New at Market

From Global Views:

Scratch End Table 24"L x 22"W x 24"H with One functional drawer

Stanley’s New Collection: Arrondissement

Stanley’s new collection is called Arrondissement, a French word that refers to different neighborhoods in Paris– NOT a Parisian collection, but a European lifestyle.  Look for terms in this collection like rustic charcoal, salted black, vintage neutral finish, lost wax hardware… terms that make me want to see more!

New Furniture From Mercedes

From Gizmag, we learn that Mercedes is extending its luxury brand in October of 2012 via a furniture collection that will be sold worldwide in exclusive furniture stores, showrooms and interior design stores.

The initial Mercedes-Benz Style furniture collection comprises one sofa, chaise lounge, sideboard, dining room table with chairs, shelf unit with integrated home theater system, bed and chest of drawers.

The collection is a collaboration with the Formitalia Luxury Group, one of the leading Italian manufacturers of designer furniture.

He Was Hiding

Part 8

There he was dressed as a clown. Dead as all those buried in the Lone Fir cemetery. 

Rachel and I had gone next door at 6:00 to take care of Sam the 15-year old Spaniel for our neighbors spending the weekend at the beach.  We heard a door slam and running feet and went upstairs to investigate. The door off the second floor bedroom had mullions and no curtain.  We could see that a pane was broken and shards lay on the carpet.   

There was a copper smell in the air and we looked for the source.  Just coming out from under our neighbor’s bed was a red rivulet that on closer inspection was blood.  I got down on my knees and looked under the bed and recoiled when I saw the clown.  The clown had been shot right through his red clown nose.  I almost gagged over this bit of business.

“Call 911, Rachel”

“The clown has been dead about 2 hours,” said the ME.  “Looks like a .45, but I won’t know until I do the autopsy.  BTW, we did find a Blomus Stainless Steel business card case on our clown.  John Henry was his name. 

It appears our clown might have been hiding under the bed when he was shot.  I say that because he had a grift bag full of stainless items from around the house. In the bag was a stainless set of candle-stick holders and a Blomus stainless steel picture frame with a picture of your neighbor’s young, beautiful wife."

"Let’s talk with the husband!"

250,000th Visitor

Our 250,000 visitor comes from Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. Welcome! Keep coming back.

When Downsizing, You need Storage

Part 7

“It was great to ski with Mike and Beverly Milligan. Wasn’t it dear?”

“Yes,” John Domingo said to Rachel. “Do you remember when we saw them last? We drove up to Seattle to see them.  That was the time we fish thrown at the Pike Street market and had a fine dinner at Ray’s Boat house.”

Mike and Beverly had just moved from their big house on the lake to the small condo in Kirkland.  They loved the condo lifestyle, however their biggest adjustment was storing much of their furniture in a safe place.  When John and Rachel drove home to Portland that weekend years ago, they noticed the many self-storage businesses, but were unfamiliar with Extra Space Storage they saw along I-5.

 “Do we have that self-storage place in Oregon,” Rachel asked.

“I don’t know, Rachel.  Let’s Google them when we get home.”

Turns out Washington had five locations, as did Oregon.  They even saw there was a Greensboro storage, a Sacramento storage and Miami self storage units.

“John, did you know that 30-year old Extra Space Storage (EXR) is the second largest operator of self storage units in the country. Their stock is even publicly traded on the NYSE.”

“Rachel, we should have bought the stock back in 2009, instead of that cutting horse.  We’d be up 500% instead we’re buying feed for the old nag.”  

Windy Windows and Drafty Doors

Guest post

A friend of mine recently had a “prefab” house built, which essentially means he chose all the pieces, they put it together, and then they delivered it. Watching the process got me really thinking about how much detail goes into planning a home (something I hope to do in the very near future). He had to choose everything from the floor to the ceilings-- cabinets, tiles, counter tops, window panes, and doors. Those last two are of the utmost importance because they were not just cosmetic choices. It's not something I have really considered, but the windows and doors of a house are essential for energy bills, safety, and appearance. Thinking back to some of the places I have lived and rented, the biggest issues I ran into centered around these two essential items. My last home, was a very big (five bedrooms), old, drafty house. Honestly, drafty is probably an understatement, blustery might be a more accurate descriptor. In the wintertime the house was FREEZING and because the many windows and doors were so old and let so much air leak out, it cost a fortune to even attempt to heat it. Instead, I was forced to keep the thermostat low to save on the energy bill, and sit on my couch wearing a winter coat and a blanket anytime I wanted to watch TV or grade papers. It was really an outrageous way to live, and it essentially came down to inefficient doors and windows. The side door from our patio was especially bad. It was not secure at all, could have provided someone with really simple break in strategy. In fact, I locked myself out of the house once or twice and all it took was a firm hip-bump to pop the LOCKED door right open. If I hadn't been living with three guys who were home pretty much anytime I was, I would have really feared for my safety! When the window in one of our doors was accidentally broken, we put in a request for the landlord to get us new, composite doors in hopes that it might help remedy some of our issues, but instead she fixed the glass in the window. I must say I am much happier (and keep a much more comfortable temperature) in the house where I am now, with secure, insulated composite doors and windows.

