secondhand

These things find me...

2011-07-12T17:02:00.003-05:00

I had to pull a quick u-turn as soon as I saw this guy sitting next to the curb, on my street. I caught just a glimpse out of the corner of my eye, but sometimes I believe I have a trained eye when it comes to finding treasures in the trash. There are plenty of times when I turn around to find that it really , truly , is only trash. But, I've also had plenty of finds that are trash to one person and a treasure to me.

In this case, I grabbed this clock of the curb, and knew It had found a good home. There is one spindle broken, and the hands and face need some love, but with the amount this clock is worth, I am going to get him to the clock doctor asap.

What my life looks like at 30...

2011-07-07T07:54:00.003-05:00

I just celebrated my 30th birthday, and I always felt that by the time you turn thirty you need to have things figured out, and life underway. As I approached my birthday I felt like maybe I wasn't where I needed to be at this milestone. Maybe I should have more of a path cleared.

I turned 30 on the 5th of July, and now that it is here, I am exactly where I need to be at this point of my life. I have a wonderful, supportive husband, a beautiful 4 year old son, and another on the way. There is nothing else I could be doing at this point in my life that would be more rewarding than what I'm doing right now.

New Rocker

2011-02-23T11:10:00.003-06:00

My Valentine gave me a new rocker base on the 14th. It was very simple to remove the old base and attach the new one. I know these are seen everywhere, but its been a wish for a long time to own one. This shell chair is the one I bought out of someones backyard, for $25, before it slowly rotted away in the elements.

West German Pottery

2011-02-15T10:07:00.002-06:00

I have started a small collection of West German pottery. I prefer the more subdued colors, rather than the bright ones. I have not invested much time or money into this collection. All of the pieces were under $5 a piece, and were not sought out, but stumbled upon. I love the texture of the lava glaze, which are the two light colored pieces on the left.

Morrocan rug

2011-02-13T17:49:00.003-06:00

The last two pictures here are of a new rug that I got off of c-list. I actually ended up buying two, after I brought home the first one and loved it so much. One is 13'x7.5' and one is 11'x6'. They are antique and made from goat leather and river reed. They both have such great character to them and great texture. They were listed for quite some time and the price slowly continued to drop. Finally at $40 each I couldn't pass them up. The pictures that were on the listing didn't do the rugs justice, and I have to say i hadn't ever seen this type of rug before to compare them to.

Once I brought the rugs home and got them into place, I started noticing them all over. The first three pictures are from Roman and Williams, but I just noticed this rug in an old Domino, and in a Living Etc.
I will try to post a picture of the other rug in our entry way, it has a different design.

New Flatware

2011-02-13T17:34:00.004-06:00

This is our new set of silverware. We always end up missing pieces, ending up with 3 knifes, or 2 spoons.

This weekend we went to a huge indoor garage sale and brought home this set 62 piece set. It goes well with the dishes we use, which are a vintage brown drip glaze.

Bathroom redo, for the cost of paint

2011-01-28T17:34:00.008-06:00

I have been wanting to redo the bathroom for quite sometime.

Our shower surround is some kind of laminate, and it has been that way since we moved in. I would love to tile it, but I'm afraid to start a project like that, with only having one bathroom and no experience tiling.

I had been putting off doing any thing to the bathroom since I couldn't do it the way I wanted to.

I had finally had enough, and decided that I wanted to like the way our bathroom looked.

I bought paint at home depot, the paint-plus-primer, and that was it. Everything else used to redo the bathroom we already had.

I started with a light gray, and painted the walls, ceiling, and trim the same color. I then took both light fixtures down, and replaced then with a nice pan light I already had in the garage, and used a simple vintage porcelain socket for between the medicine cabinet and mirror. I paint both with primer and flat black spray paint. I then used 2 large round white bulbs, for both fixtures.

The medicine cabinet was found in an alley, and it was primed and painted flat black. It was found without hinges, so we used two left over hinges from our kitchen switch. My husband then hung the cabinet on the wall , next to the mirror, that I also replaced. The mirror the husband has had for a long time, and had never really found a place.

For the hand towels, I used a hook that I also had laying around, and attached it to the wall, by the sink. I found an old gray cotton cafe curtain with my fabrics, and decided to cut it in half, and hem it to make the two new hand towels. I also switched out the handle and the cabinet under the sink with a simpler handle, also left over fro the kitchen.

I had been trying to come up with a way to hide the shower, and decided a floor to ceiling, wall to wall curtain would do the trick. I had the tapestry with my fabrics also, and it was almost the only piece that was large enough. My husband then used piping as a curtain rod, and an extra piece for the toilet paper holder/curtain tieback.

The rug is also something that I already had, just a cotton saddle blanket. We may do one more long pipe for a towel bar for our bath towels, but for now there is a hook on the back of the door for those towels.

I am very happy with how the bathroom turned out, and you can't beat it for the expense. It only took a couple of days of work, and now I wished I would have done it sooner.(and that all the other rooms would only take that long to paint)

Your thoughts please...

2011-01-17T15:06:00.004-06:00

I know the upholstery choice is awful, and it is not original. But, if you look past that, aren't the bones beautiful? This sofa at one point was webbed, and most likely when the webbing started to go they replaced it with plywood. I was not able to find any sort of makers mark on this, but I believe it is designer. I love the way the top of the backrest, widens and curves slightly in.

I'm torn.

Does anyone know anything more about this sofa? Can you see past the awful fabric? Or am I just looking too hard, and this is nothing more than thrift junk?

Danish modern lamps

2011-01-16T09:19:00.005-06:00

We picked up these Danish lamps yesterday at the salvation army. I thought the pricing was a little high, marked $9.99 a piece, but the current sale was 50% off electronics, so a deal was had at about $5 each. They have modern fittings and cords, and I believe that they are dated '92. They are very similar in design, yet the differences let me know they are handmade. Both lamps are signed, and still have stickers in tact that read, Made in Denmark. I can't find anything on the web about the artist, but I'm sure its because I'm not sure of the signature. If anyone can steer me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

( I don't want to sound cheap when I say the price was a little high, and if these were at a dealers, they would have been a lot higher. I believe as thrifting is becoming more popular, the thrift stores are hiking up their prices, and most don't know the difference between the lamps I bought and lamps from Target.)

* I am also still trying to work on my photography, if you have any suggestions i would love to hear them, try to think of these pics as product shots. I'm trying to still go for something a little more interesting, not just a bright light and a black velvet backdrop.

Little bits...

2011-01-06T21:18:00.005-06:00

Just a little bit of what's going on in my life and in St. Louis at the moment.

(*sorry about the fuzzy photo.

** the couple of pics in there were taken New Years day after the tornado, I feel awful for everyone that was effected by the tornado in and around St. Louis.)

Faux Go

2010-12-28T19:04:00.004-06:00

At the Goodwill in south county, I have always loved this sofa. I would love a nice chocolate brown leather 3-seater. Where you don't have to do any of the breaking in, where parts of it, like the headrest are so deep and dark in color, that you know its had years of love.

I at one other time have come across a Faux Go, at an estate sale, in a off white leather, priced at $250, but it was a much larger sofa than the one shown.

This sofa got my attention, but once I started to look it over, I just felt cheap. $50. Not a bad price, but some things you pay more for to get the quality you were expecting. This sad, dirty sofa only made me feel the same as it looked.

Rearranging

2010-12-26T21:13:00.004-06:00

I like to rearrange the furniture. Tossing the tree frees up space, and gets me thinking about moving stuff around.

When we went to replace the laptops that were stolen we decided to go with a refurbished desktop instead. So, that meant finding a desk. I love when we need a piece of furniture, because normally, I just shop in our basement or garage. But, I have been trying to sell more and hold onto less, and that had left us without a desk. When we were passing through Rolla MO, we stopped at the Salvation Army and found a great old tanker desk for $20, fitting it in the car proved to be quite a task. My determined husband made it fit, and we've been happy with purchase ever since. We were using a cool Goodform clerical chair, but it didn't prove to be the long term comfort I was looking for.

