Suzani

When I saw this photo of an antique suzani hanging in Lindsay Reid's home featured in House Beautiful's June issue, I thought, 'That's it.  Love."

{Lindsay Reid's house featured in House Beautiful Magazine's June issue}

First of all, I'm crazy about layering large pieces of artwork/ textiles behind other pieces of furniture.  I love the layering, the overlap, the defiance of rules... 

And second, I've been collecting pictures of crewel work & suzani for a while now, and I have to admit that they've grown on me in the strangest way.  They were definitely a huge trend and it wasn't love at first sight for me, but definitely intrigue.  The pattens themselves didn't completely float my boat right away, but I did love the handmade nature & detail & colors.   Once I saw this suzani used such a practical & perfect situation, it became love.  (I'm really not very good at paying attention to whether trends are in or out, I end up just liking what I like, not knowing/ wanting to know if it's in or out.)

"Suzani is a type of embroidered decorative tribal textile made in certain Central Asian countries.  Suzani comes from the Persian word "suzan" which means needle.  Popular design motifs include sun and moon disks, flowers, leaves and vines, fruits (especially pomegranates), and occasional fish and birds.  The oldest surviving suzanis are from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but it seems likely that they were in use long before that. " (info via wikipedia)  It entails stitching one fabric on top of another groundcloth.

I've always been a bit foggy about the difference between suzanis and crewelwork designs so I looked into it.

Here's a close-up of a crewelwork pillow used by Peter Dunham:

... In this dining area I mentioned last week:

{Design by Peter Dunham featured in House Beautiful}

Crewelwork is an embroidery technique that is at least a thousand years old and suzanis are just type of textile that are created using crewelwork.  (Other crewelwork textiles include Jacobean embroidery & Quaker Tapestry and the list goes on & on.)

Crwelwork runs gamut from Traditional English textiles to Eastern Tribal textiles.

Anyway, one of the most common suzani themes is the medallions/ discs...

Here's another of my favorite spaces using a suzani layered over a settee paired with a (gorgeous!!) framed antique ikat.  (Again, I love the layering of the piece behind the settee.)  This was the first photo I saw (in March of 2009) that really piqued my interest in suzanis.

{Anne Becker's apartment featured in Elle Decor}

Here are some rooms featuring suzanis in unique ways.  Here it's used as a room divider:

{From Domino via Style-files.com}

I love the fresh pink & aqua scheme & it's used as a rug:

{Elle Decor}

They are particularly gorgeous framed:

{IMage via In Every Corner}

And I love them layered on beds:

{Domino via Little Green Notebook}

..And one last picture of a suzani as a hanging tapestry:

{Image via Laura U}

Hope you're having a great week!  (This is my husband's last week of school- yay!!!)  Also, thanks so much for all of the sweet comments about the Home & Design feature.  I really apreciate it!!

For some more posts on suzanis, check out:

Cote de Texas- Written in '07 with serious detail & sources

Little Green Notebook - has some great framing ideas & sources for purchasing

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

The Skinny on Buying Roman Shades: Custom Vs. Standard

I love roman shades.  I use them on pretty much any & every window that needs privacy.  (Shutters are beautiful too but we'll get into those another time.)  There are so many different types and price points that I thought it might be helpful to break it down. 

1.  The main materials that can be used for roman shades are
 fabrics:

{A room by Steven Gambrel}

 and natural woven materials:

{Image Source unknown via Little Green Notebook}

2.  There are many cases when roman shades are beautiful/ functional on their own & should be used alone.  It offers a clean, simple look.  Here in the kitchen, is a kid-friendly solution (i.e. no food mess on curtains) with custom natural woven roman shades with privacy lining:

{Our breakfast nook, smith + noble tortoise shell bamboo waterfall shades}

 A client's living room (pictured "before" below) had a set of french doors on the left side and a double window on the right side.  When I first arrived, I knew we needed to fix the imbalance of having curtain panels on one side and not the other:

{Client Living Room Below}

Because the door wouldn't have been functional with curtain panels, and because I wanted balance, I used roman shades only (no curtains) on both sides.  I wish I had a better view of this room, (I still need to go back for finished photos)  but I had custom pleated balloon shades installed behind the newly added crown molding for a seamless casually elegant look:

{A client's living room.  My task was to keep all existing furnishings, artwork, etc. and update it.}

3.  I also love to layer roman shades with curtain panels. It's functional (panels can remain stationary and roman shades go up & down for privacy) and beautiful (You get 2 opportunities to add texture/ pattern to a room instead of just 1.)  It adds layers & creates a warmer look than curtains alone.  They can be mounted inside the window or outside the window. 

