Vintage Book Letters

Hey All! Is everyone gearing up for Christmas? We are but aren't. I'm so ready for the holiday but I still have shopping to do! Ack!!

In the meantime instead of getting things done around the house... I've been trying to get some items into the shop for last minute Christmas shoppers. You have most likely seen these before:

Similar ones were sold at Anthropologie and other specialty stores this season. They are super cool but were super expensive (to me at least). I knew it was a project I could tackle myself. 

Christmas Photo Time!

It's that time of year! When I am anxiously awaiting our Christmas cards to come in so I can address them and send them out. In the meantime here are some of the photos we took of the kiddos.

Adorbs!

I am very proud to say that I took these photos myself! (With much advice from my friend who is a photography expert)

I had grand plans of taking some of the Hubs and I but it didn't happen- time was of the essence (and I couldn't figure out how to work the timer on my camera)

Now come on orange envelope!! Show up on my doorstep!

MCM Chair Rescue

Hey Blog Friends! I have a fun makeover to share today but wanted to talk a little bit about what has been going on over here lately. My lack of blogging has to do with the fact that I have been fortunate enough to pick up some design work recently- Yay!! 

Unfortunately the kind of work I have is not "pretty" as in I don't have any fun pictures to share. I was lucky enough to win a bid to help with a master suite/ kitchen addition to a home in Texas. So it's all construction document/ CAD work for now. We're just at the beginning stages of the design- maybe towards the end I may have some more to share and maybe when the project is complete the owners and architect will let me share some pics with you all. But that is why the ole blog has been quiet lately.

Now- onward to chair makeover madness!

Remember me asking about these chairs last week? 

A little bit about them: A friend was getting rid of them because the seats were missing. For most people- yes I can understand tossing the chairs. But for me new seats are an easy fix! 

I loved the back and the frames were in great shape. And thank you for the comments on what to do with them. If I were keeping them for myself I would have definitely kept the wood as is. But because I'm putting them in the shop and because the wood was chipped and needed fixing in some places- matching the stain would have been tough. So in the end I painted them white.

And went away from the traditional fabric (as many of you suggested) and choose a more structured pattern:

To fix the seats I used some scrap plywood and made a template:

Which I cut and out and upholstered. Then was all finished!

Chair Christmas Tree Cat Action

I love the detailing on the back and legs- simple but still interesting. 

I'm so glad I was able to rescue these chairs from the garbage! I think they turned out awesome.

And another quickie- I had found some old window frames being tossed out the other day. One I painted red (and already sold) but was able to snap a picture of this one:

These are a quick fix if you happen upon some in your town. Just cut out some hardboard, paint with chalkboard paint, wood glue and staple into place and Voila! New chalkboard. :) 

If your curious I have a Facebook Page promoting my shop. Check it out if you want at

C. & S. Finds

Antique Princess Bed Makeover

So right now it's snowing outside. Which some people probably love but being a southern girl growing up in warm weather this is no fun to me! But given that my birthday is 2 days away it will be cool to have a white birthday- you know since my birthday is in December and all. 

Anyway- today I wanted share with you a bed makeover I recently completed. I found the bed at the Salvation Army a few weeks ago. 

I loved it so much I really wanted to keep it for myself  (like a lot of my recent finds) but I don't need a bed frame and its kind of girly as my world is full of boys. And once again I was having an internal struggle as to paint or not to paint. The wood was gorgeous but was marred needed fixing in several places.

I went the paint route as this bed is going in the shop. Where we live painted furniture is all the rage so I kind of go along with it. After fixing all the problems the bed had (including screwing the top of the headboard back on and adding new decorative moldings) I sanded and began painting it with my homemade chalk paint.

After some distressing I finally got my hands on some furniture wax (MInwax Brand) and gave it a few coats. I love how it made the surface feels smooth and glass like!

I found myself wishing I had a little girl or space for this bed once it was finished but oh well! Can't keep them all I guess. Hopefully a little girl will have a new Princess Bed for Christmas!

Opinion Por Vor Vour??

