Here's a little old school domino on a Dime, though I've never seen one of these Water Mill Tables from Mecox Gardens in the mag:

Love the X's but it's 950 bucks.  Target takes away one X on the back and begs you to buy this Delano Small Bookcase for a tenth of the price:

I bet you could pop/saw off the back panel and make it more of an etagere. Such a deal!

Why must West Elm try to reinvent the wheel?

This random cutout headboard reminds me of a stained glass window in a 1970s Methodist church. Or the bedroom in one of those badly staged model units in the glass condo going up next door.
*Putting down my bottle of Hatorade*
WE finds redemption with this new headboard upholstered in jute with nailhead trim:

Judging from the photo this could pass for custom upholstery. No weird asymmetry or postmodern slope-iness or fat biscuiting or chenille texture. Not every stick of furniture needs a ta-dah! factor.

Fancy schmancy fabric showrooms are pretty protective about their overstock and discontinued items. Scalamandre for one has a big annual sale but I'm not sure it's open to the public. For the layperson sites like Discount Fabrics USA offer a ton of "designer" fabrics from collections (seemingly decades) past and while many are fugly with a capital "F" some have major throwback appeal, like this nautical Rigging Trellis from Brunschwig & Fils, 67% off the list price at $23.81/yard:

And this charming Picnic Plaid by Pashma Picasso (Paloma's sister?) for $14.49:

And finally this begging-to-be-revived 80s stripe in black, fuschia, gold and teal from Ralph Lauren, 73% off at $16.81/yard:

Can't you see it on a sofa in a library with cranberry lacquered walls and a gold Savonnerie rug? So very Bonfire of the Vanities.

It's too easy to type in West Elm and snap up a little knockoff piece o' happy. Finding something stylish at perennial punch line Jennifer Convertibles, however, is next to impossible. But where else can you get a sofabed for $299? Craigslist? That's a good deal, and while not adorable, this Softee (dying inside) has potential:

I like the thin little arms (eat your heart out, Mischa Barton!) and would paint the legs black. Or maybe you have a granny or a neighbor who's handy with a sewing machine and wants to make you a slipcover in exchange for mowing the lawn or correctly filling up her MTWTFSS pill organizer? The Softee needs less bulbous seat cushions boxed out with contrast piping, and square throw pillows instead of dumpy side cushions. Good start or lost cause? Discuss.

Home Decorators Collection is like the Ikea of Middle American Design. So much merch to choose from! The following occasional tables are made from cheap materials and you have to assemble some yourself, but they're like blank canvases. Get out the spray paint and stencils and make 'em your own:

Their Slick Cube for $99 each. I actually like this as-is, but wouldn't it look cool splatter-painted in different colors?

The Yield End Table for 89 bucks. I'd stencil white chevrons on the black top.

Campaign Style Accent Table: this is a ton of style for 99 bucks! I'm sure the brass edge looks hideous so I'd paint that part black to match the rest, and maybe paint the tray top Chinese red.

As a recovering compulsive hoarder I now take serious pleasure in throwing stuff away/donating/recycling.  Especially little bits of paper and packaging.  Sean once had to write me a note on a paper towel: "Nick, there isn't one sheet of paper in your entire apartment."  I like it that way!!  So I'm a bit of a hippo (let's all start calling hypocrites "hippos") for recommending these little notebooks from Kiosk for $12, but they're just so friggin' adorable:

I know they'd bring out the compulsive listmaker in me.  I also think the colors would make a pretty room: mustard is THE color for Fall 2008!  Pale blue wall, mustard linen curtain trimmed with teal, butter yellow headboard piped in mustard?  Anyone? ANYONE?? 

I'm on a lighting tear right now and realized I never post on floor lamps. Why? I'm a little ambivalent about the full-size variety. I like a reading level floor lamp next to a sofa but would also have a side table to set a drink on with a lamp as well. A pair of floors flanking a sofa without tables looks awkward. A single floor lamp in a dim corner looks forced. The domino site (now searchable!!) says to try a big 'un next to a dining table in lieu of a chandelier -- I like. Next to a small desk to save workspace seems right too. In any case, here are my top five floor lamps under $200:

CB2's photography floor lamp ($99.95).

PBteen's "Lighten Up Torchere" (groaning on the name, loving the navy blue) for $129

The classic pharmacy tent lamp for $169.99

This cool adjustable lamp for $149.91 from Lamps Plus

And finally this EL CHEAPO GRANDE Arc Paper Lantern from Target. $34.99! But I'd definitely get a 30-inch paper lantern from Pearl River to replace their dinky cream one.

