Here are a list of my favorite things on the MSP Craigslist right now. I wish I could afford to get all of them!

round Room & Board end table, $160  // For the Living Room.

round tulip-style table for the kitchen $150 // Though I'd prefer ahem... a white marble top.

beautiful teak wood patio set $375 // Though I'm not completely sold on those super bright red cusions. I would probably want to recover them in Black, Grey or Tan.

This great wooden storage unit! $200 // For the basement workroom area.

Set of two industrial light fixtures, $25 each // For the Master Bedroom.

Midcentury chrome desk lamp $40 // For the Master Bedroom or Guest Bedroom.

The perfect rustic wood bench, $50!! // For the Foyer!

Oh pinterest, you slay me! (know what else slays me right now? These amazing hydrangea bushes bursting into life at MCAD right now! Ughhh my goddd drooooool... So big and fluffy and conical shaped!) My right brain loves the simple way I can visually categorize every item into the proper section, for later viewing and shopping. (This is sounding eerily like a blog post I would have posted about 2 years ago...) But my left brain thinks I'm getting a little out of control. You see, the other day I felt inclined to make a whole new board just for... wait for it... light fixtures. And I stopped dead in my tracks. Are you seriously so obsessed with these physical objects that you need a whole board dedicated to their deliciously mid century minimal styling?!?  (The answer is yes, but that is a whole other affliction that I wont get into here.)

And who am I making this board for, really? I'd like to think that I'm making it only for myself. So that I can virtually bookmark something I may want to come back to when I actually have the keys to our house in my greasy little hands, and make a decision to purchase one (or two, or maybe eventually three). I guess I really dont care if other people decide they want to follow my boards or repin my pins, because that, my friends, is getting into dangerous territory. A territory that I am not prepared to enter. In fact, I would much rather have the option of making my pins private, and for my own use. BUT, I think that's really more because I am embarrassed at the sheer number of lighting fixtures I pin (or exterior paint color schemes, or variety entirely-white rooms, or etc). More embarrassed, I have to say, then the whole lingerie board I also keep. Nope, no shame there. :)

More to the point, I guess I ask you this... When is enough enough? (Is Victoria from sfgirlbybay's 76 boards enough?) Is this an obsession that I need to quit? Or is it merely a side-effect of jonesing for a house that you do not have yet for a whole 6 months of waiting? Is it a way of coping, or of day-dreaming the stress of it all away? Opinions? Should I begin to dissect and categorize my boards to my hearts' content? Opinions and advice would be appreciated.

PS: I've found a few new blogs (that may help to alleviate my house-induced stupor, and instead replace it with a food-obsessed one) called Bon Appétempt (amazing cook-it-yourself blog featuring the lovely Amelia. Has hilarious little videos made by her husband Matt) and bigBANG studio (which I have come across once or twice in the past, but never really delved whole-heartedly into. Think valuable life lessons about work, love and marriage, amidst yummy food recipes and lovely travel photos galore. I adore it.) Recently added to the blogroll (do people still call this thing the "blogroll"?), check em out!

Time for another round-up of things I want on Craigslist! Yay! What a treasure trove you always are, Craigslist...

The Coolest vintage steamer trunk I've ever seen! $95

A beautiful house plant, Mother in Law's Tonuge, I think?? (Sorry for the TERRIBLE PIC)

Fake house plants, more realistic for my black thumb, $10

I'm in love with this awful vintage 70's sofa! $400

OMG these mid century pendant lights! $50

A great pair of tall white bookshelves, none of that Ikea Junk, $160

Mid Century Etagere/Room Divider! $750

Great walnut veneer credenza! $350

Cute lil grey dresser/nightstand (wayyyyy overpriced at $450)

I kind of love these rattan chairs (bebes!!), $15 each

It's time for another episode of "WHATS COOL ON CRAIGSLIST THIS WEEK." I'm your host, and welcome back to whats recently become a regular installment, apparently! Forewarning people, prepare to drool. (And ps: I've been building this post for awhile, so I am sure some of these are long gone already, in classic craigslist style).

