Slipcovers for Kid Chairs

My friend, Miriam, posted about her reupholstering project of her kids' foam chairs. Goodbye Dora!

Hello tasteful! She has a son and a daughter and I love how she found the perfect fabric for each (good boy fabric is hard to find, methinks).

She even made a sweet little pillow for each.

Read more about her process on her post here.


*Martha

Side of the Road Gold!

Well, well, well. Look what I picked up on the side of the road this morning. No matter that 70% of it didn't even fit in my trunk. I just drove slow and made sure it was wedged in semi-tight. I'd always heard of people finding excellent furniture on the side of the road around here, but today was my first time. It was on its side in some wet muddy grassy area along with several dressers with potential, a couple sad stools and a plaid couch. Hey, I can spot good mid-century modern legs from a mile away.

It looks normal sized in these photos but it's actually a kid's desk. I don't have one iota of room for it in my nursery, but I suppose it can stay in the garage until we move to a bigger place. We'll see if my husband agrees!

With a fresh coat of paint and some cute knobs, this little cutie will be in business.

*Martha

Layering Design Styles in a Room

I've been watching Secrets from a Stylist lately, the HGTV show hosted by Design Star Season 5 winner Emily Henderson. From the episodes I've seen, she works with couples to create a room or two that combines both of their styles. She starts by doing the entire room in one person's style, after which she brings the couple in to show what it looks like. Then she edits some things and layers the second person's style into the space. Interestingly, the couple usually isn't totally thrilled with the first style (even the person whose style it reflects) but they love the end result of the two combined styles. Here is a look at some of the rooms from the show:

Example #1:

Look #1 (wife's style): Hollywood Regency

Look #2 (added husband's style):Hollywood Country Club

Example #2:

Look #1 (husband's style): Mad Men Chic

Look #2 (added wife's style): Mad Men Bohemian

Example #3:

Look #1 (wife's style): Modern Artsy Nouveau

Look #2 (added husband's style): Single Malt Nouveau

I think the show proves an important design point: anyone can buy up a set of furniture and accessories all in the same style and have one canned look. Or you can embrace the personalities of the person or people you live with and incorporate some style from everyone and come up with something even more interesting and unique.

This is a great show to give you that guidance! Watch it on Hulu here.

*Martha

Industrial Design

I came across the Princess Lasertron blog awhile back when she was working on a concept called CAMP. I was so intrigued and didn't get it at all. Now that it's done, I get it. And I think it's soooo cool and interesting and I want to move to Omaha, Nebraska just to get in on it. You can visit the FAQs here to get a summary, but basically she and some friends turned a downtown industrial dive into a hip, open commercial space where people "co-work." Each person pays a monthly fee and comes to work in a creative environment away from home where other creative types are hanging out and working and snacking and laughing and having what seems to be the best time ever! 

Here's Princess Lasertron herself with her baby, Alice. She runs her own business (felt flower and button bouquets for brides) from the CAMP space.

They re-purposed a lot of junk for the space. Love that.

And they also have fun parties there.

Seriously, get me to CAMP!


*Martha

Hot Air Balloon Mobile

For my future son (due in two months!) I decided to make a hot air balloon mobile for his side of the nursery from the idea here.

I followed her tutorial for the most part but made a few variations of my own. I started with a template for the balloon. I did mine from card stock. Fold it in half and draw half the hot air balloon (like you'd do for Valentine hearts). No template here, just winging it. I drew it big and fat and basically cut it down 10 times using some Google images of real hot air balloons to get the shape right.

There are 6 sides to one balloon and I had enough paper to cut out 66 flat balloon shapes and piece them into 11 balloons.

I mixed and matched with patterned paper so each balloon looks different depending on which angle you are viewing it from. It'd be just as cute to do each balloon in the same pattern/color, I think. I even fancied the idea of making each balloon with only 4 sides because I was getting tired of cutting. I think that'd work, too. But the more dimensions the balloon has, the more visually interesting it is, and I'm glad I went the extra mile to make them all 6-sided. I glued them together with Elmer's glue.

