Wing Back Chairs

I just decided I need a pair of wing back chairs for the sitting area in my bedroom.  'Wing back' often screams 'old lady' but I am honoring that little old grandma would resides in my soul and going with it, of course adding modern and whimsical fabrics.  I excitedly boughta pair of chairs on craigslist for $12 each and am now scoping out fabric to have them recovered in.  Yes, they are totally vintage, claw foot and all and I am already obsessed with them...just not in their current, garish state!

Here is what I am thinking of having the chairs recovered in:

I always think of a set of chairs or a couch as a man in a nice suit.  

So, I am all about classic, solid, wearable fabric.  I am not 

too much into flash on a set of chairs or couch...that's where the pillows

come in!

Side note: on a single chair I would throw caution to the wind 

and go funky!  Especially on an old vintage chair that is screaming

for some funk!

 I just can't decide if I wan to go dark or light???

and pillows in these (I like to think of pillows as the 

neck tie accompanying a classic suit...be bold) :

 I just love this, and think it will play off our bedding nicely.

Thinking a nice medium sized square pillow

click here to see our bedding blog

I am totally gaga over this fabric!  I think it will pair

nicely with the pattern above.  Thinking a lumbar 

pillow to sit in front of the square gold/cream fabric.

I literally want to glaze my walls in this pattern!!! 

I am also liking this, but not as much as the birds!

So, I would love your feedback.  Call me, text me, leave me a comment...give me your thoughts.  Then, come spring, come read books and gossip with me in what will be the coziest little nook.  I cannot wait!

Throw Pillows

I think I am going to update some throw pillows.  I like these patterns and textures together, but...does anyone else agree?

West Elm SALE!

Ohhhh, may someone out there benefit from my duvet cover browsing.  I am not in search of a king size duvet cover, but just came across this stunner, that is on wicked discount.  King size sale price $39!  Get you some! 

Click here for link

Just add some crisp white sheets, you are set! I love most

anything with a Greek Key pattern.  It's a pattern that you will 

often find in old architecture and it always makes me happy.

I love this pattern, but also love the ticking stripes pattern in the

 picture below.  I switched out our bedding and our bed is currently 

covered in a lonely, coverless duvet.  Sad story for that poor guy. 

 I might do a combo of these two patterns.  

My love of ticking stripes always makes me feel like I should live

in the country and work at a general store.  It's a big love.

Bonus, this duvet is on sale for $39!!!  

I am thinking I will order the duvet cover in the ticking stripes 

pattern, along with two of the standard shams in the ticking stripes.  

Then I will order a Euro size (oversized and square) in the other 

pattern, to garnish the stripes.

Then look at this cutie in the same hue, that will sit pretty 

with the mash up of patterns. Ohhh, I am excited.

Now, must get my order in, before they run out!

OH, AND DON'T FORGET TO GOOGLE DISCOUNTS

I WAS ABLE TO SCORE FREE SHIPPING, ON TOP

OF THE DISCOUNTS!

xo

Mud Room

Of course I forgot to take a picture of what this room used to be (reoccurring theme, if you will), but it was a bit of a hot mess waiting to happen (wait, wait...that is much to kind of me.  It was actually a hot mess, on the constant!).  The tiny space was flanked by two doors: one out to the garage and one into the house.  In this tiny little space was the washer and dryer and a weird bit of open space that was just begging to be functional.  The main problem with this little space housing the washer or dryer is that the machines would bounce a bit, when in use, and would move enough to actually block the access of the doors.  On a couple occasions Zac would come home from work and literally be locked in the garage, because the washing machine blocked the door from swinging.  Crazy, right!

So, we decided we would do the unthinkable...MOVE THE LAUNDRY TO THE BASEMENT!!!!  OMG!  You would not believe how many people cautioned me against this, to which I always responded, 'if walking down an extra flight of stairs is a huge problem for me, I actually have a much bigger problem that needs addressing'...am I right, or am I right!?! So, we put up some walls in the basement, and later I will take you on a picture tour of our glorious new laundry room.  But for now, here is the very functional space that you step into, from the garage:

This was where the washer and dryer was tucked.  We removed the door 

that flowed into the rest of the house and patched and painted the door surround, 

so the mud room would feel like an extension of the house, not something we want

 to have shut off.  The bench cushion is my favorite thing.  I found an indoor/outdoor 

fabric I liked (well, I crossed my fingers that I liked it, as I only viewed a tiny 

swatch ONLINE) and had it shipped to my mother-in-law in Minnesota.  

She delivered this beautiful cushion when she visited this fall. 

 She is a machine, when it comes to stitching!

Hooks and shelves for everything!!!  

Another fingers crossed purchase was the set of vintage locker baskets.

