Vietri Warehouse Sale

Have you guys ever heard of Vietri?

It is the name of a company started by two sisters that after a trip to Italy in 1983 decided they wanted to import the Italian dinnerware that crossed their path and become wholesalers, selling to stores across the US. You can read more about their story here. Here are some of their awesome collections:

Campagna- Pesce (Fish)

Bellezza White

Incanto Aqua

Blue Mare

They have so many other beautiful dinnerware collections, along with glassware, flatware, lighting, table linens, home decor, the list goes on…

You can purchase their items on their website, in various stores across the country, or at their outlet store (which happens to be only an hour away in Hillsborough, North Carolina).

If you clicked on any of the links above you might have noticed that their pieces are a little pricey. Definitely worth the price because of the quality and craftsmanship but also definitely out of my price range currently. This is why I attend their biannual warehouse sale where you can find discontinued, slightly flawed and unique sample products for up to 80% off retail. This weekend just happens to be one of those sales…

The warehouse sale is a two day sale. They save pieces for Sunday, so don’t worry if that is the only day you can attend. If you want to be one of the first people in the door you can get a numbered ticket. Tickets are available on their website starting at 7am the Friday before, first come, first serve. I believe the numbered tickets are so that they don’t have people lined up over night to be the first ones in the door, that is how great the deals are. The tickets are great because you can arrive 15 minutes before 8am and get in line based on your number. Tickets are not required, you just won’t be able to enter until after the ticket holders enter.

They have thought of everything regarding convenience. They have shopping carts, packing material, boxes, outdoor checkout to keep down on the crowding, they have it all.

The first sale I went to was a little overwhelming. There are some determined ladies there! My strategy is to just pick up anything that you might consider buying and put it in your cart. Before you check out you can decide which items you need to put back on the shelf. Always man your cart, like I said, some ladies are determined. One day I hope I am one of the ladies that  I see wheeling out carts full of dishes, like whole sets. It would be so satisfying to have a whole set of their beautiful dishes at your house that you paid less than half of the retail price for. Deals get me so excited! Check out the Vietri Blog for more tips and strategies.

Here are some of the items I’ve bought in the past…. (Side note, I’ve bought some beautiful pots, but they are currently getting ready for spring and not picture ready.)

My glass pitcher… (BTW.. those are my new marble fruit I bought at Slate last weekend.)

Some swirl glasses… sadly, a few have been lost of the years…

So.. last year I bought a full set of honeycomb type glasses (8 big and 8 small for just $32)

Fruit bowl..

Serving dish for dips and such..

One of my favorite multipurpose bowls..

Glass decorative bottle..

and my absolutely favorite salt and pepper shakers!

If you’ve never gone to the warehouse sale before, I would highly recommend it. If you can’t make it this weekend, the outlet store is open year around, so if you ever travel through Hillsborough, NC you should stop by.

Anyone planning on going this weekend? Anyone have any Vietri pieces that you love?

Home Wish List Update

As I mentioned on Monday I plan to updated my pages this week. Last  night I updated my Home Wish List page. I had a huge long list of items but I narrowed it down to ten. I added a section at the bottom where I list items that have been crossed off the list with links to find the sources for said items. I plan on adding a similar section to the Wardrobe Wish List so I can share the great deals I find.

As a side note: I’m not really in love with the format of my pages. I am a table lover by heart and I’m sad I can’t put all these items in a table without them being one big image. To me the list just looks unorganized and just drags on. I’m sure it feels the same to you too. I promise to look more into this.

Below is a little teaser, make sure to check out the full list on my Home Wish List page.

Apparently I’m getting worse at multitasking. I was planning to mix in some DIY and life posts this week while updating my lists but I haven’t been able to find the time. I’m going to see The Hobbit tomorrow (!!!!) but I’ll still try hard to give you a non-list-updating post on Thursday.

Have a great Wednesday!

One of the Many Reasons to Love Lowe’s

I was planning to have a New Years themed post today but I dropped the ball yesterday and didn’t finish writing my post. I was recovering from the craziness of Christmas and New Years. I chose to be lazy and lay on my couch all day instead of finishing my blog post. It was my last day off work, so my last opportunity to spend a day doing absolutely nothing. So, today you get the post already written and stored for tomorrow.  I’ll be back tomorrow with my New Years theme.

