Monthly Archives: September 2013

Make Me Over Monday pt 2

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I’m taking you on a series of Make Me Over Mondays.  I’d like to share more of the “I can’t believe it” moments with items I’ve done.  Ok.. It started with getting a phone call from someone stating, “Hey – I’ve got a few things for you to sell so if you’re interested, come over so I can show them to you.  The appointment was set and now it’s time to pay a visit.  Well entering the basement, there were some desks which is what she thought I’d be interested in getting.  Also, there were some lamps, jewelry and a few other bric-a-bracs.  But tucked in the back  corner of the dingy basement were two chairs.. they had mold stains and were completely destroyed.  Those are what caught my eye.. so here comes the question.. “How much for the chairs”.. she looked at them and then looked at me.. and said – “Those aren’t for sell – they’re going in the trash”.. I said to her “Well those are what I want.  She said “take them.. it’ll save me the trouble of moving them”.

🙂  Music to my ears…

Now I know you’re thinking the same thing, too –  here she goes again.. “Remember it’s the thrill of the hunt – with the element of surprise.  Now the main focus is the white chair.. notice the shape of the chair, the rolled arms and the curved back.  Nice.. right??  Ok, ok, ok, don’t pay attention to the nasty, crutty fabric or the mold because it’s all going to be changed.  The main focus is the shape of the chair… repairing it is all cosmetic.. As long as it has a good bone structure and it’s still sturdy, it can be repaired and brought back to life.  I’m really digging how the arms are rolled and tufted.  You know this was once a really beautiful chair.

Uugggghhhh…. so now that you see it up close – you can imagine the musty damp smell of the basement.   This is another job for “Underdog” – our super hero Upholsterer.   Delivering the chair was not a fun task because I had to keep the windows down.. and it was cold outside…chuckles…  Well the drop was made and he shook his head… “Oh brother – here we go again”  Lol… I know he cringed, but hey – what could he say…. I was one of his favorite customers..and as I told him, “He should thank me…  I’m perfecting his skills by giving him challenges”..  smiles..  Well the fabric of choice was a dashing red velvet.. Ooolala….

The fabric was delivered and he smiled and said OK.. that’ll work…  so after 3 weeks of anticipation.. rrrring!   “You’re chair is ready”  …. smile…

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Now this chair has a home…. and a chair is still a chair.. even when there’s no one sitting there.. A chair is not a house but add this along with other wonderful finds and it becomes a home… at least I think so..  I hope you do too.

Another chairstory to share is this one:

Now this chair was found in a garage belonging to the man who owned a local thrift store I use to visit often.. I hardly ever walked out empty handed.  He had a storage garage out back of the building and I happened to ask if he had any chairs for sale.  So I found this one in his building.  He only wanted $10.00 dollars for it.  Can you say “yippeeee”!

I know.. .. “why do I keep putting myself to this challenge.. – of course you know why.., I can’t help it..   This one wasn’t as bad as the other.  The cane was in tack so it basically needed to have the wood polished and of course new fabric.  When I delivered it, the upholsterer didn’t have that “Oh no -here she comes again” look when he saw me coming with it.. chuckles…I’m so glad we always had a cheerful personality dealing with each other.. makes doing business so much better.   With much ado…here is the finished product of the chair..

The story of two wonderful chairs that were saved from the landfills.. and that helped to make a house a home…

As always –  It’s VivaLa Vintage –    Gorry to Glam..

And I’m still in love with them!

If you’d like to share your Make Me Over with me, please feel free to.. I would love to see it.

Make Me Over

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I’ve had a love of make-overs for quite some time. For the next few weeks I’ll be featuring “make me over” Mondays, which is paying tribute to the lovingly restored items found along the way. It’s  an intriguing feeling when you see a once lovely piece of furniture thrown away without regard or care and thinking can it be revived.  I remember how we use to get anxious about bulk trash night wondering what will be the next trash to treasure we’ll find.  There have been many long nights spent cruising neighborhoods looking for things thrown away because they no longer want it, or it’s broken down or things that they believe are hopeless.  Such is the story of this antique slipper chair.  It’s apparent this chair has been stuck in someone’s attic for so many years and the family finally decided to let it go and decided to trash it. Well as fate would have it.. it was destined to be mine.  I looked at it  and tried figure out what happened to it… why would someone mistreat it,  or to even say  why would it be so black and blue.  I know  people thought I was crazy out my mind for thinking about putting this in the backseat of the car.  But I couldn’t resist.  It was love at first sight.  I could clearly see the beauty this chair once had.  So, it was scooped up by me.. and  when I brought  it home.. All my husband and sons could think was…”She’s really crazy”..  but.. I shrugged them off and said, now just wait and see..”

                

I know you’re probably saying the same thing ….chuckles…. but look closely at the chair.. .. do you see – what I see???  notice the wire springs, the detail of the shape.. and look at the back.. it was stuffed with horse hair and cotton fiber.. which means this chair has quite some age on it.. probably turn of the century.  It’s clearly this darling little chair has suffered quite a bit of abuse over the years and is screaming  “HELP!”  for some loving soul to save it.

I figured this was going to be a tough job it restore it back to its original beauty.  I had to recruit the best upholsterer in town and had to find the best fabric to really enhance  it’s beauty.  Since I wasn’t  in  a big rush I took my time.  After months of searching, I found the right fabric that would enhance the beauty of the chair.  Now comes the feeling of excitement .. knowing she’s getting ready for her new look.  When I got the ” your chair is ready” call.. my heart became overjoyed and asked “how did it turn out?  He replied.. wait till you see it.. with a smile..  I rushed over to pick her up and needless to say he got a big hug!  What a wonderful transformation. I brought her home and here she is:   Isn’t she lovely… made from love..  This was her place in my bedroom to complete the vintage look.

