Furniture on sale at Anthropologie

Some great furniture on sale at Anthropologie, especially that yellow desk. I can soooo picture that studio-like room in MY house, filled with my art...I only wish I had a spare $1000 laying around. I had to content myself with buying a koi fish-shaped sponge holder for now. Sigh....

Personalizing furniture with custom knobs

I have an old maple desk that I got from my grandparents when they went to a nursing home, and I've been toying with the thought of refinishing it. I'm not sure if I want to paint it though, because it's a beautiful wood and I'd hate to "trend" it up, only to have it fall out of style a few years down the road.

But one way I've customized it in the past is to use place mats or table runners on the top for a little instant decoration (I've done the same thing with my laptop desk in the living room). Another thought is to change out all the plain knobs for pretty and unique ones from places like Anthropologie. I have seven of the bird knobs (top image, below), which I received as part of a wedding gift—the eighth bird's tail broke :(














I saw some very nice ones when I was there on Friday, and I thought of all the things I could personalize without a lot of labor, and without much permanence (I'd save the desk's knobs, just in case). They have a cool "Hardware Store" section where you can try out different knobs and pulls on some sample furniture and move 'em around as you like.



Now I just gotta decide if I want to mix and match, follow a certain color palette, or just make them all the same. Hmmm....

Working at Anthropologie

After heading home from Sam's yesterday, I happened to stop off at Anthropologie for a few odds and ends. My bird sugar bowl and butter dish are much beloved by me, and I have a sneaking feeling that they'll break someday and I won't have a backup. Plus, I wanted to see what was on sale and whether they had any cute creamers to go with my sugar bowl.


{My bird sugar bowl}

Of course, I was like a kid in a candy store. My mouth hung open as I looked around at all the pretty, colorful, and interesting things. I smelled all the lovely perfumes, touched all the beautiful linens, and drooled over the awesome clothes. A super nice saleslady noticed my bag had huge holes in it and that my little butter dish was about to go tumbling out. She rushed over with a new bag and helped me transfer my stuff, which was sweet, and well timed, because I was oblivious to what was about to happen. Everyone else working there was so nice and friendly but laid back, and not obnoxious like salespeople tend to be.


{My butter dish}

Anyhow, I noticed they were hiring part time workers, so I asked for an application. I figured it couldn't hurt. I want to grow my freelance business, and I'm not having any luck with finding a full-time job. My plan is to work a part-time job or two and get the freelance work crankin', and transition into the freelance work full time, once it gets going. Until then, I might as well work somewhere that makes me happy, right? And what better place than Anthropologie. Plus, it's at Oakbrook, which is a lovely mall and not too far from where I live.


{My mouse doorstop, which seems to have mysteriously disappeared in our house}

I'm thinking of filling the application out and turning it in this weekend. I just need to talk to Pete about it, and he's hanging with his buddies right now, so that'll have to wait til morning.

Pretty new dresses from Anthopologie, and...oops!

I just got the new Anthropologie catalog the other day, and as always, I love the whole look of the "story" they staged to show the clothes (and of course the clothes themselves). I wanted to show you some nice pictures from the catalog, but it's not even posted on their site yet! Strangely enough, they have pix for the individual dresses posted (under the "On the model" view) so I was able to show you actual pix from the catalog, although they're somewhat tiny. I really like the simple, slightly mod look of some of the dresses, with touches of ruffles, flowers, and pops of color.



Most of these I couldn't wear—well, the shifts anyhow (hello, hips!) but I certainly appreciate their aesthetic. And patterned coats can look quite lovely over dresses of another hue and design, don't you think?



I like this mix of patterns and textures, which is something I'm still working on trying in my own wardrobe, although I sometimes do this accidentally.



Besides all the pretty clothes, shoes, and accessories in the catalog, lots of home furnishings were featured. And I discovered that this image (shown below) is in the catalog, but flipped, yet the book on the table wasn't Photoshopped or anything to fix the backwards title! (The title is "Russia.") I've seen this once before in another catalog, and it's finding little mistakes like this that delights the proofreader in me.



Anyhow, if you got the catalog in the mail, check it out. Otherwise take a look at the website, and perhaps draw some inspiration from their current selection. I could never afford their clothes, unless on sale or clearance, but that doesn't mean I can't use them to put together a similar look on my own from thrift stores and the like.

Pretty, pretty pages

Just got the new Anthropologie catalog in the mail today. And let me just say that I am blown away by the styling, set design, props, clothes (of course!), models, everything. The train story setting is very romantic and alluring, and each photo seems to be better than the previous. I get so excited when I see a new Anthropologie catalog arrive in my mailbox that I sit down with it and read it cover to cover. And not just for the clothes or home goods it offers to me, the intoxicated viewer, but for the sheer artistry of it all.

Shall we sit back and browse its many pretty pages of loveliness?











Oh, and the home section isn't anything to sneeze at, either.





Drop by Anthropologie for a visit here.

(Photos courtesy of Anthropologie)

Anthropologie dresses on eBay

Oh good God, I was just browsing eBay to check out the latest vintage tea cup offerings and discovered they're promoting an Anthropologie dress auction. How convenient it's payday tomorrow.... The prices are pretty good, so check it out.