I often have them mounted above the window and outside of the trim ("outside mount") to allow as much of the window to show as possible and to give the illusion that the window continues higher than it really does which visually heightens the entire room.  (It makes smaller rooms feel more spacious and large-medium rooms feel grander.)  I did this in a client's living room here:

{A client's living room:  custom lined linen curtains & custom natural woven roman shades with privacy lining}

In my own living room, (below) I used non-custom cotton roman shades from Sears.  (The color I used was "natural" and it looks like a warm white.) I mounted them outside the widows (again, to give the illusion of larger windows and also to hide the window frames on my old 70s window) and I paired them with "custom" (I made them myself because I couldn't afford to have them made) unlined white linen curtains. (I went with unlined linen because I love how the light shines through & it's a natural, relaxed look.) 

{Our dining room}

Here (below) I used the same non-custom Sears roman shades in "white" in our family room with no curtains.  Because of our budget, in our house I try to use non-custom shades wherever I can.  The cost difference between custom and non-custom is amazing.  (Approx $30 for the noncustom Sears shades below and maybe around $150-$250 or so- depending upon fabric- for a custom version.) 

4.  Custom vs. Standard Fabric shades:  Let me be frank: you get what you pay for.  The ONLY reason I don't have custom shades on every window in my own home is because we can't spend money there right now.  I love the look of certain standard shade styles but there is a difference in quality.  Custom shades pull up & down smoothly & evenly, whereas I have to play with some of my my non-custom shades to get them to hang right & evenly.  (Sears' larger sizes - 48" and up I think) are much of a better quality than their smaller sizes.  They use a metal chain pulley system and go up and down smoothly but I've noticed there's a slight varience in the color of the fabrics between the large and small sizes--- arggg.  But the price was right.  My advice is to buy the best you can afford.  Consider the non-custom shades to give you the look you want and plan on upgrading in the future if you want/ need to.  Custom fabric shades are made to order so you you can use any fabric you like and the style selection is practically endless.  Use a local shades fabricator to get the exact fabric and style you need.  (If you don't have one, consider hiring a decorator/ designer to assist.  Calico Corners also makes custom shades.)  This typically costs more than going with a company like smith + noble who has a limited selection of fabrics to choose from. 

5.  Custom vs. Standard Natural Woven Shades:  If you simply want the look and won't be using them often (in a space where you don't really need the privacy) I recommend the non-custom shades for a great look without the expense.  In our toddler's room we went with the non-custom unlined natural woven shades from Home Depot (for around $40) because he's so short anyone looking in wouldn't be able to see him anyway when he's not dressed.  (And of course because these shades would have been close to $400 if they were custom.)  The shades are also over the bed & so would be a pain to open & close whether they were custom or non-custom, but I love the look of these Home Depot shades for anyone who wants "the look" without the functionality & privacy needs:

{Our toddler's bedroom}

Again, you get what you pay for.  If you need high-quality. smooth & easily operables shades, then you will need to pay more. 

6. Tips for non-custom natural woven or "matchstick" shades:  Most non-custom companies sell their natural woven shades unlined.  A few have liners you can purchase and add on separately.  You could also attempt adding your own lining if you're crafty.  The unlined shades significantly darken the room and filter the light but at night they're virtually see-through from the outside when your interior lights are on.  Just google "natural woven roman shades"/ 'matchstick shades" and a bunch of options will pop up.  (Target, Home Depot, Sears all have them online.)

7. Tips for Custom natural woven roman shades:  I love smith + noble's selection of natural woven roman shades.   Different materials vary in prices.  There are a lot of other amazing brands out there but I simply used smith + noble first and loved theirs.  I've heard great things about many other companies and will surely be trying some out in the future.

The decision to go with fabric shades or natural woven shades depends upon the feeling you want your space to have.   Go here to check out some different styles of fabric roman shades.   

I hope this helps & good luck!!

Pronunciation of Design Terms

Have you ever come to a point when you are about to say a word out loud & realize that you've never actually spoken it before & are unsure of the pronunciation? You've read it a thousand time & know its definintion but are now embarrassed to say it?

