Home Tours

Room Tours: Linda Roberts’ Living Room

Today’s room tour comes from the lovely Linda at Lime in the Coconut. I love the earthy and ethnic vibe of this gorgeous room!! Enjoy! “When we bought the “hacienda” the first thing we did was rip out the red shag 1970’s carpet. We decided we liked the coolness underfoot, and chose to have the…

Today’s room tour comes from the lovely Linda at Lime in the Coconut. I love the earthy and ethnic vibe of this gorgeous room!! Enjoy!
“When we bought the “hacienda” the first thing we did was rip out the red shag 1970’s carpet. We decided we liked the coolness underfoot, and chose to have the floors acid stained. Absolutely bombproof!
“The coffee table was a garage sale find…It is rusted metal and had tiles inserted in it, and was clearly used outside. I even used it outside in a previous home. Added some glass to the top…and now it fits in perfectly. Leaning against the back wall is a favored piece of art…actually a door…in the ADORE series by artist Aimie Phillips.
“The window end of the room (large black metal windows) Has three big pieces of art
by artist Ginny Piech Street…each one has a light over it which casts a beautiful glow at night (I love using timers for these…I don’t need to remember to turn them on).
“I had two loveseats…also from 1970! Slipcovered them both in white duck cloth…am always switching out pillows. Art is a…well…bit of a problem in this house. I LOVE all of it…and collect too much. Building art ledges solved the problem of easily revolving my pieces. Mid century credenza…found at goodwill. 14 clams. This room looks into the library (with blue wall) if you look closely, you will see a speed bump of a great dane lounging on the linen slipcovered love seat. lovely. White chairs in the back are waiting to be upholstered into something else….just not sure what. Found them at Habitat for Humanity for like seven bucks each.
“In the foreground you can see the side of my lovingly named “big Ass Chair” I upholstered it…not so gracefully…but have come to love the uniqueness of it….and COZY…is it ever. The chair was a steal at 10 bucks. you can read a bit about it here . The beautiful and lively velvet is a Schumacher print…and believe it or not…I found it in a bin for 4 dollars a yard. Needless to say, I bought what was left (4 yards). It retailed for $395 a yard. Call me eagle eye. and lucky. Carving is from a Mexican artist of a mother and child with laundry on her head and a baby on her back. Story of my life. sigh.
“Turning around and looking into the foyer through the LR. More art on walls…many acquired at thrift and estate sales. The portraits I name….the guy is Buenaventura and the woman with the parrot on her shoulder is Paloma. I know…strange. I’m ok with it.
“A close up of the desk…collection of magnifying glasses, an old necklace display (paper mache) I found at a jewelry store when still in college. Some mercury glass, and an old steer horn.
“A closer view of the art ledges. I constructed them out of 1X4’s and molding. Halogen lights (on timers again) light the wall at night.
“And another favorite painting from Michelle Armas..
Thanks for the room tour, Linda!! Everything’s beautiful!
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Kids Room

Happy Monday!

Hi friends! Sorry for not posting last week. My hard drive crashed on Monday. No fun. At first, it was nice to get a little break from work, but I started to get antsy pretty quick! I bought a new computer on Black Friday but I’m still waiting for all my files to get back…

Hi friends! Sorry for not posting last week. My hard drive crashed on Monday. No fun. At first, it was nice to get a little break from work, but I started to get antsy pretty quick! I bought a new computer on Black Friday but I’m still waiting for all my files to get back from data recovery.

We’re going to Hawaii on December 10 and then straight to Arizona for Christmas, so there’s lots to get done before leaving. I’m hoping that hard drive gets recovered sometime this week. Fingers crossed!
Since we’re leaving so soon, we decided to just get a little mini Christmas tree. It’s been fun to see the make-shift tree lots pop up all over the city. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Photoshop is downloading on my new laptop this morning and then that room tour I promised last Monday will go up!!
In the meantime, I’ve been working with a client on a nursery project (my favorite rooms to do I think!). She is in love with this nursery and we’re using it as our feel/color inspiration. The gray is great because my client is waiting to find out the gender.
I did a round up of nursery gliders on Babble today. I’d love your input if you’ve got one you really love at home. We haven’t placed our order yet.
See you in a few with that room tour! xx
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Musings

Weekend Recap

Can you believe it’s Thanksgiving week already!? I’m excited! We had a great, super chill weekend. We went to the Met on Saturday with a friend who was in town on business. The girls love the Egyptian wing best at the museum, not surprisingly. (Weren’t you super into Egyptology as a kid? I totally was.)…

