Before and after- Chair makeovers, furniture flips

I love taking a piece that needs a bit of attention and making it into a star! It is even better when I take two vaguely related pieces and make twin stars.

One of my clients needed a pair of chairs with a British Colonial feel. I found these chairs with good lines and some caning, a hallmark of British Colonial design, at Hanna Antiques.

In a very "his and hers" classic look, one of the chairs is a bit taller than the other... it is also my fave! The wood splat is a firm support for the back with the caning adding all the character. The client also requested that the backs of the chairs be attractive since they would be seen from the back when entering the room. The second chair in the pictures offers all the good looks from the back, too!

To unify the look of the chairs, I choose to go with the same fabrics for both. I think they look terrific! The small red custom pillows brings out the reds in the fabrics. The pale blue-green background looks great in the greenish blue room.

We are not done yet! Tomorrow brings in the matching pillow for the cane back chair so they match, visually, from the front view. And, the TV "cabinet" is coming tomorrow, too! Later on will be new lighting.

I have added many pieces to this space from Hanna Antiques. I have shopped there since I was in high school and I am proud to be a dealer there now. Antique stores are a great option for those who are looking for well made pieces, with great style at excellent prices! Items used to be made to "last forever", we now call them antiques. Break with the disposable design style and add some vintage/antique into your space.

before and after- the subtle houndstooth chair

The chair, detail.

I have always loved houndstooth, it is the overt preppy in me. However, living in Alabama... houndstooth takes on a different reference than preppy. I choose not to follow football, but living in Alabama, one cannot help but be influenced by the sport.  Sadly, I do not wear houndstooth much, especially in the fall, because people assume I have a football allegiance. And, no football fan wants to hear that you actively try to ignore their passion. However, sometimes houndstooth is subtle, perhaps un-noticeable to football fans... maybe.

The chair, after.

So when I found this fantastic houndstooth fabric in shades of french grey. I have to have it on as the upholstery on this chair. It is my latest furniture flip.

The chair, before.

Before and After- the linen chair furniture flip

Lovely linen chair with contemporary carved cabriolet legs, Queen Anne foot, and pretty nailhead detail. Detail image.

Nothing says comfort to me like linen- love it in clothing and furnishings. Nothing says dated like bargello Herculon- the king of industrial strength acrylic fabric... enjoyed by those who like the 1970's, itching, and fabrics that basically wipe clean. Ovbiously, I'm not a fan of the ol' Herculon.

Before with a kind of bargello- diamond herculon upholstery. Detail image.

Before chair

However, I found this Herculon-tastic chair with great lines, good wood, and it was sturdy.


So, after purchasing it and thinking about it for a few months, I decide to leave the wood natural and add a simple neutral linen upholstery fabric.



Then I found this fantastic Union Jack linen pillow and my decision was made. Off to the upholsterer we went!




She's a beauty!

After chair, now available at Interiors and Antiques in Vestavia.

Chocolate and Turquoise revisted- Etsy shopping

My chocolate and turquoise post was one of my most popular in the last few months. So, I thought I would revisit the color combo with new Etsy shopping items!


~pin this~

Clockwise from the top:
Fern pillow ($16.99 +SH), Hand painted platter ($145.00 +SH), Flower pillow ($34.99 +SH), Woven basket ($58.00 +SH), Hand turned wood vessel ($195.00 +SH), Alligator embossed leather ($5.99 +SH), Mosaic mirror ($200 +SH), Vintage sugar bowl ($12.95 +SH)

The alligator leather would be great added to a picture frame, the base of a tray, or to re-line a wood box!

Brassy- bad for your hair, great for your home

No one wants to hear that their hair in Brassy. But for the home, brass is hot! The current hot patina has a brown cast, but it can patina into some beautiful colors. My personal favorite is a purple-y taupe with the golden undertone. I have a great selections of types of tray, from ashtray to coffee table. All from Etsy! You can click on the word "Brass Tray" under any of the pictures to take you to the item to purchase!

Brass Mid Century Flower ashtray. The petals are removable for personal ashtrays! Crazy, but cool.

Mid-Century 10 inch brass tray, not too big, not too small!

                                  Brass Bamboo look tray 12 inches!



Huge 36 inch Moroccan Brass Tray. It is the perfect ottoman topper!


Patina, Patina, Patina! This is fantastic! 25 inch brass tray- love the colors.



Pretty vintage Moroccan Tray, 17 inch!

Want more? Click HERE to find all the brass trays you could want!

Ghost chair- chair covers

Lucite chairs present a slight problem when you want to add chair pads, seat covers, or special pillows. Of course the ties, tabs, and fasteners will show. I have found some attractive and rather clever solutions! Check them out~

Great patterns shine with these chairs

Smart solution- ties just at the arms. Make sure the backing is dense, otherwise the back seat cover will sag.



