The Good, the Bad and the Ugly....

So, remember this awesome find for $30?   This is the Good.....

Take note of the red upholstered seat.  See the red fabric?  Well, that is the Bad.  Goals are to paint the chair.  Check.  Done in an awesome new color which I love!  Second, is to reupholster the seat in a new fabric.  I decided to take the red fabric off for fear that it might show through my new fabric.  Well, here comes the Ugly.

Not one layer of fabric, but two?  I thought this only happened when taking down wallpaper?  To top it off the white plaid fabric is textured so I had to take that off as well.

Well, I finally finished and with only one injury when I jammed the screwdriver in the palm of my hand trying to take out those pesty staples.

We're approaching the finish line folks!  I can't wait to show you the reveal!!  Stay tuned.

PSS:  All pictures (except for the first one) are shot with a new camera!  Santa was good to me this Christmas.  I received the Canon EOS Rebel T1i.  Still learning the ropes as you probably can tell.  Can use all the help I can get!!

Catchin' Up

We're in Michigan right now relaxing with family and enjoying the lack of any type of schedule.  Sleeping in, playing ice hockey on the lake, eating home baked cookies and catching up by browsing some of my favorite home decor magazines.  I'm currently loving these pictures - great for some fantastic color inspiration....

SW Meander Blue (#6484)

BM's Wood Grain Brown (#2109-30)

BM's Hawthorne Yellow (#HC-4)

I also was able to catch up on the recent Renovation Style magazine featuring Meg Braff.  Here are two of my favorites pictures of her work...

Lastly, if you ever happen to find yourself in Ann Arbor, MI, you must go to The Treasure Mart.  My sister in law and I went there and it was amazing.  She walked away with a fabulous bamboo dresser for $75.  Not too dissimilar to this......

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I hope you all are having a relaxing holiday week.  I plan to be back in full swing in the New Year!!  Happy New Year's!!  

Fun, Vibrant & Stylish

While I am not a huge fan of the color red, I like it in doses.  To me, the color red means fun.  Some ways to inject fun into your home?  Take a piece of furniture (like a chair),  paint it red and what you'll end up with is a fun, vibrant and stylish piece that speaks volumes. If red scares you, you might want to stick to a simple red and white color palette.  You can't go wrong with such a classic color combo.   Think Hermes 'Balcon du Guadalquivir' plates.  Check out some of my favorite 'red' pieces:

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So, is red for you or no?  

Distracted

Tobi Fairley 

by this and by life.  Will be back soon!

Before & After: Bedroom Dresser

Another corner in our master bedroom is almost finished.  I need to work a bit on the styling, but I mainly wanted to show you the dresser and mirror.  I found the dresser at a tag sale for $20.  Here is the before...

I always forget to take before pictures, so this is after we took off the hardware.  We (my husband) painted it MS 'Gravel'.  It was from Martha Stewart's old paint line and I love this color of gray.  We used the existing hardware, but my husband spruced up the hardware (it actually took a lot of elbow and grease) by using Brasso and paper towels.  Here is the after:

I found the sunburst mirror from Pier1 for $12.  It was originally red, but I painted it a metallic silver.  Here is another picture of the dresser and how it looks today in our bedroom.

Not too bad for a total cost $32 (dresser, mirror and paint).  I know, I need to work on the styling, but don't you love before and afters?

Quick & Easy DIY

This week I was inspired by two posts (in no particular order): Karen's from Strictly Simple Style and Casey's from Loft and Cottage.  Both posts talked about easy DIY projects that you can complete in a day (or less) and that have a big WOW factor.  I tend to get lost (and overwhelmed) at times in the 'big scheme' of my projects that I forget about the little 'DIYs'.  And, because my 'room' is not complete, I don't share or post about my smaller DIYs.  After reading their posts, I decided to post about a small bench that got a makeover earlier this year.   

I found this small bench at the goodwill store for $8.  I liked it but I wanted to update it a bit.  So, I unscrewed the seat and sanded the wood.  

I bought some spray paint - Krylon High Gloss in White ($5). 

I bought some new foam for the cushion ($6) and a 1/4 yard of fabric I liked ($4).   I ripped off the old fabric by removing the staples and re-upholstered it with the foam and new fabric.  I secured the foam and fabric by using a staple gun.  And, here is the finished bench.

It now sits at the end of our bed in the master bedroom.  I really like how the fabric on the bench complements the bolster on our bed.

Total cost for this quick and easy DIY: $18!   Sometimes, it is all about the little things!

Sneak Peek: Big boy's room

Finally, I am ready to show you a corner of my son's new big boy room.  But, only a corner!  The rest of the room is still in progress.  So far, I am really happy with how it is turning out.  Here it is (after):

The walls are painted Benjamin Moore White Dove.  I found the vintage '3' number sign at Anthropologie for 50% off - so appropriate since my son just turned three.  I framed three vintage Guinness post cards that my husband bought in Ireland and hung them in a frame above the built in drawers (My husband is Irish, need I say more?).  

Remember, I was trying to find inexpensive bookracks?  Well, one night I was complaining to my husband that I couldn't find anything inexpensive that I liked.  He, then asked me, "How about I try and build you one?"  And, I was like, "Are you serious?"  And, being the wonderful husband that he is, he said, "Yes."  And, that was music to my ears!
We spent the next half hour or so drawing a sketch (based on a picture I showed him) - him asking me questions here and there.  He did all the math and figured out all the measurements.  And, then he proceeded to take the next couple of nights (after the son was in bed) to build it using all scrap wood we had leftover in our basement.

He used dowel rods (cylinder rods) to keep the books from falling out.  He painted it white and I cannot believe how awesome of a job he did.  It turned out better than I imagined and literally we paid nothing for it.  $0!! He did such a great job.  He used toggle bolts to secure it to the wall and viola, it was ready for all of Luke's books.

Prior to the big boy room transformation, this is a snapshot of the same corner before we painted it (before).

It's come a long way.  I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm really happy with how things are progressing.  Below is a snapshot of some (not all! elements I plan on using in his new room.  I'm not revealing everything,  because I definitely want there to be some surprises!

If you remember, I found the spindle head and foot board for $35 at an antique store.  I picked out a warm brown color, Benjamin Moore's Natura (zero VOC) Maryville Brown and my husband painted it.  The duvet cover is from Ikea.  I plan on doing a framed series above his bed of cut out pages from his favorite book, 'Caps for Sale' in natural Ribba frames .  I found the map at a consignment store and it is perfect because it reflects the colors of his room (yellowish green, warm brown with hints of turquoise and red).  
So, that is it for now.  What do you think?  Stay tuned for more.....hopefully, soon!

Painted Bamboo Beauty

This weekend I spotted this painted bamboo chest over at Southern Exposure .  Rachel is insanely talented.  The lamp on the chest is a TJ Maxx find which she pained and then painted a stencil onto the lampshade.  I absolutely love the color of the bamboo chest, her lamp upgrade and her styled vignette.  


On Saturday, I hit a couple of tag sales.  I found an artichoke accessory very similar to the one pictured above for a $1 and while I didn't find a bamboo chest, I did find something bamboo, and I'm beyond ecstatic.  Stay tuned....

Stripes

I have babies on the brain.  I'm planning a baby shower for a dear friend who is going to have twin girls.  I stumbled across this nursery.  How original - stripes on the ceiling.  I love the color green, yellow doors, armoire and fabric.  The before and after is pretty incredible, see here .