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"A la recherche"
(in search)

aka The Blog

Winter White and White Sales

1/23/2014

3 Comments

 
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Sorry for the silence - things have been busy recently!

So, the East Coast is pretty snowy right now, eh? This Polar Vortex 2.0 has me thinking of nothing but cozy, clean winter white. Thankfully, January is also the season of white sales, so I am in fluffy white bedding and bath heaven.

I found myself on the Pottery Barn website the other night -- first as research for a client, but ultimately as research for myself -- and saw a couple of pretty exciting soft white things that were begging to be ordered and shipped to my home pronto (I had a very old merchandise credit that needed to be used, which helped promote this purchase). What did I get? Read on to find out! The items might seem a bit random, but I always wait until the January sales to pounce on items like these, and I've been thinking about these things for some time. So for me it was a no brainer - especially with that merchandise credit!


My Exciting Winter White White Sale Purchases
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1) A New White Quilt!

I love Pottery Barn's pickstitch quilt. It is soft and luxurious, and it's also a pretty tolerable price point. We've had it in porcelain blue for years -- and the color has never felt quite right to me (Matt says it's a little like the color of hospital bedding, though it really has grown on both of us over time), so I have always secretly really wanted the white version. The thing is, even though it's a somewhat tolerable price point, at $179 it never feels right to just buy a quilt for the sake of buying a quilt. It feels like an unnecessary splurge. Discounted to its current price of $159 feels a little more tolerable, and with my store credit, I felt even better about the purchase. The quilt is linen-cotton and super soft, and it's a really nice weight for bedding. I layer mine either under a duvet in the winter or folded as a throw at the bottom of the bed over the duvet in the summer.

You may recall my post on our on-going bedroom makeover. This quilt is one of the steps to serenity!

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2) New White Bath Mats!

I know, I know. How could I be excited about bath mats? Let me tell you, it's possible. We've had our current bath mats for maybe five years, and that's like 95 years old in bath mat years. They are very old and tired and ready to retire. I have been eying bright white looped bath mats for a while, which should complement our charmingly old white tiled floor. Our current mats are a sage green, which worked great in the modern sienna colored bathroom we used to have in our old rental and do not work so great in the purple and white bathroom we currently have (yes, it's purple, the wallpaper, counters and curtains are from the '60s -- we're talking flower power, sad plaid, formica counters, fluorescent lights, the works -- and until we are able to renovate, I'm doing everything in my power to make the room feel modern and light despite what's really going on). When we moved in, we got the Pottery Barn white waffle weave shower curtain, $59, which helped the room enormously, and I've been eying these Cotton Twist Bath Rugs, ($24 for the medium, down from $29) for a while to complement the clean white look. It's like a fresh start for the new year! I bought two - one for next to the tub and one for in front of the sink. It's going to be gloriously fresh!

Where To Buy:

Pottery Barn is my go-to for white bedding and bath staples - it's easy, good quality and the price is right. I particularly like their pearl-embroidered bedding, $17.99-$109, down from $29-129. An embroidered boudoir pillow is particularly fun. Monograms are $7, but worth it. I love a good monogram in a bedroom.

You can also try Restoration Hardware for some slightly more expensive options. I can't dig too far into this sale because it involves actual furniture items and makes me want things I can't afford. Like this dresser. In "antiqued natural." Which is sooo totally off topic!

Back to bedding and bath, Neiman Marcus is an excellent place to purchase Lauren Ralph Lauren towels at a discount in January. Things are more or less half price ($5-$25 instead of $8-43), which is exactly what I'm looking for in a sale. Go ahead and get them monogrammed. It's free, and everything is better with a monogram. It feels so grown up and sophisticated.

