Wrinkled White Denim Never Looked So Good.

Ohh peeps. Wrinkled white denim never looked so good. Over the weekend, I found the *must have* for my library, at the top of my wish list -- A slipcovered, white denim couch. & I was lucky enough to find a Mitchell Gold couch at that for a song on -- where else? Craigslist. Adding the couch to the front room / library / bar has really started to pull the room together.

Quick! Let's revisit the Olioboard for this room:

White couch? Check. Vintage 1950's Hawaiian rattan chairs? Check. Turquoise buffet / dresser? Check. Premier Prints Slub in Charcoal to recover the rattan chairs? Check.

Quirks and detours from the plan include the rug. I had ordered two of these sea grass rugs in a Gilt-infused frenzy one morning. Well now that I have them, I'm inclined to use them as Hubs has so delicately explained to me when I broached the subject of yet another rug.

Him: But didn't you just get this rug?

Me: Yes, but it's not on my Olioboard.

Him: Olio what? Didn't you just get this rug?

Me: Am I speaking Chinese?? Yes, I did, but...

Him: No more rugs. This one will work with your room just fine.

*Sigh* The big ka-bosh on the grey kilim I wanted... Oh well. Soon, honey, you will be mine. Hubs just doesn't know.

The start of the accessories. I found these two great, white vases at Ross and a frame at Pier One. & what couldn't be better -- the turquoise coral from the olioboard. God bless Pier One!

Upcoming - The gallery wall with recently ordered shelves from Pottery Barn and what to do with the wall space above the buffet!

Let's Talk Baby: The Sip & See

While my mom busily prepares my second Baby Shower, I'm considering have a Sip & See once the little one is born for everyone else who can't attend.

Peeps, I had no idea what a Sip & See was. My Little Guy is almost 8 years old, and the Sip & See wasn't even a glimmer in her daddy's eye way back then. Apparently now they are a practical -- and fun, need to throw that out there -- way of introducing Baby to the galloping hordes of older aunties, lady friends and cousins who can't wait to meet your little bun, freshly baked and out of the oven.

{My attempt at invitation making. I'm not the most creative, but sometimes I try!}

The MIL is encouraging me to have one, and I think we're going down that path for one main reason --- I hate the Pop In. I do, peeps and I'll admit it shamelessly. While I love, love, love my dear family and friends, I selfishly don't want the occasional stop over to see my newborn. Awful, I know. This is where the Sip & See comes in. Everyone comes over at one time, gets to see the little one, and I avoid the majority of drop-in visits. It's win-win, I tell you.

Anyone else have a Sip & See for the little bundle of joy? Any tips or pointers? I've got Grandma hosting but it will be held at our house, of course and most of the organization has been volunteered by moi. If you have any tips or hints even if you didn't have a Sip & See, let me know! I'd love to hear!!

House Progress - The Wine Fridge Debuts & the Library Comes Together

Just a few random photos of what's been going on at my abode this week. First, we got our under counter wine refrigerator installed in the island and I LOVE it. I make excuses to walk by it, just to stare. I turn the light on inside and marvel at the shadows. Of course I won't be taking anything out of it for a while, but I can live with that. Oh, because you know I already have bottles that are in there, snug as a bug in a rug.

I've been playing around with the pieces we've gotten so far in the new library space. It's basically turning out to be a cool, beachy sitting room, and I'm happy with it.

Here's the Olioboard just as a reminder of where I'm going with the room.

& the progress in real life...

So far, the turquoise buffet is sitting dead center between those two windows and I'm really excited about the scale. I positioned the vintage Hawaiian rattan chairs next to a mid-century table my grandma gave me. The rug is sea grass. I'm still waiting for my new cushion covers to come. Once they do, those chairs are going to look pretty cool, let me tell you. I can't wait to get all the bigger pieces in there so I can start pulling it all together. I honestly have no accessories in there at all and it's so humble looking.

One thing I am worried about is the white, slipcovered couch I'm supposed to be getting for opposite those chairs. I don't have it yet and I'm wondering when it will ever get here... Boo. I know I'm being impatient but I've got a house to put together in 11 weeks. Baby arrives soon and I'm pretty sure I'll be busy then...

The Price of Paradise: Classic Hawaii Homes

One of my favorite things to do is look at houses that have come on the market for sale. It's the dreamer in me and the planner - I always want to know where I'm going to land next and I'm dreaming big. I'm going to try to start this as a regular series of posts because I am constantly coming across houses that I absolutely would move into tomorrow and want to share with all of you. These are three of my favorite on the market right now in established Honolulu neighborhoods. Which is your favorite?

Classic Hawaiian Style Bungalow

Neighborhood: Manoa

Price: $825,000

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2

Square Footage: 1,405

Built: 1925

This is the smallest and least expensive of the the three, on a beautiful street of classic and historical homes, 10 minutes from Waikiki but tucked in a historic neighborhood in walking distance to the University of Hawaii. I love the bungalow shape, the built-ins, the original hardwood floors.

