Design on a Dime

It's been almost 3 months and Florin and I are still having a lot of fun decorating our home. We have really enjoyed working together to bring it all together. The latest is that Florin has done an excellent job with the directing and placement of all the pictures and photos throughout the home assisted by my hammering help. I love it that he's "just the right amount of European metrosexual"--fashion savvy with masculine swagger.

In any case, we've recently had some fun trying to find "functional art." These are pieces that are both interesting or intriguing AND functional. Examples may include furniture like unique coffee tables, bookcases/shelves, or in our recent case, a lamp.

See, Florin needs a lamp above the dresser to help him identify the color of his work socks in the early morning hours. We currently have my old 1960's metal mauve fluorescent lamp that is listing heavily to one side perched above his sock drawer. Let's face it, it works, but BOY IS IT UGLY. Normally, it wouldn't matter to us, but since that dresser is directly opposite of the bedroom door, it's really the first thing you see. We decided to keep an eye out for something ... nicer to look at.

About a month ago, I found the perfect lamp in the Pottery Barn catalog, but at $110 it wasn't the right price. Another one we liked was the Verilux - Legacy Natural Spectrum Desk and Table Lamp in Aged Bronze, but it ran closer to $130. (Do realize that we understand lamps are expensive, but it's really hard to justify spending $100+ just to look at socks ...) We kept both of those lamps in the back of our minds and hoped they would either reduce in price or we could find something comparable for less.

Last night as I was looking at sconces (for the movie room), I stumbled across the Sonneman Essex Arc Boom Table Lamp and it was not only beautiful, but incredibly functional. Only problem was that it was ... $330 new, and still $220 on sale. Ouch.

Not to be deterred, I was on the hunt to find it cheaper. No stone was left unturned as I combed eBay, Amazon, Froogle, but alas the $300 price tag was consistent. Only after I stumbled upon a blog post that talked about the wonderful folks (and prices) at CSN Lighting did I score an absolute deal. Not only did they have the Sonneman Essex Arc Boom Table Lamp, but they had it for only $52.34! Needless to say, Florin authorized that purchase right away!

It should be arriving shortly and I think it will not only look terrific, but provide a great purpose in that corner of our bedroom.