Chair Love
I have been feeling a bit under the weather this weekend, so sorry for the delay in posting. We did make some more progress on the yard in preparation for the upcoming party. But, it is rainy now (again) so pictures will have to wait a bit. Instead, here is this weeks chair love. A Flickr find named Den Vorsitz, by David Fisher. Awesome!
Adorable Little Chair
Behold the new addition to the shop (or soon to be):
Isn’t he cute?? I’m not sure if I will remodel this little guy or sell as is. Any suggestions? I was thinking black paint and new cushion. But then again, I love the wood and the teal vinyl. Hmmm… Let me know if you have any interest in this oh-so-cute MCM chair (refinished or not) and I will keep you all updated on what I do with it!
I did end up leaving the chair as is after a good cleaning, and a girl immediately fell in love with it and snatched it up!
**SOLD**
Double Chair Love
I spotted this very gorgeous desk chair at Wide Open Spaces. It happens to be in a lovely photograph by Ngoc Minh Ngo, but look closely at the chair. Isn’t it beautiful?
The picture below that happened to grab my attention as well. The two chairs in front of the couch are the exact same as the chair we found months ago in the garbage!
A little bit of black paint on the legs and our chair is a copy! I’d still like any info on those chairs! See the photos (as well as other beautiful ones) on the blog here: http://wideopenspaces.squarespace.com/. See our chair in an old post here: https://makemineeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/our-officeden/ and here: https://makemineeclectic.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/name-that-chair/.
Fire Pit Finished
I picked up a few bricks yesterday and we finally got to work on finishing the fire pit. Yes, we are short by exactly one brick (not a bad guess!), but that will be taken care of next weekend. The bottom two layers which we laid a while back were now settled in mud and ash since we have been using the unfinished pit. After much digging and playing the mud we finally had them all arranged and neatly packed in. We cleaned out the bottom and laid a few rocks. What a difference! And, grass is poking up where we put grass seed already! We were so excited! Maybe there will already be some green out there in time for the party! I’m hoping it is strong enough be then so we don’t crush it all!
Yes, one quite obvious brick is missing! 😉
And here is the new chairs and table that we picked up over the weekend. They will be getting a special paint treatment…soon!
At first I was disappointed to not have found two of these style chairs that match, but we now think it will be fun to do them indifferent colors and embrace the uniqueness! (Plus, I couldn’t beat the price we found these for!)
Overall, it was a very productive and fun weekend. And, our softball team won our first game!
Mid Century Paintings For Sale In Shop
I went back to the thrift store and those paintings were still there. AND, they were 1/2 off! So, I snagged them and cleaned them up a bit. Now for sale in the shop! Check them out!
I think they would look really cute with the new roadside find chair!
Maybe in a little girl’s mid century room?
***SOLD***
Roadside Find
On a quick drive to Peoria yesterday to pick up some new lawn chairs I spotted the oddest, cutest little chair on the side of the road in Kewanee. On my way home it was still there, so I quickly threw it in the back of the truck and sped away!
It’s so ugly right now, but I think there is a lot of cuteness potential under there! That storage could be very useful too! Some scrubbing and some new fabric… maybe even some paint? Mid century lovers should love this one when its finished, so keep your eyes peeled because it will be another shop addition!
Mid Century Bug
I have it- the mid century bug- that is! I am usually into vintage and antique just a bit older than MCM style, but lately I have been crazy for some of the furniture styles. I’d like to think that I am a good enough stylist to incorporate a bit of many styles to make an eclectic, yet cohesive home. A few things that I am loving:
The Marcel Bruer Wassily leather lounge chairs are calling my name!
This Barwa lounger would be so comfy on a patio or in the backyard, even better if it wasn’t purple!
This guy would be perfect painted black and sitting next to my new-old patio set in the backyard. Then I would have a place to lounge in the sun! (I am actually really thinking about this one!)
This is my all time favorite couch. I want one someday so bad I can smell the leather! 😉
I love these Platner style outdoor chairs. Actually, I like anything wire mesh or Bertoia-esque.
An a bit of an older note- I am still on a hurried hunt for a couple of these old style metal lawn chairs. Ebay is a bit too pricey, so if anyone out there knows of any for sale…keep me posted!
