solicited advice

Posted by marne on July 19, 2007 in other things | 4 comments

First of all, I’m so excited that my internet friend Yvonne (which is how I refer to her to my real life friends, who think it’s a bit weird that I exchange gifts and magazines and important things like pop-tarts and jus mix with someone I’ve never even met) is featured this month in a beautiful spread in this magazine. If you live under a rock and have never visited Yvestown, you should go there right now and see all the beautiful eye-candy on her blog. Gefeliciteerd Yvonne!

Okay, now I could use some decorating advice. I recently bought this lamp at an antique mall, and I need to get a shade for it. I’d could use some opinions from you very tasteful and talented readers. I’m thinking a nice big drum shade would be cute, but should I go with white? natural linen? I was even thinking maybe yellow, but where would I find something like that? Would I have to make it myself? The lamp sits on a table between two wing chairs that will soon be slipcovered in natural linen, and the curtains that will eventually cover the windows behind them will be white and this green fabric which I got for $5/yard. The walls will eventually be painted a very pale periwinkle blue and the settle you may have seen before is covered with this fabric and has throw pillows out of this fabric as well as the orange cushion I made and a yellow cushion I made from a couple vintage placemats. I want the room to be very cheery, light and fresh, sort of like this. I have my own inspiration photo of delphiniums. I really need to get all my ideas together in one spot. Now that the wallpaper is stripped, and I’m in the process of selling my piano, which takes up a lot of space in the room, I’m nearly ready to finally finish this room.

Now the second request for advice: I also got this awesome birdcage at the antique mall. I want to use it in the living room as well, but I’m not sure yet just what to do with it. Should I paint it? If so, should I go dark or white or a color, like turquoise or yellow? Should I leave it as is or decorate it somehow? I love what Heather has done with this birdcage, but I don’t know if I could get the same effect with silk flowers of which I’m not really a fan. I just don’t know.

Thanks in advance for anything you can come up with. And just because he’s so darn cute, I’ll leave you with a picture of Petey, who must be involved in whatever I’m doing, and couldn’t manage to stay out of the frame when I was trying to take pictures of the lamp.