Merry Christmas

From our home to yours!

Light Filled Corner on a Dreary Day

This may be my favorite corner of our house at the moment. The large window is south facing, so it receives a lot of light during the day. The plants love it, and it maybe why we spent to majority of our time in this room(it wouldn't be because the TV is also located in this room).
Just recently I set out to tackle a little project that I had had on my list for quite some time.
Years ago I had dragged home a simple Mid Century dresser from a neighborhood alley, and even though the dresser wasn't in the best shape, it easily served its purpose.
So, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago I found a matching dresser from the same simple line of the first found piece, and even though it wasn't free, I paid $10, and felt like I still got a deal.
Now I was the proud owner of 2 simple dressers, with great lines, in rough shape.
This is what sent the wheels into motion on making these pieces more pleasing to the eye.

Dresser Drawers

It was a quick project, more prep work than anything else. Like I stated before, these pieces were far from perfect. I glued and clamped any loose veneer and even filled and sanded chunks of missing veneer.

If you are one of those types that cringes at the sight of paint vintage furniture(I myself can sometimes be that person) these dressers were never high end and one was even destined for a landfill.

I just used two cans of high gloss white spray paint to hide much of the damage these pieces had received in the last 50 years.

I also spent time with a bottle of restore-a-finish, steel wool, and wax-n-feed. This made the walnut cases look better, and what the before mentioned products didn't take care of, I also got at it a little with a wax furniture pencil.

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Yes, we do have a TV that we do watch, and it is big and ugly and requires cords and boxes and what not

Toy storage

If you live in a smaller home or older one with little closet space, you know how very important storage space is. This was a very inexpensive solution to house and hide those things that are needed but are not the prettiest to look at.

A Few New Things....

I recently got a "new to me" laptop, and am really yet to learn the ins and outs. We have always had PCs before and I decided that I wanted a mac to be able to easily sink up to my Iphone. I am trying to figure this new computer out and trying to figure out the best way to deal with all of my photos and blogging.
So, while exploring Picasa and my photo backlog, I scanned pass this photo and had to stop, and thought, wow, I really like that living room. This is our living room, a few months ago, and it no longer looks like this.
Funny, nothing was wrong with the room in this photo, but I crave change so much that often I change things just for the sake of change.
Another thing in my life that is new other than my computer, is that I am also posting over at Mr. Modtomic's blog.  I'm posting about the Feminine aspects of modern design, and most of which just is photos of things in my home that help balance the 3 males to 1 female in our household. All of the testosterone can quickly take over if there isn't a constant balance.

Homecrest Updated

Before

 Last year at a garage sale I picked up a pair of vintage Homecrest patio chairs with ottomans. They didn't come with cushions, like most of the old patio furniture, it sat out in the weather and rotted. We used these pieces as is on our deck with just a couple of new cushions thrown on the seats. I wasn't loving the look, and with the armrests also MIA, these pieces finally got stored in the garage.
I recently decided they needed a face lift, and set to work.
After both pieces were thoroughly cleaned, I sprayed both bases with paint plus primer in a flat black.

 I then took the time to carefully tape off the dry, newly painted bases, so I could begin painting the body of the chair, primer first, then gloss white.

 After the chair had dried, I attached a salvaged pair of wood arms( they came from a alley find that was too far gone, the arms were the only thing that could be saved) I used some wax-N-feed on the wood with some extra fine steel wool, to remove some of the marks from the wood arms. Then just attached the arms with new screws.

After

 I was also lucky enough to pick up a pair of vintage sheep skins from the Goodwill Outlet, which ran me about $4!
So, that Is my updated Homecrest patio chair. I happy with the end results, the sheep skin makes this little rocking/bouncy chair quite comfy.

I now still have the other half of the pair to work on, I am just waiting to find another great pair of wooden arms, in need of a new body!

A Table with Potential

Laminate coffee table

I found this coffee table at the thrift store this week and loved the lines of it, but wasn't impressed with the laminate top. The thrift store was have a 50% off cash and carry furniture sale, so I decided to spend the $15 and try to work some magic.

I had a coupon for 50% off at Joanns fabric, and even though they don't carry the highest grade foam, I was able to get 56'' of 24'' wide, 2'' foam for $25. I also purchased a nice think batting that was already on sale, so about $5 went into that.

Little helper

Also on the materials list was this nice gray wool army blanket that was thrifted from savers, for $5. This is the only picture I snapped of the blanket before it was put into use. This also explains why I have a hard time getting any projects done lately. There is always someone wanting to "help", and believe it or not, it always makes the project harder.
When using vintage material for a project it is always important to thoroughly examine the fabric. Wool army blanket are great for re purposing, but make sure there are no moth holes. The blanket I found was in amazing shape, no holes, no stains.

It was pretty easy after that. I just detached the laminate top, cut the foam to size using an electric knife, wrapped the foam with my batting and used a staple gun to attach. I then cut the wool blanket to size and then placed it on the foam and batting upside down, pinned the corners and the used my sewing machine to sew the corners that I had pinned.

Once the sewing was done, I flipped it right side out, stretched it back over the foam and stapled it in place.

