Score!

I found this at Walmart today for $2 a yard. It's gorgeous. My pathetic photo skills don't do it justice. It might be silk. Seriously.

Belson Outdoors

I love these thermoplastic coated benches and could see them working indoors in a contemporary setting. The backless benches would look great at the end of a bed or at a dining table, and the backed benches would be colorful fun in an entry way and elsewhere. The benches are just a sampling of all the neat stuff at Belson Outdoors. One of their fire rings belongs in my backyard, for sure.

Posterhanger by Jorgen Moller

These hangers are a great inexpensive alternative for hanging posters and textiles. Available in silver and black anodized aluminum, they range in lengths of 12 to 72 inches.Their sleek profile allows the hanging object to be the focal point. Nice and simple.

Pending Credenza Project

This is a Thomas O'brien piece that I picked up at Target several years ago. It has good lines, but it isn't the most well made piece of furniture. For sturdiness I give it high scores, but the finish leaves something to be desired. The veneer is thin and easily chipped. It doesn't get a lot of use, as in opening and closing of the drawers and doors (or dusting), but if it did it would probably be a wreck. It has the darkest finish of anything in my home. I liked the dark stain a few years ago, and I actually used to have a few more pieces from this line which I have since sold on craigslist. Initially I thought I would unload this piece on craigslist as well and replace it with something lighter and brighter. Then I got to thinking that because of its simple lines, it would be a perfect candidate for decoupage. A little paint and paper can make a world of difference. So now I'm on a mission to find some cool pictures, or paper, or something that inspires me.

Hagemann

Quite a few years ago I came across a flip chart of four life science educational posters in a local antique shop. It was more than reasonably priced, the artwork was stunning, and recognizing my good luck I wasted no time in purchasing the set of pictures. I separated the posters from their hanging frame and at times throughout the years have used them to decorate my walls. I made the oak hanging rails, as I knew framing the art in the manner it deserved would cost a small fortune. The posters are mounted on canvas in their manufacture, so they are actually very sturdy. The two pictured above were most recently in my bedroom before the redo. Thinking that I might sell them, I took (crappy) pictures before releasing them from the hangers. When they aren't hanging on a wall, they're stored under my mattress. They are quite large, and my unconventional storage system has served me well.

Some time ago I decide to see what I could find out about my posters and googled the information that was printed on the bottom of the charts. Eventually my search landed me here. In recent months I've seen several posts in various design blogs, such as a Black. White. Yellow. (a favorite), giving recognition to the beauty of life science posters. Oddly, I haven't seen the original source of many of these gorgeous educational charts, Hagemann, named. Hagemann's website isn't the easiest to navigate, and unfortunately the Hagemannstore is friendly only to the brave or those who speak German. I know there is at least one American source for a respectable selection of these posters, but to my knowledge there is no American source for the entire Hagemann catalog, and I would encourage you to examine the entire catalog if you want to see some spectacular works of art.

Edit: I may be wrong about the above linked source not offering the entire Hagemann catalog. After perusing the site, I am pleasantly surprised by the large selection of charts that are available. Given the quality of the posters, the price is very fair.

Trumeau Mirrors

Links in order of pictures:

Richard Rothstein
Jasper Jacks Antiques
Town and Country Framing
French Interiors
Becky's Rose Cottage
Restoration Hardware
La Belle Nouvelle Orleans
C. Mariani Antiques
Lavender Hill Studio

And a couple of fantastic DIY trameau mirror tutorials:

Kristen's via Matters of Style




Susie Harris



I can totally see a thousand variations and getting kind of radical with pattern and color.

Woolypocket

I'm obsessed by these things to the point where I lie awake at night formulating a plan to make my own. How I wish some crafty person would post plans for a home made version so I could just be done with it.

The Blue Chest

So here it is. I'm leaving it for now, but I haven't ruled out further embellishment. The pictures sitting on top are temporary until I find a place to store them. I'll probably take the hanging light fixture down and use a table lamp instead.

Word is light wood and pastels are making a comeback. I guess I'll just have to be unfashionable.

Pondering

I broke out the Barkeeper's Friend of which I learned about on the amazing blog, Little Green Notebook. The hardware polishes up nicely. I may leave it alone. Not painting it will certainly cut down on project time.

I think I made a mistake in priming the chest first. The primer is causing my foam brush to really drag. I'm going to get some super fine sand paper and sand between coats. I haven't primed the drawers, and I may not. I'll see how subsequent coats of paint go on the chest. I'll ditch the brush for a roller as well.

In the meantime, my house looks like a cyclone struck...

Progress...well sort of...

The chest of drawers jumped ahead in the queue. This piece of furniture belonged to my mother. Yesterday I managed to sand the chest. Today I'm going to tackle the drawers. My goal is to make the piece look a lot more contemporary, so I'm going to be brave and paint it a saturated, glossy blue. The hardware will get coated with a Rustoleum Metalic, Matte Nickel. No words can describe how happy I am to be giving this pretty piece of furniture the attention it deserves.

My grand vision is one of a lot less brown wood in my living room. This is going to be labor intensive, as I have a lot of furniture to paint. Almost everything in the room is stained wood. Oh well, one piece at a time...

Weekend Projects

Anticipating the good weather, I pulled a set of these chairs out of storage a couple of evenings ago. The set consist of two arm and two side chairs that I found months ago at Tuesday Morning. I'm going to sand and paint them. Probably white. My goal this weekend is to complete the sanding.

I also have a lovely chest of drawers that belonged to my mother that I'm going to pull from storage as well. The chest will get painted too and possibly a contemporary decoupage treatment. I'll post more pictures as these projects progress.

Pottery Barn Bistro Chair

I just noticed these cool chairs. Going through an anti dark wood phase at the moment, I would love to see them painted.

The Palace Portrait

Sunny Forecast

Yay! We're expecting a sunny weekend and relatively warm temperatures. The temperatures have been substantially below average around here, so this is welcome news. I'll have three days to soak in the light and get things done around the homestead. Excited? Yes!!!