Sex on (lucite) legs

WARNING: the following post contains explicit images of chairs.

So last weekend I checked out a thrift store I'd never been to and found a truly awesome score. Three Parsons type chairs with brass bases and lucite (!) legs. OMG. These things are A-mazing. Truly white hot. Look upon them and be jealous.

My mom and I have been contemplating the approximate age of these chairs — I thought early 70's but she says probably 60's. Aside from the upholstery, which is dated and not in fantastic shape, these things are pretty pristine! My mind has been racing with possible fabric choices to revamp these ravishing mod beauties. It's gotta be luxe ... perhaps a supple velvet in a teal-y color, orange, charcoal, or maybe even some medium shade of purple. I'm also considering a textural solid. I'm open to suggestions at this point so I'd love to head any ideas you might have! When I redo them I might forgo the gathers on the backs in favor of a little button tufting. Whatever I come up with, I have a feeling they're going to end up looking like something you'd see on 1stDibs.com!

Oh, and the best part? I got 'em for $11 a piece. Giddiness abounds!

She clicks, she scores!

Just wanted to share this little gem I got on Craigslist today for $30. Sure, in my dreams it was a whole set of campaign furniture, but since up until now I've been a campaign virgin I'll take what I can get. It's marked Drexel and it's in great shape structurally. Can't wait to shine up the hardware and paint this piece a fun color!

 

Stay tuned for the "after" pics!

P.S. Progress has been made on the wayward chair project! She got sanded and sprayed gloss black over the weekend. I'm now in the process of making my final fabric decision. More to come...

Emily's Home for Wayward Chairs

Anyone who knows me even reasonably well knows I have a bit of a ... hmm, chair fetish? As such, I certainly can't resist a seat in need, so I was more than happy to pick up this spindly little homeless thing I discovered by the curb while I was running one evening.

She's got potential, no? Am planning on restyling her not-so-flattering wood tone with some paint. Gloss black is always a classic choice. Or perhaps a punchy color? Thoughts?

Fabric-wise, she definitely needs a makeover. That brown vinyl will be replaced with something far more chic. Velvet? Dupioni silk? Maybe a super cool print? So many possibilities.

Right now this diamond in the rough is sitting around my dining table with the two tufted back chairs I got in Mount Dora late last year. But I think I'll fix her up and put her elsewhere, then look for another pair of complementary chairs to complete my dining set.

Stay tuned for progress.

P.S. Have started painting my bedroom, so I'll share more when the job is complete.

Wow. What a day!

I ventured out this morning with the lovely and talented ReNew ReDo! on a quest for bargains, and we were not disappointed. I'll let her share what she wants about her own scores (I will tell you they were good), but here's what I turned up...

Item #1 – Cabinet/Buffet

We checked out a sale in a commercial building and noted several interesting items, but this is the one that came home with me. This piece is solid wood and works perfectly as a buffet in my dining room. Was contemplating whether to refinish or paint it. Will most likely reach a decision on that when I inspect it a little closer for nicks and scratches. But this baby's definitely getting some new knobs.

The price? $20. I know, right?


Item #2 – Settee

Our last stop of the day was one of my favorite haunts, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, where I got this dainty little darling of a settee all decked out in quilted black fabric — which is in pretty pristine condition, by the way. This thing is smokin' hot. The pattern of the quilting looks almost deco.

It was love at first sight for me, so I snapped it up with only a vague idea of where it might live once I got it home. I think this will actually work really well at the foot of the bed in my boudoir. This room is still a bit of a work in progress but I love how things are coming together, and the black looks so lovely with the smoky amethyst of the duvet cover.

How much, you ask? A mere $42. Done and done.

NOTE: I'd like to express my gratitude to my partner in bargain hunting for allowing me to take possession of this particular find, as I know she was quite enamored with it herself. I offered to arm wrestle her for it, but I'm glad it didn't come to that.

Item #3 – Blue and white vase

We went to a really fun yard sale, full of all sorts of intriguing bric-a-brac. I snagged this cool vase for $3. It's good sized and plays well with my decor.

I sooo love the thrill of the hunt! Happy weekend!

Antique store prowling

Some items I spied at a favorite local antique store...

Painting of a young lady, circa 1930's – $20 (I think)

Seashell plaque – $18 (I think)

Pair of wood chairs with brass details – $100 for the pair

I've never heard of a "Tong" chair (Should I have heard of this?) and all my Googling turned up zilch on the subject. Still, despite their unfortunate upholstery, I suspect these could be the deal of the century. Why, why did I not buy these on the spot? Ah yes, because I don't plan on building an extra wing onto the house anytime soon.

