Trying New Things

My sis got these chairs as freebies from her neighbor and she wants me to help her fix them up. Check out her post here:

Trying New Things.

I ran fabric paint by her:

Painted chair project via A Pinterest Addict.

And reupholstering with budget upholstery fabrics from IKEA:

Rosmarie at IKEA

Benzy Skepp at IKEA.

Premier Fabrics:

Newell in Stone/Denton at Premier Fabrics.

Barber in Stone/Denton at Premier Fabrics.

Or using Joann’s 40% off coupons to get some cool looking pleather:

Eaton Square Adrift at Joann’s.

Here’s another view of this style of chair (by complete coincidence, I pinned the exact chairs from a Craigslist ad a few months ago on Pinterest).

On my CL Treasure Hunt board on Pinterest.

I’m going to meet up with her on Friday to take a closer look at them (so far, I’ve only seen pics). I’m so excited! What would you do with these chairs?

Justin Timberlake + Estee Stanley

Designer Estee Stanley and musician, actor, fashion designer Justin Timberlake for their new home decor line, HomeMint.

I am a hardcore JT fan and I think it is beyond cool that he is (along with his interior designer Estee Stanley) launching a line of home decor items. They line will be available at HomeMint which is, from what I could see on the website, similar to One King’s Lane and other that offer specials to members.

The pictures at Elle Decor show a lot of blue items but there seemed to be some reds and other colors in the background of the website. I like what I saw at Elle Decor and I’m looking forward to seeing what else is available through the line.

The HomeMint collection will offer a selection of curated art, tabletop, kitchen, textiles, and accent furniture. Read the article on Justin and Estee’s inspirations and collaboration here. Sign up for HomeMint here.

Until next time!

Picnic Anyone?

I’m off work today so I decided to go through some magazines and catalogs that I’ve only skimmed over because I’ve been so busy with work and life stuff lately.

ACME Party Company's Picnic Basket for Four. (Image from House Beautiful via Design Scouting.)

This gorgeous picnic basket is in the market section of the April issue of House Beautiful. it is available through ACME Party Box Company starting at $150 depending on the options you choose (with or without a knife or two styles of glasses). I would totally love to own this… though I’m not sure how much use I’d get out of it. As much as I want to be a Martha Stewart type, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I probably am really not that domestic. So actually planning a picnic menu, packing it up, and then taking it and a few friends out for a spin is probably super far off the list of realistic things I would be doing in life. Especially enough to justify a over a hundred dollar price tag. Still, this picnic basket is just beautiful enough to make me dream of moving it up the list a bit.

Hope you’re enjoying your Wednesday. Until next time!

Pimp Your Patio

Yesterday I had a few minutes to spare while I waited for my sister after work. I walked around and checked the activities section at the end of the store (that’s where we put all the seasonal stuff) and textiles (only my favorite department in IKEA. It’s been about three months since I took a turn through the sections at any length and I figured by now there were some new things in… I wasn’t wrong! Here are some of the cool things I saw:

The Malin Lov pillow:

eclectic pillows design by furniture and accessories IKEA

The colors in this pillow are just amazing! I’m going to be picking up two or three of them… I’ll figure out what I’m going to do with them later!

The Hogsten chair:

This chair is cute and compact and would look really nice (and fit nicely too) on an apartment patio. There is a matching stool as well.

Pekannot plant pots:

I like the whitewashed color and the texture reminds of grasscloth a little bit (which I LOVE). I really want a couple of these too. The smaller one is $25 and the larger one is $39.

Anyway, that’s it for me today. I hope you all are having a happy Thursday. I’ll catch you next time!

The One That Got Away…

Dining room from Rue magazine (l) and chair currently for sale on Etsy (r).

I bought a desk not long after I returned to the Seattle area. It is a lovely CL find that I fell in love with as soon as I laid eyes on it. It needs some TLC and a nice desk chair to make feel less lonely.

So I searched and searched and somewhere along the way I had the brilliant idea that it needed to be a more modern chair, preferably with a brass finish… And I found this:

"Modern Glam Chair" from Gallivanting Girls on Etsy.

It’s brass. It’s modern. It’s beautiful. It’s also out of my part time job price range at $180. I resign myself to the fact that I’m probably going to be a wish monster galore on this one…

A couple of weeks later, I head over to Rue Magazine and lo, and behold! There is this swank little room with not one but two of those very perfect chairs. They are chrome (and not brass) but still the lovely modernist shape and with better fabric to boot.

Dining space from the February 2012 issue of Rue Magazine.

Someone out there is like me and wants this chair badly. They saw that spread in Rue too… And they can’t get their mind off of the beauty and perfection of those chairs. They want them and they’ve been searching but they can’t find them. Well, at last here it is. Solo, yes… but one is better than none. Grab it while you can.

Color Full

A kitchen by stylist Lo Bjurulf in vibrant multicolored hues via Design TeaParty.

Spring is on the way… and I find myself looking at more vibrantly colored things for around the home. I seem to be on a kitchen kick though! So here are some pretty, colorful things to brighten up your home this spring:

These plates are very perky! I bet, if the colors here aren’t to your tasete, this this could be a fun DIY with some thrift store plain janes and a couple of bottles of Pebeo Porcelaine 150:

Chevr-on a Roll Plate at Modcloth.com.

Now, these appliances are seriously making me long for a new toaster! Whoever thought to break out of plain, boring stainless steel land is a genius!

Delonghi kMix Collection appliances. (Photo via threetwentyeight.com)

I’ve never been a fan of those horrid looking flat magnets that you get from the dentist, the local pizzeria, or your vet. You know, bad graphics? Worse slogans? I always thought that if you’re going to bother to decorate your kitchen, why not decorate down to the details? I mean, who says that magnets can’t be pretty too? I think these beautiful gems from Pigeon Toe Ceramics fit the bill nicely.