Can you believe it’s Thanksgiving week already!? I’m excited! We had a great, super chill weekend. We went to the Met on Saturday with a friend who was in town on business.
The girls love the Egyptian wing best at the museum, not surprisingly. (Weren’t you super into Egyptology as a kid? I totally was.) They also really liked the modern art gallery. I think it’s cool how kids are always drawn in by the big Pollock. I noticed probably four or five other children hovering here and talking about the artist’s approach (“did he paint it? did he pour it?”). I hope my girls grow up loving art as much as Michael and I do.
Yesterday was really low key because we’re all fighting off colds. It was a good excuse the lay low and watch some movies and get excited for the short week ahead of us!
I’m prepping my Thanksgiving table and it got me and my assistant Colleen thinking about dinner plates. We worked together to find some really cute ones for all the upcoming holiday dinner parties. I don’t really have holiday-specific china, but I feel like anything goes with holiday decorations anyway. My favorite is mixing patterns; like, the dinner plates are one pattern, and the salad plates something else in different colors and scale, etc. Also, I’m super into gold flatware and pick it up whenever I stumble on random pieces at flea markets.

What’s your Thanksgiving table going to look like this year? Any fun, inexpensive plate patterns I missed?

I’m working on getting up some more living room tours for you this week, so come back later today for a really exciting one. (Hint: this woman has no fear of color!)
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Bathroom

Bathroom Vanity Redo

This DIY project was sponsored by Home Depot and their great campaign to be more eco-friendly. Putting a little chair and a vanity in our bathroom has been on my to do list for a while. I love having furniture in bathrooms. If you have a big enough bathroom to pull it off, I think…

This DIY project was sponsored by Home Depot and their great campaign to be more eco-friendly.

Putting a little chair and a vanity in our bathroom has been on my to do list for a while. I love having furniture in bathrooms. If you have a big enough bathroom to pull it off, I think it looks really great and helps tone down the sterility bathrooms usually have. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting too old to sit on my knees in front of the tub while my kids are taking a bath. :)

I found this little French vanity desk at Dixon’s Auction in Crumpton MD. It had been passed over buy the other buyers, so I gladly snatched it up for free before the auction house workers had a chance to toss it in the dumpster with the other passed-over items.


You can see why maybe no one would want it. There was a lot of surface damage to this old little piece. But I loved the shape and thought it had potential. My original plan was to sand off the old finish and stain the wood.

At first it looked like it was going to work, but after sanding more toward the center, the top started to look a little fishy and I bailed. I think the wood was just too old and too beat up.

Plan B was to paint the piece. So first I used my new Dremel (which I love!) to sand out the detail work. A lot of this area had filled in over time, but it was easy to zip through with the conical bit and clean all the build up.

One section of the top detail was completely gone, so I had to rebuild it.

I shaped some wood filler with a flat head screw driver. It’s not completely perfect, but you couldn’t really tell where the repair was after everything was painted over.

I gave the desk a coat of Zinsser primer and then 1-2 coats of BM ‘Gentlemen’s Gray’ in the Advance paint line I’m loving so much. After the base coat was dry, I went back with a small brush to paint out the detail lines with white. There were too many curves here to make painter’s tape worth the hassle, so I free-handed it. The trick to getting a smooth line easily was to first lay down the white as evenly as possibly and then to come back and cut in with the Gentlemen’s Gray to touch up the white mess ups.

For the chair portion of the vanity set up, I found this little vintage bamboo stool at a thrift store here for $4.50. It was grimy and needed new paint and new upholstery, but I liked the shape and it fit perfectly in the little vanity.

You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I ended up brushing on the paint for this little chair. I really wish I could have spray painted it, but it’s been cold and rainy here lately, so I was forced to brush on a coat of zinsser and 1-2 coats of BM White Dove in the Advance line. It actually didn’t take as long as I worried it would. It probably took 15 or 20 minutes to do the primer, below.

For the seat upholstery, I wanted to used some indoor/outdoor fabric since this thing will get inevitably doused during bath time. I had some woven black and white stripe from Perennials, which is a very nice all-weather line. It doesn’t look or feel like outdoor fabric at all. They also make a great outdoor velvet.

Whenever I’m upholstering a drop-seat, I staple on the fabric and batting like the way my dad taught me to tighten the bolts when changing a tire – in a sort of star pattern. It makes everything pull very neatly and evenly. So I put in a couple staples on one end, pulled the fabric taut on the opposite end and put in a couple staples there, then did the same thing for the sides.

