Antique Furniture in Seattle

Seattle has no shortage of antique/consignment furniture shops and this weekend I finally checked out a couple in my area. Maybe this can become my new Saturday activity. 


At Cobblestone Used Furniture I was interested in the variety of pulls and knobs, since I'm in the market for some.

My daughter's life revolves around opening and closing things, especially doors. This sea of drawers was her own personal heaven. Open, close, open, close, open, close. The shop lady was not too thrilled with all of this. 

Love these ones. They're practically fused into the drawer fronts.

 Green glass? Okay.

Then across the street to Antika. Their room full of kitschy kitchen goods was killing me with awesomeness.

Upstairs I liked all of these things - the nesting tables, orange chair, stool and Buddha pictures. Heck, throw in the bare-chested male torso and you've got yourself a living room.

Surprise! There's a dog named Tonka that roams this joint at will and he's three times the size of my daughter. She was in double heaven! She followed him everywhere saying, "Woof, woof!" and touched him every chance she got.

The mid-century modern offerings here were salve to my soul. I think this would be a cool kitchen buffet.

This would be the dresser of my dreams for my nursery, but it was just as much money as my other dream dresser.

Another cool buffet or bedroom dresser.

Hello, the legs on that table. YES!

And then a happy yellow chest. Delish.

*Martha

Organizing Children's Art

This article got me thinking about the many ways to organize and display children's art work. May I share with you my personal favorite: the clothesline/cable system. Not that I have put it to use just yet. My daughter is only 21 months. But I hear once the kiddie artwork starts coming, it doesn't let up. 




Here's why I like the clothesline as the first line of defense in dealing with artwork. 


1. It's not permanent. You can quickly put up a new piece of art whether you love it or hate it and constantly edit and rotate as the child brings more home. 


2. It changes up the decor on a regular basis and adds new pops of unique color and design to the wall. 


3. It can work in several different places in the house. I like the kitchen (because it gets it off your fridge and can become a conversation piece around the dinner table), the hallway (think of it as a gallery, maybe install real gallery lighting to make it more special), the playroom or child's bedroom (where the child can take control and rotate it as they choose). 


After the art moves out of the clothesline rotation and you and/or your child have chosen the favorites, it could be put into frames and moved to a more permanent art wall. Then when it's time to let it go, decide what to keep and what to trash, and put the keepers in a long term file folder for each child.


Here are a couple photos of the clothesline approach.


You could easily work with what you already have to create one; pictured above is twine and office clips, below is string and clothes pins.

Or Etsy has some cute supplies to made your own, like these colorful tiny clothespins and baker's twine. Secure the ends on the wall with faux metal Command hooks.

These colorful clips come from The Land of Nod.

 Here's a crisp look with the IKEA curtain rings and clips.

Pottery Barn Kids has several cable systems, with a variety of gender specific versions.

What do you think, readers? Have you put this to use yet or do you go for another approach? What works for you in managing and organizing your children's art?


Happy Friday!


*Martha


images 1. Hybrid Simplicity 2. houzz 3 & 4. Bella Creationz 5 & 6. Land of Nod 7. OhDeeDoh 8 & 9. Pottery Barn Kids 

Valentines Day Decorations

Valentines Day is QUICKLY approaching...its the time of year that we cover the house in hearts and spread the LOVE. Here are some inspirational pictures that I found HERE

living room design by new york photographer Elliott Kaufman

eclectic dining room design by media and blogs A Few Things From My Life

I love this picture because I have those dining chairs. They are from Ikea and believe it or not are made out of PAPER! They are super comfortable too.

spaces design by media and blogs A Few Things From My Life

So CUTE and looks like a totally simple project!

eclectic dining room design

What is fun about this is if you have four frames like this in a room you can just switch out the pictures for this L O V E

spaces design by media and blogs Aesthetic Outburst

Check out THIS tutorial on how to make a similar garland

eclectic kids design by other metros media and blogs Made By Girl

spaces design by media and blogs A Few Things From My Life

eclectic bedroom design by media and blogs Dreamy Whites

eclectic entry design by los angeles media and blogs Lisa Borgnes Giramonti
Such a BEAUTIFUL entry way...LOVE it!

Some of these are so cute...why not keep the love up all year long. Where would you share the love in your house?

Peace Out!
Cyndi

Nursery Dresser: Found

The nursery dresser search ended quicker than I thought! Last week I found THE ONE for $25 at Value Village. It's the right height, has three roomy drawers, and nice, clean lines. 

Now time to I dress it up! I still need to decide on and buy paint and pulls. And what to do about a sad, broken back leg? I'm not sure.

Stay tuned for the transformation!

*Martha

Reupholstered Kitchen Chairs

I've been wanting to reupholster my kitchen chairs for a long time. Ever since we got the table and set of four chairs all for $200 about four years ago, I'd always thought, "They'll work because I know they're temporary." Welp, like I said, four years later, they are still very much present. And I'm a little attached to them. They were one of the first furniture purchases my husband and I made as a newly married couple. I like them enough - they're not my dream set by any means, but I do like the clean, simple lines. So, they're a part of the family for as long as we continue our moving-every-year lifestyle. 

Here's the chair with the ugly cushion (and some beefy little toddler hands). (Sorry, I can't get some of these pictures to stay upright. Go ahead, turn your head sideways.)

And here's the scoop on what I did to cover up the ugliness. A tip on The Nate Berkus show enabled me to move forward with this long overdue reupholster project. The fabric I really wanted to use would have been a grey trellis Kelly Wearstler print, probably $14 a yard I'm guessing, though I was never brave enough to check it out. But on Nate's show, they covered a lady's chair cushions using one shower curtain! Hello, brilliant! Be sure to get a cotton/polyester blend, they said. Off to Target! This curtain I got was 100% polyester (I'm guessing polyester's easier to clean). It feels and looks like cotton, though. No plasticy-ness here. Shower curtain: $15.

I used the chair cushions as a guide to cut out four squares (after I unscrewed them from the chair part).

Then I cut them down even more once I got going. If you're more careful about making the fabric the right size at first, you can have plenty of leftover fabric for pillows or something else if you want. I was a little haphazard and ended up with a lot of scraps.

I pulled the fabric taut and stapled all around, in no particular fashion. Just get that stuff on tight and straight, and no one will ever care what the bottom looks like!

Here's the top of the cushion after it's covered.

Here are my tools: scissors for cutting fabric, screwdriver for removing and replacing chair cushions, staple gun for securing fabric to the wood in the seat cushion, and a hammer for nailing in the staple if it doesn't go in all the way flush.

Once the cushions were back on the chairs, I sprayed them with two coats of Scotch Guard to further guard against stains. 

Sorry, sideways head.

Here is the finished product!

A mere 15 dolla later and I have a much happier kitchen.