LCY Home Tour: Sources

Several times a week I'll get a message from a reader asking where an item in my home is from. Nine times out of ten, they're asking about the rug in my living room or the paint color on the walls. Silly me had not list the sources in any one place. Hopefully this will remedy that!

For starters, the living room rug is by West Elm. However, I bought it barely used on Craigslist a couple years ago, and I am sad to say West Elm no longer offers this style. They do have many other similar geometric patterns, including the Andalusia which comes in the same brown and cream colors. Otherwise, Jill Rosenwald sells a similar style in chocolate brown (my mom has the grey version).

Many of these items are no longer available as I purchased most everything two years ago when I moved into my apartment. As you can see, I'm a big believer in making a comfortable, pretty home even if you don't have a huge budget. Just be patient. Collect pieces you love over time. Expect to invest a little extra in the larger pieces like a couch or bed. And I highly recommend looking at thrift stores and flea markets for dressers (and other wooden furniture items: desk, dining table and chairs, coffee tables, media stands, etc). I remember when I was searching for a dresser, the cheapest option I found was $300-400 from Ikea, and it looked so generic. I ended up finding this 1950s dresser at my favorite local thrift store - the Brown Elephant on Halsted - for $45 and I painted it white. The drawers are deep, the wood is solid, the details are unique. I love it.

If you have any other questions about details and accessories, feel free to email me at alaina.lcy@gmail.com.

Hope this helps!

Those thrifty Ikea stylists are at it again...

...this time luring me with the display-top sawhorse desk and charming porch arrangement. Would you ever guess either of these spaces were filled with Ikea goods? No. Me neither.

How was everyone's weekend? It was cold and rainy here most of the time, but yesterday's sun-filled heat wave made up for it. Sorry for not posting yesterday, but I was out enjoying some classic American BBQ, cold beer, and a few games of Bags and Catch Phrase with friends.

Summer. Has. Begun.

Photo source: 1, 2

The Look for Less: ordinal chest of drawers

I fell in love with the before and after project I saw on Ikea's blog in which a designer took the Rast chest of drawers that retails for $29.99 and made it over, adding paint, new hardware, and stenciled numbers. It reminded me of the ordinal chest of drawers Anthropologie sells for $998, more than 30 times the cost of the Ikea DIY. A chest of drawers is one of the most versatile items for a home, working as a nightstand, entryway table, dresser, TV stand, or office storage, and unfortunately costs upwards of $100 at most retailers. Considering you can get such a unique looking piece at such a low cost, why spend more?

Ikea's Mystery Inventory

I recently became a regular reader of Ikea's blog, Livet Hemma. I don't understand any of what it says, seeing as it's written in Swedish, but the styling of the photos are all the inspiration I need. I saw a recent post featuring the work space above and immediately zeroed in on the folding desk with the words "WORK IN PROGRESS" scribbled on top of it. It not only caught my eye because I liked the look of it, but more so because I had never seen that product ever before. And sometimes I feel like I know the entire Ikea catalogue. So I clicked through the links, which took me to the Swedish Ikea page. I copied the product name, pasted it into the search bar on the US site, and low and behold, the GÖRAN table is available at my local store for $49.99. WHY had I never seen this table before?! You can search through all of the dining tables - it's not there. Search through the desks, the work tables - still it doesn't show up. I do not know or understand why Ikea has these little mystery items that are not included in the category searches, but I am sure glad I found this one. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I found my new desk.

1. chair | 2. table | 3. drawer unit | 4. lamp

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New Apartment: Making Over the Back Deck

I know, I know... it's been a while since the last "New apartment" makeover story. To reward your patience, I've think I have a good one laid out here. At least I hope. It took me forever and day to pull together. So sit back, grab your coffee, and read on...

As anyone who lives in a city can attest, outdoor space is an absolute Luxury, with a capital L. How Nate and I found a place with a deck still baffles me. How we found a place with a deck as big as ours is even more astounding. So astounding, in fact, that the likelihood of having any outdoor space in our next place is slim to none. As you can imagine, furnishing a 'room' we might not have at our next home was a bit tricky and needed to be done for next to nil. Fortunately a bit of Ikea + Craigslist + Pier 1 + West Elm sale items did the trick.

