ballard

Friday Foursome

March 11, 2016

Lovers of the Ballard Designs catalog – you will NOT want to miss this article on Ballard Founder, Helen Ballard Weeks and it’s tour of the to-die-for Atlanta home she recently sold.

Maybe it’s my excitement about getting on the beach in a couple weeks, but lately I have been drawn to water and beach inspired art like this gorgeous piece featured in a stunning San Clemente home. There is something so soothing about it. Interestingly, you can find some pretty cool but smaller versions at Urban Outfitters.

I love the color lavender – but it’s so rarely used in interior design. Like pink it has the connotation of being too girly. This article has some great examples of more sophisticated uses of the color in design. (Plus I just love the two cats in this picture.)

Had a fabulous time at the Grand Opening Party for the new Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Store in Oakbrook last night with my favorite girls! More details next week, but we may have found our new summer cocktail!

Pretty genius idea …

October 6, 2011

So we’ve got this chandelier in our dining room. It came with the house, and while I probably wouldn’t have picked it myself, it is grand and probably cost a pretty penny. But I often find myself wishing it had a little bling, a little sparkle, a little … something.

Then I saw these in the Ballard catalog …

Set of 3 Magnetic Crystals

The box says it all …

Simply click and it sticks!

I ordered the pendalogue shape … but there are 4 styles.

I was skeptical that they might look cheap, but no … they are heavy and beautifully cut.

I also ordered some of the magnetic chains …

… played around a little, and …

… my chandelier’s got bling!

And the sconces too …

It literally took just minutes to do.

Depending on your style you could leave them up year round or just put them up for special occasions, holidays, etc.

Much less expensive than a new chandelier … and now mine kind of resembles some of the other chandeliers Ballard sells …

My quest for romance with a kitchen rug …

July 20, 2011

Up until two nights ago, we did not have a rug under our kitchen table. I’ve gone back and forth on it for a long time. Of course, I thought it would look better with a rug, but since I spend inordinate amounts of time on my hands and knees wiping up what seems like half a meal after each breakfast/lunch/dinner, I have been afraid to put a rug down in fear of what it might look like after just a few meals.

Then I thought that perhaps if I found one that wasn’t too expensive, I wouldn’t feel so bad about it if it didn’t hold up for very long. Several fine candidates crossed my path.

First there was Mr. Nate Berkus Rug. It was love at first sight when I saw it on the set of his daytime talk show when it first aired. (Swoon.)

At the time, I didn’t even know that he was selling it on HSN.com. Sadly, by the time I figured it out, they were all sold out in the size I needed.

Now they are no longer available at all. (I go on periodically to check, but no such luck.)

With that in my head, I was attracted to other bold stripes. I love how Nate himself used a boldly patterned rug in his own Chicago pad.

So then along came Mr. Wisteria Rug. I loved the soft green color and the thin dhurrie-style. My heart fluttered when I saw it in the catalog. The price was right, but the size wasn’t. A 9 x 12. (I needed a 6 x 9.)

It’s been a while and I have searched around but nothing else made me swoon. Sure there where some handsome ones, but they may have been too fancy for my kitchen. I needed one that wasn’t afraid to get a little dirty. I found more stripes but not in the soft colors I was looking for.

Then maybe just a month ago I opened the latest Ballard catalog and …

Perfection. Suzane Kasler’s Wide Stripe Jute Rug. I loved the durability and texture of the jute. And, he had stripes to boot! The paprika-orange would tie in nicely with the rug and some of the pillows I have in my adjoining family room. And, there was even a 6×9. (Which, I discovered, are somewhat hard to come by.)

Ok, so with the start of summer, the weeks began to fly by. Finally, one day I had a free moment, sat down at my computer and pulled up the rug online with my credit card in hand. Choose color. Choose size. But wait … there in parenthesis next to 6×9 were the dreaded words I hate to see. NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

Ugh!

Surely this couldn’t be so! He was my perfect match! Right away I called Ballard just to make sure. Nope they were all gone. Sold out quickly. Won’t be making any more.

Really? Are you sure they won’t be making any more? I mean, if it was so popular, couldn’t they … pretty please … make some more?

Sorry. No more information.

Where to turn? Now that I had been thinking about that rug for several weeks, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. And while I had been unsure about getting a rug at all before, I was now determined that my little breakfast area was definitely in need of a rug.

Hmmm. Okay … so none of those other rugs were meant to be. Usually things happen for a reason. Maybe I just wasn’t supposed to get stripes. But jute … one of the things I loved about the Ballard rug was the natural jute. Maybe I should just look for a plain jute rug.

So I started looking again. But I was a little like Goldilocks … a 5×8 is too small. An 8×10 is too big. A 6×9 would be just right. But no one seemed to carry a 6×9.

When I run out of places to look, I often check on Overstock.com. It is hit or miss, but they have such a large inventory of, well, everything at such great prices so I figured it was worth a look.

