New Art Arrangement Over My Sofa

This vintage print has hung over my living room sofa for about a year now. I found it in an antiques and collectibles co-op in Bakersfield, CA that occupies an old Woolworth's department store—a great place worth visiting if you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods. You can spend hours shopping for treasures on multiple floors then replenish your energy with a burger and a milkshake at the original luncheonette counter!


I actually passed on the print when I first spotted it because I already had so much set aside to buy. But it was one of those things I thought about for the next few days after I got back home. That's happened to you too, right? So, knowing my mom would be in the area again within the week, I asked her to pick it up for me—fingers crossed that it would still be there. Happily, it was and it's lived somewhere in my living room ever since. I really, really love it—the colors, the subject matter, that great frame— but at 34"x24" I've always known it was too small to hang over the sofa by itself. Because I wanted it there anyway, I hung two creamy decorative plates one above the other to the right of the print to create an arrangement with more weight. It looked forced and just not right. What to do? Ignore it of course! Until one day last week when I couldn't stand it any longer and decided to dig through my inspiration files.

A gallery or salon style arrangement is what I really wanted. Something along the lines of the one above from southernliving.com or the one below from gaitaninteriors.com. See how much space they fill over these sofas? Linda Crisolo, Marketing Director of Art.com says we should "make sure artwork is at least two-thirds the size of the sofa. For example, a 9-foot-long sofa should have a 6-foot-wide expanse of art above it." My 34" wide print was barely filling one third of my almost eight-foot wide sectional.

When it comes to salon style art, I am drawn to a looser arrangement of prints like those seen above. You may prefer a tighter, more controlled arrangement like the one below I found on Martha Stewart's website. I do have one small bone to pick with Martha, however, and I'll turn again to Linda Crisolo of Art.com to explain what that is: "People have a tendency to hang art too high," says Linda "The center of the image should be at eye level. In living rooms, people are usually sitting, so artwork should be lower. A good way to ensure you're placing artwork at the right height is to hang it one hand width above the sofa". Sorry, Martha. There are too many hands between your sofa and your art. It certainly is expertly aligned though.

Speaking of alignment, here's a look I love, from Traditional Home magazine, that is absolutely wrong for my room. Black and white photos of trees hung on a tight grid fill the space over this sofa—side to side as well as from just above the sofa to very near the ceiling; fifteen individual pieces reading as one large work of art. Beautiful, quiet symmetry. Inspiration photos can sometimes show you what won't work in your space as much as what might and, as I mentioned, I like things a little more mixed-up and colorful than this.

Now, here's some great color! Gorgeous panels that, again, completely fill the available space, below. Love the furniture, love the tablescape, LOVE the art and color story, but there's still something here that's not quite "me". Maybe "me" in a different kind of house, but not in this cottagey little ranch-ette I'm living in.

Aha! Now this one, below, is definitely me! This page torn from one of last year's Better Homes and Gardens speaks to me, first, because I am a complete sucker for striped walls (never mind that there is not one striped wall in my home) and, second, because I love the mix of vintage-looking art and colors and the variety of frame shapes and sizes. I also like the use of dimensional objects such as the plates and vase. But I already have a wall-mounted lamp on my wall so I'll reject the idea of dimensional art while I embrace the use of multiple colors, a vintage feel and subjects found in nature.

Inspiration image in mind, I poked around in closets and under beds for art to buddy-up with my favorite print from Woolworth's. Here's what I came up with:

The lighting is a little dim in this room even on the brightest day, and lately we've been having a lot of gloomy ones, so please bear with my amateur skills. Natural light photos without the lamps lit gave me the best results. And besides, my million-year-old sofa would rather be captured in low light and fuzzy focus anyway, thankyouverymuch. Looks good from back here, doesn't she? Especially with all her pretty mixed-up pillows acting as distractions.

I found a nice mix of frames to complement my centerpiece: a green one, a black one, a little gold one and two distressed white ones. The subjects too complement the central landscape: one vintage botanical greeting card, a floral watercolor, two bird prints and one seaside painting on a postcard. The mix of colors and styles feels just right.

I purposefully placed the arrangement slightly off-center above the sofa and closer to the table lamp than to the wall lamp because I didn't want the wall fixture to appear as part of the group. Placed this way, the grouping also hangs more toward the center of the room which is most pleasing when this wall is viewed from adjacent rooms. Long explanation shortened: it just looks better that way!

