Things I've been meaning to post for a while

A while back I came across a store called "Calico Corners." I had never heard of it, but its apparently a chain of home decor fabrics (ie NOT apparel). I was quite excited and inspired by some of what I found in the store. Below are two pictures I took with my cell phone while there:

 There was a lot of other less cool stuff there too, but overall I was impressed. I had a project in mind at the time and I thought these fabrics were good candidates (albeit more expensive than I was into)

Well, since I have been on spring break for about 48 hours, I decided it was time to do a project. The first thing I did was rearrange my living room- remove the black side table near the window, move the couch down, and put the armoire/tv back in the corner. Also I switched around a lot of my lamps. Specifically, I switched the floor and table lamp from my office into the living room, and moved the eiffel tower lamp down to the side table.
I had some ugly pillows on my couch that I bought with the intention of recovering. So I decided that could be my next project. I went to Joanns with the intent of getting some fabric that could go over those pillows,but while I was there I was struck with a better idea.

 

Remember this chair? Well I found a fabric that I could see myself covering that chair with. I can't find the fabric on Joanns, so you'll just have to see the actually pictures.

First you can see the pillows I made for the couch. I think the living room is really starting to come together.

This is what I did for the seat. Be patient- this isnt 100% done yet. The pillows really are the same size even if they look different in this picture. The front of the cushion needs some work- it's rounded in the front and was a challenge for me.

 

The best part is yet to be reveiled: one of the things I didn't like about the chair was the back. It was a little less formal than I would have liked. So I found a way to make it look more like a chair and less like patio furniture. I considered buying some foam and really making a back, but that would eliminate the need for the pillows. This worked well and it was much easier than my other ideas.

 This is the back- looking good, right? A lot more like an actual chair.

 

 

And a side view. I basically just made a case for the back and slipped it over. Probably the easiest part of the whole project.

Busy Break

I've done many projects over this break (and consequently many posts)- but I'm not done yet. I finished painting the table and put it in place in my living room. I switched my ugly floor lamp with my ugly table lamp, because of the length of the table and the size of the lampshade.
The color of the table is the same as the color of my desk. It is called "mocha white," basically a white with a slight brown tint. I am quite happy with it. I also replaced the knob on the drawer on the front-- for a whole $.49. Ace had a basket of "clearance" knobs and that was one of them. It's a nice one-- much heavier than I would normally consider buying. Perhaps in the future I will get a pretty knob for it.

(Franklin likes it too: see fuzzy butt)
Pretty knobs: I think you can see what I'm going for.

knobs by aburlock on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Knobs  - Hardware  - Anthropologie.com, 9.19 CAD
Knobs  - Hardware  - Anthropologie.com, 9.19 CAD
Knobs  - Hardware  - Anthropologie.com, 9.19 CAD
Hardware  - At Home  - Anthropologie.com, $8
Anthropologie.com > Decorating > Hardware, $8

Another find this week is this other table. Maybe its a console table? I'm unsure. It's currently in and going to stay in my office. I intend to paint it, as soon as I pick a color.

Currently its serving as a tissue paper flower/cat bad table. It needs some work. There is some damage to the detail on the legs, and notice the piece of paper I'm using the keep the table level. It needs to be reinforced a little.

Heres a close up of the table with a couple color options I picked up at Ace.

When I'm looking at the table in person, I like the middle option best. But when I see it in the picture, the darkest option strikes me. Either way, the lightest option is out. Another possibility is to do a completely different color altogether. I have seen many projects where furniture is painted a crazy, unexpected color, and this might be a good chance to do that.

color! by aburlock on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » before & after: Jelena’s Dresser
Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » before & after: Jelena’s Dresser
Before & After: Lady in Red
Before & After: Lady in Red
A Family Heirloom, Revamped

I guess time will tell. My classes and work start again this week so I can't promise this will be finished soon.

Well...