English Cottage in Hawaii

Neighborhood: Manoa

Price: $1,195,000

Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4

Square Footage: 2,425

Year Built: 1928 & on the Historical Homes Register

This English cottage, also in Manoa and on the Historical Homes registry, is on a beautiful street at the beginning of a cul-de-sac. It is full of gorgeous touches - leaded glass windows, lava rock fireplaces, and beautiful hardwood floors. Hubs says this is his favorite!

Hawaiian Style Home

Neighborhood: Pacific Heights

Price: $1,085,000

Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3

Home's Square Footage: 2,148

This home is located in Pacific Heights, centrally located in Honolulu on a mountainside. I ADORE the living room space, the windows, the built-ins, the floors and the breeze!! Look at that lanai!

Transforming a Lane Mid Century Buffet...into Turquoise Loveliness Part II

Peeps here is my very own turquoise buffet! It's simple, it has great modern lines, and some eclectic touches, like the satin nickel and glass handles. Just because I'm a sucker for glass handles. This was the first attempt at taking a Craigslist find and re-vamping it.

What do you think?

Here's where the process started - some sanding of the original piece.

Rocky, my Assistant, giving some positive vibes our way. He knew this was our first attempt at painting furniture, too, and he wanted it to go well!

My mom even came over and got into the sanding act. Here she is sanding down the Mid-Century coffee table that was part of the Mood Board I created for the library/bar. This piece was a hand-me-down from my grandmother and I love the Mid-Century lines on it, but it's seen better days and was definitely in need of some TLC.

Hubs getting into the act. The original buffet didn't have handles, and we wanted to add them on, so he built a template so we could easily get those handles on there once the paint had dried.

Dragon pots from Chinatown were our very technical ways of holding down the drop cloth in the Hawaiian breeze.

My job: Ensuring my mom had ample supply of Riesling. I was official wine supplier.

We used paint with primer, and the color went on really smoothly. I was crossing my fingers I'd be happy with the color - I chose Lagoon by Martha Stewart at Home Depot. They were able to custom match using a Behr base with the primer included.

Waiting for the paint to dry... Added the handles that I love and couldn't wait to get it in the house! I was definitely happy with the results! Can't wait for the next dresser project to present itself!

Transforming a Lane Mid Century Buffet...into Turquoise Loveliness Part I

This awful quality photo is of a Lane Mid-Century Buffet I was lucky enough to find on Craigslist for $50 this week. I can't even tell you, peeps, this is Craigslist gold. For $50 and from a nice man named Bob, I got his very cute piece for the Library/Bar.

(BTW, If you're looking at those doors on the left and crinkling your nose, I'm not offended. I did the same. More on the doors below.)

Here's an example of the same type of buffet I found online.

Adorbs.

Now here is the actual piece again, this time, with the rattan doors gone and wearing its matching wood doors. Ha! The doors are something like the dress on my Peaches-n-Cream Barbie I had in 1984... Reversible! If you had that Barbie, I'm your soul sister. But back to the doors and their reversible abilities... How mod, I swear.

But the buffet is so solid, peeps, and was in such great condition. No veneer, it is all wood. There were some watermarks on the top, but the drawers glide like buttah.

& my favorite part? Those legs.

*Sigh*

I'm a sucker for Mid Century Modern legs!

Now here comes the tricky part. The piece is GREAT, but if you remember my blog post about the library / bar, it's part of a grand plan! & I want to paint it turquoise. My inspiration comes from pieces like these:

A great turquoise dresser from Primitive and Proper. Check out Cassie's blog. I've only recently discovered and I love it.

Another gorgeous piece featured on Cococozy. Coco offers daily eye candy for me and I love seeing what she finds!

Well, with all that in mind, here are three shades of turquoise I've narrowed down that I'm thinking of for the fab mid-century buffet to put in the modern-esque pacific coastal room I'm putting together.

No.1 Tropical Tide from Behr.

No. 2 Surfer from Behr

No. 3 Lagoon by Martha Stewart

Very subtly different. I'm leaning towards Martha's color. Up close - and I'm not sure if it shows up in the photos - it has a grey-ish cast that tones the color down a bit. If you don't know, I'm afraid of color. I'm one of those people. But I'm breaking out of my shell, peeps. I'm embracing the turquoise.

So... which do you like?

A Lil' Something Something

My material for my vintage Hawaiian chairs have arrived! I chose Premier Prints' Chipper Slub in Charcoal, which ran me just under $7 a yard and I have to tell you the initial reaction is positive. I wanted something that ran a little "Ikat," plus go along with my Library/Bar idea.

I put the material against the chair and I really like the contrast it brings.