See that light fixture on the wall up there? That's my solution to lighting over the corner of the sectional. I didn't want to place a table or a floor lamp behind/beside the sofa, so we mounted an old yard sale find on the wall. Its twin lives on the same wall at the other end of the room. Lit at the same time, they help fill the room with light when we have a crowd. This one lit by itself provides just the right light for reading (and blogging) when I'm tucked up into the corner of the sofa.

Gallery and salon style arrangements are not new to my house. I've always enjoyed massing art and objects together—sometimes a little too much. Sometimes to the point that I tire right away of the visual "clutter" and have to take everything down and start over. More than once on the same day I put it all up! This wall though seems quieter to me than other arrangements I've put together. That it's been up for almost a week and not one thing about it "bothers" me when I pass through this room tells me that it might be here to stay a while. At least I hope so. I have too many other unfinished projects to attend to. . .

Bunny Has a New Home

Thanks Mom !

Luxury is. . .

. . .working at home on the day my first iris opens.

. . .camellias planted by our home's former owner that have continued to bloom faithfully every year.

. . .knowing that the last of our winter crop of oranges is waiting to brighten a few more breakfasts.

. . .this view from my office on a sunshiney day.

. . .a swing arbor covered with star jasmine vines that fill my house with their heady fragrance.
( I wish we had "smell-o-blog" so I could share it with you. )

. . .a brand new bicycle that's all decked out in pretty springtime colors!

Luxury is having a few extra hours of daylight at the end of the work day. For swinging... or gardening... or orange picking... or biking... or whatever else tickles my fancy. Luxury is having such beautiful weather and the time to thoroughly enjoy it on this first fine weekend of spring.

I hope you have such luxuries in your life.

DON'T FORGET TO GO TO [THIS POST] TO ENTER MY 100th POST GIVEAWAY. YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY. HAPPY WEEKEND !

What's Up, Up There?

Normally, I would say nothing should be up there on top of our refrigerators. It's a spot where things can easily go wildly wrong. Such a tempting wide open surface. Just asking to be piled up with all the stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else. Crock pot. 6-pack of paper towels. Gigantic, warehouse store cereal boxes. But, I implore you, please don't do that*. If your fridge top is exposed (not built into cabinetry), break the "no stuff" rule with decorative objects, not small electrics or groceries. I broke the rule in order to soften all the straight lines and corners that occur around my fridge top. With a metal rooster (I love his curly wire tail feathers) standing on an upturned crock. Together they sit in front of the wine shelves we fitted into the original cabinet during our kitchen remodel.

This post is for La Dolfina who keeps poultry and wine on top of her fridge too and recently posed this question on her blog:

What's on top of your refrigerator?

. . .

This post is my answer. What's yours?

*I understand that in very small kitchens, every inch of available space counts. So if you must use the top of your fridge, get yourself a basket or two, or a vintage wood or metal locker box, and fill those with the random stuff you have to store but don't need to use every day. That way, you've created an attractive display and solved your storage shortage too.

P.S. to Therese: See you at the Rose Bowl!

P.P.S. I'm linking this post to Melissa's "inspired by" party. At The Inspired Room, she talks today about adding fun and whimsy and an authentic sense of our own personalites to our interiors. This little slice of my kitchen highlights exactly those elements of my style. I love color. Chickens make me happy. I appreciate handcrafted, funky, found objects like that painted panel. And I like a clean fridge.

Isn't it Romantic?

That he would build this

[swing arbor]


and these

[garage trellis & stone path]

and this for me

[patio pergola]

just because I asked him to?

xo

to my valentine

Coat Closet Makeover: Messy No More

Coat closets. I'll bet it's fair to say that most of us have a love/hate relationship with them. Probably because we need them to do so much more than just hold coats.

. . .

Like the ubiquitous "junk drawer", a coat closet is handy to have but can rapidly become unruly. Well-intentioned organization gives way, under the weight of our busy lives, to "out of sight, out of mind". You open the door or drawer and whatever you have in your hand—coat, umbrella, take-out menu or rubber band—gets added to the mix and closed away (quickly, before you notice what a mess it is in there!) where you don't have to deal with it. Until you do. Until you find yourself asking, for the millionth time "Has anyone seen my hat?", "Where did I put that tall vase?", "Why aren't my boots in here?!".

Prompted by Lauren's post wherein she challenged her readers to clean up their coat closets, I finally tackled mine. Knowing full well what I was getting myself into.