I think this happens a lot to book worms (myself included) who've been reading a word for years & have never looked up its pronunciation. Being mostly self-taught, when I first started out in this field a couple of years ago, I realized there were lots of design terms that fell into this category. (And I'm sure I'll run into more.) I thought I'd share a few that I hear pronouced differently all the time and others that rarely get spoken out loud. I looked them up to get non-biased pronunciations:

Damask: "damn-esk" (with the emphasis on the first syllable)

Jacquard: "Jack-ard" (with emphasis on the first syllable)

Ikat: "ee-kot"

Chinoiserie: "Sheen-waz-er-ee" (image from here)

Patina: "pa-tee-na" or "pa-tin-a"

Grisaille: "griz-ai" (pronounced just like "Versailles") Click here to read a previous post on them.

Etagere: "Ay-taj-eir" (with "taj" pronounced like the "taj" in "Taj Mahal") (image from here)

Klismos: "kliz-moss"

And finally, a name I hear pronounced every which way to Sunday is "Vicente Wolf." Now I'm not sure exactly how he pronounces his name himself, but looking up the pronunciation of "Vicente" you get "Vee-sent-ee"... we might have to "ask Vicente!"

I'm sure a lot of you have probably known these terms for years but maybe some of you, like me, are newer to the design world or had just never spoken the words out loud. (I mean honestly, how many times does the word "grisaille" come up in causal conversation?!) I think it's important for us all to be okay asking questions and to be okay admitting we don't know it all. You learn so much more once you've realized how much you have yet to learn.

xoxo,

lauren

ps- I know I've forgotten a bunch so if there are any more of these words that we hear pronouced lots of diffferent ways or anything you're just unsure of, be sure to mention it in the comments section! I'll post them below! :)

Matelasse: "Maht-luh-sey"

"Natural" Rugs: Seagrass, Sisal, Jute, Synthetic & Wool Rugs: The Low-Down

Washington Post Blogwatch October 1, 2009




I have (or have had) almost all of these rugs somewhere in my home with the exception of sisal. And there's definitely a time & place for each of them, depending upon the maintenance, kid, pet & softness factors. Here's a quick overview of my thoughts & experiences with the rugs.

1--- SEAGRASS--- In my family room/ office/hangout room, we installed wall-to-wall seagrass just like this (below) and we absolutely LOVE it:

And here's the lowdown on seagrass:

1) THE WAIVER: The company we bought it from made us sign a waiver saying that seams would be visible and that we understood it would fray and that there would be a smell. The seagrass we purchased also came with its own attached rug pad which would make for a quicker install.

2) THE SMELL: On the day of the install, the smell was SO BAD I was scared. I have a really sensitive nose & whatever glue they used when mixed with the straw-smell of the seagrass honestly smelled like animal urine. BUT a few days later, when all of the glue had dried, we were left with just the "hay smell" of segrass, which I love.     ...I have learned from my mistake and it's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you ask your installer to use a glue with little or no smell.  We used a different glue in our bedroom and the hay smell is all we have. :)

3) THE SEAMS: The seams are not visible. (we had a good installer & he did seal down the seams and all edges) But the rug is also connected so that the natural lines in the rug are in a row... It looks perfect and you can't even tell even when trying to find the seams.

4) THE FRAYING: So far, so good and we have a dog with long nails who runs all over it. I'm sure it will (and probably already has & I haven't noticed) pull up in places but it's pretty simple to just snip loose fibers with a pair of scissors. It's a natural rug & will get flaws, but they really aren't very noticeable.

5) THE CARE: A-mazing! It's recommended to vaccuum once a week (okay, okay, when things slow down I'll get to that) and you can even sweep these rugs clean! I hate to gross you all out (but want to give you the REAL scoop) --- My toddler had an accident on it last week and it all just pooled in one spot without soaking in and I was able to blot it up really easily. Then I sprayed it down with a natural cleaner (probably a no-no but I was grossed out) and wiped it up with towels. There's no mark, no smell and it looks just like the rest of the rug. Because the grass is from the water, it resists stains & water marks. You also really can't see dirt at all and when we have gotten mud on it, we just allowed it to dry and then swept up the dirt.

6) THE SOFTNESS FACTOR: Seagrass is actually pretty smooth and hard. It's actually more like a hard floor than a rug. It's just as fine for kids to crawl across as hardwood or any other hard surface but isn't ideal for play areas where they'll spend a lot of floor-time. BUT it's GORGEOUS with other rugs layered over it. In our family room in the TV/ play area, we layered an old wool rug over it, which is perfect for playing, lounging & wrestling... (I thought I'd let you see it in all its messy-primary-colored-toy-glory)   Many people complain that it hurts their feet and I have to admit that late at night and early in the morning when it was first installed, it hurt my feet, but now it doesn't bother me at all, even when I'm tired. 