Christmas day, at my parents I noticed a new-to-them black leather executive chair and immediately began to question where it came from, and why I hadn't seen it before. I'm not even sure that my mom offered it to me, but we brought it home that day. (the last thing my husband wanted to do that day was move more furniture) but you have to strike while the iron is hot, or before your parents decide they don't want you rolling their new chair out the the front door.

These pictures were taken this afternoon with my new Christmas tripod, still trying to figure out the best way to shoot interior photos.

2010-12-26T13:07:00.002-06:00

The tree is down. The only sign that Christmas was ever here is the pile of toys in our living room.The first picture is all of the needles that were left after the tree was taken out of the house. When I was sweeping I noticed a little collection of ornaments under our fireplace that the kitten had been hoarding, and a small ball of tape.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Christmas at my house

2010-12-23T10:48:00.004-06:00

We've had our tree up now for a couple of weeks and is it bad to say I'm ready to take it down? The first couple of days its so nice to have a beautiful glowing tree to get you in the Christmas spirit, and then slowly, the tree starts to lose needles everywhere, the lights start to sag a little, the playful new kitten has removed all of the ornaments from the bottom of the tree, the skirt has already been put away since the kitten likes to move it around the house.

I will keep the tree up until the big day, but after that all bets are off. Last year our tree went out the day after Christmas.

But anyway, I took these pics the day it was decorated, and the newest addition to the tree this year are the vintage birds. Cardinals and doves. My great Aunt let me bring home some of her ornaments since she is unable to put a tree up any more, and as soon as I saw the birds I knew they would be happy at my place.

Growing up our tree topper was a white dove, wings spread. The funny thing about our childhood white dove was that, when we moved to St. Louis and were able to get a tall beautiful tree, we weren't really able to reach the top of the tree to gently place the dove in its highest resting spot. So every year we would take different approaches to get him up there, we would just throw him up there and hope that he would hold on for dear life, we would use a yard stick to try to gently coax him to the top. We would try to take the youngest member of the family and hold him up, and hope he could reach the top. After all of these attempts over the years, that poor dove became a little worse for the wear, and eventually lost a beak. So, instead of retiring that bird, my creative mom took a dried navy bean and put it where a beak use to be, and we lived with that bird for quite some time. I don't believe that dove is still around, but when I spotted the birds at my Aunts house, it brought all of those memories back, and now we have doves on our tree.

Thrift Scores

2010-12-11T16:35:00.002-06:00

Here are a few things that have been brought home lately. Some are staying and some are already on their way out.

The first photo is of a industrial swivel arm wall mount work light I purchased at an estate sale today. Its beautiful, and if it were easier to mount things to our plaster walls, and get them to stay, I would mount this at our bed side opposite the other one I just sold on ebay. But since hanging anything more that a picture on our walls makes huge holes that no anchor will stay put, this cutie is already listed on ebay awaiting a new home.

The next photo is of a huge beautiful rug I found at a thrift store, a little on the expensive side, so I waited until customer appreciation day, and then the extra 25% off really helped. Its has made the couch extra cosy.

The picture after that is of a partially done hooked rug, that now hangs on my kitchen wall. I first spotted in an estate sale photo, and thought it was an abstract photo. Once I arrived to the sale I found that is was actually a work in progress, started quite a few years ago, and was still on the stretcher/stand used to make rugs. All I wanted was the rug itself, so at $45, I had to pass, since that price was mostly for the stand. Two weeks later, they reopened the sale one last time, and when I dropped by I was able to bring it all home for $10. I took it off the stand, and Baby J helped be drive some upholstery tacks through it and stretch it over a wooden canvas stretcher.
The next photo is from a couple different thrift stores, a couple of nice big teak square plates, Two turned walnut bowls, and a beautiful , HEAVY, pair of brass candle sticks. The antlers I've had for awhile, borrowed from my parents home.

And last, but not least this sweet little dala horse napkin holder, marked, made by Nils Olsson. This little guy is also listed on ebay, waiting to be centerpiece of someones Christmas dinner table.
So just when I start thinking there are no good deals left at the thrift stores or estate sales, all of these beautiful things were found.

Mew is new...

2010-12-09T17:51:00.003-06:00

Mew is our newest addition. We went to a Christmas expo, and left with a kitten. We must have had "sucker" written on our foreheads. But she is the coolest kitten and everyone is in love with her(with an exception of the dogs). Baby J carries her around the house all day and she doesn't seem to mind!

Christmas comes early...

2010-11-30T16:33:00.003-06:00

Over the weekend I was asked about a Christmas list, and I have to say It's usually pretty easy for me to come up with ideas of what someone can buy me on a moments notice. One of the things I've been looking for secondhand and coming up empty handed is a photo light.

I've been kind of working in the basement to have a small space to photograph items for craigslist or ebay, and of coarse the lighting in the basement is awful. So the first thing on my wish list was a tripod, but the second thing was a light. I've tried clamp lights galore and a three bulb overhead, but still I was lacking in the lighting department.

So, when discussing my wish list, my father-in-law jumps up goes outside and comes back in moments later with a cute little metal carrying case with a vintage photo light. I think my mother-in-law was maybe trying to signal him to wait and possibly wrap it and gift it for Christmas, Thankfully he was oblivious to her signals, and he plugged in a burn your retains, metal bar with 4 of the brights lights I've ever seen.

I just started messing around with the light today, and here are a few shots I took in a totally dark room with just the light bar and no flash or tripod.

I am so happy that Christmas came early, I have such a hard time waiting for things.

Camera exercise #2....

2010-11-28T22:41:00.003-06:00

These were all taken today, in low light with no flash or tripod. I asked Santa for a tripod, so we'll see if I've been good or not. I think a tripod will bring a little more clarity to my interior shots,but so far I've been very happy with the results.

Camera exercise....

2010-11-28T17:39:00.004-06:00

Someone got to do a little Black Friday camera shopping and for security reasons I'm not telling who.

But here are a few snaps of what our house would look like if someone was trying to get use to a new camera.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and we all found plenty of things to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T13:37:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone has a wonder Thanksgiving!
This image was borrowed from The Westchester magazine.

It might be quite around here for a while...

2010-11-23T20:49:00.002-06:00

I will not be able to post and haven't been able to post on the blog due to my home being burglarized recently. This being more of a home and decorating type of blog, I assume that just about everyone that reads this loves their home as much I do.
We came home from a little thrifting afternoon out, to find our world upside down. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon, and my husband was unable to push our front door open, when he finally did, he noticed one of our chairs had been lodged up against it. The fridge door was wide open and the house was destroyed. From examination at the front door, we thought that there were two dogs about to be in big trouble.
My husband took one more step into the house, and found our TVs and his guitars laying in the kitchen floor. And then he turned to me and said we'd be robbed. We ran to the neighbors and then dialed 911 from my cell. The arrived in what seemed like 30 seconds, 6 cop cars, not even taking the time to park, police jumped out and pulled guns and began to walk around the house. We didn't even think about the fact that we may have just walked in on them.
To shorten up the story some, after a couple of hours, when me and my son were aloud back into the house, I felt so sad and then so mad. This has been going on since the burglary.
I wanted to start cleaning right away, and remove every reminder of the awful incident, from my home, but I just couldn't believe the mess. It was mostly food that they cleared from the fridge and pantry, to throw out for our dogs. And If you weren't aware we have a 95lb. Pit Bull and a chihuahua with a pretty big bark. We believe they pulled a drape from the basement to throw over the dogs until they could empty the fridge out on my cowhide rug for them.(orange juice? really? you took the time to empty a gallon of orange juice out on the floor so that after the dogs ate the 5lbs of leftover pasta con broccoli and three bags of cereal and the cheese and salsa you also through out for them, if they got thirsty they could just lick up the puddle of juice?) Anyway, back to the point, I went for my camera, to capture the mess that was my house, and of course my camera was stolen. Our computers, gone. At this point I really don't have much to update the blog with, besides this story. All of my photos are gone, personal and blog inspiration.
So, it might be awhile, before blog post resume. I will try to stay caught up on others'blogs, and maybe a little c-list here and there. But for now I will be a little disconnected, until we can pick up the pieces.

