Weekly Wishlist: Enamored with Hammered Metal

I have always been attracted to shiny, metallic things (though sadly, never owned a Bedazzler). I love the current hammered metal trend. It’s a great way to add some interest and spice to any room. These three picks, from One Kings Lane, are labeled as accent tables, but you could group a few together for a coffee table, or even use them as a plant stand. How cool would that look!?

Dixon Hammered Accent Table via One Kings Lane

Charles Accent Table via One Kings Lane

Amboy Hammered Accent Table via One Kings Lane

What’s on your Wishlist this week?

Piano Planning

As mentioned in my List-O-Mania post, one “to-do” item is to have my piano moved from my parent’s house to our house.

the piano will go here, up against the stairs in our family room

But before we can do that, we need a rug to go underneath it.

I was originally planning to bind a leftover swatch of our carpeting. I figured this would do a good enough job. And it would be free. (well sort of; the carpet would be free but we’d still have to pay to have it bound). But the more I thought about it, the more I doubted that a carpet swatch was the way to go. Our carpeting is kind of a non-descript oatmeal-y color (as you can see above on the stairs). Perfectly neutral for the rest of our home, but maybe the piano deserves more pizzazz.

But now I was stumped. What type of rug should I look for? What would go best with the room? How could we add a little pop of color or pattern without overwhelming the rest of the room?

Until one day, when I found this beauty in a Land of Nod catalogue!

It’s the perfect size  (4′ x 6′).

It’s woven.

It’s purple.

… and the kicker…

It’s reversible!

And it’s on it’s way to our house now! FedEx – please get my little lavender beauty here safe and sound!

Home Sweet Cincinnati

As much as a long drive home can be boring, tedious, and literally painful, I always love when you get the first glimpse of “home.” Whether it’s a familiar highway exit, a “Welcome to ___” sign or, in our case, a view of the city skyline, there’s always something special that signifies what’s near and dear. Tom and I even went out of our way (kind of) to make sure we crossed the Ohio River to catch this glimpse of the skyline – we both agreed it was more eventful than taking the back-roads route home.

When we got home, I was excited to find that my veggie garden seems to be picking up. It’s the end of August and I’ve only harvested 2 cucumbers and 1 lonely little strawberry!But I was able to pick this assortment this week:

Yep, that’s a cantaloupe! I don’t think it’s quite ripe yet, but I’ll give it a couple of days on my kitchen counter and hopefully it will be ripe enough to eat! I can’t remember what type of tomatoes those are. I thought the smaller two were Romas, but they might just be some kind of salad tomato. I think the larger two are Brandywines. My notes got all jumbled when I transferred my seedlings into the ground. I’ll have to do a better job of tagging my plants next year!

What do you have planned for your weekend? I think I’ll be making some kind of tomato salad. And hopefully enjoying some fresh cantaloupe!

(You can follow me on Instagram @onuwriter06)

Weekly Wishlist: Black, White and Zebra All Over

I never in my wildest dreams imagined that we’d somehow wind up with a zebra print rug front-and-center in our family room! I’d been dreaming of animal prints for months (namely a gorgeous brown-and-cream giraffe rug), but Tom wasn’t on board. Until he spotted a zebra rug at HomeGoods. Of course, I immediately agreed that it was perfect before he could change his mind. And, voila! – we went home with a zebra rug!

So ever since then, I can’t help but get excited when I see a fantastic zebra-inspired print.

How fabulous would these look around a black pedestal dining table?!?

This bench would be perfect for a custom walk-in closet, for seating and for storage. And the soft grey is a nice way to ease into animal prints if you’re nervous about making too bold of a statement.

How about a Zebra cowhide rug? This would definitely be a “conversation” piece. I would place it under a glass coffee table so you could still enjoy the shape and print.

This chest is incredible. This would be amazing in a dining room, bedroom, or even in a foyer.

from Horchow

Zebra doesn’t always have to be so black and white! I love a good colorful print. It feels fresh, modern, and a touch youthful. This print by Britt Browne is particularly cool. (wish it wasn’t $200!!)

via Stampa

If you’d rather start with a small dose of the safari-inspired, how about a bright green zebra matchbox?