The Estate of Things

I found this:

and it made me think of this, which also makes me think of Belle’s dress from Beauty & the Beast.

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.

Checking in with the Indiana project…really I don’t check in, I should actually pitch a tent out back because I’m there so much.

This week there are different sub-contractors running all over the house.  The HVAC will be roughed in and should be complete by the end of the week. This was a significant unforeseen expense. The house has an existing oil furnace and we are changing it over to natural gas, this required all new equipment.  We knew that we had to extend central a/c to the upstairs but we had no idea that we would upgrade the entire system and switch fuel types. This was a blow to the budget and we had to make some adjustments.

Plumbers will begin their work this week.  The plumbing rough-in is expected to be complete by the end of this week. I spent most of last Friday afternoon learning about drop-in acrylic tubs and doing some price comparison.

Electrical rough-in is almost complete, the absence of a concrete kitchen plan has delayed the electrician’s work.

The windows were measured last week. The window installation is now 3-4 weeks away, this will result in the largest delay in the project thus far. I cannot move on to the next level until the entire rough-in and framing are inspected and the house cannot be inspected unless the new windows are in.

This week the carpenter will continue to repair the exterior. Some of the shakes needed to be replaced or added where windows were deleted. When the vinyl siding was installed all of the molding around the windows was trimmed down and the original wood brackets were also cut.  All of those are being repaired to look as they did when the house was built.

Well….I did a little of this

A painted stair runner.

Ok so I didn’t do it, professional painters did it. I told the painters that some people in the blogosphere said Frog tape was all that. So they used it. The verdict, it costs more and the blue tape is just as good. Clear floor epoxy was applied to protect those precious stripes.

This is not in my house, although I wish it was.  It is in a rental house in Southern Pines, NC.  You can see more pictures of this property at our flickr page. 

If you’re wondering all the colors are Benjamin Moore, Stone Brown, Icy Morn and the white is Richards 700 Oil Enamel (I use this on most of the trim in the remodels I’m involved in, my painter prefers this product) 

Hi Friends.
Today I have a question for you. (Specifically you Sarah! What do you think?)

When you are a renter and you would like to make updates to your home to make it more enjoyable, and you know that you’re ideas are in good taste and will more likely improve the quality of the home - is it better to ask for permission - or forgiveness!? I’m thinking about my new and tiny kitchen.

This is what I’m working with. (thanks iPhone cam)

Sarah added the image below to her Tiny post, about small kitchens. It gave me a bit of vision for the kitchen in my LA rental. Obviously, I cannot replace tile or reconfigure the appliances (as much as Kate would love to be able to). But, I believe I can replace hardware and paint the ceiling. Also, there is a lot of wall space over the sink that needs to be treated with some special attention. Should I be thinking metallic?? What kind of light fixture needs to hang over my sink? I can get those real tall cabinet pulls from Ikea for a price that I like, and I know a boy that might be down for painting the cabs a nice GLOSSY clean white….

Safely saved for inspiration, a bathroom by Roman & Williams via Remodelista.

Its so sophisticated yet at the same time it wouldn’t be totally offended if my husband were to say….pile his dirty clothes on it’s floor for 4 days.

Its that wall cabinet…I could almost lick it. Is that wrong? Too over the top? Eh…I don’t care.

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

So cute, the antique white clover table, $189

I had a beautiful and completely fun Valentine’s Day yesterday. How was yours!?

My friend Hotdog the Rapper and I hit the road for Palm Desert early afternoon, to scope out a location to host the party that our Audio Muffin bloggy friends are putting on during Coachella.

After a day of sweat and a beautiful sunset in the February desert, we decided to call up the Citron at the Viceroy in Palm Springs to see if we could get in for dinner. No luck being that our plan was spontaneously conceived on Valentine’s day, but we decided we should get dressed up and go check it out anyway. Target had a dress and a tie so we hit the 111 towards Palm Springs.

We wandered around in the dark and oohed and ahhed over the lobby, the light fixtures, the Kelly Wearstler ambiance, and the little villas surrounding the pools and grounds (okay I oohed and ahhed, Hotdog just indulged my whimsy). The staff was more than friendly, and invited us in for a drink at the Citron bar, encouraged us to poke around, and even took our picture. Hotdog pointed out that this is the difference between a 5 star hotel and a 5 diamond hotel. I can’t wait to go back to the Viceroy during the daytime. Here is a pic of me & HD in the lobby along with a few other images from the web. It was such a fun place to explore.

I agree with Sarah’s comment from the Sunday Reading post - that the magazine world would be remiss not to engage bloggers as the same community. I’m really interested to see how the glossy medium continues to adapt to the threat of the internet. As advertising dollars continue to decrease, will these publications find new innovative ways to monetize so they can continue to carry the expense of publication and distribution?  We physically love to hold and smell and thumb through the pages of a great shelter magazine. How will we satisfy this tangible allure as we tread deeper into digital publication?

I had some conversation with Robert from Downtown about the collapse of many of our favorite magazines. He had some interesting points about why he particularly thought it was a travesty, pointing out that photography is never accurately presented on the computer screen, thus images of interiors are never presented in their true state, mis-conveying perhaps the beauty of the room’s colors. I found this to be quite interesting and valid. We discussed the Australians and Canadians and our mutual appreciation for their contributions to the racks. As a result of this conversation, he mentioned a News Stand that I should check out where I could find these publications and more.

So, before leaving West Hollywood, we stopped in at Sherwood Magazines and bantered some more with the guys running this little shop. I don’t think I caught the shop owner’s name but he was so very friendly and savvy, maybe a genius. I felt so happy for him, for jumping on an opportunity to satisfy a need that he saw in the community. Sure, there are newstands everywhere, or you can go peruse Barnes & Noble for your best bet at a great collection of magazines…. but this man is personally piecing together a collection of magazines that are specifically relevant to the art and design industries. For as long as there are magazines in print, his shop is sure to be a gem in the West Hollywood hood.

While eating Cheerios this Sunday morning I was perusing through Elle Decor and realized…

In the past two months design bloggers have been turning up in shelter magazines quite frequently. Who’s been popping up?

The designs of one of my favorite bloggers, Erika McPherson Powell from Urban Grace, was featured in the February issue of Southern Living.  Urban Grace Interiors will also hit the glossy pages of Coastal Living next month with a feature of some of Erika’s kitchen designs. Erika tells me that the feature was intended for Cottage Living but the magazine folded (tear) before the story ran.

After picking up Elle Decor’s February issue just yesterday I discovered Jamie Meares’ store Furbish Studio is listed as What’s Hot in shopping. In that same issue Meg from Pigtown Design was quoted in the Baltimore feature.  Coincidentally, I just visited Meg’s blog for the first time last week after she left us a little comment here.  Thanks for the heads up on Milkshake Meg, I’m curious.

I recently read that Better Homes and Gardens has contacted Lauren of Pure Style Home and wants to drop in for a photo shoot. Her home is slated to appear in the December 2010 issue.

The mother/daughter team from good bones, great pieces designed Lauren’s first apartment together. That apartment was featured in this month’s Traditional Home.

***Update***thanks to the readers, I need to add the following bloggers in the press

John and Sherry from Young House Love write a column for DIY magazine (an extension of BHG) called He Said She Said, their most recent entry came out in the January issue.

Thats all I have heard in the pipeline for now, am I missing someone? Please let me know, I’d like to post about it.