I'm digging the modern pacific coastal vibe that's coming together!

Speaking of coastal vibes, how fabulous are these lovely jewels from Target's Calypso St. Barths line? The vibrancy in the colors just drew me in and had me at hello. I literally saw the sparkle off the glass from the corner of my eye and made a beeline straight to them with my shopping cart making tracks in the process. Under $4 a piece for these cute little tumblers? Worth it! Makes a glass of water feel absolutely dramatic and relaxing at the same time!

Even the living room got a little somethin' somethin' this weekend. My lamp order from Gilt.com arrived and I am so happy! Jamie Young Tripod Table Lamp.

Up close and personal. I love those tripod legs!

Even the yard got a little pick me up. Here in the tropics, what is "normal" may not be so for most peeps. We got a wax ginger shrub put in our yard. It adds a little pop of color, and the flower is so pretty.

My Little Guy decided to start a little container garden. Here, a spotlight on his baby arugula.

My Little Farmer's cache.

When Fiscal Reality Butts Itself into your House Design Dreams

Peeps, don't you hate it when fiscal reality butts itself into your house design dreams? I do. I soooo do. So I've come to a final choice in the libary/bar/sitting room situation and it was definitely, hands down, the turquoise and grey combination that had me at hello. I've refined the original Olioboard to come to something that revolves more around what I would love to be surrounded by.


Now what I'm pretty proud of is that I've sourced the Pottery Barn slipcovered loveseat (remember, this was a large dining room, but it's still a smaller space overall), the vintage Hawaiian rattan chairs, and the mid-century modern Monkey Pod wood coffee table either off of Craigslist at a steal of a price, or by the hand-me-down method. I plan to do the same with the dresser and source it off of Craigslist and distress and paint it myself.
As for the rest of the room, I'm sticking to a recent philosophy of raising funds. I believe in The Clean House Method of financing, peeps. Meaning, to bring something new into my home, something else needs to go. I just need a big 'ole flower in my hair like Niecy Nash and I'd be ready to go. In the past, I've Craiglisted, I've garage sale'd, I've sold pieces to friends. Hubs being the neat freak he is completely approves of this method, bien sur.

Niecy you go girl!

One thing about Olioboard -- and Polyvore was the same way -- I tend to choose pieces that I like just by looking at it, vice finding something that fits my budget. So somehow in my extremely budgeted little space, I've added a $700+ light fixture and a garden stool / side table that runs somewhere above $349. WTF. Don't you hate that???
*Hair Toss*
Anyway. It means now I'll have to scour, peeps. I'll have to search my little heart out for pieces that are budget-worthy and swoon-worthy at the same time. Beyond those two extreme-priced items that are waaaay out of my budget, I'm proud to say the rest of the room is coming together within budget. The killer white and charcoal grey fabric to recover those rattan chairs? Under $7 a yard and made of cotton duck --- not bad. The turquoise and white fabric I'm choosing for a throw pillow here and there? $8 a yard. Again, a deal! The dresser has a budget of about $100 or less. The majority of the budget is going to the area rug ($258 at Shades of Light) and the electrician who'll be installing those track lights for the family photo Gallery Wall.
Well, I better start planning my next Craigslist purge. I've got some rooms that need to be prettied up!

Which Do You Prefer?

Watch out, peeps! I've discovered OlioBoard! It's basically Polyvore for the home obsessed. Where I have been all this time and why didn't I know about it earlier? No matter... Let the mood boards begin!

I'm still obsessing over what to do with my former dining room space which I'm turning into a library-slash-bar-slash-general-place-to-hang-when-people-come-over room. I've gone with a white, slipcovered Potterybarn loveseat and a pair of vintage Hawaiian-style rattan chairs. The chairs are currently a cream color, but I plan to recover them. The other large piece in the room will be a similar-to-this white sideboard that will function as a bar space.

So here I am, presenting two possible ideas for the room. Which do you all prefer?

OPTION No.1: Grey & Turquoise Love.

Includes a grey/white fabric to recover the rattan chairs, a pair of turquoise Thomas Paul lovebird throw pillows, a grey patterned area rug, Potterybarn shelves and track lights over the loveseat, and a cheeky but sweet turquoise poster framed in a white frame over the bar.

OPTION No.2: Chartreuse, Sunshine and a Touch of Blue.

This option features a chartreuse fabric to cover the rattan chairs with maize-yellow puffer fish throw pillows by Thomas Paul. A Dash & Albert cotton rug in a chartreuse color scheme is set on the floor, and a Tad Carpenter poster featuring Jack Johnson would hang over the bar, also in a white frame.

So which do you all like? Even at this point, the mood boards have helped tremendously. The chartreuse/yellow/blue theme was my original intent, but putting the together the grey and turquoise room was more appealing. Even looking at the two options now, I'm inclined towards the grey/turquoise. Are you too?