Home is in The Details

Call it Grand Millennial; call it Grandma Core; call it Maximalism.  My style is somewhere in the mix of those three and probably a few more.  There are a lot of ways to describe and express personal tastes and style, but I've always felt that the true you really shines in the details.  When it comes to outfits, let's face it, the accessories and shoes can make or break it but it's more than that; it's the antique locket, the interesting brooch, the shoe clips you made from pages of your favorite book that make the outfit truly you.  

So it is with our homes.  It's not just the table/couch/color of paint, it's your sassy chain-smokin' granny's vulgar ashtray.  It's the end table you salvaged and decoupaged; it's the little details that came from your heart and creative mind to make your home a unique representation of you.  To that end, and because I am oh so obsessive about the details, I have been filling my home with all the interesting things our family has collected or made over the years, but as we renovate I need a new piece now and then to complete a room.  For example: I put a canvas map over my T.V. as a cover.  Trouble is, every time I want to hang up or pull down that cover, I have to get it from a hook on the ceiling and I need a boost.  

I've been using this shot out old Cosco--yes, not Costco, it's something else--step stool we've had for over a decade.  It has been most useful, but it's not exactly easy on the eyes any more and it no longer latches, so if I don't center my weight on it, it folds up and causes me to fall.  I've gotten the hang of it, but it always makes me nervous.

As I've been searching for something unique and lovely, I've realized two things: 1.  how absurdly expensive old footstools are, and 2.  what I really want is one of those vintage wooden stools with hearts worked into the design such as these fine examples below.

The solution?  Well, Mr. Bleu has been doing a lot of wood working in order to make all the things we possibly can from trees around our property to both save money and get a higher quality wood than we can generally find at the lumber yard.  In the process, he's really becoming very proficient at woodworking.  I showed him some examples of what I was looking for if/when he got some time and a short while later, he surprised me with a completed stool exactly like the vintage pieces I'd been admiring.

It took a little wood filler and some extra sanding, but I now have this beautiful handmade custom piece that precisely fits my decor and I absolutely love it!

This room is still a work in progress, but it's coming along quite nicely and shaping up to be such a cozy, whimsical room that I love spending time up here in this room filled with so many odd/quirky/ lovely/ unique to my home things that make this room a feast for the eyes.

The Library: Part 2 The Fireplace

Going in to this renovation, I thought that relocating our wood stove and chimney to the opposite end of the room would be complicated and difficult.  And, it was.  But it was a piece of cake compared to building this little faux fireplace for the library.

Since the fireplace in the library took so much work on its own, I thought I'd devote an entire post to it.  I don't know why we decided to give up more floor space that could have been used for other things; I can only say that having a gloomy Victorian style library with a fireplace and a grandfather clock seemed way more intriguing than extra space on the floor.  So, using the help of my favorite DIY blogger, athomewithashley, we followed her instructions, making a few tweaks of our own along the way to create this fireplace for an electric heater.

These corbel pieces are by Ekena Millwork and made of high density urethane.  We weren't sure of they would stain well or would have to be painted, so we just jumped in and tested one and as it turns out, they take furniture stain very well and look no different than the wood pieces we stained.

The tile pieces were purchased pretty early on and as so often happens, my vision for the project changed over time.  Since I had already bought them, I decided to just use what we had even though they no longer matched what I had in mind.  I had to remind myself that so many of my favorite Victorian homes definitely don't "match" and that is part of what makes them so interesting.  Stay tuned for my next library post to see our progress.

The Library: Part I

My husband and I have not always agreed on home design or decor, but one room where we always found common ground was a library.  We have both always wanted one, preferably something a Victorian Wizard would feel at home in.  Armed with some inspiration photos (yes, some of them are most likely A.I.), Mr. Bleu and I began to tackle building a library.  Mr. B has not always agreed with the decorative choices I've made, but we have both always wanted this sort of library space, so this was a room to unite us if ever there was one.  You'll notice all my inspo pics contain green couches.  This is because I initially wanted this to be the room that housed my green couch.  But in the end, there just was not enough space for all.  

Things that were a must were: sconce lighting, deep colors, lots of books, a fireplace, and plenty of wall space to hang my collection of antique oil paintings.  During the construction of this room, Mr. Bleu built a catwalk so that he could reach the ceiling and I wondered aloud, why we couldn't just keep it.  After a brief discussion, we did and I'll likely do a separate post about that.

Installing laminate flooring has been one of the easiest and most enjoyable parts of all our renovation steps.  Apart from all the cutting, it's very easy and we managed to get the flooring done on this room in only a couple of hours.  Wallpaper on the other hand is less simple.  I ordered this William Morris print from a company that emphasizes sustainability and zero waste.  I didn't realize that meant that I was ordering numbered sheets that had to be used in order.  I ended up being one sheet short of a wall and thankfully Mr. Bleu is a Tetras Whiz, so he pieced together enough to finish the wall and we had enough left over to cover the small wall above the fireplace as well.  After all that, we decided to go ahead and wallpaper the remaining walls and this time, I ordered the right lengths and just bit the bullet on the cost.

