Showing posts with label Furniture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Furniture. Show all posts

May 1, 2010

Local Find: Furbish Furniture

Yesterday I was on my way home from the Junior League of Raleigh's 2010 Showcase of Kitchens Tour when I spotted this lovely shop on Glenwood Avenue: Furbish Studio. Jamie Meares opened the space about 5 months ago, looking for a fresh change of pace from the corporate world.


She refinishes and recovers furniture, making it adorably cute. The pieces have lots of personality with a dash of funk. Just what Raleigh needs if you ask me. :)


Here are some photos from the store, borrowed from the Furbish Studio blog I Suwanee. Clever quotes are placed throughout the space, like the one above.


I love this chevron settee! She said that she started with a collection of furniture she had stored in her basement, and she shops estate sales for new pieces.


Her dog Rowdy (yes, like the dog from Scrubs) is so cute! I love all the colorful pieces in the space. It's a wonderful mix of old and new. Be sure to check it out if you're around Glenwood South! Or read her interview with Decor8 here.

October 18, 2009

My Chair & My Inspiration


My chair is back from being reupholstered! While I've had it a few weeks, I just hadn't found the time to blog about it until now.


Before and after. It love it! It is so comfortable and so cute now! I bought the chair for $100 on Craigslist. Since it was made by Hickory Chair (which is a company we carry at work), I knew that it would be a well-made piece that will last forever. I refinished the legs myself and then had it reupholstered in an ikat fabric. Last weekend I made the brown lumbar pillow for it. I was excited to get my sewing machine out since it had been a while, and now I'm excited to do more projects!


The ikat fabric I chose reminds me so much of the fabric used on the pieces above. That fabric is by Madelin Weinrib and is sold for around $500 per yard! If you aren't familiar with ikat, you should check out this post on ikat at Design*Sponge. True ikat is made by painting the threads before weaving the fabric - which creates the irregular shapes that characterize the patterns. I'm planning to make accent pillows out of the floral fabric to the above right.


That fabric was designed by Celerie Kemble (above) - one of my favorite interior designers. I love her style! And, as you can see in the photo above and the article below, she used the Madelin Weinrib ikat in her nursery! (I'm a green addict too.)

June 24, 2009

Recent projects at work!

After five years of college and three internships, I absolutely love working on real projects and getting to see my designs come to life! Here are some recent shots I took on the job.


Not your typical client meeting: Brittany meets with a client to select paint colors on the side walk outside of our office. And to the left, wallpaper I selected for a laundry room - I love how it looks installed!


An all-cream master bathroom with an onyx tile floor. On the right, I love the corner chairs that flank the entrance to this room, the paint color, and the cornices!


On the left, a lovely chair from Hickory Chair, one of my favorite companies based out of Hickory, NC. The fireplace on the right was one of the first things I designed when I was an intern, and I got to see the result a few weeks ago! (The screened doors to the left allow remote signals to pass through, without all the electronics being seen.)

May 31, 2009

Our First Place

In the months we've lived in our home, we've worked to make it our own. We've tackled a variety of projects with plans for more. Most recently we built a fence with our neighbors and renovated our powder room.


The new vanity and mirror are from Lowe's, and the faucet is from Home Depot. For under $200, the vanity included the granite top and under mount sink.


The paint color was chosen from the cover of a book that we got recently. (It is more accurately represented in the above photo on the left.)


Before & After: We kept the light fixture, but the medicine cabinet mirror was very small. The oval mirror is much better in size and proportion to the vanity. The pedestal sink was alright, but it is nice to have storage in there now, and the color is much better!



Our living room: The sectional just arrived a few weeks ago, and now we are working on finding side tables, a coffee table, a rug, lamps, pillows, window treatments, and artwork. The television was one of the first things we purchased - even before we had anything to put it on! Kyle did a great job researching which one he wanted. The console is from Crate & Barrel, and the lamp and side table I had in college.



We purchased our dining table because of the top that pulls out to go from seating 6 to seating 10. In February, Kyle and I started leading a community group through our church. Each week we have around 15 people that meet and eat at our house. We needed a way to maximize our space and the dining table has been great! We also set up a card table in the living room. The chairs stack to the side when we don't need them.


Our kitchen: We love the look of the granite countertops and the stainless steel appliances. The pantry (not shown) provides additional storage. I would like to paint the cabinets, add hardware and molding, tile the back splash, and change the paint color.


Our bedroom: The bedding was a great compromise between what we each wanted - I like pattern while Kyle preferred solid bedding. We ordered the upholstered bed frame and then I had an upholsterer make the headboard to match. On the accent pillow, I laid a printed fabric from Romo that I'm considering using. I want to use accessories to bring color into the room.


We got a great deal on our nightstands from Whitley Galleries because they were a discontinued style. Next, we need lamps, art work, and curtains. Across from the bed we have a desk, media, and storage system, but it is pretty empty right now.


This is our master bathroom as it looked the day we moved in. Not much has changed. It was painted the same red color as the other bathroom. We're hoping to repaint, change the vanity or at least the counter top, get a new mirror, and tile the floor. We're also planning to change out all of the brass hardware found on the doors.


Shortly after moving in, we added a closet organization system in our 8' x 8' closet. The three shelves that were in there before hardly took advantage of the space. On the left wall, the poles were hung too close together and you couldn't actually hang clothes from it. Now we both have plenty of space and lots of shelves for other things. We bought some of the accessory pieces, like a tie rack and shelves for shoes, and now we have shelving on three walls instead of just two.


Almost any interior designer would tell you, it's a lot harder to do your own home than it is to work on others. I haven't rushed to make it look finished, but instead we've taken our time finding pieces that we know we'll enjoy for a while. We chose a few pieces to invest in - mainly our mattress and our sectional, which we will have for a long time.

How have you made your space a home? What pieces were most important to you?

March 21, 2009

Ikea came to Charlotte & so did we!

After seeing the big blue box of a store on I-85 every time I drove through Charlotte, we couldn't help but stop shortly after it opened.



While we didn't make any major purchases, just being there was very inspiring. Personally I loved walking through their room scenes and store displays.





The designers at Ikea do an incredible job showing their products - every section has an interesting display. I've gotten the Ikea catalog since high school, so it was nice to see their pieces in person. I was a little disappointed in the quality. I don't think that you can really complain with the prices - but after sitting in several of the sofas and chairs, I don't think I would be interested in purchasing them. They weren't very comfortable, and I don't feel like they would last very long. But they sure make it look great!