Dreaming Of Home Libraries

Hello! I'm Jessica, a writer for Arcadian Lighting, a wonderful online resource for affordable light fixtures. Every day I get to search for beautiful interior design inspirations and then share them on lovely blogs. Thank you for letting me stop by today Bev and Mike! If you're anything like me, you'll agree that one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture in a room is a well stocked bookshelf. And a home library would definitely be a dream come true. So, I've collected a few swoon-worthy home libraries. I hope you love them as much as I do!

 

 The traditional style of this home library is perfectly dark and cozy. I love the deep red carpet and pops of yellow and pink throughout the rest of the room.

 

The vibrant orangy red accents in this home library is invigorating, especially when paired with bright brass fixtures. The wall lamps are a neat way to keep the shelves illuminated in the evening.

 

I love that this single wall library has it's own library ladder. The glossy black bookshelf and black and white chandelier are chic touches, as well.

 

Even this tight corner turned home office makes an interesting space for a mini library. The simple, all-white built-in bookshelves help make the space appear larger.

 

The spacious shelves in this reading nook accommodate all types of reading material, from magazines to heavy tomes. The plush seating show that this is a place for some serious reading.

 

I love the bright colors in this cozy dining room, and the surrounding walls of bookshelves makes the room all the more dynamic. The glistening pendant light is a fitting touch.

 

Sacrificing a headboard for an entire wall of books is a small price to pay for such a beautiful and accessible bookshelf within arm's reach.

 

Even kitchen shelves provide an interesting place to stock your book collection. I love that these books are grouped together by color. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Which of these home libraries would you have in your dream home? Let us know in the comments! And be sure to stop by Arcadian Lighting for a few wall sconces or lamps to help you read late into the night!

250,000 Visitors!

Sometime in the next 8 to 10 days, Landfair on Furniture will host it's 250,000th visitor.  We are extremely happy that you've chosen to read our blog.  The traffic would indicate that we are providing worthwhile information and that "You really like us!"

We hope you have fun here, that you chuckle, or say, "I didn't know that!" We'll continue to strive for the 500,000th visitor.

Thank you!

Have You Tried Salt & Straw?

Here's an ice cream store you MUST visit! It's named Salt & Straw, and the flavors may blow your mind.

Kim Malek is the owner and the shoppe has been open since August and here on a windy, cold day, the visitors through the front door didn't end.

I tried several kinds and settled on something conservative: one scoop of Banana with spicy monkey caramel and walnuts in a cup. It had a great taste of bananas and caramel with walnut chunks. The ice cream had a perfect melt. Then I went back for a taste of Pear and Bleu Cheese. It tasted just like pear ice cream with a slight bleu cheese aftertaste. Next I tried Sea Salt ice cream with caramel ribbon.  The sea salt enhanced the caramel and satisfied both yearnings for salt and sweet. Next time I will try Arbequina olive oil.




Bev tried Almond brittle with salted grenache ice cream.  She's hooked! As I said they've been open since August, but already it's Oprah's favorite ice cream and it's been featured in "The Wall Street Journal" and "The Washington Post" and featured on "Sunday Morning."

Be Prepared!

NASA has warned us of the dangers of solar storms and the harm that can come to our electrical systems.  Mike just read “A Distant Eden” a novel by Lloyd Tackitt that takes us on a journey to Texas during and after a huge solar storm hits earth.  The storm ruins our electric grid that moves power across our nation.  The storm also wipes out anything electrical; our computers, phones, pumps for water and gasoline and furnaces and the fuses and computers in our cars and trucks and trains and planes. Soon people are running out of water and starving.  There are no deliveries of food anymore.  The medicines that many need to stay alive are no longer be available.  The author writes that in such a situation, 97% of our population would die in less than a year. Very quickly, we are in a survival battle and it’s useful to know how to treat water so it’s potable, how to catch fish using fish traps and how to cook using solar box cookers.

Most of us have experienced power outages for a period of time.  Here in the Northwest, we’ve had silver thaws when the trees and power lines are covered in ice and we lose power for hours to a few days.  Parts of the country experience floods, tornados, hurricanes and earthquakes and power can be out for weeks or months. I’ve often wondered about generators. Do they plug into the house when they are used for power or do you plug into the generator?  I was asked to write something about the subject and consulted the website of Generators A to Z for the answers. I learned that depending our your needs you can plug directly into a generator, like your refrigerator to keep your frozen items frozen or you can have a transfer switch added so you can run your appliances through the circuit breaker. Generator 101 helps you decide whether to you need a conventional generator or inverter generator and the differences.  Generator 101 also helps you figure how big of a generator you might need, the fuel, the number of hours it can run.  The website has prices for the various kinds of generators.

Reading “A Distant Eden” and familiarizing yourself with solar box cookers and generators could be the difference in you and your family surviving the next disaster.

BTW, right now the Kindle edition of "A Distant Eden" is available for 99 cents: