The Estate of Things

Craig said to Roomate Kate: Here is a pretty (but busted) couch for $20.

Roomate Kate to Betsy: Check it out, its tufted and ONLY $20 I could use it for my office, or we could use it for the dining nook. Do you think we could fix it up?
Betsy: I don’t know if it will fit in our space, but for $20 who cares, we could see?

Betsy to TEOT Facebook: Whoa! $20. This is a project that someone should definitely take on.

Kate to Craig: How ruined is this couch?
Craig: The cushions are more dirty than ruined. Buy Me!

Betsy to Sarah: What do you think?
Sarah: Its a little dramatic with those yellow drapes and to answer Kate’s question that she posed to the seller below, they are pretty ruined, both stained and coming apart . If you’re going for the tattered and tragic Anthropologie catalog shoot look then this is your couch. You couldn’t just sit on it, you’d have to drape yourself across it just to watch NJ Housewives.

do you think we should buy it?

Just when I decided that I wanted to do my own striped art canvas (yes I’m still talking and not doing) like this one,

 or this one in a bedroom in Elle Decor,

I started reading all of this talk about creating your own abstract canvas or creating a dynamite grouping in a single evening like these canvases that Mrs. Blandings wrote about,

or making swell art out of red tickets,

 via Blue Bell Bazaar

or framing fabric or wallpaper like this,

Summer Thornton

image via Domino, posted recently at Little Green Notebook

or making your own abstract or your own modern masterpiece like this,

Lee Kleinhelter

Brian Willis, Blue Moon

You can see how I got a little distracted.

After finding this suzani on Ebay for my friend Kristin who wants to frame one and hang it over her sofa, I told her why not just paint your own canvas, its cheaper, way more fun and all of the kids are doing it.
 

***Update*** One of our readers Christina emailed us and inquired about the yellow floral wallpaper in the Summer Thornton room. It is Kimura and it can be purchased at Walnut Wallpaper among other places.

Earlier in the week Betsy wrote a post about the dining set her roommate inherited. How could they upgrade it?

Might I suggest…

Painting the chairs and the base (?) white and applying this fabric

The fabric is Kravet Streetwise in Cafe. I found it at Modern Fabrics and on Ebay. I thought this fabric would jive well with the House Beautiful kitchen Betsy admired from the tiny kitchen post.

This image from the recent Flor catalog also got me thinking about Betsy & Kate’s dining area.

Looking at the table above made me think that if the table top isn’t in acceptable shape, maybe it might look great white and the base could be left black.

I think I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the stylists for the Flor catalog are pretty damn good in my opinion. There is a really strong mix of modern, antique and traditional in that catalog, free inspiration comes in the mail every few months.

Um…. Amazing. This is the magical tree that I want to live in my home.

I want to try this.. I can do it. Right Kate!? Looks to me like our girl used Dried Up old Branches and attached crepe party streamers to them and then twisted and pinched and billowed the party paper. BTW Ruthi Auda’s blog is amazing.

Jenny knows how to align the two and that is precisely why Little Green Notebook is one of my fav blogs to read! Basically what I’m saying is take a look at the Silver Leaf Dresser post and cast your supportive vote on the Homies if you’re into that sort of thing.

Now, the chances of me actually DIYing a Silver Leaf anything are pretty slim - but I do have serious admiration for Jenny because everytime I see her latest project process posts - I just feel so inspired. Don’t you!?

You’ve seen it, here and there and everywhere - I’m sure! Yet, this lovable and quite easy trend was just triply re-enforced with DoorSixteen’s post about its staying power. She’s amassed quite a great collection of stunning examples of the black wall in action. Did you see them!?

I was reminded that this image was the one that had me at Hello back when it first appeared.

I gave it a shot in my last home. The lighting pretty much sucks in my photos here… but let’s take a look for sake of nostalgia. I’ll never get to take a better picture than this cause that bathroom is dead to me.  (I do greatly miss my 1500 sq. foot furnished home).

I used a black paint that leaned a little towards grey/brown. I wanted to make sure it was warm and didn’t come across feeling blue or purple and soul sucking.

