Vacationland's Profile

Utterly, thoroughly charming. I smiled the whole way through.

I plopped down on the honey yellow leather Chesterfield in an Anthropologie store...it was just insanely comfy and luxurious. Too spendy for my budget, alas, but it's going to make someone with deep pockets very happy. The kind of piece you build a room around.

Lately I've been obsessed with velvet sofas in pretty colors...the opposite of practical but there's just something about 'em.

Really lovely, inviting, and above all interesting space you've created for yourselves here. While I appreciated some of the grander gestures and your overall aesthetic and approach to design (upcyclers unite!), what really struck me was the fine, seemingly effortless attention to detail throughout.

Case in point: the desk area, with the diamond-patterned chair upholstery echoing the diamond-paned window, the antique print (perfectly proportioned to hang under the window) and dull metal finish of the fixtures providing both "been here forever" authenticity and welcome counterpoint to the crisp black of the Gothic chair and lampshade...perfection! Really, really nice.

A bright, pure pop of color would definitely read as modern; maybe the cobalt others have suggested, a strong spring green, persimmon orange, pomegranate red, pure pink or hot coral? Or maybe that aqua color you find on vintage wall maps and globes?

Wooden drying racks for clothes (often built into kitchens or laundry areas, along with built-in ironing boards). Used to see those a lot when I was a kid; now, not so much.

Small tables or cabinets with dividers, intended for record album storage (in the days when records actually came in heavy cardboard boxes or albums - through the 1930s or so). I found a great Art Deco one with a marquetry top years ago, refinished it, and -- LOL -- used it as a phone table (phone books and mail fit into the divided sections below). Now that phone tables *and* phone books have gone the way of the dinosaur, I use it as an end table (where I charge my phone & iPod) and to store vintage decorating magazines.

Next to vanish: television tables and cabinets scaled to fit large, deep CRT TV sets. There are already loads of them in thrift shops and yard sales as people buy newer, narrower ones to accommodate their flatscreens.

Why not install sturdy posts that are the right height to pass inspection, and create a gate-like railing (ditto correct height) that can swing open to allow for furniture-moving but lock securely into place when it is not being used? The short side could be a fixed railing to match the look of the other one. I would think that if you made sure the locking mechanism was secure enough (and difficult to leave open by accident) it would function as a fixed railing?

Gonna have to go with "depressing caricature." Like all those horrific "Real Housewives..." shows, they leave me alternately infuriated and appalled. I'd happily watch a show featuring real folks with real budgets, but this kind of OTT crap served up on a silver plate in this economy? Ugh. I'd much rather watch real folks with minuscule budgets trying to thrift their way to a stylish home, or one about a Habitat for Humanity home. Raging ego and obscene budgets? Can't relate to that at all...and it's so Reality TV Cliche it's not even fun to mock.

I'm with akemimi -- love me some white appliances (vintage styled, if possible), but hold the texture. I am sick of the rental-unit bumpy-surface white fridges; I want the smooth, shiny white enamel appliances of my childhood. The fridge/stove combo in #4 is lovely...I'd probably go for some color on the wall or cabinets and floor, but the smooth white appliances and marble counters can stay put. Dreamy!

Leather-upholstered storage bench, similar to this (similar slightly vintage look as the clock and sconces):

http://www.benchesbythebunches.com/Heritage-Court-Leather-Storage-Bench-in-Dark-Cocoa-Finish.htm

(You can use the storage compartment to store things like those little signs alerting residents to slippery floors, or rolled-up floor mats used for bad weather.)

Flank the bench with two plants (not too tall or wide - maybe topiary?); since the space is very neutral, it might be nice to use these to provide a small pop of color. You might put a flowering topiary in a metal-finish or neutral planter like these:

http://www.homedecorators.com/P/Square_Metal_Planter/140/

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/tuscan-pedestal-planters-white/?pkey=ccachepots-planters

...or a green plant in a glazed ceramic container, like one of these:

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/saigon-planters/?pkey=ccachepots-planters

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/sale/new-sale/aloe-planters/f39494

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=teal+planter&hl=en&prmd=ivns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1419596232482594437&sa=X&ei=5QbUTfz5Lujk0QHso9j7Cw&ved=0CHoQ8wIwBA#

http://www.orientalfurnishings.com/OrientalFurnitureAtt.aspx?furnitureitem=190&ModelNumber=C-199

Or perhaps use a couple of ceramic garden stools as plant stands/end tables? The small surface area would discourage the accumulation of clutter.

http://www.expressionscatalog.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=E91746&srccode=NXCEC6&utm_source=google&utm_medium=comparison&utm_campaign=datafeed

Congratulations! One of my favorite Small Cools ever.