doctored up old paintings and lauren moffatt

Did any of you check out the April issue of Lucky Magazine featuring clothing designer Lauren Moffatt's home? I received this magazine in the mail in March and I haven't stopped thinking about Miss Moffat's "doctored" paintings, aren't they darling?  She hit it on the mark with the colors and I love that she took something discarded and dated and made it fresh and so, so pretty.  I have a lot of oldish original painted art in my home but I already like it all for different reasons so I was scared to try this with anything I already owned.

I found this diamond in the rough at St. Vinnie's on Saturday.  I really liked the flowers, I think they're magnolias, but the black/red background was not doing it for me, and the leaves looked a little forest-y, so I decided to try my hand at customizing it to suit my tastes.  It was under $10 so if I flubbed it up, it would just go right back to St. Vinnies and I could call it a double donation.  I've been obsessing over the pinkish/orangish melon/coral color for the past year or so, and I've been wanting to incorporate it more into my home so I mixed up some acrylic paint and went to town.

It's definitely a step in the right direction but I'm not totally sure about it yet.  My husband is on board, he likes the color, but it might be a little too "crazy lady" I think I may need to tone it down. I also might make the leaves more chartreuse, since that color works better with the coral than this forest-y greenery.  This image from Martha Stewart might work as an inspiration.  I painted the entire black background white first before the coral, I was afraid of painting directly on the dark.  Even with those 2 steps, the whole project only took about an hour.  The different shades of coral are actually a happy accident, I kept running out of paint and each time I re-mixed it, a new and different shade appeared, but I like the depth it adds. 

Oh and by the way, I really love Lauren Moffatt's line.  Check out her presentation for Fashion Week, it's not a runway show but an installation of sorts called The Old School for Wayward Girls.  Look closely and you can see some of the paintings from Lauren's home hanging on the wall.  This video was made by Jeff Hendricks.  I was introduced to this brand in 2004 and have noticed over the last 8 years that her brand has a suuuuuuuper strong point of view, it's very vintage, pretty, detailed and feminine, with lots of muted colors and also bright colors paired with beiges and creams and pretty little prints, oh and lots of gold details like buttons and zippers.  If you're interested in her collection, you can find it on her website, and also a cutie-pie feature on her at home with her daughter Stella on the Glow here.

newly painted dining room and upholstered shield back chairs

What have I been doing for the past three months?  Painting my dining room...with an artist's brush, just  a few tiny strokes per day.  Actually, I've been working out of the home since the beginning of February but I did paint my dining room during my hiatus.  I am in absolute love with the color.  It's called Deep Sea Depths by Benjamin Moore.  I had it color matched to Sherwin Williams Duration paint because I like it and I get a family employee discount there.  My husband actually did most of the painting, it was his birthday present to me.  He's a really great cutter-inner, much more patient than I am.  Here's what it looked like before.

I've also been working on my dining room chairs.  I bought them just a little over a year ago, I actually have two sets of shield-back chairs for a total of 11.  I have 6 completed and plan to finish at least 2 more to flank the buffet.  I'm not sure if I'll keep going after that or not, they're labor intensive, and I'm not convinced it's really worth all that work for the (very seldom) occasion that I have more than 8 people seated 'round my table.   I may go into more detail about how I upholstered them (inspired by a Pure Design episode) if anyone is curious.  I didn't take process photos but I could with the next few.

The balloon centerpiece and chinese lanterns are left over from a birthday dinner I threw for a few friends last weekend.  Hosting the celebration was what helped me get in gear to finish up the chairs and paint, I work well with under pressure.  Now I need a new deadline for my next round of to-do's.  Anyone have a birthday or any other special occasion coming up?

vintage find: umbrella stand

Sometimes great vintage finds don't need to be relegated to thrift stores and yard sales. I popped into a local interiors shop Iconi last weekend and walked out with this awesome zinc and brass umbrella stand for under $50. I had been looking for one of these for my entry for a long, long time, years actually. Trolling garage sales, thrifts, Ebay and Etsy never lead me to anything special enough with the right price. When I spotted this little number locally, I thought for sure it would have a 3 digit price, so I was delighted when the tag read $48.