In terms of overall style for the money Williams-Sonoma Home is probably my favorite chain, but their prices are always just a smidgem on the high side. That's why God invented sales, you say? Agreed. They're having one right now and I think this polished steel lamp looks mucho chic-o for $179.99 (originally $295):

I love everything about it except that little conical piece at the top. Seems like the hardware should begin there or else it needs another _______ (whatever you call that washer thingee between the sphere and the rectangular prism).
UPDATE: Savvy commenter fleurdesel correctly identified this lamp as a riff on Philippe Barbier's 1960s design, available for $2400 at Gallery 33 in Westport:

Learn something new everyday -- thanks fleurdesel!!

So I love Anthropologie but they've got some nerve charging $128 for a pair of these bamboo folding chairs:

Target tags these speckled brown ones at $69.99 for two:

Different color, EXACT SAME CHAIR. And I know I bought two of these a few years ago at Linens N Things for twenty bucks each but can't find them on their site. Anybody spot 'em at World Market or elsewhere?

I think this might be the nicest, simplest bed frame for the money:

The Matchbox from CB2, $599 for a queen.  Available in lobster orange or white lacquer (actually prefer the white but it disappears on their backdrop) with little black block feet that I might paint white. I like how they point out the mitered corner detail because the alternative tops my list of Chain Store Pet Peeves.  By that I mean the Stonehenge effect of Ikea and West Elm and CB2's Parsons tables and such.  Is it that much more expensive to miter a corner?  I guess so.  Caveat: the drop-in mattress.  Does anyone have a trick for making up these beds?  I used to bust my fingers trying to achieve hospital corners on my old Malm.

Not exactly a decorating deal today, but I've been on the receiving end of enough free publicity that I'm overdue to pay it forward.  Karma's a boomerang, people!  A friend has started Jack + Bill, a pop-up public relations agency within Porter Novelli, who will be doing FREE PR for fashion up-and-comers this summer, leading up to Fashion Week. They're actually holding a "casting call" to choose a women's apparel designer, jewelry designer, model and fashion stylist to be their clients next Tuesday, July 15 and Wednesday, July 16 from 3-9 p.m at Sandbox Studios (250 Hudson Street, at Broome Street. 11th Floor). 

So all you beautiful, creative, and design-y folks in the NY area and beyond better head over to Hudson Street tomorrow to try out for some Free Pimpin' !!

Somehow I managed to get a reputation in the office for liking 'muddy' colors, meaning those with a lot of brown or grey or general dreariness thrown into the mix. 

I show Miles a wallpaper I just got at the D&D: "Maybe for your Bruce Weber mud hut."
I show Miles a floral print I like: "Your eyes just light up when they see mud, don't they?"

But they don't! Really!  At least not anymore.  Pure, fresh colors are most often the way to go ... even Urban Outfitters has ditched many of their orange-brown-olive Brady Bunch tapestries for poppy colors on a white background:




$36 each so for a 108" x 90" panel that's about $7/yard.  I love how Urban's site shows on walls, which is where I think they work best -- throw in a matching headboard and curtains, why not?  Since I'm having a blue moment this one may be my favorite though it's definitely more 70s:

Brunschwig & Fils carries an old, bold chintz in these colors that I'm DYING to bring back. 

I often find it easier to speak in free association pop culture references and movie quotes than carry on an actual conversation.  For instance when I saw this garden stool on sale at Pier 1

I immediately launch into Kay's spirited monologue in 9th grade drama, from The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard:

"That's cobalt blue! That's a painting term, cobalt blue! (She continues.) ... And he taught me that old chairs may be more than just old chairs to be thrown away.  That some of 'em may be real beautiful."

Don't I know it, Abby/Kay!!  While we're at it, there has been a Stool Boom of sorts lately, no?  I'm sure Sears will be selling 'em before long.  But I still think they're chic and useful as drinks tables (seating, not so much), and this blue beauty is quite a steal at $69.

Forgive me, loyal readers, for my delinquent deal-hunting.  I've been baking under the Florida sun and apart from a $20 blender, cassette deck iPod adapter for my old jambox, and a new hair product called Texture Dirt, the deals have been a bit few and far between.  That was until yesterday -- after prime sun hours, of course -- when we dropped into Subterranean Books in Warrington.  A sweet lady stood charge while a leathery little man played an acoustic classic rock medley in the middle of the store. My question: why are old paperbacks so much prettier?  I mean, I know the text is the same (by the way I've read three novels this year! THREE!) but cover art seems like a dying art to me.  I snapped up The Plague by Albert Camus and Return to Peyton Place for a little high-low action:


5 bucks for both.  Also loved this psychedelic old cover for The Crying of Lot 49:

So why not visit your local used bookstore (or Amazon or Abebooks.com) for your beach read?  You recycle, save $$ and get some style for your bookcase or coffee table.

