furniture facelift finds

Hey, weren't we just discussing the joys of making silk purses out of sows' ears---or making gorgeous accent pieces for the living room out of crap you can find on the street, or at yard sales? I just saw an entry on Design Sponge, (designspongeonline.com), featuring chairs found and renewed by Chairloom. They've got everything from faux animal print to elegant restoration, whimsical fish-patterned fabric and original kissing chairs. Take a look at chairloom.com

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Be Thrifty, Be Green, Be Married

I've recently found one solution to several problems and it fits in nicely with our recent topics of finding things on the cheap and being "green." It's recycleyourwedding.com!

What do you do when the wedding is over and now you're left with the dozen or so copper colored table linens you had to buy instead of rent?

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The Pod People

Summer is bearing down fast upon us. Really. Here in New York City, Central Park is a riot of color, with tulips, cherry trees, and forsythia in full bloom. So it must be time to start thinking of bringing our brilliant design ideas outdoors.

Here's something we found the blog of award-winning Canadian designer Patricia Gray that will lure all of us outdoors.

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from floor to ceiling

From the post by Alexia Rossetti on a terrific bench she found, the discussion led to a comment by a reader about chandeliers. To see how one gets to chandeliers from front hall benches, take a look at the comments.

One reader asks how to find an antique chandelier of the right proportions; another reader comments on how to find antiques and vintage furnishings.

Indeed, as nice as some stuff is from the big home furnishings stores, it can all look the same after a certain point. To find things that are both unique and affordable, it's necessary often to go back in time, at least a bit. And sometimes to then put your own creativity to work, with painting, or stenciling, or otherwise sprucing up a piece.

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finding it on the cheap

Alexia Rossetti wrote a post recently about a fabulous bench she found. It was love at first sight---except for that little thing called the pricetag---so now she's on the hunt for a similar beauty but one that will allow her to still pay the rent and therefore still have the hallway that needs the bench so she doesn't go the way of an O Henry story.

I'm sure she knows how to find great decor at lower prices, but if anyone has a suggestion on this particular bench, well, let us know. And I do mean "us" because I want one, too!