If anyone ever asks I always say,"Go neutral."

2010-11-02T22:53:00.005-05:00

I am a firm believer in keeping your large pieces neutral. Your couches, chairs, window treatments, and rugs, will be staples and everything else can be switched out easily and inexpensively.

Then I brought home a very long purple couch. I thought well, I can make it work, purple can be a neutral(?) Its a solid, I've got that going for me.

I've carved out a space in my home and have embraced the purple couch, and we will see if it withstands the test of time.

So, I thought I was done with the stand-out furniture pieces.Every other large piece in my house is either black, gray, brown, white or cream(a little army green). I try to stick to my own rules. Whenever I get or see a new/old piece of furniture I always immediately try to picture it in a beautiful gray, of any shade, but gray is always the way I picture things, trying to decide if the shape is still something I'm in love with.

They say rules are made to be broken.

The first photo is taken from Style by Emily Henderson, and the neutral backdrop with the floral is still simply beautiful. I'm not sure of where the next photo was pulled from, but the graphic wallpaper in such an acid color is really a statement,(not sure how long I would be able to live with such a statement,but that's why I always say neutral.) The third photo is from Sfgirlbybay,Victoria Smith's new home. Her new dining room is all neutral with a floral pop from the cushions on her pedestal chairs. The forth photo is from Simplygrove, a new floral chair amongst her neutral. Last but not least is the new vintage set that I brought home from a appointment only estate sale.

Sweet little set made by Selig, a mister and misses chair and ottoman. I couldn't resist. I fell in love with the shape and the color and pattern.

I've crowded them into my family room at this point, I may have to separate the pair into different parts of the house, but for now they are living side by side in a sea of neutral.

(*by the way the new purple couch was just used in a photoshoot with my vintage Arco style lamp, hopefully I will have pictures soon to share)

Purple...

2010-10-27T21:48:00.003-05:00

Still thinking about my purple sofa.

Sick in bed...

2010-10-25T15:17:00.005-05:00

At least there is a good view.

The bedroom is still not quite finished, but is it ever really finished? The last photo is of the new huge painting we got in Belleville, the colors go great in our bedroom and great with the rug I just moved up there.

A little bit o' Belleville

2010-10-24T20:17:00.003-05:00

Being a business owner, my husband works a pretty crazy schedule. The bad side can be late nights, late mornings. The good side of it, is that with his crazy schedule, most people work a 9-5, and can't go thrifting on a beautiful Friday, Autumn afternoon. But we can.

The first and last photo are of a sofa that we found and left at the salvation army in Belleville.
We found this beautiful velvet purple sofa at our first stop of the day, and its hard to pack your car full knowing that there are many more shops to come. I stated my love and then turned a cold shoulder after asking a worker when the mark downs were taken. I thought maybe working a deal would convince my better half that we were walking away from a beautiful deal.(my husband pretended not to notice that whole conversion, and I know that main stream thrift store don't make deals, but I also know that those same places do mark downs at a certain point, and not always on time.) We walked away.

The next stop was one not on our agenda, and proved to be one of the best stops of all. Not due to them handing out bucket loads of cash at the door, but the good/fair prices and the wonderful employees.

We purchased a huge 4'x4' original painting, and when they found we were interested in this huge painting they took us upstairs and let us sift through a whole lot of his work, and said since we appreciated his work we could have them for 2 bucks a piece.

Those are the two pieces that I poorly photographed.

The next photo, is the beautiful art neuvo bowl we found at this little place that was marketed as a thrift store, but upon entrance was more of a secondhand bad furniture type store. The first thing upon entrance was a HUGE black panther coffee table with a glass top, marked "sold". I knew there wasn't going to be much there to interest me, but with there only being the owner working I hate to turn around at the door.

I spotted a beautiful bowl, grabbed it, noticed it was priced $15 and the owner said, I'll do $7.

That's all I wanted, grabbed it, said thanks and goodbye.(Baby J doesn't do well at those kinds of places, resale with toys in sight are always the best bet.

I did a little google search and found my new bowl made in Germany, produced in 1929, was listed on an auction site, estimated cost being 400-600 dollars. Not bad.

And last but not least, the beautiful mid century purple velvet sofa, that made my heart hurt. We left it where we found it, and I tried to get my mind off of it.

My Husband went to work early the next morning, to come home with the most beautiful surprise. The couch cost nothing compared to new sofas, but the fact that he knows me well enough to know, the a new purple sofa will give him an uninterrupted evening of football viewing!

(I'm not sure what happened to the last half of my type, sorry.)

Girly retro chair...

2010-10-19T16:53:00.006-05:00

A new chair that I've been working on. I have started a lot of projects lately and not many of them have been finished for different reasons. It really wasn't bothering me and I knew that i would get a chance to work on them again soon.

Then last night as I lay in bed watching "Hoarders" one of the hoarders in question said that his hoarding started with projects that he brought home and wasn't able to find the time to finish. He now was trying to sort out his life on a TV show in front of everyone watching. His family was sad and effected, the city had already fined him for the mess that was his yard.

Well, after the show was over I sat up in bed and made a little "to do "list. This made me feel a little bit better, but I knew that I was going to have to spring into action.

So, today nothing on my list has been done, but I did finish this little chair project that had been sitting in my entry way for about a week.

Last week on my alley rounds (not looking for projects, but looking for something to help finish a project) I found 3, yes 3 great chairs in need of a home. What was I to do? Leave them there awaiting large trash removal day. Or work the jigsaw puzzle it was to try to cram 3 large chairs into our car knowing the car seat had to stay.(I really wasn't thinking about leaving my son in that alley, I'll leave his bike 4 hours away to haul furniture home, but never would I leave my little helper!) Well, they all fit. One in the back, one next to the car seat and one next to me in the front seat.

So, back to the part about me not ever wanting to be on a TV show about hoarding, I finished a quick makeover on this great chair. In its previous life it served as a scratching post for some lucky kitty, and the was some paint splattered on the back of the legs. I started by taking a bark cloth panel and cutting three sections and then sewing two seams to go right about where the legs are in the front. I then used my cardboard strips and upholstery tacks to tack the fabric around the front of the chair. This was previously done this way but with just the same fabric. I then stapled the fabric underneath the chair and used whatever they call that stuff that is used to finish the underneath of furniture.

Then with some help from my sidekick, we used goo-be-gone and extra fine steel wool and were able to remove all of the paint from the legs. After a good cleaning was done to the whole chair, I listed that pretty little thing on craigslist.

And there you go, no hoarders here!

vacation pictures

2010-10-12T18:58:00.004-05:00

So really only one picture was taken on vacation and that is of me butchering a crappie. The rest of the photos are of the great finds while on vacation. The first picture is of some sort of 70's woven art thing, that I love, for $1. The white clam shell chair was a find of my husbands that he easily talked them down from $5 to $4. Maybe one of his best finds yet. The last picture is of a Preway fireplace that we found for $65 and then told the man that the only way I could talk my husband into loading up the fireplace is if the price was more around $40. So, $45 later we no longer hand room to bring everything back home.(we left baby J's bike at mom and dad's!) There were lots of other things that made their way home with us, smaller things and for another day.

Vostra

2010-10-05T19:36:00.004-05:00

So here is a little story about a girl who loves to find things in alleys. I picked up a couple of chairs awhile back in an alley not far from here, one was in pretty good condition and the other looked as if a cat had been living onto for about 50 years. The one that was in good shape was sold pretty quickly since the white upholstery doesn't mesh well with a three year old and his chocolate milk lovin' ways. The other was placed in the basement of doom, to be reupholstered when I finished the 32 other upholstery projects I have going.

Today being a beautiful day, I decided I was going to tear the chair apart and rid it of the smell of all of the cats that have loved in so much in the passed.

