Before & After ~ Reupholstered/Repurposed Chairs Gallery

Since I really love taking old pieces and having them

reupholstered or redone in a new way, I decided to

start a gallery of repurposed furniture and chairs. If

you have a chair or piece of furniture that you are proud

of and would like to show off, please feel free to send

photos with information to me and I will post them.

In the month of July, I will have 1 post dedicated to

reborn furniture every week. To start things off, I really

fell in love with the chair that Jennifer of Flow redid

(above.) The fabric she chose is absolutely stunning paired

with white finish. I can see why she love this chair to death.

Denise from Discount Designer Fabrics shares with us her
Louis XV chairs which she has owned since 1975 and has

reupholstered them 4 times now! She covered them this

time in Scalamandre Edwin's Covey #16310 for the print

and Lee Joffa Ivory Chenille for the seats.

Here's the back of the chair in Denise's beautiful front yard.

I also wanted to note that Denise runs a great business of

selling Designer Fabrics at low prices. If you are interested in

a particular designer fabric but find the retail price too steep, I

would definitely swing by Denise' site to get a quote. Denise is

very friendly, knowledgeable and quick to respond.

This isn't a chair but I had to show what Katie-did

found and refinished. This gorgeous faux bamboo

end table was found on the streets and Katie took

it home to give it a lot of TLC.

The end result - totally amazing! I adore how

she put some color on it by painting the top in

a light turquoise color.

London Calling found this beauty in a Phoenix

antiques mall and brought it home with her. She

used it for 3 years before it started to wear and

so she decided it was time to get it redone.

And Voila! Can you believe her upholsterer had

this done for her in only 2 days and $80. I'd Love

to know where I can find an upholsterer like that

in my area!!

A before and after project by a reader of Design Sponge.

It went from very old and falling apart to very modern

with the lime green paint!

Here's another example from a reader of Design Sponge.

I love how she used the red piping to provide contrast

with the rest of the chair and fabric.

From Jessica Jones of JCaroline Creative, this chair was

totally reborn. Love the modern black and white floral

print she chose. You can find some great craft and fabric

supplies at her store as well.

Last but not least is this older arm chair that was remade

into this glamorous chair that reminds me of the Hollywood

Regency style. Black buttons and finishing against white

fabric for a very dramatic overall look.

I hope this has given you some fun inspiration.

All photos from the cited sources above.

Staying In After a Fun Saturday

I'm staying in and enjoying a lazy Sunday at home today after a very fun and eventful Saturday. After having lunch with Kylie yesterday, I drove back out to suburbia. After a while, Fabian and I headed back into town to run a few errands. He mentioned that he wanted to go back to Kuhl-Linscomb. By then, it was almost 5:30, so we didn't have much time to look around as they close at 6:00. Kuhl-Linscomb is one of my favorite stores. It is comprised of five buildings and carries home furnishings as well as jewelry, stationery, beauty products, books, and other gifts.

Inside of Showroom #1

Like a moth to a flame, Fabian's attention was drawn to these mercury glass pendants.

After Kuhl-Linscomb, we drove around looking at houses for a little while and then met up with our friend, Leah for dinner at Shade in The Heights. Leah and I have been friennds since we met in our sophomore English class back in high school over 10 years ago. Unfortunately, it had been months since I'd seen Leah until this past week. She is a hair and make-up artist and owns her own company, which keeps her super busy. Well, that and her husband of five years, Shawn and two adorable children, Kaid, who is 4 and Lilli, who just turned 1 in May keep her pretty busy, too. Luckily, we were able to hang out three times this week. Anyway, after dinner, Leah had to go home and pack for her 7:00 am flight this morning, so we parted ways.

Leah and Me at our friend Meredith's wedding in November of 2006 ~ People always ask if we're sisters or twins.

As Fabian and I were driving on the highway, we heard an announcement on the radio about the Annual Gay Pride Parade that was being held in the Montrose area. Not quite ready to go home, we decided to check it out. We wove up and down the neighborhood streets for close to thirty minutes before we found a place to park off of Dunlavy. We made our way up to Westheimer as we took in the parade in front of Brasil's Café. Needless to say, it was a blast! We had so much fun and were really proud that so many people came out (no pun intended) for the parade.

It is so important for people to believe in and foster tolerance, equality, and compassion in their lives. These are definitely things that I tried to instill in my students. There were times when I would think to myself that if my students only took away one thing from my classes, it would be to treat everyone with kindness and respect no matter how similar or different they are from you.

Tons of people lined Westheimer on both sides for a couple of miles. Some of the floats were hilarious, though a little too racy to post on La Dolce Vita.

Me with all of my beads... Several guys asked Fabian to flash for beads! LOL! Happy Pride!

