midcentury madness

I am a sucker for anything mid-century design.  IKEA has some new furniture.  The Stockholm collection is pretty great.

Stockholm Sofa Table

Preben Dining Chair

I definitely have my eye on the dining chairs.

David and I made a run to a local thrift store to make our usual clothes & things donation.  They had almost all of the furniture out in the parking lot, so this chair caught my eye.  Then as we were inspecting it, and deciding if we really NEED it, and how much work it is going to be to refurbish it... an employee let us know that it was half price furniture day!!  So here it is... sitting in out house.  I LOVE the legs, and it is actually comfortable.  The seat depth is perfect.

Although there are a TON of furniture upholstering how-tos out there, I think I am going to ask a pro to handle this one.

A couple of weeks later, I stopped by this same thrift shop as I saw the furniture out in the parking lot again.  I drive past this place on my way to and from work so I decided just to stop for a minute and peek.  Found a pair of Gunlocke chairs!  They have official stamps and everything.

They have seen better days, but the bones are good.  David is going to take them to Gibsonville and take care of the wood refinishing.  I HOPE we can salvage the wood underneath the seat back.  If not, we will upholster again.  But I am really hoping for wood.  The bottom part will definitely be recovered.  I can't wait to go hunting for fun fabric for all of the chairs!

little projects

I worked on a few small & easy projects recently. It was nice to have instant gratification projects while the floors are in progress. All of these were on the cheap too! All three together cost me less than $30.

1. dresser drawers

We got a new dresser from IKEA recently and we actually didn't mind the hardware that came with it. It kind of goes with our grey & white trend that is happening in the bedroom. I got an Anthropologie coupon for my birthday so I got some schmancy new hardware (just over $20)... but just for my half of the dresser. Now it is like a "his & hers" piece. I like that it looks like two different dressers in one.

2. peg legs

We have two IKEA chairs in the living room. I really like the chairs, but was never crazy about their peg legs. I am not a big fan of blond wood, so I had always planned on painting them at some point. Then I came across this post on Design*Sponge. So easy, and $0 since I found some silver spray paint in the shed. A quick little update to the chairs. They look so swank on the new wood floors.

3. succulents

I think I have a brown thumb. I am not a big fan of landscaping, and I've managed to kill all houseplants I have ever had... except for one! I have had this little cactus thing for almost 2 years now and he's still kickin'! So I got a few more tiny succulents (less than $3 each at Lowe's) and put them in various containers we already had. Aren't they cute?

More floor update pictures coming soon!

progress report

Projects #1 and #2 COMPLETE!!

It only took 5 men and 3.5 days to get this done. SO worth hiring people for this project. Was it expensive? Yes. I cannot even imagine how we could have done this on our own though. The pictures don't really do it justice. The kitchen ceiling seriously feels a whole foot higher. Even the 17 foot ceilings in the living room somehow feel more open and airy.

Aaahhhhh! So fresh and so clean. On to the next project... wood floors! We peeked under the carpet, and it doesn't look too bad. We will pick out our wood this weekend and let it acclimate in the house next week. We decided to go ahead with this next step while all of the furniture is out of the way. Here goes nothing!

from the top of the stairs

The living room projects begin. I will try my best to take progress pictures, but I need to stay out of the way. I packed my snacks and have most things I need up in the bedroom and craft room. They assure me that I WILL be able to get in and out of the house after they tape off everything and bubble me in.

hex marks the spot

I finally found time to finish the bathroom wall project! Basically, I was just too lazy to bring the big ladder in from the shed.

I originally wanted to do wallpaper on this vanity wall... bridging the bedroom and bathroom together. Then, we chose a few different shades of grey paint to redo the bedroom, vanity, and bathroom areas. I still wanted some kind of visual interest on this wall, so I got the SAME color grey that we already had but in a glossy finish (rather than the flat or eggshell we already had). David made a cardboard stencil for me. I traced it with pencil, then hand-painted the hexagonal pattern with the glossy paint.

I think it came out great! I love it. It gives the vanity area depth and texture, without taking up any extra space.

Previous stages of bathroom redo: part 1 and part 2

let the games begin!

Here we go... we are ACTUALLY going to do this stuff.

1. This weekend we got wood floor samples.

2. This weekend we also got quotes from 2 painters for scraping our 17 foot popcorn ceiling, and painting that same room. (more quotes coming later this week)

I will continue to update as we embark on our first major home project!! I am excited, anxious, nervous, and I am going to try and remain calm and not take out all of my stress and frustration on David.

Next step for this week is to clean up the other rooms so we have a place to move the furniture while the living room becomes a mess. I will take 'before' pictures, too.

big picture

We have this big blank wall. It is along the stairs at the front of the house, above the door. There is one lonely sconce, but otherwise it is completely blank. We couldn't decide how to dress it.... a mural? a giant photograph or poster? a bight color painted all over? a long tapestry or banner?

While cleaning out the office, we discovered several blank canvases. I suggested a collaboration piece to cover several canvases. We decided on printing a giant photo, and affixing it to these arranged canvases.



Ta-da!!

And while we are on the topic of before & after... I recovered my desk chair with leftover fabric from Mary's apron: