A New Life

Hello everyone,

Back in 2008 my partner and I were visiting one of the local Farmer's Markets downtown one Friday.  This market is pretty cool- there are craft and antique booths, fresh vegetables, and Joseph Decuis brings in a booth and sells hamburgers and other fine foods.  This place smells amazing!  Anyhow, on one of our trips to this place we encountered a booth this lady had set up selling old dining chairs that she had painted black and placed trendy fabric on, the chair was only about $80.  The only reason I bought the chair was because I liked the lines and the details.  However, I quickly grew tired of it, and needless to say it had to be changed!

 Here it is in our old apartment- that place was so UGLY!

 Outside before stripping the paint

 Satan's fabric

 Here was the surprise underneath the ugly fabric- MORE ugly fabric.  And it stank like old cat piss.

 Gross

 The supports underneath had rotted out- no wonder we couldn't sit in it.

Ready to be stripped

After I had removed the fabric, I used paint stripper to get the layers of bad black paint off.  This stuff was nasty- it burnt through my rubber gloves, burnt my arms, and got in my eyes.  Never again!  Then I sanded the wood for what seemed like years.  Originally I had planned to paint this cream- but once I sanded down, the wood looked nice and weathered- like a chair from Restoration Hardware.  I like that store, so this was a bonus of the project!  I selected velvet for the chair fabric, I knew that in a high traffic seat the velvet would be distressed enough to match the wood- and it looks great!  Overall I'm very happy with how my project turned out, and I look forward to doing it again with another chair- I know my bedroom could use a seat.

 Final Product

 The worn velvet gives it vintage appeal

 Medallion

 The black paint got stuck in some of the carving, and it really helps to accentuate the details

Leg Details

I hope that you enjoyed todays blog- it's a bit off character considering my blog is mostly about shopping/style/my boring life etc.  lol

Until next time-

Man of the House: Mason Jars

Hello everyone,

Hopefully none of you are blowing away in the wind today.  Goodness!

If you're like me, you need to decorate your apartment in a classy way and on a budget.  I simply don't have hundreds of dollars to blow on knick-knacks, so from time-to-time I have to improvise.

Mason Jars:

We all have them lying around in our fridges, pantries, and God knows where else!  And once we're done with them, we always toss them into the recycling can (and if you don't recycle- shame on you!).  Well after making my Pesto Pasta I got to thinking: what can I do with this empty jar?

For only $5- you can go from this:

To this:

Please excuse the empty Cloche- I'm trying to find a stuffed bird to place inside

Just wash out your jar, and remove all of the labels/adhesive from the front.  Pour about 1" of sand into the bottom of the jar, and take a small candle that coordinates with your color scheme and push it into the sand.  Voila!  You're done!

This same technique can be done with bigger jars and candles as well.  I plan to save up some more jars throughout the winter, and decorate my balcony with Mason Jar candle holders of all shapes and sizes.  The candlelit ambiance will be a nice addition to the lapping waters of the canal and the fireflies.

Complete the look:

Sofa - Color: Granite

Table - Broyhill: Discontinued

Lamp 

Cloche - Hobby Lobby

Book - $2.00 at antique store

Hippo - vacation gift

Throw Pillow -  TJ Maxx

Until next time-