Obsession of the Week...Stencil Mania

Lately I have been obsessed with stenciling. I love all the different patterns and how easy it is to apply. Stenciling can transform almost anything. It can be done on a wall, a piece of fabric, a table, rug, chair or dresser. As of now I have two items on my stencil to do list and they are a rug and an end table. I can't wait to get started. Recently, I purchased a beautiful Moroccan stencil on Etsy from the Royal Design Stencil Shop. They have some of the best patterns and a big selection.

moroccan stencil

My first stencil project will be on this two tiered table, also referred to a dumb-waiter table which I found over the summer. I am envisioning a pretty stencil pattern on the tops of each tier. The pattern will give the table a unique look.

two tier end table also know as dumb waiter table

Also, in my search for stencils I came across these beautiful leather bar stools with stencil work on the leather.  I love this pattern and would like to stencil it on a rug. Although, I am also obsessed with the chevron pattern and I think it would be pretty on a rug too.

I will post pictures of the finished table soon.

Happy Stenciling!

Jessica's Breakfast Nook

Over the summer, my best friend, Jessica and her husband moved into their new home. In June, when I was home visiting family and friends, Jessica asked me to sew for her breakfast nook new cushions and a roman shade. I was very excited to take on this project and jumped at the chance to help her decorate her new home. Jessica and I have different taste when it comes to decorating. Jessica's style is more bohemian mixed with traditional where as my style is more contemporary meets traditional. Though our decorating styles are different I always like what she picks and sure enough she picked two great fabrics.

Her original cushions were old and out of date black and white checkered fabric and the window was bare.

old cushions

 
True to her bohemian taste, Jessica chose a beautiful multicolored chenille fabric for the cushions and an embroidered bird fabric for the roman shade.

breakfast nook finished

I love the way the cushions and shade turned out and can't wait to see them in her breakfast nook. I will be home for Christmas and hope to have better pictures soon. Also, I will need to do a little fluffing when I get there and by then I will have finished her new throw cushions for the bench.

roman shade

close up shot

I am very pleased with the way it all turned out and it is very cozy! I sat here a lot over Christmas and New Year's with my glass of wine chatting with Jessica as she worked in the kitchen.


Bon Appetit!

Obsession of the week...Keep Calm and Carry On

I have always wanted a framed Keep Calm and Carry On poster to hang in my aparment. In my search for one I came across this great rug on the Apartment Therapy website. I love the look of this rug, but it wouldn't stay clean in my house with my dog or the dirt brought in from the dirty streets of New York.

In addition to the poster I had another idea on how to showcase this saying, I want to embroider it on a chair. I envision it on the back of a large fabric chair.  It would the be chair for my sewing table, that way I can see it every time I enter the room. I think it would be a nice touch in my sewing room. And since both my mother and my sister have embroidery machines I just might try it!

Where has the time gone....it went to the Nate Berkus Show and SNL!

October was a busy month for me, sewing, working and Halloween. However, I did find the time to go to a taping of the Nate Berkus Show and a dress rehearsal taping of Saturday Night Live. Yes, I said Saturday Night Live, SNL baby and I sat VIP for both! It was awesome! By far my best New York experiences ever. Runner up is the Monique Lhuillier fashion show Spring fashion week 2010.

 

The Nate Berkus Show was my first awesome NYC experience. The taping was on a Monday and I went with my friend Lia Romeo. We didn't know what the episode would be about, but I hoped it would be about refurbishing and it was! A few days before the show I told Lia to dress up and wear bright colors because, "I want to sit near the front, and the audience coordinator picks who sits where - so look good!"  Lucky for us as we were standing in line waiting to entry the studios, the audience coordinator selected us to sit VIP! 

After we were seated I noticed a tv screen that read Mr. Goodwill Hunting.  As I read it I gasped and said to Lia, "Oh my gosh I love him! I think this show is going to be about thrifting and refurbishing! Mr. Goodwill Hunting is an expert in thrifting and refurbishing." The show was great and I even learned a few things, but I will say the only downside to sitting VIP is how close you are to the cameraman. He was next to us the whole time and blocked our view half the time, but don't get me wrong I loved every second of it. Blocked view and all!

My next amazing NYC experience was going to the dress rehearsal for Saturday Night Live with host Charlie Day (musical guest Maroon 5) and sitting VIP! First you should know SNL tickets are extremely hard to come by and are only available via a ticket lottery. My fabulous friend Rachael Block won tickets and took me as her plus 1. Thank you RACHAEL! I should also tell you the VIP seats (the seats on the stage) are not available to the general public. They are reserved for guests of the actors, host, executives and other SNL people. So our being selected to sit VIP was a mini miracle - especially since we arrived late. We were told to arrive no later than 6:45pm for the 8pm dress rehearsal taping. Well we arrived at 6:50pm and literally in a panic thinking they would give her tickets away, but thank goodness they did not.  Nevertheless, we were the last two in line. Soon after an audience coordinator came out to give everyone instructions, and people started to enter. As we moved to the front the coordinator tapped me on the arm and asked, "Can you and your friend go stand over there against the wall near that couple?" "Sure, no problem," I said. Rachael and I looked at each other with confused looks on our faces and walked towards the other couple. As I walked over I asked the couple laughinly, "Is this the time out section?"  The gentleman said smiling, "Yes, this is were the bad people go."  As we stood there, I said to Rachael, "I think we are in the VIP line!" She said, "Are you sure or did we do something?" "No! What could we have done?" I said. I should also tell you that earlier that day I told Rachael we needed to really dress up more then we usually do, because if we look really cute then hopefully we can get picked for VIP. Well it worked because soon after Rachael and I were entering the 8th floor and being handed VIP wrist bands.