Ginger jar – $20

Am contemplating this as another orange accent (along with my new World Market pillow on the sofa) in the living room.

Gold and turquoise painted tray – $20

Nifty jar from a bakery in Niagara Falls, NY – $25

I already have a cookie jar (although it holds cat treats, not cookies) but am wondering how I might use this in the kitchen.

Neighborly decor

Since I seem to be in a bit of a slump for blog-worthy material lately (meh), I thought I'd share a little side project I took on. My neighbor is doing a whole lotta renovations to her house and one day we started talking about art and decor and things to do with her living/dining room. Just for fun, I came up with a sort of fantasy collection of items for her amusement, taking into account some of the furniture she already has. Here it is:


Lighting:
ALÄNG Floor lamp - IKEA, $39.99
Capiz Hanging Pendant - World Market, $69.99

Furniture:
Ikat Slipper Chair in Natural - Urban Outfitters, $325
Chrome Chinese Porcelain Stool - Overstock.com, $89.99
Smooth Suede Shorty Dining Chair Covers - Overstock.com, $19.99/2
Asian Black Wine Cabinet - Pier One, $299.98 on sale

Pillows (left to right):
'Sparks of Light' Pair of Cotton Cushion Covers - Novica.com, $20.66
Ikat Pillow in Green - Pier One, $17.21 on sale
Estrella Embroidered Pillow - Pier On, $34.95
Embroidered Paisley Pillow in Rust - Pier On, $34.95
Patchwork Cotton Ikat Pillow Cover - Fabricadabra.com, $35

Rug:
Hand-woven Dhurry Arrah (5'6 x 8') - Overstock.com, $139.99

Window Coverings:
Suzani Print Panel - World Market, $26.99 ea.
1/2 in. Slate Tortoise Bamboo Blind (72" long) - Pearl River Mart, $52.50

Accessories:
Novica.com - 'Windblown Leaf' Wood Statuette, $42.95
Decorative Glass Vase - Pier One, $35
Pair of Nickel Glass Wall Sconce Candleholders - Overstock.com, $69.99
Set of three Wrapped Mirrors - Overstock.com, $50.99
Decorative Glass Vase (left) - Pier One, $35

Paint:
Living and Dining Room main wall color - Shoji Screen, Sherwin-Williams
Fireplace color - Fenland, Sherwin-Williams
Living Room focal wall color - Lemongrass, Sherwin-Williams
Dining Room focal wall color - Sierra Redwood, Sherwin-Williams

Incidentally my own spectacular living/dining room transformations lag behind. FYI, I know I haven't posted proper floor photos yet (or even house paint photos) but I will. Really.

Homegoods Scouting

I went over to my local Homegoods to see what I could see. Here are some photos from my decor reconnaissance mission:

Black lacquer table with shapely legs – $199

If you want to personalize a bit, it would most likely look pretty-as-you please with this knob:

Anthropologie Gothic knob – $14
(Yeah, it's mother-of-pearl and although I'm not 100% sold on it I don't deny its appeal.)

Racy red lacquer chest – also $199

Methinks this one could use some different knobs too. Any of these would do nicely...

Anthropologie Pietre Garden and Flower knobs – $12

Anthropologie Toscana and Nacre Daisy knobs – $16 and $12

Anthropologie Royal Menagerie Crow, Ram, Stork and Squirrel knobs – $12
(Why not try one of each?)

Okay, moving on.

Nifty black lamps with shades that have pattern on the inside – $39.99 each

Lovely green lamps that would look pretty great in my living room – $39.99 each

This lamp on clearance sports a nifty textural pattern and a vivid turquoise shade – $32

These lanterns are HUGE and marked down – $30 each

Another shapely metal lantern on clearance – $15

Flame stitch patterned wing chair – $349
(This looked much nicer in person than in the iPhone photo.)

I like this patterned rug for a kitchen – $14.99

Not sure why it was sitting horizontally, but this gold chain link mirror is awesome – $24.99

I could easily be persuaded to buy this sunburst-y mirror and spray paint it the color of my choice – $24.99

I've had a soft spot for Poe ever since I did a term paper on him in high school. I dig this black bird figurine not only for its poetic significance but also for its slight resemblance to a certain Pigeon light I've been coveting – $12.99

Moorish pattern quilt – $39.99

Trellis pattern pillow on clearance – $7

Why, why did I not buy that pillow?

Oh and by the way. If you've ever wanted a moose sculpture that's roughly 3/4 actual moose size — and who doesn't really — you're in luck!

And for the bargain price of $249. Fantabulous.

