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Sarasota Design

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Sarasota Design

Tag Archives: furniture

Rustic or Glamorous? Love them both!

06 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by Connie Allegra in The Good

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Tags

eclectic, furniture, glamorous, interior design, rustic, shopping

Saw these two completely different style furniture pieces yesterday while shopping for a client. Which do I like best, rustic or glamorous? I could not even begin to choose; I loved both of them for their respective design qualities. What do you think? Can you find a home for either (or both) of them in your home?

Rustic Metal and Wood Buffet Glamorous Mirrored Dressers

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Serve Those Cocktails in Style!

16 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Connie Allegra in The Good

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beverage cart, contemporary, Design, funky, furniture, interior design, Let's Drink!, modern, Sarasota Interior Design Group, sarasotadesign

What’s up with me and the beverage carts lately? First there was the vintage one a few weeks back, and now these two contemporary beauties! Maybe this girl has martinis on the brain! Oh well…at least I want my cocktails served in style!

Don't you love this uniquely shaped beverage cart? Compact and stylish! It was a keeper!

Don’t you love this uniquely shaped beverage cart? Compact and stylish! It was a keeper!

Here's a more traditionally shaped cart, but it, too, has a contemporary look. Love the dog standing by to greet me! This is the sort of dog I need, the kind that doesn't shed.

Here’s a more traditionally shaped cart, but it, too, has a contemporary look. Love the dog standing by to greet me! This is the sort of dog I need, the kind that doesn’t shed.

Lovin’ the Driftwood Look

13 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by Connie Allegra in The Good

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

driftwood, eclectic, funky, furniture, interior design, Sarasota

Went into this awesome shop in downtown Sarasota this week. I absolutely loved everything I saw! This Driftwood look is so cool!

Loved this mirrored armoire!

Loved this mirrored armoire!

The artwork and accessories were the perfect complement to the Driftwood look.

The artwork and accessories were the perfect complement to the Driftwood look.

Fun stuff everywhere!

Fun stuff everywhere!

Mix up your interior with something a little different. Will a hint of this Driftwood Look work in your space?

Mix up your interior with something a little different. Will a hint of this Driftwood Look work in your space?

Metal, Metal, Everywhere.

04 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Connie Allegra in The Good

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

affordable, budget, eclectic, funky, furniture, industrial, interior design, metal

I love the industrial theme that has become so readily available at the “mass market” discount stores – HomeGoods, TJMaxx, etc. Here are a few of the pieces I saw the other day in HomeGoods. Fun stuff!

These metal chairs and table have a fun, industrial aesthetic and are reasonably priced.

These metal chairs and table have a fun, industrial aesthetic and are reasonably priced.


These metal and wood bar stools have that industrial look that can really be mixed with some more sophisticated pieces to create a great eclectic space. Have Fun with Your Interior!

These metal and wood bar stools have that industrial look that can really be mixed with some more sophisticated pieces to create a great eclectic space. Have Fun with Your Interior!

Image

Industrial Table – Stopped Me In My Shopping Tracks!

02 Monday Sep 2013

Tags

antiques, consignment shops, funky, furniture, industrial, interior design, table, vintage

Industrial Table - Stopped Me In My Shopping Tracks!

This Industrial Table was another one of my great consignment shop finds! Friends, get out of the Big Box stores and see what you can find. You’ll be amazed!

Posted by Connie Allegra | Filed under The Good

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Hides and Horns

01 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by Connie Allegra in The Good

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Tags

consignment shops, funky, furniture, interior design, shopping

Found this WAY COOL chair while I was shopping at one of my favorite consignment shops! WOW! If you have the right space for it, let me know. It was really very reasonable!

Chair and stool with hides and horns.

Chair and stool with hides and horns.

Love the design of this chair and stool.

Love the design of this chair and stool.

Disposable Furniture is NOT Sustainable Design.

20 Saturday Aug 2011

Posted by Connie Allegra in The Bad

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

auctions, consignment shops, craftsmenship, Design, disposable furniture, furniture, sustainable design

IKEA Furniture - Not Exactly Meant to Last Through the Ages.

IKEA Furniture – Not Exactly Meant to Last Through the Ages.

Fortunately the trend towards creating sustainable environments – ones that do the least amount of harm to our planet – is still thriving and gaining momentum. There are numerous new products introduced into the marketplace daily that claim to be safe, non-toxic, and utilizing renewable resources. And that is all well and good! Just make sure you do your research and ensure that the companies’ marketing materials are speaking the truth, not simply making themselves look good for no good reason.

But this blog isn’t about green washing or promoting some new product I may have run across. What I want to talk about is something much more basic. In “The Old Days” when furniture was handcrafted of quality materials by skilled craftsmen, people would save their money to buy one beautiful piece at a time. It would take a young family a number of years to fill their home with furniture worth having. And they would keep that furniture for many, many years, passing it down from one generation to the next.

It certainly seems that those days are over. Stores like IKEA and Rooms To Go (I do hate to pick on them, but they are prime examples) sell essentially disposable furniture that probably won’t last through a young person’s first apartment. And certainly this is not the sort of merchandise that will ever become a family heirloom. It is built as cheaply as possible with the least expensive materials by the lowest paid workers in some third world country who apparently are thrilled to be paid a fraction of the wage that American workers need to survive.

Once the broken-spring sofa (because it certainly wasn’t 8-way-hand-tied) and the glued-together dresser (no, there is no dovetail joinery) have exceeded their short, marginally useful life, where do they wind up? In the landfill, of course. Basically we have used up valuable resources to mass produce stuff (lots of stuff) that will be tossed into our ever-expanding landfills. (Are we truly under the impression that we can do this forever?) All this so that we can have a house full of furniture instantaneous on a shoestring budget. (Yes, we are a society in need of INSTANT gratification, aren’t we?)

But this madness could cease! I suggest we stop buying the garbage these companies are peddling and give some real thought to how we spend our money and our planet’s valuable resources. If you are on a very tight budget (as many people are these days) and you need more furniture than you can afford at the moment, there is still hope for you. A very simple way to have quality furniture in your home is to shop at auctions and consignment shops. You will discover a plethora of truly beautiful, unique pieces that everyone on your block doesn’t already own. These treasures can be yours at a fraction of the price of new furniture of the same craftsmanship and are even substantially less money than the cheap stuff at the discount stores.

If you absolutely must buy new furniture and you are on a tight budget, perhaps it’s time to return to the thinking of our grandparents and buy one quality piece at a time, creating a home to be truly proud of once again.

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