For the fabric between all the staples, you’re just going to create neat little folds like these below and staple them into place as well. The goal is for the fabric at bottom of the seat to be as flat as possible. The fastest way for an upholstery job to look ‘DIY’ is for the edges to be bumpy. Don’t give yourself away like that! :) Make those edges flat and smooth and straight by folding carefully.

I will never tire of black and white stripes!

I decided I wanted a little shot of color, so I pulled out some cording and some teal outdoor fabric that I used in this project. I’ve been a piping-making fiend lately! I love the difference a contrasting welt can make. It’s such an easy sewing project too, there’s no reason not to make your own. Since I’ve been making so much of this lately I’m fast and about five minutes after deciding to add the welt, I was gluing it on to the seat.

Isn’t it funny how we talk ourselves out of doing something because it feels like too much work or too much time? My new motto is ‘Less thinking, more doing.’ It’s crazy how productive I can be when I stop fretting about how much I have to get done and just start moving. I feel like I should have turned my brain off years ago! :)

Anyway, here’s the little vanity in our bathroom. I couldn’t get the lighting right, so the colors are off a little. I’m so happy to have a little place to sit down in our bathroom now!

The shower curtain was made from Quadrille’s Contessa (tutorial coming up!) and the hand and guest towels are from Gracious Home.

The coral bath mat is from the Williams Sonoma Home Outlet in Riverhead (I think it was less than $10! They always have the craziest sales).

See how perfectly the little chair tucks in?

The vanity top opens up, so I’m working on fixing up the interior next. I need to get a piece of mirror cut for the inside and also find a replacement barrel shaft key for the lock.

So what do you think? Do you like have furniture in your bathroom?

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Furniture

Sponsored Post: DIY Tortoise Shell Resin Table Top

This post is sponsored by Glad. We’re taking small steps to do our part and want to help you waste less too. Visit GLAD.com for more information. Like I mentioned recently, it makes me feel really good to give old furniture a new life. It’s rewarding to see furniture transformed, but it’s also environmentally responsible….

This post is sponsored by Glad. We’re taking small steps to do our part and want to help you waste less too. Visit GLAD.com for more information.

Like I mentioned recently, it makes me feel really good to give old furniture a new life. It’s rewarding to see furniture transformed, but it’s also environmentally responsible. I’m so happy to be working with Glad on this series.

When I found this little French cabinet, it was in really (REALLY) bad shape. The actual cabinet itself mostly just needed a sanding and a new paint job, but the top was almost unsalvageable.

I scrapped off the peeled veneer as much as possible, but the back half was absolutely impossible to pull off. There was just too much glue holding it down. I considered cutting a piece of wood or stone to fit the top, but then I thought it would be really cool to do a resin top in a tortoise shell pattern.


With resin, your surface doesn’t have to be 100% level, so I just gave the top a little sanding and left it as is.


There used to be a back plate on this piece I guess, so there was a gap in the back. I just used a couple of strips of Balsa wood to fill the space.


Balsa wood is super soft, almost like styrofoam, so it was easy to zip through with a little coping saw. I was happy because I could easily mimic the shape of the existing moulding.


Pretty seamless! I wouldn’t use balsa for a bigger surface than this. It is a very soft wood and not super sturdy, but this part is in the very back and everything is getting a coat of resin, so it was a good solution here.


Before priming, I filled any cracks with my favorite wood filler. The best method is to fill with your finger and then wipe away the excess immediately with a wet rag.

I found my resin at Blicks, but it’s carried everywhere. I need about 32 oz for this project, which cost about $25.


Also at Blick’s, I visited the glass paint section.


To make a tortoise shell pattern, you’ll need a bright mustardy yellow and two shades of brown (medium and dark)

After priming the whole cabinet with Zinsser’s, I built some walls around my table top with duck tape. You could also use painters tape, but get the extra sticky kind. You want there to be a really tight seal here.


If you’re going to attempt a resin project, I recommend doing some Youtubing first. I had to do this taping method because of the curve in the front of my cabinet, but if my cabinet had straight sides I probably would have tacked up a couple pieces of wood for an even tighter seal.


You should follow the instructions on your resin box, but the basic idea is you’ll need to mix resin with hardener and then stir. I made about 24 ounces for the yellow base.