7) EXTRA INFO: Since it's natural, its color changes over time. It starts out with more of a green tinge and eventually tans. If you are layering rugs, the area under the rug might stay green longer because the moisture is being protected under there so keep that in mind of you plan on moving rugs around seasonally. (Similar to sun discoloration on hardwoods) Eventually, after being exposed for long enough, the difference shouldn't be noticeable. Weels also work on this rug which is perfect for the wheely desk chairs in my office & also for Christian's scooter. Joni from Cote de Texas has a beautiful & information-packed post about seagrass which (if you haven't already read) you should definitely check out here.

2--- SISAL---- Sisal rugs are another gorgeous option for natural rugs. (For banding, I like colors that blend with the natural color of the rug vs. colors)

The LOWDOWN on sisal:

1) THE CARE: The maintenance is a bit higher for sisal than seagrass. Water can STAIN it although doesn't always.  It depends upon the specific rug. 

2) SOFTNESS FACTOR: It's rough & scratchy. It's not smooth like seagrass and has a rough, frayed rope-like texture. NOT good for baby & kid knees or lounging yourself, but again, is the perfect rug to use in a room you don't need to be on the floor in, or to layer under a softer rug.

3) USES: It is also beautiful installed wall to wall a living room or bedroom.

I love all of the gorgeous textured options available with sisal.  (Think Stark's Diamond sisal pattern!! :)

** I've gotten several comment from people who have had sisal for years & have had no staining issues!!! .. But have also heard from people who have had the staining issues so it seems there's some variance! ***

3---WOOL LOOK-ALIKES----- Because I love the look of sisal (above) but needed a softer rug, I chose a custom wool area rug for my living room that looks like sisal (below) and had it banded in cotton. (I wanted to go thicker & linen on the banding but the price jump was insane so I settled) You can have these made at carpet stores.

1) MAINTENANCE: Easy. Same as any other wool rug. We haven't gotten any spills other than water on it (which has been fine) but for any tough stains/ spills, I would just use some warm, slightly soapy water and a rag to blot/work out. The color & texture hides dirt too! yay!! And, because its wool, it'll last for years & wear really well.

2) SOFTNESS FACTOR: It's not super-plush or thick because it has that sisal look, but is very soft for kids & babies. My son is on it all the time and no raw knees. My husband has also taken naps on it with no complaints.

3) SEAMS: We didn't have to get any seams done but wouldn't have had to sign any waivers for this one, so I'm assuming they would be fine, especially with the striped texture. This carpet came 13 feet wide so I had to cheat a tiny bit in the entry/ book shelf area of the room. It is about 2" shorter in that one section (below on the left) than would have been perfect but isn't really noticeable in person and saved me about $1000.00 (We would have had to almost double the amount needed for those couple of inches because you have to buy the whole width and we also would have had to pay for seaming.)

3) STYLE FACTOR: Again, I love the look. It looks like a natural woven rug but is super-soft. I also love it layered with other rugs and plan on switching them in & out seasonally. Below you can see part of the hide rug I have under the coffee table right now:

And here's a (very blurry) close-up so you can see the texture. It's ribbed multi-tonal texture which is what make it look like a natural-fiber rug.

4---SYNTHETIC RUGS----- In our old townhome, we also had a wall-to-wall synthetic carpet installed that looked very much like sisal. It was by Shaw and is called "sisal touch." (Our color was "fawn" and it was just beautiful.) WE LOVED IT. Here it is below and I'm sorry there's not a close-up because it's actually ribbed & has a subtle two-tone striped pattern. (actually very similar to the rug above, but lighter colors.) This rug is the perfect alternative to the generic berber.

1) MAINENANCE: Synthetic so it cleans up amazingly well. We had some SERIOUS spills on this one- don't want to gross you out but think- getting sick, new baby, dog, ,ud, even wine. Everything came out with a mix of warm water & normal dish soap. (Read that in Real Simple & this easy mixture even gets blood out.) We also had it going up our stairs & it didn't show a thing.


2) SEAMS: We had seams & they weren't visible. The ribbed/ striped textured hid it all.


3) PETS: Like I said, all stains came up perfectly & her long toe nails didn't pull the fibrs/ loops up at all (although they told us they would.)


