GORGEOUS SHINY THINGS: furniture

Showing posts with label furniture. Show all posts

Another for the list...

I hadn't been on Bryonie Porter's site in a long while, and I swore I did a post on it a long time ago, but I got nothing. Anyhow, I am just loving these patchwork pieces of hers. I have wanted to wallpaper my bedroom dresser for a while now, just too lazy and have too many other things that seem easier and more fun (truth be told I hate wallpapering- the cutting and pasting/ precision and patience). But this seems like it would be a whole lot more forgiving and for a Design Schizo like me I don't have to pick just one paper...

This on the other hand requires the measuring and centering abilities of a sniper...

Mine would be all cockeyed.

If you haven't seen her pieces you must. Hop over here. Its worth the hop.

I Just Might Die...

...from gorgeousness overload. This image of the stunning Dauphine Armoire arrive in my email today from SHINE by S.H.O.. It had me clicking over to visit it almost instantly.

Pardon my drool. So lovely! I would top it with either of these lamps...

Jasper Lamp

Pearl Table Lamp

Put it in my bedroom with this bed

Throw a few of these pillows on...

And hang this artwork above.

Yes. I'd be a happy girl.

See more here and create your own fantasty room.

New Addiction

In case you haven't noticed I have a soft spot for secondhand vintage furnishings, and an even bigger soft spot for a great deal. I am so addicted to Decorator Tag Sale. For those of you unfamilar with this site its basically where designers like Amanda Nisbet, Sara Gilbane and other great talents sell their excess goods. Here are some of my wants...

This Russell landscape would look great in my living room... $250, not bad!

Amanda Nisbet's lucite stools, $900 for the pair!

Remember her mirrors? They can be yours for $400 each.

Amanda Nisbet

Chair for a grand.

This 5x7 dhurrie only $40!

Skirted table $50!

Want to cover a lampshade with your own fabric? This biggin' is only $10.

This set of pagodas for $50! Come on people, my palms are sweating...

And to feed my lamp addiction they have lots of unique ones I'm digging...

My wallet just ran and hid. Happy finds everyone!

An update from Dirk Diggler's couch

So I bought the big orange couch from a few posts ago. Thank you for the encouragement people, and the answer to that post is "Yes, I am nuts." The couch got delivered and has been living in my garage because it smells like a chain smoking granny. I didn't notice this at the store, but that might have been because the whole place probably smelled like that. My two year old's face pretty much sums up how I felt too. My husband and I joked about keeping it in the garage, opening the garage door and have a bunch of people over to roller skate and drink beers. Keep the neighbors guessing!

Lemons to lemonade. So for the next step... reupholstering. I have no patience to wait weeks for it, so I am doing it myself. This weekend. I've reup-ed some things before, never a couch, but my motto is usually "How hard can it be?" Worse case it'll be good entertainment for all of you. I spent the good part of Earth Day ripping the fabric off of it and discovered that it was also my new sofa's birthday...

Kind of creepy, 27 years to the day.

And the whole time I was thinking it was from the 70's because of the orange. I was wrong about the color too.

Once the fabric started coming off I learned that it was originally mauve and had faded to orange. I know, this couch just keeps getting uglier. So it was a Smurf-era pink couch.

So, it is now stripped and aired and in my house awaiting new fabric.

I starting tacking on a heavy neutral linen that I thought I had enough of, but this thing eats fabric! SO now I am running to Zimman's this morning to see if I can find a match and get more. Wish me luck, I bought it 7 years ago. If I can't find it I think I might go for a velvet or a chunky texture. Would love a print, but I don't think I can handle keeping it straight on a curved sofa. I think I am going to put tufted buttons on the back and I haven't decided whether the channeling on the base is staying or going. I kind of like it, in a roller rink kind of way. I had to keep the gross fabric on that part on the couch in case I decide to recreate it. I googled my brains out trying to get ideas for this biggin'...

Very similar with a smooth front, but kind of boring.

Same deal, loose cushion.

Tufted seat.

Could not find a picture of anything with a channeled base, just lots of channeled marshmallow stuff in KW's pad...

SO, while I run to the fabric store I would greatly appreciate it if anyone has any ideas of things I can do to it, or if anyone has a cool couch image e-mail me! My brain is mush. Thanks!

Am I nuts?

OK, friends and family need not respond to that one. Found this vintage sectional couch today and I think I need it... Am I nuts? I just see such possibilty. Could have it cleaned or reupholster it in a great print.

My four year old thinks its cool, but that is just because his favorite color is orange.

What do you think? Love it or a hater.

Kicking myself

OK, I'm going to shut my yap about Flea Market season right after I finish this post. Here is what you missed if you didn't get to the annual opening of Todd's Farm Fleamarket in Rowley, MA this Sunday. We got there late (9:30 because my husband HAD to go running... Geesh! Where was his head at?) Here is a sampling of what I wish I bought. Kick, kick, kick. I only left with an old globe for $10. (I was feeling cheap at the time, and thought I really couldn't fit another chair into my house. Where was MY head at?)

How great are these? The dealer looked like Santa and wanted $50 for both. It really was like Christmas.

Loved the yellow bamboo armoire. Already sold by the time I got there.

Great table for $45! I'm liking the chandy too.

These 60's war-era posters were very cool. Was thinking of framing these for my son's room, but at $75, cheapness reared its head. The guy was all set with haggling too.

So wish I bought these 6 chairs, $50 for all, deal of the day. Would look so great with new fabric, and they were throwing a table in with the deal.

And some more cool chairs and stuff...

Next time, NEXT TIME!

OK, I'm done.

DIY Limed Oak Table (+ A Curbside Score)

I've been super ambitious lately. I made a huge TO DO list a few weeks ago and have been on fire. Being housebound during the recent New England flooding and now this fantastic balmy weather has only helped matters. So the past two days have been spent outside tackling my Mom's old oak table. It was the dining table I grew up with, so it has sentimental value, but it was stained and blah. Wanting to soften it, I brushed up on my liming skills on Google and found these instructions. I've limed before with thinned latex white paint. It works great for small, flat areas. This table had a lot of carved areas and the dry time of the paint made me nervous so I opted for wax. FYI, thinned paint will give you a whiter finish. This didn't exactly come out how I expected, and I had to make my own technique, but here it is...

Above is the before.

You will need clean, bare wood. I probably could have gotten away with just sanding the poly off but my hands would have went numb and fallen off. I opted for nasty chemical stripper. It did the trick, them I lightly sanded everything.

Then I mixed clear wax with whiting powder. What a beast! The wax was so hard, I tried softening it (the microwave crossed my mind, but it is highly flammable stuff), but I really have no patience. I'm sure this is part of the problem as to why it wasn't as white as I had hoped. Anyhow, after many wax-ons wax-offs I finally just rubbed whiting powder all over the table. That did the trick, and I sealed it with a thin coat of wax.

When all was done it had a soft, worn feel... no longer shiny and Provincial stained.

Oh, and the chairs were another project. Found these a few weeks ago in my neighborhood. They had lovely hunter green seats and a pinky maple stain, hello 1992, but the caning was in great shape. So, some new fabric and a little white spray paint was all they needed.