Upholstery Basics

I admit that when it comes to reading blogs I'm mostly about the pretty pictures and great tutorials but this picture post by Cassie at Hi, Sugarplum is just too awesome:

I learn something new every time I take a project to the upholsterer or workroom but I love the way this sofa was made to allow for a side by side comparison of different options.  I find over and over that not everyone can articulate what they like or don't like but they definitely know it when they see it!

Our House: My Long Neglected Office

Last fall I made the permanent shift to working from home full time and my home office went from mainly unused to needing to support actual work.  No longer just a place to put paperwork and random furniture (my husband's massive wing back chair, the Room & Board Loring Sofa that wasn't comfortable enough for the living room....) but the room in the house where I'll spend a huge chunk of my time.

This was such a 'non-room' for me that I don't even have any proper before photos:

The only in progress photo is a random one taken by my mother in law shortly after we moved in (before it was totally crapped up):

When I look at my Home Office board on Pinterest there are some common themes that jump out to me right away:

Clearly I like the two matching tall bookcases flanking a desk or shorter table (and I must be the only one that needs actual office equipment in my office.)

I picked up this vintage drafting table on Craig's List for $100 (and was THRILLED with the price):

Clearly it needs some cleaning up but I still think it'll be perfect for my office.

Sometime last spring I came across a set of campaign bedroom furniture and just had to the buy a single drawer, 2 door little 29" tall chest.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it but I couldn't not get it.  So it sat in my garage as one of the many pieces of random furniture that were occupying my parking spot for months.

Then I bought a 3 drawer campaign chest the same size and decided I should have hutches built to get my vision of the tall bookcases.

Then I got prices for the hutches.  I seriously miss my hourly finish carpenter. Badly.

I procrastinated on the hutches for months.  My office is embarrassingly overflowing and disorganized at this point.  Olive thinks blueprints are her bed (which makes perfect sense considering slippers are her favorite toys).

Yesterday I bought two vintage Stanley furniture bookcases at St. Vincent de Paul, they're well made, in a great condition, and cost far less than having the hutches made for the Campaign chests.  Not to mention they are ideal for my needs:

They've already been stripped of their hardware, cleaned and sanded.  Choosing the 'right' dark teal/peacock inky blue color is proving harder than I expected.  I'm debating between these two colors at the moment but oddly enough Hague Blue looks brighter and lighter in most actual photos and Teal darker:

          

           Farrow and Ball Hague Blue

             Benjamin Moore Teal

Either way though, the inside is going gold!

I'm not still feeling the massive surge of motivation to get stuff done like I was a few weeks ago but I'm definitely ready for this progress. 

Spring Fever

I'm not sure if it's the season, my in-laws impromptu visit next week or just having reached the point where I need my own house to feel more done while I continue working on other people's homes but I've been buried in various at-home projects for the last few weeks.  On top of my regular gig and client load.  I'm a tired girl at the moment but pleased with the progress for sure!  I'm "this close" to being done with 10 different projects so I have no final photos to share yet.

The hunt for a credenza to use as a media stand has been never ending.  Last month at a local consignment shop I found a faux bamboo bedroom set that had a long dresser similar to this one:

I felt moderately guilty showing it to my husband, I mean the guy actually wrote into our wedding vows that I couldn't put faux bamboo and lucite in every room of our house but after weeks of seeing nothing else I took him to see it Saturday afternoon.  I made a direct beeline for it when we got to the consignment shop and was so relieved it was still there I didn't even notice the SOLD sign that was silently mocking me.  I wanted to kick my husband for pointing out that it had sold the day after I'd planned to go back for it earlier in the week.

At our next stop we did finally mange to find and agree on a piece and our TV is currently sitting on all 81" of it's MCM glory.  I couldn't be more pleased with it.  It's exactly what I wanted originally and I'm loving the warmth that it brings to the room.  Photos to come.....

As soon as we got the credenza home I decided it was time to paint the coffee table base.  So this is currently in the garage with it's first coat of gold paint on it:

I love this table like none other, and did long before antlers were everywhere.  My husband thought he could not possibly hate it more, until I told him I was painting it gold.

I'm not loving the current gold spray paint I'm using so I may be running to the hardware store for a few others tomorrow.  Any suggestions?

If I could sort out a fabric color for the ottoman (I'm thinking coral, my husband readily agreed but pointed out it might be bit much with the gold table, uh huh) and what to do about end tables I could possibly almost start to feel like our living room was making real progress!

Success at Last!

I'm obsessed with the CraigsPro + app (though still annoyed that I didn't read all the details before buying the CraigsPro and then had to immediately buy the + version) and it's pretty much replaced sleep in my world since I can lay in bed and flip through it.