See how tiny and dark? But it doesn't look so bad from back here, does it? If you don't look too long at that sad, saggy ironing board cover. (please don't - it doesn't represent me well) There's a new one, still in its package, shoved into that black hole somewhere. Here's a closer look, below. Don't be fooled by all that light you see. There's an industrial task light switched on in all of these "before" photos (and a couple of the afters too—dark closet + dark end of the hallway = hard to photograph).

That was the top of the closet, now here's the bottom, below. Most of the stuff on the floor is shoved back into the corners to make room for the vacuum (that shouldn't be there) and the beach bag (that somehow never found a better home).

Neither the beach bag nor the black and white check bag hanging behind the ironing board made it onto the handwritten list you're about to see. I'm sure I missed a few other things too. I was kind of overwhelmed by the sheer number of things that kept coming out. And out. And out. Just for fun—or posterity, or as a future "what was I thinking?" note to self—I wrote it all down:


Yikes! Seventeen (17!) coats and jackets. The letter notations next to each are for myself "T", my husband "D" or my daughter "K", not "toss", "donate" or "keep"—I didn't want you to think this is such a brutal makeover that we ended up with just one jacket between us! There were, however, several jackets and plenty of other things that needed to be moved out and on to a new location or a new life away from this house. To be relocated: a vacuum cleaner that is rarely used (no, not because I don't clean!... but because we have another one that I prefer... and it lives in the garage); shutters I can't seem to part with but don't know what to do with; upholstery foam left over from a project; decorative pillows that should have been put into "pillow storage" in another room, etc. What wasn't kept, relocated or tossed will be donated to an upcoming yard sale or Goodwill. Altogether, just over 100 items came out of that closet—if you count the 12 light bulbs individually.

Are you ready for the "after" now? Me too. But first, let's take a moment to admire the simple beauty of empty space. Aaahh. . . all that potential. . .


My handy husband installed and painted the shelf near the floor. It's 12" above the floor, to allow ample space for things placed both under and on top of it. It's also 4" shorter than the depth of the closet. I'll show you why a few pics down.


If you have any orphaned shoe stackers hanging around your house, using one or more as a shelf-on-a-shelf is a great way to get more storage for small things in an area that otherwise might not function to its full potential. I had been using one already, but I saw that two would fit, one on top of the other. I realized, however, after huffing and puffing the second one up there, that I needed the height on top of the single stacker for my taller candle hurricanes. So down the second one came.

You've already seen the new closet light (if you read my last post), but here it is again, above. I installed that all by myself, I'll have you know. And now. . .

Ta da! The finished, filled up closet. At this angle, it's hard to tell what exactly has changed. . . unless you look closely. The new tan ticking cover made it onto the ironing board and the cluttery stuff hanging behind it is gone. The feather duster's still there—tucked up under the iron rack and hung on a cup hook to keep it securely in place and always ready for action. If you look very closely, to the right of the duster, you'll see one of the best solutions I came up with while restocking the closet. . .

The lint roller that lives in this closet found a new, smarter home. Before the makeover, that roller either stood on end or lay on a shelf where it quite often stuck to whatever was next to it. So when I reached for the lint roller I might sometimes get the spray starch too. Grrr. A magnetic hook hung from the underside of the box that houses our security system's "brain" solved the problem. Simple fixes like this make me really happy!

Here's another look at the first pic on this post, but with notations. . .

. . . so you can "see" what's in those baskets and boxes. The basket on the top shelf is new. I rounded up all the smaller hurricanes and other candle holders, added a few small vases from a cupboard in the kitchen and tucked them into this easy-to-retrieve basket that has handles on its sides. Onto the newly available shelf space, I added two new boxes. I wrapped hard-sided, Christmas-patterned gift boxes in kraft paper to "neutralize" them and added labels to identify the contents: "pillar candles" and "tea lights, tapers, votives". Moving all the candles into this closet freed up even more kitchen cupboard space. Don't you love it when organizing one space, leads to more space in another?!

Now, here's an "after" shot of the floor area, above. So. Much. Better. The basket on the floor used to sit by our front door when my daughter was young. She used it to unload soccer and volleyball gear on her way into the house after practice or games. We still occasionally use it as a stopover spot for wet shoes coming in from the rain or garden. But I much prefer it here, out of sight now, in the closet. To the right of the shoe basket, you can see my red sweeper peeking out. That the sweeper and swiffer both live in this closet is the reason I asked for the shelf to be cut the way it is. . .

