Archive for March, 2009
Something Soft Underfoot
Our kitchen has continued to evolve after our 113 day renovation (where we grew to despise takeout and yearned for the days when we would once again have a kitchen sink). Of course we can’t mention the renovation without flashing back to our hideous before shot:
And here’s our totally renovated kitchen right after the counters were installed and our sink was (finally!) hooked back up again.
We loved the lighter and brighter look, but thanks to all that added counter space, it felt a bit bare. Slowly and surely we brought in glass jars, herbs in the window, a thick wood cutting board, and a few other touches to make everything feel more inviting and less sterile. But the biggest makeover occurred when we ordered a striped jute rug ($34 on clearance!) and plopped it down on the floor:
It’s actually the same rug from The Company Store that we have in our third bedroom (which we also snagged for 34 beans on sale last year). We’re dying to link to it on their website, but it’s not currently available- boo! But fret not, it keeps coming back after a few weeks of hiding so we assume that if you check back in a month or so it’ll be there- and hopefully it’ll be marked down to that magical $34 price.
I initially thought it would be strange to have a rug in the kitchen, but this baby’s jute so it’s virtually non-pourous. Everything seems to bounce right off, and we’ve lived with it for over a month without any staining incidents (and we’re two people who drink Pom right from the bottle while standing on it). So that’s what we have cookin’ in the kitchen. What about you guys? Any aversion to kitchen rugs? Any other objects that you use on your counters or windowsils to make your kitchen feel warm and welcoming? Do tell.
Fab Freebie: Ankasa For Your Casa
You guys may know of Ankasa’s collection of couture home furnishings which includes hand-embroidered pillows going for more than $300 a pop. But you may not know that one of our favorite online retailers, Ballard Designs, has debuted an exclusive line of Ankasa pillows for less than a third of the price. And thanks to the lovely folks at Ballard, one lucky reader is going to win one of these couture pillows on the house!
Each of these three high-end pillows is hand cut and features rich, hand embroidered details that are sure to dress up any seat in your house. You’ve got two 18″ square and a 12″ x 20″ floral throw pillow to choose from. Although with such hard work put into their intricate designs I feel like we should call them “carefully place” pillows, not “throw pillows.”
To enter, just comment on this post with the words “HAND ‘EM OVER” by Wednesday, March 18th at 8pm EST. And while you’re at it, we’d also love to know the most intricate, delicate or complicated thing you’ve ever made with your own two hands. A masterful painting? A mutli-course meal? An extra tall Jenga tower? Oh and in case you don’t know the giveaway drill by now: please limit one entry per e-mail address (our winners are blindly selected using random.org). This prize is available to US residents only. Good luck…
Looking for even more details on our giveaways? Check out the Giveaway FAQs. Images courtesy of Ballard Designs.
The Story Of A $7 Thrift Store Bench…
You may have seen the before & after bench pictures in our latest column for R. Home magazine. And we’re back to break down the process of completely transforming a cheap rickety ol’ bench with paint, fabric and a bit of elbow grease. Here’s the shoddy excuse for a bench that came home with us for $7 from Love of Jesus Thrift (yes, that’s really the name of one of our favorite local thrift stores):
We looked beyond the dingy wood finish and the dated fabric to see something with true potential. The clean lines and easy-to-upholster seat cushion meant this baby was primed for a major makeover. We removed the seat cushion and tightened the interior bolts which immediately remedied the bench’s rickety nature. And we gently sanded the wood with 100 grit sandpaper and quickly got down to the bare wood (older pieces make this especially easy).
Sanding is a great way to help prepare a surface for paint, but we also followed this step with a thin coat of white oil-based primer since we were planning to paint the bench a light celery color and we didn’t want any old stains or sap marks bleeding through our brand new finish.
Then we followed our coat of primer with two coats of semi-gloss latex paint in a soft celery green (Lunar Tide by Valspar) applied with a brush for a smooth and bubble-free application. Many people think rollers are the way to a smooth finish… but only for walls. When painting furniture items, especially those with spindles or thin legs, even Benjamin Moore paint specialists agree that paint brushes offer a smoother finish (along with paint sprayers of course, but paint brushes are less messy, more accessible, easily affordable, and they offer you more control). Just remember that two thin coats are much better than one globby one- which will definitely show brush stokes and drip marks- ewww.
Then we let the bench dry for at least 24 hours while we tackled reupholstering the cushion. We purchased just half a yard of green and cream lattice William’s & Sherrill fabric for a mere $12 and couldn’t wait to give our sad little bench a fresh luxe look. It’s important to take the time to carefully place fabric with a pattern before you start stapling so it doesn’t seem off-center or crooked. We cut our piece of fabric with a few extra inches on each side so we could shift it and check it out from the front to be sure that the lines were straight and centered looking before we whipped out the $12 Home Depot staple gun.