The shape of the chair was a dead ringer for a Jens Risom Knoll webbed lounge chair, and by now I hope you know how I LOVE webbed vintage furniture. So I peeled the red crushed velvet back that had been so loosely stapled on, to find the sides of the chair also served those cats as a scratching post. No biggie, I was going to web that bitch anyway. Mind you I already looked for a makers mark and came up with nothing, I took out my utility knife and began to cuts those years right off that chair. The buttons went first, then the scratched and stinky upholstery. I tore through the blue composit batting, pulled all of the horse hair roping and burlap. I started pulling tacks, and so noticing how beautiful the wood was from the structure of the chair, and for those of you that don't go pulling furniture apart I will let you know that the wood inside isn't ever as nice as the legs and exposed parts. I was so happy that my little faux knoll chair was already working in my favor, then when I flipped the chair again I spotted what I thought was,"voltra". A quick google search turned up nothing, and I had never seen an upholstered Jens Risom chair of this shape. I then thought that maybe the "L" was a "S'' and quickly with my google search my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.

For quickly I found that in Germany the chair was produced by Walter knoll under the name "Vostra" during the 40s and 50s, being designed by Jens Risom. The exact frame was used for the webbed chair as was for the upholstered chair.There it was, what am I to do? If I chose to continue with my plan would that destroy what the chair was, but since its the same frame are they inter-changeable? At this point I have left the springs intact, do I go ahead and reupholster? Do I list it on ebay in its current state knowing that we really shouldn't have nice things in our house with a child and two dogs? I'm so mixed at this point, i don't want to devalue the chair by completely changing it's original state. Please if you have any suggestions I'm all ears.

Rude Osolnik

2010-09-17T18:10:00.003-05:00

This is another thrift score from our outing on Monday. I picked them up at this little shop on the North side, we had never been there before, and not really sure if its worth going back to. This is the first thing that caught my eye as soon as we walked in I grabbed them, saw that they were hand signed on the back, the price was $3, and the wood grain was beautiful.

I kind of forgot about them, and when going through our bags when we got home I did a little google search, and it didn't take long to find that Rude Osolnik is considered "The Master" wood turner of North America. He has permanent exhibits at many museums. He died in 2001, I believe and he is most well known for his turned wood bowls and vases.

So, If you would like to own a pair of your own please feel free to bid on mine on ebay!

Free Range

2010-09-15T08:38:00.002-05:00

Our chickens, Lola, Cecilia, Rita and Prudence enjoying their morning on the outside.

salad servers and wooden scoop

2010-09-14T16:48:00.002-05:00

The wooden scoop came from an estate sale last week and the salad servers I thrifted today. Marked made in Denmark, 50 cents.

slow and steady wins the race

2010-09-14T16:34:00.002-05:00

Just a little update.

(You can also see the new gray trim of my bedroom.)

finished ottoman and chair guts

2010-09-13T09:51:00.004-05:00

Two posts in one day! Crazy. The first photo is of the ottoman I reupholstered, of course I didn't think to take a picture until I had already unpeeled the layers. But, this poor ottoman had seen some things. At some point they straps/webbing had given out. The previous owners had wedged a metal rod underneath to support the piece of wood they were using to replace webbing. The original foam had dry-rotted, so to keep the ottoman in use they then placed a thin piece of foam on top and used another piece of fabric to cover and used a combination of nails and thumb tacks to secure.

I had already wiped the wood legs down with danish oil, and then after the layers were removed I used jute webbing in a basket weave pattern attached with a staple gun. I then used 3'' foam and a nice layer of batting to bring back the cush. For you that haven't had to buy new foam you may not know how expensive it really is. The foam I used from Joanne's fabric is 24'' wide and cost $49.99 a yard. My ottoman is 24'' by 21'', so this means that the one cut they give you at the fabric store was perfect for my project, I just bought exactly 21''. So, a little over half a yard and I had a 50% off coupon, I got my new foam for about $13. Good deal.

I then just put the felt on upside down pinned my corners, stitched with my sewing machine, stapled in place, used upholstery nails on the corners to insure no shifting. I covered 4 matching buttons, used a large upholstery needle to pull them through, tied them underneath with some scrap felt in the knot so they won't pull through. That's it, pretty easy project.
The last picture is of the matching chair that I started to take apart last night. There is one more chair that goes with this set, it has a lower back, and is considered the Mrs. chair. They all belong to the same set as the couch I just finished. I know it doesn't seem too imaginative to be using gray felt again, but I change and move my house around so much that I've found to stand the test of time, neutral is they way to go. Everything else can change around your major pieces without ever having to change your furniture.

bedroom inspiration

2010-09-13T08:30:00.004-05:00

I am still slowly tinkering around at transforming our master bedroom from a kids playroom back to where adults sleep.

The first photo I believe is from AT, and I loved the trim color around the windows. I wish we had some exposed brick, but that can be a later project.
The second photo came from the brick house archives, and I believe she used it as inspiration for her DIY handles on her bookcases. We have two crawlspace doors in our bedroom that I want to make a pair of these handles for, and stain walnut.
The third picture is a window treatment that I have been looking for, for a couple of weeks now. I have seen it many places, but when you start to look for the picture it can't be found. I finally found the picture via Doorsixteen. I'm thinking unbleached and gauzy, but with two hooks on either corner of my windows and may be just two grommets on either corner of window panel.
The last photo is from D16 also, and I like the box spring cover. Our mattress and box spring is on the floor(since I sold our bed frame)and I have already covered it in unbleached burlap.

Things are starting to come along. I am also working on reupholstering a set of chairs and an ottoman for the bedroom. I finished the ottoman this weekend and I will try to post a pic later today.

Urban Eggs

2010-09-01T13:30:00.003-05:00

Our hens finally started laying, and I have to say I feel like a proud mom. We are all very excited to have fresh eggs waiting for us in their nesting box everyday. We have the 4 hens, and right now we are getting between 2-3 eggs a day, and they are delicious.

Almost finished...

2010-09-01T12:56:00.003-05:00

The sofa is almost finished, its hard to find time to work on it, with a three year old running around the house and wanting to help, or claiming that the tools that I'm using are actually his tools. The sofa is so large, and by far the biggest upholstery project I've done, and I have had to work on it in place. I have yet to do the back panel of the sofa, but that should be straight forward.

As you can see in the last picture, the previous owners used a 2x4 to support the right leg. That issue will also need to be addressed, but since it is solid I haven't been in as big of a rush to deal with that issue.

We have also had some other things going on around the house. We decided it was time to take the master bedroom back over, and my husband built a loft bed for Baby J in his new room. When I feel these projects have been completed, I will also post photos of our once again master bedroom, and Baby J's bed up in the air.

A little update...

2010-08-20T20:55:00.004-05:00

There have been a few computer issues at our house, and that is a big reason that I have not been able to update this blog.

I also have been working on a few projects.

This is just one of them. Sorry the first image is of the almost finished couch from the second image. I have put a lot of hours in to this little craigslist freebie.

We love it. It is so long. so comfy. I will update more later, just a little peek at what I've been up to.

We've been busy...

2010-08-03T10:37:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm not sure where to start. But, we have been very busy and I haven't had much time to blog.

I will start with the first two photos. I found this chair and a vintage scoop back chair in an alley not far from here, dirty and alone, about to be poured down upon. I snatched them both up, the white one being my favorite. I've seen this shape before, but at this point I can't turn anything up online. If anyone knows anything about it, please leave a comment.

The next photo is of a chair we found at a thrift store in Rolla, when we were on our way to go camping, at $5, I paid for it, and hoped we had room for it on our way home. After a weekend of fly fishing, floating, and camping, we picked it up on our way back through and my husband tied it fown to the roof of the car. It made it home in one piece. I thought it might be made by Dux, but I can't find any markings. The webbing was shot, so I went ahead and re-webbed the underneath. The cushion was dry rotted, so I found a new cushion, and now its just about good as new.

Some of the photos online of the Dux lounge chair had an ottoman to match, which my husband thought was great, so I've been also working on an ottoman we've had in the basement, trying to stain the wood to match the teak base of the chair.

