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Happy Friday! My friend dressed her daughter up as an old lady and it really warms the cockles of my heart. Maybe when she sees this she will give me permission to use names. Until then have a great weekend!
These colors are killing me (softly). I just had to share.
Loving this pillow! I have a tab open on my computer and I just keep going to look at it. It’s so vivid! Oooh, and look at that little blue number. Like a squeezable china plate.
Dear Friends, I don’t know if you remember about 1,ooo years ago I did a wee blog post about Rachel Rose. She makes these amazing inkblot silk tees. I was just perusing her blog and was happy to see that not only is she an amazing artisan, she believes in taking responsibility for production every step of the way. That way, nobody gets hurt. Literally. It always upsets me when I wonder who made my clothes, and were they working in good conditions, etc. etc.
It looks like Rachel may be restocking her online shop and her Etsy shop. I just love her style, so I will be checking back soon to see what she is up to!
I like it! Is the tri-tone weirding you out or do you like it? Be honest.
As promised, my purchases from the deeply discounted (sale!) section.
Dear friends, ever since I found out that it is way better for the environment to go to the carwash than to wash you car at home, I use this excuse for a little cheap entertainment. Don’t you love the colored soap? Honestly, I didn’t grow up going to the carwash that often, and I don’t really remember the colored soap. So, I always go for the super deluxe option and my boy and I have the best time!
Then, as if that color show wasn’t good enough, I got home and found these Nerd candies and noticed the color similarities. It is connections like these that are always happening in my brain and almost makes it short out from sheer happiness. It doesn’t take much. I grew up without a television, what can I say.
So, the very first thing I did was paint the frame using my very fancy method: a rag and paint. Wipe it on, wipe it off, do it again after it dries. Then, I ripped all the piping off (fabric over fat yarn, basically). It was stapled on to cover up the staples that were keeping the fabric on the furniture. Then out came those staples! That’s where
1. Hammer
and
2. Standard Screwdriver
came in handy. I used the hammer to tap under the stubborn staples. I was ripping the couch apart. It was a bit exhilarating, I must say. They key is to keep the fabric pieces INTACT so you can use them as a pattern for your next pieces.
Oops, I forgot to mention my good friend
3. Mr. Pliers. He also helps get the staples all the way out. (Below): What I really like is when you can grab the piping and just yank it off with your bare hands. Did I mention this is good stress relief?
Now for some more fun:
Above: ironing new piece and cutting to match new piece (with extra around edges for attaching to furniture)
Leave an about an inch and a half around the edges.
New piece. I wish there was a magic way to get it on here. I just finagled until it looked right.
I started with a staple gun but it was rough going, and I didn’t want to put piping over all of it to hide it.
So, on the chair, I went with exposed upholstery tacks (found at Joann’s). I should mention that the nice clean edge of the folded fabric is because the fabric is folded over upholstery cardboard, which comes in a roll, also at Joann’s fabrics. The lady at the store said you can use whatever thin non-corrugated cardboard you have if you cut it into strips, but I didn’t want to piece cardboard. 
So, I sprung for the roll. I mean, I had already passed up on the real upholsterer, the pneumatic nail gun, the button-covering machine…I figured it was the least I could do!
The arm of the chair was a bit difficult, as I recall. There was some real guesswork (and, er, hot glue) involved with the pieces of fabric that were oddly shaped and difficult to place. Buy a bit extra yardage, if you are spatially challenged, like me. I should add, that after all my disclaimers, you can do this. If I can do this, you can do this. Make sure you get an external frame, though, if you are spatially challenged or not a seamstress.
I had to do some stitching here. Don’t look too closely! Fortunately, the cushion sits on top of this area.
Going backless! I reused the old batting here, even though it’s kind of ratty. See those threads hanging down? That was where the original buttons were attached through the chair. Make sure you do the front side and buttons before the back. The back should go on last. Get an upholstery needle. I just linked you to some at Joann’s and I’m not sure which is best. Mine was not curved or straight, it was sort of…bent. It came that way! Anyway, I had to use pliers a couple times to get it through, I recall. I guess I’m not the only one; I just visited Camila and Jon at effortless style. I actually reused the buttons and glued my own fabric to it. I reused the button thread, too. Maybe you don’t have buttons. Or..maybe you want to cut the buttons off and pretend they happened, which is what I did with the couch!
The couch. Want to know how I did the couch? Lots of hotglue. I didn’t even have to take off as much of the fabric, because I already knew what the shape of the sides were. I had templates left over from the chair. Tricky, huh? And I didn’t take the back fabric off, either, no way. I just cut those buttons off and attached the fabric right over it. BAM! (Sorry, Emeril). That was where the cardboard ‘tape’ came in handy for a nice edge.
Photo credit: Melanie Acevedo
Although my husband lovingly refers to my chair as ‘the exoskeleton chair,’ I think I was emboldened to do the exposed nails because of this settee in J.Crew guru Jenna Lyon’s dressing room. I just re-found this photo over at habituallychic. Beautiful can be a bit messy as long as there are strong bones. This settee definitely has them.
…Better, right?
Today’s Warm and Cool is from close to home: the corner banquette in my kitchen! Today I finally figured out why I (and many women) are so in love with throw pillows. They are like soft pieces of art. It’s so dumb and I can’t help it. The ikat dotted ones were made from clearanced napkins from West Elm. The light blue pillow is from Value Village (relax! I threw the whole thing in the wash), and the peachy embroidered pillow is from Becky’s Consignment here in Richland.
I posted about a piece of artwork here and at the time only noticed the warm colors. Well, today I looked at it more closely (don’t mock; it is switching venues so I haven’t had it in my possession for a while. Of course I would never forget a single detail of one of my own paintings…ahem). And I think it qualifies for a Warm and Cool post, because I did use the teensiest amount of green for interest, and I forgot the blank canvas showing through is the teensiest bit blue. You see? Warm and Cool combinations happen when we don’t even know it. It’s like it’s hardwired into our DNA.
Hi there! For those of you new to the Warm and Cool posts, it is where I post an image I found or created with warm (red, orange yellow) and cool (blue, green purple) color combinations. This one was taken in the central fountain of the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington. The warm would be the goldfish, and the cool would be the blue tiles. Warm and cool really work to make eye candy, and you will start noticing this color tactic everywhere, if you haven’t already. Beautiful, huh?
This is completely beside the point, but I am a bit scared of a of fish out of water. They go from being fascinating and graceful to these pulsating, slimy alien beings. Yeeesh. In college my dear friend Jamie had a beta fish, Winthrop who died in his tank. She tried to have a flushing ceremony for said Winthrop, and I refused to come. I heard lots of screaming and freaking out coming from the bathroom, and I knew I had made the right choice. I also knew that I wasn’t alone in my phobia.
artisallaroundus 