Facets magnets by Pigeon Toe Ceramics.

I have an insanely irrational love for cute kitchen lines, so these just make me super happy!

Houndstooth Tea Towel by Avril Loretti on Etsy.

If you don’t feel like buying something new for your kitchen you could always make something… Got old wooden spoons, laying around that could use some jazzing up? Then this colorful DIY is for you:

DIY spoon project from A Little Bit Funky.

I hope you all are having an awesome weekend… see you next time!

Love List

Here are some of the things I totally loved this week:

Penguin Classics has reissued books by F. Scott Fitzgerald with the snazzy, jazz age inspired covers designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. I found out about them by reading the SpaceSays blog. There are six in all; you can find them on amazon.co.uk.

I was introduced to Help Remedies by Moo Cards. Their philosophy is to make taking medicine as simple and uncomplicated as possible. To that end they offer medications for common problems in straightforward, biodegradable packaging, each with only one active ingredient, and with short easy to read text explaining what you’d take it for. Right now they have about 7 products and a portion of every sale goes to charities for children in need of medical care.

Speaking of Moo… They are an awesome outfit that gives anyone the tools they need to brand themselves with business cards, postcards, stickers, and labels. Their printing service offers something they call Printfinity, which allows the user to have a different image or design on each card in the order. Too add value to the easy to customize products they offer is the fact that it’s super inexpensive – prices start at $19.99/100 cards (shipping is extra… but reasonable). Bonus points for checking out how this crafter uses Moo to distinguish her brand.

Also, I’ve become more active on Pinterest. I’ve been signed on for a while but I’ve never really used it because of the whole Android phone as computer thing I’ve had going on for the last year or so. I recently found a third party app that lets me upload pics to my boards, so I’m having lots of fun with that!

I think I figures out part of the trouble with my images. So finally, a complete post for you… years later. Hopefully, it’ll be a long time before I have this kind of issue again. See you Monday with a new media review. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Pairs O’ Chairs

We got lots and lots of snow here in Seattle yesterday. I got to my storage and managed to get out enough of my knitting supplies to make the trip out worth my while. I spent a few hours both before and after that excursion reading Hugh Macleod’s Ignore Everybody : And 39 Other Keys To Creativity, retweeting SOPA/PIPA news, and surfing Craigslist in the hope of finding some inspirational project kinda stuff. I was not disappointed!

Here are some of the pieces I found and what I’d do with them:

This pair of wide “modern” chairs is going for $100. I could see them painted a bright cheery color with an ikat on the seats and a coordinating pillow in a graphic or floral pattern for the back cushion.

These chunky chairs are $75 for the pair. I like that they are low and visually heavy looking. I’d balance that out by sanding and bleaching the wood, then adding a neutral but textural fabric.

These “parlor” chairs are $75 for the pair! What a steal, right? They need some work (the caning needs repair) but for that price I just couldn’t bring myself to complain about it. Here I’d go with classic white and one of Caitlin Wilson’s fabulous floral.

These minty wonders are $125 for the pair. I love the upholstery’s wonderful color (so as long as closer inspection showed no wear), I’d leave that as is and just paint the frames a lighter color (something like this).

Any one of these marvelous sets of chairs would be cool to buy and project away on but… I’m just not at that point yet in Seatown. Plus, with the weather acting crazy and whatnot, I’m thinking more along the lines of sitting on the sofa and knitting.

Then again… tomorrow I may try to get out and explore a bit. Until then…

Best of the Week

What a week! I’ve feel like a whole year has passed. Really, it’s just a lot of life happening all at once. That’s life though, right? The ups, the downs, and everything in between. As the young Indian hotel clerk says in the trail for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: “Everything will work out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end.”

This week:



I was really inspired by this great mood board from fellow Charlotte design blogger, Andrea. She is a designer and DIYer who moved here recently, like me. Check out her cool projects and inspiration on her blog, SpaceSays.



Caitlin Wilson Textiles.





Surfing through some links on Laura Casey Interiors, I discovered this link to Caitlin Wilson Textiles. I’d never heard of this star design blogger but I was delighted to discover her new line of textiles! They are so beautiful and the blue, pink, and linen colored chinoiserie inspired floral gave me ideas for a great living room scheme. A complete set of swatches is available for $20 and comes prettily packaged in a beautiful pink box.

I finished my lamps here, read the YA bestseller The Hunger Games, and tested out a new Android app called Eggdrop with much success.

I also want to take a moment to say something about SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. This is a bill that will effect every blogger out there. See this great post about what the bill means for you and me. Sign a petition, call your reps, and get the word out to your readers and fellow bloggers! This is OUR internet.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone! See you next week!

Pillow Talk

I promise this is the last time that I’m going to post about the office chair… but I had to share the final piece of the picture: two pillows a friend sewed up for me in a coordinating fabric. The print is called Barber by Premier Prints, the colorway is corn yellow/kelp slub. I think it looks really nice with their corn yellow slub Zigzag fabric. Don’t you?

So there it is! The final touch on the office chair. I’m likely going to put this piece up for sale in a week or two… so if you know anyone that needs a dashing office chair, point them in my direction!

I’ve got a meeting today (I’m on the Social Committee, planning fun stuff for my fellow coworkers… fun, right? ) and a few hours after that, more than likely spent stocking up the Swedish Food Market. It needs it after the crazy weekend we had. I’m sure we could have filled a football stadium with the number if visitors we had this weekend!

Anywho, I hope your Wednesday is a quick and happy one, everyone! Until tomorrow. :-*