I used an awl to stab a hole near the top.

STAB!

I was going to use blue yarn but the hole wasn't big enough. So I bought some basic twine-like string. Can't remember what it's called. I still had to force the hole bigger to get that through, but it all worked out. I tied a knot at the top of the balloon and tied it at the top of the embroidery hoop. Still working on what to do about all those fringy knot tops. But here's the mostly done mobile:

And future baby boy's view from the crib: 

I'll post it again when it's in place in the finished nursery. Stay tuned for some wall art inspired by hot air balloons, too. 


*Martha

Walmart Chairs

I have been scouring the web for chair ideas for a client and was surprised to come across some amazingly cool finds on .... wait for it ... Walmart.com! Sometimes that place just surprises me. The online selection is much more vast than the in-store selection, of course. I found myself wanting to snatch up a few for my own house ... although I don't need them and don't have anywhere to put them. A good, cheap, different chair is just so hard to find.

 *Martha

Dream House

Or should I say "dream townhouse." There's a cemetery a couple blocks from our place and recently someone finished building this incredibly gorgeous modern townhouse right across from it. The funny thing is, the rest of the houses on that street are GHETTO. Capital-G GHETTO. It's no neighborhood to be proud of. But every time my husband and I drive past this, we practically drool all over ourselves because we want to move here so bad! 

Well, bad news, folks. It sold a couple weeks ago. And somebody is in there just enjoying all the wide open floor plan and wood flooring and delicious modernism and ... the view out their front windows of an ancient cemetery (heheheh).


*Martha

Where to Find Curtains and Drapes

My cousin asked me for some advice on picking out and finding drapes...she asked, "I am looking for good window panels and keep striking out. Any suggestions of good web sites?" She then emailed me pictures of her BEAUTIFUL house along with 4 links to drapes she had been looking at for the space. 

So FIRST here is the room from all angles:

LOVE this Chair!

NOW here are the drapes she had picked out...and I will review how I think the do or do not work for the room.

Barcelona Drapes from JcPenney: could work but I think the burgundy color is too dark for the space.

Alessandra Floral Drapes from Pottery Barn: This is my #1 for this room. The colors and pattern complements the chair, pillows and accent wall beautifully.

Margaritte Embroidered Drape from Pottery Barn: This is a VERY beautiful drape BUT for this space I do NOT think it is the best choice, because there are already two similar patterns in the room with the chair and pillows. It is best to MIX patterns (get lots of different patterns), rather than many of the same pattern.

Simone Drape from Pottery Barn: Nice but for this space I like the idea of bringing in more red tones to the wall instead of green, since there is already a green accent wall.

Some ADDITIONAL option:

Peyton Drape from Pottery Barn: You can never go wrong with a simple solid. Even though it is a solid color it will balance the room by complementing the green accent wall.

Where to buy curtains and drapes?

I will admit that ALL of my drapes are from Ikea because they have great products for an AWESOME price. BUT they don't sell many things online and I don't think they sell any drapes online (which is such a bummer) so if you don't live close to and Ikea you need some more options.

Another place I like to look for inexpensive but good quality drapes is Overstock.com. They have a HUGE selection of great products, but the downside is it is sometimes like finding a needle in a hay stack ESPECIALLY if you don't know what you are looking for. So it is best to have something in mind before you start searching through Overstock.

If you want to head into a store World Market has some fun and fairly inexpensive drapes if you want a more global feeling to your space.

If you have a little bit MORE budget to work with theses are some fool proof places to look:

Pottery Barn

Crate & Barrel

If you want something kind of funky and unique try:

Urban Outfitters

Anthropologie

Note: There are TONS of other places to find great drapes and window coverings...this is just some ideas.

Or if you are feeling crafty try sewing your own drapes. FabricGuru.com is a GREAT source for discounted designer fabrics. Even if you just hem the edges of the fabric you can purchase some drapery hardware like the one bellow that clips onto the fabric.

PEACE!

Cyndi