design, Life, Styling

One Bamboo Table – A Design Exercise

egg & dart blog

Last time I was at my favorite brocante, one of the last things I picked up, arms full of bags and a toddler, was a bamboo folding table. For me, the best way to go at the flew market is with your gut: do you love it? Go with it! Are you not sure? Walk away. This method has never led me astray in almost ten years of brocanting. Do not over think it! So when the price was great and I didn’t have much to lose, I grabbed this little table knowing I’d figure out what to do with it when the time was right.

In the mean time, I decided to give myself the challenge of styling the table for two different set-ups: one as a bedside table and the other as a little writing desk using only what I had access to already at the house.

Bedside table

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I love this as a bedside table. If you have the space, it feels luxurious to have such a large surface to keep some of your favorite things nearby while still having space for the necessities.

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For me, those necessities are a place to have a glass of water at the ready and a dish for taking off jewelry at the end of the day. For years now, my favorite type of dish for that has been these beautiful vintage salt and pepper dishes! While I don’t keep pinch bowls of salt and pepper for daily use, the little bowls of these dishes are perfect for rings and earrings.

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Add books, a focal piece of artwork, maybe a favorite photograph (that one is my husband as a wee one!), and some green and you’ve a bedside table that is useful and inspiring!

Writing Desk

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I think we would all like to be better at finding the time to write notes and thank yous by hand. The time you spend thinking of someone while putting pen to paper creates something that feels so much more special than a digital note. I’m pretty sure if I had a pretty little writing spot like this, I’d be better at it, non?

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Favorite books and some to pull inspiring quotes from, a box for stamps, envelopes, and writing tools, and some cards ready to be addressed. What else does a writing desk really need? Oh, that pretty little box will be in the shop Friday!

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It was wonderful to sneak in the time to try these two set-ups and I’d love to try to find time (and space!) to do more. When I bought this table, I first pictured it for plants and artwork, but who knows how it will end up being used! What do you think?

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A special note of thanks to my assistant, above. I could have done it without you. But it maybe wouldn’t have been as much of a challenge. 😉

xo,

A.

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Life, Styling

Home Dreaming

living room

I’ve been so busy plowing ahead on a work project (al.most.done!) that I’ve been missing my time writing here! But i thought I’d share some home dreaming I’ve been doing in little snatches of time here and there.

See, this past weekend our one and a half year old Ikea PS Lövas broke. The thing is we live in a small studio apartment and, while we’ve arranged the space pretty well to make it seem like totally different spaces when the bed is open (master bedroom!) and when it is closed and functions as our couch (living room!), there is just no way we can hide a bed that’s broken and can’t be closed. R. declared that that was it! We need a bedroom with a real bed! (Read: a new apartment) He’s not wrong and this is the second time a bed has broken here in four years, but looking for an apartment in Paris is a full-time, high stress job. It’s too bad, too, because the only thing wrong with the bed is that the hinges had insufficient soldering. We’re trying to think up a solution that doesn’t require torches and sparks.

So, to distract myself from the horror that is apartment hunting, I’ve been dreaming of the much more appealing decorating phase of a new space. This is just a quick idea of what it could look like with all the space, time, and money I can dream of. I don’t know that I wouldn’t drive everyone crazy by playing around with different ideas, but at this moment, this is feeling pretty cosy.

This armchair is at the top of my list. I need a chair I can sit sideways in and I love wing chairs but this modern take has such clean but soft lines. Love. It will need a simple white or linen colored couch to go with it but I’d ditch those pillows real fast and add two big bolsters covered in this Chenonceau fabric. I must have fabric named after my favorite chateau! With all that lightness, I like the idea of a dash of black to ground the space and this coffee table plays into the rug without being heavy while bringing in some natural wood. These zodiac prints do the trick, too, and I’d have them play nicely on the wall with a vintage gilded mirror. Of course, this is dreamland and I can have Moorish doorways if I like and plenty of green with a fiddle-leaf fig. A branch-legged side table with a glass drop lamp next to the armchair would add some more organic lines and I am obsessed with Lauren‘s paisley for the window curtains (floor to ceiling, of course). Then to just plop myself on the couch with some little tealights and a cosy throw (from Maine!) and all that would be missing would be R., the bug, and a cup of tea.

What home dreams do you have running through your head? Please tell me I’m not alone.

xo,

A.

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