Now, can we talk about the elephant in the room? That golf umbrella, ugh. Functionally it is amazing, it has a 5 foot wingspan, 2 tiers and keeps your whole body (and your buddy's) dry. Stylistically it is...not so good. At one point in my life I owned several beautiful long handled umbrellas, my dad went through an umbrella-gifting phase while I was in college. Sadly, one by one, they've all been left in shops, restaurants, libraries or loaned away. I've rounded up some fun umbrellas for my wish list, along with some other great stands below:

I'm really into florals lately, I don't know what's come over me, I've never been an overly flowery girl

Clockwise from top left:

-The muted colors of this floral are so this moment $63.99, Amazon

-This purple and yellow vintage floral could go granny quick. Pair it with a kelly green rain coat and it's fresh again. $26, The American Homemaker, Etsy

-This colorful vintage pagoda style umbrella is so fun, I love its shape. $48, Atty's Vintage, Etsy

-And now for my favorite, I really love everything about this one, except perhaps the price: $134, Umbrellas.net

I really couldn't find many good umbrella stands online. Are these soon-to-be bygones? Nevertheless, here's 4 I did find:

-The cutest ceramic owl from two's company through Amazon, $119

-I'm not sure what this is really supposed to be (it has a lid) but the size would be perfect and I love the not-shiny gold color and diamond wire pattern, $139, Antiquarianone, Etsy

-Viva la Umbrellastand! Okay, viva is probably not the right word for this asian themed stand but wow, that color really screams "here I am!" Nobody would ever forget their umbrella at your place with this flasher in your entry. It really is the prettiest shade of green, but might be harder to work into your decor: $89.60, Ebay

-This is really what I thought I wanted: a white ceramic stand with a little something special in terms of texture. I still like this option but I'm so much happier with what I ended up with. $38.88, Ceramics by Alice, Etsy.
Clockwise from top left:

This ruffly black umbrella is from Amazon, $42.99

I dig the clear dome shaped umbrella, especially this one with the blue trim. It would look so special with a printed slicker. Price not listed, Caccessories.

I once spotted a fancy lady coming out of Neimen Marcus in Chicago in a tomato red trench with a sky blue umbrella. That pairing has stuck with me for probably 10 years, though I have yet to recreate it. Add this sassy red pagoda umbrella to a light blue coat and the color combo is yours, at a nice price, $27 from Amazon.

I've seen this red and white show stopper around the net a lot, but I couldn't leave it out, it's so pretty: Bella Umbrella Pagoda, $129, Umbrellas.net.

start with art: a map inspired big boy room

This edition of "start with art" is inspired by a soon-to-be-three year old boy giving up his nursery for the newest member of the family. The former guest room needs an upgrade to suit this rambunctious colorful boy. What better place to start than with the art, I love the colors of the World Map in Aqua by These are Things, $99. The rest of the items are sourced below

Clockwise from the top:

-Small globe, $27, Chirp, Etsy The one shown is sold out. Here is another.

-Map, $99, These are things

-Owl night light, $49, Fruitfly Pie, Etsy

-Orange Pattern Pillowcases $68/2, Anthropologie

Turquoise Sheet set, $54, Urban Outfitters

Map Pillow, $55, My Bearded Pigeon, Etsy

White Duvet, $103, West Elm

Orange Blanket (for the foot of bed) $98, Garnet Hill

Suitcase Set, $25, Land of Nod

Flor Tiles, total of 18, $216, Flor

Armchair, $199, Ikea

Yellow/White striped fabric for window treatments, $6/yard, Fabric.com

Pillow for armchair, $75, Plum Cushion on Etsy

Overhead light, $59, CB2

Dresser Lamp, $35, Land of Nod

Orange Dresser (image for inspiration) Sydney Barton Painted Furniture

I'm back, and my newest craigslist find

I'm baaaaaaack. For now, anyway. I had forgotten how hard it is to do anything with a newborn. This little guy is not a fan of being put down so my hands are tied approximately 15 hours per day. Fun!

I've discovered a great one-handed past time (via Marcy Davy of All Things Grow) called Craigs Easy. It allows you to search Craigslist in pictures vs. clicking on every link. If you haven't tried it yet, do it now. The image above is a screenshot of the site in action.

I had basically given up on Craigslist out of lack of time and patience unless I had something really specific I was looking for, but this new little discovery helped me find this new chair for my girl's room for $150.00. It is pretty much the most comfortable chair I have ever sat in and the upholstery is in perfect shape. I'm not sure how long it will stay in her room, though. My favorite part of the chair is the back, and it's not showcased (or even seen) in its current home.

I really liked the green chair I had in her room before, but it is 1/2 of a pair of chairs (also a craigslist find.) I've signed up for the next MATC upholstery class so I plan on finishing up the 2nd chair and putting them together in the living room. I really like pairs of chairs together.

