Five Fave: Online Shops for Home Goods

These are my top five favorite websites for finding creative, fun ways to spruce up the place:

• Fab.com – Fab features great deals from fabulous designers. You can find a bargain on just about anything – from clothing to pet accessories – but I love browsing their home goods section the most, naturally.
• Gilt.com – Gilt offers major discounts on designer labels to its members. Just one catch though: great deals go fast. If there’s something you have in mind, you have to log in early or you could be out of luck.
• Etsy.com – I’m always surprised when I meet someone who’s never heard of Etsy. This is a great place to support small businesses while finding the exact thing you never knew you needed. Also, it eliminates the thing I hate about antique stores and resale shops: rummaging. Hello, Vintage English Deckchair!
• OneKingsLane.com – Like Gilt and Fab, One Kings Lane offers deep discounts gorgeous home goods. You can probably find bowls like these at Anthropologie for quadruple the price.
• BallardDesigns.com – Ballard Designs is more understated than other home goods websites I listed, but I still come across great pieces here. The lotus garden seat would really dress up my balcony. And I just can’t get enough jute lately.

Painted Wooden Spoons

This DIY project was love at first sight. Unfortunately, I’m not so skilled in arts and crafts. This project looked über easy, but for someone who isn’t always crafting up a storm, it was quite the commitment.

My main issue was trying to figure out how to dry the spoons without the handles touching anything. As you can see here, my method was a bit flawed. Any time I put a new spoon into the container to dry, the rest came tumbling out. I cursed a lot.

In order to keep costs down, I picked up some inexpensive jute cord from Paper Source to bundle the spoons and made my own wrapping paper by stenciling pink and green polka dots onto craft paper. Passing up the rails of beautiful wrapping paper at Paper Source was its own challenge.

I tied it all together (get it?) by using the cord as ribbon. For someone who isn’t so crafty, I’m pretty proud of myself. I made these specifically for Mother’s Day, but they’d make a cute housewarming gift or stocking stuffer for your favorite chef.