I used three drops of the yellow glass paint to make this color. I wanted it bright and semi-transparent. The white paint underneath makes the colors very clear.


After pouring I quickly but carefully moved the resin around to get an even fill.


Then I mixed about 8 oz of medium brown paint. Just one drop of paint at first! You want the first layer of brown to be light. I used an old baby medicine dropper for this step.


One small dropper full makes a quarter-sized spot. The brown will thin out and spread though, so try to have a light hand here. Just place the resin and sort of let it do it’s thing. It’s a pretty fun art project actually.


Add another drop or two of paint to darken the resin for the next layer.

I had some dripping, but not a ton. I sort of just watched while the resin hardened and wiped up drips as they happened. It only took my resin about 30 minutes to get pretty firm. Then I let it sit overnight to fully cure. In the morning I pulled off the duct tape.


And did some light sanding to even out the edges.


Then I painted the rest of the cabinet (I had only primed the piece before doing the resin, which ended up being a good choice because of the drips).

This is my recent favorite paint. I discovered it when I did the One Kings Lane sale. My painted recommended it. It’s Benjamin Moore’s Advance line. It’s oil based, but it’s low VOC (it has a slight odor, but it mostly smells like linseed oil, not crazy chemicals). The finish is AMAZING. It is super hard-wearing and it comes in multiple finishes. I love the high gloss best.

I used BM Tomato Red for the interior of the cabinet and BM White Dove for the exterior.

Here it is all done! I’m waiting until the paint fully cures before filling it up, but I’m thinking it’s the perfect piece for all my decorator supplies that are always sprawled over my desk, like tape measures and paint decks.

I love the surpise orange interiors. And I love the simplicity of the white. It just looks so pretty with the tortoise shell pattern on top! A color on the frame of the cabinet would have been too much here. (Also, there’s a lot of color and painted furniture in my living room already!) :)

Psst… If you’re looking for some cute little accent tables for your bedroom or living room, I rounded up my favorites HERE. And! If you’re looking for some cute accessories for your nightstands, check out THIS POST. xx

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Living Room

Living Room Tour: A Little Glass Box

I’m so excited to start sharing some of these beautiful living room tours with you! It makes me so happy to see real homes, filled with affordable AND beautiful furnishings along with lots of great DIY projects. I hope your as inspired as I am by these lovely bloggers! First up is Courtney from A…

I’m so excited to start sharing some of these beautiful living room tours with you! It makes me so happy to see real homes, filled with affordable AND beautiful furnishings along with lots of great DIY projects. I hope your as inspired as I am by these lovely bloggers!

First up is Courtney from A Little Glass Box. Here she is, sharing her lovely rowhouse living room with us…

This past summer we moved from the East coast to the West coast. Coming from a 105 year old row house in Baltimore I was used to decorating small narrow spaces, but this rental house presented me with quite a design challenge. The living room is only 9.5×8 with three walls of windows. I immediately knew it would be difficult to incorporate color and texture without the help of wall art and the space for multiple upholstered pieces of furniture. However, I didn’t let this challenge deter us because this little house may be smaller than we were used to but it packed a lot of visual punch. The rustic wood ceilings were the original floors of the house before it had been rebuilt and the gorgeous light poured in from the windows making it impossible to do anything but embrace this space. Decorating it has been a labor of love but worth every minute because it has taught me a lot about using every inch of space.

I purchased our couch from Macy’s in 2010 which is the perfect neutral jumping off point. We were worried that it would look too green against the grey stone flooring but it fits in perfectly with the help of the Dhurrie rug from West elm in Sorrel. The bench I am using as a coffee table is actually a craigslist find that was in some rough shape. With a coat of Rustoleum spray paint in Navajo white and some new fabric purchased from Calico Fabrics, I was able to give it new life.

The room gets its rich layer of color by mixing different patterns of pillows and I am able to still enjoy some of my art work by hanging it lower than normal and in an unexpected location.

The ‘spool ‘side table was actually made from an electrical wire spool that we nabbed for free from home depot after all of the electrical wire had been sold. We stained the discs with Behr’s semi transparent stain in Sable. It is wrapped with a bathroom rug purchased from West Elm to look like thread on the spool. It is one of my favorite pieces in the space. It is the perfect side table as well as some extra seating or book holder. In such a small space it is necessary for items to serve more than one purpose.

This room also opens up to our entry way which meant that I needed to use this space to not only set the tone for the house once you walked in, but to act as our own little mudroom while looking pleasing when sitting in the living room.