There you go. A table with potential. In all this project cost about $55 to complete, and that is including the cost of the table. It was a easy project, that anyone could complete. It gave new life to this piece of furniture that had an undesirable laminate top, but beautiful Pearsall-esque walnut legs.

A few things to spice up the kitchen

Our kitchen has gotten a few new additions rounded up from the thrifts.

"Blow Up'' bowl

This great "Blow Up'' bowl designed by Alessi was found NWT, and when I decided to keep it, I snipped the tags and it has a permanent spot in the center of our kitchen table.

Eric Magnussen Vacuum Jug

I also scored a pair of Stelton vacuun jugs designed by Eric Magnussen and made in Denmark. This designed was first introduced in 1977 and was awarded the ID-prize by the Danish Society of industrial design.

Vintage Heath Ceramics covered Casserole dishes

This pair of large covered Heath Ceramics casserole dishes were a bit of a surprise. I found one on a shelf at the Goodwill, exicted with my lucky find, I turned to corner to find a second matching one! I believe this is the largest size that was made and I've grown quite attached to the pair

Digsmed cutting board



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And last but not least, I found this huge 27'' Digsmed cutting board over the weekend at a church rummage sale, for the bargin price of 75 cents! It's missing a magnet and most likely came with a knife, but I can't seem to find a picture of one with a knife online.
So, a few new things to spice up the kitchen.( I thought I would slide this post in, without making mention of not blogging for two months)
Has anyone else being finding things in themes lately?

A Pillow Collection Obsession

I'm not sure how or why it started, but now I can't stop. You'll find me digging through those piles of dingy old pillows at all of the local thrift stores just so that I can add to my collection.
These shaggy pillows are vintage, 100% cotton, made in India and a  woven addiction. The patterns are all different , the sizes vary, and there is even a blanket thrown in for good measure.

They give our house that much needed opium-den vibe, something that every middle class family of 4 should be after.
This last photo shows a couple of new additions to what is now looking like a living room with a girl decorating it. I'm not a big pink girl myself, but when the woven pink and gray pillow was found at a thrift store while digging through the before mentioned pile o' pillows, I couldn't leave it behind.

So, this little pillow moving around the living room, being the only pink in the house. Until one day I walked into a thrift store and the large pink art piece called to me. I spotted it as soon as I walked through the door and its like I couldn't get to the back of the store fast enough to throw it in my cart.

I'm not sure if its made of heavy paper or metal, its framed behind glass in a white wooden frame and then set on top of a beige matte within a ever so classy gold fame. At first the gold frame really bother me, but now I feel if I changed it, the piece would loose some of its 1980s appeal.

And last but not least this huge chunk of rock is Halite, formed from sea salt from what I understand, and came to live with us by way of Craigslists' free section. I think it was the final piece needed to give our living room that sort of bohemian vibe it has going for it at the moment.

Table Scape

I was inspired to create a " table scape" this morning since I picked up some new to me vintage cloth napkins. We have two sets of dishes that are in constant use, one set of brown drip glaze and a set of turquoise melamine.
The air plant terrarium was picked up recently at a thrift store as was the glass Luminarc decanter with the wooden stopper, shown in the first photo. The bright acid green and matte black bowl in by Krenit and really makes the green of the napkins pop.
It was fun setting this up since right now the table top has to be completely empty or our toddler pulls everything down.

One of the missing pieces...



Vintage Nessen Lamp Shades



This pair of vintage lamp shades were thrifted a couple of months ago, and I recognized them as what I believe to be Walter Von Nessen shades. They were made to sit on top of a glass diffuser instead of sitting on top of a harp and using a finial. I searched all over the thrift storing thinking I would find the missing lamps, and with no luck I decided to still bring them home. It gives me a reason to thrift in a way. When you have something to look for, its a great excuse to scour the thrifts, instead of admitting that I'm going out to blow money on things I don't really need.

So the search was on.

I found this guy out at a thrift store that I usually don't frequent. It is a Nessen lamp, but is really no help to me. It requires a different style of shade that unfortunately I don't have just laying around. The brass is a little too shiny for my taste, but I thought I could possibly sell this one and switch it out for a style I could use, since then it's been sitting in my basement.

The search continues.

I then stopped at the thrift store closest to me, that I probably spend the most time at and found exactly the Nessen lamp I had been looking for.(kind of)

Here is a Walter Von Nessen swing arm lamp with a glass diffuser missing a beautiful linen shade. It is brass, but has a great patina, not the shiny brass of the floor lamp.



Perfect Fit



View From Above

Now I don't want to sound like a complainer, I think this lamp is gorgeous just the way it is. I am happy to return these two lost souls together and I am a step closer to my goal. But this lamp is now somewhat lonely without being part of a matched pair. The first Nessen lamp I found is brushed nickle (?) and has more of a drum shade, not quite so tapered.

The First Nessen Lamp To Come Live With Me

And to be honest I like the brushed nickle lamp a little bit more that the brass lamps. But I believe that at some point I will run into another swing arm lamp with a glass diffuser in need of a shade, especially since this style of lamp only has the shade sitting on top and not attached. I'm sure it's quite common for these to get separated.
And that my friends is only one reason I drag myself to the thrift store day after day, in hopes of finding the other missing piece.