This Charming House

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but if I won the lottery and could hire anybody in the world to come and decorate my house, I'd hire Sarah Richardson. 

I'm in love with her.  I am a total fan-girl....

When I saw these lamps from Season 2 of Sarah's House, I fell instantly in love.  LURVE. 

For the past six months or so, I've been thinking on replacing the reading lamps in my living room.  I love them, but I'm tired of them and I want something else.  However, I haven't been able to find anything that I liked.  I even ordered some vintage lamps on eBay but they were too large. 

So I was fiddling around on Lamps Plus the other day - when what should I find?  The lamps!!

And they're pretty affordable.  

I'm thinking they'll be showing up here at Chateau Bee Charmer in the very near future.

This Charming House

This weekend I found the coolest statue for the living room mantle.

Isn't she fabulous?!?!?  She's sort of Oscar-ish. 

And if I had an Oscar, I'd put it right out on the living room mantle.  None of that stickin' it in the bathroom stuff. 

West Virginians are proud of their awards.  We do not believe that they should be hidden away, but rather that they should be placed right out in your front room, with the rest of the what-nots, where everybody can see them....but I digress....

She just sort of stands up there and glows on her little Lucite stand.

Here's a close up:

I found her at Sleepy Poet Antique Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina.  I was feelin' lucky when I headed out that way and I was not disappointed.    She was way in the back on a low shelf.  Let this be a lesson to you uninitiated  flea market shoppers.  You have to dig around. 

I actually went in there looking for a vintage lamp.  Of course, I found a bunch of stuff that I liked, but they were all lamps sold in pairs.  If I had been looking for a pair of ANYTHING, I would never have been able to find them, but since I only needed/wanted a single lamp, no dice.

Then I found this little guy.   He's not vintage but I fell in love with him.

He is the palest, palest *whisper* palest shade of celadon green.

My pitiful photography skills do him no justice.

He was purchased to take the place of the Crate & Barrel lamp that my sweet friend Sarah so sweetly pointed out to me - with great pain - wasn't working. 

I said "Yeah, I know." 

The Crate & Barrel lamp is what happens to me when I try to get too far outside my box.  At some point stretching yourself crosses over and just becomes false.  That lamp was false Tonya.  So I'm gonna sell it on Craigslist or something.

And the genie bottle lamp has now moved over to the desk, just in case you were worried about it.

This Charming House

When I got the new old "Carrie Lamp" for the dining room, I picked up some brass polish at the Teeter so I could shine it up.

Since it isn't my only vintage brass lamp, I decided to shine the others up, too.

This is my vintage genie bottle lamp, post-shine.

I couldn't love it more if I tried.

This Charming House

I have a confession to make.

For the past ten years I have been carrying on a long distance, hopeless (I thought) and unhealthy love affair with the lamp on Carrie Bradshaw's desk.

It was aloof, impossible, clearly vintage and completely unattainable - just like George Clooney. 

Here it is, taunting me with it's beauty in Season 3:

Even after the series ended,  it wasn't done torturing me.   It came back in one of the very first scenes of the movie:

It even survived the controversial redecoration of Carrie's apartment:

And all along, I wanted it.

There was a blank space in my house because it was the only thing that would do.

Oh, I mean, there were other lamps.  Stand ins.  Place holders.  Cheap and unloved and replaceable - picked up on street corners and IKEAs and various Target sales racks.    

All the while I was watching SATC reruns and pining away for the unattainable Carrie lamp; hitting up flea markets and antique malls; trolling Ebay and online lamp sites - trying to find another lamp.   One that might be at least similar enough to assuage my yearning.  A real lamp.  Not just a celebrity lamp crush.  Years went by ..... 

Well, my darling readers, on Saturday at Hipsteria Modern in Raleigh, North Carolina....... I found one!!!!!

THE EXACT SAME ONE!!!!! VINTAGE!!!!  FOR $45!!!!!  OMG!

Can you believe it?  I certainly can't. 

Here it is in the dining room, in the place that I've been holding for it, all these years.  I suspect it doesn't go with the rest of the room, but I don't care:

I mean when I saw it, I kind of freaked.  I knew that it was close, but I wouldn't let myself really believe it was the same.  I didn't even mention it to my friends.  They were both giving me the same look that they always give me when I'm doing the happy dance of shopping love and they think I'm buying something ugly at the flea market.  Julie even suggested that I *gasp* spray paint it..... But I didn't care.  I knew I'd found something special (at least to me).  And when I got home - damn!  The SAME lamp!  Jackpot!!

Here's a close up:

I wonder how many other house obsessed people are out there looking for this lamp?

All I really have left to say about it is that I think this definitively proves that God loves me better.

Just sayin.

Lamp Love

I think it's clear to you all by now that I have a bit of a lamp addiction.

Really.

It's a problem.

And I really should do something about it. And I plan to...as a New Years Resolution.

Lamp Rehab.

In the meantime, I found this while innocently looking for something else - I swear.

It's the Arteriors Manfre Adjustable Long Arm Desk Lamp.

I think it would look just fabulous on my desk.

I Won! Take Two. The Major Prize Arrived!

I told you a couple of weeks ago that I won a very cool Jonathan Adler Claridge Lamp at an online giveaway sponsored by my sweet friend Sarah over at Serendipity.

It has arrived!

Here it is on the side table in the guest bedroom. It makes an excellent "top of the steps" night light.

I Won!

Oh my goodness! I won a major prize!

My friend, Sarah, over at Serendipity hosted a giveaway last week and I won this gorgeous Jonathan Adler Claridge Lamp from CSN Lighting.

Thanks to Sarah for hosting this lovely giveaway and to Random.org for picking me as the winner!

I mean, I've never won anything, except maybe a free drink with purchase somewhere.

It's very exciting!

I'll be sure to post pictures of the lovely lamp in it's new home once it arrives here at Chateau Bee Charmer.

LAMPS!

I headed down to Home Goods at Blakeney to look for a new powder room mirror. Unfortunately, they didn't have one to suit me. More unfortunately, they did have a lotta lamps on sale.

Yeah, I had to buy them.

I have to confess that Home Goods always makes me a little nervous. It's always crowded and cramped. Usually, I just don't want to fight for the stuff.

Ya'll, these lamps made a fighter outta me.

Aren't they great??? They flank the sofa in the living room. They add just a bit of sparkle.

I have been looking for living room lamps for years. Really, YEARS. And then, when I'm not looking for them, there they are and at an unbeatable price.

Here's a close up of the crystal base. I have a thing for crystal lamps. Very 1930's French, which is sort of my guiding design principal here at Chateau Bee Charmer.

I also snapped up this little one for the desk in my room. The other one, from Target, rattled when you walked by and that just bugged me. This one is gorgeous and perfect, and frankly, didn't cost much more than the old Target one. I LOVE a good deal and it makes me love the lamps even more.

This trip was also a good reminder to me to be open to all possibilities when shopping for one's home, because I found something at a place where I generally don't enjoy shopping.

It also struck me again that your home shouldn't be like a Candace Olsen makeover, with everything new and beautiful but with very little - or no - personal meaning. Anyone can throw a lot of money at a room and make something that is objectively beautiful. However, most people don't have the money to spend in such a way and as beautiful as the room might be, it's a little soulless. Your home isn't hatched, you have to build it a bit at a time and often that means waiting for a while to find just the right thing.

As much, or more than your money, your beautiful home needs your time, your devotion, your thought and your energy. The perfect addition could pop up when you least expect it - and sometimes, at a perfectly affordable price.

I still need a mirror for that powder room, though.