Room of the week

Beautiful but odd. Your thoughts?

Decisions, decisions

Do you ever stop yourself from buying something you love thinking that its use is too limited?

I almost did that last Spring while redoing my daughter's room.

painting/chair/planter/pillow /pouf/desk

I walked away from this fab mirror that was a mere $50. All I could think was, "I don't need a mirror" and "What if she hates it? Then I am stuck."

Silly me. I saw that mirror in vignettes on Pinterest and it reminded me that I won't necessarily always be in this house and they are growing up and leaving so I will other places to use the mirror when circumstances change. Luckily, my short-sightedness did not hurt. The mirror was still at the store a few days later.

I put together this board to see how I might use it in an entryway or little office nook. Can we just talk about that pouf? It was love at first sight. I was thinking I should just buy it or two then I saw the price. Yikes!

Have you ever walked away from a purchase that you are kicking yourself over?

Naugahyde and seek

If you are of a certain age you may have memories of "the chair", that hideous chair or collection of chairs in the school office. You always knew whoever was in that chair was in big trouble or waiting for their mother because they just threw up. It was a Naugahyde chair.

 

 

 

The chair

These indestructible beasts of vinyl were slippery when you wore pants and like duct tape on the backs of of your legs when you wore shorts. It came in a bazillion colors, the most popular of which seemed to be a green representing something associated with a terrible malady.

Who picked THAT color?

Could this stuff ever be cool? Well, maybe.

 Lest you think its all mod see the first photo and this.

Here's my confession: I own a vintage Naugahyde covered chair. It awaits a more grown-up kid before it gets recovered. It came from the US House of Representatives offices and I bought it because it is so rock solid that I can't lift it.

Do you remember Naugahyde fondly?

Nooks

Small, tucked away reading nooks hold great appeal to so many as an fantasy escape spot that can actually be attained.

I picked a few favorites and it just happens that many look good for napping too.

Note the cation on the pillow "The Roost"

Some seem suited for daydreaming too.

Do you have a reading nook?

Room of the week

We all know the fabulous Miles Redd and this is a much seen Miles room.

It occurred  to me that the chair hoarders among us (I might be the Queen of chair hoarding) would take comfort in the disparate yet lovely collection in this room.

I think its best to refer to the habit as "chair collecting". Those without a discerning eye call it hoarding.

Are you a "chair collector"?

Genius or awful?

via

Thoughts?

I think it belongs on the pages of RH for squirrels. If Gary Friedman had conceived it I am sure that he would have an annoying deep thought about the meaning of the wood. Don't get me started...

2 points for weirdness. Feel free to disagree.

This could happen

Those of us without money trees often must compromise.  I mentioned yesterday wanting these simple oval backed Louis chairs with my fabric on them.

 Thanks to a fabulous reader, I was alerted to an affordable version of the chair from World Market

HERE

If they were to be mine they would remain in their plain black state.

Several commenters mentioned keeping four chairs and finding new head chairs.

This is what I am working with people! I left the cottage in the woods and brought the chairs with me. ACK!

Another comment mentioned a settee. That is something I would love but alas the space does not allow.

The wall to the left is home to a china cabinet and my easel. It is also a main traffic pattern in the house. So no settee happening.

FYI, I am majorly bugging my husband to make me a studio in the basement. If that happens the new chairs might too.

Chair envy

I feel I must tell you that I want to divorce my kitchen table chairs.

I began the whole affair 10 years ago, when cash was slim. They were heavy, vintage cherry chairs from a church probably. The yard sale had 10, I bought 4 but quickly regretted my slim purchase and they were gone when I went back for more.

I painted them, had cushions made and they are so 10 years ago.

Enough about them.

I think about new chairs more often than I should. My table is a farm table and it stays, for sentimental reasons.

The idea of mixing it up with something modern is very tempting.

Here are a few choices that I have considered.

The toile is the linen fabric on the large curtain covering a sliding glass door in the breakfast area.

If I had to choose today, I would choose the Eames chair although not in pink.

The trouble is that five years ago I would have said, "Over my dead body" to those chairs. As a child of the '70s I have a love/hate thing with mid-century pieces and my fear is that I would tire of them.

I have thought of taking a cue from the toile.

 

 I love, love, love Chinese Chippendale chairs.

