The Estate of Things

Kate and I have been talking a lot about what to do with the dining table and 4 chairs that her mother gifted her. The apartment is close to 100% empty and so we really don’t need to prioritize replacing it with the desired tulip & wingback combo (or whatever might be more desirable.) Looks like we have another project on our hands. I do love spray paint.

I was initially inspired by the upholstery on this chair at Downtown but I got over it when Sarah told me that she was not a fan of this chair.

So, we hit up some fabric stores today to see what we could find. The trip to Sew L.A. (in Silverlake) was a beautiful one. Sew L.A. is a fantastic resource for fabric made familiar by your favorite Etsy sellers.

I was hoping for a Chiang Mai, and thinking we could make a quick impact without too much effort. I probably wouldn’t normally have thought to go this route without the prod from Jamie’s recent addition to Furbish Studio, seen on iSuwannee.com.

(thanks Apartment #412 and Rowdy from Furbish Studio for the images)

After a quick stop in the coffee shop across from Sew L.A. I saw the green crocodile upholstery on the chairs there, and I couldn’t get it outta my mind, so the kitschy cute styles at Sew L.A. were no longer an option. In my single sightedness, we hit Sunset blvd toward downtown on the quest for croc.

The garment district was pretty awesome, starting first with Michael Levine Inc. After a few snaps with the camera, I was asked not to take pictures inside. (my apologies that I can’t visually share with you the awesomeness. You’ll have to come visit.) They had all of the novelty fabrics that Sew L.A. had and soo much more. (but not the right crocodile or chiang mai). All in all - a great day - though I came home overwhelmed and empty handed. Let me know if you have any ideas that I should be considering for a table make-over.

Not the right crocodile, but getting there.

Kate doesn’t know what Toile is. We’ll help her.

Ethan Allen has got a little accent table thats on sale right now.

So cute, the antique white clover table, $189

These people are beautiful and so is their store called Downtown. I want to tell you more about the hand selected vintage merchandise and I will soon. My friend Derek took me on Saturday and we met Mr. Robert Wilson and chatted for a bit with him about Downtown. Mr. Wilson is a warmly composed man and it was a thrill to stand around and rap about Interior Design, the travesty of mass shelter magazine collapse, as well as 20th century masterpieces and the next door gallery that sold Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup cans to a daring buyer for $100 each. We ventured over to that gallery and saw an informal presentation of Warhol’s contemporaries. (notably Ruscha, Lichtenstein and I think Rauschenburg - but I saw no labels).

Please visit the Downtown website, downtown20.net and prepare yourself for more than one post as a result of my visit there on Saturday. Mr. Wilson stated that most of their business is done locally, that over 75% is directly to the trade and that they also do rentals to LA’s movie and television industry. Please check out their inventory on 1stdibs. If you see anything you must have, well……. perhaps you can have it! I can’t.

Enjoy!!

I love you! I miss you!! I wanted you to look like this one day!?

Sometimes you need a little audio to go with your visuals.

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Tuff n’ Stuff - by YES GIANTESS

While that little dittie is getting going, I just want to introduce the topic here. We are gonna take a visual journey through the gender specific executions of the Tufted furniture onslaught. Then let’s discuss our favs.

From AubreyRoad (a suggested read by isuwannee)

From Anthropologie

From Urban Sardines Blog

From Anthropologie

I’m digging the greys in a colorful femine atmosphere. Though I wouldn’t be opposed to visiting if your house houses a deeper rich leather tufted sofa surrounded with some industrial appeal.

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.

Back in September Jenny from Little Green Notebook posted about Pottery Barn’s aluminum accent table. I ran across an aluminum table in a room featured in Bo Bedre. This one in use in the living area.

Going through Sally Conran’s portfolio I happened upon it again, this time in the bathroom.

Jenny from LGN found one in a bedroom at Velvet and Linen.

PB’s version of the table is now out of stock but as Jenny reported Z Gallerie also carried a similar table but at a much lower price point–for $99.  I checked and they are still available here.

Moral here…this table has more versatility than a Honda minivan

I was turned on to Bo Bedre a Danish shelter mag by a reader, thanks Anne-Sophie!

While trolling around the site I found this bedside table which is sticking with me.  I think it’s because of the way it hugs the bed and although the styling is modern, the homeowner made it warm with the accessories that are placed there.  It’s just a little refreshing change to the squat, wooden night stands I’m used to seeing.

You can find a similar look at CB2.

Peekaboo

Zest C

This solution is the answer to high impact on a low budget. Making a colorful statement with an old piece of wooden furniture goes beyond trend. Its a really practical way to recycle old furniture and get excited about it again, not to mention save some duckets, something I’m sure I’ll push hard to do as I’m thrifting my way into new apartment decor. (If I can ever find a suitable apartment!!)

I caught a feature noting a few before and afters of this trend in my new Fresh Home magazine that arrived in the mailbox yesterday. I mention it now, not b/c I have these images to share with you, but because I figured that if you are into painting furniture, then you may be interested in keeping an eye out for this mag. It’s similar to ReadyMade in that it includes guides for easy DIY projects around the house - its a little less hipsterish and more homemakerish.

Jenny of Little Green Notebook might be into it. I noticed today that she snapped a pic of the magazine cover and posted about an Ikea Expedit project.  She is an example of someone who has turned some old furniture dogs into vibrant statements. Check out a few projects we grabbed from her site to show you!

Jamie of I Suwannee is about it as well. Not only is she refurbishing furniture for her own home, but she’s made it a valuable part of her Design Services and now the exciting new store front that she is opening later this month in Raleigh, NC. See this great “day in her shoes” post from a fellow blogger, High Heeled Foot in the Door.

The grand party of the Furbish Studio opening is November 21st. Please go in my absence, and tell her that I love her and I’m so excited to see this coming together. Here’s one of many pieces that you can buy while you are there!