Arabian Nights

Anyone familiar with the Bombay Company? I love their signature flair.... every piece looks like it could be found on a set from Out of Africa. These pieces remind me so much of their style. This is a truly unique set- found by my friend Jessica on good old CL. The couch and chair are from the 20's and the chinoiserie style satin brocade was in fantastic condition, except for the seats, where it was actually disintegrating. The foam inside had turned to sawdust- quite the mess when I took them apart! Our challenge was to find a fabric that would complement the backs and arms... and a challenge it proved to be. She decided to go with velvet, but finding the right color- we had no idea how hard it would be to find the right shade! It was a good thing we had a swatch with us while we scoured fabric stores... but finally we hit upon the perfect thing- this rich green. For $8/yd it was a steal. I think they turned out so beautifully- now if only she can talk her husband into fanning her with palm leaves while she lies outstretched.....

My Happy Place

The bathroom is finished! Well, almost... close enough, right? Just a few finishing touches left. Our wonderful contractor friend Randy is building two highly imaginative sconces to frame the mirror, as the darling antique insulator lights I found on etsy do not provide enough illumination to be sure there isn't lunch between our teeth. Also, I am working on a decorative shower curtain, some towel hooks and wall art. All in good time. For now, a little dissection of the process. Our aforementioned friend Randy had the good sense and foresight to advise us to completely change the layout of the bathroom- see before pics in my last post. This meant digging down to the plumbing and moving electrical, and as anyone who has done this can testify- three times the time and money we were hoping to spend, BUT the end result is certainly nothing to complain about!
The tub I found for $175 on CL and the outside was already that fantastic weathered blue- I didn't do a thing to that. Randy and I did however sand and refinish the inside of the tub with a handy little kit from Home Depot ($50). Randy is a can do person and did not allow the cold outside to stop us from doing this project. He brought over space heaters and set the tub up on paint buckets and we did it in the garage. Randy also created a concrete countertop for the sink which we set atop an antique dresser.
With a lot of help from other friends, the rest came together. You have to love friends who work for bottles of scotch, pizza and promises!
I absolutely love how the stripes turned out- don't you? I had no idea how challenging those were until we were helplessly watching our uber-talented painter friend mark them all off and paint for 4 hours.
Isn't it obvious why it is now my happy place? I actually did say this out loud in the middle of a workout session when the trainer told us in the middle of a SUPER hard set to go to our happy place. I asked him "Is it ok if I go to the bathroom?"

Work, Interrupted

As is very obvious from the content of this blog... we are not super diyselfers... I live in awe of those who seem unafraid to try anything and have success at everything they attempt. Kind of the Midas touch of remodeling. This is not our experience. We have carved out little niches where we feel we can excel but when it comes to ripping out rooms and starting from scratch the fear factor has always just been too big. (As well as the wallet factor...somehow big mistakes mean big money!) So we have always relied on super talented friends who are willing to trade or help or whatever... and we have learned to live with things that sorely need to be changed out... but we are waiting no more! We have bit the bullet and gutted our main bathroom. When I say main, I realize how sad that sounds. Just look at it... long skinny hideous little room. The avocado paint on the wall was a desperate attempt to draw the eye away from the generations of dirt encrusted on the corners of the vanity, faucet and grout from previous owners that no amount of cleaning products, razor blades or elbow grease could fully remove. This bathroom has been the last hold-out, the Alamo, the Masada of our home improvement life. I am so excited to see it finished!!!

The Latest Addition

A dainty little wingback in a sturdy linen sprayed with hydrangeas. My favorite flower. Such a shame that these beauties cannot be grown in our climate zone. At least they can bloom in someone's room! Finished chair for sale upon completion $425.

Very old Wingback

I did it again...Forgot to take a decent before picture that is. This lovely wingback had been upholstered more than once...and as happens occasionally while stripping layers of fabric or wallpaper, the green stripe underneath was awesome! (Of course, all too frequently each layer is more horrifying than the last, like the living room wallpaper in the house we grew up in.) This picture represents the loving labors of my 13-year old helper. I know he is underpaid- please don't report me! The cat is obviously not camera-shy, if anyone is allergic... please let me know and I will not let our cat Mouse near your project. He loves to be wherever we are working.
As for this chair- I would estimate her to be approximately 80 years old... the innards were truly amazing. I have never seen a wingback chair with outside arms reinforced with a curved piece of wood that actually lays over the fabric pieces. The wings are stuffed with horsehair and the cushion is luxurious down. We had some fun (and challenges!) with matching this pattern front/back/side to side. I think she turned out magnificently.

In Every One's Life....

A little mundane must fall. Isn't that how it goes? Seems right- this week anyway. Do you ever find yourself with dreaded projects just staring at you standing in the way of the ones you really want to do? If I wasn't 100% certain that my sweet little old customer is not a blog reader, I would hesitate to complain about the little job I am working on this week, but I am in luck. She does not even own a computer. These two little beauties are not so bad in and of themselves, and a clever little design for piano or vanity stools, swivel base, feminine little backs... however- why? oh why? must we recover them in almost exactly the same thing as they were in before? Don't fear- I will never mock your fabric choice if I have the honor of recovering a beloved piece of your furniture. It is just a real challenge to "recreate" something that could have happened just as easily with a good cleaning. Oh well... this complaining is slowing me down even further. Don't wait for a big reveal...we will all be disappointed.

HIS AND HERS CHAIRS

These two classic chairs have so much potential. It has been so interesting, having been primarily a restorer of older antiques to work with some of the mid-century modern pieces that have such clean classic lines and blend beautifully with other furnishing genres. This raises the question- just what is an antique? I had always assumed that an item must be 100 years or older to qualify as an antique and this is so according to the U.S. customs office. However, by wikipedia definition, the word antique can have a broader meaning... "An antique (Latin: antiquus; old) is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age (see definition), beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society." I particularly like the portion of the definition which describes a collectible/antique as "an object which shows some degree of craftsmanship or attention to design." These chairs fit the bill, from the wood framed front, to the miniature buttons. So many possibilities! Please contact me if you would like me to recover these for you! You supply the fabric- I do the labor. Price for the 2 fully restored/recovered: HELD FOR JORDAN