The 4" space allows room for the handles of these tools that live in this closet because A) we don't have a broom closet or adequate pantry area in our kitchen, and B) they're much handier here near the rooms they're used in than they would be if they lived in the garage. And look. . . there's that stripedy beach bag again. Given an important new job as the tote for totes. Besides the black and white check one that was already in here, I found a couple of others wandering around the house. As I come across more—and I know that I will—I'll relocate them to the "tote tote" too. Next to the totes, on the new shelf, is a picnic basket. Let's look inside. . .

Oh no! It's a shark! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. It's our portable Shark vacuum that comes in handy for cleaning up little messes. I purchased the picnic basket just for this job back when we first got the shark, but the vacuum hasn't always lived in it. Here in the cleaned-up coat closet, I'm happy to see the two reunited. And much more conveniently located. Two pics up, you can see that, next to the shark basket, I placed a metal locker basket filled with toys and coloring books for our smaller visitors. And that's it! Nothing in here that doesn't belong and more than there was before. Really, there's more. I counted.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look. This has been a long post—almost as long as it took to fix that closet!—so I'll recap the organizational ideas used in a future post where I'll include some other ideas you might be able to use too.

More Light !

As I reminded you in my last post,"lighten up" is my resolution, my words to live by, my singular yet multi-faceted goal for 2010. I explained what those words mean to me in this post. To keep myself accountable, I'll give you an occasional update. Last post was about my lightened-up attitude (Hooray for Mary Poppins!). This one is about actual light.

First, a new lamp, above. From HomeGoods, a very simple brownish/bronzish candlestick to replace the squatty blue and white ginger jar that used to sit on this table. New lamp's taller, slender profile suits this corner better as the ceiling height here is about 11 feet. I should tell you too that this lamp came with a stark white drum shade. Nothing against drums—love them—but I hoped when I bought the lamp that this ivory silk bell I already had would fit and look good. It did and it does. I'll save the drum for a future project—it's the perfect type to wrap in decorative fabric or paper and convert to a pendant. Like these from shadesoflight.com :

Interested in more shade-swapping ideas?

Learn to play "lamp shade switcheroo" here.

. . .

Next, a bit of ambient light in the entry that I concocted myself using a wood lantern (from a crazy gigantic home decor store nearby that I'll give you a tour of soon) and the bulb from an old nightlight. I love the shadows it casts on the wall and that it lights up some of the details on the antique secretary. This area near the front door needs just a bit of light because ten or so feet further along the same wall is that new table lamp I just showed you.

In case you're wondering, here's how my lantern became a lamp: Lucky for me, the top comes off. But any lantern with a door like this one also has can be reached into for rigging. The nightlight bulb and socket are attached to a plug-in cord with a thumb switch already in place. The clips on the sides of the socket are what kept it in place inside the figural ceramic lamp that was discarded long ago. (was it a lighthouse? I think so.)


Here's a close-up of my masterful installation, below. See that paper clip bent open and wrapped around the base of the socket? Its other end is hanging from one of those little dowels around the cupola of the lantern. Yep, I'm pretty sure that's how the pros would do it too. Tucked up under the lantern's roof and with the cord twist-tied in place so it's less obvious, all you notice is the warm glow of light, not the hardware.


Last but definitely not least. . . a lighted coat closet! (how long have I lived in this house and only did this now?) I found this fluorescent fixture at Target. I had seen a similar one at Lowe's but the installation involved some sort of double-stick tape or maybe velcro. I could just see it falling on my head (or, better yet, my husband's—he'd love that) after one too many flips of the switch. The Target model came with mounting screws and keyholes cut into the back of the fixture which allows it to sit very securely flush against the wall. Those are the kinds of details that can make or break a project for me—and getting those details just right can make what seemed like a simple job take much longer than expected.


But all the trouble is worth it when, in the end, you get this :

Light!

. . . in our dark little hole of a coat closet. Which recently underwent a much-needed (and very successsful, I might add) makeover. More about that next time . . .

And we lived happily ever after...

Bailey has come home to live with me! I mean us. Saturday morning we sped down to the Pottery Barn Outlet, swiped my debit card so fast it almost melted, hurriedly loaded my—I mean our—new coffee table into the back of the Rodeo, and headed for home. But before we left the parking lot, I snapped a pic of Bailey tucked in all safe and sound. That's my hilarious husband, above, sticking his arm in through the passenger door. And I have to say, to him and to you, that he has been such a good sport throughout this "ordeal". Once he realized just how much I loved Bailey, and was adequately reassured that I do indeed love him more, he was totally on board with the idea of a new table.

