I think you can make that!

I am finally almost done with my ironing table. I got it all covered, and bought a bunch of metal pipes at Ace for the legs. They only had less than half of what I needed. I checked ebay and there was a seller that had stuff for about half the price! So I ordered from them and a few more parts to hang up my dotted paper (pattern paper).

Then I was looking at making shelving above the ironing table and was going to do more pipes, but didn't want too much industrial in my work room, so I found these on ebay. 4 Restaurant Decorative Shelf Brackets Cast Iron Rustic Brackets Iron B 8 | eBay
I think these are a pretty good price for 4 pcs. The real vintage ones are $20-40 a piece, so I can live with reproduction. I'm going to use these long wood planks I have that are about 5" wide and double them up and leave a tiny space between the planks. Of course I will stain them, and I want the shelf to go almost the whole length of the wall. I have so many text books that I can display and have easy access to when I need them, instead of them sitting in four boxes in my closet.

Wow, those outlets are awesome!! How have I never heard of those before...??? Cool!

Love those brackets, very cool/heavy looking. I totally want to see all this when done!!!

May be off topic or addressed elsewhere - if so: apologies!!! Please let me know and I'll refer accordingly.


Otherwise, I am considering hardwood floors to replace carpet. But, I can't figure out if I want wood or tile? The reason I ask is because I have marble tables and I'm scared that tile will make my house look to formal and wood will make it look too cozy or old-fashioned.


What does anyone think? I was leaning towards white porcelain floors but it seems so clinical!!!


Also, I don't know if I should have carpets in the bedroom and what about the stairs?


Advice appreciated!!

I like both tile and hardwoods, for me it would depend on a couple of questions like; 1, does it get colder in the Winter where you live? if yes will the floors be heated? 2, up keep of the floors, I have both wood and tile in my house and personally the wood is much easier for me to clean (and much warmer in the Winter).


For the stairs and bedrooms? I kept both carpeted for a couple of reason mostly for sound proofing and warmth in the Winter.

I agree with the above. Also want to add in another choice, laminate.

I used to think laminate was cheap and tacky like linoleum, but the new ones they have out now look so real. We ended up getting laminate in a darker brown and it was not expensive at all! It was also very easy to install and we installed it ourselves. I really like real wood floors and really REALLY wanted them laid down in a herringbone pattern, but the real wood was about 5x more expensive!

They also are now making porcelain tiles that look like wood. Not as expensive as real wood, but you lay them down like regular tile. This would be a good option for places like kitchen or bathroom where real wood would not be a good choice but if you want the wood look.

I'm not a fan of regular tile bc the trends go in and out so fast with tile. My dad started re doing his house a few years ago, and started with the tile in the kitchen. Now it's been a few years and he finished, he wants to redo the kitchen tile already bc it's now out of style! I think the very large tile like 24" laid at a 45 degree angle with very small grout lines or no grout lines look very clean and modern like a chic hotel, but not my style personally.

Thanks so much for this. I think the main concern, for me, is lack of uniformity throughout the house. I have a sick obsession with keeping all of the walls and carpets the same color, throughout, and individualizing rooms only by accessories. I don't know what my problem is with that but I'm working on it, lol!


Thanks so much for this! I currently have Amtico laminate in the kitchen and bathrooms. I am not happy with how it was laid, though, since the 'grout' sticks up from the tiles and looks nothing like tiles as a result. I am considering the snap/click type wood/tiles and I have come across the porcelain tiles which look like wood but know of no one with any experience with these.


I can't actually use real hardwood in the upstairs, anyway, as apparently it could bow/crack etc. due to various reasons.


My house was built new, ground up, in 2012 and my decorating tendencies lean towards art nouveau and art deco so I'm trying to incorporate contemporary so my hubby doesn't feel like he's living in a museum :)


My marble tables are very light tan and then I have very dark wood shutters so I'm unsure what to do with the floor since neither the tables or shutters are going to go i.e. would dark wood make the rooms look smaller or would light wood look cheap or would tile make it museum like in here or what!!! argh!


Thanks for helping so far and giving me some things to consider.

Ohh, I like art nouveau, lovely! I know what you mean by it may look like a museum. We love the Victorian era, so it can border on museum but we like that! I would think art nouveau/deco would like shiny light tile floors. But I think dark wood looks good with almost everything too.

We do have the click in type of laminate. Very easy to install.

Ack, I'm SO bummed! I've been thinking about replacing my pendant light above our kitchen island, but haven't really pursued it. In perusing Dot & Bo this morning, I just ran across the industrial pendant below and thought - COOL! I was going to buy 3 or 4 of them, possibly...but wasn't quite ready to bite the bullet bc I haven't really looked around at all. Anyway, I went back to them not 20 mins later and they were already gone. ARGH! Aren't these fun though!!??? A mish-mash of industrial meets feminine shabby chic or something. Just kinda fun.

Oh wow! I really love that light! It never fails that is my luck too. I am not one of those purchases the moment I see something...I have to be sure it's what I want then I go back to get it and it's gone. Bummer!

I'm meh about that one. Depends, how much was it, you know me! Lol

For lighting, the price wasn't too bad...$119 a pendant. Of course, I'd want 3 or 4 above a kitchen island.

I just wanted to add I really like this thread, I enjoy the people who post on it and their opinions on decorating.


Not really Yorkie related other than we all have Yorkies (and if they are like mine they probably take credit for coming up with the decorating ideas).

I am so bummed, they won't ship this stuff to Hawaii :mad: I have checked several different vendors, but will keep trying. I really really want this stuff!

I wonder why? If you want, I can order you some, have them send it here, then I will ship it to you. I have Amazon Prime, so the shipping to me would be free, then you just pay for the shipping to you.

I tried some of it out the other day. It goes on really good onto metal. I tried it on the metal pipes and it stays put. Haven't tried it yet on smooth chromed metal yet.

Other news, I'm really bummed that my hanger for my dotted paper isn't going to work. Where I drilled the holes hits the framing of the window and the anchors won't go in all the way. We tried as much as we could but while hanging the second side the whole thing fell down. Now I have 8 holes in my beautiful wall I have to putty up and now gotta figure out where to hang my paper now. :(

Sorry if too late to reply but I just wanted to recommend the wood floor. Wood floors have been around for over a hundred years. If you look at a 100 year old wood floor it's just as timeless as if it was installed yesterday. A nice medium wood tone will never look dated and will blend with every home decor.

This is a little article from a blogger concerning wood floors...

http://www.mariakillam.com/docs/Time...odFloorMay.pdf

Good luck in whatever you choose. :)