I repurposed a hutch that was in our dining room in Baltimore and transformed it into decorative shelves by painting it Martha Stewart’s chinchilla grey and creating cardboard backing inserts with a pattern to mimic the look of wallpaper. It’s a great piece to hold my collections and also stores practical everyday items in the cabinet below.

Because we don’t have an entry closet I simply added some hooks; baskets and a bench to increase our usable space. This is a trick I like to use as a previous professional organizer. My handy hubs helped me to create a coat rack out of spare wooden hangers we had laying around and some reclaimed wood. We love it. It now houses jackets, hats, and shoes for all of us, including our little man Oliver Tate. The stool was a retro flea market find that we simply recovered and it creates the perfect place to put down my purse. The basket, which is locally crafted, houses sticks and pinecones from our daily family walks.

We really have grown to love this space and it functions very well for us. It has been incredible in teaching me that the size of a room does not dictate or determine the design impact it will have or the ability it will have to make you happy.

Our design aesthetic is versatile, comfortable, eclectic and adaptable because I am always changing things around and our needs are always evolving. I hope this space can inspire others to think outside the box and explore alternative possibilities from the norm.

Sources:

Wall color is Whispering Wheat by Glidden

Corona Couch in Stone from Macy’s

Blue print pillow from John Robshaw called Ghana

Orange print pillow from Z Gallerie

Cream faux sheep pillows from last year’s winter collection at Pottery Barn

Navajo pillow from Cost Plus World Market

Dhurrie rug in sorrel from West Elm

Small Leather poof from Goodwill

Upholstered bench from Craigslist

Fur throw from Restoration Hardware

Side table from Goodwill with Anthropologie rhino head knobs

Hutch shelving in entry from Trohv in Baltimore

Lamp base purchased at Marshalls

Lamp shade purchased from Trohv in Baltimore

Mercury bubble glass vase from Marshalls

Gold tray from Goodwill

Picture frame from Homegoods

Paper Mache bird from In Watermelon Sugar in Baltimore (sprayed in Rustoleum’s gold metallic paint)

Entry way stool from San Francisco flea market

Entry hutch painted Martha Stewart’s Chinchilla grey

Stencil for cardboard inserts in the back of the hutch from Hobby Lobby

Thank you for sharing Courtney!! Your living room and entry spaces are amazing!

If you’d like to share your living room on LGN, email your submission to jenny at jennykomenda .com.

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Furniture

How to Upholster a Framed Diamond Tufted Headboard

This DIY is sponsored by Home Depot. I’m so proud to be working with them on this content series where I’m reinventing old furniture and giving it a new life. I truly believe the best way to get higher quality furniture at a lower price point is to buy vintage pieces and repurpose them. Home…

This DIY is sponsored by Home Depot. I’m so proud to be working with them on this content series where I’m reinventing old furniture and giving it a new life. I truly believe the best way to get higher quality furniture at a lower price point is to buy vintage pieces and repurpose them. Home Depot is dedicated to being eco-friendly and I think this type of recycling is a great step in the right direction. Thanks, Home Depot!

I really wanted a pair of tufted headboards for my girls rooms, but tufted pieces can be especially expensive! I picked up a pair of these vintage headboards for next to nothing at a thrift shop and thought I could probably come up with a way to reuse these rather than buying something new.

I took a quick photo and then played around in photoshop with the placement of the tufts. Since there are a lot of curves in this piece it wasn’t just a matter of doing some math, like with most tufting projects I’ve done.



Once I had the tufting placement down, I started pulling off the old upholstery.


Underneath the top layer was a realllllly old piece of silk that was super sunbleached. I always love pulling apart old upholstery to see what fabrics are hiding.

The part that hadn’t bleached out was a gorgeous lilac. Played to my ombre obsession :)

I used this underneath fabric to mark out my tufting design. The basic idea is to keep everything in straight rows and then offset the rows, like laying bricks or drawing polkadots. The rows will line up diagonally and horizontally.


Then I pulled off that bottom layer of fabric and batting so that all that was left was the wooden frame.

I used some of the batting to mark off the shape of my foam. I used the batting instead of the fabric because I needed to foam to be cut a little short so it would be pretty far inset from the bed frame.


The foam I used here was a repurpose too. I used some camping foam! It’s such a cheap way to buy 2″ or 3″ foam.


I used a serrated knife to cut out the shape, but I wish I had an electric knife. Those work so well for cutting foam.


