Las Vegas Market

Sales rep Rick Wylie (center) meets with Lorraine (left) and Jolene (right) of ACIGI Relaxation at the Las Vegas Market.

Nintendo Living Room Furniture

Many of us can remember playing on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Games like the Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong and Techmo Super Bowl have become cult-classics and still carry a decent price tag. This is why anything with Nintendo on it, including furniture, gains the full attention of all gamers.

The oversized NES console pictured above is actually a coffee table. The table comes with a pair of side tables that look like giant cartridges, and a pair of jumbo drink coasters that look like NES controllers. You can see most of the set in the photo below. Six sets are available for pre-order at Etsy. They retail for $1,450.

Be Copy Cat Chic

Blogger Reichel Broussard’s Copy Cat Chic blog springboards off high end designs to gather inspiration for beautiful, but less costly decorating alternatives for your home.  Her curator’s collection went live this week at Joss and Main, but don’t stop there. You can see some of her stunning similar finds at http://www.copycatchic.com/ . You can search by your favorite labels or store items and see Reichel’s thrifty lookalikes. Just goes to prove that you can have a beautiful nest without emptying your bank account.

31 Tips on shopping for handcrafted wood furniture

It used to be that all furniture was hand crafted, but such pieces have become rare in the Industrial Age. You can still find these finely crafted works of art, however, if you know where to look.

There are still companies that believe in the old ways, many on the West Coast, including: Berkeley Mills, The Joinery in Portland, and McKinnon Furniture in Seattle. The current wait for completion of a handmade piece can be 6 weeks or so, but the quality and the durability make the wait worthwhile. Handcrafted furniture is the kind of thing you pass on for generations to cherish.

What constitutes a well-made piece of furniture?  McKinnon Furniture has provided a checklist of 31 quality features of furniture each of us should be aware of. Found here, the checklist includes tips for general construction and materials, drawer construction, beds, bookcases, cabinets, dining tables, chairs, and upholstery.

How does your furniture compare?

What are your thoughts on handcrafted vs. easy to assemble furniture?

Movie Houses to Die For

It’s happened to most of us. You are sitting in a darkened theater eating hot buttered popcorn and completely absorbed in the plot when it happens: you are suddenly aware that THIS is the house of your dreams.

Forget the rest of the plot. Show me more of Samantha’s utterly perfect cottage from “Bewitched,” or Amanda’s fabulous Los Angeles home and studio from “The Holiday.” Could you just hold that shot of the bedroom for a second, please??? And that Hampton’s beach house living room from “Something’s Gottta Give”…..who wants to look at Jack Nicholson when you can see every perfect detail of that space?

Now you can see those heart-stopping interior as well as exterior shots from some well-loved movies thanks to Hooked on Houses blogger Julia. Julia simply writes about all kinds of houses and admits that this is her lifelong obsession. She will be the first to tell you she is not a decorator or designer. She simply loves houses and sharing her love on her delightful blog.

You will find the movie houses listed alphabetically (and yes, Samantha’s cottage is clearly our obsession) but Julia also has a great variety of house images including “Bad MLS Photos” and before and after shots.

Spend even a few minutes at Hooked on Houses and you’ll see what we mean. To find out what happened in the rest of the movie…..well, there’s always NetFlix.