Why I Oughta...

Luxembourg Gardens Chair from Perigold Have I fawned over our visits to Luxembourg Gardens enough here on the blog?  In the past few weeks, I've posted about how the flowers in our patio planter were inspired there , how I tried cocoa bean shell mulch because that's what they use there, how I want to build a green tree box from there, and how I really fell in love with these vines in between trees from the garden . But there's a few more things about the garden that are worth sharing. If you go back to the post about the cocoa bean shell/hull mulch , you'll notice that there's a couple of metal chairs in the photo. Those chairs. You can see one above from Perigold .  That's their photo. I think that our experience in the park/garden was driven - in large part - by these chairs.  They're everywhere.  People sitting on them.  Sleeping on them.  Eating lunch and talking on them.  In groups.  Alone.  Sometimes two at a time.  Sometimes two chairs

For the past 10+ years, I've been sitting at this desk for a couple of days each week.   And by calling it a 'desk', I might be being generous.  It is really a table.  With two tiny, slim drawers.  But, I call it my 'desk' when I refer to it.  "Put it on my desk."  Or "I think it is on my desk."  Nat bought it at West Elm when we were first moving into our old house.  When she bought it, I was setting up a tiny home office.  Upstairs in what would become our little nursery outside of our master bedroom.  It is a stable, even surface.  And compact in size.  When #1 arrived, I relocated downstairs to a first floor bedroom that was larger.  But, the small desk was going with me.  And there it lived for seven or so years.  After a few years in storage, we moved it into my new office in our new house.  Until now.  Nat found me a new desk - a desk that I've admired but figured was out of our league price-wise.  But, thanks to the Crate and

I bought this Men's Valet from an Estate Sale in Elmhurst about five years ago for like $5.  It was cheap and I bought it on a whim.  It has sat in our closet since we moved in, but I never really *used* it like it was supposed to be used.  It is a really adorable piece of furniture, isn't it?  I mean, who wouldn't want a valet?  And look at those lines? Recently, Nat moved it out of our closet and it ended up in the garage.  So, off it went to Craigslist to find a happy home.  And sure, enough, it didn't last long.  Someone came and picked it up.   I took these photos out on the driveway before we parted ways. So, I'm filing this one under 'one that got away', but this time it was on purpose.  I sold it.  For a profit, too! Did I adore this thing?  Yeah.  But, say it with me : It is enough to enjoy the existence of things without possessing all of them. Take a look at the valet features, though.  Tray for a nice watch or your wallet or change or

I picked up this valet from an estate sale a few weeks back for $5 with big dreams of both reupholstering the base and updating it with at least one 'built-in' charging cord for my mobile device.  This one has those sleek, tapered legs that come with most mid-century modern furniture and that delightful little seat to sit on when you're putting your shoes on.  Once we get our house situation figured out, I figure this will find a home in my office or closet and it will once again find a home and a user who can extend it's life for a while.

One of the problems with rehabbing an old house is that doorway to the basement is tiny.  Really tiny.  And the hallway (if you'd call it that) leading to the basement is really tight.  That makes for getting a couch down there all but impossible it is turning out.  See that drawing above?  That's of one piece of a couch that Nat really liked.  We were going to get it for our basement.  But....guess what?  It won't fit.  Bummer.