So a few weeks ago I scored these awesome Mid Century Chairs for free! Jeah!!! (Anyone else watched that show- totally guilty pleasure)

I love the back of them- something I would love to have in my own home. You know, if I didn't already have an over abundance of chairs and a booth in a furniture shop to keep full. They are missing the seats but that's an easy fix.

Anyway- my problem is this:

I'm not sure how to revamp them? My first thought was go bold! I have some bronze Modern Masters Paint I think would look really cool with these. But I didn't want them to be too crazy since I am reselling them. So I have some extra fabric on hand I thought would go well with the bronze:

But... is the fabric to traditional for the chairs? I like mixing it up but I'm afraid this might be a bad mix up.

Would the chairs be better with a simpler more modern fabric pattern? Should I still go for a metallic frame? I LURVE these chairs and don't want to screw them up. I find it hard to choose a design path when I don't know my end client.

Should I just go with my gut and do something I would like (Not necessarily the option above...)

Any advice is much appreciated!

And in closing- a picture of a cute baby :)

Stay warm everyone!!

DIY Marble Jewelry Hanger

Ooooohh!! A marble jewelry holder? Must be super fancy and expensive right? Well... not necessarily. If you have the right left over parts it can actually be pretty cheap. 

I had this old soccer trophy my mom made me take home with me when they were cleaning stuff out of their house. One of those- "take this old high school junk out of your room or I'm throwing it away!" moments. (Yes I was in high school in 1998- please don't do to much math here ok?)

Twin Nursery Reveal!!

Hello All! Today I am super excited to share with you the finished Twin Nursery!!! The twins aren't officially due until the end of December but with Mom put on bed rest a few weeks ago it was time to put this redesign into high gear. (Nothing like the prescription of bed rest to put a fire under your behind.) Babies don't wait for anyone!


For those just joining us this is a nursery design done for a friend. She is pregnant with boy/ girl twins, has 2 boys under the age of 4 and her husband is deployed right now. Can anyone say Super Mom??? 

My friend had an idea of what she wanted the nursery to look like and had most of the accessories we were going incorporate into the room; she just needed help bringing it all together. She has lived in some exotic places and wanted the nursery to have a International or Traveled feel. The room also had to be gender neutral. The challenge was reusing their existing furniture, working with the fact that this is still going to be a guest room as well as nursery, and that they live in base housing- so walls we painted they will have to repaint and the family may move into a larger home in the near future.

Here are some before pictures of the room:

A Few Upholstery Before and Afters

Since I have been trying to get through with projects quickly lately to put them in the shop I have been forgetting to take a lot of process pictures- sorry to anyone who enjoys those! First up I wanted to share a chair I found and Craigslist and had high hopes for:

The fabric was blue and had a very office-y feel to to. I was in love with the chrome frame and curved back. I knew with the right fabric it would be a gem! So I set to work tearing the fabric off and stapling the new.

Non-Traditional Christmas Decor

This weekend was our towns' Downtown Christmas Open House. It's a big deal- all the little shops downtown are open on Sunday for shopping. So since I am new to the scene (I have a booth where I sell my goods in one of the shops) I had to decorate my space for the occasion. 

I wanted to do something Christmas-y but not the usual evergreen, ornaments, gift wrap affair. I racked my brain some and came up with an idea- coffee filters! Cheap, disposable, and customizable. 

Mini Dresser Makeover

Just a quick redo today- the old blog has taken a back seat lately and I apologize. It's that time of year when 8 million things are going on and sitting down to edit photos and write an interesting post is last on the list.

Plus I have been incredibly fortunate recently to have 2 real paying design jobs that of course take precedence over my usual furniture fun. :D

Antique Ceiling Tin Table

One of the things I am loving about having a space to sell my creations is that if I see a piece of furniture I can save I don't have to justify it by finding a place for it in our home. Or convincing the Hubs that we do need another chair, or table, or side board. (Our house is getting pretty full...) And I can design the piece the way it speaks to me- I don't have to make it fit to my decor.

This table for instance:

It was a throw away because the top tier was broken and gone. The top for the bottom table (faux leather) was warped and worn. I can see why the people tossed it. But something about it spoke to me and I knew I could make it new again.

