Trunk Before and After

My mom got this vintage trunk for me from one of her friends. Her friend had spruced it up while keeping its vintage charm with an olive green paint. I kept it as she had left it and stored miscellaneous china and stuff in it down in our basement for 4 years. Before we moved into our new place I decided that I wanted to make it brighter and clean it up a bit so it could be used in our loft for extra storage. At this point I had already ordered our grey couch, so that was the only color I really needed to coordinate with. I lightly sanded the rails and gave them a new coat of slightly darker stain to contrast with the orange and voila.

Before.

After (iphone photo)

And here it is living in its new spot with my favorite piece of art above it.

Moved In

So We're finally IN. In and done. For the most part. There are still things that I would like to add/change, but all the spaces are 99% livable. Technically the one precent could be solved with two counter stools and another for the 'desk' which is really a hallway with a countertop on one side. Enjoy before (previous tenant), move and after pictures.

Before. Red. Too much for me. 

After. Devine Koala. Lovely. 

Packing a Uhaul is like an adult game of Tetris. It only took 2 trips and 7 elevator rides to get it all. 

En progress. Blurry iPhone. 

Dead (not really) dog at the end of the hallway. 

Reupholstered the ottoman in a gray/orange strip. Pictures to come. 

Blah bedding on guest bed replaced. Pictures to come. 

If you cant tell Im going for the grey base color with orange pop look. My fear though is that its going to just look orange if I keep adding POPS! A wise woman once told me "Pictures don't lie" so Im going to just keep taking pictures after I add something to see if it gets to stay...I can already see that I need to de-clutter the kitchen area...maybe cover up the inside of the glass cabinets with - wait for it - ORANGE paper so that they have a more solid look like the birch cabinets. 

Failing Miserably

Im still evaluating my relationship with this whole blogging thing - its not really behaving like a proper give-take relationship should. Although I would have to say that Im solely to blame for its unbalanced behavior. Im not giving to my blog - yet Im constantly taking - from others.
Im taking A LOT from the new generation of online magazines.

I love this one:
Rue

And this one is my new favorite:
High Gloss

Not only is it my new favorite online time waster, but it also confirmed my design lust for a cowhide rug-over-rug look, not once, not twice, BUT 3 times!!

And the kicker is that the last image has a grey single cushioned down filled sofa - just like me!

Were Moving!

Hallelujah! We're heading back down to 'The Pearl'. Portlanders, you know what Im talking about - non Portlanders, you may not. Its about as opposite as you can get from where we currently are. Now = 1948, traditional sectioned off no closet space house. Move = modern open loft style with concrete pillars and ceiling in a 10 story building with an REI on the lower level.  Now = Suburbia with no place to eat or grocery shop within walking distance, have to get on the freeway to get downtown, and there is a Target within a hop, skip and a jump - a sure sign your in the burbs. Move = The Pearl - specifically within walking distance of EVERYTHING. Yes, every single thing in Portland. Maybe that was an exaggeration...but seriously, there is not one thing that I cant walk to from this new place - grocery store, restaurants, dog park, hardware store, public transportation to get husband to work. Wait, crap, there is no Target! We may need to reconsider....

I'll have to carve out special Target travel time, but it will be worth the extra gas. The goal we have with the move is to simplify, simplify, simplify. Smaller; by about 300ish square feet. But the 1700 were getting is much more usable than the 2000 we have now. I also have delusional thoughts that I will be compelled to cook more since the kitchen is open and included in the main room, rather than a galley walkthrough with no social connection to any of the rooms we actually use. This may or may not actually happen. What is a definite possibility is sending Husband down to REI to pick up some dehydrated meals when we have nothing left in the freezer and the 3 blocks to Safeway is just too far away.

We will be missing a yard with the move. I REALLY doubt that we will actually MISS it since we both loathed all the work to keep it from looking like the most neglected yard on the block - but we will no longer have one. That does require getting dressed and actually going down the elevator and outside to let the dogs out to go to the bathroom. This can be Husbands job while Im slaving away in the open kitchen making proper meals.

This move is going to require some purging. I can't wait. I LOVE purging. Although this level of purging is going to require Craigslist and I loath selling things on Craigslist. Oh well, its for the greater good.

