A Little Restoration Hardware Inspiration

Three years ago, my husband and I spent the night in Santa Barbara for my birthday. It was a hot early summer afternoon, and we wandered in to Restoration Hardware to enjoy the air conditioning and cushy seating for a few minutes. A few minutes turned into about an hour as we explored their “new” look that we hadn't seen yet. I fell in love with their Industrial pieces and stripped wood finishes, and now my husband covets their Barclay leather sofa. Since then, whenever we’re near our local RH, he wants to go in and “visit” his sofa. I must admit, it’s really comfortable.

Restoration Hardware “Barclay” sofa

The staff was, as always, very helpful and accommodating, answering all of our questions (how does the stripped finish on the dining room tables wear? Well, if you drip salad dressing, it will leave a stain). We left with a catalog, some paint samples, and dreams of a loft look in our suburban Mediterranean tract home.

The stripped finishes and  deconstructed upholstery are the coolest look I've seen in years. I love the weathered frames with the old nail holes, the burlap lining, and of course, the linen upholstery! We bought a linen sofa when we were impractical newlyweds, and the fabric was shot after six years. It was the only seating we had, so it did get a lot of use.

Restoration Hardware “Deconstructed Tufted Roll Armchair” in Belgian Linen

So, for the past three years, I've been thinking about how to update our 80’s era pine furniture, and other odds and ends that we've collected over the years- on a serious budget. Last year I repainted the public parts of the house – entry, living and dining rooms, kitchen, family room, loft and hallways, with Benjamin Moore’s Bleeker Beige, and the kitchen cupboards, an armoire and a bookshelf with “Linen”, a creamy off-white color that’s been discontinued. It’s absolutely true that the cheapest way to update anything is with a coat of paint.

Restoration Hardware French Library Console

The truth of the matter is, though, that Restoration Hardware is just out of my price range. So, I saved my pennies for a year and bought the Aiden console from World Market last spring, and I am really happy with it. In fact, in some ways I like it better. I like the look of the wheels, as well as their functionality, and I also like the lack of cross bars in the back. With everything I display on the console, the cross bars would be too busy.

The World Market console in my master bedroom

I love waking up to this every morning. It’s several of my prized possessions gathered together: my collection of  Anthropologie vases, a music box that I've had all my life, a favorite photo of my children in Hawaii, a couple of my husband’s old briefcases, a couple of photos my daughter took while she was on study abroad in Paris, a miniature book she made in a book-binding class, and my one-winged version of “Winged Victory”. No matter how cluttered the rest of the house may get, I try to keep this one spot just how I want it, in the hope that it will inspire the start to a perfect day. But even on imperfect days, it’s nice to open my eyes in the morning to a view that makes me smile.

Coming soon: Restoration Hardware Inspiration, part 2: Cabinet makeover