Bone nuit

No, that's not a typo — just a really, really cheesy title. Forgive me, I'm very tired and no doubt I have no business coming up with any titles at all at this hour.

But you know something, I've been thinking. I've accumulated enough shelter photos from the Interwebs to realize I seem to like the look of inlaid bone and mother of pearl furniture and accessories. This mirror from Wisteria might be my personal favorite of the bunch:

Wisteria Inlaid Mother-of-Pearl Bird Mirror – $449

Here are a few more examples, three out of four appear via a great post on the subject by Jenny at Little Green Notebook:

via Little Green Notebook

via Little Green Notebook

via Little Green Notebook

Wisteria Inlaid Bone Floral Mirror – $429

What I don't like so much is the fact that these pieces are made from...well, bone. And mollusk shells, respectively. Which led me to ponder how I might somehow mimic the look without (a) the by-products and (b) the hefty pricetag that normally accompanies such pieces.

I'm generally not opposed to the idea of hard work in the name of craftiness, so I'm thinking of trying an experiment. I believe perhaps a similar, although not as intricate bone-like effect could be achieved through decoupage using cutouts of iridescent paper, such as the quartz color sold at Blue Dot Paper Shop — $12.99 for 50 sheets. Similar things are no doubt available by the single sheet, but at this point I'm not sure how many paper cutouts it would take to cover say, a side table. It would require patience but to put it in perspective, if you've ever done mosaic this wouldn't be nearly as messy.

I admit that hand-cutting a bazillion of those things would probably get pretty tedious, so I propose the solution of paper punches available in leaf and flowery type shapes from your local craft store. I bet you'd only need about three shapes to create a motif.


There's also pearlescent paint out there. This company sells stuff that was made for painting cars. It's a powder you can mix with paint and it's $9.99 a bag. Could be tricky to work with initially, but I'm trying to think creatively here.

So what do you think? Is this just extreme fatigue playing tricks on my brain, or is it possible that with enough effort I could make this $15 coffee table for sale on my local CraigsList...



...into something not entirely dissimilar to this?

All work and no play...

...makes Emily a dull blogger. All work and no play makes Emily a dull blogger. All work and...

Oh, hello! You've just caught me having a Jack Nicholson moment. I am finally starting to see the light at the end of a reeeeeeaaaaalllly long tunnel of freelance design frenzy, but the process has taken its toll on my well-being as well as my blogging efforts. On the plus side at least I'm gettin' paid for it, which brings me to my retail-related topic for today: IKEA.

Say what you will about their thrifty ubiquitous assemble-it-yourself merchandise. For me, IKEA is like a reassuring Swedish friend who makes me feel like anything's possible when I hang out with her — I guess I envision IKEA more as a gal pal. She encourages me to finish decorating my living room now rather than waiting for those spendy West Elm shelves go on sale or the day I can finally afford that elusive Saarinen table, and I am grateful for it.

So I was pretty darn excited when the 2010 (Sidebar: Is it just me or does next year's date still look really, really weird?) catalog came last Friday, although at present the aforementioned freelance work has prevented me from enjoying it to the fullest, i.e. curled up on the couch with a cup of tea in hand.

I'm planning a post of my top new product picks, but until then I'd like to call attention to the fact that IKEA has actually lowered last year's prices on a number of items. Pretty great of them in these uncertain economic times, don't ya think? For your consideration:

RIBBA frame – $9.99 (was $12.99)

This is my much-lauded cheap frame from previous posts — and that was before the price cut!

Left to right:
KASSETT cd box with lid – $3.99/2-pack (was $6.99)
KASSETT magazine file – $2.99/2-pack (was $5.99)
KASSETT magazine box with lid – $11.99/2-pack (was $14.99)
KASSETT media box with lid – $5.99 (was $9.99)

I've got some of the magazine files in white in my office, but I'm definitely going to go grab some more!

KARLSTAD sofa with long cover – $399 (was $499, according to the printed catalog)

Sofa gender roles be damned, I think KARLSTAD looks great in a skirt! And BTW, that's big savings folks.

And last but not least:

MALM 6-drawer chest – $129 for black-brown veneer finish (was $149)

I'm a fan of MALM's clean styling but if it's boring to you as-is, consider the nearly endless possibilities of pattern by adding wallpaper to the drawer fronts. Dig if you will:

How about using the warm floral above in an office setting along with the orange Kassett boxes!

A chair-rail height wall mural might be interesting too. The dimensions were just right on this one.

Or perhaps Malm black-brown's white counterpart, which is $10 cheaper. I thought a couple of the options below would be really cute in a little girl's room.

Do you faux bois?

So there you go! Until next time, hej då!