Off to pack and purge!

Tufting is Tough

All over the place I was seeing tufted headboards and I wanted one. I also covet this linen headboard from Crate and Barrel to the tune of $1700.00. I have animals and will therefore never have one:

So what is a girl to do when she wants that but has this?

Build one…on the cheap.

Building the platform bed was out from the get-go; too much wood, too many nails, too much fabric, too much time. But I built the too short padded headboard that is there now so I just needed to up my game and make the back taller, the padding thicker and add some buttons…and get it done before husband comes home from a business trip.

So, I got a $20 piece of ply wood, used a 40% off coupon at Joanns to get the batting and buttons, went to Fred Meyer to get the foam (for whatever reason, 3in foam is cheaper when you buy it in the camping section rather than the craft store. Exact same thing, but maybe they figure crafters have more money than campers). And the cherry on top? I had a table cloth that was WAY too big for my table that was the exact color I wanted…no fabric purchase needed, which would have probably cost $75. Cheap.

Done and Done. The taller size fits way better and my head doesn’t hit the wall when Im sitting in bed. Bonus.

And lucky for me I finished it before husband came home and he was thoroughly impressed. The 1st question (as always) was How much did it cost? And not because I was in any sort of crafting-bender induced debt (it happens to the best of us) but because he could not believe how good it looks!

What I Will Never Have in My Home

Some people covet distinct pieces of furniture, or art work, or great collections of ‘things’. There is always the most amazing sofa, or incredible artist, or that rare hard to find piece that will make your collection complete. Its not to say its unattainable; you may have to pinch pennies, or move to a new space to accommodate the 12x10 painting, but the hope you have for that most coveted ‘thing’ never dies. Once you have laid eyes on this item, it is hard to let go, and accept that you may never have ‘it’. Well you know what my most coveted ‘thing’ is? Hairless floors. Yes, HAIRLESS floors. And I have accepted that I will never have it.

Currently my floors look like this:

Mind you this is about 6 HOURS, not days, HOURS after sweeping, Swifting, and vacuuming! I swear!

What I covet is this:

Sometimes I kid myself into thinking that if I take them outside and brush them with the Furminator then all the hair will be gone and I will get at least a few days reprieve from hairy floors. Last time I did that I almost brushed the lab bald (seriously, her skin was a little red) and the husky hates being brushed so I only got a few good swipes on his back. That too only helped for an afternoon, er an hour.

So alas, I have resigned that I will never have gleaming-hair-free-hardwoods…at least for about 8 more years. Maybe Ill go look for a piece of art...maybe that will make me feel better. Then I can stare at the wall instead of the floor.

Laminating is Tedious.

I Have these great visions in my head about what I would like to be able to do with wood. Except then I remember that pretty much everything you do with wood, stain and urethane takes FOREVER! to finish because there is the stripping, and sanding and staining and waiting and sanding and waiting and sanding and cleaning and spraying and waiting and spraying again and waiting even longer and spraying again then THEN, MAYBE being satisfied with the finish you get. And thats IF you were able to keep the stray dog hair from sticking to your last coat.

I started with this, my late great grandmothers tri-fold table that she clearly used to hold plants from the evidence of water rings galore:


So I started scrapin' and stripin' all the laminate off the top that was pealing up.
The whole top layer had to come off. After I scraped and sanded, I laminated the top again. Cutting laminate to anything other than a square is difficult, and getting it to fit the original curve of the design was pushing my skill set. My limited laminate abilities could only handle doing the large center part. In my need for speed I got a little aggressive with the scraper and put some nicks on the edge that I wasn't able to recover with laminate but, hey, it still looks better now.

I stained the top edge the same color to match the legs and did a couple layers of lighter and darker stain with a stencil to create the patterns on the top. It fits perfectly at the end of our kitchen, and every time I walk by I pray that the laminate doesn't curl up. The chairs that are there now are being borrowed from the dining room table and are wayyyy to big. I purchased a couple bent wood chairs that I am going recover soon. And I like knowing that it was my Great grandmothers. I think she would be happy to see what I have done with it...and maybe I too can leave it to my great granddaughter with water rings and see what she comes up with...