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Calico Corners $100 Giveaway

Published on November 8, 2010 in Decor, Giveaways and Stuff We Love. 112 Comments

We’re so tickled about Calico Corners‘ magnificent resurgence that, after gushing about them a few weeks back, we’ve decided to pair up with our favorite source for fabric and do a $100 GIVEAWAY. Ah (!) It’s like Christmas in November!!

TO ENTER, simply visit Calico Corners’ website, and LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST (here) before Friday, November 19 at midnight, telling us which is your favorite fabric (and if you wanna go crazy, tell us where you’d use it!) To have your name counted twice, ADD CALICO CORNERS AS A FACEBOOK FRIEND HERE and leave another comment about it. Who doesn’t wanna double their chances to win!?

The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Monday, November 22! BONUS? As if their cup didn’t spilleth over with gorgeous goodies already, celebrity designer THOM FILICIA has just added his collection to their arsenal of fabrics.

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You may remember Thom from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (which also featured a good family friend & culinary whiz, Ted Allen), or from his work designing homes for TV clients on Oprah and Dress My Nest… OR from his signature lines for Kravet & Vanguard – both of which are only available to the trade. But, giddy up! Now his glorious collection is coming to a store near you & me, and available to all us regular Joes. Here are two of my favorite TF rooms… the man’s got some serious style.

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Below are our top picks for Calico fabrics, to getcha started…

STEPH PICK: City Square, by Thom Filicia is my #1 FAVE. I always gravitate towards neutral, curvy and girlie, so this fabric – with it’s geometric pattern in a sky bluish-grey tone – is a nice departure from that, but still true to my aesthetic. It’s a bit more modern, balances out my swirly twirly curvy crap, and is in a beautiful colorway that’s neutral without being boring. **Note: This swatch shows up in a photo of Thom’s collection on the link above, but the individual swatch – along with a few of his other iconic prints – is still in the process of being dded to the site.

I would use it for drapes…

Or perhaps a pillow…

Actually, I’d do just about anything with it. Make a shower curtain, make a dress… I’d even roll up my fajitas in it. It’s just that delicious.

KARRIE PICK: My goodness – where to start with Magnificat in Avocado?

Create a couple throw pillows for your couch and mix and match with one or two solids. Or, take a large swatch of the fabric, frame it, and create a striking background for your office area, like this:

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OR, get a cheap ottoman from the local flea market/craigslist and upholster that sucker with it. Pair with a comfy leather couch, slightly buttery but maybe a *tad* darker, and you’re golden. **STEPH CHIMING IN: Magnificat Avocado is HUUUUGE in person – the repeat is 32 inches – so given its large scale, it would be PERRRRRFECT as the wall hanging Karrie’s talking about, or on an oversized, coffee table ottoman like the one below, except bigger:

STEPH PICK: The more I look at Flower Field in Sand Dollar, the more I love it. The pattern is playful and youthful, but the palette is sophisticated, which makes it feel fresh and modern.

My college bestie (Mary) and I are currently kicking around using it to recover her headboard – to the tune of something like this, which makes me foam at the mouth.

source unknown – sorry I’m such a floozy

KARRIE PICK: Prospect in Shadow by Thom Filicia is part modern, part tribal… love it. I’d personally use the fabric for bedroom curtains to totally brighten up the room, or for throw pillows on my light tan cotton couch. Of course, this would also look great on an ottoman in front of a solid, neutral sofa.

STEPH PICK: The rustic French girl in me loves Primitive Stripe in Red/Natural, because it reminds me of an old hemp antique feed sack.

I feel like it needs to be on the seats of the chairs in this room, or as a long bench cushion.

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KARRIE PICK: Can’t you picture a slightly oversized, comfy armchair in this chic fabric (Ranch Stripe in Navy/Natural), perfect for a Sunday morning cup of Joe and the NY Times (duh, the Wedding section…)

STEPH PICK: I loved the Imperial Trellis-esque swatch of Iman’s Sultana Lattice in Citrine online, but I fell head-over-heels when I got the real thing in the mail. It’s 100% cotton, but feels like velvet on linen.

KARRIE PICK: I absolutely love Thom Filicia’s Shonnard in Citrine for bar stools, perched in a light breezy open kitchen. **STEPH CHIMING IN: Great call there, home slice.

STEPH PICK: Oooh, honeycombs! Otherwise known as Euclid in Ink, by Thom Filicia.

I loved all the colorways in this fabric, so it was tough to choose one, but I am envisioning this on a little modern, armless slipper chair… with a mustard-y yellow or orangey-red velvet pillow in front of it, kinda like this vintage Domino pic.