As much as I love a deal I draw the line at sleeping outside the new Red Hook IKEA for a free sofa. Some folks did just that! Though I still haven't been I'm super pumped about having a Big Blue Box nearby as there are some in-store only items I covet, like their selection of fabrics:

Max price on these above is only $7.99/yard, compared to Marimekko, which can cost over a hundred dollars per repeat (never fails to confuse me). IKEA's bolts are 59" wide.

Has every trend been done to death?  One minute I love horn tchotchkes and then a million votive candle holders later I'm completely over it.  Maybe that's why Decorno took a vacation ... too much ikat! and pretty! ... and maybe it's why I get a kick out of curiosities like this globe mobile from Z Gallerie:

Where does this go?  Over a crib?  Or multiples over a long table for an "Around the World in 80 Days"-themed dinner party?  I love the variety of scales and colors, especially the little black and grey cutie on the left.  You could also snip the cords and mount them on low stands on a library table or bookcase. $69.95 each.

HomeDecorators is the sort of catalog Carmela Soprano might browse when she needs a new bathroom vanity. Terrifying!  But they also have some good deals.  To wit the handwoven wicker shoe storage cabinet for $299:

I personally have no room in my closet for another pair of Topsiders and I hate those behind-the-door hanging shoe baggies.  This solves the problem in a really simple piece of furniture.  Wicker can be bulky or unnecessarily frou-frou, but I love the symmetrical design of the 42-incher with its shallow drawers and little wicker ball feet.  I see it paired with their kiddie "Tommy" mirror, which if painted different colors could have a nice Memphis quality.   

Once again Club Monaco and I are totally *NSYNC.  A few weeks ago I found the perfect t-shirt at a store in Bushwick: bright red with "Emilio's Greenwich Village" and a cartoon of the famous arch across the front, both in white. "This is my uniform for summer," I told Sean. Red and white feels so fresh right now, no?  Well then I walk into Da Club and it's all this combo, some of the mannies even in white suits and PINK shirts with red knit ties. Divine! Does Miles moonlight in visual merchandising?  Anyway I say take the red and white check off your tablecloth (or your Arafat scarf from Urban Outfitters) and adhere it to your kitchen walls.  Hancock fabrics sells this 1" polyester check for only $3.49 a yard:

The more tame of heart might cut up this 12 dollar vinyl tablecloth and use it as a (wipable) backsplash.

I recently met a very nice and very preggers gal named Rita (no, not ours) and she just sent me all sorts of great finds for her nursery. Fave among them is the BabyMod collection from, of all places, Wal-Mart:

This 3-drawer changer table -- 36" high if you can't tell -- is so simple and only $249.98.  Now I'm no expert on baby furniture, but this looks suspiciously like David Netto's eponymous collection of mod baby cuteness, still the gold standard in my opinion:

Apparently I'm not the first to notice.  Blog daddytypes.com (typing that makes me giggle) called BabyMod's first collection "Netto in a fog" and pointed out similarities of their newer 'Olivia' crib to one made by Oeuf (what a charmingly bougey name ... French for egg!  ... you see, babies are made when  ... oh you get it ).  Sure, the Wal-Mart crib is about a third of the price and you'll ditch it in three years, but what if you end up having more than one little tricylcle motor around the house?  Any parents out there have thoughts on cheap vs. expensive baby gear? Does quality count all that much?

Our own Scrappy Girl is on the hunt for a lighting deal, and like I always say, a web editor-friend in need is a friend indeed.  The "green" cooking light she posted definitely has an army hospital chic about it, but for 2 x $195 I'd rather collect the post-consumer product myself.  A commenter found a similar option on street in NY for a DOLLAR -- the luck -- and here it is a Lighting by Gregory for $45.50:

You want green?  I'll show you green:

This one's my favorite.  Trust me, hunter green is not just for Jansports anymore.  It's cool again.  If Scrap wants a more industrial vibe this 15" Ikea pendant trumps her $65 Home Depot light that looks like the two above.  It's $19.99:

But I prefer the old-fashioned lines and black cord on one from Aubuchon Hardware for $42.99 (bad pic):

Cathy, keep us updated on the progress!

I'm loving photographer Matt Albiani's beach house and NYC pad in the new issue. (Note to domino: 600 square feet is NOT 'tiny' by West Village standards!)  It's as if the man lives in Freemans, hopefully minus the hour and a half wait to sit down.  Scale is key: follow the chunky sofa to the simple eating-height coffee table down to the curvy slipper chair and art (is that a boogie board I spy?) propped on the floor in the corner.  Yet what I'm really digging is his mom's trippy needlepoint pillow, the only color in the room.  Jonathan Adler has brought these back in a big way but his "granny chic" is still pretty mod.  I prefer unreconstructed old lady: