Imitation Hardware – Industrial Metal Wall Organizer

I love Restoration Hardware. I feel comfortable and cozy surrounded by neutral woods mixed with industrial metals and soft linen. I  also love bright colors and bold patterns scattered around. So I suppose my decorating style would be RH meets anthropologie. However, I can’t really afford to shop at either store, so I am always on the lookout for pieces that mimic those styles. Anytime I find something or am able to make it myself, I call it “imitation hardware.”

This line of wall organizers from RH baby and child are exactly what I imagine for my boys’ room.

industrial 3-bin wall shelf

industrial storage chest

industrial metal wall organizer

They are on a great sale now, but even so, the prices range from $59 to $239. Fortunately, this industrial metal style is becoming ever more popular and available from Cost Plus to Hobby Lobby to Etsy. This week at TJMaxx Homegoods, I found this great book storage unit for $20.

The comparable one from RH is $95. It’s not as good of quality, to be sure, but it’s good enough for me. I hung it in the room and now have a cute little reading corner. Since Jacob just upgraded to bunkbeds, it is becoming harder to read with him in bed (especially for dad.) I think this spot will become a favorite not only for bedtime, but for quiet times and alone times.

                         

Reading!

It also leaves a lot of fun wall space to fill up with more IH finds. I can’t wait!

Dream table

This is my dream dining table.

17th Cent. Monastery Table

It is from Restoration Hardware, as is most of my ‘dream’ furniture. I love everything about it.

I love how the chunky, masculine lines of the top are balanced with the feminine curves of the legs.

I love that is is fashioned after a 17th century Monastery table, where men of God gathered to commune together. I love the gray-washed wood. But more than anything, I love that it sits in our dining room as a monument that serves to remind us of why we are here.

When we were first putting together our church planting team, I was praying and asking God for anything – words, pictures, promises.  Instantly I saw a picture of one of our team members as “gold” and another as “fabric.”  I didn’t know what it meant but as I meditated on those pictures and asked for clarity, I was reminded of the tabernacle. The Old Testament predecessor to the temple. The portable House of God that the Israelites took with them in their wanderings.  Both gold and fabric were major components of the tabernacle.  I started asking God what other people on our team might be, and saw picture after picture – pillars, floor, lyre, candlestick, bells.  I don’t know if these words hold specific meaning for the different people, but the main picture was clear. We were going to be a House of God. Each person is a different piece used to build this house. And like the tabernacle, it is to be a house that goes wherever the Spirit leads. But also, wherever this house is, there the Spirit will be.

A few months later, I found my dream table at a RH Outlet store. It is originally $1400, at the outlet for $700, and 25% off of that. I knew the answer was most certainly ‘no’ but I called my husband anyways, just to see if we had, oh, an extra $500 somewhere. Without hesitation he said, “Get it.” He had just been the guest speaker at a camp and got paid $500. (Pause for how amazing and generous my husband is.) So, giddy as a schoolgirl, I bought this table – my first grown up piece of furniture. I imagined team meetings, huge dinners, birthday parties, bible studies, and simply life happening around this table.

As I was admiring it online one last time, I noticed something I had never seen before. This table is made out of acacia wood.

The same wood as the tabernacle.

God is so intentional. He not only gave me this amazing piece of furniture that I wanted for material reasons, but he infused it with meaning and reminders.

My house is His house.

We will go where the Spirit leads.

He is faithful and generous and kind and gives us beyond what we can ask or imagine.

And He must really like furniture made from acacia wood.

Of bathrooms and hearts

This is what my bathroom looks like right now. It’s quite a mess. Practically, it’s one of the hardest rooms for me to keep clean. I’m in it for such a short period of time, usually while two little boys …