October 23, 2009

Foliage and Waterfalls

Foliage (the entrance to my neighborhood):

Foliage (Sarah McPhail). I had to frog out a couple of the smaller bright-green trees, but no matter. Onward.

Waterfall (more about that later):

BF and I drove to Richmond on Wednesday and shopped for furniture. Shopping for furniture for any couple could be fraught. Might be even if the couple is in agreement as to style, function, color. For us it's difficult: I am an ultra-contemorary girl; BF is a traditional guy. We've gingerly reached sort of a middle ground, in a furniture store called La Difference, in Richmond. La Diff, as it's called, is in the middle of the loft district of Richmond, where the old factories and tobacco warehouses have been repurposed into loft housing. It'd be perfect for us if only we could live in Richmond, something we're working on. For now we have a typical Virginia two-story center hall colonial tract home--on the outside. Inside I'm beginning to push the contemporary envelope after a lot of negotiation and some compromise.
I liked this. It's a chest of drawers, part of a bedroom set, green lacquer with glass applied over it. I can't describe how the pieces glowed in the light. BF pronounced it "awful."

I tried out this chair. Note: if your feet are higher than your head, it might be difficult to stitch.

This looks uncomfortable but was actually quite nice. I like the look. BF reminded me that six cats and their little claws don't work with white leather. Too bad--I saw a number of white leather pieces including a huge sectional and a round platform bed. He's right though.


Boing, boing, boing. Extraordinarily comfortable for a stool. We explored using them in the kitchen (they're office furniture really), but agreed that the price was prohibitive.


Here's our compromise: Shaker. Clean lines for me, nice wood for him. It's difficult to find furniture made in the U.S.; these pieces come from a company in Vermont.

Stash holders!

Another white leather piece, unfortunately. Because look at his face: no wonder we call it the "happy chair." I'd have brought him home simply because it cheers me up to look at him.

The waterfall: it seems we sprang a slow leak in the master bath shower. Drip, drip, drip. While we were away in Richmond, the dining room ceiling began to sag. Sigh. Today the plumber came and tore a hole in the ceiling to look up above. It was all too reminiscent of the great Pink Flood of 2007, where Pink chewed a hole in a pipe and flooded the bathroom, the guest bedroom and the kitchen. We've isolated the problem, fortunately and will have to have some work done up above. There's an opening around a tile in the shower where water gets underneath the tiles, so water has been seeping down and dripping on the ceiling. It could be worse, right Pink?

Peaches: "It's ok to come out, Pink. They know you didn't do it this time."


When the plumber left with his ladder, I headed up to In Stitches to pick up threads and more stash. I got some interesting samplers--all of them traditional, of course. This is a long and picture-heavy post; more about my trip Sunday. Bye!

18 comments:

Katrina said...

So contemporary furniture and reproduction samplers? How does that work ;-). Love the pieces of furniture you chose.

Bummer on the leak, I am glad Pink is not responsible. I bet Pink is glad too, LOL!

Sarah is looking gorgeous.

Daffycat said...

I love that happy chair! How like you to see that smile. Wish you could have it.

When I saw that ladder and the hole in the ceiling I thought "OH NO" but it wasn't the buns this time, thank goodness!

Laurie in Iowa said...

I guess I'm puzzled too... how does contemporary and repro samplers work together? Love the Shaker pieces.

The foliage is beautiful... we've had so much rain this month that it was difficult to enjoy the changing colors.

Great progress on Sarah... she's looking lovely.

Margaret said...

Love the Shaker furniture. I'm an Arts and Crafts/Mission girl myself. :D But I love me some Shaker too -- the most important thing is gorgeous wood. Like your BF likes. :D Love Sarah! And I'm glad the leak wasn't due to the little bunnies this time. Bummer about it though.

Theresa said...

I'm sorry, I know it's no laughing matter, but when I saw the ladder photo with the waterfall description, I just couldn't help myself... I hope it is all resolved now.
Those are some very interesting furniture!!! Hard to imagine them in your home though... >"<

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Well, thank goodness bunnies were innocent!!! Shaker is always safe but attractive. You have surprisingly scandalous taste in furniture for someone with traditional taste in stitching. Good to keep 'em guessing.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

I fell in love with the Shaker style after touring some of the Shaker villages a few years ago. Good choice!

Poor Pink looks guilty. Are you sure he didn't do it, just in a more sneaky way this time? ;)

The Bunns said...

WHEW!!!!! .....

Siobhán said...

I'm wondering about the same thing... samplers and contemporary furniture... but I love the compromise--Shaker. Nice!

I hope you get the leak sorted. We have one that my DH may or may not have fixed. Time will tell, I guess. :P

Crafty Green Poet said...

lovely foliage and embroidery!

Shame about the leaking ceiling, hope you get it sorted soon!

Gosh that was a lot of flooding Pink caused in 2007!

mainely stitching said...

Aw, poor Pink with his attack of guilt when it wasn't his fault this time. ;) I do hope you can get everything fixed up without breaking the bank.

LOVE your furniture-shopping pictures. I also like wood, but that green chest really captured my attention - it's gorgeous!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, Glenna! What a wide variety in furniture pics! Love the Shaker pieces, but beautiful wood would be a selling point to me!

Your Sarah is looking grand!

Sorry to hear about your leak, but glad it wasn't the bunny's fault!

Enjoy your weekend!

Robin in VA

Anna van Schurman said...

My aunt works for this company, made in Vermont. Unfortunately the closest showroom is in Philadelphia. But they make it all in VT so they ship everywhere. The piece you chose reminded me of some of their furniture. Still, it ain't cheap.

Brigitte said...

That Shaker piece looks fantastic.
I hope you will soon get everything restored in yoru ceiling.
Very nice autumn picture, it shows exactly what I like about autumn - all those wonderful foliage colours.

Jan said...

Gosh that Happy Chair would put a smile on anyone's face!! I can see why it came home with you! Also love the chest, bookcases that you did settle on!! You are a nut, Glenna! lol

Sorry about the water damage, I am fearing I might have something similar going on in guest bathroom, but just putting off the repair, since that tub is only used by company.

Dona said...

Very interesting and fun shopping day! Sorry to hear about your plumbing/ceiling problems. Not fun at all.

Lois said...

I love the picture of the foliage colours. We have nice colours but those are stunning. Glad you got the leak fixed! Interesting furniture!

Kellie said...

Love the furniture (I really like the green one too!). That shaker bureau is beautiful! Hate that about the leak...but glad it isn't poor Pink this time. :) Sarah looks fabulous!