4) SOFTNESS: a dream. Again, not as soft as plush carpet, but like a berber. SO FAMILY-FRIENDLY.


5) STYLE: Just beautiful and had multiple people use it in their own homes after seeing it. It's gorgeous (and super-practical) going up the stairs with a NY roll (when they tuck it around the tread top instead of going straight down) too!





5--- JUTE RUGS-----



1) MAINTENANCE: laughable. I took the WORST care ever of our jute rugs & they looked fine. They kind of eat your dirt. You can just vacuum them. I've had ours in the kitchen & even spilled salsa (I know, gross!) in ours and just wiped it with a rag & then blotted it with a wet rag to get the stain out.




2)PETS: Great for pets. Like I said, these things eat your dirt so they just sort of suck up the hair & you can vacuum it off.
3) SOFTNESS FACTOR: There are a lot of jute-chenille blends that are actually very soft but full jute isn't as soft. Jute is thicker than sisal & seagrass and also softer, but still not super-soft unless it's a blend. Ours is full jute and it is more like a foot-massager (which I love to walk on) but I wouldn't recommend it for a kids' play area or somewhere that you want to hang out on the floor. All that being said, jute-chenille blends can be the perfect choice for a kid/ baby play area because they can be really soft, so just be sure to check out the specific sample & see what you think. (They vary widely)
4) STYLE FACTOR: I LOVE the look of jute. It's so chucky & warm-looking and adds so much texture to a room.

5) INTERESTING TIDBITS: The fibers in a jute rug sort of wear and underneath it (if you don't clean under your rugs often and I SO don't) you get this weird sort of dirt & fiber dust. (My poor mother-in-law was helping us clean & when she lifted the rug to sweep under it, got to see it in all its glory!) I'm not really bothered by the fiber dust under there but just thought you might want to know! ***I've also gotten some comments in about people bothered by the fibers sticking them them when they lay down on the rug--- mine didn't do this but apparently some do, so you might want to check these out in person if you plan on napping on them!

And that's all I can think of for now on these rugs... Anyway, let me know if you have any questions & I'll post answers at the end of the post! {I have to apologize also because I lost my sources for the bottom & top images in this post, so if anyone knows where they're from, let me know & I can add the sources in here!}

Also this place has some great options & prices & they deliver on-time & quickly: http://www.naturalarearugs.com/
xoxo,
lauren
Question: For either the wool-look alike or the seagrass...would you go to a carpet store to have a large rug cut? Answer- for the wool look-alike , yes, because it's not something I've seen a lot of ready-made, but for the seagrass, it would be cheaper to look around for ready-made online. Try here: http://www.naturalarearugs.com/seagrass_mountaingrass/
Question: I'm extremely anal about having fibers all over the place -- so which out of jute, jute blend and wool would have the least amount of dust generated from the rugs themselves? Answer: the jute is probably the worst for dust & fibers so I would go with the wool look-alike if I were you. Unfortunately, wool is also the most expensive. (But worth it to me!)
Question: Is Pottery Barn a good place to get the rugs, or is there a more affordable place? Answer: Check out that link above.. And also google in the rug you're looking for and see what comes up. Lots of internet stores have lower prices than Pottery Barn & I usually order from online unless I need custom. (The good thing about PB is you can check it out in the stores.)
Question: My concern is that I have a black sofa, mid-century modern medium-wood furniture, and a huge modern painting with reds and yellows and blacks. My friends say I need a black/grey/red rug - but I want to keep the floor light. Thoughts on using light natural fiber rugs with dark furnishings? Answer: I think you're fine to go with natural fiber rugs & dark furnishings. In fact, I think it's really gorgeous. I think the natural rugs give a modern room some texture & some more depth. I'm not one for thinking everything has to "match" perfectly & I'm sure a natural rug would work beautifully with your wood furniture. You can always add a fun zebra hide over it to pull in the black.
Question: I want a seagrass rug so badly. But I have new hardwood floors, and I have been told that the latex backing on the seagrass rugs interact with the chemicals in the finish on the floor, and the latex backing will stick to the hardwood and be impossible to remove, causing the floor to have to be refinished. So.......I'm looking for a seagrass rug without a latex backing. Then the rug will slip and I'll fall and bust my ***. What is a girl to do? Answer: I think you could add a rug pad (that's safe for wood floors of course) underneath of the seagrass/latex.

