June 2011 - Office Furniture

My last few days have been spent at the swimming pool, science center and just hanging out at my parent's house. I hardly know what to do with myself. I've been wearing my painting clothes, just so I feel at home! I'm having a great time, but I definitely wouldn't miss our weekly gathering.

Here are my favorites from last week...
(I actually had time to sit and look through a lot of the posts this week. It was luxurious!)

Jedbel from The Pear Tree Cottage transformed an outdated brick fireplace into this sleek mantle and surround (and she shares a full tutorial on how to do it!) I love the pictures of her home and her casual style.

Katie from Wild Wood Creek used one of my favorite colors (aubusson from Annie Sloan) to give this chunky Craig's List dresser a gorgeous and dramatic new look. Love it!

And lastly, I love this industrial meets French desk area that Shannon from AKA Design created. I just love the way she put together things that don't "match", but it all works.

Thanks girls (and some guys) for all of the inspiration.

Here are the rules for the furniture party...

1.) Your post has to be about furniture. Please, please, please...just furniture. If you find your link has been deleted, it's not because I'm mean, it's because your post was not about furniture. You can share makeovers, awesome finds, favorite pieces, furniture arrangements, or even pieces on your wish list! Built-in furniture like kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities qualify as furniture.

2.) Post a permalink (the link to the post), not the link to your blog.

3.) This party will close Saturday at midnight PST and I will choose my favorite(s) and feature their piece(s) on next week's FFF.

Lovely apartments from my future city

As some of you might already know, in August I am moving to DC because my boyfriend will be attending GWU in the fall to get his masters. While I grew up in MD, I only ever went to DC for school field trips, so I don't really know much about the different neighborhoods. So yesterday before attending Manvi from Mochatini's fabulous tabletop decorating how-to party, which I'll be sharing pics from later, I drove around and explored some recommended neighborhoods. I checked out Columbia Heights, Shaw, Foggy Bottom, Dupont, Silver Spring (MD suburb), and Capitol Hill. It's ultimately going to come down to the $$/space ratio. Anyway, enough of that - here are some fab. DC apartments...

The vintage chic split level apartment is in Cleveland Park.

LoVe the widow seat

This charming loft is in the adorable Logan Circle in the The Louise Hand Laundry Loft

Love the rug

Great bed

via Apartment Therapy

my dirty little secrets

Picture this...I have very important dinner guests over to my house. I welcome them into my kitchen. They compliment my bright white cabinetry. I'm finishing some dinner prep and chatting with everyone, gracious hostess that I am. Are you with me?

One of the guests asks if she can do anything to help me. I ask her to grab a bowl out of the upper right cabinet. She sees this...

..she passes out. Babies cry. Children cover their eyes. The fathers grab their families and leave in disgust. I'm left standing alone in my kitchen...in my disgrace.

Okay, okay! I'm guilty. I didn't paint the inside of my cabinets or cabinet doors. I didn't and I'm okay with it! I'll shout it from the roof tops and show it to the world on my blog!! I DIDN'T PAINT THE INSIDE OF MY CABINETS OR DOORS!!!!

In all seriousness, I was just too impatient (in case you missed it, I have 51 cabinet doors) and I really didn't want buy another quart of primer and paint to do it. At first, I felt like I really needed to do it. It's what everyone does, right? And it's the right way to do it, right? After a long conversation with myself, I decided I may be in the minority (or the silent majority) of those who just don't care if the inside of their cabinet doors are painted, so I bucked tradition and took the road less traveled.

...and that has made all the difference.

While I'm airing my dirty secrets, I might as well share this...

Is everyone okay? Can you handle seeing Miss Mustard Seed so raw and exposed? I am actually going to paint the underside of the cabinets. I can see this when I'm sitting on my sofa and that crosses the line. I decided that this was something I could do in sections as I have the time and it didn't need to be a part of the push to get the kitchen finished.

So, if you're about ready to paint your kitchen cabinets and you really don't want to paint the inside of the doors...that's okay. You have my permission to just leave them alone. I've got your back.

Beautiful 1637 Sq. Ft Villa Plan and Elevation

Ground Floor Plan - 1097 Sq. Ft.
First Floor Plan - 540 Sq. Ft
Total Area - 1637 Sq. Ft (152 Sq. M.)

