A living-office: Chairish Blogger Challenge

Did you know there's a site out there where you can peruse vintage furniture, lamps, decor, you name it - and then actually purchase the ones you like? This isn't Craigslist, it's Chairish. It's somewhat like Craigslist in many ways, but much better curated, nicer to look at and easier to search.

I hadn't heard of it either until the good folks who run this amazing website reached out asking me to choose a few pieces and share them in an inspiration board here on Meant Green. Speaking of vintage and used furniture, I love how the site explains Shabby Chic, a truly authentic look that brings together warmth and use in a world where so much is new and shiny.  I may have overdone this challenge,  because I give you not a few pieces, but an entire room furnished by Chairish!

Actually it's two rooms in one. More in a minute.

First, if you aren't familiar with my platform on this blog, it's a sustainability lifestyle blog. No edible sandals here, just inspiration I find or create that supports what I believe in. I also love design, home style, fashion, food and travel - and there is a way to do all of this sustainably and within reason, I'm discovering. I've been snooping around thrift stores for years, and love the bricolage look of design that combines eras and price points. Plus, I've found you can't beat the quality of things made in the past century or so.

In keeping with the theme of this post, there are many, many home goods stores that create beautiful layouts and entice us with the latest trend at high prices, but in the end a new piece is being created that requires resources and may or may not be produced sustainably.

Chairish is quite cool because every last piece on their site is coming to you for new life, to be reused, restyled, and rechairished (see what I did there?) Side note: there's a tv show some of you may of heard of, Fixer Upper, that literally does this with houses. If we ever move back to Texas where we went to undergrad, we're getting on that show!! Love us some old houses (sans lead paint, etc).

For the Chairish challenge, I styled a living room that doubles as a home office, hence a "living office." From what I know of interior design practices, designers select a piece and take inspiration from that. I'm not entirely sure how I arrive at things I love yet, something just clicks. But if I had to chose something here that ignited this room, I'd have to say the map of Europe. It reminds me when I was 20 and "studying" abroad (code: eating real chocolate). The planter and filing cabinet bring out the blues in the map to give us a thread running throughout the room.

Enough talking. Behold! Each piece here is for sale on Chairish. I tried to choose low to mid price points, because I'm sensitive to that kind of stuff (except for the map and lamp which are ~ $600... I know).

All that's left is to fill the space with house plants that purify your indoor air (it's often more polluted than outside :/  )
If you're curious about how to create a inspiration board like this, I used Adobe Illustrator and placed basic screenshots (check out that clipped desk corner, whoops!)

This is the first challenge I've accepted as it so closely aligns with my interests, here's to more!