The Classic Pedestal Table

According to amishtables.com , "The pedestal table was originally designed for smaller rooms and to give an air of status. They were popular because of their functionality and almost all homes had one in some form. Just like today, they could be put to use in an elegant dining room or as a gaming table for friends and family to gather around." (table above by Identity Craft and image below from flicker)

"Pedestal bases have ranged from single columns to fanciful, ornately scrolled, indulgences. Each designer and style seemed to create its own signature of pedestal base. Their commonality is a single leg or central supporting column or pillar, attached under the center of the table top."

"King Arthur was famed for his round table, giving equality to all since it did not host the traditional head of the table that rectangular dining room tables did. Since the focal point of a pedestal draws your eye to the center the tops of pedestal tables have traditionally been visually pleasing."

I've always wanted a round pedestal dining table. (I've also wanted wanted a huge trestle table with a bench for a while but you work with the space you have.) My dining room is awkwardly shaped. It looks large & square when viewing it from the living room, but it's actually rectangular and very narrow when you center a table under the chandelier.

I fell in love with LOTS of tables but due to my size issues, there weren't many tables available in the under typical 5 foot diameter size. I did find one that was more than I would have liked to have spent (I really don't like to spend over $200- $500 on anything, I'll be honest, although I know that can be ridiculous.) and I thought I'd share with you some of the inspiration pictures I collected along the way... The image below is from Nina Griscom's home and it's still one of my FAVORITE houses out there. Each piece in the space seems to be its own sculpture or work of art. One of the reasons I wanted a round pedestal table so badly is because I think they have the most beautiful silhouettes. This table is exactly what I was searching for... (but with a leaf)

Just check out this gorgeous silhouette (House Beautiful) below:

And here's a close-up of the same room. I'mlLoving the lantern over the table below and the pedestal table is a bit more ornate...

Here's a strong pedestal, the "Avignon Table" from Horchow. I love these too for larger spaces...

And below is a similar Sears version for around $300. (Not bad at all for the look!!)The pedestal table below has a more transitional style and even though nothing's really going on with the walls, it's okay because the table's just such a perfect focal point.

Below is the Wakefield Pedestal Table by Nochols & featured in Hosue Beautiful:

And I had to slip this white beauty from Country Living in (below). I just LOVE this dining room.

One of my favorite sources is Martha Stewart Furniture for Bernhardt. I am crazy over their pedestal tables but unfortunatly they were all too big fo rmy dining room. Below is the Grand Lake Pedestal Table and I just LOVE it!!! It has perfect lines in my opinion. Another reason we wanted a pedestal is because we're mostly going to be using our dining are as a reading/ project spot. My husband & I both have a bunch of books going at once & since we love how a pile of books looks, we figured this would be the perfect space to be able to keep our mess out on. (Of course I'll make it a pretty mess and below is what I'm thinking.-- Martha's Grand Lake Pedestal Table again)

And here is is again (below)... it's just begging to be covered in books!!!

Below is the Lyell Pedestal Tbale also by Martha Stewart and it would look beautiful with some Midcentury chairs:

And here's the Dunmere Pedestal table by martha Stewart. I'm crazy over its lines too!!!

Love it paired with these aqua-clad chairs below:

Here's a black oak pedestal table from Country Living and I'm loving this room too. Paring it with the vintage metal chairs is such a perfect yet unexpected touch:

Below, House Beautiful with pedestal table from Mecox Gardens... Love the drum shade over it!

Below is another House Beautifulspace, done by Albert Hadley. It's used as a beautiful library table:

A

nd below is a very similar dining table (Country Living) in a dining room. I'm CRAZY pver this room and also remember seeing it on Cote de Texas. (The lantern?!! window seat in the background?!! It's just so light & airy & I love what that strong dark & handsome table does in there!!! :)

Below is a room featured in House Beautiful and (shockingly for House Beautiful!) they used a table from Pottery Barn! I'm loving it.

And, finally, one more look at my dream table....

And here's the one that arrived at my house yesterday from Pottery Barn. It is the perfect size and comes with a leaf for bigger dinners!! Like I said it was more than I wanted to spend (that just shows you where the budget's at--- when PB is too high-end!!! :) but it really is exactly what we were looking for...

We're so happy with it & I just love what it does for the dining room!!! It really amped it up a notch in there & works perfectly with my velvet sofa. I'm sorry for not posting pics yet-- they are coming SO soon I promise. I'm waiting on a hardwood floor install (happening this weekend by super-busy husband) and a rug to arrive because I want you to see it once it's all done.

xoxo,

lauren