And that’s where I found him. A beautiful 6×9 jute rug for under $200!

It was meant to be.

I didn’t want fringe (too hard to get crumbs out of) and I didn’t want binding. So it was perfect. The reviews were great too. Done.

So the rug arrived last Friday and sat all rolled up through the weekend since we were out of town. I was excited to get back and lay it down (after a thorough cleaning of the floor below the table) … but of course, as often happens … I was still feeling a little nervous that I had made the right decision. After all, it is not easy to send a rug back.

Back home, I was reading some of my favorite blogs and came across this one by Emily A. Clark all about finding the perfect rug for her family room. What did she decide on? Jute!

And in her post she mentioned how another of my favorite bloggers, Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home had influenced her decision with her post comparing all of the different kinds of natural rugs.

I clicked on over to Pure Style Home and was so pleased as I read Lauren’s words …

“1) MAINTENANCE: laughable. I took the WORST care ever of our jute rugs & they looked fine. They kind of eat your dirt. You can just vacuum them. I’ve had ours in the kitchen & even spilled salsa (I know, gross!) in ours and just wiped it with a rag & then blotted it with a wet rag to get the stain out.

2)PETS: Great for pets. Like I said, these things eat your dirt so they just sort of suck up the hair & you can vacuum it off.
3) SOFTNESS FACTOR: There are a lot of jute-chenille blends that are actually very soft but full jute isn’t as soft. Jute is thicker than sisal & seagrass and also softer, but still not super-soft unless it’s a blend. Ours is full jute and it is more like a foot-massager (which I love to walk on) but I wouldn’t recommend it for a kids’ play area or somewhere that you want to hang out on the floor.

4) STYLE FACTOR: I LOVE the look of jute. It’s so chunky & warm-looking and adds so much texture to a room. “

(excerpted from this post “Natural Rugs”: Seagrass, Sisal, Jute, Synthetic & Wool Rugs; The Low-Down)

A foot massager that eats dirt? Who could ask for anything more? I think these two ladies were sending me a sign.

So we rolled him out and yes ….

… he makes me swoon.

And two breakfasts, two lunches and one dinner later, he still looks good.

He might actually save my sanity because I can no longer see (i.e. obsess) over every little crumb that falls. Yes, I know they are still there, and I will still vacuum … just maybe not after every meal.

Let the sun shine …

June 13, 2011

Well, this upcoming week is our first “official” week of summer with the boys finally done with school. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like a good week for the pool. We are keeping our fingers crossed for some sun at the very least even if it’s not all that warm.

Speaking of sun … (nice segue way, eh?) … I have always been a fan of sunburst mirrors. There are so many pretty ones. I just recently noticed a new one from Ballard Designs that I hadn’t seen before.

Then, just today I spotted this DIY mirror on a blog called Centsational Girl.

Guess what it’s made out of?

Paint stir sticks! Don’t you just love it?

Sure it’s not quite the same as the Ballard one … but compare the cost: $10 vs. $349!

Check out the whole tutorial on how to make one here.

Wishing everyone some sunshine this week!

Pretty Plumes

March 16, 2011

When I was outside the other day, something felt different. What was it ? It took me a moment before I realized … birds were chirping! There is something about that sound this time of year that is so wonderful and hopeful. Spring has got to be around the corner. I walked out of the bank yesterday and a little robin was on the sidewalk in front of me. He cocked his head as if to say hello and the color of his red breast was striking against the gray backdrop of the chilly, gloomy day.

If you’ve been reading my blog from the beginning, you may have caught on to the fact that I love birds. In my post on pillows, I talked about the bird pillows I had made from a favorite fabric. In my master bedroom post, I talked about the bird ottoman on my wish list. I’ve got a few other feathered friends who have settled in around my house too.

There’s just something about birds … there are so many different kinds and colors. They are kind of like people with all of their different personalities … the wise owl, the cocky rooster, the diva peacock, the hummingbird soccer mom who’s always buzzing forwards and backwards at top speed.

So in honor of Spring and birds everywhere, here are my favorite ways to incorporate some plumage into your home.

I love this master bedroom of Kirsten from 6th Street Design School …

And of course, if we’re going to talk pillows, there are so many cute bird pillows.

ChicDecor Pillows

Dwell Studio

Milk and Cookies Canada

The trio of bird prints I have stacked up the wall in our house always make me swoon. Here is more aviary artwork that I love.

Wisteria

Vintage Treasure Shop

I found these tapestries from Thailand on Overstock. I think they would be stunning, framed and hung on the wall.

Overstock bird tapestry

And this canvas from Ballard is so dreamy, don’t you think?

I have drooled over this lampshade from Anthropologie forever.

And how cute is this tea towel?

Anthropologie bird towel

Of course, I mentioned the Katie Ridder bird wallpaper that was featured in Sex and the City in an earlier post. Here is another one I like from Walnut Wallpaper.