Steady as She Goes

Sorry I haven't been around for a bit guys but frankly, I haven't really been feeling that inspired.  I am consistently impressed with some of my favorite bloggers who amazingly post multiple times a day (not just because they have the time, but as because they have that much to talk about--ironic coming from me!).  I am going to chalk it up to beginner blogging and keep on, keepin' on when inspiration strikes me, so I would love it if you keep coming back.  I promise I won't go anywhere permanently!

 

So some big things have happened since I last posted.  My last day of law firm life is tomorrow(!) and I start my new job as a Project Manager at a Design Consulting Firm in Midtown on Monday.  I feel pretty content about the whole thing and am just really excited to get started!  More on that will surely follow!

 

So while I'm lacking the inspiration to post, post, post to your and my's hearts content, I leave you with some before photos of what is my next project.  I was, oddly enough, looking for a table with no top that I could transform into a new beautiful ottoman to go with my new beautiful sofa.  And this beauty popped up on CL ready for some inspired creativity!

 

 

It's a solid wood stunner, but has seen some better days so I have no qualms about painting it, though I haven't decided if that's the way I will end up going.  You'll just have to come back and find out!

These are a Few of my Favorite Things: Traditional Mexican Fabric Edition

For more information on her collection, email alicebeharco (at) gmail (dot) com

Alice Behar's new collection, simply entitled "Folk by Alice," is making me swoon.  Otomi fabric is big everywhere this year, so this might be a bit trendy for some, but it is undeniably beautiful.  And my own history with Mexico ensures that I will love traditional Mexican fabrics for a longgggggg time coming.  Also, a bit of foreshadowing; there may be an upholstery project here in the coming weeks with some original Otomi fabric from Mexico City!

Design Files

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I'm particularly smitten with this room for...many reasons.  First I was going to say the brass coffee table (which I am on the hunt for now that sofa is checked off my list).  Then I noticed the neon pillows.  And the neon pillows with the aqua couch?  Yes, please.  I also really like the pink art mats on the back wall!  Far from girly, they add a lightness to the room that anchors what could be a too bold plethora of neon and saturated hues. 

 

For those of you that know me, you might be surprised to know that my room at home (to this day) is painted that exact shade of pink.  It surprises everyone that comes to visit, but I still love it!

 

And if this side view wasn't good enough, when I was sourcing the photo I found a full shot.

 

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Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair!  Those chairs! 

 

I think I am going to have to get back into the furniture business because if I make all the ideas I have going on in my head come to fruition, I'm not going to have anywhere near enough space to keep them all to myself!

 

But most importantly, especially as fall approaches, those big beautiful flowers!  There is nothing you can buy that can pull a space together quite like fresh flowers.  On that note, I'll leave you with one of my favorites quotes, that I think is actually quite appropriate for this room.

"I'd rather have flowers on my table than diamonds on my neck."   
-Emma Goldman

 

Something to think about...

Mud Cloth in the Making

 

 

So it finally happened.  I finally brought home the mudcloth couch I have been waiting for!  This is truly the most gratifying piece of furniture I have had a hand in, and like my sideboard, I am so lucky that not only did I have my hand in it, but I get to keep it! 

 

 

I couldn't have done it without Colleen over at Timber and Cloth upholstery in Bushwick (please do get in touch with her if you ever have any Brooklyn upholstery needs)! 

 

It's a pretty impressive before and after, no?

This Marble. And this Kitchen.

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Let's do this backwards. 

 

1) This kitchen.  It's pink.  I want one.  You wouldn't even notice the pink cabinets if it weren't for that stupid bubblegum stool.  That wouldn't be in my pink kitchen. 

 

2)White and gray marble.  I love you.  Like, a lot.  At work, all of the secretarys' desk fronts, as well as the attorneys' side tables are in this marble.  The fact that I don't get any marble is probably the biggest injustice I feel I face at work everyday. 

Craigslist Strikes Again!

This week is going well guys.  Like really well.  Let me set this up for you, because maybe this is an odd sort of contentment that is foreign to people who don't derive their sense of self from the newest deal they score on Craigslist.  So I've wanted a cute couch for a really long time.  But not just any cute couch...I want a vintage couch with exposed wood, hand-carved details, structurally sound, seats at least 3, and all for less than $250 or so.  This is tough, let me tell you.  

About a month ago, I'd thought I found one IN LEATHER for $350 (worth it for the leather).  But alas, my CL trigger finger was not speedy enough and a possible gem slipped through my fingers.  But then, in a pre-Labor Day lull at work this week, I came upon this beauty.

 

A little bit Stepford, a little bit Longmeadow Wasp, but I can fix that.  And my aim was good on this one!  For $100(!) I picked up this beauty a few days later on Long Island in a UHAUL.  The things I do for hand-carved legs...

 

So, true to my crazy antique furniture hunting form, my search for a vintage couch has not gone on alone.  Before even having a sofa, I contacted an upholsterer to chat about my eventual, future (one day, maybe) vintage find.  It's extremely similar to buying the wedding dress before finding the fiance, but let's not delve into that too deeply.  

Luckily, my neurotic preemptive upholstering inquiries allowed me to drop off this beauty at Colleen's studio in Bushwick immediately after pick-up.  The fewer times I need to rent a UHAUL the better in my book.  

So now she has the sofa and I have a time crunch to pick out fabric.  But once again, my preemptive upholstery neuroses pay off.  I know what I want, and I now know where to find it!  Google and the New York Times are beautiful, beautiful things.

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I've been looking at this beauty 

on one of my favorite blogs, Brooklyn to West, for the last few months now.  

A girl after my own heart, Ariele stole this bad boy right out from under someone by offering more after they had already paid (conniving, but I like it).

Alright, African mud cloth.  This I can get behind.  Originally I was debating between the black and white seen here or indigo and white which is also easily accessible.  But after considering everyone's favorite blue sideboard, I realized black and white is obviously the way to go.

Now just to find it. In upholstery weight.  At least 10 yards. On the internet, or near New York.  Before actually finding the sofa, this search was not going particularly well.  Not well at all. 

 

Maybe it's the pressure, or maybe good, beautiful things [African Mud Cloth local retailers] come to those who wait, but yesterday I googled perfection.

 

Perfection by way of the New York Times.

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And what little nugget was left specifically for me in the tag of this photo?  Oh, just the address and phone number of a mud cloth importer in Harlem.  I hear it's beautiful there this time of year...