Over the past six months, I have done a lot of traveling. I sort of imagine myself like George Clooney in “Up in the Air.” (Exaggeration of the century.) I’ve become a pro at navigating the security screening checkpoint — I have it down to a science and know what to wear vs. not wear in order to expedite the ordeal; where to store items so that they are easy to access and remove and place in the right bin; etc. I’ve also come to be too keenly aware of the minor nuances/frustrations of flying — for example, if I’m in boarding group 5, I find myself pouting because this means I’ll need to gate check my bag; if I am miraculously in boarding group 2, this probably means I get the much-hated Coach seat right behind first class, and cannot have my carry-on with me during the flight. More pouting.
I’m a huge brat about all of this. I realize how lucky I am to have a great job and to have the flexibility to do business from my home most of the time and to make my way to our headquarters when needed. And when it comes down to it, I’m not flying every single week (just most of them…), which I know many people have to do.
All this to say that when I am home, I am one happy little chica. When I flew back most recently from DC after a particularly stressful and busy string of traveling weeks, I saw Mr. Magpie’s cute little face at the door in our happy little apartment and I started to cry on cue. I don’t know if it was relief or stress or homesickness or exhaustion — probably a mix of all four — but it made me realize how much of a homebody I am. (Don’t worry, the tears aren’t really anything serious. Mr. Magpie claims I need to “have a daily cry” to keep things in balance. I am the worst/biggest crier ever. I cry at commercials, in every single movie I watch, when I read something particularly moving in an email, when I think about our wedding, when Mr. Magpie brings me flowers or leaves me a note when I see an old picture of my siblings and I. Ugh, it’s a problem. I come by this earnestly however — everyone in my family wears their hearts on their sleeves, including my tough cookie father.)
So, I’ve been slowly working on making my nest the coziest place it can possibly be. I feel like I find new things I “need” on a daily basis, much to Mr. Magpie’s dismay. He’s coached me into the “24-hour wait-and-see” policy — if I see something I want, I have to wait 24 hours to see if I still feel as strongly about it before buying. This is quite a shock to my system, as I’m much more of the “omg-I-need-to-buy-this-right-now-let-me-scramble-for-my-credit-card” ilk, and the 24-hour-wait period leaves me a constant state of anxiety, since I almost always have something I want and I almost always still want that thing 24 hours later.
Right now, my big daydream is purchasing and framing a Paul Marrot “Feathers” textile ($997, more for framing)…
As you can see, Paul Marrot has something of a cult following amongst the owners of well-decorated homes…
I want to join their ranks. Paul Marrot has some other beautiful textiles, but the bird one is calling my name (helloooo MAGPIE):
What do you think?! I die. Pleeeease can this show up at my house for my birthday in June?! I want it hanging over our bed. (Yes, that was directed at you, Mr. Mags.) I love it because I’ve sort of taken up an aviary theme in various parts of my home in homage to my Magpie alter-ego. And I found these gilded prints ($189) and am pretty sure I need to add one to our gallery wall above our side-board, which features a lot of golds, blacks, and whites:
And maybe this feather tray ($35) needs to accompany this purchase?
