Nanette, Anthropologie and Ruche

It is no secret that j'adore Nanette Lepore. This is her closet! I believe that every woman should have a closet like this - or every woman that wants one. You know, that whole Room of Our Own? This is my ideal of that or close anyway. Give me a teal velvet storage ottoman, a chandelier, mirrors, a dressing table, a load of hanging spaces, a glass of vino, some good music and I am good. There is no man near this room. He does not even want to come in here. This room scares the crap out of him. He can have the rest of the house, if I can have this closet. Okay? Work that out for me.

Elle Decor image

Pictured below are my favorite shoes of ALL time. Nanette. On sale. 

Still too expensive.

If I could have afforded to, 

I would have bought a pair in every color of the rainbow. 

They have a wooden 3" heal. 

Kicking and girlie at the same time. 

That pretty much sums up Nanette for me. 

I could be President in these shoes.  

I also love her suits. 

Because I am both a banker and a bohemian by nurture and nature, 

her designs allow professionalism to be feminine and edgy.

 This is me at 4. I have never been a conservative dresser.

Ever been to a banker function? 

Everyone is in black or grey. 

I have the stand bys for those times when I want to blend into the wallpaper 

but for the most part I prefer to get away with a lot more style than that.

Anthropologie gets the Nanette vibe but it is still pricey and I don't know??

- less appropriate the older I get somehow. 

I might buy three or four things from there a year or pick up a couple of items off ebay

but it has changed and gotten more expensive

or maybe I have changed and gotten more cheap?

So to get to my point. . . drum roll, please.

www.shopruche.com

Maybe I am the only person on the planet that did not know about Ruche. This is possible but I am so excited to make this discovery. It is perfect and so affordable. Even if the quality is crap (and it doesn't look like it is), you could buy everything I am about to post for less than $1000(I didn't actually do the math, I am just trying to make a point so roll with it). I haven't bought anything yet, but if I were planning to revamp my wardrobe and accessories, here are some items I would consider.

$9.99

$45.99

I had a hard time narrowing it down - if you could call it that.

Love Me Like The World Is Ending Teal Coat. Okay!

wrap dress for a special occasion

Did you know about this place?

 And if you did, why did you not tell me sooner?

at their prices, a girl could have a coat in every color

Of all places I discovered this from one of those annoying ads on Facebook.

 I NEVER click on those but something called out to me and I may never be the same.

 Enjoy.

10.99

less than $50

yes, please

LOVE - now that is gray I can deal with

This

0r this

with this

and this

or this

and this

 These are less than $100. 

Kinda makes me look stupid for paying what I paid for my black over the knee boots. 

Really stupid.

See you here next weekend. 

Have a great week and Happy February! 

Was it just me or did January seem to last forever?

Before and After - A Start

My living room is a work in progress. We have lived in this house since Memorial Day weekend 2010.

BEFORE

My new coffee table(s) came and I do love them. I got some new pillows and a few accent pieces. The orange chair that my nostalgic children refuse to let me re-cover went down into the basement kid pad. And here is the result so far.

AFTER

One of my new favorite places is the Moore Street Market in Southport, NC.

I got this camel saddle transformed to ottoman there. Ian and Emily are the owners and they have a great eye for cool things and tend toward reclaiming and transforming the old into something new. I love that!

My husband also discovered this table below at the Market. Ian's brother is making them out of old doors from Charleston, SC. La Maison Boheme had a great post about using old doors at about the same time. The table below is for sale for $275 and we decided something smaller but similar would be perfect for the entry way behind the big leather chair. We gave our dimensions and eagerly await the results! I love cool surprises.

Something has to be done about the white bookshelves that are currently holding my husband's massive CD collection. I love the piece but I need to work on it. The picture next to the hanging green light (one of my favorite things I own - if I can ever figure out how to photograph it well while it is on, I'll show you why it is so awesome) is from my beloved grandmother's house. My husband refuses to let me take it down but I think we have finally agreed to find a new spot for it and I plan to put a mirror there. Maybe this one from Ballard Designs. They have great mirrors! What do you think?

Oh and I almost forgot, I picked up this cute little table at Pier One for $49 a couple of weeks ago. I am not sure this will be it's permanent home but I thought it was really cool for the price especially.

I have been in love with this whimsical but incredibly expensive bed from Anthropologie forever and I guess I thought it was a little like having a bit of that in the house.

I also want to get another chair to replace the one now in the basement - something a little more streamline, a little more mid century. My husband is a musician (guitar) and so it would be nice to find one without arms. I found this on ebay last night but I am not paying that much for it! I'll keep looking but isn't it great and sort of perfect?

 I have been MIA because we were in Snowshoe skiing! So fun!! Ready to go back even if it was about 5 degrees. Enjoying a nice, sunny day on the coast today. Have a great weekend!

We Call Him The Bean

I have three amazing children but my youngest is also my only boy and I have to say that my son just makes me smile or laugh (and cringe too - don't get me wrong) every day and here are some of the reasons why:

On game day he wears this shirt just for me

photographic credit: Olivia Huntley

 This is the note on the door of his room. I swear.

The things he likes just make me smile: Buzz, his bff Henry, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and pretty things too.

 

He loves his peeps

He picks out his outfits before he goes to bed at night. Sort of S8R Boi meets Star Wars Nerd.

and he sleeps in the closet

The closet room is one of my projects for the year

Sissy over at Blue Hydrangea posted this from Mark Ruffalo's house yesterday
.

Definitely an inspiration for the sad little closet sleeping space. Thanks girl!

Buying a New Coffee Table

I tried to talk my husband into this:

but he just couldn't do it. 

He wanted a glass coffee table with a shelf underneath. 

I didn't even try to sell him on this:

It has a shelf! But I wasn't dying to have it. 

Gotta pick your battles and it costs 

a little more than I wanted to spend anyway.

I don't LOVE it but I do LIKE it.

$315 on ebay

Everything I saw for a while was either more of the same or way too big or way too weird or didn't have said shelf.

This weekend I did another search on eBay and I found this: 

 $99 a piece and two together - the perfect size. 

Before I hit the Buy It Now button I decided to look at the absolutely one place on earth I had not looked: Pottery Barn. 

And guess what? Same damn tables, $249 a piece plus tax plus shipping. Apparently the title "Tanner Cube" comes with a premium. 

Whatev, as my son would say.

The one place I was trying to avoid and I don't know why exactly except that it is so cliche I guess, and I ended up with an effing PB coffee table. . .

except for a whole lot less money.

I have to admit they do make them look a whole lot more appealing with the styling and the photography and that is really what we are paying for. . .

But they are EXACTLY the same,

even if this photograph helped seal the deal.

I did order them. They will be here in 4 days 

and did I mention the free shipping? And no tax? 

So the two together cost slightly less than $200. 

I heart you, eBay.

I'll post a pic when they come - if I like them.