The foam fit perfectly inside the frame, right where I wanted it, about an inch in.

I used a combination of the serrated knife and a pair of scissors to shave down the corners of the foam at about a 45 degree angle.

I cut some small holes in my fabric guide so I could draw some registration marks on the frame.

I had jotted down all the measurements on the fabric guide too, so it was easy to quickly double check my marks.

I drilled through the frame with a 1/4″ drill bit. It’s a good idea to drill pretty large holes in your frame backing to make the tufting go faster.


Once the holes were drilled, I layed the frame on top of the foam and marked the tuft placement by poking a sharpie through the drill holes.

The next step is vital to getting the deep-tuft look. You have to take out all the foam where each button will go. I just use a little paring knife to cut a simple hole around the registration mark. You want the hole to be sort of angled so the opening is wider and the bottom of the hole is about the size of your buttons.

One the foam is cut in an angled circle, you just have to grab the cut piece, pull, swirl and rip. This part goes so quickly!

You can cut or pick out addition foam as needed to created the right shape for the tufting holes.


I used my trusty can of spray glue to affix the back of the foam to the bed frame. You really want the foam to stay put during the tufting process so this step is important.


Cover the foam with a layer of high-loft batting.


Lay down your fabric on top of that and round up an extra long needle (mine’s about 5″) and some upholstery thread (Don’t use regular thread here. It needs to be upholstery thread).


Turn on a show and enlist a cute little helper who is eager to push back bedtime.

I skipped explaining the step about making my own buttons because there are lots of different companies that make button covering kits and they all have different instructions. So just pick up a kit and some refill packs and follow the instructions on the back. I used 5/8″ buttons here. Also I always use a little dollop of Magnatac glue when I make my own buttons, just to reinforce the hold, especially when using thick fabrics like velvet.

Okay so here’s the tufting process:

1) Double up your upholstery thread and thread your long needle. I use two arm-lengths of thread each time and I can get two buttons done with that.

2) Your first tuft should be the middle hole in the very top row.

3) Your needle should pass first through the back hole, through the middle of your foam divot, and finally though your batting and fabric.

4) Leave about six inches of thread hanging in back and then thread your button in front. Because you doubled up your upholstery thread, four individual threads should be on your button.

5) Trying to keep all your threads tidy, pass the needle back through the foam and hole in the frame. It might take a few pokes to find the hole again since you’re searching blindly, but it gets easier after a few tries.

6) Now pinch your button and sort of push and wiggle it down into the foam divot. At the same time, pull the threads from behind the frame.

{Next, get excited because that looks like a real, legit tuft. Also, send your little helpers to bed because it’s after 8:00. Then enlist your sweet sister in law, who’s in town visiting with her cute new husband, to lend a helping hand.}

7) With your helper pushing the button as far in as possible, pull the threads in back very tight and staple them down on to the frame. Pull the threads in the opposite direction and staple in again. Repeat a couple times and tap in the staples with a hammer to make sure the staples are flush and in there tight.

8) Here’s the most important thing I can share with you here: Work in rows. Start with the middle button and work your way out in the row. Then start the next row in the middle again and work your way out.

Once you finish your first row and are ready to start the next row, play with your fabric and start making folds in a diamond shape. It’s surprising how easily the fabric naturally folds into the diamond shape. The goal is for the surface of the upholstery to be smooth and as tight as possible. For a professional look, you want all the extra fabric to go in the folds.

Rather that placing your tuft wherever your needle appears and having to deal with the consequences with the folds later, CHOOSE where your button will go by making the folds first and sort of pushing your fingers in the foam divot. You’ll know exactly where to put that needle and the button.

Keep working away, going row by row, starting from the center and working out.

Once all the tufts are done, the back of your frame looks like this:

9) Staple around the perimeter of the headboard between the foam and the frame.

Another important part: Keep in mind that all interior folds should be in the diagonal/diamond shape. All the extra fabric around the perimeter of the headboard should go into vertical or horizontal straight line folds. Try to keep everything tight and smooth.

Almost there!

10) Next I trimmed away all the extra fabric and batting. Try to get as close to the staples as possible.

11. I decided I wanted to lightly touch up the frame. I always love the look of a crusty old frame with bright and clean new upholstery! But this frame was looking more dingy, less patina-ed, so I brushed on a little bit of white glaze and some of my favorite Ralph Lauren paint in Parlor Gold. Just a little bit of each though, so the frame still looked old.

All ready for the last step: trimming!

