Before & After: Julia's Sofa

Last summer my good friend, Julia, bought a mid century sofa with great bones off of Craigslist, but the color wasn't what she had in mind...

So off to the upholsterers she went and transformed it into this sleek modern beauty...

Another comfy view...

Looks fabulous Julia! Why buy new when there are loads of great vintage furniture around? These easy to find pieces can be transformed into exactly what you want and represent a green choice. 

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day I thought I'd share a few of my favorite eco-friendly resources...

To find out how safe and/or natural cosmetics and toiletries are I always check EWG Skin Deep first.

To be abreast of the latest stylish and sustainable products for home, fashion, and lifestyle I subscribe to ecofabulous. 

I adore Milkshake and MilkshakeKids, which provide free daily e-mails "dedicated to finding the good in everything features companies, causes, people, places, and products [that] give back and make a difference."

       

For even more kid related sites I like Healthy Child Healthy World and Inhabitots.

HAPPY EARTH DAY...which should be EVERDAY!

Finds For Friends: Bar Cart

My good friend Adrienne had been looking for a bar cart for quite sometime and casually asked me if I see anything cool on Craigslist to let her know. So, me being me, I sent her a thousand ;) links to bar carts on CL...I just love a good find. Nothing seemed to be the one until I found this beauty...

It was an incredible price for such an awesome piece and she's been happy with it ever since...the end!

Just for fun here are some gorgeously styled bar carts...

Pinterest

Pinterest

Lonny via Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks Adrienne for sharing! 

A Recent Find: Bentwood Chairs

I've had an obsession with bentwood chairs for like ever and about 5 years ago I scored a black bentwood chair at a local consignment store for dirt cheap (see way below). They always look so effortlessly chic to me...

Pinterest

bird and birch

?

Dayka Robinson Designs

Lonny

Brabourne Farm

Apartment Therapy

Elle Decor

?

Domino

Domino

Evie and Bluebell

Suzy Hoodless

Now that I've got that out of my system, here's the simple bentwwod chair I bought years ago...

And here are 2 chairs that my parents found by the side of the road on trash day and which my generous sister-in-law let me have because they were originally given to her (thanks Heidi!)...

And here's what I scored on Craigslist for $50 last week...

No I currently don't have room for them and yes I have a wee bit of an obsession with chairs...I have 30 in my tiny cape-cod. My plan is to paint them all in the same color for my dream kitchen nook...a girl can dream right!?

Desk Color and a Smile

I'm doing these posts during sometimes very short naps, so forgive me for forgetting stuff. Here's the color of the desk I posted about yesterday...

It's Persimmon by C2 in semi-gloss...

I still cant believe I thought it was red...the sales clerk was trying to convince me, but my pregnant self wasn't having it.

And here's a picture of the little man who's distracting me ;)...

He's the most wonderful distraction EVER! 

*sort of* Before & After: My Desk

Last Spring I had a huge list of items ready to be painted as soon as the weather cleared up, but by the time it did I had found out I was pregnant. And since I had been waiting ever so patiently for the LAST 10 years to get pregnant, I wasn't going to take any chances on paint fumes. So I resorted to having a good friend help me out (and of course I paid him). But since I was in my first trimester my brain and body just weren't feeling it, therefore I didn't take one single stinkin' before photo hence the title *sort of* Before & After.

Here is the first $20 CL purchase I had painted...

A close-up of the hardware...

I also messed up on the color, which I blame on pregnancy eyes. I was going for a rich red with a touch of orange, but as you can see it's orange with a touch of red. Oh well I'm still totally thrilled with the results.

And here is the *sort of* before (it was a similar color, but even worse)...

The desk is in my son's room and normally loaded with all of his stuff, but he loves all of the storage. 

Color Names of the Rental Redo

I have received a few comments asking for the wall color and console color of the above Rental Redo I designed a few months ago, so here it is...

The console was a custom color based on a bright orange belt I own, but Benjamin Moore has a very close color and it's called Flame:

And the wall color is another Benjamin Moore color called Midnight Navy:

Also, from the comments I received it seems that some people's computers read the color of the console red, but in fact it is a bright almost electric orange. Thanks for all of your kind comments on my design!

Finds for Friends

Michelle had been looking for a pretty vintage sofa to use in her studio, Sweet Lime Portrait Design, for a long time. So she put me on the case to look for something that would make a sweet ;) prop for portraits. And this is what I found on Craigslist for her...

A cute little pink prop right? I love pink sofas too...

home sweet style

Lonny

Ned Marshall via House Beautiful

High Gloss Magazine

hus & hem

isuwanee

Kathryn Ireland

Turquoise, Tulips and Bliss

Country Living

Neotraditionalist

I think I need one now. Happy Weekend!