152 Square Meter (1637 Sq. Ft) Indian Villa Design id=

2761 sq.feet semi circular shaped villa

Ground Floor Plan - 1557 Sq. Ft.
First Floor Plan - 1204 Sq. Ft
Total Area - 2761 Sq. Ft

256 Square Meter (2761 Square Feet) semi circular shaped villa - June 2011

I'm off to DC to attend Mochatini's awesome tabletop decor design camp!

So what else but tabletop inspiration for today's post?

1., 2. Elle Decor 3. Pinterest 4., 5., 6. Rue Magazine

French Daybed Makeover

I mentioned in passing a few months ago that a family from our church gave me a French daybed for free. It was in their basement playroom and I spotted it when we were over at their house one day. I have a habit (and I'm not sure if it's good or bad) of commenting on the decor and furniture in people's homes. So, in classic Marian fashion, I just spewed out, "This is a really, really great piece."

A few weeks later, my friend called with a "proposition for me", as she put it. She gives me the French daybed for free and I get a free French daybed. That's the kind of trade I cannot refuse. It's been sitting in my family room since then, waiting for a makeover, and the lure became too strong to resist this weekend.

This is sort of how it looked when I got it. It had different pillows on it and fewer holes in the caning, but you get the general idea. It is wood, but it was painted in a faux graining, so I really wanted to repaint it.

And here is how it looks now...

The first thing I had to tackle was the holes in the caning. I was planning to recane the piece, but after my kids kicked additional holes in it and picked at them until they were ridiculously large, I decided that would be a source of frustration for me.

Although I really, really wanted to have a cane back, I decided to upholster it instead. I removed the old cane by cutting it with an Xacto knife.

Once the cane was removed, I painted the frame in Annie Sloan's Old White. The "bed" part of the daybed was removable, so it made the painting step very simple. I decided to upholster it in ultra durable antique grain sacks, so I cut them and patched them together to fit in a way that looked nice. I then stapled the fabric to the underside of the frame.

I'm still working out the pillows, but I will definitely be using some of my new Ralph Lauren green pillows that two wonderful readers found and shipped to me.

More to come this week on my kitchen sources, paint colors, and the answer to the question that has been burning in the minds of many readers...

"Did you paint the inside of your cabinets and cabinet doors?"

My most recent obsession: beautiful bedrooms!

you had me at coffee in bed...

gorgeous color scheme

I love the above bedroom - it's beautiful and considered, but still so liveable. Whatever this style is called- I'd say it's mine.

simple and classic beauty

beach cottage beauty

amazing wall treatment

This bedroom started with the headboard and grew around it.

Which is your fav?

1. Pinterest
2. Pinterest
3. Pinterest
4. Pinterest
5. Pinterest
6. Pinterest
7. High Gloss
8., 9. Country Living

Home plan and elevation 2678 Sq. Ft

House Details
Ground Floor - 1764 Sq. Ft.
First Floor - 914 Sq. Ft.
Total Area - 2678 Sq. Ft.

248 Square Meters (2678 Sqaure Feet) Houid=

...it makes me feel like baking.

Most of you know I have given my kitchen a fresh new look with paint, paint, more paint and some hardware. I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying it and have experienced some unexpected side effects. First of all, I want to keep it super clean, which will eventually drive my family nuts. Second...

...it makes me feel like baking, which is really no good, either. Well, it's good...like, yummy good, but not good...like..for my waistline. Yeah. Not good.

I couldn't resist baking up a batch, though.

I safely arrived in Orlando this evening. I survived the flight with a two year old and four year old. None of us cried, either, which was a first! They're so much easier to travel with, compared to last summer. Thanks so much for all of the shopping suggestions and I will definitely be hitting those places. I stopped by Lucketts today and my booth was almost cleared out, so I apologize if you plan on shopping there over the next two weeks. There's just not much left to buy! I have tons "in the works", so it'll be a stocked space in mid-July.

Before I left, I snapped lots of pictures and made tons of notes about things to write about while I'm away from my home, so there will still be fresh content here each day. Here's a little peek of a makeover I'll share...

Oh! And the winner of the John Millen Hardware Milk Paint and Wax Giveaway is...

Anonymous! (We have an e-mail address, though, so we're good.)

Congrats and thanks to all who participated. Speaking of Milk Paint, I have some tips coming soon and I'll make a video tutorial when I get back.

Office Furniture

Home design ideas of the month - June 2011 Edition

Furniture Feature Friday - Favorites & a Link Party