Ta da!!! Bailey's new home, above—so much better than the demoralizing cold concrete floor of an outlet store. Having taken on the exact duties of the old oak table—same books, flowers, basket of magazines, bowl of balls and clock—Bailey delivers an even more than expected amount of cheer and charm to a space that was already pretty happy. But not in a way that's too obvious. It's as if Bailey has been here all along. Aside from all the obsessing and hand-wringing, it was a seamless transition. As if it was meant to be.

Inspired by the addition of Bailey's fresh green-ness, I did a little pillow shopping this weekend as well. The spiffy number above if from Pier 1. Its mossy green, curvy cotton jacquard pattern is a perfect complement to Bailey and a nice juxtaposition to the graphic checks of my red reading chair. If you haven't taken a look at the toss pillows at Pier 1, I suggest you do. There are so many colors and styles from which to choose, I'm sure you'll find something that suits your space. And I do advise you to see them in person before you buy. Colors on their website are not always true, and you'll want to feel the fabrics before committing to something you'll be curling up with at home. Their quality is quite often a nice surprise, most have zippers for ease of cleaning and some, like mine, have feathery down inserts. If the pillow you choose does not, it's simple to insert your own if that's the look and feel you prefer. If you hurry, you can take advantage of the currently reduced prices on past season selections as well as a sale going on now that includes many of their new designs. My pretty new pillow cost less that $24.00.

Another serendipitous bargain was this red toile pillow cover, above, that I found in the markdown baskets at my local Pottery Barn (not the outlet). It's a cotton print with soft velvet welting and was a whopping $13.00. A 20" down insert I already owned fluffed it up so it could join its new friends on the sofa.

As wonderful as it is to have Bailey home, it's been equally wonderful to hear from so many of you!

Thank you so much!

...for your advice and encouragement... for allowing me to be completely ridiculous without judging me as such... for recognizing that even us designer types can become paralyzed when it comes to making decisions for ourselves... and for playing along. It was so much fun waking up each day to a few more comments and emails! Next time I'm faced with such a perplexing dilemma, I know exactly where to go to find help!

For any of you still wondering, here are answers to some of your questions:

1) No, the mean ladies at the PB outlet would not let me borrow Bailey "on approval". Okay, it's not really their fault. PB apparently has an unbending policy with regard to their clearance furniture... it's priced to move out the door and that's where they want it to stay.

2) Bailey is exactly the same size and shape as "old oak"—42"Wx18"H (So what was my problem right? Remove ugly, insert pretty. Sounds so easy.)

3) Bailey fits nicely within the confines of my big white sectional... its round shape is perfect for scooting around to find your seat.

4) Many of you expressed concern that I would regret forever not bringing Bailey home. I'm positive you were right.

See how nice Bailey looks in the photo above holding my laptop and coffee mug? That's where I did my email and blog reading this morning. Many thanks again to all of you who helped make that beautiful moment possible!

Coffee Table: A Love Story

Allow me to introduce the Bailey Coffee Table. I have never loved a coffee table like I love this coffee table. But until quite recently, I've expressed my love from afar. At first glance—as seen in a Pottery Barn catalog two years ago? a year and a half?—I was drawn to its warm color and those pretty curves. I could see immediately that it was the perfect size and shape to replace the table I'd tired of—a relic from my husband's oak-dominated past. A perfectly serviceable table to be sure, but not nearly as special as Bailey. I've gazed longingly at Bailey both online and in many subsequent catalogs. Sadly, the original price prevented me from acting on that love. So I avoided looking for Bailey during outings to the PB store. I tried to pretend I'd never noticed it in the first place. That strategy almost worked.

If you've read my blog for more than five minutes, it's pretty easy to tell that I. Love. Color. Lots of color. Pattern too. One of my favorite rooms ever is this one, above, by L.A.-based designer Lynn von Kersting. Here, she mixes my favorite primary colors with vintage finds, Asian, European and otherwise exotic accessories and textiles, warm woods and worn painted finishes, all in a way that makes this room irresistible to me. Just look at all the patterns on those toss pillows on top of a patterned sofa! A green shade on a blue and white porcelain lamp? Yes please. Books and artifacts strewn about. Paintings hung like they've been collected over time. I could live here quite happily without changing one single thing. (Ok, I'd have to change out those white lilies for something else. Roses maybe. Lilies make me sneeze.)