 The thing is that the scale could be a problem. 

Have you ever been seated at a table where there was barely an inch between the chairs and even though they fit were just too tight? I don't want that.

I think my best choice at the moment is something from Louis land.

The oval backed Louis XV chairs are my first choice at the moment.

I have gone over and over different sassy color choices in my head but keep returning to this idea.

I really want to use my silhouette fabric with impact (i.e. not another pillow) in my house.

I can't stop thinking about this combination of classic chair with unique fabric.

Now I just need a money tree to make it happen.

Before and after-why didn't I do this a year ago?

When I can't sleep I mull over what to paint or how to redecorate with zero budget. The other night I was lamenting the seating situation in my family room far into the wee hours. The furniture arrangement in my formal living room has been bugging me for a year now too. I desperately wanted the Brno chairs to be a part of that room but the room has a traffic flow problem due to the layout and relatively small size. The scale of the chairs just wasn't working but the fact that I paid a crapload of money for them made me insist.

Living room at my house

Living room with Brno chairs

We have a long, narrow family room with three walls because it is open to the kitchen. One wall has four windows. Another the fireplace and the third a staircase.

family room in 2011

This photo gives you a basic idea. The sofa is too long to put perpendicular to its present location. In the foreground you can see the edge of the shelf that houses my little one's toys and I wanted to leave that area free of furniture for play.She really doesn't play there so I did this...

and thought to myself, "Kerry, you idiot! Why didn't you do this a year ago?"

It feels so much better like this but this is just a trial period. My husband will probably hate it.

 Here you can see the toy shelf behind the brown chair. There is plenty of room without squeezing for even an adult to get back there.

This looks so much better. Yes?

The coffee table is also temporary. It is nearly indestructible and I don't give a hoot about what happens to it. Here are a couple more shots from around the room.

It feels so much more balanced and still has that eclectic and collected (because it was) look. Now if I can convince the little girl that lives next door that the Brnos are not rocking chairs. *sigh*

Spoonflower fun

I have been daydreaming about covering a Bergere that is in my 15 year-old daughter's room, undoubtedly covered in clothes at the moment.

My first idea was to get some suitable white fabric and paint it in some sassy way.

Then I had that "Duh!" moment when I thought of Spoonflower and taking an existing painting of mine to create fabric.

OK, so bear with me for the "could you die" moment, its farther down. Scroll crazily, if you must.

"Satsuki rain" by Kerry Steele 2012

This is the painting Satsuki rain, now sold, that surprised me with its fun result in mirror image.

I am hooked on the mirror option because if you use one of the other basic or brick repeats of your design there can be an obvious line if the colors do not match along the edges. As you can see below.

 Compare that to the mirror of the same.

the color on this is massively off...I guess I need to retake the photo

The mirror can make for some crazy looking stuff too. It is best when your image is large and you must check the views in 1 and 2 yard view to get a realistic idea of how it will look.

"Pregnant with helen" by Kerry Steele 2012

I also used this painting in a mirror repeat and you can see in this view below how one yard would look.

Basically, every painting that seemed so cool to make into a fabric was dud and the ones I was skeptical of, delighted me.

My preppy painting turned into a psychedelic, preppy look, LOL!

"Patrician plan" by Kerry Steele 2012

Well, now I've done it and fallen into the Spoonflower hole. I designed a few chinoiserie fabrics and tweaked the colors. I loved that one so much that I ordered a sample. I will do a tutorial of how I did it soon. I promise! Feel free to remind me if I forget. I'd do it now but the thing is involved and its late folks.

This is the third iteration of colorway for "Escher pagoda"
It goes with this detail of one of my grandmother's paintings, although it is unrecognizable.

If it it wasn't my own work I might say something like, "I just died!!" "Holy Escher pagoda world!"

Actually, I named this fabric "Escher pagoda" after the famous stairs that create optical illusions by the famed M.C. Escher. It is not for sale on Spoonflower yet. One must order sample before it can be offered and the most cost effective way to do that is by creating a Collection in different colorways, etc. I need to work on more colorways. This means dinners are gonna suck for a while, lol!
I'll share my process soon and hopefully you all will wow me with some fabrics that you create.

Do you use Spoonflower? Have you done a project with your fabric?