 

Since this picture we’ve moved and she still looks just as wonderful in my vintage bedroom we now have

                

 

 

I am truly happy with my little slipper chair.. It’s a great feeling knowing she didn’t wind up in the dumpster waiting to be destroyed.

It was well worth it..

September

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The leaves are gently falling and MotherNature says it’s time to let summer go…I on the other hand say, “What happened to Summer.. did it have to come and go so fast?”.  Here comes another season for us to look forward to.  Music is such a important aspect of my life and my home.  It motivates me, it encourages me, and it inspires me.  Sharing it is something I love doing because I feel it’s part of who I am and since I share it with my friends and family at home, then why not share it with my cyber friends , followers and family.  This is a special month – as I mentioned in the “Stand for your Cake” post – It’s My Birthday.  So come shopping with me for some subtle changes for the home:

I’m not one to change the decor of my home every season, but I do like subtle touches of it here and there like something for the table:

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Or maybe even a new piece of artwork.. In fact..I think I’ll  introduce you to one of my favorite artists:  I truly admire the artwork of Frank Morrison.  His art is unique and will make a statement that you simply can not miss. The exaggerated body parts and flowing motion of the characters depicted in Frank’s art work are his signature and provide us with a glimpse of his endless creativity and talent. – See more at: http://www.itsablackthang.com/Frank-Morrison-art-work.html#sthash.28KDGUfr.dpuf .  These are some of my favorite pieces:

This one is called “Take Five”  –  I love how he depicted the couple as needing a break after creating a little music of their own.

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She is “The Boss”  – and ready to rule the world..

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“Swagger”  is who he goes by and he defiitely has it!  This man looks like he invented Swag

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Meet “Red Sugar” –  ain’t she sweet.. the warm red tones in this art will definitely warm your walls this season

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The sultry look of “Harlem Blue” is a stunning showstopper:

“Sax Serenade” will add the pefect music flare to your wall

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Meet “Chanel” – I love the 70’s flare of her style – She’s fierce yet sexy  and definitely unstoppable. I truly love it but it’s sold out  🙁

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Luckily, I was able to purchase “Dream Catcher” .  This was destined to be mine because I’m opening my arms to catch my dream.

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I also visited my favorite Home Goods store and found these items to add as well.  The coffee table base has a woderful warm tone and the glass top is pefect to add one of these lovely vases.  So, as you see, you can bring in Fall and it doesn’t mean you have to fall short on color.  Just add a few pieces without breaking the bank.

      

Thank you for joining me on my shopping spree and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did… It’s September – Lets Fall in love with Autumn and oh — Happy Birthday to ME And My Twin!!

Stay with me in the Yellow

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I have to admit, Yellow was one of the colors I strayed away from.  Not because I didn’t like it but because it was bright.  The irony is  I love the sun, sunflowers, and lemons

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All of which are yellow.  So I have to ask why don’t I stay in the yellow.  Then I heard this song by my favorite artist India Arie and was truly inspired by YELLOW.  So here’s the fun of yellow in home decor to get inspired.

You can choose the soft yellow as the room color and accent with a variety shades of grey as done with this room

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Or you can switch it up to use yellow as the accent color which breaks up the black and grey tones.

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How about incorporating a little accent piece in the room such as a chair reupholstered with a fab yellow fabric like this:

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Or even paint a dresser for the pop of color

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I could imagine how happy my feet would be wiggling my toes on a yellow rug

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Or when I lay my head on this cozy little accent pillow

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Yellow, yellow, kiss a fellow…. ahhhhh the days of being outside – dancing and prancing..and long evenings ..  I see it all around

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Even to wake up on glorious sunny morning to enter into a beautiful bath such as this to begin your day

Imagine how delicious breakfast would be with a touch of sunshine yellow facing you in this kitchen

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Can you image how beautiful your floral arrangement would be in a yellow vase

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Or if you don’t have flowers,  you can even have these to display

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So whether it’s indoors or outdoors, bring in the cheerful color and stay with me in the YELLOW

After listening to her song, tapping your feet, and maybe even doing a happy dance – go get your Yellow   🙂

Holding on to the Hydrangea

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The blossoms of the hydrangea plant are so beautiful.  I’m not sure at what point in my life I decided this was my favorite plant, but it was definitely before I moved south.  I’m a “Jersey” girl transplant “Carolina Girl” and when I moved to the beautiful state of So. Carolina I discovered these plants were everywhere – almost as if it were the southern tradition to have one in every yard.   In fact that was partly the selling point of my house.  “Wow” – I thought – now let’s hope the inside looks good – chuckles… and it did.  I had a plant in my yard and planted several others – needless to say some died, some lasted.  The rain this year made the do very well and I was quite happy about the blossoms this year.

As summer is dwindling away  I have to say “ta-ta” to the beloved blossoms.  I read a post on how to dry them and decided to give it a try.  Years ago I would get them when they were beige but I’d prefer to have had them when they were the beautiful chartreuse color.  I find that such a pleasing palette color to the eye.  I clipped the blooms just before they were turning the “aged” beige color and put the stem in about 1/4 inch of water and let the water slowly evaporate.  The flower will slowly dry out with the exisiting color.  So I decided to give it a try.  This one came really good. I’ve been checking it and it’s slowly drying out and the color still remains.

So i clipped a few more and these are doing well also, in fact, they’re dried completely but I still left them in the water until it completely evaporates.

      

Now I can enjoy the blooms all year long.