Another designer whose colorful works I admire is Linda Applewhite who currently divides her time working for clients in both the Bay Area of Northern California and Santa Fe, New Mexico. These two living areas, above and below, make me so happy. Again, look at all that color! I love the way she combines contemporary fabrics and patterns with antique furnishings and found objects with lots of authentic patina. Her rooms are often whimsical and a little over the top—even for me!—but I really appreciate her process. While they might appear to be mixed and matched with abandon, her interiors are very well-planned, well-balanced and super functional.


In my attempts to achieve a similar look for my own home, I've borrowed ideas from both von Kersting and Applewhite, while striving to stay true to the objects and shapes and colors and patterns I am naturally drawn to. Trying to do what's best for this particular house. And without tossing everything I've had and enjoyed for many years. I'll admit the idea of trashing it all and starting over from scratch has crossed my mind. But my practical side would never allow it. I also try not to have anything in my home just because I think it "should" be there according to the latest trends or design standards. And I want the things in my home to have value beyond their worth in dollars. Whether there's a sentimental attachment or just because it makes me smile, every object should have function or beauty—or both—in a way that appeals to the people who live here. (Lucky for me, my husband likes lots of color too, though he has occasionally expressed a fear of living in what he calls a "clown house"—too much of all the aforementioned pattern and color and exuberance. I tell him not to worry, but I can see that he sometimes still does. Not that I blame him... but I digress.)


A handful of detail photos, above and below, give you a peek into my living room. Above: lots of mixed up pillows on an off-white sectional that more or less matches the cottage white walls; the patterned shade of the floor lamp that sits next to my red arm chair; golden checked curtains that give the room a beautiful glow at certain times of the day; a wool area rug that pulls together all the colors of the room. Below: my freshly painted green chair sits next to an antique oak secretary; vintage art and imported plates hang over the sofa; an antique oak table with pretty turned legs and carvings holds a few pieces of blue and white porcelain; the view over my current coffee table ends with the entertainment armoire across the room.


Easy to imagine—isn't it?—that a green coffee table would fit right in. And still, I couldn't justify the purchase. Several months ago, Bailey appeared in the back of the catalog with the clearance items. At exactly a time when I should not be considering new furniture (bad economy=fewer discretionary dollars, especially when you already have a coffee table). So I forgot about it. It obviously wasn't meant to be. And then. . . last weekend. . . I walked into the nearby Pottery Barn Outlet store. Right there, smack in the middle of the store. Bailey.


Priced to sell at $249. And I can tell you, one would have sold right that instant and driven home with me if it weren't for this: all outlet furniture sales are final. OH. NO. What do I do now? I thought Bailey was out of my life. I was prepared to live with old oak for the indeterminable future. So I did all that I could do. I looked. And touched. I may have even hugged it. I whipped my fabric swatches out of my purse to see if they liked Bailey too. They did. I snapped a couple of pics with my phone. Measured. Paced. And left the store. At home, I paced some more. Uploaded the photos. Looked at my room from every angle. Talked myself out of it. Then back in.

Here's a sketch of my living room. All of the case goods, with the exception of that green chair that might end up in the kitchen, are brown. Oak, walnut, other woods I can't identify. Do I want to bring a green-painted coffee table into the middle? Will it stand out too much? Or will it blend nicely into the mix? It would sit on top of the red area rug, so the contrast there is low with regard to shade, but high with regard to hue—red and green being complimentary as they are.


To make it even more confusing, check out this photo, below. See the beautiful finish and how it's distressed and chippy? See the brown that shows through? Does that help it to coordinate? Or make it stand out in a way that's not good? What would Lynn and Linda do? Why is this so hard??!! Because I want it so much? Or because it's all wrong?

When I called this post "a love story", I didn't say there would be a happy ending. I can't tell you yet where it's going to go. But I may not have much time. There were only three (or four?) on the floor so I need to decide soon. $249 is not a lot of money for a great piece of furniture, but it's too much money to waste on a coffee table that doesn't love me (I mean, my house) as much as I love it. And I need to get my life back and quit obsessing over this table! I do have other things to think about. Really. So I'm asking all of you. Bailey or no Bailey? Be honest. But not brutal. Remember, I'm in love. If it's not going to work, please let me down easy. Here. Have one last good look and let me know what you think. Thanks.

EDITED TO ADD: Check out my next post to read how this story ends. . .