Showing posts with label Our Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Home. Show all posts

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.)

July 29, 2009

Recently...

The past few weeks have been busy with thing like the premier of the latest Harry Potter movie, a pool party, praise and worship nights, a blood drive, a bachelor party, and studying the book of Mark with our Community Group.


While waiting in line for Harry Potter, Kyle ate the largest rice krispy treat I've ever seen! On the right is our latest project. We bought a chair on Craigslist with the idea that it would be recovered. I pulled some affordable fabric options, and we decided on the red ikat fabric at the top right - except in green. I can't wait to see the result, and I'll be sure to post pictures when it's finished! It is quite funny to me though - several of our friends are against us recovering it. The chair isn't in bad shape at all, but it's just not quite my style. :) I knew it would be a great piece because it is by Hickory Chair, a company I use a lot at work. I've been to their manufacturing facilities, and I know this chair will last as long as we would like to keep it!

It's really hard to believe that our one year anniversary is coming up this weekend! We are heading to Charlotte to stay at the Ballantyne Hotel, where we stayed on our wedding night. Looking back to a year ago, I was miserable - I had a tear in my esophagus in the week before the wedding! It was very painful, but Kyle was great - he helped me pack up all of my stuff and moved it to our apartment! I'm so thankful for an amazing husband, and I look forward to many more years to come!

And - we got a universal remote! Now there is only one remote to lose!

June 29, 2009

Kyle's New Toys



Now let's see if I know what all of these remotes are for: the tv, blu-ray player, ipod dock, speakers, ceiling fan, dvr box, receiver, and the dvd player. Whew! (And that doesn't even include our Wiimotes!) Half of these arrived in the last week, and Kyle and I just finished watching our second movie in blu-ray (and the first movie with the new speakers - the new 007 movie was intense!) Kyle did an amazing job researching what he wanted - and finding great deals on all of it!

Consider this your invitation to come over for a movie! We certainly don't have all this to keep it to ourselves - it is our hope that our home would facilitate fun times with good friends.

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?

May 18, 2009

Home Sweet Home

About a year ago, Kyle and I started talking about buying our first place. We were initially looking in the areas between Raleigh and Chapel Hill for something that would be convenient for both of us. Most of what we saw were 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes, but the idea of living in a neighborhood with mostly families didn't seem to fit quite yet. After we found out that Kyle could ride the bus from Raleigh to Chapel Hill to work, we started looking for something that would be convenient to a bus stop, to our church, and to my work. Even though we loved the first place we visited, our Realtor Matt Peedin was great at showing us other options and walking us through the process. We did end up buying the first place we looked at - a one bedroom, 1.5 bath condo downtown!

One of the new signs just down the road

I snapped these shots on the Boylan Bridge as we took a walk one night


Our place! Well, sort of - this shot was taken back in 1996 before the lumber company was turned into condos in 2002

Here is the building today


Our first place!

We've loved living here. It's been just enough space for the two of us, and we love the location. I love seeing the skyline every day as I drive to work! We walk to church most Sundays, and there are several great restaurants just down the street. We're slowly but surely making it our own. Interior shots to come soon!