Lowes has awesome deals on appliances that were model appliances or on display. They usually hide these reduced priced items in the very back aisle behind the display areas. They are typically more than 50% off and fully functional. Most of the time the items were just on display a little longer than expected and they no longer stocked them so they were basically just trying to give them away. If you’re like me you don’t know what the newest model washer and dryer looks like; one that hasn’t been used, that is a year old, and super cheap sounds like a great deal!

For example:

Brian and I have been brainstorming for a while about how we want to update his kitchen. The kitchen is fully functional as is and in great shape, we just want to make it more our style and add some niceties. One of our ideas was to add an over-the-stove microwave to clear up some counter space. Brian has already replaced all of his appliances except for the hood over the stove with stainless steel ones. So, a stainless steel over-the-range microwave was what we determined we were in the market for. Up until two days ago we weren’t ready to bite the bullet and start purchasing things for the kitchen yet, just because we aren’t 100% set on all of our ideas. But two days ago I walked into a Lowe’s shopping for new plastic coasters to go under my indoor planters and decided to check the reduced appliances aisle just to see what they had.

What I found..

It is a “KitchenAid 1.8 cu. ft. Microwave Hood Combination Oven w/ Convection” Model #KHMC1857.  It says it was originally priced at $679 but is now on sale for $269. Why? The head of the appliance department explained to me that it was installed in one of their cabinet displays and when they changed the display they no longer stocked this microwave. He said it is fully function, it is just missing the mounting bracket. Here is a shot of the inside:

Yep, it has a container left over from the display… added bonus! Although we weren’t in the market, I thought this was too good of a deal to pass up so I called Brian. He was preoccupied working but said if I liked it and thought it was a good deal based on research he was okay with the purchase. He did inform me that a mounting bracket wouldn’t be hard to find, and wouldn’t be too expensive. He has installed many over-the-range microwaves (contractor alert) so I trust him in this area for sure.

I did some quick research online. I did this one handed, because I kept one hand on the microwave to stake my claim. Buying things on sale is cut throat! My research told me that the current model is on sale for a lot more than $679. Stainless steel appliances are at a premium right now, everyone wants them.

I also did a lot of research on the convection option. The added benefit of being able to bake, broil, and roast in your microwave is definitely worth some extra bones. The convection option also explains why the original price is so high. More research showed that the average over-the-range microwave costs about $269 or more. So, I decided this was a great deal, if not a steal. Putting on your game face can never hurt, and in this case it saved me another $50. I asked a few more times about the mounting bracket, played a little stupid, and they took another $50 off because I would have to purchase it myself. So, I bought it for $219!

What a deal! With tax and everything it was $233 and some change. It pays to check the clearance appliance aisle. You never know what you are going to find back there.

Don’t look for microwave installation posts soon, this bad boy will probably live in Brian’s garage for a bit while we make some final decisions regarding his kitchen.

Have you guys found any other great places to find good deals on appliances? Or have you purchased any of the reduced priced appliances at Lowe’s? Good or bad experience?

Project #2: Who knew lamps were so expensive?

I hope that everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. I discovered that the majority of blogs posted on Thanksgiving, so my post fit right in. I didn’t have a ‘Friday Favorites’ last week because I was too busy eating and catching up with the family. I hope that you and yours were able to enjoy the same.

I took a vacation last week from Thursday-5pm on Sunday from project #2. But come 5pm last night I was cranking out some pom pom trim. Those pom poms are squirmy buggers and ended up taking longer than planned. So today we won’t be chatting about them because I didn’t finish.. tear..  Here is a teaser..

Definitely well worth the time commitment. I’ll be sharing more DIY details when I finish (so hopefully tomorrow).

On to the most important announcement.. LAMPS ARE EXPENSIVE!