The next photo is of a tray table that I found at an estate sale. I found the base folded and tied up in the basement, the woman at the sale had not a clue as to what it was, and charged me a $1. The next day, I went back to see what else I could find at half price. I found the brass tray, priced at $38, but at half price $19, I got this beautiful Middle eastern tray table for $20. I found the same one on 1stdibs, for $2200. Not bad.
And last but not least, we spent all day in the car(with a few thrift stops)on our way to check out our next big project, a vintage Yellowstone camper, that is sitting on a piece of property that my parents just bought. We were almost to the Iowa border, it was probably the hottest day of the year, but we were able to take lots of photos, do lots of measuring, and lots of dreaming about our new camper.

Quick Redo

2010-07-13T16:08:00.003-05:00

I fixed up these little stools for a friend's new home. I forgot to take a before picture, but they started as a set of bentwood chairs that my husband had found neglected in an alley somewhere. One of them had a broken back support, and when my friend decided she needed a set of stools by her front door, I had these guys in mind.

They were pretty dirty, so after taking the back off of both chairs and using some steel wool and
wax-n-feed on the legs, I just took a little bit of fabric that I had found at an estate sale(3.5 yards for $2)and stapled it on. An easy and quick redo, will look great on either side of her front door, with baskets underneath for shoes.

Before / After

2010-07-07T14:47:00.004-05:00

I found this little pair of stools next to a dumpster, grabbed them up, and then let them sit in my basement for a little while. I had already started webbing the pair of chairs, and was having a hard time finding enough webbing to finish that project, so even though I knew I wanted to re-webb these guys, I let them wait.

Well, I haven't finished my black chairs yet, but was getting the itch to do something with these. Hobby Lobby has cotton, 1 inch belt webbing in all sorts of colors, and spools that come in 25 yards. So, I decided to do black and white and keep the walnut wood tone. I wiped down the stools with walnut color restore-a-finish, and used steel upholstery tacks to tack down the webbing. Pretty easy project, and I love they way they turned out.

Both stools are marked in a couple different spots, but it isn't in English, and google translate was no help, so if anyone has any information on these please share, thanks.

Jack Pot!

2010-06-28T07:20:00.004-05:00

Driving home from the fabric store one day, I notice what I thought might have been a treasure in an alley, to pull off a discover it was only trash! And as I turned around to get back on the main road I spotted what looked like a bolt sticking out of a dumpster, so of coarse I stopped to take a look. There were TWO bolts of Knoll Textiles, fabric dumped, still in plastic, waiting for me.

I had to back our car up to the dumpster and use the bumper as a boost, to get in the dumpster to pull off bags of garbage, to be able to pull out the heavy bolts of fabric! I shoved them in the car and drove home happy as a lark.

I can't ever find nice gray fabric at our fabric store, I'm always looking. So who can believe that I just found two bolts, 45 yards of beautiful , expensive fabric. The fabric is still sold by Knoll a is $29 a yard, so that means I found over $1300, worth of fabric!

So now I have no excuse to not start or finish a project, I've got enough fabric to upholster anything I may possibly bring home.

Finished daybed

2010-06-24T16:24:00.004-05:00

Well, there it is in all of its glory. The little DIY I had posted about a couple of weeks ago. The project was very simple, a solid wood door from my husband, the large cushions were found and given a through cleaning, the hairpin legs were also found by my husband attached to a old warped piece of plywood. The back cushions were in my attic, I bought a couple of yards of unbleached muslin, I had the gray wool for the contrast welt on the back cushions, and after using some danish oil, I decided the color was too light, and bought a small can of walnut stain.

So, the total on that is about $10.

I'm happy with the finished project, and would recommend it to anyone in need of a couch, with a tight budget.

(my welting is getting a lot better, and with a few more projects, i'm sure I will be totally happy with it!)

Self-welt

2010-06-15T17:48:00.003-05:00

This is the first time I've actually used welting on an upholstery project. I sew on a very average Brother sewing machine, and I first of all didn't feel it was capable of sewing that many layers together nicely, I also feel that welting eats up a lot of extra fabric cutting it on the bias.

Well, I decided that I needed to better my upholstery skills, and teach myself something new. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but it also wasn't as easy as it it could have been. I thought using some left over black fabric would be a great way to use up leftovers.

I started on the bottom cushion, and had a very hard time getting the welting as tight as I wanted it, and usually if I force my machine to do something it doesn't want to, it results in breaking something. For the next cushion, I decided to just go ahead and ride the welt with my sewing foot, and that did the trick. Since I have picked up a specialty foot for my machine, and I think at this point it is going to take some practice.

Think Danish modern daybed

2010-06-04T17:34:00.004-05:00

Because I don't have enough unfinished projects, this is my new one. Our house had two black vinyl couches, and on a whim I decided that two was too many. So, one is now gone, and we now have a large empty hole where a couch used to sit. It's kind of nice for the moment, since it's usually too much furniture, not, not enough.

But, if I have an empty space it is sure to be filled, and since Baby J has two Danish modern daybeds in his room, I thought it would be easy enough to just bring one down and be done.

But, its really never that easy is it ? I found a couple of great stone colored, brushed canvas cushions in good shape, I brought them home washed them up, and low and behold they are 6'' too short. So, then I decided we would just make a daybed out of plywood and screw on wooden legs and be done. But, now I'm thinking hairpin. My husband had found a set in the alley, and I think they may work. I'm thinking about not using wedge pillows in the back and going with something more like the last few photos.

I think this maybe a project we'll knock out over the weekend, If I can get rid of this stupid head cold!

Suggestion...

2010-05-28T15:04:00.003-05:00

I had George Nakashima's long chair brought to my attention by Rae, and I have to say I am in love. Everything thing about it. I might prefer the last one with the arm, but any will do.

I also love the natural walnut wood with the webbing, both black and unbleached. At this point I am not going to strip the black chair back, but what about leaving the rocker walnut with black webbing? maybe white?

It really shouldn't be this hard, and at this point I might just be stalling so that I don't have to remove the previous white webbing.

Thanks for the suggestion Rae, love this chair also! Probably won't be finding one of these in the alley.

See previous post

2010-05-28T09:56:00.004-05:00

The first picture is one of the reasons I decided to paint my chair black, the photo is by Vincent Wolfe, via desiretoinspire. The last two pics are Jens Risom chair and ottoman. I thought these pictures may help with the decision.

I need your opinions...

2010-05-27T17:32:00.005-05:00

So here it is, the top picture is from right after I found this pair of chairs in the alley. I decided instead of reupholstering them, I wanted to take a different route, and use exposed webbing. I have never done this before, but I love the look.

The wood on both of these chairs was in decent shape. I had said something to my husband about painting them black, and he felt that that wasn't the way to go. I half-heartedly agreed and began working on the rocker with dark walnut danish oil. Next, I went to the fabric store and chose some bright white webbing, and started on a tight basket weave. After almost finishing the back, I decided the weave was too tight, I wanted to see some light coming through, and that the webbing wasn't substantial enough.

Knowing that I was going to take all the webbing off and start over, I began daydreaming about black chairs and black webbing. I went ahead and painted the other chair that isn't a rocker, a flat black and went to get heavier black webbing.

The fabric store of course only had 7 yards of the webbing I wanted, so I ended up coming home with just 7 yards of nice thick cotton webbing. I got to work, using steel tacks and am really happy with the back of the black chair.

So, my question is this: Do I go ahead and paint the rocker black and use black webbing, so that this pair looks like a pair, or do I leave the rocker walnut color, get the exact same webbing but in white? They also have unbleached webbing, with a more natural color, that I could use on the rocker, but I kind of like the contrast of the bright white against the wood.

Any advice would be great, your opinion may open my eyes to even something I haven't thought of.

(*I picture these chairs sitting next to each other or at least in the same room)
(** I forgot to mention I had my husband cut the backs so the lines were a little cleaner)

Lotus bowl

2010-05-26T17:32:00.003-05:00

This is the new enamel bowl I found this afternoon at my secret thrift store. At .69 cents I scoured the shelves for it's mates and came up empty handed. I am very excited though, it looks like its always been on the shelf in my kitchen.

I believe this vintage bowl is Scandinavian and designed by Catherineholm, there isn't any kind of marking on it, so if anyone knows whether this kind of bowl has a stamp or not, please let me know.

