Michelle's Melange: Edition 12
More coffee table analysis & a resolution, 80s/90s oversized plaster furniture, an estate sale meditation, Jerry Seinfeld's living room in 2018
May 17, 2022
Here I am, trying to get unblocked by writing something “less than perfect,” in an effort to get back on my writing sched!
What’s my deal lately...already, that’s an impossible question to answer, but this audience may be interested to know that I found my grail coffee table. Well, actually, I had to reduce my expectations a bit and realize that a 3k solid block of travertine or marble probably was slightly unrealistic for my space and earnings bracket. The thought of paying to have it moved in and later out of my place also made me feel broke. So! The Facebook Marketplace hunt continued, and I landed on this laminate coffee table for 10% of that cost that I think gets the job done very well. It has the trendy burl wood pattern that is no doubt on the verge of being played out (but servants to trends we are not), has an interesting shape (was aiming for round or square, but the rectangle works better than I thought it would, especially because the legs are rounded), and some brass accents that tie it into the metal accents in my place.
Speaking of brass, I also feel like the trendy metal of the moment is swinging the other way, and I’ve been gravitating more toward chrome lately. Look out for it! For a while, I was digging this lamp below for our living room, kind of like a smaller version of those huge arc lamps that are popular, since our ceilings are 8 ft tall and I’m pretty sure a full sized arc lamp would take up the entire living room. I didn’t pull the trigger because paying $300-something for a lamp feels excessive when there are so many radical, unique vintage lamps out there. I continued the hunt!!
While I held off purchasing that lamp, I found a super cool one for cheap from a local estate sale’s leftovers. See the post below that drew me in (ignore the fact that none of these images are cropped well :) ):
Watch Aiden Arata’s meditation for reference
Picture this: You’re driving into Ocean Hills, a gated retirement community where all the buildings are painted a bright blue-toned white, and the streets are named by country theme. The guard already has your name on a list when you check in.
The street names— Galicia, Athens, Barcelona— remind you that someplace, somewhere, culture exists outside of white suburbia. Mentally, you’re in a Palm Spring retirement community, on vacation, with hot desert air blowing. The houses are packed together tightly. You pull up to the address shared over Fbook Marketplace.
Inside, the whole space is a pure white that’s only broken up by the shaggy carpet yellowed by years of dirty lil footsteps. The woman there, the mother of the lady you messaged on Marketplace, tells you to take a look around and to go upstairs and browse. Everything’s half off of the listed price. You don’t feel rushed, and the woman is really nice. The furniture towers over you in the oversized rooms. You’re back in the 80s, surrounded by white plaster lamps, rattan sofas, and pencil reed dressers.
Ok, meditation voice aside, I ended up buying the lamp shown in my in-progress living room below for $30 (and, naturally, some wooden salad tongs for a buck). A steal!!
The new formula: be obsessed with a piece of furniture or decor for months—> get sick of it —> end up buying something more affordable.
The room is not styled or finished, ok! I did get some filling for my cutie Guatemalan pillowcase textiles that I love so much, and it made the whole room feel a lot cozier. Being surrounded by busy prints and colors is somehow the most comforting thing for my brain.
Tell me how you feel about the below style— I feel like the 80s/90s are kind of a polarizing era of decor, since it can be a bit cheeseball and also feels not that long ago in the cultural timeline (?)...yet it’s coming back with force lately. I really like the oversized triangular lampshades for some reason, and I think the larger scale of these kinds of lamps can be fun when paired with normal-sized pieces of furniture.
Whenever I’ve watched Seinfeld lately, my mind is blown about how the exact same type of glass coffee tables, pastel vases, dark teal tones, and travertine consoles are now back in. I wish I had a good picture reference, but can only seem to find photos of “What Jerry’s apartment would look like in 2018” which seems like something no one asked for, but is hilarious (this is “Kramer’s take”):
As you can tell, house decor still possesses my brain daily. With my YouTube & Insta follows mirroring whatever I’m obsessed with, I’m particularly into the creator Paige Wassel. She’s a prop stylist from Chicago with strong home decor opinions that are either validating or make me rethink trendy things I’m attracted to— she’s into classic, vintage decor and loves a good Etsy find. This video about housewarming gifts feels really relevant as, at the tender age of 31, I’m really trying to plan ahead for gifts & get people more thoughtful, unique things. And, if you haven’t gotten a good gift from me yet (or one ever), trust me, I am working on it!!
Thanks for reading me, as always! My new intention is to write briefer newsletters to make my writings stretch further, so that I don’t have any more 5 month hiatuses 😇
Jake and I also got a cute 7-yr-old kitty named Minga. We kept her name, which appears to have a variety of positive translations:
…And we’re obsessed! She’s the sweetest and purrs on my chest while I watch 1.5 hr episodes of Married at First Sight after Jake falls asleep.
💓