For a while I've been thinking about replacing my bed with something that allows a fabric headboard.
Until very recently, I was the proud owner of an Ikea MALM bed, which I bought in Chicago about 5 years ago. It's treated me well, but I needed a change.
I listed the frame on Craigslist, and within 4 hours, it had been sold! I was surprised it went so fast, and unprepared, so I spent a night sleeping on my mattress on the floor. You see, the MALM bed doesn't require a box spring. So I didn't even have one of those.

The day after it sold, I set out to find a boxspring or equivalent, and a frame. I bought just a standard metal frame. This isn't the excited part. The exciting part is now I get to make a headboard! Below are some of the headboards I dig and will be taking inspiration from:

Headboards by aburlock on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Overlapping-Squares Headboard | west elm, $199
Diamond Tufted Headboard | west elm, $349
Velvet Tufted Headboard - Aubergine, $300
Modern Velvet Headboard - Lagoon, $280
DIY Weekend: Upholstered Headboard « Lauren Messiah

These headboards range from out of my budget to completely ridiculous.

But, making a headboard very similar to the ones shown isn't an impossible task. Below are some DIY-d headboards.

diy headboards by aburlock on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
A Photo Gallery Of Dramatic Home Makeovers and Before & After Pictures...
How To: DIY Tufted Headboard Charissa's February Jumpstart Project...
How to DIY a Tufted Headboard | Meet Mabel & Violet
Upholstering A Headboard Is An Easy And Cheap DIY Project- Here's A...
Tufted headboard - - - - by apartmenttherapy.com

I don't think this is a project I want to rush into, so at the moment I am headboard-less. I have ideas, but I need to do some research before I move forward.

My Favorite Blogs- Shelter Blogs

I know I did a post like this in June, but I feel like it can't hurt to tell you again about my favorite blogs.

First and foremost:

Making it Lovely is an awesome blog by a woman who lives outside of Chicago. Her blog is about her adventures "transforming the so-so" in her house, as she puts it. I really like her color choices and have been learning a lot about placement of objects from her posts. My favorite posts are about her china cabinet in her dining room, her pink christmas tree, and her living room rug! I highly recommend checking her site out. Also, she is a finalist for Apartment Therapy's "Homies 2009"-- You have until Jan 6th to go to here and vote for her!

Next, in no order:

High-Heeled Foot in the Door

This blog is about Camilla's journey starting a home design business. Her blog regularly features other designers/bloggers who write an "in the day of.." post. In addition to the great projects she does herself, which are very much along the lines of mine in terms of style and budget, her features introduce me to a ton of new and awesome blogs. Many of my regular reads are a result of her "In her shoes" posts.

Good Bones, Great Pieces

Good Bones, Great Pieces is written by a mother and daughter team. The mother worked for Martha Stewart for many years but now works as a decorator. They have exquisite and often very pricey taste. They also are more on the traditional side. Their blog normally serves as inspiration for me to find a copycat piece or item for a lower price. In addition to interiors, they also blog about fashion. Again, very classy, pricey pieces.

These ladies are very accomplished-- in addition to the mother working as a producer for Martha Stewart Television (and winning five Emmys!) the daughter worked as a fashion writer for Teen Vogue. And, they have been featured in House Beautiful and Martha Stewart Living.

Tomorrow, or later today, I will write about my favorite DIY type blogs.

Salvation Army Find

I went to the Salvation Army this afternoon intending to donate some stuff I had cleaned out, but apparently everyone else in Ann Arbor had the same idea. The line to donate was crazy long, so I decided to just take a look around and try again tomorrow.

I found what I thought was a really cool looking cabinet, perhaps a speaker. I had plans for it immediately replace the front with two cute little doors, paint, and use in my office. BUT, it was actually the amp for an organ, for sale only with the organ. I don't have room for one of those, nor the need. So that was out.
In the furniture section, I did find a cute little side table. I was particuarly drawn to it because of the detailing on the drawer, and the legs. It looks very similar to my desk, and could make a cute printer/plant/lamp table or whatever in the office.
I plan to paint it-- but the color depends on where it ends up. If its in the office, I would probably start with the same white as my desk, and maybe use an accent color. But when I got it in my apartment, I put it next to my couch, and now I'm torn. It could make an excellent side table.
So I don't know whats going to happen to it. But I'll let you know.

