It’s tough to find furniture that’s reasonably priced and something that catches my interest. The above picture caught my eye on Pinterest. A great styling for this chair. Something I’m still working on at my house, but first the chair saga:

The pleather Lazyboy recliner that is one of the only remnants left of Todd’s bachelor days kept breaking down (the seat ripped the other day) and it just looked terrible in our living room.

I love this chair. I pile the arms high with books and paperwork. I sleep in this chair. It was like a warm nest for me when I wanted to cuddle in for some reading/movie time.

But it’s gross. It’s pleather. And when pleather breaks down, it ain’t pretty. I think if I put this on the side of the road, with a free sign on it, I probably wouldn’t have any takers.

I knew the day was coming too. I knew that I would have to replace this chair, and so I’ve been looking. But I didn’t want another brown chair (we already have a brown leather couch) and I didn’t want to spend over 500 bucks and I did not want to go to IKEA to buy a white slipcovered Ektorp chair, because I am bored, bored, bored with the IKEA look. And my price limit removes most of the designer furniture stores from my shopping list. Restoration Hardware, forgetaboutit. Thomasville, yep, no. Crate & Barrel, nada. Pottery Barn, LOL!

But, and I don’t know how it happened, a chair at Overstock caught my eye. It had no arms, more of a velvet chaise, but I was in love with the tufting and the exposed spindle legs. And it was cheap: 250 bucks. But I still didn’t pull the trigger, because the only color that would work was brown. I would have loved a gray or even an aqua green.

Not with Overstock.

So I kept looking and then stumbled onto Pier 1 last month and saw one chair that might work. But it looked blue. I need aqua, not blue. But I loved the look of it and it seemed to fit what I had in my head. Still, I kept looking. Plus this chair was very close to 500 bucks, my price point, and I love a deal.

I drove by my local Pier 1 the other day and out of the corner of my eye was the corner of the chair I’d been considering. Hm. I liked the look of it in the window. But I still didn’t go inside to look.

And then hubby took a look at the pleather recliner over the weekend and exclaimed loudly at how terrible it looked. I agreed. “Let’s throw it away and buy something else.”

He looked up at me in surprise. “What? You have another chair in mind to replace it with?”

I nodded. “I think so.” And then convinced him to drive me to Pier 1 and we saw “the chair” first hand. It was smaller than I wanted, but that wasn’t a deal breaker. The exposed spindle legs were only in front. The back ones were a more modern block leg. The tufting on the chair was gorgeous and so plushy. Then I saw the back. This chair is one of those new trendy deconstructed chairs. It is not missing fabric, but they turned out the accent fabric and so it looks deconstructed without actually being terribly deconstructed. For a great rant on deconstructed furniture, check out Cote de Texas.

It was just what I wanted. It was spendier, but that’s because the foam of the cushion is the standard foam, not the upgraded foam available at Thomasville. But I can replace that later when I wear it out. The chair is perfect. And husband had me consider every stinking other chair in that store, I swear.

My only beef is that we bought their spare stock, so they said, and then they gave me the floor model, because they didn’t actually have the extra stock. And it has the familiar aroma of Pier 1. That too heavy, cloying smell of incense that I wish I could just erase. Maybe I’ll grab some Febreze.

Anyway, I love the chair. And so ends the chair saga. Hubby now says there is nothing left of his beloved bachelor pad. I made him take the pleather chair to the dump and painted his kitchen table. He’s bummed, but not really.

If you heard about Seattle’s torturous snow/ice storm last week (south of Seattle, we added an inch of ice to our half a foot of snow), you heard right. It was a tough one. The worst ice south King County had seen EVER.

And in spite of no power, me flying out in the middle of the night and packing a suitcase and putting on eye makeup in the dark, and packing all our food in coolers filled with snow, the images my husband snagged during the thick of it are now reminding me of a Dale Chihuly sculpture.

More images of our ice here.

The ice is gone and all is well. The squirrels are back to their antics in our backyard and the sun is out. Happy Monday!

My name is Tricia and I’m addicted to books.

Hi, Tricia.

These are the inspiration pics showing what we’re going for. Hubby is building this for me and I’m so excited to have my own finish cabinetry professional (his job in a previous life) on call just for this project!

I have an addiction.

I love looking at before and afters on house remodels. I love the voyeuristic feel as I get to peek inside other people’s houses.

Who’s with me?

I love seeing how other people live. Perhaps it’s for inspiration? Perhaps I just covet their stuff?

We’ve had a tough year with allergies. Because of the eleven months of rain the Pacific Northwest endured, hubby seemed to suffer more than the usual itchy eyes, runny nose, and endless bouts of sneezing.

About midsummer, I figured out that we needed to spend more time cleaning. So we did. We hired help though. Carpet cleaning, window cleaning, floors scrubbed, shower/tub deep clean, and paying attention to the dust bunnies that hide everywhere they possibly can.

Did it help?

I think so. I hope so. With the weather changes in 2011, and expected repeat in 2012, I would like my husband to be able to not have to live under the haze of heavy drugs all next year too.

But we also sent him to an allergist, and now we finally know what we are dealing with.

And yep, the dust bunnies were definitely part of the problem. Plus, we like spending time in our house now!

After a very intense six months, I am finally seeing the end of a long slog of client work and writing assignments. (I am scheduling now for spring though, so I’m back into it in a few weeks!)

But for now I will enjoy the quiet. I will enjoy the solitude and slowing days. This is my favorite time of year after the fall. I love that the weather is miserable. I just hunker down and get things done! (Yesterday in Capitol Hill, an eastside neighborhood of Seattle, the weather was marvelous, almost balmy; after weeks of rain and snow and wind and hail, hubby and I walked around and soaked it up!)

This is what quiet means to me, even though the images are from various months of 2010 and in different locations, including Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, the Oregon Coast, the Mackenzie National Forest in Oregon, and my home.

Have a wonderful quiet day!

Not that 2010 wasn’t a year full of wonderful memories and images.

After reviewing these images, I am so excited for what’s to come this year! For starters, this blog will see much more action!

I have a few things I’d like to accomplish in 2011 on this blog:

• Take tons of pictures and feature even more pictures from other talented designers.
• Take a color training course and continue to help my Seattle-area friends (and possibly this year, Seattle-area clients) with their DIY design dilemmas and DIY design projects.
• Begin to send out a biweekly newsletter.
• Finish my many DIY projects and continue to feature them on this blog.
• Finish the furniture painting and start the interior and exterior painting.
• Learn how to tile. My bathrooms and laundry room are in dire need!
• Find a good local uphosterer or maybe even learn how to do it myself thru classes at the local community college.
• Start or begin attending local DIY designer meetups in the Seattle area. Prepare to attend both Alt Summit and ArtFest 2012!

In all, 2011 is looking to be a busy DIY design year! I can hardly wait!