Downsizing the Antiques
My obsession with vintage furniture grows and my house feels like it is shrinking. So… some items must find a new home! I thought I would list a few things here and there on here for you to all check out. Feel free to contact me with any questions!
1. Two vintage metal lawn chairs and matching table. So adorable! SOLD!
2. Vintage tin top cabinet. We used this as our kitchen island. This isn’t the best photo, but it also has lots of charm! SOLD!
3. Vintage Danish modern chair.
Old Chair Becomes New Chair Love
About a year ago I was given this kind of ugly old chair by a friend who knew I had a thing for chairs and also a thing for redoing ugly vintage pieces. The chair sat in my garage just waiting for me to be inspired. And finally… I have a new dining chair!
Here is the funky chair before:
This baby was probably gorgeous is its day, but the orange had to go. And the finish on the wood had also seen better days. So, I got to work. I first unscrewed the cushion from the chair from underneath. Then I had to pry off about a million staples. But, this step proved to be quite inspiring. You see, I am a beginner reupholster-er. This chair gave me a bit of creative insight. Once I started prying off the staples I realized that not only was the fabric cover itself tacked down, but also the piping around the bottom of the cushion was a separate piece. This was a strip of fabric folded in half and stapled around the edge. Easy!
Here is a look at the cushion and staples. You can also see the strip of piping.
And here is my new dining chair, including my take on this simple piping idea!
I love how the piping contrasts with the leather fabric. The color ties in with the dining room so well. And here’s the new beauty in its place at the dining table:
The fabric on the table is another project to be coming soon! I am working on a fun table runner to brighten the place up for summer!
Vintage Plates
When I got my first apartment my mom and I found an entire set of unused, gorgeous black dishes for $40 at a resale shop. I have lovingly used them ever since. A couple of years ago, during a hurried move, a box broke open and almost all of the salad plates, bowls, and mugs were broken. Fortunately, all of the dinner plates pulled through. But, I have been on the hunt for some fun dishes to mix with the black plates ever since.
The other day at a thrift store I ran across a full set of adorable blue, vintage salad plates. They were .49 each, so for about $4 I added these to my set:
Here are a few shots of a mock place setting, just to see how sweet they looked 🙂
The blue glasses are from a flea market and the black charcoal glasses were given to me by my grandfather and came from Germany. The candlesticks are a mix of vintage and CB2, and my silverware is all new Oneida. I really like how it all mixed together. Although, these photos remind me how I can’t wait to refinish the dining table! What do you think?
Sneak Peak of the Outside
I am learning how to use the Blackberry wordpress app to update posts, so I thought I would test this out by giving you a little sneak peak of the outside of the new house. Now that the flowers are all planted things are starting to look bright and fresh!
A Rustic Glam Light Fixture
I love the idea of mixing some glamour with rustic elements. Maybe this isn’t a new idea, but definitely my style! I recently came accross this gorgeous room. Particularly, I loved the light fixture and think this could be an easy, yet stunning project.
I found this lovely photo on decor8’s blog, originally from housetweaking.com. What do you think? I think I might have to give this a try myself!
see it here: www.housetweaking.com
Black Kitchen Inspiration
The kitchen needs some help. I can’t change the fact that it’s super small and always will be. But, I can give it a bit of a facelift. This is in the works. I already have all the plans in my head. Yes, I want to paint the cabinets black. Black. It doesn’t matter how many people doubt me now, because I already have my mind set. But, just to put other people at ease, I thought I would share Nate Berkus” gorgeous black cabinet kitchen!
Gorgeous, no? I totally believe I can pull this off too. Stay tuned!
See it posted originally here: www.housetweaking.com
Antler Ideas
We have a lot of antlers. A lot. I happen to love them. And I love getting inspiration from out in the blog-o-sphere on how to incorporate them into a chic home. Needless to say, I immediately fell in love with this idea.
This neat chandelier was seen on Material Girls’ blog where they posted about an adult tree house. See it here: http://materialgirlsblog.com/chicago/2011/06/01/hanging-out/
My Own Chair Love
Here’s a chair that I inherited and eventually redid. I love these basic old wood chairs, but the white chipping paint and scratches on this one were in need of some help.
First I sanded the chair down until it was nice and smooth using a palm sander. I then made sure to clean and dry the chair very well. I first painted the bottom portion of the legs black. Once that was very dry I taped off each leg at the same place and proceeded to paint the rest of the chair with a fun silver spray paint. The final step was an idea I wanted to try, which proved to be the most work of all. I used black nail head trim nails to form a pattern around the seat. I measure where I wanted the nails to go and made small marks with a pencil. Eventually, this step proved to be useless and I was off of my marks anyways. Ah well, trial and error with a new project. I also learned that tapping these nails in with a hammer scratched and smashed the nails, as they have a black finish on them. I found that covering the nail with a small piece of cardboard from the packaging after it was in place, and giving it one good tap with the hammer was the most effect and precise way to apply these. My pattern still ended up a little bit off, but overall I like the idea and would love to try it on one of my chairs for the shop now that I have my technique down. I lastly tied on a pink and purple vintage scarf to tie the chair into the bedroom (which you will all see eventually!) So, here she is…
What do you think?
Touch of Spring
Here’s a quick peek at the bit of spring I brought in today…
And just a little sneak peek into the kitchen and living room. Hope that helps brighten the day!
An Inspiring Blog
“Ultimately your home is so much more than just a decor style, it’s a life style,” as said by The Paris Apartment (a new favorite blog.)
Her quote comes from a clip of her book. I find inspiration not only in her quote and the rest of the clip of the book, but also in each and every post and photo she posts. Check out these gorgeous rooms and then check out her blog here: www.parisapartment.wordpress.com
Read the rest of the book excerpt here:
http://parisapartment.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/going-by-the-book/
Make Mine Eclectic 