Attending the dress rehearsal was the most exhilarating experience I have ever had. I was a gitty school girl grinning from ear to ear the whole evening. My face litterally hurt after two hours of non-stop smiling!  Sitting VIP is the best way to experience SNL, but much like the Nate Berkus show, the cameraman is right next to you and sometimes blocking your view. But next to the cameraman can be Kristen Wigg and Jason Sudeikis which totally makes up for it! I was also very impressed with the stage crew. The way they built and changed sets within seconds was like watching a NASCAR pit crew. Of course they probably have the best in the business working there, but either it was an impressive sight.

I also saw Loren Michaels, the SNL comedic genius, at the beginning of the evening and Danny DeVito as a surprise guest!

All and all both shows were amazing experiences and a big check off the life bucket list!

Obsession of the week... Silver foiling or some say Silver Leafing

My dear friend Kristine sent me this AP story about silver foiling on furniture and I love it! I have written about this technique before, it was my first Obsession of the Week post about metallic silver and mirrored silver. I still love this look, but have not been successful at recreating it. However, after reading this AP story I have new hope! I am very excited to try silver foiling on this vintage1950's end table. I purchased the table for five dollars and hopefully after some silver leafing it will be worth much more! Silver leafing can be purchased at most craft stores and online. 

I plan to purchase the silver leafing this weekend. With the research I have done online, it says a project such as this can be completed in just a few days! So wish me luck!

Let there be light...

Lately I have been very busy with home improvement projects and one of them was sewing a roman shade. My apartment has beautiful 72" inch tall windows. Two of them have beautiful floor length raw silk curtains my mother made for me a few years ago. The other window is an eye sore!  In the summer it holds my huge window AC unit. Since the unit is so big, I needed  a shade that is both functional and stylish.  A shade that I can open to let in light and close for privacy. Since the AC is only in the window in the summer my biggest problem was the length of the shade or curtain. You will see in the picture below when I used a full 72" inch curtain it was too long and it blocked the vent of the unit, but if I used something shorter it wasn't long enough for winter when the unit is removed.  Also, you can see how I had to bunch the extra curtain on top of the AC unit and I hate the way that looked.  It looked too much like a college dorm to me.

My solution to this dilemma is a relaxed roman shade. Custom made for the full length of the window, but functional to pull up when the AC unit is in and long enough to pull down when it is removed. I just love it! I choose a neutral cream heavy weight cotton fabric with a beautiful sage green decorative trim to match the other raw silk curtains that hang across the room.

eye sore window before

window after much more grown up

roman shade

decorative trim

This was the first time I tried to make a roman shade and since my sister has made hundreds of them she was able to give me great pointers! The best advice she gave was to hang the shade as I sewed on the plastic rings. She said "having it hung keeps the fabric from bunching" and she was right! To see more roman shades check out her blog OneHauteKid.blogspot.com.

A pinch of this... a dash of that...kitchen cabinet transformation!

Finally, my kitchen cabinet transformation is over! It only took me three weeks!  I was very busy at the same time and had a very limited work space. First, let me tell you, I rent my apartment, therefore I do not want to invest a ton of money into fixing it up. However, I have made a few inexpensive changes. When I moved in, back on '06, my kitchen counters and back splash were a burnt orange formica, hideous! I asked my landlord if I could remove the formica and put in tile. Of course he said, "yes".  And lucky for me I was able to get my friend's father to do the labor for free. I found some discounted tile at Home Depot and whole project cost about $100.

kitchen before

kitchen before

new kitchen counters and cabinets before

Here you can see the new tile counters and back splash. The change in tile helped brighten up the space, but recently I've wanted to brighten it up even more.

kitchen cabinets before

This year I decided my kitchen could use a face lift, that's when I found the Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformation kit. My landlord was nice enough to pay for the kit and let me pick the color. I chose Quilter's White because it is more of a cream than a stark white.

The transformation process does take a long time, therefore, if you can get some extra help I suggest you do because it will speed things up. Also, the instructional CD says to apply two coats of paint and one coat of the protective top coat. However, I applied three coats of paint and two coats of the protective top coat. After applying the two coats of paint I noticed it left streaks and the dark color of the wood still showed through, so I decided to apply a third coat and am very happy with it. Also for the protective top coat one coat did not protect the surface enough so I applied an additional one.

kitchen cabinets after

knobs I chose

cabinets after

cabinets after

Since I chose such a light color I decided to add hardware to the cabinets. The new knobs will help keep the doors and drawers clean. I suggest if you are choosing to add knobs I would drill the holes before painting. Since the paint was so thick some areas cracked when I started drilling. My next door neighbor was visiting when I was drilling and suggested I use her electric drill instead of my battery powered one. The power of the electric drill helped tremendously and I didn't get anymore cracks! The power in that thing is amazing, but it is extremely loud!

Over all I am very pleased with the outcome and would suggest the cabinet kit to anymore looking to change things up a bit without spending a great deal of money.

Happy Cooking!