BEFORE

There is ALSO this sunroom off the kitchen that leads to the deck. Our landlord recently finished off these walls after many pleading emails from me: "The insulation says, 'Warning: insulation is extremely flammable and should not be exposed.' Pretty pleeease cover it?" He finally agree, and yes I am aware it looks like a sauna. Hey, I'll take what I can get. This narrow space is primarily used for storage, but I'm hoping that will change and this will become an extension to the deck/outdoor living area.

Anyway, point of these photos is so you can see the deck! It makes me very happy.

PHASE 1: buy the main ingredients

After what seemed like endless scouring on Craigslist, I found a black foldable bistro table (similar to the Target table shown below) and two metal chairs with textaline fabric (similar to the West Elm version below) for $40. Amazing deal considering this Target bistro table is currently selling for $59 and the West Elm chair is on sale for $101 per chair! And considering most balconies I see on city buildings only fit a grill, I wanted to go with a small table in case our next place lacks this Luxury.

Nate and I had already bought four yellow Ikea Nisse folding chairs on sale for $6 a piece back when we moved in in January so those provide extra colorful seating. And when I saw this turquoise water-resistant outdoor rug on Pier 1's website, I rushed to the store to pick it up. It was pretty inexpensive at $30.

I also brought the West Elm white ceramic garden stool out from the living room along with an Ikea lantern I bought a few months ago. The yellow Fabricadabra pillow is a temporary accent, also from the living room.

It's cute and practical, and I like it. But not quite finished.

PHASE 2: now pretty it up

Now that the main pieces are in place, it's time to complete the space. Here's what I'm thinking...

...and here's why I love Photoshop:

flower box image via

Now we're talking! See why I LOVE flower boxes?

I've already bought the twinkle globe lights (mistakenly from Pottery Barn - Target is selling the same thing for three dollars less and you get twice as many bulbs on a strand! Silly, Alaina). Pier 1 has this matching turquoise umbrella that will be perfect for blocking out the intense morning sun; it's currently on sale for $69.99. I'd love to add something like the West Elm Jute Cube to double as foot rest for the "comfy" chairs and an extra rug for under the bistro table. A few flower boxes later, and we'll be good to go! Thanks to our recent house guest, Nate's dad, we now have a grill in the far right corner near the door by the table and yellow chairs, it's just not pictured.

Of course, Nate and I - and our three house guests over the past week - have all been enjoying meals, too much wine, and this beautiful weather even without the flower boxes. : )

Excuse the crappy Blackberry photo.

So, class, what have we learned today?

In summation.

So that's that! Thoughts? Suggestions?

Mini city gardens

One of the approximate 10,476 reasons why I love Paris is the collection of beautiful flower boxes that dress up the already gorgeous windows. Not every building has them, but most of the hotels and fancy residential buildings don these colorful, perfectly manicured, tiny gardens. I don't see them very often around Chicago and I googled 'NYC flower boxes' and hardly anything came up... so I am thinking this a Parisian and suburban Stepford wife thing.

I love the bold, monochromatic coloring of these arrangements.

I plan on placing several flower boxes on my back deck to add color to otherwise entirely wooden structure. These balconies are all smaller than my deck and none of them have wooden railings, but they paint a good picture of what I'm after.

The pinks, reds, greens, and white iron are perfectly pretty and remind me of the Domino book cover.

Not a huge fan of plastic boxes but I love how lush this small balcony is. And it has fun string lights which I also plan on adding to my space.

I like how these are lowered and less in-your-face.

Not exactly flower boxes but you get the idea. It's amazing how a few plants can take something concrete and metal and make it natural and beautiful. Also love the white panel curtain. Can't you just imagine being on the other side of it and having it blown into the room with a warm summer breeze?

all images above via

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As of right now I am on a the hunt for rounded, wrought-iron style like this. I saw something at Home Depot for $20 but it had heart swirls in the middle, and I'm not much of a heart girl. I prefer the classic look above.

Although Ikea's Olstig flower box in galvanized steel would be equally charming and much more budget-friendly at only $14.99 a pop.