Any style, any color, as long as they are similar to eachother, because I am going to paint them red anyway!
Also, do you notice a trend with me and chairs? And currently with me and outdoor furniture? I really need to expand what I look at! 😉
Lawn Chairs and Cookouts
Yesterday I finally got the garage sale lawn chairs finished! Remember the old blue metal set we got for $10? The one that looked like it belonged next to pink plastic flamingos in, well, not our yard? Yes, those are nice shiny black now! Before:
Now:
All we needed was a couple fun cushions. Well, that has been a task. Since these chairs are so old no cushions are the right size! And, have you noticed how dull this year’s “summer” colors are? Blah! But, we stopped in at K-Mart just to check, and found a decent, fun and bright set. Not what we thought we wanted, but it will work for this year! They are a bit different shape, but when you sit in them and squish them down they are perfect. I would also like to add a couple red throw pillows to match the ones we would like to throw on the hammock (coming soon!). Here’s what we have so far:
Better! And Tony even helped me pick ’em out! So, we decided to celebrate a productive day (and the fact that it didn’t rain!) by grilling out and having dinner at the picnic table.
The pups even joined in! Have a great weekend!
P.S. Just for the record, the blue on the chairs was a really pretty color. But, we have a lot of red in our yard and it just wasn’t matching what we wanted to do out there. But, after already painted the set black we realized the new cushions do have the exact blue in them! Oh, well, sticking to the plan! Now they are versatile enough to change our minds on cushions all the time! (if they weren’t so ridiculously expensive!)
Bad Thrifter
It’s true, I’m just not a very good thrifter. I try, I really do. But I often come home empty handed and disappointed. First, a cute picture, and then the reasons I’m a bad thrifter- use them as reverse tips! 🙂
This was the only thing I was interested in after two thrift store stops yesterday. I am probably the only person who even thinks these are cute. But, I did think they would be a neat retro touch to a little girl’s room. I was actually so attracted to them I almost bought them just to save for the day when we might have a little girl’s room. But, that seemed waay too far away, so I left, once again, empty handed.
The reasons why I am a bad thrifter- things not to do:
1. I get disappointed and discouraged. I know very well that thrifting is about enjoying the hunt. I know very well that I need to relax and enjoy my time going through all of the junk on that dig for the perfect treasure. But, sometimes I am in a hurry to snatch something up and get upset when I don’t find anything that strikes me.
2. I am not open minded. I go into thrift store and flea markets with an idea of what I need and what exact items I am on the hunt for. Once I stop looking I know I will eventually find something like that, but until then I need to have an open mind and keep my eyes peeled for unexpected finds.
3. Sometimes I am just not creative. I see the items only exactly what they were meant for. I know that so many treasures can be repurposed, but often I forget to look at an item itself, and not its intended use. More interesting things can be noticed when thinking creatively.
4. I do not go often enough. I sometimes feel that on every trip to the store I have to leave with something. This should definitely not be the case. This hunt could take multiple trips. If you stop back often you will eventually happen upon the perfect find.
5. I forget that value is irrelevant. I find myself on a hunt for some treasure of great value. This is rare, and I know it. I need to remember that I am on a hunt for unique things that I love and want to surround myself with, not things with fancy brand names.
6. I need to remember to enjoy myself. I know perfectly well that this is a hobby. It probably won’t make me rich or famous, so I need to be doing my thrifting for me. If I forget about everyone else’s opinions I will enjoy my trips and eventually have unique and personal items.
Although these are things not to do, they are a good list of things to keep in mind when thrifting. Now, if only I could take my own advice. Can you think of any other thrifting tips?
Engagement Pictures
It has been a few months now since we got engaged and we still haven’t taken engagement pictures. We didn’t set an exact date and we didn’t throw the party since it was winter, so we decided to put it off for a while. But, now that we are finally having the party we thought it was about time to make the official announcement. We plan to have a few shots done professionally, but that will still wait a bit longer. We set up our tripod and camera timer the other night and had fun snapping a bunch of shots. We thought we would show off the one we picked to go in the local paper:
Now our announcement is also official to all of you out there in blog world as well!
Here’s the whole little fam:
Make Mine Eclectic 
