Three Simple Design Solutions

We hope your week has been treating you well lovely readers! Here are some simple design solutions we found, and were so inspired by. Take a peek and let us know if you have tried any of these ideas out. We would love to see!

Stair Runners: Add pop, texture, and function! Look at these amazing ideas found on Apartment Therapy.

We love guests! We like to have slumber parties, weekend visitors and will take any design "excuse" to add more people to the party. We especially love the idea of letting them cozy up in a bed, which - why not, hangs from the ceiling! Hanging both large and small items from the ceiling adds depth and interest, just like our souls. I kid, I kid. :)

Photo one and three found on white and wander. Photo three on apartment therapy.

Perfectly curated chaos of your beloved items is a fun way to show off who you are. I love using mantels, windows, and large tables, as well as the obvious. The best part of sprucing up your flat surfaces with your collections - you can change them on a whim! Even simple things like spoons (above), or starfish, rocks or antique light bulbs look more deliberate when you display them in a collection.

We have been discovering new solutions ever day! We would love to know what tips and tricks you have for approaching a room before you design it. Do tell!

The Best Shopping Advice we can give

We get asked a lot of questions. A LOT. Sometimes they are simple, and other times they are so complex they get us thinking for weeks. People tend to gravitate to our style, comment on our decor, and praise us for taste. This is weird to us, whether it's coming from friends or readers, being we have always been attracted to the history or story of a piece more than the actual decor value it gives a room. So one question we are happy to address is; "Where do you guys find all of your stuff!". First we must admit we make a lot of our own stuff, refurbish it, or commission work. We love a good story, and we love it even more when these stories surround us in our home. But even compulsive DIY'ers like ourselves have to give in to a good buy when it's to be had. We wanted to give a break down of our favorite haunts, online and off. In the future, when we finish our shop, we will get a lot of our custom goods in there for you to use in your own home. For now, we'll share how we get such great deals on such unique and amazing pieces.

1.) Gotta love the internet! We LOVE online shopping. It lets you do an insane amount of research and helps with decision making so so so much. Many pieces you just have to see in person, but when it comes to amazing online deals this is how we break it down:

Ebay: The hunt is fun and frustrating all at once! We have grabbed vintage fans, vintage fabrics, wood (yes, wood!), and a slew of other goods - when we won of course!

Amazon: We organized a little shop to showcase what we have purchased, or are about to purchase. Amazon, like Ebay, is a beast of her own. We get A LOT of design books, magazines, outdoor accessories, linens, and hardware from Amazon. We love it! We also love the free shipping with purchases over $25!

Online Sample Sales: YES! You no longer have to be in New York or LA for these. This is a deep obsession of mine. Limited time, limited quantity, and invite only, but so worth it! It works like this: You need to be invited to most (if you click on the logos below, they all are invitation links, 'cause after all, you're a reader and you are special). The super duper discounts only last a day or two, and the options are amazing. We have gotten baby clothes, to Orla Kiely stationary, to ottomans to plates, and a Jonathan Adler piece I has been eyeing for years (photos below)! There are not enough good things I can say about the steals we have acquired. They all sell home goods, don't get distracted by the fashion, just keep moving to the home section!

    

 2.) Fake it until you make it. We are not rich people. We don't make a million dollars a year, and we can't afford to spend $30K+ on each room of our home. Even if we were loaded, I still think we wouldn't. However, we do tend to have what seems to be expensive taste. So what do we do when we can't have that $8,000 bed we love so much? We make it ourselves. Joey is not a master craftsman, nor am I, but with some proper planning, research, and a strong will - we have been able to accomplish a lot. We turn to sites like Knock-Off Wood (this girl Ana is AMAZING BTW), for help with construction advice and planning. We make drawing after drawing, calculation after calculation, hold our breath and dive in. Home Depot, Lowes, and the beloved True Value is where we "buy most of our furniture". If you view what they have in a new way - you can pretty much make anything you see in catalogues. Also, if you have an Ikea, check our Ikea Hacker and see what you can do with a little imagination and inspiration. It's OK to be inspired or even replicate things you see in magazines - it's even better to make those things yourself. It becomes so much more special and treasured.

3.) Discount Shopping is Cool Again. I don't think we have paid full price for anything major in our home to date. Between Home Goods, Target, the ABC Outlet in the Bronx, flea markets, garage and estate sales - we have saves thousands. Check our your local Salvation Army or Craig's List. We have adopted so many cool things (remember these from the flea market?) this way. It also ties into our "something old, something new" style.

 So, this is how we shop. We think it's fun and exciting to hunt our pieces and build the things we want but can't quite justify paying the sticker price for. How do you shop for you home? We would love to know!

Other sources we look to for inspiration: artful home, gardener's supply company, hudson reed, landscape usa, linen place, and modern furniture warehouse.

Antiques and Fleas

We are so over the moon excited to go to Elephant's Trunk this weekend! A friend of mine told us about it in November (It closes end of November) and we never made it! Now we are totally prepared - renting a van and getting there early! If you live in the tri-state of area, and you don't know about this wonderful antique market, read on!

As one walks down the many aisles of The Elephant's Trunk, one can view a variety of merchandise. This merchandise includes glassware, health products, vintage and new tools, vintage clothing, coins, decoys, old and new books, shrubs, plants, flowers, garden ornaments, cassette and videotapes, CD's, rugs, antique toys, collectibles, antique furniture, Depression glass, jewelry, pewter, electronic equipment, new and second-hand clothing, garden supplies, dried flowers, old bottles, craft items, hair accessories, baseball cards, toys, outdoor tents, weather vanes, art deco items, and a variety of other merchandise! Vendors who deal in counterfeit/knock-off merchandise are not permitted to sell here!

The seasons are a special time at The Elephant's Trunk. Springtime brings a variety of plants, shrubs, and flowers, while autumn brings cider, apples, pumpkins, dried ears if corn, and mums. Fresh vegetables like tomatoes, corn, beans, and many others are plentiful from May through September. Late November to early December brings wreaths, roping, and holiday decorations.

Approximately 60% of the merchandise is antiques and collectibles, 10% is household, 10% is new items, and 20% is a mixture of items.

You can learn more here as well!

We will be sure to take many pictures and share our treasures with you upon our return! In the  meantime, tell us about fun summer markets you enjoy! We are so excited to learn about new places to find unique and one of a kind goods!