We secured the fabric to the bench by pulling it tight and stapling it at the 12 o-clock, three o-clock, six o-clock and nine o-clock position. This keeps everything centered and in place (instead of stapling in a clockwise motion, which tends to allow fabric to rotate as you rotate, resulting in a bit of a twisted and unbalanced final product). We layered the new fabric right over the old fabric since the cushion underneath was in great shape and we didn’t want to tear out the old fabric and risk ruining the plush little form of batting underneath.
After securing your fabric in the middle of each side with one staple, going around the perimeter of the piece and adding more staples all the way around takes about five seconds. And you’re left with something that looks pretty darn good- and that’s just the back.
When it comes to the corners, folding them like you’re wrapping a present (and checking that it looks seamless from the front) is the way to go. It usually takes at least two darts and two staples, so don’t try to do it all at once. Slow and steady wins the corner-upholstery race. And the great thing about this process is that you can always pop a staple or two out with a flat head screwdriver if you want a do-over. Which practically guarantees a flawless finished product.
Here’s our bench all put back together. Isn’t she a beaut? I wonder how many people laughed at that pathetic little $7 thrift store bench before we rescued her!
Here’s a top view to show how we did our best to center the fabric both left to right and top to bottom before stapling it in place. See the center line that runs down the center of the bench? And the stripes on each side that hit about a half inch away from each edge? It’s those little details that make it look clean and profession. Not at all like an afternoon project done on a serious budget.
If you can paint a wall and wrap a present you have all the skills you need to completely refinish a bench. And even if you can’t, you can now that we’ve given you the play by play. It’s easy and oh so rewarding. And every time a visitor stops to compliment your new addition you can offhandedly mention “oh this old thing, I picked it up for $7 at a thrift store”- priceless. Speaking of price, the entire cost of the whole bench project was $30 for the bench, the fabric and the paint. Not too shabby…
So go get benched! And tell us all about it.
Looking for another tutorial? Check out our How-To page for everything from cabinet-painting instructions to headboard-making advice.
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Reader Redesign: A Rowhouse Reinvented
Leigh and her man did some pretty amazing work as they rehabbed their Baltimore rowhouse from the ground up. Here’s her letter:
I’m a frequent reader of your blog, and I wanted to share part of our before/after transformation in our Baltimore rowhouse. Over a year ago we started renovations on our house after paying a contractor way too much to redo our kitchen. After that we tackled (almost) everything else ourselves. We have yet to take pictures of the whole house, but here’s the main living area’s transformation. Everything from the recessed lighting to the wood floors, framing, drywall, and even the exposing of the brick we did ourselves. I can definitely say I don’t want to have to live through a renovation like that ever again, but I am immensely proud of the hard work my boyfriend and I did. We also learned a lot of valuable skills – I, for one, never thought I would be able to install wood floors! – Leigh
How amazing is that? And you gotta love that Leigh and her boyfriend took matters into their own hands and learned a slew of new home improvement skills (love that exposed brick along the stairs). Thanks so much for the pictures Leigh! Click here to see more of her fabulous rowhouse makeover. And if anyone else out there has some amazing before and after photos- share the love!
Courtney’s Design Dilemma
When Courtney and Ben came to us for help with their new living room, we couldn’t wait to get started. Here’s their letter:
We desperately need your help in our new living room, but we’d also appreciate some tips for the adjoined dining room, especially in terms of paint color & artwork. Oh, and all the furniture in the pics is courtesy of the stagers hired by the previous owners, so we’re starting from scratch! The faux-finish on the fireplace has to go (it’s some sort of paint treatment on a thin piece of metal). I’d say we’re drawn to rooms that look modern and casual. Clean lines appeal to us and Ben has taken some great photos from our vacations so I’d love to see a room that can incorporate some of his shots and the treasures that we’ve picked up. We will not have a TV in the living room but would like plenty of seating. We’d love a new wall color but the walls are coved so whatever we paint the walls has to go on the ceiling as well, right? This isn’t the case in the dining area (there’s molding in there) so maybe we should do a lighter color in the living room and then do a darker shade from the same paint chip in the dining room? We’d like the space to be gender neutral and I tend to like rust orange, reddish, and more earthy tones. We really look forward to your advice. I’ll make sure to send in after photos! – Courtney (& Ben)
There’s nothing like a previously staged room to set the scene for a major makeover. Now that all the rented furniture has been cleared out, here’s the plan:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
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