There aren't enough hours in the day

2010-05-19T18:39:00.003-05:00

I drink a lot of caffeine, and there still aren't enough hours. Here are just a few things I've been working on. Not to mention the clean out of our basement so that I can have a studio. So, I need either more time or maybe a full time babysitter/nanny. I will have more pictures soon, don't give up on me, but with all of these projects and a three year old, I don't have much time to blog.

My chair

2010-05-14T19:47:00.004-05:00

I found this picture via apartmenttherapy.com, scavenger. The chair and ottoman are for sale for $625. They say there is no makers mark on there chair, but I believe it is the same chair I just recently upholstered. My chair had been reupholstered in the 70's, and maybe the headrest was tossed at that time, I might have to make one for mine. The base is also darker on theirs, So now seeing this I will definitely be using some walnut danish oil on mine.

New enamel pot

2010-05-11T14:46:00.004-05:00

The first picture is not my pot. The second two are. I have been on a little trip to Oklahoma City, and of course it isn't vacation unless there is some shopping involved.(Of course a trip to OK isn't really a vacation, but its the closest thing to one that I'm going to see for a while.)

I did a little thrifting while away, and found this pot on a shelf at one of the thrift stores in town. I love this pot but at $20 I felt that it was a little steep, so I put it back on the shelf and continued to browse. While I was looking I began to talk myself into the little pot, deciding I couldn't go any where and buy a new piece of cookware for less. So, I hurried back over picked up the pot, and told it that it was going to take the long drive back to St. Louis in my suitcase.

There are no markings I could find on it, but as I began to google, I found the lovely pot in the top picture for sale at Mjolk .

I believe it is priced at $290 and is made by Sarpaneva. I thought the space between the handles was for holding a spoon, looks like mine my be missing a handle, but for that price I think I my either make a handle myself or have one made.

I brought quite a few things home with me, so I hope this week I will be able to post them all.

Third times a charm

2010-05-02T16:14:00.004-05:00

I found this chair and ottoman recently, and like most things I bring home, it was in an alley and in desperate need of love. One back leg was cracked and a front leg was loose. The wood was sad and dry, and it looked like a cat had love the back of this chair for a scratching post.

My friend stacked claim on the chair pretty quickly, and she also had a couple of yards of fabric she had just bought.

I used her gray fabric for the back rest and arms, then I bought some burlap for the sides and back. I had the velvet, and thought it would add to the coziness of the chair and ottoman. I for got to take a good before picture of the ottoman, but it had seen better days. The webbing on both the chair and ottoman needed to be redone, and I added new foam to the ottoman and new batting to both.

I just rubbed the wood down with wax-n-feed, and that did the trick. I am happy with how it turned out, and I hope my friend is also.

Finished Coop/Chicken Pile

2010-05-01T15:17:00.002-05:00

The coop has been finished for a couple of weeks now, and our chickens(Lola,Rita,Prudence,Cecilia)have been spending all of their time there. We still lock them in their coop at night since they still haven't figured out how to climb their ladder.

I think we are all very pleased with the handy work of my husband.
(They are growing so fast!)

Apartment Therapy

2010-04-30T16:15:00.005-05:00

http://http//www.apartmenttherapy.com/

Sorry, I'm not good with computers , and still can't figure out the right way to link a post, but I will deal with that another day. Instead today I will be excited with our house tour on apartment therapy, and then get back to work on the found chair and ottoman I'm reupholstering.

(*update, I think I figured it out, where there's a will there's a way!)

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

2010-04-27T16:09:00.003-05:00

I found this great chair in an alley, on our way to Baby J's surprise birthday party. He was blindfolded and wondering why I had stopped and what I was thrusting into the back of the car. Sadly a scraper had already had his way with it and had taken the rocking mechanism with him.

The upholstery was in perfect shape and the arms were beautiful, so I cut wood to fit the bottom and then worked quite a few stressful hours to splay the legs, make then sit evenly and be sturdy. I had the legs already, so the only investment was stain and glides for the legs.

It turned out pretty great, and now it is SOLD! On to the next project.

I want my walls to look like this...

2010-04-16T17:26:00.002-05:00

I love this paint treatment. Photo via Remodelista.

My Space

2010-04-14T14:23:00.004-05:00

I feel like it is all starting to come together!

My baby turns 3 today !

2010-04-12T14:45:00.003-05:00

Three years ago today we were anxiously awaiting your arrival. We love you more than you will ever know.

This past week a dear friend of mine took me and Baby J out for a photo shoot. This is one of the pictures, they all turned out beautiful, but for privacy I am only posting the one where you can't see our faces.

About to fly the coop

2010-04-09T15:19:00.004-05:00

Here are a few more pictures of our coop progress. I'm up next with my master painting skills, then we will use chicken wire to cover the rest. The second picture is of one of our chickens that has doubled in size in just a couple of weeks. She thought she was big shit on top of the water container, little does she know that if she does decide to fly the coop, at this point she may be a snack for a 95lb. pit bull. Hope fully we can get them in their coop soon, or we will have to put them in a larger cage in the meanwhile.

One more down

2010-04-06T16:44:00.003-05:00

I finished another upholstery project. I found this very "granny chic" chair in an alley, and well I have a hard time saying , "no", so it came to live at our house. I thought it would be a perfect size for our sun room, since we have a table and chairs in there, but I still wanted a comfy chair for lounging.

I used a striped linen and also black burlap for the sides and back. I have to see this project was pretty easy, I got it done in a couple of hours. I am happy with the result, and one less chair in the landfill.

Chicken Coop

2010-04-04T13:17:00.002-05:00

My husband has been working very hard all weekend on our coop. He almost lost a finger in the beginning, but came back strong the next day. I couldn't be more excited, or more proud of the handy work of my better half. The hinged box on the front is their nesting box. He is using some reclaimed lumber that he happened upon in an alley, the door hinges are from a found door, and he is also using a found door knob on the nesting box. We plan to use corrugated tin panels for the roof, and more reclaimed wood for the siding in their shelter. I will be painting/staining the structure. I will update photos as we get further along.

Our chicks are quickly growing, and soon they will be large enough to spend the rest of their days in the beautifully hand-crafted chicken coop.

Newest Members to the Family Farm

2010-03-31T23:15:00.004-05:00

We are now the proud owners of 4 lovely female chicks. They are spending some time indoors with us until it is warm enough for them to be outside permanently.

We are very excited about our little egg producing compost piles.

DIY Upholstery Project

2010-03-31T22:08:00.002-05:00

It's not done, and it won't ever be perfect, but I am happy with the results. I found this chair on Craigslist and felt like it had good bones. I am self taught at reupholstering, and at some point I would love to take some classes. Until then, this is what you get. I still have some work on the cushion, and then wood base and legs came unfinished, I sanded them with fine grit, and then used some wax-n-feed, I have decided to go back in and use med. grit then fine, and then some danish oil in dark walnut- I think, maybe med. walnut, we'll see. The base is still not attached to the chair so it is easy to work on. I then chose an army green canvas for the upholstery. I loved the color and the durability of canvas, but I had never worked with canvas to upholster, and I have to say I don't think it is the easiest to work with, not much give.

I had to go back to the fabric store and decided on some burlap to finish the back. I thought It would give it more of a rustic look and since I could already tell the project would not end perfectly, I decided that I could get creative with it. Instead of using tack strips to finish the side and back I chose more rustic upholstery tacks. I am very happy with the project, it's a very comfortable chair, and even with the frustration of the curves, I loved the time I was able to spend using my hands and being creative.

I will post more finished photos when that time comes.

New Couch

2010-03-31T17:25:00.003-05:00

I have been spending my free time recently on a few projects. The first, is trying to get our family room back together.

We purchased a new couch, since the other one was way too light in color for our active family. I had been keeping an eye out for something smaller and easier to clean. Not much had surfaced, so I continued to clean our cream color couch, and talk about how my life would be much easier if he had a leather couch.

So, cut to the chase and I had a morning to myself and decided to make a quick stop at the local Salvation Army, and there it was just being wheeled off the truck. I said " I'll take it!". I was then told that there was no manager in for the day, and it couldn't be priced, therefore I couldn't purchase it. I asked when a manager would be in to price it, and was told the morning. I was just sick to my stomach. There was the couch of my dreams in perfect condition and I had to leave empty handed. The people working there were very sweet, despite me being crazy about some old couch, and they told me to return in the morning first thing and It would be mine.