I don't want to brag but...

Pink christmas trees are totally cool this year.
And I've had one for like 4 years.

At Michael's last night, I saw they had light pink trees on sale for $19.99. I don't know how tall they were-- maybe 5 feet? If I had room for one and cats that didn't knock things over for sport, it would have been mine!

Candles!

Grad school has made me rather thrifty. This year for christmas I decided I wanted to make my female relatives (aunts, mom, stepmom, grandma) candles. Since I've had some time off to relax, and I had multiple coupons for JoAnns, I decided to try my luck at making candles today.

Last weekend I collected some old canning and jelly jars from the salvation army to make the candles in. I decided to get them there so they were not all the same, and I got some pretty ones. Different shapes, sizes and patterns.
I got wax, wicks, dye and scent, and set to work. I don't have a fancy double-boiler candle maker thing, so I improvised. I read online that a coffee can would work, but I didn't have one of those either. I did, however, have a can of mandarin oranges. So I had a little snack, cleaned the can and started cooking! (kind of..)
I took action shots.

My high tech set up...

Three jars in various stages of getting ready: you have to put in the wick and then keep it standing while the candle hardens. They probably sell some fancy tool for this, but since I was using a can of mandarin oranges for melting the wax, I went with the low-tech "use a spoon" method. It actually worked out quite well.

I poured the tallest jar first, then I had to melt more wax to pour the next two. You can see the taller one is lighter than the smaller ones, and the wax continues to lighten as it cools.

This is about 30 minutes after pouring. You can see the wax is even lighter.

I used french vanilla scent and brown dye. Brown really wasn't my first choice, but Joanns had a limited, strange selection of colors. Lavender, yellow and brown. OK? I guess "french vanilla" lends itself to a brown color, so that's ok.
Since I wasn't sure how this was going to go, I only bought 1 pound of wax, which I used up. Tomorrow I will probably go to another store (Michaels?) to scope out their selection, and get some more wax. As the wax is drying, it settles, so you have to "top it off." I didn't plan well so I didn't have any wax left with which to do this. And I have many more candles to make.
I'm hoping to find one more color and maybe another scent. I don't want to get too complicated-- I have a limited supply of cans in my cupboard in which I can melt wax.
The best part about this is now I know how relatively easy it is. My new question, instead of "would this look good on my head?" will be "can I make this into a candle?"

Armoire

 The pink color in my armoire has been bothering me recently. I am trying to build a living room that is cohesive, and the pink was just not working with the other colors in the room. Either because this week has been rough or because I felt free for Thanksgiving Day break, I decided it was time to repaint the inside of the armoire. But what color? Perhaps a grey.

Small Spaces

I realized tonight while talking to people at a party that not everyone has an appreciation for living in small spaces. The word "loft" was tossed around like a dirty word. I was heart broken!




The conversation reminded me about an awesome loft I came across on a website (in stockholm) that for me, is really amazing. It might only be 32 m2 (about 350 square feet) but it looks very livable.

(picture of the living space from the loft bed)

I apologize because this website is not in English, but the pictures speak for themselves.
http://www.alvhemmakleri.se/index.php?page=hem-till-salu&object_id=OBJ17735_1005694042&view=images

FYI- this studio loft is for sale if you're still looking for that perfect christmas present for me.

Little Chairs

Why are little chairs so awesome?
Every time I come across mini versions of designer chairs I have the urge to buy them.
So you can see what I mean, here are pictures of some mini chairs:

These sets are both from Chiasso.com, but I know they are available elsewhere. So cool!
The first set is a mix of designers- Meis Van Der Roeh Barcelona Chair, Charles and Ray Eames, the Hardoy butterfly chair, The blue Panton chair, and others
And the second set is all Eames chairs.
You can order them for me at www.chiasso.com.