Miscellaneous Decor Details

I've been completely swamped with work and sadly have had no time to update my blog. It's 3am right now and I don't think I can post everything I'd like to. However, a few days ago I went around my home and took some picture of random decor details that I wanted to share with everyone. So until the next post when I have more time, here are some random photos:

Side table top next to my new secretary desk workstation.

The new magnet board I finally received and put up in the kitchen!

A taxidermy bird on my antique vanity table in my bedroom.

My other taxidermy bird perched on a wood ledge in the bedroom.

I love morbid beauty. These were gifts from my mother actually.

Antique photos of a random baby for which I still need to customize a frame.

I also like creepy babies.

A working rotary phone by my bedside.

A birdcage filled with an old edition of Gone with the Wind, 

a book of The Complete Poems of Edgar Allen Poe from the 1800s,

and a small vintage bottle of poison in a birds nest.

Another working bejeweled skeleton telephone atop 2 books over 100 years old.

My tea table with teacups filled with decapitated doll parts.

A dress form in my bedroom.

Porcelain doll heads atop our TV.

A painting I painted named Annabel Lee with its namesake poem by Poe typed out within the painting.

Another painting named Lenore with its namesake poem by Poe typed out within the painting.

My new oil canister dispenser!

Matt and I also treated ourselves for a nice dinner out on Sunday. We went to Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills and below are some dishes we got. Matt got the filet below.

I didn't feel like steak so I ordered a french onion soup, 

lobster mashed potatoes, 

crab stuffed mushrooms, 

and brussel sprouts. Above and below are some pix.

I also finally uploaded pictures from our honeymoon so I'll be posting some of those soon.

Coffee Table!

Here is it!

 So awesome and beautiful! I can't wait to change out the rug too.

The rug I've been eyeing is this one from Ballard Designs (it's on backorder until February 2012):

And I moved my old Pottery Barn coffee table and end table set to the new family room.

Now I just have to figure out how I want to accessorize the tops of the coffee tables. I want something eclectic and whimsical so that it reflects my style, but still clean and comfortable. Kind of like this:

 Except I wouldn't get the snakeskin tray. And I hate butterflies so I definitely wouldn't display that framed butterfly. I do like the horse and the black tapers though. I have a fascination with dollheads and decapitated doll parts so I should try to work that in somehow. Maybe antique dollheads in a beautiful antique bowl. I love the juxtaposition of something beautiful and feminine with the morbid and macabre.

Ooh, or this! We'll have to add to our collection of vintage typewriters:

I've also been loving white or monochromatically neutral living rooms:

Love love love Restoration Hardware! Their tufted sofas are to die for.

As is their egg chair. Amazing. But I have no idea where I would put this.

I was also considering two-toned shades of striped beige walls for the living room for a long time. I'd want wider stripes than this, but I'm having second thoughts now. I also want an art wall and I like both the one above and below.

While at Crate & Barrel today, which is one of my favorite places to buy Christmas gifts, I also picked up this adorable vegetable steamer/pot.

As well as this stainless steel cordless water heater with 6 temperature features for various teas and coffees. It also has a "keep warm" feature. Much prettier than my old white one, although that one did faithfully last me 8 years.

The water heater is next to my coffee corner. We have 3 french presses in different sizes (the smallest one currently in use) and our stainless espresso cups and saucers.

I just remembered, I tried on this amazing cashmere sweater a few weeks ago at Anthropologie and didn't see it there today. I just looked it up online and they still have it. It looks incredibly mod and fits perfectly if you're going for the Betty Draper look, which I always am. I paired it with black ankle length pencil pants.

'Tis the Season!

Because my husband, Matt, and I are leaving on December 20 to spend Christmas abroad and our home is still in what I consider a chaotic mess, I have decided not to go all out and decorate for Christmas as I normally would. That in conjunction with living in Southern California with temperature still in the 70s, it has not yet felt like Christmas season. However, I decided to treat myself after work today and go shopping at the Grove, which is always wonderful during this time of the year. They had a beautiful tree, lights galore, and fake snow falling from the sky. Plus, I finally started working my way down the Christmas list. And now it's beginning to feel like Christmas:

I also went shopping at one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie, and couldn't decide on what I should buy myself as a pre-Christmas treat. I took these photos in the fitting room to text to my best friend, Annie, in order to help me decide. Yes, we do this on a regular basis.

I just love the way this halter dress fits! It's ultra feminine, but flattering for my body type. I imagine it with my skinny citron colored belt.

And this halter top too! I like the idea of the skirt, but the fit is nothing special.

In the end I decided to buy this column dress. I'm only 5'1" (and a half) so the fact that this dress seems to lengthen me is quite important. Thanks to the wisdom of Annie. I'm sure I'll still end up buying the halter dress at some point though. Anthro keeps restocking that dress in various shades, fabrics, and patterns so I'm counting on them not selling out. Otherwise, I may feel the awful regret of not buying it.

Also, once I put up the pendant light above the dining table, it cleared out a large box from my living room and I reorganized Matt's musical instruments again. Here's a tom serving the function of an end table, which is far better than just adding to the clutter in the corner.

I'm also planning on buying a spotlight floor lamp for the living room and am debating on which one I should buy. The first one is from Pottery Barn, the second from CB2, and the third from Home Decorators. I like the last one, but read some reviews saying the material is not well-made and the metal crumbles somehow.

I also really like the above Pottery Barn one, but it's nearly twice as expensive as the CB2 one below and I don't know if it's really worth it. Especially since I do like the CB2 one as well. They create such different atmospheres for the room and it's hard to decide which goes more with the type of space I want to create.

I also came home to discover our coffee table cart at my door!! I cannot wait to put it in place, but I'm waiting for Matt to come home from work to help me. I'll post pictures of it soon!

As for Christmas decorations, I think the most I'll do is make the dining table more Christmasy with some wrapped presents and ornaments. We'll see how much time and energy I have.

Family Room and Light

Work cancelled today so I had a free day, which of course meant I started on tomorrow's to-do list today. Anyway, here are some pictures from last night. My wonderful husband helped me get the secretary desk in place. It was not as easy as just sliding it in though. We had to disassemble the bottom and then reassemble the desk inside the nook. However, now it's as snug as a bug as if it was built-in.

I'll probably put a large inspiration board on it or maybe a painting. We'll see. It definitely needs something though because the wall is quite high.

 And last night I was finally able to fit all the books on all the shelves.

 And finally moved over the red curtains.

And we got the burlap curtains for the living room!! It's less see through than it looks in the picture.
Here's that it looks like.

I also had this really old ugly magnet board/cork board. I was thinking of reframing it so I did all the work of taking out the frame:

 But then decided it was just too ugly and I don't really need a cork board, so I ended up buying this magnet board for the kitchen. It matches with the decor much more too.

I also spent hours putting up this pendant light. But I love it! And most importantly, I wired it correctly and it works!