Great image from Willow Home, lucite chair is made of sheer slip covers. Careful that the fabric does not abraded the chair from repeated or prolonged sitting.



The ultimate ghost chair chair covers, the Waldorf's dining room from Gossip Girl. Lovely matte gold silk with button tufting. I have tried... for many episodes... to figure out how they are attached. I have decided it is with super strong magnet, one of the chair pad tab and the other underneath the lip of the chair, making it almost invisible.
How do you think they do it?

More More Moracco

I have been following the design trend of Moroccan designs for a couple of years. With the inclusion of more tribal prints and Moorish design entering the market place, now is a great time to start on the front of the trend. Early adopters tend to get more bang out of the style and have the opportunity to live with the trend longer that middle and late trend adopters.We are still on the early side so let's look at some great items to add a bit of Moorish to your living space!

Hallmarks to look for- repeating patterns, geometric patterns, white with intense brights like royal blue, and arabesque patterns!


From One Kings Lane  Flat-Weave Rugs

Neid Trellis Rug, Tan/Chocolate

Moorish Mango side table- great modern interpretation of Moorish design

 


Egyptian Moroccan Mother of Pearl side table

Moroccan Shade pendant light

Large Moroccan pendant light

Jennifer Delonge Moroccan Pouf in Metallic Gold

Whimsical characters- best of the web

Nature gives us the most inspired shapes. We alter, glorify and celebrate the natural world by bringing it into our homes in the form of figurines, wall art and sculpture. Here is my best of the web- whimsical characters, the animals of the web. Enjoy!
These modern characters are from Design Within Reach and as they are on sale, they are in reach at $24 to $31!

I love fiveoeight's whale wall art with it's damask pattern and blue tail. At 16 inches by nearly 6 inches this medium size makes a whale of the statement on your wall. Need more whale? The super size is nearly three feet long. Beach house here we come! You can find more at www.fiveoeight.etsy.com!


Is it me, or is a Snake Bouquet hard to resist? When you care enough to send the very unique. Mixed messages maybe, but all whimsy! www.WoodDoodle.etsy.com brings us this great collection of folk inspired snakes.




Though these are teethers, they are also sculpturally beautiful. I would add these to a collection of small hand carved boxes or sit on top of a dimensional box-type painting. These three teethers comes from www.SmilingTreeToys.etsy.com.



Twisted Fish 132... need I really say more? This is one of the fantastic pieces coming from Fig Jam Studios out of Sarasota, Florida. You more whimsical creature can me found at www.figjamstudios.etsy.com. With a price of under $70, you can afford a school of Twisted Fish!

Storage quest!

 

I'm on a storage quest. I want vintage-esque/ used/ recycled, metal and uber functional. I care not the color or if it is a bit rusty as I plan to paint it/them lovely colors. Bringing the office home is not a new concept, but more home office probably lack the accessories that work offers and leaves you spinning your wheels searching for something.
I am making a conscious decision to purchase metal and used. For one reason, I like the durability of metal, for another I want to encourage recycling when possible. Lastly, I want to resist the "quick- fix" urge to by the plastic, on sale, bulky boxes from the craft stores. Metal always seems cleaner than the plastic items anyway! And I can paint them in the colors of my choice.
Valspar has launched an array of fantastic colors that are well suited to painting metals and changing one's mind! I'll admit part of the attraction to the product was the new can design! I love the look of the cap-less design and the new design will alleviate the "spray paint finger" I always seem to have which requires a new manicure!

 On my quest, I found a fantastic small metal file drawer at the Hoover Antique Gallery. The finish is so nice, I haven't painted it yet! And I am still thinking about a beautiful eggplant storage drawer that I didn't buy! So, today I will be questing a different antique gallery for more metal office storage!

Playin' Hookie

Summer is the perfect time to play hookie! How else will you hang up all those beach towels, straw handbags and for all you Austen-ite those flowers and herbs you're drying?

Here is a selecting of fun hooks I found on Etsy- the best place for handmade and one of a kind items... then again I am rather partial having a few stores there myself!

This gem is from the Shabby Shak, and perfect for the beach house, boy's bedroom, or sun porch!

I love the humor of an antler hook! This set, from the door stop, is actually cast iron, not real antlers.

Though silverware as hooks are not a new idea, these are particularly well done! From jjevensen, this set comes if a variety of silverware patterns!

Honoring the artistry of the blacksmith, this hand forged hook from SemiosisForge is only $15!

