Chair Affair

Posted in For the Home by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

Following all the recent home furnishing store events lately (see here and here), I’ve become even more obsessed with accent chairs. Here are some of my favorites:

Sedwick Recliner from west elm: Mumbles often talks of wanting a recliner and my mind always conjures images of big, frumpy ones with boney wood construction, worn-down cushions and buttons popping off (not to mention the matching remote control holder slung over one arm…or an elastic magazine pocket on the side. Woof.). But, I think I’ve found the perfect compromise in this sophisticated recliner.

Sedgwick Recliner via west elm

Mrs. Mercado and I couldn’t take our eyes off of this beauty while waiting in line at the West Elm Grand Opening event. We both loved the clean lines and neutral colors but worry a bit about any furniture with a major amount of white. (I like red wine. A lot.)

Everett Striped Chair from west elm

Strandmon Chair from Ikea — I don’t necessarily have room for this in my living room and I don’t have a library room that I envision this in, but that doesn’t keep me from getting excited about the debut of this re-issue based on a classic Ikea Chair. Check out the video on the chair’s story:

These lively lemon yellow Tabouret Chairs from Overstock.com are a huge steal at $300 for a set of four. They have other colors, too, including the traditional industrial look of metal, vibrant red, and a clean, modern white. Plus, they stack to save space! I love the yellow ones as a pop of color in our patio area.

Tabouret Lemon Metal Stacking Chairs from Overstock.com

On the much less practical end, I think this chair from CB2 is so whimsical and I love it — perhaps because I can picture it in our spare bedroom (if there was room!).

Club Chair with Piping from CB2

Target makes the list with a lot of affordable varieties from upholstered chairs to club chairs. We have the Avington Armless Slipper Chair in this festive print, which works well because our living room is a mash up of a lot of these colors. Sometimes, though, I wish for something a little bit more refined like a leather club chair. This set of two bonded leather club chairs is more affordable than one chair at most retailers if you’re looking for a value option.

Avington Armless Slipper Chair – Whimsical from Target.com

Nolan Bonded Leather Club Chair from Target

For these and other seating pinspiration, check out my “You May Be Seated” board on Pinterest.

(images via the credited website retailers)

15Nov2012

Ladies of Leisure: West Elm Orange County Grand Opening Party

Posted in For the Home by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

The second event on our Ladies of Leisure calendar was the much-anticipated grand opening of West Elm in Orange County’s posh South Coast Plaza. In fact, it was adjacent to the first event. The West Elm store is absolutely amazing – check out this awesome living wall that greets you when you walk in…stunning!

Mrs. Mercado and I took a leisurely stroll around the store, stopping to gawk about every 3.5 seconds at something we’d tell a store attendant to add to our tab if we were true ladies of leisure (humor us, will ya?). I say, it’s quite a fun dialogue to hear us perusing the shelves, convincing each other that mauvish purple is a color all-too-often overlooked and such a color really makes a feminine statement when accenting a masculine brown leather couch, and don’t forget to gently lay a faux-fur throw on that couch while you’re at it – adds a bit of cozy but chic playfulness, don’t you think? Also, did you know that steel blue gray is the new neutral? You would if you would’ve been eavesdropping in our conversations throughout the night.

So take note: anything you want to buy in a steel blue or grey now has our stamp of approval for purchase including this rug (which actually is really nice and sort of muted so it would be easy to change up the furniture and throw pillows around it) or this grayish (though it looked like a steel blue in store) glider and ottoman (even if you don’t have a baby! because, you know, you might someday and then it would come in really handy to have this glider and ottoman in a fabric that’s posh but casual and it wouldn’t matter if this hypotethical someday baby was a boy or a girl because it’s such a neutral color it could go with anything.) See, it’s practically in your online shopping cart already, right?!

My favorite thing about the event was probably the super simple, chic libation served as a signature drink for the night: a Moscow Mule made with Bundaberg Ginger Beer, vodka and a lime. Uh-mazing! Bundaberg Ginger Beer is one of my favorite non-alcoholic drinks and I’d never thought to add some vodka to it (silly me!), although I do know our good friend Cappy loves his ginger ale with tequila (smart man). I’m definitely thinking I need to stock our bar area with a bottle of vodka for nights when the wine just won’t cut it. And speaking of bar shelves, have you seen my new bar cart/console table (former vanity) find from Goodwill?

A torturously long line at the end of the grand opening evening gave all of us partygoers a good 20-30 minutes of standing around contemplating how much lighter our bank accounts would be if we gobbled up everything we were eyeing in the store…I’m talking about furniture but I should also point out that as far as gobbling goes, the food at the event was superb. And served by extremely good looking men (and women) if we may say so ourselves. Seriously. It was starting to get embarrassing as we tried to catch the eyes of the cater staff to mosey on over with their trays (West Elm, of course). Luckily, jaw dropping at their good looks was a bit masked by stuffing our faces with food. Hey, we’re married anyway.

When Mrs. Mercado asked me at the end of the party what I’d like most having seen everything in the store, I responded: a bigger house! But, if there’s one item I keep dreaming of buying it would definitely be this.

Things I want from West Elm (edition 1 of 1,000):

West Elm Patchwork Dresser

West Elm Mid-Century Nightstand

West Elm Acacia Console Table
(seriously, I almost bought this that night!)

Is there anything on your wish list from West Elm? Have you been to the new store in Orange County?

