Vintage, Puttin' on the Ritz, Luxe, the UO bookstore, Goodwill, and yes, TJ Max. See if you can guess which items came from each store. The key is at the bottom. Cheers!


Lamp - Oak St. Vintage; Milk glass cookie jar, and ash trays used as paper clip holders - Puttin' on the Ritz; turquoise Fire King mug, old water color and frame, and milk glass candy bowl - Goodwill; Mirror - TJ Max; File folders and thank you stationary - Luxe, green desk top drawers - UO bookstore. Wedding picture of Mr. and Dr. Monkey courtesy of Northfork Photography and friend James Johnston.

Cheap Thrift Store Find: Retro Pencil Sharpener

I'm not really sure what to write about this. So I'll start at the beginning . . . I went to the Thrift store, I was looking for something entirely different when I saw this faux bois pencil sharpener. It did not have batteries in it and was therefore a risk. What if when I got it home and energized it and it didn't work? For 2 bucks I thought I could afford the risk - and worth it, it was indeed. I also love the concentric flower pattern on top and the "PRESS FIRMLY" font. Really it's unfair to all those people in the world who spend way too much money on items that only leave them feeling empty inside afterwards. I love this pencil sharpener and it brightens up my work day. Since it is thanksgiving - cheers to the little (cheap) things in life that give us joy. Cheers to modern simplicity! Oh yeah, and family, and friends, and all that too. But that's for some other blog to mull over. Here it's about the semi-frivolous but integral to our spirit - so-not-so frivolous theme of modern living. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!