Or maybe just use a smidge on a little guy (!) like Amanda Nisbet did in this bedroom makeover:

Last but not least, toss ‘er on an antique French armchair, à la India Hicks:

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(India’s & Amanda’s fabrics are obviously NOT the Thom Filicia Euclid pattern, but I put ‘em in to show you what a similar, small-ish geometric pattern looks like).

CO-PICK: Karrie and I actually fought over this one. It’s even more beautiful in person. It’s heavy, woven, and totally luxurious. I would love it on some big, plush oversized pillows for the couch, in my charcoal grey living room.

Corazon in Seaglass

But I’m also considering using it to recover a long upholstered bench at the end of my bed, comme ça.

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STEPH PICK: Yum. Fioretto Sprout is light, airy, 100% linen and 100% divine. The pattern actually looks like music (wheeee!), and I would love to get my grubby paws on a few yards and stitch up some floor-to-ceiling curtains.

STEPH PICK: I love the toned-down chartreuse, ochre-colored green in Suzani Dial in Astral. Inside those dials, if you look past that gorgeous raspberry color, there’s the faintest hint of lavender, which makes this fabric look really fresh and stunning. It would look SO sharp against a black piece of furniture.

Or on a couch, kinda like this:

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KARRIE PICK: Once upon a time, I lived in a cute little apartment by the beach and was constantly on the hunt for any fabric that would conjure up a carefree, breezy feeling that matched my lifestyle. Otisco in Ciel by Thom Filicia does *exactly* that. And really, you don’t need to live by the beach. This brings a carefree peacefulness to your home regardless of where you live. I’d personally use as fabric for curtains. Can’t you just imagine a warm breeze blowing through them? Light a couple beachy candles and you’re set.

STEPH PICK: On a similar modern-blues-y-beachy-ikat note, I’ve always loved Tilbury Lapis. It looks and feels delicious.

Obvi, it’d be great made into pillows, but eh. mah. gah. CHECK IT AS A HEADBOARD from super stylish flick “A Single Man.” Uh, yes please.

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Aren’t you dying to get your paws on some of this gorgeous fabric? Woo hoo! Good luck!! …PS, a few additional rules: **Winner must present gift certificate at time of purchase to receive discount at participating stores only. No cash value. Cannot be applied to prior purchases. Calico employees and their families are not eligible.**

Bon chance!

112 Comments

October: What You May Have Missed

Published on November 1, 2010 in Decor, DIY, Eat & Drink, Entertaining, Music and Stuff We Love. 12 Comments

Before we plow full-speed ahead into November and all the gleeful, chaotic giddiness of the Holidays, I wanted to recap some of the coolest things I ran across in October.  There’s about enough information floating around the internet, magazines, and the blogosphere to make anyone’s head explode, so below are my Curatorial CliffsNotes to what you may have missed last month.  Because seriously.  Who has time to read all that?  ..bwahaha – well, besides me.

1. Budget-friendly, Rental-friendly, and sheer genius:  Colorful Masking Tape Entryway.  Jenny from Little Green Notebook has featured this project a few times on her lovely blog, and the photos below are from a recent reader’s DIY (wassup, Elsie!)  The tape is sold here for about $4.50/roll, and Jenny gives great how-to instructions here.  PS: using this gold leaf color would be outrageously cool.

2.  Guilt-free and glorious:  this Avocado Salad.  I made it, and then I licked the bowl.

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3.  Looking to update an old dresser?  Check out this gorgeous knob from Anthropologie (gasp!)  I think it might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

4.  Speaking of dressers, I also nearly lost my marbles when I saw this.  Nothing makes me happier than a lovingly worn, ornately carved piece of furniture.

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5.  I love the quiet poignancy of the quote below.  On a personal note, watching my friends get married and pop out kids at lightning speed has filled my silly little soul with joy, and seeing them climb corporate ladders and nestle into comfortable lives is wonderful.  But in the wake of it all, I hear the echo of my own shoulda / coulda / wouldas…  should I have married him, or him, even though – despite loving him – it didn’t feel completely right?  Would it have been more prudent to have stayed in a six-figure job that made me unhappy?  Etc.  But as I round the corner to the big 3-0, I realize that I have finally made peace with the things that didn’t go as planned, because I don’t think that any decision you make with your gut is ever the wrong decision.  And for the first time in a long time, instead of looking back and wondering if I’ve made the right decisions, I can’t wait to see what’s around the next corner.