I used these steps to make matching piping out of the same velvet. I think the cording I used was 1/4″. Nice and thick so it fills in the gap between the foam and the frame with all the staples and the fabric/batting mess.

I just used my favorite glue, Magnatac, to glue the piping in place. Use a generous amount, but be careful not to drip. It’s really hard to get this glue off velvet especially.

All done! I know I always say this, but this project was so fast and easy. I started the project last night just after dinner time and was done after the Republican debate and two Walking Dead episodes. Not too bad!


I was so glad to be able to reuse those old headboards to get the exact look I wanted for my girls bedroom! I love the shape and it makes me so happy to have these special pieces in my home rather than a pair of more expensive and generic headboards from a place like Target or Urban Outfitters.

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Tips of the Trade

One Way to Reduce Paint Fumes

I like to use oil-based paint on moulding, cabinets and doors. It just wears better. But, boy, is it stinky stuff! We used Benjamin Moore’s oil-based paint for the closet/built-in portion of the girls’ bedroom walls. Luckily the weather has been nicer this week, so we’ve kept the windows open quite a bit for ventilation….

I like to use oil-based paint on moulding, cabinets and doors. It just wears better. But, boy, is it stinky stuff! We used Benjamin Moore’s oil-based paint for the closet/built-in portion of the girls’ bedroom walls. Luckily the weather has been nicer this week, so we’ve kept the windows open quite a bit for ventilation. But did you know that burning a candle can reduce paint fumes? I’ve been (very carefully) burning a candle up on a high shelf while the paint dries, and I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in the smell situation.

Just a little Tuesday night tip from me to you. :)

Do you have any other tips for reducing paint fumes/smells? I’ve heard leaving out a quartered onion works. But that seems weird. Like it would only add to the smell factor, right?

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Musings

According to my phone…

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We have house guests coming and some exciting work projects too, so things are bustling around here! My iPhone says this is what I’ve been up to since last Friday: This weekend I went to CB2 to pick up another set of Marta glasses and some picture frames. They…

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We have house guests coming and some exciting work projects too, so things are bustling around here! My iPhone says this is what I’ve been up to since last Friday:

This weekend I went to CB2 to pick up another set of Marta glasses and some picture frames. They had these cute little mini chairs that I think are supposed to be tree ornaments, but they are perfect for the Dollhouse Challenge! (PS all the vintage pieces I posted about came in last week. They are crazy-good! Can’t wait to share)

When the weather started to turn colder a couple weeks ago, I threw an internal mini-fit. But the Halloween festivities changed my mind and I’m suddenly excited about the upcoming holidays. We made Butterscotch Pumpkin cookies on Saturday morning and we started planning out our Thanksgiving menu (my husband’s very favorite meal of the year). The girls are talking about Christmas and Santa again. And excitement levels were through the roof (literally. I think our upstairs neighbors heard the shrieking) when the girls discovered Tommy, our Elf on the Shelf, came back to New York City all the way from the North Pole! That clever little guy sees ever good and bad deed and reports back to Santa each night. I swear, I wish Tommy lived here all year! My girls have been on their best behavior all week.


You never know where Tommy will be sitting in the morning. Sometimes he gets sassy with his seated posture.

Speaking of Christmas, I would seriously consider applying for a seasonal job at Anthropologie if only to justify two or three dozen of these glass ornaments. I mean, look at that COLOR!! (I would also want a pair of these chairs)

Jenny the Carpenter made an appearance this weekend as well. We’re making some little changes to the built-ins in the girls rooms. It’s all done now and the paint is drying today. I’ll share the afters with you once we can put all the books and other ‘stuff’ back on the shelves and photograph the room.

Grace made her first diorama! Her school is new and amazing, so their class study is on buildings and the new spaces in their school. She made a diorama of the library and wrote the cutest little interview-style report to go with it. She’s so in to interviews now and walks around with her notepad, asking questions all day.

I took down the drapes in our living room because I thought I would like the room better without curtains, but now I am sort of missing the finished feeling curtains bring to a space. I’m thinking maybe white with a ruffle trim edge. I love this charcoal gray cotton:

And also this pleated grosgrain:

I also organized my computer desktop off this weekend. No easy feat, I assure you. Hundreds of images. When I came across this one, I lamented the passing of summer again with it’s soft warm glow, glorious fruits and vegetables and the pretty FLOWERS!!! That might be my favorite flower arrangement ever. If I could do my wedding reception over, all the flowers would be just like these. Straight-from-the-garden looking.