I got home and told my husband and spent the rest of the day worrying about who else would see my couch and who was also going to show up in the morning for a chance at this great sofa.

I got to the Salvation Army at 8:30 am, the store opened at 9. Me and Baby J camped out with our Starbucks and portable DVD, and believe it or not we were the first ones in the door that morning. I put Baby J on the sofa as to mark our territory, and I went in search of the manager. I told her we would like to purchase the couch, and she told me we would have to wait till she got around to pricing it.

At this point I knew, and my husband also pointed out that my eagerness was going to get me gouged. We patiently waited until that little paper tag was placed on the arm of the couch, and I took a deep breath(I had already decided what my limit was) $29.99.

We took the couch and ran.

Your Barn Door is Open

2010-03-26T11:10:00.002-05:00

Or closed. My crafty husband spent quite a bit of time working to hang a door that he found being pulled out of a rehab. The door is old and weathered, but the glass is still in tact, no cracks. He put the door on a rolling closet track and after a couple of tries, the door rolls smoothly and now closes off our sun room. I couldn't be happier.

Axe Men

2010-03-21T18:45:00.002-05:00

That pretty much sums up the weekend. We had two trees we needed to take down this weekend. My husband worked on one Friday in the beautiful weather, and in the crappy weather, my Brother-in-law, and Father and husband spent the day cutting away. These are pictures of how my back yard looks now. I have to say it is a good feeling going into spring with a fresh start.

We only took the trees down because we had lost half of each tree in storms, and they were going to come down at some point, and better on our terms.

New Treasures

2010-03-21T10:39:00.003-05:00

I have been doing some estate sale-ing, and thrifting, and even some alley scavenging. Here are a few pictures of some things that are new to me, That I have brought home in the last couple of weeks.

Labor Of Love

2010-03-15T16:03:00.004-05:00

Driving through an alley this weekend, I saw this buffet, dumped, and water logged. I first got out took a look and seeing in what disrepair it was I took the knobs, since that was what I liked most about it, and went on my way.

I got home proud of my vintage white enamel knobs, and trying to decide where they would go, and this buffet started to haunt me. Its beautiful woven grass inserts, distinct legs, and the fact that I left it alone in the alley, on a cold wet day, NAKED.

So, as the story always goes, I called my partner in crime and after a cheese burger, there I was in the back of the Rover, trying to hold the back door closed and keep the buffet from falling out the back end(we were to lazy to move the car seat, so the buffet would fit all the way in) and we were on our way home, through the alleys.

I spent some time with Feed-N-Wax and steel wool, the drawer fronts cleaned up pretty well, but the top was rough. I scraped, then used a little stripper on the though spots, and then sanded with fine sand paper, to finish with two coats of danish oil.

It looks great, now I need to do the rest.

I thought I was the only one

2010-03-12T16:32:00.007-06:00

Scanning through Modern50.com this afternoon, I paused to look at the chandelier, and right there I noticed the bench. That's my bench.(except I like my hairpin legs better)But I thought I was the only one that had used old scaffolding for a great new bench, oh well.

Bench Press

2010-03-10T15:19:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pictures of one of my new benches. I have wanted a slat bench and haven't been able to find one that I could afford, so this weekend when we found this old scaffolding for $5 we grabbed it and loaded it in the car.

I loved the worn weathered look of the wood, the drips of paint all over, and the fact that it was expandable. My husband said that his grandpa had a couple of these back in the day, and they were placed on the rungs between two ladders.

I started by sanding with fine grit sandpaper to remove the large flaky paint drips, and then finished with steel wool and Feed n' Wax, bees wax. I then purchased the hair pin legs at our local vintage store and pre-drilled holes and then used wood screws to attach the legs. I am pretty proud of my little bench, and the whole family loves it.
* I still need to take pictures of the cool bench I found in the alley, we are already using by the front door, and needless to say it has crap allover it right now.

Freestyle Pickn'

2010-03-09T16:07:00.003-06:00

For those of you that are not familiar with American Pickers on the History Channel, freestyle pickn' is a term used when you see something you like in someones yard, and you stop, knock on the door, and ask if they are willing to sell whatever it is that you were interested in.

Today was my first freestyle pick. If you remember my anniversary gift, you know that my husband has been a picker in the past. Not me however, I have eyeballed many a front porches, but never had the nerve.

Today was my day. I had many times before seen this lonely shell chair parked in a backyard, while on my way to a loved thrift store. Sitting in the rain, piled with leaves, amongst an array of walmart patio furniture, out of place, and not being loved for the modern classic that it is. I had pulled around to the front of the house a few times, loosing my nerve each and every time.

Today, with not a whole lot of luck at the thrift store, I told myself I was going to leave a polite note about how I would love to buy the chair and my phone number, and hope that something would come of it. Well, lucky for me there was someone outside, and I was able to jump out and profess my love and beg and plead to bring the chair home with me, to live out the rest of its days warm and loved inside my house. The woman laughed and thought it was funny that I had such an interest in her patio furniture. She said it was her fathers, when he was alive and had run out of room for it in her house.

So, my promise of loving the chair they way one should love an Eames design(and a crisp $20) and the chair is mine. I did a little cleaning with vinyl conditioner, and you would never be able to tell this chair had lived anytime outside.

I should have kept on driving...

2010-02-25T17:08:00.003-06:00

Out on an adventure this afternoon, with Baby J and two dogs in tow, we stumbled upon this fine piece of furniture made by well known designer Jens Risom. The boy and the dogs would have kept on driving, but not me, I can't leave this beautiful piece of Danish furniture to continue to waste away in a cold dark alley. The dogs weren't too keen on sharing the back of the Rover with this new find, so now two dogs in the front seat, the boy in the back demanding the rock hunting at the park that I had originally promised, and we were off. (I'm sure you are wondering why two dogs couldn't fit in the back seat next to the boy, well, that was occupied by the new bench I also found in the alley, yet to be photographed)

I have tried to do some googling and can't find this exact table, but the label is still intact on the underneath side of the table. This is shown in the last photo, which looks like a completely different table, which gives me hope. I of course thought a lite sanding and some danish oil, and we would be good to go. Not exactly. I have done some light sanding already, and there are some pretty dark water stains, and after a little reading it looks like I will have to bring out the big guns. Another project.

Valentines Rug

2010-02-17T09:38:00.002-06:00

My Valentine gifted me this beautiful cowhide rug. We had both had been wanting a cowhide, and I had been scouring CL, and only came up with cowhides priced more than what we could pay for a new one at Tandy Leather.

So here it is in all its glory, thanks baby!

ABC DIY

2010-01-26T15:31:00.003-06:00

The first photo is of a rug that I fell in love with from ABC Carpet. They take vintage and worn rugs and bleach(with some kind of lemon compound) then over dye their rugs. Most of the one circulating the web are really bright, almost neon. That is a little to bright for me, but when I got on there website, there was one beautiful gray version that was my favorite. At around $1200, I thought about selling plasma, but then I'm sure my husband would appreciate that money going to bills, so I thought I could DIY it.

The second photo is of my rug before I stared bleached the hell out of it. The third photo is of the bleached and starting to fray rug. The fourth photo is of my sad attempt to create a $1200 rug. In good light you can still see some of the pattern, which is what I was going for. In that same good light thought you can tell that my rug is way more purple that gray.

So, cost run down:

I already owned the rug

About $6 in dye, first black that was too purple, then gray that still didn't quite cover the purple
A few trips to a couple different stores for the dye
So all-in-all the rug DIY was a great way to experiment, for my next GRAY rug.

New coffee table...

2010-01-26T15:17:00.002-06:00

I haven't been posting due to not liking my camera lately. I was convinced that it was not my photography skills that lacked, but my camera dragging me down.

I have spent some time getting to know my little point and shoot better, for interior photographs. These are still not perfect, but my front room is so dark, overexposing them sure helps.