Eames Lounge knock-off, complete with ottoman $350!

60's Highboy Dresser $325 (a set of two)!

The Most Giant Mirror I have Ever Seen! $200

White Herman Miller round table, $175

Great Navy and Cream striped Mid Century Sofa, $475

Ikea NORDEN Dining Table, $300

This awesome rustic outdoor dining set! $165

That's all for now folks. But yours truly, the self-professed craigslist skimmer, will be back very soon... I am sure.

My pinterest has been filling up with major house inspiration. Like, for real... I've pinned everything from spatulas to doors to floors to couches and lamps with complete abandon. And I suppose it's no secret that Alex and I have been looking at houses, which has only added fuel to the fire. But let me tell you that it has been both stressful and exhilarating! It's so fun to imagine and pick out your dream house, but also scary to think you might never find it, or might be out-bid! Houses are going like hot cakes in this market.

Hopefully, we'll have some exciting news on that front soon, but for now let's just do some house ogling, shall we? In the style of SFgirlbybay's "In my dreams, I live here" posts, here are some of my favorite recent house inspirations. An ode to the house of my dreams, and to hoping it comes true! (Cross your fingers for us everyone, we need everything we can get!!)

(All sources can be found via my Pinterest)

You might remember me mentioning a (long) while back about our Ikea Tobo entertainment unit. Alex hacked it to include ventilation fans and cord control slots in the back, additional support legs and more recently a lockable (and covered, to protect it from dust) drawer to hide the turntable.

Admittedly, we have to come to accrue several furniture things from Ikea over the years. Our most recent acquisition, and most beloved, is an Ikea Lillesand bed frame. We purchased it with our wedding monies (thanks wedding monies, what a lovely and appropriate thing to spend you on!), finally acquiescing to the fact that we needed a new bad frame. Our last bed was also Ikea, the Malm in medium brown (before pictures here). Which is low to the ground and very cheap. It had gotten scuffed and dented over the years and been through several different moves, so we decided it was time for a change. A big change. First, we wanted something higher off the ground, "a real bed" and for it to not be a dark wood that didnt fit in with anything else we owned anymore. I liked the Lillesand because it was almost like a vintage wrought iron bedframe, but IT DIDNT COME IN WHITE. Weird, Ikea. You always have a white option...


Oh well, this would be a fun project. We would buy the bed, take it to the shop at MCAD and PAINT IT OURSELVES. Well, it took several coats, several days to dry and then a ton of hoping and praying that we wouldnt scratch the paint job on the journey home or during installing it. And ta-dah! It is finally here, and we love it a lot.



We still need to tweak the placement of the large painting to the right, as it was centered over the last bed, and I am still thinking about bedside tables, but in the meantime my mini-chair will do just fine.

PS: I really wish I had taken these pictures before we put in the window air conditioner. Dang ugly window air conditioner. I despise you (please dont break on me)!

I have finally been getting around to some of the apartment upgrades I have been meaning to do in ages, and it feels so good (extra special thank you goes to wedding money)! First up, we switched out our old shelf in the bedroom with a shiney new one from Ikea. The old one came with the apartment, and was a obnoxiously large and ill-fitting for the space available above the radiator. Now we have one that blends in seamlessly with the wall, isnt shoddy and is a perfectly situated distance away from the wall so that Alex's phone charger can slip right behind it and not fall off!

Before:



Et voila!




Also, we got this shweet rug for the kitchen! More exciting things soon.

I'm in love. I am in love with this girl, Kate Foley, who is a buyer for Opening Ceremony (perfect!) Photographer Mark Iantosca recently did an interview/apartment tour with her for Refinery 29. And I just love how she balances feminine and masculine so well. I sometimes struggle with it, but she makes it look effortless and cool! Plus, her apartment is to die for too.