I started shopping for lamp shades for my free lamp. I quickly determined that finding a shade that matched the lamp and matched my decor was going to be close to impossible. I really liked the Victorian shape. I wanted to build one from scratch but decided I didn’t want to commit the time, so I went shopping for one. There were no white ones, there were no simple ones, and they all just looked like this craziness.. (Cream Scallop Dome Lamp Shade from Lamps Plus)

So, my mind quickly started to wander and indecision kicked in. I couldn’t decide on a shape and I couldn’t decide on a design. I thought plain white was going to be too boring but I already had too many patterns going on in the living room. All the shades I kind of liked were a little pricey too. Why spend a ton on a lamp shade for a lamp that didn’t fit just perfectly with the rest of the decor? Thus, I started shopping for entire lamps. I soon realized that lamps are expensive if you want a nice big one! You can check out all the awesome lamps I found on Etsy. Awesome and expensive! I wanted something different, a conversation piece, which all appear to come with a large price tag.

Not sure if you guys remember when I vowed to stalk the elephant lamp from West Elm. That statement and promise was definitely true. So eventually my website wandering lead me to Shirley.

She was 20% off and I had an addition 10% off coupon. She was something I knew I wanted, something decisive in a world of lamp indecision. My Etsy search had provided me with moral support, it taught me that most lamps are expensive and with the discounts Shirley was right in the average range.

So, here is what I’m working with now…

The plastic is still on the shade because I want to feel it out a few days and make sure it is all I built it up to be. I have 30 days to return it if I’m not completely satisfied. I’ll keep you posted.

Moral of the post today: Don’t buy something you aren’t completely happy with just to save a buck. I guess you could tack on that lamps are expensive.

The Tray Trend

Do you guys remember the awesome yellow tray I bought in the sale section on my first West Elm Excursion? For the record, it was one of the best  purchases I’ve made in the home decor category. I’m not sure why I didn’t jump on the tray bandwagon sooner. My new tray has transformed my coffee table, added a pop of color, and created some organization and order.

I’m officially on the wagon and desire another. I decided that I wanted one for the kitchen table to serve the same purpose. I didn’t want one quite as large though because I didn’t want to have to move it whenever I sat down to eat dinner. West Elm had the perfect solution, a small 12″x12″ Square Lacquer Tray. Better yet the tray came in cherry red which is one of my kitchen colors.

The only downside was that it was on backorder. This didn’t stop me, I made my second trip to West Elm and picked one up.

LOVE IT! More trays please! All I need now is something better than a napkin holder to go in it. Maybe flowers? Ideas?

PS.. My lovely new tray was mentioned on Apartment Therapy. It made the list of  ‘10 Terrific Trays.’

PSS.. As a side note, does anyone know where to get small napkins for this napkin holder? They are like restaurant napkins. Thought it would be simple enough to find them, but I thought wrong.

West Elm Excursion and a WINNER!

So that you guys don’t read the rest of my post with anxiety and anticipation…

Congratulations linda ge! I’ll be contacting you ASAP… Thanks to everyone that participated in the giveaway and for helping celebrate 1,000 views! I really loved all of your awesome finds on Etsy.

Don’t stop reading yet… I want to tell you guys about my first West Elm excursion. I’ve always loved the sale section of West Elm. I confessed my obsession here along with some of my finds. On August 23rd West Elm opened a store in Durham, NC, so just right around the corner from me. A week or so ago I finally adventured the 20 minutes to check out the real thing.

Obviously I would head straight to the sale section.

I picked up the lacquer yellow tray and the owl measuring cups!

Then I saw this amazing elephant lamp! I’d actually seen it before online but it is so much better in person (and bigger)! This lamp will be mine.. even if I have to wait like 5 years until someone is tired of it and they post it on craigslist. Elephant lamp, I vow to stock you!

Then I finally got around to looking for a rug.. which was the main reason I adventured.. They were having a rug sale!

You see that miniature orange and white striped sample there? That was the rug I went with. However they didn’t have a 3’x5′ in stock. Not sure if you remember my post about my home wish list, but I have an unsightly piece of floor that is covering up the old heater location. So, I can’t go any smaller than a 3’x5′ if I want to cover up everything! I ordered the rug in the store so that I could get the discount and free shipping.

So all I came home with was…

a new tray, some owl measuring cups, and a printed receipt for my new rug!

I got a good pic of the plant wall on my way out.

It is awesome! The employee at the desk told me that it is “self watering” too. What she really meant to say was that there is a plumbing contraption that runs through the wall that is connected to a water source so that employees don’t have to water the wall. She wasn’t saying that the wall produces its own water and is self-sustaining.