This is my newest coffee table, and my husband brought it home as a surprise right before Christmas. I cleaned it up with a little soap and water, then a good scrub down with steel wool and beeswax. It's huge, with a beautiful patina, and best of all, it was free. It had been sitting downstairs in the basement of one of his restaurants covered in crap.
It is a great addition to our home, its perfect for train sets, dinners (i know!)and just for putting your feet up.

Kicking myself....

2009-12-19T15:55:00.004-06:00

A couple of weekends ago I had a moment to stop at an estate sale, I didn't have much time, and I also at this point really don't need anything.
I spotted this little bar cart/ wine rack and thought it was great, priced at $20. I didn't grab it since I was in a hurry, and as I stated before, I no longer have any room in my house for furniture.
Well, today when I was looking on the Surfing Cowboys site, I spotted this picture of the exact same bar cart, my heart dropped into my stomach(and is still there) $750, is what this Paul McCobb bar cart is going for. KICKING MYSELF.

Gray Days...

2009-12-08T21:34:00.001-06:00

Mama's New Chair

2009-11-18T09:14:00.003-06:00

I am now the proud owner of a comfy Overman pod(?) chair. I picked it up off craigslist for $30, and I was told that there is an ottoman that goes with it, that she is trying to unearth for the depths of her basement.(not holding my breath)

Scavenger

2009-11-09T15:44:00.006-06:00

I had Saturday morning to myself and chose to spend it shopping estate sales. A couple were a bust, but a beautiful morning alone and only spending $6 it was a wonderful time.

From the top, I found a whole box of old paint by numbers and these are a few of my favorites, all for a buck. The same sale I purchased a stack of vintage fabric, a small vintage red pillow, and a vintage slip cover for my daybed, and a small metal basket(not pictured) for an additional $2.

Last, but not least, at a different sale I found a pair of Eames DKX (wire) chairs for $3. I only picture one because the other is at the doctors right now having a few spot welds done.

One chair had the seat pad and the other had the back, so I put them on one chair and used a lot of vinyl cleaner and conditioner and the pads are looking pretty good, the finish on the chair is not however. I will probably sand and repaint the seat white and the legs black, and try to get it back to its original beauty, but I like to wait a while and live with the patina, but I won't be able to get it back. So I feel like I made out like a bandit, and I am in love with all of my new treasures.

Mad for Plaid

2009-11-02T17:18:00.003-06:00

...And there it is in all of its glory. My husband hates it, I think its great, we are both glad it was free.

craigslist find...

2009-10-25T19:10:00.001-05:00

St. Louis MO ;$150

Not the best price, but still a pretty cool rocker.

Trend Notice...

2009-10-22T21:34:00.003-05:00

I have decided that since I scavenged a camel back tartan plaid couch from a neighbor, that this will become a fall and winter trend.
photos via Domino mag, Flor, and flickr.

Plants Inside...

2009-10-19T09:15:00.002-05:00

It is time that all the plants get brought inside for the winter. I have so many plants that it is hard to find space for all of them without looking crowded. I searched for some inspiration and came up with these via desire to inspire. If I didn't already have too many plants I would be spending today looking for two of the huge Fig plants in large beautiful pots.

Craigslist find...

2009-10-13T10:06:00.002-05:00

St. Louis MO; I'm listing this couch for the comedy factor; $1000. Yes, you read that right, someone thinks they just won the lottery with this old couch, $1000

Craigslist find....

2009-10-12T17:54:00.003-05:00

St. Louis MO; $50

I love this, the whole thing, from the avocado shag carpet to the wood paneling, and I am imagining the picture above the couch is some great landscape print on crappy cardboard.

Shell Chairs...

2009-10-07T22:28:00.001-05:00

Shell chairs. Sorry no links, just trying to clean out some saved pictures from my file.

Decorating for Fall

2009-10-02T10:01:00.002-05:00

I got the itch to repaint our front door the other day. I found a great deep gray called cracked pepper and kept the trim white. The door has been paint by me a few times now and was most recently a bright green. The door didn't originally have any visual interest, so I attached the trim pieces to give it a little more detail.

I also switched out all of our furniture, so that I can refinish the mid century set this winter. I dug up some pillows to compliment the paper lanterns I had left from last year and we picked up a few gourds from a produce stand. And now it looks like a completely different front porch.

New Rug

2009-10-02T09:46:00.003-05:00

I found a new wool rug yesterday at a thrift store for $10,and I love it. It is just in time for fall, so soft and warm underfoot. I believe the the original intent for this was to be a mattress topper (?). It has large elastic bands at each corner that look like they would keep it from shifting. I would have no need for such a large mattress topper, being that we still sleep in a full size bed. Instead I spent last night running my feet over it, while our 3 dogs soundly slept.

Random...

2009-09-30T22:05:00.002-05:00

Some random pictures that I had saved, via Doorsixteen, DesiretoInspire,Flor, and not sure exactly where the other two came from. Not really related in any way, other than nice to look at.

Craigslist Find...

2009-09-28T21:34:00.003-05:00

St. Louis MO, $65; marble top with wood base

I love this coffee table, and if I didn't already have a marble coffee table I would be on my way to O'Fallon to pick up this beauty instead of writing this post.

Bullet Planter...

2009-09-25T13:57:00.004-05:00

My husband and I just celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary, and for quite awhile now I've been looking for a bullet planter. I have to say that I'm not sure that I had ever even seen one in real life, until recently.

I was on my way home one afternoon and out of the corner of my eye, in all its glory was the bullet planter of my dreams, right there on some one's front porch.

That evening talking to my husband I explained my disgust, for whom ever let this planter sit untouched, upside down, being used to keep rain out of a bird cage. After my rant I moved on and didn't think that my husband had even really listened to my complaint, until our anniversary rolled around and I received that very planter of my dreams.

My husband the very next morning with a very loose description of my route home, tracked down that planter, and three different times knocked on that door, trying to get his wife the planter of her dreams. Turns out the owner was out of town and he had to wait for the message to be passed along, that someone had shown up on her porch, trying to buy something that clearly was not for sale.

In the end it all worked out, it was a great gift and wonderful anniversary.

Neutral with a little wood...

2009-09-24T23:14:00.003-05:00

Images via http://www.yolksy.com/

More Neutral...

2009-09-23T09:42:00.002-05:00

Via http://desiretoinspire.blogspot.com/

Neutral...

2009-09-22T22:03:00.001-05:00

Black Kitchen, Leather Couch...

2009-09-22T16:52:00.001-05:00

Wood Paneling

2009-09-21T09:39:00.002-05:00

I love the great texture these walls give this whole room.

Inspiration

2009-09-18T13:41:00.002-05:00

I borrowed these images from Desire to Inspire, and I just love them. I am usually drawn to monochromatic rooms, But i think it is hard to cut all of the color out of your life.

I really love the kitchen, and the attic living space. Our bedroom is in room with similar ceilings, and I always like to see how other people have made similar spaces feel large and not closed in.

Did we see these this weekend?

2009-09-17T22:02:00.005-05:00

Ebay listing in St. Louis. We saw these listed at a estate sale this weekend at $75 each, which we both thought was high.

Huge Frame

2009-09-17T16:17:00.003-05:00

What do you think? kind of weird? I have been sort of working on this art project. The frame was part of a beer ad that was back lit with small light bulbs. We have picked out a great picture of a cow, that we took on a road trip, and have yet to pay the $50 for a 2'x4' print.
I decided to go ahead and hang the frame on the wall since it had been just sitting in the basement since I had painted it.
I think the frame may be hung a little high, but I love the way it looks in its place above the couch, and was thinking that it might be a great place to arrange a art collage.

A Little Before and After...

2009-09-17T15:53:00.002-05:00

I picked up this patio set at a thrift store on their 50% off furniture day and scored all 4 pieces for just $20.

And once again flat black paint to the rescue. Right now the set is split up, and I have the settee and coffee table on our deck, and the two chairs are in what we are now calling our dining room.

I am happy with the way they turned out, now all I need are cushions. The settee may have to wait till next spring, but the chairs will need something before I expect someone to sit and eat dinner at this table.