I've got a few other little things going on but my boy is up now so I'll pop back later. Have a great Friday!

start with art: michelle armas

This edition of "Start with Art" is dedicated to...me. I've been thinking about redoing my dining room for a bit now. Not a total re-do but a freshening up. I've got way too much yellow going on right now and I'm over the terra cotta walls. I bought a new dining room set super cheap on Craig's. Actually, rewinding a bit, I bought a set of 5 shield-back chairs at a local antique store for $125. My plan was to buy 2 arm chairs to supplement the side chairs, but I found a set of 6 matching shield-back chairs and an oval table during my search for $250, which was less than I thought the 2 chairs would be. Needless to say, I now have 11 chairs and a table to refinish/rework. My normal limit of furniture I allow myself to keep en queue is one. Unfortunately, I already had one piece waiting before any of this craziness so now there's a total of 13 pieces in my basement waiting for love.

But don't fear, I have a plan.

-I've been pining after Michelle Armas's pieces for some time now and I've decided to use this piece as inspiration for the room. The colors are absolutely perfect. In real life, I will probably buy one of her prints, I'm not sure a $1400 painting is in my future but a girl can dream.

-The brown bambooish drapes, the light fixture, buffet, rug and mirror are here to stay.

-The current table and chairs are up for grabs.

-I've already found someone to sand and paint the chairs white for a reasonable price with a 10-day turn-around.

-My spring/summer project will be the table and upholstery.

-I'm thinking either the Imperial Trellis, Chiang Mai Dragon or a simple green/cream houndstooth fabric for the chairs.

-The brown and pink pillows will go on the bench I have in the room.

-I'm undecided about the walls still. (paint/wallpaper/stencil)

I think that covers everything. Anyone wanna buy a dining set?

the updated nursery

I just realized last night that a post I wrote last Monday about taking a blogging break to nest-up was never published, further proving the point that I needed to take said break. A friend of mine that was due to have her baby the day after me gave birth a week ago, which really made me feel like it was time to knock some things off my list while I still could. It was a good week.

I didn't really have to change that much in the nursery, all the bigger items stayed. It was fun to dress these shelves for a boy using stuff we had around the house already. That baseball mitt, I thought was my husband's, but he informed me it was from the 1940's or something like that and he couldn't remember how or when he got it. The chalk board belonged to his mom (it was a double hinged one that was falling apart.) You might notice it says "T" but don't start guessing yet, we really don't have a name picked out.

The tricycle photograph is by Sweet Eventide. It's in an Ikea Ribba frame, with a professional mat. The little bookshelves (inspired by this post) are Bevkam spice racks ($3.99 each) from Ikea. I used two here, one on the side of the glider and one on the changing table to house creams and wipes and such.

The bunting was left over from when this was my girl's nursery. I had to flip the pink/girly fabrics that were showing so that the assortment was more boyish. Ryan still thinks there's too many flowers on it but oh well. My mom helped me make the shades out of some sheets we were using in the former guest room. They're the "Max" pattern from Serena and Lily. She made the crib skirt out of the same material.

It's a bit hard to see the mobile in any of these photos, here's a closer shot. The wooden nursery rhyme-themed pieces were part of my baby mobile from the '70's. I updated it with a new, more modern mobile base.

The egg lamp was my biggest purchase for the room. It's more of a nightlight and casts a dreamy glow over the room at night.

The spice rack again, attached to the changing table.

I used a lot of art in the room from the Art Wall website. This little assortment features the other half of my MIL's chalk board, dressed with one of the nursery rhyme mobile parts and Shanna Murray's words. Next to that is an original by Papersparrow. There are two prints in the nursery by Gretchenmist. The photo is a limited edition metallic print by Jen Zahigian of Roadside Photographs. I made the embroidery piece with a sample Hable fabric.

The second Gretchenmist print connects the two little art clusters nicely. The "Small Mighty" photograph is the second Sweet Eventide piece in the room. The tree stump piece is a Gocco print by The Littlest Flower. The banana pinewood derby was made by my husband as a kid. I'm not sure who took the photo, someone with a nice lens (thank you.) The second embroidery piece/clock was also made by me. Most of the artwork was mounted using a Xyron onto wood painting panels, an easy and inexpensive option for framing. Tutorial to follow.

sweet p's toddler room is finally finished

It's actually been finished for a while now, it just took some time to snap the pictures. The room is on the smaller size, and has some weird angles as you'll see so it's hard to get a good perspective on it. I have the full set of room images on flickr, and also some before/after projects from the room.