I'll reveal the full plan for the back deck tomorrow so stay tuned!

Any of you own flower boxes? I've never managed to keep a plant alive so I'm a bit nervous about this project but insist on following through with it regardless. Any suggestions for types of flowers that can be easily taken care of?

For those that have a bigger garden, get some great seating for the summer months for the parties and BBQ's! Garden furniture sets are perfect for this.

Man, do I love a good deal!

For those of you who have not heard, I have been sick. And this is a big deal because I'm never sick. Occasional headache, yes. Hungover, sure. But so sick you might get all your other friends sick too just by sneezing near them? Rarely. Hence I've been a bit out of commission the past few days. So, while I'm in my final stages of recovery and catching more zzz's than usual, I've got one more short post today - two new additions to my dining room that didn't cost much - and tomorrow I promise you a wealth of eye candy from last weekend's, girls-only trip to New Orleans (now the sick part is starting to make sense, eh?)

You may remember when I posted about buying these candlesticks from Ikea for $1.99 a piece in the as-is section of the store. Well, they're now nestled on my dining room bar...

Pretty, yes?

Oh and the white vase next to them was $1 at my local Salvation Army. It's things like that that make me giddy.

Secondly, I fell in love with this lamp by Jill Rosenwald forever and a day ago. Sadly, at the time, I was however many hundreds of dollars and a lifetime away from owning it. Enter my very first trip to HomeGoods (thank you, blogosphere, for the introduction). All in all a lackluster trip but I see why people love it. A few good deals on some mirrors, and wow! you can get a great price on a rug... but I was ready to leave the store empty-handed when...

Ahhh!! Imagine glorious rays of light streaming out of this lamp (more like the Holy Grail, and less like it was plugged into an outlet)! A near replica to my lust-worthy Rosenwald lamp!

Price tag? $66!

Snatched that right up, brought it home, and plopped it on my entry table, which coincidentally, is also in my dining room.

Done and done.

Memoirs from a trip to IKEA Chapter 3: is it summer yet?

This past Saturday, I hadn't even been back from Mexico 24 hours before I found myself hopping in the trusty Jeep and scooting on over to IKEA. This was my first visit back since moving downtown over a month ago - eeek! Can we say withdrawals?? Commence shopping for a lot of knick knacks I probably don't need but found myself wanting nevertheless. And not sure if you noticed, but does this compilation of items look a bit summer-y to anyone?? I had my new back porch on my mind literally the whole time I was at the store. Seeing as it's currently 28 degrees outside, I don't see us actually using it anytime soon. But when that temperature rises, I will be ready! In the mean time, I've found a cozy place for all of these items indoors.

Now, don't let that first picture fool you. The it's-so-pretty-it-hurts-my-eyes Talavera pottery bowl was an Isla Mujeres purchase that I wanted to show off. Shops all over the island carried this unique pottery in all shapes and sizes, but this singular serving dish caught my eye unlike any of the others. It's currently sitting on my tulip table with bananas and avocados pouring out over it. Now whenever I walk into my kitchen I think of Mexico!

What I loved about this piece was the texture - you can feel each of those paint colors when you rub your fingers over it, unlike many of the other pieces that were for sale that had a single glaze finish.

A few other purchases: I wanted to get this black Borrby lantern in both the large and small sizes but they were out of the larger option. Oh no. Looks like I'll have to go back. Muhaha. And, readers, I'd like to introduce you to the second plant I've ever owned. The first one (dirt included) ended up strewn about on my bed courtesy of my beige puppy - who also ended up covered in dirt - a couple years ago. You can understand why I've been hesitant to try again. I have no idea how to care for it or what it is. So we'll see how long this relationship lasts... as for those darling galvanized plant holders: $0.99 for all three. Yes, please!

Found this set of Blomster candlesticks (regularly $17.99 for all three) in the "As is" section of the store - which I am embarrased to admit I discovered for the first time on this visit. Good news? $1.99 each. Loves! The mason jars are now storing flour and sugar on the counter next to my oven, waiting to be used in my next batch of cookies. : )

I know this was a completely random post but just wait until tomorrow's!! '

Exciting things are happening tonight that I will report on in the AM. Stay tuned...