First image via White Webb Design

Lunch with Kylie of Bandelle

Tiny Boxwood's is the cutest little restaurant. I told Fabian that I will have to take him soon. When I go back, I'll have to take a picture of the gorgeous bar. As soon as we walked in, I noticed the Circa Bryant sconces, which I have in my foyer.

Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of meeting Kylie of Bandelle for lunch. Kylie suggested that we go to Tiny Boxwood's. I had heard lots of great things about the little cafe and was eager to try it and to meet Kylie, who has been a good blogging friend and was gracious enough to design my new header.

Well, both Kylie and the café were as fabulous as I thought they would be! Kylie is just gorgeous (she could totally be a model), is as sweet and nice as can be, and is smart to boot (she and her husband are both Rice grads). My trio of herbed chicken salad, mixed organic greens in champagne vinaigrette, and seasonal fruit salad was great, too. :)

We decided to brave the heat and sit on the patio. Within 10 minutes, Kylie had gone inside to see if any tables were available as we were both melting in the hot Texas sun. I brought my camera, but we didn't have an opportunity to have someone take our picture, and I would guess that Kylie, like myself, wouldn't be too excited to have her picture taken after sitting in the heat for an hour. Alas, all of the tables inside were taken, so we relied on our lemonade and tea to cool us down as we discovered that we have quite a few things in common. The most rewarding thing I have gotten out of blogging has been the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and in turn, establishing relationships with people who share so many of the same interests.

After lunch, Kylie suggested that we walk through Thompson + Hanson's nursery and that we visit their lovely shop filled with antiques and gifts. You see, Thompson + Hanson is arguably Houston's best landscape architecture firm and they happen to own Tiny Boxwood's Café, the retail nursery, and the antique and décor shop.


Afterwards, we went next door to Indulge, where Kylie had seen some cool items on which to display the beautiful custom jewelry she creates. Indulge is a lovely, French-inspired store which sells furniture, linens, table top items, lighting, and an assortment of gifts. Like Tiny Boxwood's and the Thompson + Hanson shop, Indulge is dressed in a palette of soothing grey, taupe, and cream.

The owners of Indulge often bring their adorable dogs to work. We were greeted by two of these gentle giants and were instantly smitten.

I had such a great time meeting Kylie and visiting these wonderful stores that I hadn't been to before. I promise to take a picture the next time we get together!

Images via Thompson + Hanson and Indulge

Goddess Gowns

I still love the one-shouldered, goddess gown look. Too bad I wouldn't have anywhere to wear any of these beautiful gowns.

Marchesa


Armani Privé

Reem Acra

This Week's Quote

"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you." - Oscar Wilde

Image via House Martin

X O :)

Lovely mirror surface X O game with half cut acrylic pieces..

LINK


Starting my vacation today :)

Wish me luck :)

Interior Design Photography

By John Bessler

French Classics

Beautiful classics from Frenchie Interiors

Kate Somerville Expands

Where have you been you ask? I can tell you where I haven't been but really wish I could go. I don't have enough cash but one day when I do I will surly make an appointment.


Kate Somerville, 8428 Melrose Place, between Orlando Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard, West Hollywood (323-655-7546 or katesomerville.com).

Sherryll Jackman - A little Outdoor Living

How's this for a stunning outdoor living space? San Diego

has the perfect weather for outdoor living and Sherryll

Jackman has wonderful visions for outdoor spaces.

Love the fire pit and all of the roomy and curvy furnishings

she chose to use. It looks so inviting - you really just want

to plop in and propr your legs up.

Another wonderul design with a view of downtown San Diego.



The ceiling full of glass is amazing with the natural light.

Can you imagine a living room where you can gaze up

at the stars at night?

A very polished and stylish nautical themed room.

Just enough of the theme but not over the top.

A very classical bedroom. Beautiful

chinoise styled cabinet against the wall.

I Love books and thought that this was a

really neat dining room for a book lover.

This small living space struck me in an artsy way

with bohemian hints for a really nice cottage style.

I love the wall color she chose - looks to be a powdery

periwinkle of sorts - that hard to describe shade with

blues and lavender in it. Fun mix of furniture and colors!

This is a great kitchen with ultra modern stainless steel

appliances and fixtures juxtaposed against very rustic

and earthy wood floors and cabinets. I really like it!
She somehow made them fit together.

The lightness and airiness of this very

bright kitchen is like a dream. How many

kitchens can boast this many windows and

this much light? Even the ceilings are finished

with wood.

I hope you enjoyed this tour. I'll be posting about

Sherryll's store some time next week but I have a

special post on Monday about refinished furniture.

All photos from The Jackman Group.

Blue is the new Red

Many designers are going for splashes of color in their spaces & traditionally Red was the favorite. However, nowadays I spot Blue shades every where. Many designers replaced the red with it & it's actually very refreshing to see a new change.

LINK