House Updates!

I hope you all had a great weekend. We went to Newport sort of last minute with some friends to watch the Volvo sailing races in our friend's boat - it's nice having friends with a boat!  

And even through my husband got pulled into work on Sunday afternoon in an emergency lawyer problem, I came home to these new blue cushions waiting on the doorstep, so I was appeased a bit,  although still sad for Patrick:

Here are the new cushions, which I am very happy with. The look too blue in the photos, but in person I don't notice it for some reason. Once all of those hydrangeas come out I think it will be even better, too.

 The sectional itself is Pier One (here). The old cushions, also from Pier One, sucked. Sorry for the language but I am so mad that I paid $480 for 8 of them and they hold every bit of water - they are "outdoor" cushions but are not water proof or even water resistant. That made me not even want to link to the furniture itself, but it is a year old and is in perfect condition and fairly affordable and still available, so I decided to.  I'm also happy with Pier One for adding custom size rugs and custom furniture fabrics, so I almost forgive them, but not quite.

Ok, moving on, I also wanted to share a few pictures from Ellie's recent outdoor movie night 10th birthday party. It was SO much fun - the girls swam, ate pizza, ran around like maniacs, and then watched Into the Woods outside while eating smore's and snuggling up on the sectional.  And then they slept over in sleeping bags lined up in a circle in the newly empty family room.  It reminded me of some of the best times of my childhood, and I was so happy that we did this party. You only hit double digits once after all.

 

I blocked out the girl's faces but here are most of them at dusk:

You should have seen my husband hanging the screen - it's higher than it looks here:

And finally, my big new arrival today - the Z Chairs from Overstock.

Here is the room, almost empty. I'm still trying to find homes for everything here except the table and chairs:

I showed you the table last week but didn't link to it or the chairs, so I'll do that below.

This is Bobby carrying in the surprisingly heavy chairs while simultaneously doing his best thug impression for the camera:

And trying not to laugh when I made him pose. Isn't he cute? This mom thinks so.

And some close ups:

Ooooh, I love the reflections!

Ok, the sources:

The table is a Saarinen Tulip Table copy. You can get original vintage ones at First Dibs, or new authentic ones by Knoll.  The run about $3500 for new originals in the size I got (42").

I went with a copy and am glad because I can't tell the difference. I got mine on eBay (here), but you can also get them at Lexmod. Ikea and CB2 have versions, but I'm not crazy about them - the tops are substantially different on both. I din't want one without a real marble top, and I'm thrilled with the one we bought, but if you are in the market, just search "Saarinen style tulip table" and you'll see tons of them.

I considered so many chairs, and was tempted by the Saarinen style chairs that you usually see with the table, but my husband hates them, even in clear acrylic:

So I sent him this email recently, called "Which Chairs?" and listed 4 with images:

I love two things about his response - first, he picked the right one, and second, he knew it was a test and not really asking for his opinion, hence his response, "Z?"

YES!

Really, I'm kidding. I wanted his thoughts, but since we agreed on the Z as our first choice, I ordered them. They are from Overstock, here. Like I said, I have no reservations about recommending them - they are thick and heavy and gorgeous, and although not inexpensive, they are worth every penny.

The Plexicraft version retails for $2800, but you can usually find it for a lot less (here), but still too much for me.  I haven't seen the original in person but want to to compare them. Are any of you lucky enough to have one?

That's it for today. If you feel like shopping, this is very exciting to me. Limited selection, but great quality and prices:

See you tomorrow!