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Stay safe and and warm... happy fluffy shopping!
KK
3 Comments
Jenn
2/13/2016 05:14:32 pm

Hi Kate Kelly,

I was looking for reviews on Pottery Barn's Pickstitch and luckily your blog came up in my search results! I see you mentioned it is soft and luxurious, however I just got the shams sent to me through a registry and was very disappointed in the material. So my question is, do these get softer after washing? I don't want to open them if they won't get less stiff and cozier :) thank you!! By the way, love your site and started following you on Pinterest!

Reply
Kate
2/13/2016 10:27:51 pm

Hi Jenn,

Thank you so much for your comment - I'm so glad you like the blog and thank you for following me on Pinterest! You bring up a great point about the quilt. I will say - the blue one I mention (purchased 2010) is in fact quite a bit softer than the the white one I bought after writing this post (2014). PB must have changed its fabric source. At first I was a little like "uh oh," but I actually really, really like the white one now. My husband (the ultimate critic) didn't like it much at all at the beginning (I think a direct quote was, "Why did you buy this thing?"), but I just asked him, and he said that he has come to really like it and thinks it's very soft and warm. We actually are renovating right now and will redo our bedroom, and we both are wondering how we can keep the white quilt involved in the new bedroom! We don't have the shams - just the quilt - so I can't speak for how the shams wear, but we've been happy with the quilt. I have mixed feelings about PB products in general -- the pearl embroidered bedding that I mentioned above has since gotten discolored and bleached out in the wash, and our monogrammed sheets have literally ripped to shreds over the years, which is disappointing to say the least! But this quilt somehow has managed to wear well and get better over time. In particular, because it's a little stiffer, it *looks* really good on the bed and is still really white and doesn't look rumpled (whereas all of that pearl embroidered bedding I had been so excited about actually just looks like a discolored rumpled mess now). Hope this helps! Ultimately, it's up to you and if you don't like the feel, you should trust your gut! We registered at PB for our wedding as well, and I wish I'd been more discerning in what we chose - def make sure you love it and don't keep it if you don't (I found registering to be so unnecessarily stressful - I don't know about you!). PB has a lot of sort of less-than-quality stuff, but also some really great finds, so if you can, take your time and make sure you love what you get! Let me know what you decide!

Reply
Kate
2/13/2016 11:15:22 pm

One more note, now that I'm critiquing this post after 2 years...! I liked the PB bath mats, but they got ruined by a spilled bottle of nail polish. I ended up buying new look-alike bathmats at Bed Bath and Beyond for a fraction of the price, and they are way softer and much cozier! So key in this freezing weather....

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/super-sponge-mat/3266822?categoryId=13435

Reply



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    Kate Kelly

    I am an artist/designer and former financial professional with a background in comparative literature, business and design. I live in New York with my overworked lawyer husband and my two boys Michael and Theo and spend much of my free time dreaming about how to enhance the aesthetics of our little world. I am endlessly inspired and always in search of something new. This is a blog about my search, my inspiration and things I just really, really like or want.

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From the 'Gram...

If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less, but to dream more, to dream all the time.

- Marcel Proust, A la recherche du temps perdu
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Page headers currently feature lyrics from Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody),” written by David Byrne. This song, along with The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus,” has been stuck in my head for the better part of 2020 and is making the pandemic more tolerable and inspiring me to create new beauty around me. I hope it brings you some joy too.
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  • Home/About
  • The Shop
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      • Charlotte + Will (Water Mill Post-Wedding Brunch)
      • S. + A. (Fishers Island)
      • Sloane + Sam (Washington, CT)
      • Molly + John (Jupiter)
      • Quinn + Carlos (Cancun, Mexico)
      • Jess + Aaron (Upstate NY)
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      • Christina + Thomas (Palm Beach Rehearsal Dinner)
      • Elara + Peter (Greenwich Microwedding)
      • Clare + Riley (Greenwich Estate)
      • Morgan + Ryan (North Palm Beach)
      • Olivia + Thomas (Texas Post-Wedding Brunch)
      • Claudia + Matt (Maine)
    • The Ultra-Custom Process
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  • Contact