I reupholstered the seat of this chair in a class I took a while back. It sat in my basement for 3 years, then I finally gave it to a pro to finish up for $150.00.

This was my bed growing up. I made a decal of sorts using regular text-weight paper, navy blue acrylic paint and adhered it with Xyron. I was going to paint it straight onto the bed but I got scared...and wise.

It's a little crowded with the table/chairs added but it's probably the thing that keeps her playing in here the longest. She loves to prepare meals and tea parties for her babies.

These shelves are made from the tops of doorways (not sure what they are called.) They came from a salvage yard in Illinois, and were from a University building at my alma mater: U of I. I had these for probably 6 years before I did anything with them. The other 2 are up for grabs, I'm not sure I can hold onto them for a another 6 years.

Painted table and chairs...one of the "to do" items on my 2011 intentions list, check!

A well-used reading nook with room for babies and kitties, too.

A very hard to find navy lampshade, etsy lamp, and vintage owl night light (also from etsy.)

The original inspiration board. The only thing I didn't do was include the pink bins. I didn't have a place for them once everything was in the room.

cuckoo clock installation from the land of wandawega

Okay, I'm still thinking about Camp Wandawega, remember my post from last Friday? I am in awe of Teresa Surratt's ability to put together collections using unexpected things.

This grouping of 5 cuckoo clocks was hunted, gathered, painted and installed by Teresa for her new baby daughter's nursery at the camp. I love that it's not all girly pink and yellow.

Darnit if they don't make me want to hit up ebay for some of my own, they look so charming.

I also included a few more shots of the nursery because it's that kind of room. Paint by numbers mural, vintage crib and light fixture, painted blue floors...check! Baby Charlie is going to love her trips to Wisconsin.

camp wandawega

Each summer we get together with a dispersed group of my husband's friends from college and their families in Wisconsin for a mini-vacation. I'm not sure the group would go for it (it's less than luxurious) but I'd love to check out Camp Wandawega some summer.

A former church camp, this Elkhorn, Wisconsin property has been lovingly restored, decorated and brought back to life by Chicago couple Teresa Surratt and her husband David Hernandez. The Camp offers 3 vintage boyscout tents, a 3, 2, and 1-bedroom cabin, and lots of room to roam, complete with an archery range, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, a campfire area, shuffleboard, horseshoe pit, private beach, pier and canoes, there is something for everyone. The information is vague on the shower/bathroom situation so this may be a destination for when the kiddos (most are aged 0-3 years at this point) get a bit older, but how fun would it be to spend time every summer in this charming spot? The one drawback I can see is the lake itself. A tourist would not expect that this lake is not exactly "resort-y" I think it is 5-feet deep at most so don't expect to bring your speed boat.

Check out Teresa's blog, where she talks about thrifting, curating and spiffing up the camp.

NOTE: The Brimfield Come Flea with Me group is teaming up with Camp Wandawega to offer a campy shopping event the weekend of May 15th. To learn more, visit comefleawithme.com, visit the Brimfield store or call 773-520-4338.

Images: Theresa Surratt

lost and found

I've never been one for making impulse buys, especially with furniture. If you check in with my blog from time to time, you'll notice I have a little lust going on for the swinging rattan chair, as evidenced recently here, and also here. I saw one last week on a random trip I took through Westside Antique Mall priced at $100. I made a mental note of it and walked on, 99% sure I would buy it, just not that day. Fast-forward to today and of course, the swing was gone. Every other item seemed to still be living there but the swing chair is no more. I don't let things like that get me down too much, I just move on from them and look at the up side-at least I don't have to store anything in my basement before it gets dressed up (I try to allow myself only one piece of furniture "en queue" at a time. I have a cane chair waiting for me patiently so I'm already at my self-imposed limit.

I've been falling out of love with my dining room lately, remember this post? I haven't done anything with the room yet, but I found those shield-back chairs from the dining room post priced at $125 for 5 during today's trip! Ummmm, that's $25 each. Lesson learned, I promptly snatched the price tag and paid for them. I would prefer 6, but since I plan to upholster the "shield" part of the chair, I don't think it should be too hard to find one more. Another option would be to find 2 complimentary captain-style arm chairs, and just use 4 of the shield chairs, or I could substitute a bench on one side and do the four shield chairs. I'm rambling here. Now, what to do with the finish and upholstery?