Other items I am currently swooning over…this butterfly-ish chair ($358), which would look fab alongside Mr. Magpie’s leather couch and our slightly hunting/safari-themed living area. (We have a set of mounted antlers similar to the ones shown below that we found on One Kings Lane. You can find similar styles in this Etsy store.) Also, I’ve been whining about the need for a cowhide rug ($780) for centuries now, but it’s been a no go with Mr. Magpie to date. He’s (rightly) pointed out that we have sort of a mish-mash of themes going on in our living area — some hunting/safari/horse-type accents; a slight chinoiserie bent to the coffee table/pillow situation; and bookcase styling that includes aqua and metallic accents. The rug might really confuse things. Or it might be awesome, which is the side towards which I’m leaning. It doesn’t all need to make sense, but there need to be color or design elements that tie things together. We shall see…
And P.S. – this leopard lumbar pillow ($165) needs to be mine/needs to join the pillow party on our couch:
I just set my eyes on this amazing cow-hide base lamp ($375) and am thinking it’d look uh-may-zing atop something like this antique-finish media center piece ($1,699):
I might style the top with these gilded antlers ($24.50 apiece) from my new home decor obsession, Waiting on Martha (great e-boutique): 
And maybe I’d style the top with a Safari book (on sale for $16), some fancy matches ($3.50 — p.s., I’m obsessed with Caspari and have spent a shameful amount of money on patterned paper napkins), elephant picks (how cute?! — $28), and these tortoise shell high-balls ($60 for set of 4) atop a leather tray ($89):
Now, I know I mentioned this in Friday’s post, but I’ve been realllllly feeling the Moroccan influence in textiles lately, and I feel that especially towards “fouta” type runners, hand-towels, etc. See below to get on my page:
Barf, I really feel like I need to up my ante when I see shots like this. The gold hardware in the latter photo (from Alaina K.’s stunning house tour which I already drooled over last week in a few posts…PS – check out her blog, Live Creating Yourself, for more inspiration) is so unexpected and fresh against that wainscoting, and the wallpaper in the former is so bold, whimsical, and just quirky-cool. (I think it’s Katie Ridder’s Beetlecat print.) (And also, the first picture is from a tour of Bailey McCarthy’s stunning home — she also has a great bloglet, Peppermint Bliss, and also happens to own Biscuit Home, an e-boutique I’ve featured in the past that has lots of amazing home goods and linens.)
OK, If you managed to survive that last paragraph without getting lost on the interwebs, dying over the beautiful homes of others — well done, m’lady. I could literally get lost for hours looking through the archives of all of the sites above.
But my point was that I like these Moroccan-inspired linens, like the one in Alaina’s bathroom — this exact style can be found on the cheap ($10/towel!) at West Elm:
Or maybe one or several of these organic-looking table runners? (And P.S., check out the whole Canvas Home store, which is chock-full of great serving essentials. Mr. Magpie and I own a bunch of wine tumblers like these and pretty much use them exclusively. For some reason, all of our guests LOVE drinking out of them — we always get compliments! And I also just snapped up these gold-lined bowls, on sale.
I feel as though these would spruce up any kitchen table — and this rug ($35) would spruce up a kitchen floor…ESPECIALLY if other blue + white elements are offsetting them around the room:
Like maybe a cluster of ginger gars ($58-$78) —
…and maybe these fun printed bowls ($9.90 each), an oyster plate ($30 — from Biscuit Home, mentioned above — and I recently have decided I’d like to take up collecting them and then line a wall of our kitchen area with them…hello, lifelong pursuit), and some linen-esque napkins from MyDrap (currently on sale for $20 at One Kings Lane! — great little hostess gift when wrapped up in a bow; I’m especially smitten with this gingham style):
AHHH there is so much more stuff that I’m dying over, but I’ll cut myself off there.
Chrissie — your boyfriend sounds very similar to Mr. Magpie. I wonder where they learned this stuff? From their parents? Clearly this wisdom never took hold in me. (Also, I pretty much have to force Mr. M to replace items with holes in them.)
Anderson — I knowww. Why is that pillow $165 and not, like, $40? Haha. I think you’re right — your spending balances itself out. I say we make this month a spend month and then I can live vicariously through you.
Ugh – I am dying for that leopard pillow too..and those tortoise tumblers. I may need to try the 24 hour rule and I tend to splurge one month and then have a spending freeze one month so it balances out that I shop like crazy half of the year, i guess?
My boyfriend also practices the 24 hour rule with me (I have a bad impulse shopping problem). If I see something that I like while I’m with him, he says “give it a day” and if I mention it to him the next day, I’ll go back and buy it. It’s helpful! We are also in a pact that I cannot buy a single thing from Sephora until July and he will get me a $100 gift card as a reward. Yup, it’s gotten to this point. I am glad I have him (who will only shop for himself when his shirts start to have holes in the elbows) to balance things out.