Speaking of flowers, look what I was sent over from my lovely friends Joanna and Alex (and I like to think Toby was in on the decision too. Have I told you that that little guy has my heart under lock and key? We’re buds.). Fresh flowers are my very favorite thank you gifts. UPDATE: the flower shop just brought over a second arrangement by accident. Bonus!

Also this weekend I went to Mitchell Gold Bob Williams to check out the Zondra slipper chair in person for a client’s living room. Turns out there isn’t a showroom in the tri-state area with a Zondra chair in store. So lame, MGBW! I was also a little bummed the sales guy wouldn’t tell me who makes this fabric. Can any of you save me a trip to the D&D and tell me who makes it? Usual suspects are Robert Allen, Kravet and Duralee.

Ladies. Do you ever get sick of doing your makeup? It’s eye makeup that especially kills it all for me. So lately I’ve been just using a little tinted moisturizer, a swipe of mascara and red lipstick. I call it the 45 second makeover. Perfect for when you are running late (which happens to be most days for me). My secret weapon in the lipstick department is this red chapstick from Laura Mercier in Crimson Tint. You can put it on easily without a mirror and it doesn’t get on your teeth. I think that means it probably doesn’t last as long as regular lipsticks, but you know. You win some you lose some.

My kids are begging for a puppy for Christmas. Do you think they mean a dog of the Staffordshire variety? My love affair with these porcelain pretties continues. Read all about it HERE.


image via Absolutely Beautiful Things

Off to take some photos of the girls room! xx

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Living Room

Acrylic Frames

I love the look of acrylic frames with metal fasteners (especially brass) in the corners. It’s such a unique way to display art, but still neutral enough to let your art be the star. I was excited to find a really affordable collection of these frames at MUJI (which is a beautiful store – feels…

I love the look of acrylic frames with metal fasteners (especially brass) in the corners. It’s such a unique way to display art, but still neutral enough to let your art be the star.

I was excited to find a really affordable collection of these frames at MUJI (which is a beautiful store – feels sort of like the Japanese version of IKEA).


The largest size is about 12×16, so not huge, but still pretty good size. Perfect for an 8×10 or even a little bigger. If you have some tips on REALLY big acrylic frames, I’m all ears. I have a series of hand-painted panels that I’d love to frame this way. I found some huge sheets at Home Depot that I’m going to go investigate.

Have a great weekend everyone!!
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Musings

PSA – Cheap Chiang Mai Dragon

For those of you still wild and crazy for Chiang Mai, this eBay seller in the UK is selling pillows for a whopping $40, which is absolutely unheard of. (Only 25 pounds for you UK readers) Available in both the aquamarine and the alabaster colorways. RUN. They’ll sell out fast. PS you might try asking…

For those of you still wild and crazy for Chiang Mai, this eBay seller in the UK is selling pillows for a whopping $40, which is absolutely unheard of. (Only 25 pounds for you UK readers) Available in both the aquamarine and the alabaster colorways.

RUN. They’ll sell out fast.

PS you might try asking the seller if they could make the pillow w/o the dragon front and center. I don’t mind the little guy, but really, my favorite part of the pattern is the color in the florals. Might as well try to maximize the best parts, especially when pillows are concerned.
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Living Room

Diamond Tufted Ottoman

I upholstered two diamond tufted headboards this year for clients and I’m about to start on my third and fourth for my girls’ room. Here’s a little sneak peek of the first (definitely not perfect, but still pretty) headboard I made. Room reveals and tutorials are on the way! I <3 metallic linen. So now…

I upholstered two diamond tufted headboards this year for clients and I’m about to start on my third and fourth for my girls’ room. Here’s a little sneak peek of the first (definitely not perfect, but still pretty) headboard I made. Room reveals and tutorials are on the way!

I <3 metallic linen.

So now that I have a little bit of diamond-tufting practice under my belt, would you call me crazy to want to attempt one of these?…

The settee fabric designing took a turn for the better (thank goodness) and I think I’ll be ready to bang out that project this weekend. So now it’s time to start ordering fabric/gathering supplies if I’m really going to make this ottoman. Might as well bang it all out while I’m the upholstering zone.

I’ve been surprised by how much we miss having a big ottoman for the kids to roll around and play on. And wouldn’t this be so pretty in our place?

Also, today’s Babble post shares couple of ideas (some old, some new) for ‘wallpapering’ a wall, without really wallpapering.

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