18May2012

Meet Jane

Posted in For the Home, Thoughts & Stories by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in May I was driving on the freeway on my way home. I was tired. Mumbles was away and we had errands to run later that day. While part of me just wanted to be at home relaxing with Baxter, the part of me controlling the steering wheel decided to make a stop at a local Goodwill store to see if anything caught my eye…maybe something but nothing in particular for BFOTB‘s baby shower. Perusing the store, I found a lovely set of martini glasses (perfect!) and something else I now can’t recall but it’s nonethematter because the real story here is Jane.

This is Jane, right where I found her at a Goodwill store, sitting in the back corner next to the fitting rooms, intimidated by a daunting, head-high organizer stuffed full of bras.

Non-chalantly waltzing my way through the aisles of furniture I might want to pick up on the cheap to paint or refinish (despite the fact that I have no room in our house for any new furniture), I decided to take a gander around the other side of the store just to be sure I hadn’t missed any hidden treasures. And I had. There, quietly sitting beside a wobbly stand-alone shelf of bras, somewhat blocked by a rolling wardrobe organizer in front of a wall full of discarded framed artwork, was Jane. At this point, we hadn’t been formally introduced but she was soft and lovely, with a mid-century retro elegance I was immediately drawn to. Calm but excited I promptly but gently lifted the cushion to inspect – dusty but otherwise clean. Smell? Just the must of solitude, clearly unattended, alone for some time before finding her way here. A match? I thought so. So I sat. Comfortable. Confirmed. My mind, at this point half made up, was only further so decided when I saw her bright price tag sticker on her arm: $24.99. Underappreciated? Well, yes, certainly here. It was all too easy. Still sitting, purse in my lap, claiming my prize, smile on my face, I got out my phone and dialed my mother – surely she’d appreciate this event and help me sort through my racing brain’s conversation, which in the span of 4 seconds went something like this:

“It’s in such good condition! Well, then why is it here? Maybe someone didn’t have room for it anymore. I don’t have room for it anywhere! It’s so retro and chic! Is that person eying my chair? I’d pay hundreds for a chair like this out of a catalog. $24.99? Really? Something must be wrong. I don’t care. I want it.“

I sent my mom a photo of my big find. She gave the advice of a loving, supportive friend (which she is): “You sound like you love it. Get it. It will make you happy. And, as your Grammy would say, ‘It’s too good of a deal to pass up!'” She offered to let me store it in my old room at their house so I immediately asked a store attendant for assistance to purchase and take it home. They put the chair at the front desk where to my bewilderment she received attention from many-a-passing-shoppers. I hastily and happily made my way to the front to join others in line. Arms full of other goods, I noticed the woman in line behind me hefting a floor length ornate mirror. I smiled. Taking my smile as an invitation to talk, she relished in sharing her delight to find such a huge mirror for an amazing price, a perfect fit for her entryway. Knowing her joy and beaming in it, I smiled, congratulated her on her score and in return, she gestured toward my arms and complimented my finds.

“Oh, this isn’t even the best part – I found an amazing chair! It’s right over there,” I exclaimed, gesturing toward my prize. With what I could see was a glaze of tears almost filling her eyes she told me, “that’s my chair – well, it was my mother’s chair – I just dropped it off here a few hours ago.”

The conversation rallied between a solemn appreciation and a delightful enjoyment of this special moment.

“I’m so happy to be meeting you. My mother loved that chair and she would be so happy to see you with it, such a lovely young woman,” she told me.

I assured her of my appreciation for the chair, told her I fancy myself an old soul, and that my husband and I are coming up on our second anniversary, our first year living in our first home. Still smiling, slowly inching forward in line toward the register, she shared that her mother had greatly cared for the chair, and after I mentioned it being in such good condition she informed me that her mother had just had it reupholstered. In fact she had helped pick out the fabric; her mother insisting it stay true to it’s original 1960’s look, and then, sadly, that once back in her mother’s home that the chair had not been sat in, her mother soon passed away.

“May I ask your mother’s name?” I inquired.

“Jane,” she replied with a firm fondness in her voice.

I told her of the coincidence and again of my joy in this moment – having just called my mother to share my good fortune with her. My mother whose middle name is Jane. Brightly, she smiled and laughed.

“My mother would be so happy,” she said.

We waited and chatted just minutes more – I noticed a few people passing by the chair, inquiring of its availability for purchase while the attachment I felt already had me panicked, my heart overflowing with sentimental pride of near possession. I let it go and turned back to Jane’s daughter to say to her genuinely that I was so pleased to have met her, to have learned a bit of her mother’s story, and to have shared a real connection with her that day. When I arrived at my parents’ home just a few miles away, my mom laughed upon seeing the sparkle in my eyes and the chair in her driveway.

“You are such an old soul,” she proclaimed. Not new news. “My family had a sofa just like this when I was growing up, except with a putrid orange color in it.”

Once upstairs, my dad came to investigate.

“Hey, where’d you find the chair?” he asked, somewhat perplexed, as if my mother had been storing this chair somewhere unbeknownst to him since the late 60’s just waiting for the right time to bring it back out again. “I had a couch like that when I was little but there was some blue in it.”

“Her name is Jane,” I told them before sharing bits of the story I had just lived, a memory I already cherished sweetly.

We laughed, the three of us, together in my old room looking at how oddly it did seem to fit right there, matching the decor, proudly at home next to a photo of me with my mother and her mother, in the room I spent some good years growing up in.