Sears....seriously!

Hey, if you've read this far I'm impressed, because I know what you must already be thinking: Sears?! Really?! Not unless I'm buying a chainsaw! But if you've come this far, read on, because I think this one will make Nick Olsen proud...

I know, I know. The last time I was in Sears was easily 10 years ago, and I'm sure I was there with my dad hunting for some new hammer or drill to add to the menagerie of tools in his corner of the garage.

But I was looking for the perfect {i.e. well designed, well built, inexpensive} parsons chair, and was amazed to stumble upon these linen upholstered {I know, right?!} beauties on the Sears website...2 chairs for $150!! {I compared them to the Pottery Barn's "Greyson Chair" and to Room & Board's "Peyton Chair" and couldn't help feeling a tad triumphant!}:

Ever the skeptic, I wondered just how great these chairs could actually be in real life {after all, I'm a firm believer that with rare exceptions you generally get what you pay for}, so after work I headed on over to that dingy corner in the mall I am now ashamed to say I hardly ever visit. People, these chairs were so great in person I went and bought 8! And it hardly broke the bank...tell me where on earth, apparently besides Sears, you can buy 8 linen-covered, high stylin' parsons chairs for a whopping $600??

I think I got some bang for my buck, because I can't forsee these chairs ever going out of style, and all it takes is an easily sewn slip cover to give them a whole new look whenever I please {versatility is key for we commitment phobes!}.

After my amazing score, I was curious to see what else I might find, and I actually saw a number of wonderful items, many of which I should have taken a photo of because I can't seem to find them on the website. And I must say, it was fun shopping around because it was kind of like being on a treasure hunt...the ratio of good finds to not so great pieces was about 1 to 30, so finding something lovely nestled in with the not so lovely gave me a keen sense of accomplishment...pretty rare sensation to experience on a rainy Monday evening!

Look at these coral embroidered pillows! {Sears actually had a few really great toss pillows...wish I could find some pictures of them...}

And this graphic dinnerware from their Ty Pennington line {this comes in other colors, too. i like the version with the green flowers}...

I have never seen anything like this "lasso" lamp...love it!

And just yesterday I was reading on peak of chic that shells are quite savvy these days...well, someone told Roebuck & Co. because they had all kinds of shell covered pieces, from little boxes to these decorative spheres...just perfect for adding a touch of style without jumping too far onto the shell bandwagon...

And I thought these "sparkling glass" hurricanes were pretty cool...this is a terrible photo and it hardly does them justice, but compare to the same item at Crate & Barrel {and C&B doesn't carry 3 different sizes!}

I highly suggest you book it on over to Sears...happy treasure hunting! :o)

**NOTE: I've got my bags packed and my new issues of Domino and Blueprint tucked safely in my carry-on for a short trip out to Vegas {I'm off to visit my parents!} ...I'm not sure if I'll have time to post while I'm there, so if not I'll be back on Friday!