The Estate of Things

You might like to know that Overstock has got some handsome modern nursery furniture right now.

This affordable beauty has a non-toxic finish, converts to a toddler bed and is made of sustainable pine. Did you notice is was pretty good looking too? The customer reviews are good so far. At $379 , the modern espresso crib is an affordable option.

Maybe you also want the dresser/changing table companion? This piece is $439 at Overstock.

Is the Expedit a workhorse or what? This thing just doesn’t quit.

For times when you can’t quite afford the custom built-ins in the playroom yet.

P.S.

Loving that bead board ceiling!

After coming home empty handed from our weekend flea market jaunt, I turned to Ebay and began searching for my friend Kristine’s living & dining rooms (posted about here) and a little for myself of course.  Thought I’d share some things I’m watching, thinking you might find them appealing as well.

Click on the image to link to the auction.

super fabulous brass & glass coffee table

This huge vintage table cloth or tapestry would look pretty great framed and placed in a teenage girl’s room or a tween’s room. Your thoughts?

dynamite pair of upholstered x base stools

I thought you should know that Z Gallerie has got the the triple threat of ottomans. Friends, if I didn’t already have an ottoman that I loved one of these would be mine.

I’m wondering if the Tullsta armchair from IKEA could be converted in to a rocking chair for a nursery?
 

image via Canadian Family magazine

Do you think a carpenter/reupholsterer/wood worker could put rockers on the chair?

$149 for the chair, $50 for the slipcover, $____ for the transformation? I love those Serena & Lily gliders as much as the next gal but this is a much more affordable option.

We’ve strategically named most of the pieces of furniture in the house.

Roomate Kate and I picked up some tufted sofas. The upholstery is kinda wack, but we like it.  (a white brocade w/ gold buttons). She soaked the cushion covers for a  day in Oxy Clean and then ran them through the washer with a mix of Tide & Care Bear detergent. True enough, they cleaned right up.

The shape of this thing is begging me to recover in an unassuming cotton or linen, maybe even a large scale floral - perhaps paint the wood a complimentary solid. Other option - a tea stained linen or grain sackish material and distress the wood, taking it almost down to its grain..  What would you do?

I’m thinking about it over breakfast and listening to Caribou - Lalibela

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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?

….. with a coffee table.

We met at the Rose Bowl Flea Market when I went with Sarah. (I DO have ALL the pictures and I do suck at life).

At $800.00 I can’t quite consider this love as anymore realistic than the love I felt for Jason Bateman as a 12 year old. Unrequited, not a chance in hell. We left it there.

A couple of days later I saw this little repro at the Women’s Council Thrift Shop on Santa Monica blvd with a $250 price tag on it. I sat there staring at it longingly for tens of minutes. My roomate Kate came over to see what was holding me up. She crinkled her nose when she saw the object of my affection, I dared not to let her open her mouth for fear she might speak badly of this table, she knew not how deep my affections for its $800 counterpart ran.

She was right though, Ultimately too brassy. too small, too much monies for our poor pockets. I found several reasons why it wasn’t Jason Bateman, and I’m guessing its pretty gone by now.

I do not know this type of table by name or designer. Would love it if anyone out there does know so that I might google search away. Here is an image that Sarah sent me recently. Perhaps it will begin popping up more and more.

Kristen Hutchins

Supreme respect for this gentleman. I’ve mentioned my trip to Downtown before - an awe inspiring establishment, arrayed with antiques as well as an in house collection of furniture production.

That initial visit provided an opportunity to chat with Robert, but I unfortunately missed David. This Friday night our band had its first event DJing an Art show, to which David attended. I had carried thoughts of this canopy chair that I saw in his shop. I was miffed by the triple threat of this canopy, on its italian renaissance base and with a superbly modern mix of fabrics for upholstery. I made Derek listen to me drone on and on about my suprise at that combination on the drive back from that store, going on about european traditional translation of chinese pattern, the resurgence of florals as interesting pattern in modern decor, and the mix of these elements together in this piece of furniture that had kinda blown my mind.

As you can imagine, I pounced on my opportunity to ask David about this chair and the resulting story was pretty incredible. He initially asked me if I was familar with Kelly Wearstler. The chair was conceived for a space that she decorated in New York for restaurant, and was then selected for a French Vogue photo shoot. See image below for final product. The fashion designer had a mix of florals in dress and David, with his gutsy intuition took inspiration and pulled together the dynamic mix of patterns seen on the canopy chair upholstery. He also dropped a little knowledge on me about the origin of the canopy chair.

Well done sir! I was so utterly moved by this piece of furniture and completely thrilled to have had the opportunity to dip into David’s well of experience concerning it. Thanks David!

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.