6.  Anybody ever perused Young House Love’s House Crashing files?  If you haven’t, you should.  Below are a few of my faves.

The homeowner’s boyfriend painted that mural on the wall.  I’m speechless.

That light is from IKEA, and that giant mirror is made out of an old weathered wood pallet.  Chairs were a thrift store find.  I think I want to be friends with these people.

This 700-pound butcher block was a Craigslist find, took 7 men to lug into this house, and makes me weak at the knees.

7.  The photography below is so breathtaking, it’s actually painful.  Dustjacket Attic is a mystical, dreamy little blog that posts gorgeous photography (often from foreign publications that we might not otherwise stumble across), to the tune of often exotic iPod music.  I could look through its archives for hours.

(Sigh), the beautiful melancholy of fall.  Is that Fields of Gold I hear playing?

Italy??  Yes please.

8.  You’d better believe that I’ll be giving these recipes from House Beautiful a whirl in a skinny second.  If this isn’t the best (low carb) comfort food for fall, then I don’t know what is.

Herb Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Sage

Broiled Wild Mushrooms with Tamari Butter

9.  Oh, Eddie (!) Speaking of fall comfort food, I would like to eat the recipes above at the table below, styling courtesy of the hilarious and stupidly talented Eddie Ross, and brought to us by Lonny Magazine, which is like a Band-Aid over the gaping wound that Domino left.

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10.  THIS SONG by Rooney is my new jump-around-the-house-dancing fave, and it sounds like 80’s, but actually came out in 2007.

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11.  Last month, I ran across too many beautiful bedroom photos to count…  Below are my favorites:

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Uncluttered, clean and utterly beautiful.  The understated, gorgeous antique bed…  the barely-there lavender paint…  those throw pillows (!)…  the camel cashmere throw and THAT mirror.  I can’t even handle it.

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Bedroom of Rue Magazine’s Editor, Crystal Gentilello.  The refined and edited palette of beige and grey tones makes the room feel soothing, but the playful shapes of the bedside lamps, accent pillow and the bedspread – intermixed with the hard angles of the headboard and mirrors – makes this room a visual gem.  Rue Mag’s current issue has an entire spread on Crystal’s Budget Bachelorette Abode, and it’s entirely stunning.

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Heavens to Betsy.  All my favorite things in one shot:  Pretty wallpaper, tufting, poufs, sunburst mirrors, and that pool blue wall color.  If you love blue as much as I do, you should scurry over to House of Turquoise.

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Oh, Lulu!  You ‘ol mixer-upper you.  The photo above is the bedroom of textile designer Lulu DK, featured in this month’s Lonny, and dang.  Her-mix-a-lot sure can weave a good smathering of furniture, textiles and accessories into something genius and completely unique.

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Wintry and delicious.  Look (!)  It’s the garland light from the Dreamy Little Bathrooms: Lighting on a Shoestring post!  That and the itty bitty silver bedside lamp would make this room icy cool, except the nubby throw, hide rug and floor/ceiling/wall planking keep it uber warm and cozy.

12.  I ran across the photography below on Bottom of the Ironing Basket, which is always full of amazing eye candy.  This one’s for all my favorite mamas raising sweet little girls. 

13.  October was like opening a treasure chest of fabric sources:  Calico Corners (swatches at right), which I gushed about last week, and LS Fabrics out of Atlanta (swatches at left) are two of my new go-to’s.  PSST:  stay tuned next week for a surprise give away!

14.  Nicole from Making It Lovely – who posted the GORGEOUS dining room below (which I logged into my inspiration folder stat) – is also the genius author of the 30 Before 30 List…  a list of 30 goals she set for herself, and then worked diligently to hit in the months leading up to her 30th Birthday.  You’d better believe making THAT list is on my to-do list for the week.

15.  Last but not least, House Beautiful‘s November 2010 Issue featured one of the BEST resources, ever, for entertaining – 101 Party Do’s & Don’ts.  And I’m not just saying that because we’re in it.  Whether you’re having 2 people over or 20, these 4 succinct pages are filled with smart, witty, all-encompassing, simple-but-genius tips to being the Hostess with the Mostess.  I already have ’em in a plastic binder sleeve, stashed in my cupboard for easy access.  The issue – on newsstands for another 2 weeks – also marked Covet Living‘s very first appearance on the glistening pages of a magazine, which was exhilarating, to say the least.  We heart them for including us, and we’re almost ready to shut up about it.


And now, you may proceed to the Holly-Days.

xoxo!

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