Please note my DIY shower curtain too. Everyone I know owns this duvet from Ikea!! It is a great pattern and I have yet to tire of it. However, I did grow weary of seeing it on my bed everyday!! So, I re-purposed it and now it is my super tall shower curtain! The added height over the tub made it feel just a bit more luxurious. Not bad considering the beige that I started with.

I’m looking forward to making a similar transition with the bathroom in my new joint. I’ve been in the new place for less than two weeks, and I’ve only slept there a grand total of 4 nights…. If I was smarter I may have taken some of this holiday time to stick around in LA and put my life together there…. But there is NO WAY I could volunteer to do that when instead I could attend an Avett Brothers concert for New Year’s with Sarah and Dan!

If you want more, check out Apartment Therapy’s post a Bevy of Black Bathrooms

Yeah!!!! Thanks Ami. Check out her post about this cool crocheted lamp pendant on SunsetGurlDesign

My, I do love a blue/green Christmas!

Not only can Alia from Sweetshorn Vintage thrift but she’s also pretty handy behind the bar. Alia sent this over to me this morning.

This ginger-infused vodka makes a more interesting cosmo and great-tasting drinks that aren’t too frou frou for male party goers. Once made you can decant it into smaller bottles, add personalized tags and you’ve got a beautiful holiday or hostess gift that anyone on your list would be thrilled to receive.

Download these sweet tags for free at Martha Stewart.

A great way to turn cheap booze into a smoother-tasting (not to mention less hangover-inducing) beverage is to run el cheapo vodka through a Brita pitcher four times. This will give a you a great base for creating homemade infused spirits for your holiday soirees.

Ginger Infused Vodka:

1 bottle (filtered) 750ml vodka
1/2 c ginger root coursely chopped

1. Combine vodka and ginger root in a clean container. (Reserve the bottle for storing finished product.)

2. Seal the container and store in a cool, dark place for 3 days, shaking occasionally. After 3 days, pour the vodka through a strainer and discard the ginger solids. Return the strained, infused vodka to its original bottle.

3. Store infused vodka in the refrigerator or freezer

This bespoke spirit is delicious on the rocks, with club soda or in White Ginger Cosmopolitans. These clear cocktails look especially beautiful in frosted glasses. Just run some cold water over martini glasses and stick them in a fridge for an hour.

image via Amy Atlas

Ginger Cosmopolitan:

Combine with ice in a cocktail shaker:

2 oz infused vodka
Squeeze fresh lime juice
1 oz triple sec
2 oz white cranberry juice

Shake and strain into frosted martini glass. Garnish with lime wheels and enjoy!

Thank you Alia! 

Alia maintains her Etsy shop Sweetshorn Vintage and occassionally guest posts for The Estate of Things.

My brother just wrote me an email where he said: I like your house, its like an experiment left abandoned. He was holding the fort down and finishing up some of the details of moving until my renter got in. And maybe what he meant was that the move effort was abandoned…..  But I immediately thought to myself “he’s so right….. It was a dabble in the art of home making and it was discontinued before it was done.” There were so many things that I still wanted to do there.

But I love new stuff and new adventures. So now I’m thinking about how to prioritize my desires for a brand new (much smaller) EMPTY home. Its gonna be a work in progress for a long time. I’m already having fun thinking about a sideboard thingy. I have had my eye on this one from IKEA since the last experiment in home making.

image from Apartment Therapy (not new anymore!)

As new and shiny and easy as that Ikea option is….  the sideboard that Jamie is rocking at Furbish Studio has me scanning Craigslist and itching for an afternoon of freedom to hit up some local thrift stores to see if I can’t get lucky and score myself a project. (My eye is on St. Vincent De Pauls Thrift store for some super deals.)

So obviously a couch is going to be a huge consideration for the new place and I’m sure we’ll discuss that at length when its time. But I’ve realized that I’m pretty excited about what I will find in the way of bulky vintage furniture that I can paint and place in my little new home.

Is anyone out there in the Los Angeles area!? Any super tips on furniture thrift stores!?

Isn’t this stool at JC Penney…or something really close to it?

 Room photographed by James Merrell

And hey didn’t the girls from Matters of Style paint and recover this stool?

 Yeah…I thought so.