I starting styling as soon as I got home!

My coffee table is looking pretty good now!

It even fits perfectly on the table so that I can still open the bad boy up!

Yes, my table is that cool! (Found it at the local flea market.)

My owls came to rest on top of my microwave.

My rug came in a few days later. My hallway room looks completely different now.

  

  

  

Bauer snuck into a few pictures. He was jealous, wanted some blog love of his own.

I’m currently still loving all of my purchases! You guys buy anything lately for the house that you’re loving?

Updates to Home Wish List Page

I’m still in the process of creating and branding my blog (bear with me). This is most visible when you click through my pages.

To eliminate one of those eye sores, I have put together a short wish list for my home.

I moved-in in June of this year so my house is very much a work in progress. I have very specific ideas for some areas, not a clue for others. My list below will live on my ‘Home Wish List‘ page. I’ll continue to update it as my house evolves so make sure to check it out periodically. Feel free to provide ideas and suggestions. Also, let me know if you stumble upon a great deal for any of my desired items.

Without further ado…

Curtains for the Living Room

I’m fully aware of the propensity (thanks dad) of curtains to transform a room, however I have never owned any. The main reason for this is that they are always the last thing on my list and I end up moving before I get around to finding the perfect curtains. My new house has a pretty wrought iron curtain rod already installed in the living room. The black rod against the light walls is like a eye magnetic that screams, “you really don’t have curtains?”

I need something that keeps the room bright. The curtains can be solid or patterned (already a lot of patterns though). Some texture would be nice. Maybe white linen? To boring?

(Disregard the bare walls and extra lamp, we’ll be addressing them later.)

Rug for the Foyer

I don’t think foyer is the right word. It is a small room you pass through to enter the bedrooms and bathroom. A hallway room? Whatever it is called, it needs a rug. My house was built when heaters in the floor were the norm. When the owners upgraded to central heat they chose to cover the hole in the floor with an unsightly peice of wood. It can be seen from the outside! Since I am a renter a rug is the only option (enlighten me if this is incorrect). Sadly the bad wood is not centered in my hallway room. This will be a challenge.

Industrial ‘M’ 

I bought this awesome industrial ‘h’ from an antique fair at the fairgrounds (Raleigh term for flee market). Since I am a sucker for initial pairing I want an ‘m’ to match. I want to hang them both in the corner of the living room, one on each wall. The ‘m’ needs to be big! The measurements of the ‘h’ are 5″ deep and 24″ square. An ‘m’ with some color might be nice.

Side Table for Big Leather Chair

I have this big leather chair in the corner. I would much rather prefer something with a little more character considering I have a three piece set of this leatherness. But since I don’t have any where to store any of these pieces and I won’t live here forever I don’t want to separate the set in case I sell the one piece I’ll need when I finally own a home. So, for now I have this big chair in the corner. This chair needs a side table to add some color and to look pretty. Might be nice if it was functional enough to put a glass and maybe a book on. What do you think of a ceramic garden stool? Do they make those tall enough to compete with a 30″ high armrest?  (Disregard the slop bucket I have here currently that holds dog toys.)

Awesome Industrial Light for my Office/Etsy Room

The office/Etsy room is the room of chaos. This room defines a mulipurpose room. There are many things accomplished sitting at this desk. What it needs is an awesome light to go on the desk. I’m half blind and need lots of light when I do things. Something amazing with character please!

Lots of White Picture Frames

I want to do a collage wall. I’m not sure which wall is going to be graced with this creation yet, but frames are a necessity. I need to start collecting now!

Shade for Lamp

I shared this awesome lamp with you that I got for free from my dad’s house. It needs a great shade to go on it. I have a modern arco lamp in my living room, so I thought maybe something that played on that shape, but I’ m open to suggestions.

Fabric for Stool

I need some awesome fabric for the stool I also got for free from my dad’s house. I think I am going to put it in front of my halltree that looks like a throne so bright fabric is essential and pattern is a must. Color options are navy blue, yellow, orange, red, or grey.

I think 8 things for today is plenty. I’ll be adding more on the Home Wish List page, don’t you worry.

Do you guys have anything on your home wish list you want me to keep my eyes open for?

PS.. You can check out the rest of the Charlotte trip instagram photos here.