July 2011 - Office Furniture

latest finds

I set out Friday afternoon to hit one of my favorite antique shops and I was not disappointed. I found...

A small storage caddy that was handmade out of vintage cheese boxes. How resourceful is that? And I love the grass green color.

...a tool caddy. Again, I love the color of the chippy, worn paint.

...an antique sheet music book.

...and some antique primers, readers and other books.

I love ones with names or inscriptions inside. I can't resist the history they hold.

All of these things are headed to Lucketts next week!

my own little corner of the world

For those who have read my blog for a while, you know The Old Lucketts Store is one of my favorites places on the map. I have said for years that it would be a dream to be a vendor there. Even last fall, I considered it a dream that would probably be out of reach for many years. Now, I have my own room on the third floor of the old home and general store turned antique haven. I still walk in with my things and feel like an impostor. It's like being a groupie of a band for years. You've gone to their concerts, acquired signatures, worn their t-shirts and listened to their music. Then, you find yourself as a member of the band. Pretty wild.

So, as I show off my space, know that I count it a true honor and blessing to sell out of such an amazing shop among such talented designers and dealers.

I picked up a lot of fun things over the past couple of weeks to fill my own little corner of the world (Which was cleaned out pretty well!) and here's what it looked like when I set it all up on Thursday...

I sealed a rusty milk bottle carrier with polycrylic, so it wouldn't "rust" on everything it touched. It's filled with piano rolls tied in ribbon and wood tumblers full of vintage and antique silver.

At the center of the room is the farm table I made for Cottages and Bungalows magazine, a really cool coffee table/bench on wheels and a rushed seat French settee (a recent Craig's List find.)

This is my most recent ASCP dresser. I painted it in a mixture of equal parts Graphite, Louis Blue and Duck Egg. It's a gorgeous, rich bluish gray color. It was a perfect compliment to the original brass hardware.

I also started carrying handmade clay knobs by Vintage Skye.

I'm currently carrying ten different knob styles, but will expand the selection if they sell well.

I found some more great things yesterday and a couple of boxes of dried lavender arrived this week, so I'll be bringing down another van load on Wednesday. The Design House at Lucketts is this coming weekend, so try to make it if you can. For a peek at their design boards for the upcoming sale, visit the Lucketts Store Blog.

Before you sign off, the winner of the Bamboo Mat offered by Wuslu is...

Rachelle from The Adventures of Burke and Rachelle!

Quote the Walls Giveaway!

It's pretty rare for me to host two giveaways in one week (I try to stick at around two a month), but a spontaneous decision earlier this week has brought us here. I don't think I'm going to hear any complaints, though!

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Quote the Walls, a family run company that offers pre-designed and custom vinyl quotes to use in your home (or anywhere.)

It always interests and inspires me to learn how and why people start the business they're in. I asked Rebecca and this was her answer.

"Quote the Walls was started because we had purchased a new home and I was exploring decorating ideas. I came across vinyl wall lettering in model homes and thought it added such a personal touch to the home. Favorite quotes, phrases and scripture can really bring out the personality of a room. Our family was small and kids were little and I found this business to be something I could do around the family and fit into our lives without working outside the home. That was 2005...now 2011 we have an office with four employees that are like family. Our little office is close knit, our kids and friends and everyone grows up around Quote the Walls.
It has really been a dream come true for me and my family. We are looking forward to many more years of helping people customize their home."

So inspiring, isn't it? It definitely resonates with me and my desire to start a business that could contribute financially to my family and work around the schedule of my little boys. Thanks for sharing, Rebecca.

In Quote the Wall's online shop, you can find monograms, quotes, scripture verses, witty sayings, graphics...just about anything. Would you like one (or more) for your home or work space? Well, you've stopped by on the right day. Quote the Walls is offering up TWO $50 gift certificates to spend in their online shop.

What do you have to do to enter? Visit Quote the Walls and look through their amazing selection of vinyl wall decals. Come back here and leave a comment letting me know what you would buy if you win one of the $50 gift certificates. Easy enough?

The giveaway is open through Sunday, July 31 at midnight PST and a winner will be randomly chosen and announced on Monday. Good luck!

Some delicious eyecandy from 3 beautiful blogs

It was design blogs that inspired me in the first place to start blogging, but between running my web design business, and running Office Furniture, I never have time to peruse my favorite blogs the way I once did. Therefore I decided to make myself make time by publishing occasional posts featuring images from other awesome design blogs. Enjoy!

{featured in no particular order}

Images below from "Live Creating Yourself."

so pretty

the charming The Marion Housebook had this delicious eyecandy

The two bedrooms above are so simple and peaceful

On Pure Style Home I was loving these...

gorgeous

Clever and Creative Products

FOOT IN THE DOOR
we ALL need a foot in the door
Via

You girls slayed it last week. My mind was spinning at all of the amazing furniture pieces linked up. Really...some of you put me to shame. It's always an honor to feature some fellow furniture-lovers in this weekly party. Truly. Now that I've gushed all over you, here are some stand-outs from last week...

This card catalog makeover by Maple and Magnolia is WOW. WOW, because I'm totally jealous and want one. And WOW, because this took an insane amount of tedious work.

Abbie from Five Days Five Ways designed this beautiful nursery for her daughter Della. This white chair with red piping is super chic against the aqua walls. Della's a blessed girl. (I grew up in army housing with white walls. Does that explain anything?)

Andrea from Sweet Vintage Decor painted and upholstered this antique bench in a grain sack. This is my kind of furniture makeover! Andrea certainly knows how to catch my eye. Love it!

Lastly, Stacy from Not Just a Housewife repurposed some old doors into a privacy screen. I love how she used different door styles, different colors and left the door knobs on to make this unique. What a fun piece!

Thanks to all who participate and mingle. Enjoy!

Here are the rules for our furniture get-together...

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.

Reveal 1 - our new apartment

So last week boyfriend and I looked far and wide for an apartment in DC, because he's starting his masters program at GWU in the fall. We searched in multiple DC neighborhoods - Georgetown, The Hill around Eastern Market, Dupont Circle, Foggy BOttom, Shaw, Cleavland Park, Glover Park, etc. We also scoped out Arlington and Alexandria in Virginia, and Silver Spring and Bethesda in Maryland. While there were areas of DC we really liked - we couldn't get the space we needed with our budget. I work from home and therefore require more space than if I left the house for an office each day. We also really fell in love with old town Alexandria, but the only thing we could find in our budget was a good 20 min walk from old town. In the end, we decided on an awesome Bethesda apartment. I'm from Maryland but had actually never been to Bethesda, and was really impressed. Where our apartment is situated is only a 7 minute walk from the subway, and we can walk to shops and restaurants. In DC we just didn't have the budget to live close to shops and the subway.

We also have around 750 sq ft and 2 huge closets! That's unheard of in NYC and Brooklyn where I was living before. Anyway, I have to decide on paint choices. We want to keep the colors somewhat neutral because unless colors are "extreme," we aren't required to repaint when we move out.

I took some pics of the place and did some photoshop magic to show you the 2 colors we are thinking of. I'm really loving gray lately - so I'm thinking gray for the bedroom, and a nice, creamy light aqua for the large living/dining space.

So, these 4 pics are the bedroom