And now the real holidays begin, Happy Black Friday! Kate Spade has been getting me in the holiday spirit with all of the Christmas present bow-inspired pieces. Happy shopping today!
I spent my lazy Sunday afternoon organizing my closet, getting rid of things, storing summer clothes, and grouping things by like color and style. Being the organizational dork that I am, it was quite the relaxing experience. What’s nice about a clean, organized closet is that you get to take inventory of what you have and often start to notice trends, like for example, I own enough little black dresses to get me through weeks of work without ever having to repeat.
Another trend I noticed? I’m not allowed to buy any more animal print… anything. If three is a collection, what qualifies as an obsession? I think I’m there; this doesn’t even include my animal print purses or sweaters.
My design crush on Thom Filicia, if this is even possible, just grew a little bigger. He did a Designer Visions showhouse for House Beautiful and was asked to base his design on a movie. Well, as the astrological design stars aligned, Thom picked The Big Chill – which just happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time!
And I’m not just excited because of our shared interests, the showhouse wasn’t so shabby either. I’m jumping over backwards for the master bedroom; its totally glamorous. Major props for the mismatched night stands, it adds interest but the matching table heights and reading lamps gives it a cohesive look.
It’s snowing in Boston today. Oh and also, it’s October 18th. How does that happen?
What would be really nice on this snowy October Sunday is a crackling fire. Unfortunately, my fireplace is only decorative. So some decorative fireplace eye candy will have to keep me warm instead!
Images via Domino, Cottage Living, Domino
Getting back to the grind after a long weekend wasn’t too bad today, and I think it was partially more manageable because I had such a fun weekend. I saw my sister, went hiking and leaf-peeping with my boyfriend and had a day of Fall fun with my girlfriends. We spent the day at the SOWA Open Market, browsing the flea market and taking in the sights and scents of Fall.
I can’t believe I’ve lived here for six years and never once went to this market before; it was a great browsing adventure and I even scored a few finds: a vintage Reiner record — I love the colors and text — to frame for my wall, and some fun eggplant beads.
I was eyeing these vintage suitcases, but unfortunately they weren’t for sale… the woman manning the booth used them to transport the jewelry she was selling.
The best part of the market was eyeing all of the gorgeously displayed and richly colored produce at the farm booths:
The weather, the smells, the clothes… everything fell into place for one of those quintessential Autumn weekends, even our cocktails were Fall colors!
It’s time to celebrate, this is my 100th post! Just eight short months ago I started DomestiKatedLife and let me tell you, it’s getting more fun with each click of the ‘publish’ button. So I thought for the big 100 I’d share some eChampagne and decorate with tissue pom-poms. I adore the Martha Stewart pom-pom kits and love the ways that people have incorporated them for parties and sometimes even in their every-day decor… afterall, we should be festive every chance we get!
Images via Country Living, Martha Stewart, DesignSponge, and Star+Flower Flickr stream
I’ve finally had some time to really delve into the Ikea 2010 catalog, after it sat, staring me in the face on my coffee table for the past two weeks, begging for attention. While the selection of new products didn’t turn on any light bulbs over my head, I was impressed by the styling. Several of the room spreads were a big departure from their usual stark-sweedish-modern aesthetic, and seemed to be pulling inspiration from designers and shelter mags. I played a little game of memory and matched up a few of my favorite pictures from the catalog with similar counterparts…
This Ikea room is a ringer for the masculine library featured below (via this is glamorous), as well the eclectic mix featured in a Domino spread.
And in a brighter, more playfully styled room, this Ikea room seems to draw in the inspiration of Nick Olson and Miles Redd (both from features in Domino).
In my frenzy of leaving for a long weekend, I realized I never posted a picture of my Craigslist score! Meet my new (old) Crate and Barrel couch:
For $150 (plus a little elbow grease on behalf of my boyfriend who moved it AND cleaned the upholstery with a steam cleaner), I think it’s a major upgrade!
Now I need some end tables…
I was impressed by this surprising DIY inspiration in In Style magazine… using metallic tape to frame out some faux architectural detail on a wall.
I’m not sure if I would start taping out designs on my walls, but it could look cute wrapped around the base of a lamp shade, or even applied to some hand made note cards?
There are some versions of the tape sold with backing that I found on Amazon.com. Imagine taking one of these new Martha Stewart edge punches and getting the detail in metallic? Some ideas are brewing…
Things I’m currently very excited about:
I found a new (old) couch on craigslist. It popped up on Apartment Therapy’s scavenger, which I sometimes browse because they take out some of the hassle of thumbing through thousands of uglies before you find your gem.
The couch is an older version of Crate and Barrel’s Cameron sofa and I’m just elated to finally have a grown-up couch to replace my junky old college one! Plus, I bargained and talked the owner down to half the original asking price! Mom would be proud.
And in other exciting news, I heard a rumor that Jonathan Adler is taking on Boston and opening a Newbury Street shop. Sure enough, a little googling revealed they’re currently hiring store managers and a visual confirmation was found on Diary of a Yummy Mummy. 
Would it be unreasonable to leave my career and salary to be a shop girl at an Adler store? I think I would be the happiest girl in the world rolling around in faux zebra rugs and union jack embroidered pillows all day!
To top off my list of exciting things, my 2010 Ikea catalog finally came in the mail, and I’m oozing with happiness as I start the first of many many many reads.