Robert Allen Design Vision 2088 Contest

Happy Friday Everyone!! I hope everyone had a good week and is looking forward to a wonderful weekend. It was Fall Break time around here so there was plenty of Mommy and Kiddo time around our house.

I did manage to complete a design board for the Robert Allen Design Vision 2088. It is a contest put on by Robert Allen Fabrics. They are celebrating their 75th anniversary and asked designers to come up with a color scheme of the future. 

I had to come up with a color scheme that I thought would be popular in the future and create a design board using that scheme.

To The Moon And Back

When you have a friend who is a photographer and takes amazing pictures of your children and family I feel there is no real way to pay that friend back for that gift. Even monetarily. But when said friend said she had been pining away for a moon prop for her photo shoots I knew I could help her out!!

Mia Bella Photography

Now I had no idea prop moons were such a hot commodity in the photography world. But after seeing the awesome photos of babies and their moons I wish I had known about them when Saw and Con were small. It's so cute!!

The Rules of (Dumpster Diving) Engagement

As DIY bloggers most of us are familiar and are not embarrased to say that we have been dumpster diving a time or two (or three, four or five). Truth be told I have been doing dumpster diving in some form or another since college. I was poor, had an apartment, and a lot of time on my hands. And in fact, one of our architecture studio projects was creating something out of found objects. Our class really had fun with that one...

If you are new to the idea (or sport as some like to say) of dumpster diving here are a few guidelines to help get your started:

A few Furniture Updates~

So ever since I decided to actually sell I've been kind of antsy and nervous. What if no one buys my stuff? What if no one likes it? what if what if what if?!?!?!

Ugh scary. But those fears haven't held me back from making more- it's a sickness I think. 

Remember when I found that cute little side table for $5? Well it is now all redone, shiny and new and ready for someone to take it home!

The top was all messed up with some sticky gunk that I had to remove with GoGone

The wood on the top was actually really nice. So I restained it a darker color and painted the bottom blue.

I also revamped this little beauty I found on the side of the road:

The mirror was broken and long gone out the frame. But the frame was in good shape so I knew I could save it. 

After removing the mirror that was left behind and some clean up and paint, I used the side "wings" to create a cork board/ chalk board:

I used mending plates to attach the two pieces together. And I used the existing backboard (that the original mirrors were attached to) to make the cork and chalk board. Pretty easy and I saved something from being thrown away!

The larger mirror frame I turned into a large chalkboard. The existing backboard on this piece was in bad shape so a new piece of hardboard was cut and painted with chalkboard paint. You can see it hanging up in my booth!! Yay!

More exciting projects coming soon!!

A New Venture

Happy Wednesday Friends! As I'm writing this it is late Wednesday evening so that means the weekend is just a little bit closer; and that is always a good thing.

For a few weeks now I've been hinting around at something- I mentioned that the yellow chairs I redid are for sale. And if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen this picture:

Those my friends would be price tags for the furniture I'm going to sell!

Reclaimed Gym Floor Dining Table

Yes you read that correctly- GYM FLOOR DINING TABLE FINISHED!!!! Excuse me if I'm a little excited about this particular project because I've only been working on it for well over a year.

TA-DA!!

If you're not up to speed on the fabulousness that is the table see these posts:

The Find

Progress

Just Kickin It

If you're looking for something design-y today I'm sorry but I have to disappoint you. Today I have to brag a little on the Con-Man. He started playing soccer for the first time this year! This is a big deal for me because I played soccer from 3rd grade all the way into college. I'm also his coach so I am one proud Momma right now.

Post game snack 

His team name is the Teal Turkeys (I didn't pick it but the kids sure do love it!) I don't have a ton of pictures because I'm busy during the game trying to get the kids to actually go for the ball- 4 year olds are pretty funny in soccer. 

Here he is about to kick off!

Check him out going for the ball!

Half Time Snack- I think snack time is the kids favorite part of the game. 

I don't want to get too excited but he is pretty good! He can dribble well and kicks hard and accurately. The Hubs would love for him to be a baseball star but I think soccer would be a much better career path; just my humble opinion.

Even the Saw-Man likes to get into the game-

Maybe we'll have some soccer stars in our future!