So in the middle of the night the other night I responded to a general "I've got a bunch of stuff, what are you looking for?" ad with a list of things I currently want.  A pair of upholstered stools was at the very top and I figured there was no way he'd have any of the items on my list much less the stools.

I was lucky enough to bring a pair of Parsons benches home for TEN dollars.  I'm dying over the price, I actually feel a little bad and like I should go back and give him more money for them.  Ebay and Etsy pricing is definitely inflated but I'm sure he could have gotten more for them.

They aren't x benches but they are the 2nd best thing in my world, and the price literally could not be beat (so glad I didn't settle for the $25 metal stools a few weeks ago).

I bought a few other things from him as well but these were definitely the highlight of the day (or month??).    Finding them was hard but making a decision on fabric may be harder!

Desperately Seeking Benches

I've been looking for a set of upholstered benches forever (to put under my console in our entry) but I so rarely see ONE bench much less a matching pair that I'm not all that optimistic.  I've done everything I can, short of offering a kidney, to get a friend to part with her pair of vintage x-stools (that she picked up at a local auction for something ridiculous like $115, makes me ill to even think about it) with no luck.  I can't bring myself to pay ebay prices either. So I'm still benchless.

I came across these last weekend and only considered them for about 20 seconds before moving on.  They're just not what I really want.

Then I started thinking about how they aren't totally unlike some of the Paul McCobb styles like these:

My wheels started spinning along the lines of painting the bases and having a box cushion top done on them.  Then I remembered the likely cost of that cushion and that these aren't want I really want.

Then I came across this photo from Jenny's moving sale on LGN and I started thinking about the benches again.

via Little Green Notebook

So now I'm back to pondering the little metal benches.  Who knows when I'll finally come across the perfect vintage upholstered pair?  Am I nuts for thinking that $75 seems like a small price to pay to feel like my house is ever so slightly more together?

Our House: The Living Room, Media Stand

After months of hitting my favorite consignment/thrift shops and trolling Craig's List on a regular basis I've finally made a decision on a media stand.  The very kind Heidi from Lily Field Furniture found it for me on Craig's List after I'd somehow managed it miss it, even with the title of "HUGE Dresser or Buffet" (and since size was always the issue I'm baffled on how I managed to miss it).

Anyway, hopefully in about a week this beauty will be in place:

In this color, Annie Sloan paint in Graphite:

(please ignore the puppy blanket!)

Heidi started looking for a piece for me after I commented on one she posted on Facebook that sold in a matter of hours.  Once she procured this one (with me in mind but knowing she could easily sell it if I wasn't in love) she was incredibly patient during my week of deliberations and mixed at least four different test colors for me trying to get me to the perfect dark charcoal.   I'm excited to see the finished result and really curious to see for myself how the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint holds up.

To be continued....

Our House: The Living Room, Chairs (Business in the Front, Party in the Back)

Chairs are woefully expensive in my opinion.  As much as sofas in a lot of cases and often boring and very cookie cutter.  I really wanted something vintage that I could have reupholstered for my living room.  After spending months searching for a pair of vintage upholstered chairs in the right size and shape, at the right price point to justify the cost of new fabric and professional re-upholstery I decided to use my husband's grandmother's chairs that had been in our basement among my collection of furniture waiting to find a home or a purpose.  The chairs are comfortable, low enough that they could be placed slightly in front of the (when I finally find it) media stand/credenza without blocking the TV, and best of all FREE.

I searched for a few inspiration photos but I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted.  I loved the idea of doing a print but I loved the tufting (which IMO can be tricky depending on the pattern).  On a trip to Calico Corners I came across a bolt of amazing seafoamy blue/green velvet on super closeout.  Originally priced at something like $65 a yard it was $10.50 a yard if I recall correctly.  I've always loved the Dwell Plumes fabrics, have pined over the pillows in azure forever so I was thrilled when I realized that the birch colorway worked perfectly with the velvet as well as my sofa color.  It all just fell into place so perfectly.

For some ungodly reason I decided I was going to strip the original upholstery and caning myself (because I was going to paint the frames before giving them to the upholsterer). If I'd been thinking clearly I'd have taken both chairs (instead of just one to talk pricing and what I wanted) and had the upholsterer strip them for me before painting.  It was a miserable task, that I (true to form) waited until the last minute to do.  So there was blood, lots of cursing, blisters, and begging my (wonderful) husband to run to Walmart for me at 10:30 on a Sunday night.

Just a few hours before my in-laws flew in yesterday I picked up my chairs and I LOVE the end result.

There is enough of the velvet left to do the ottoman and I ordered enough of the Plumes fabric to do a couple of throw pillows for the sofa.  For less than the cost of one of the chairs I liked at Crate & Barrel, I  (will) have two chairs and an ottoman that are totally unique to me and my house.  I'm happy with the results.........and looking around what I can send to the upholsterer next!