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While making an emergency pit stop at Wal-Mart on my most recent road trip to Los Angeles, I saw these pillows. When I saw the price, I knew I had to tell you guys about them. Take a guess at how much they cost….

Drumroll, please!

The answer is? 4-6 dollars!!! Can you believe it? Those are Ikea prices! And they’re not even on sale. That’s the normal price.

So, if you’re looking for some inexpensive accessories to spruce up some seating, maybe you should check out your nearest Wal-Mart. These pillows are contemporary, modern, and fresh enough to enliven a variety of spaces.

I’m finishing up the space plan and decor for a current client’s junior 1-BD apartment in downtown Chicago, when I decide to swing by Ikea for some last minute purchases before they close. Mainly, I needed accessories for all my finishing touches. The usual was on the list; candles, coasters, frames, baskets, etc. And of course, like always, I ended up acquiring far more than I anticipated. Ikea is like Costco, for me. I go in with a small list, maybe one small bag’s worth of purchases, and come out with a full cart and two employees trailing me with flat bed carts carrying the rest of my shopping success. It’s ridiculous, and I fully admit that I do this. Frequently.

Anyway, on this most recent adventure, I came across a great idea in the Outdoor section. It’s basically like carpet tiles, but using wood instead of carpet. You can not only install it for the deck or patio, but perhaps your office, bedroom, or sun room if you have one. Just like carpet tiles, it’s ridiculously easy to install, and just as easy to replace. Since it’s summer time, Ikea has their tiles on sale. Hopefully they’ll be available more often throughout the year because this really is a great idea that saves time and money while providing you with a great new floor to build up your design.

So, I was browsing the shelves at Urban Outfitters the other day (something I love to do in my “free” time) and I came across a new product. Well, new is relative. It’s a recent addition to the product stock of Urban Outfitters, but it’s a retro idea.

The electrical cords of these kits are covered in a weaved fabric to make them feel like old cords from the turn of the century. Have you ever seen an old 1920’s phone kept in its original condition? Yeah, it’s like the cords on those. But modernized and don’t  consume as much power. Also, the ones at Urban Outfitters come in more than one color.

In Oakland. California.

Why would I blog about a post office? Because this one caught my eye as I stood in line to pick up a package. The architecture, the space planning, and the furniture all stood out to me. I thought to myself, “I should blog about this!”

I’m used to faaar less interesting postal places. In fact, some are just completely boring. So, I appreciate that the older architecture of this post office was preserved and maintained. And I wanted to prove that there are still some interesting locations out there. Send me some of your preferred post offices! I’m curious to see any and all….

This week, I’ve decided to write about a different casino I went to in Reno. Some of you might have already heard of it, or been there. Well done. For the rest of you who haven’t, it’s called the Atlantis casino and it’s toward the southern end of Reno, away from the downtown “strip” of casinos.

The Atlantis is one of the more impressive casinos in Reno, although I haven’t been to the Peppermill Casino yet and I hear it’s really impressive. Anyway, the Atlantis features imaginative design elements mixed together in an extremely eclectic way. Various periods of furnishings mixed with a large variety of varying textures and color palettes enliven every level. (Personally, that’s the kind of aesthetic I like best.) Even the hotel room floors differ from one another.

This casino, like most, is incredibly large. Hence, I didn’t get pictures of every space I wanted to show you. But I definitely tried to capture as many of them as possible.

Here’s how to make a simple key bowl to put near your entry door.

You will need:

1 container – I’m using a family hand-me-down plant pot. It’s rusted out on the inside but has an etched brass finish on the surface.

1 piece of scrap fabric – I’m using one that is twice as large as the plant pot so that I don’t have to sew a clean edge to the fabric.

1 decorative rope – Must be long enough to wrap around the container and tie a double knot. Tassles are up to you.

Step 1: Clean your container. Make it nice enough to be the first good thing a guest sees when they walk in the door.

Step 2: Put your fabric over the container’s opening. Tuck the edges of the fabric under and back into the container so that they cannot be seen. You should have enough fabric to do this if your fabric scrap is large enough.

(If your fabric is not large enough to tuck the edges under, you must instead sew an edge for your fabric scrap.)

Step 3: With the fabric edges still tucked under and back into the plant pot, push your fabric scrap down and into the container slowly. (You should still have enough fabric seeping over the sides of your container to tie around.)

Step 4: Wrap your decorative rope around the narrowest part of your container that the fabric is still seeping over. Tie a double knot as tightly as possible without damage.

Step 5: Fill with the usual clutter that normally gets tossed somewhere after entering your space.

ENJOY!