As you can see, hooks can make a statement whether something is on them, or not! They can express a theme like lodge style with antler hooks, or nautical with the anchor hook, without being overt. Rooms are best when they are layered, like people. A cottage chic room, can also be a white room and a nautical room or a cottage chic girls lodge! The forks can be cottage chic kitchen, cottage chic folk art dining room. Or, they can add the whimsy to a formal room with out loosing the formality, since they are silver. Once you have the bog picture of a space with wall colors and furnishings, then you can look to specifically chosen details that relate to the big picture, but add a secondary and tertiaries layer, dare I say theme, to a space.

Work room re-do

I have been working on reworking my work space... which is a lot of work! Once you realize that you use the dining room a hand full of times a year for dining, but daily as a work space, you know it is time to quite dancing around all those chairs and get some storage in there! Here are a few inspiring work spaces for you!

I would love to go to work in a space like this one to the left that I found on pinterest! Organized, pretty, vintage-y, and with a large window.  I need a window in every space I work in because I need the view, I like the air flow and I think hearing the birds twitter calms the mind!














Fantastic sewing/crafting room. Black white and some color!

What makes this space work is the amount of white, which allows the eyes to rest from the pattern and color. Another great part about this space is the photographs of plants at eye level. Attention restoration theory teaches us that allowing a view of nature, even it is a photograph can rewire the brain to refocus on the task at hand faster then looking at something not from nature. This fabulous image came from the blog HouseofTurquoise.com.

Smart use of space with many recycled items!

Organization is the key to keeping your craft room as a space you will want to work in. Since I run my online business from a craft room, I have to remember to keep it neat, otherwise I will only go in to fulfill and order and stop designing new item! I like this space because it look like a building on a campgrounds. By reusing furniture pieces, you not only cut down on the cost of outfitting your space, you are doing a service to the environment by avoiding cheaply made "craft room" furniture and plastic products. Storing items in plastic is great for many reasons, buy using them judiciously and thoughtfully, is the best use of that resource.



Eco-Chic at Home- The Boy's Nursery

Boy's are all about being on the move. So, today I am looking at decorating a nursery for a boy with the concept of movement. Layering on the component of green design, we will be looking at buying local, handmade and recycled. Maybe people think about being green as simply recycling, however when you think about green in a holistic way you see that it is about the conservation of thing. Buying items that have a longer "shelf-life"maybe as a conversion item, buying items that do not cost a lot in fuel to get to you, and buying items that come from something that can be grown again easily or that used to be something else are all ways to look at the concept of green. So, antiques are green, and so are items made by local artisans! Here are a few great designs that follow some of these ideas!

All items can be found of Etsy! The first items in the list is from a member of one of the Etsy teams I am a part of and called Alabama Accents. This team is doing a promotions drive and featuring one team member a day

BronstarDesigns on Etsy brings us this great growth chart all about easy modes of transportation! I love the clear color palette of blue and red!

.

Movement can also be about the air and unseen forces! This Modern Mobile- The Supernova in Deep Red by The Wonderland Studio is a great contemporary design that adds color and movement into the nursery.

What a great vintage scooter from LilAndLou! Not only would this be a great early mode of transportation, but it also brings some history to the nursery. Because of the narrow profile, under 6 inches, it would also make a great wall piece. So, you have a recycled piece that is wall art and functional once your little mover gets moving! What a great way to celebrate green design.

These fun little bicycle pillow can add repetition into a space. Repetition is a great way to add pattern without creating visual clutter. Soft artwork is great for little hand and chewing mouths! These organic bicycle pillows comes from BirdMafia on Etsy.

I love mixing moderns with vintage, especially when the larger piece can grow with the child. This Bamboo storage cabinet would be great for storing books and toys now and a TV later. Because the piece is made of bamboo plywood the piece is strong and from renewable materials! This piece is from MaddoxStreetStudios and the only problem with getting this piece home if that you might want to keep it for yourself!

Whimsical Walls- Signage for the home

Monograms and letters have been trending high for a few years now. The latest trend is signage. I'm not talking about beer signs and old advertising. This is all about hand-crafted, pretty colors, and pleasant sayings. I have crafted a collection of great handmade signage from my favorite source- Etsy.


This Farmers Market sign comes to us from Garavan on Etsy. So cute for the kitchen decor or even a casual dining. Could possible be sealed for use on a covered porch. 

Wall signage is a whimsical additional to any home and the laundry area is a perfect spot for a touch of whimsy! This clever signs comes to us from ChuckEByrdWallDecals on Etsy.



I think this phrase was the start of the lettering, text and signage craze for the home on Etsy. This classic "keep calm and..." sign is from KeepCalmShop on etsy.

Great way to fill a space without spending on fine art. This lettering is a vinyl decal can be customized and comes from LandBGraphics!

The classic vintage look subway sign. Heading to Michigan anyone? This sign comes from TransitDesign on Etsy.