Let's Furnish This House, Part II

So the search for furniture continues: this trip took me to World Market and Furniture Row (located across from Ikea).

As expected, World Market had it's usual assortment of Pottery Barn-esque items at rock bottom prices. This is why I have an ongoing love affair with World Market, but it doesn't hurt that every time I'm there I allow myself to try a new kind of dark chocolate.

Quote me now, honeycombs are coming in style. The lovely hexagons are the right mix of rustic chic and urban style. Although they were both hiding in dark corners I found two great honeycomb composed pieces. This awesome chandelier makes me wish the dining room chandelier didn't come standard in our home (and any one who has built a home knows wishing for something to not be standard is huge). Maybe someday...

I also found this adorbs wine bottle holder. What a perfect way to incorporate the honeycomb trend without going over board.

On to a completely different, full blown trend, this chalkboard/magazine rack is the perfect utilitarian piece to hang in a kitchen or mudroom. It's also really generously sized so it would make an impact in any room and you could draw a whole month's calendar with room to spare.

These little frames hang from an oil rubbed bronze bar and remind me of this backsplash organizer from Ikea that I'm currently obsessing over. What a great way to tie together the whole open concept living/kitchen I'll be decorating very soon.

This is the Erin Cute-As-A-Button Chair and her name says it all. The style is perfect for my rustic traditional meets modern aesthetic. With very clean lines, light upholstery, and an almost mid-century appeal, the multi-colored buttons add some much needed whimsy. Not to mention it's a very close complement to the dining chairs and barstools I want.

Like always, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a new bedroom suite. Although not on the top of our list for furniture buying, we definitely want to buy a king size (or Cali King) bed within the first year. I like this one because it mixes the dark woods, antique style hardware, and upholstery. I'm still gravitating towards a fully upholstered headboard, but I'm a little worried about the upkeep (what if it's starts looking dingy? How do you clean it?). I'm also dead set on having a full bed, not just a headboard. It's good to know there's an economical option that features all my favorite styles in case we go over-budget in other areas.

The real reason I went to World Market was to look at dining room tables. I've pretty much decided that I want dining chairs and barstools from here, and it will take a lot to convince me otherwise, but I haven't found the perfect table yet. 

The challenge is our dining room will be a very square 12' x 12'. I'm often inclined to put a circular table with a removable center leaf in there so that the square-ness isn't overemphasized. Most circular tables I've seen are either very traditional or very modern. Most rectangular tables are simply too long; an 8' table would only leave 2' at either end which would certainly feel cramped.

I want to be able to seat 6-8 people, but I'm completely okay with only having 4 spaces on an everyday basis. After striking out at World Market, I decided to journey across the street to Furniture Row. Also it was raining really, really hard and I was trying to delay driving on the interstate.

A few words on Furniture Row: it caters to a very specific clientele. Granted, it's only 10 minutes from Lowe's Motor Speedway, I've never seen so many couches with cup holders, ginormous leather sectionals, and waterbeds. Yes, they still sell waterbeds. But the price is reasonable and like I said, I really didn't want to go out in the rain.

I was amazed to find a few trend-right styles albeit the store's best effort to hide them.

Yes, that's a full ikat armchair in shades a greige. Sure it was put in a lonely corner not even close to the nearest "room," but the savvy Charlottean woman who braves the NASCAR crowd could score this cute/comfortable piece at a very reasonable price. Nearby I found a super cozy rug. It seriously felt like walking on cotton balls. 

Not sure how to vacuum that with a golden retriever...

Check out this cool entertainment center! I know the farmhouse trend is pretty well in full swing with dining rooms, but now I found it in the living room staple (Pat and I have no plans to mount our TVs at this point). What really impressed me was the quality; it didn't photograph well, but this was made out of a really pretty reddish-brown solid wood. It just had that heavy feel that's so important when anchoring a room.

And speaking of farmhouse dining rooms, this table was a dream! It could easily seat ten people (we wouldn't have the space to fully extend it) but it seats six even without the leaves. I also really fancied the upholstered chairs behind the table.

I would say I found some diamonds in the rough on this excursion, but I really feel like we need to shop for some high quality pieces that could last for several years. Maybe a fancy schmancy showroom next...