Tiger Chest

I've mentioned before how thrift stores can be hit or miss in NYC. I get it though. Real estate here is so expensive, they have to really hike those prices up to cover the rent. So I usually don't have high expectations for great deals if I'm popping in to shop. (By the way, I recommend any of the Housing Works locations, the Salvation Army way over on 11th Ave and the Angel Store Thrift on 17th.) For the most part you can expect to find something like this. The tag here read "Pink chair in the Eames style, Broken leg. As-is, $195" Like, what? You can buy them new for less. Who's going to pay that for a busted up knock-off?

Yet, just a few feet away from the overpriced broken chair was this Tigery beauty. Price: $200 on the dot.

This type of wood and finish is practically my favorite thing in the world. I love-lurve-luff the pattern in the grain. I don't even know what species the wood it is - looks too smooth to be oak. Crotch mahogany? Maple?

So then I did what any other hardcore thrifter would do. I threw angry glances of warning to the shoppers around me and flung my body over the thing while I spent five full minutes carefully prying off the clear mailing tape they used to secure the price tag (??). Then I happily hustled to the train to go pick up my car and bring this baby back home with me.

The chest replaced the pink wire console for now, which went on the back porch - and I love it there. I'm still trying to figure out the rest of the office, but I think we're getting there. I love this big brass lamp here that I pulled out of the lamp graveyard in the basement. A big desk project is happening this week (more on that Monday), and I think a new rug will really help.

HAPPY WEEKEND! I hope you're having a great one! xo

Gossip Girl Sconces

I bookmarked this post from Things That Inspire (a really lovely blog) waaay back in 2007. Holly featured some screen shots of these sconces on the set of Gossip Girl (P.S. remember that first season of GG? When the plot was semi-interesting and the fashion oh-so-good?).

Anyway, I remember noticing those sconces on the show too, and seeing Holly's post confirmed that I wanted/needed/could no longer live without these sconces in my life. To me, they are lighting perfection. A little traditional, a little modern, a little floral, a little quirky.

Somehow I survived for a couple years without them (when I first saw the post no one really knew who made the sconces), but I thought of them fondly from time to time.

A follow up post left some of us wondering if they were made by French lighting designer Jean Royere, who made these lovelies below, priced at about $30,000 each. So beautiful, but...yikes.

Fast forward a couple years. I have this situation in my house (at least this is how it looked mid-project a month or two ago):

I love the star wall sconces, but I've decided to move them around the corner to the daybed wall. They'll be perfect there, but I was at square one again with sconces above my bookshelf.

On Bowery, sort of where China Town is melting into SOHO, there is a string of lighting stores that carry some nice lines like Circa and Visual Comfort. I bought these Thomas OBrien sconces for a client there and thought about just getting a pair for myself too.

But then I stumbled into a little store on Delancey called Lighting Craftsman. You know when a place looks not at all promising from the outside and then you walk in and your insides start screaming and freaking out and you're all ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh under your breath? That's how I felt when I walked into this place that does all custom brass light fixtures.

And then, my brain completely exploded. BAM:

Turns out the GG set designer commissioned this shop to make the sconces and they still offer the design to retail and trade customers. They aren't exactly cheap at $200-$300 depending on the size and the number of arms, but they are really, really lovely (will be even more so with new shades a la the Royere numbers above) and I'll be so thrilled to see them in my home some time next week. It's been a long time coming.