I saw a listing on Ebay for a set of 4 baskets, but really needed 6, so 

I contacted the seller, in hopes they were selling more, and I was in luck.

I worked a deal and ended up paying $15 per basket, which is quite the

deal (if you ever price them out at a vintage thrift store). I purposefully

searched for locker baskets with closed fronts, so we could actually

conceal stuff such as hats, mittens, baseball mits and bike helmets.

The open shelving below the baskets is perfect for dropping mail, keys, 

school projects.  

   I use a vintage toast rack to hold coupons that are accepted all around our little town.  

They are right by the door out, easy to grab one when we head out.

No, it doesn't get any cuter!  

 

The space opposite the bench/shelving was an awkward

area that was completely underutilized.  We literally shoved

shoes in the corner, and leaned a broom against the wall. 

The walls are an odd shape, so we worked with a carpenter

to create a piece that would fill the space, and really give us 

maximum storage potential.  I love the results.  The upper

cabinets store a lot of back ups: hand soap, paper towels,

cleaning supplies, while the lower right section houses

the vacuum, step stool and broom.  The lower left is loads 

shelving that holds my reusable grocery bags, boots, picnic 

blankets.  

Built in storage.  Ahhh, a place to shove sh!t.

Textiles Galore

Our home in Oklahoma was oriented less than a mile from a fabric store. How easy and

fun it was to go and search for amazing textiles. I have yet to locate a fabric store around

our new home,  in Colorado (let's be real, I haven't searched too hard with the littles and all),

so thankfully last summer I discovered my one true textile love, on the dot com.

Here's my lastest order:

This indoor/outdoor fabric will be used to make a cozy

little cushion for our new mudroom bench

 (I will certainly blog that space, once the cushion is in place)

Isn't this ridiculously gorgeous?  This vintagey looking damask

(it's the color that gives it the vintage feel, in my opionion)

needs to be a throw blanket, with a cozy backing, STAT!

A throw blanket, for a friend who is having a little boy,

later this spring.  Backed with cozy cuddle fleece, it

will be perfect for snuggling up!

Did I ever report back that the chevron fabric (from a summer blog post)

 backed with cuddle fleece turned out as the most fantastic (and fab looking)

burp cloths ever...friend's new baby will certainly need one or two.

Getting excited, already!!!



Fabrics Galore...

I saw these burp cloths on Etsy and was immediately obsessed, until I saw the asking price of $31 for a set of 4.  I do love me some chevron fabric, but I am also blessed with a mother-in-law who knows her way around a sewing machine.  All I have to do is send her a picture, or draw up an idea and she knocks it out.  How do you ever repay someone for being so generous with such a talent?

So, I googled 'chevron fabric' and found the holy grail of chevron fabrics at fabric.com.  I googled 'fabric.com coupon' and found one that saved 10% on my order, and even received free S/H...score!.

I gave my mother-in-law a quick ring to make sure this was okay.  She was game for the project, so I had the cutest stack of fabric shipped to her!  She is so sweet, she was measuring out fabric for another project I had in mind for Logan and baby (and I cannot wait for it to be completed so I can share with you all!!!  Just you wait, it is adorable!) 

Here are a few things she has whipped up for me off of ideas I had or have seen in magazines:

The curtains in Logan's old room.  I drew up what I wanted, picked

out the fabric and she whipped them up! 

My favorite old 'log cabin' quilt (to the right) that was beyond

the condition for practical use.  My mother-in-law and I  used the

old beauty  as our guide for picking new fabrics that had that same

vintage feel, to create a quilt for Logan's 'big girl bed' (to the left), that

will certainly be with her for a very long time.  Soon enough we will be

in our new house and I will share pictures of her bed, all dolled up.

This is one of the first sewing projects we worked on together.

She is a very patient instructor!  I had the idea for a pillow

for the rocking chair in Logan's room.  I decided I loved the lavender

chenille fabric so much I wanted to use it on the reverse for the

pillow cover, then the flower is stitched chenille side up. 

Another sewing lesson.  I saw a similar bird and owl

 at a store, but didn't love the fabrics.  So I picked

out my favorites, drew up patterns on newspaper and created

these cuties with my fearless instructor.

We always get out the sewing machine when the in-laws are visiting...I just need to be more confident in making stitches when she isn't visiting (soon, that must happen!!!).  Here are the cutie fabrics I just had sent off to Minnesota for her to whip up a couple cozy blankets and burp cloths for baby boy.

Just like I saw on Etsy, right?

I ordered extra of the gray chevron fabric for a

cozy blanket.

For a snuggly blanket. 

Burp cloth copycat...go ahead and call me that!

One more on the copycat train.

Too cute not to have something whipped up in this fabric!