Building this faux fireplace was its own job and I'm going to create a separate post for that project.  For this post, however, I will show you where it all began.

The "Billy Bookcase Hack" is all over the DIY internet scene, so we decided to give it a go.  Initially we were going to build our own bookcases, but in the end opted for the speed and convenience of ready-made pieces that I could assemble on my own and then we could install together. We did end up buying two extender units for each shelving unit so they would reach the catwalk, but this photo only shows the assembled units without extensions.

Very important step here is to either sand or prime or both before painting.  I got started only to watch the paint bead up and scratch off easily after drying.  So, I went back and primed all the boards and that allowed the paint to cover nicely, but it will still scratch off easily for about a year or so while it cures if my experience painting MDF panels on the wall or kitchen cabinets has taught me anything.

I got very impatient to get my books back on the shelves.  They've been dominating my dining room table and floor space for a year and I would love to have that room back.  I cut strips of wax paper to lay down under and at the sides of the books while the paint is curing.  I don't want it sticking to my book collection during what is sure to be a typical humid summer.  I chose to put antique books at the bottom and new books at the top.  

I also ordered fabric baskets from IKEA to fit in the cabinets and water hyacinth baskets to go on the shelves.  I applied a light coat of the same stain we used for the baseboards and trim to the water hyacinth baskets so that they would better match the colors of the room.  I really didn't know if this would work, so I started with a test basket.  It took only two coats of stain to get it to a nice shade and cured nicely.

This project was way too big to fit into just one post, so I'm breaking this room into at least 3 and maybe 4 posts.  Join me for Part II of this renovation project to see how the library wall turned out.

Putting the Shine On: Renovation Tools

During my time doing this massive home project, I have had an assortment of micro projects as well and I've discovered some very useful tools along the way.  I thought it might be nice to start a little series where I can share the things I've found to make these touch-ups a cinch.  

My great-aunt was an avid collector.  She was not, however, as enthusiastic about maintaining as she was in acquiring. Much of the beautiful things I have from her estate we're dusty, moldy, crumbling and in need of some TLC.  So, in this post I thought I'd share some of my tips for breathing new life into old treasures.

First I should mention that I'm not a pro, just someone with experience gained through trial and error, so take that for what it's worth.  Second, I should mention that I'm not selling products/ have no affiliate links.  Just mentioning some things that I have found useful while restoring these treasures, the first of those being a little something called Rub 'n Buff.  

Rub 'n Buff is essentially a wax metallic finish that is simply rubbed onto a surface.  It's not cheap, but a little goes a long way.  To date, I've used a single tube to do picture frames, lamps, clock filigree, and two sconce lights, and still have plenty left over.  Let's start with this antique clock.  The metal has become dull and brown and I can't really polish it without harming the wood.  So, after a thorough dry scrub with a toothbrush, I applied some rub and buff.  Check out the before and after:

Next I'll show you the before and after of this little table lamp.  I purchased this at a flea market and the top coat is peeling in many areas.  Once again I scrubbed it with a dry toothbrush and then applied the Rub 'n Buff.  Check out the difference:

I've really used this product a lot in my home makeover.  It has been so helpful, I wish I'd found it sooner.

T.V. Cover-Up Part I

No, I'm not talking about some mass conspiracy.  I'm referring to the trend of covering the decor eye sore known as television.  This isn't new.  Actually it's a return to old ways.  In the early decades of television there were two ways of concealing this piece of technology.  Firstly, sets were made surrounded by tasteful wooden consoles meant to help the set blend in with the furniture.  Some consoles even had cabinet doors that closed over the set when not in use to better camouflage its presence.  Televisions at that time weren't though of as disposable.  When the T.V. was on the fritz, it was time to call the repairman.  Something which our family did on more than one occasion. I recall the repairman once had to haul of our heavy set in its bulky console frame to his shop to repair it properly.  That was the beginning of the end for that particular set.  When it finally gave up the ghost, we never again had a set that came in a wooden console.  It was all ugly junk from there on out.

The second way of concealing a television was to have it in a separate room known as the "family room" or the "den."  This room was to be off the beaten path, with a more formal living room saved for having company over.  I remember this being a standard feature in homes when I was a child, but as I grew, I noticed that more and more people, my own family included, began to make the television the center of their living spaces, to the point of having all furniture pointed at it even when the arrangement discouraged conversation with guests or family members.  

Now that televisions are bigger than ever before, they're even harder to hide, but with the return to an interest in having a beautiful, tasteful home there has been a rise in interest in once again trying to hide the television in plain sight.  The largest and least complicated trend I've seen is to make a gallery around the set and then build a picture frame for the television with a screen saver of a painting running all the time.  I like this example from thriftydecorchick.com :

I long considered doing this for my own loft, but I know me.  I'm a bit of a utility freak.  I just can't leave the T.V. on all the time which means I would never use this and would just have a frame on my T.V. and that feels pointless.  Another option which I like much better and would love to do one day is build a custom cabinet like this one by Christine McConnell :

If you're not familiar with Ms. McConnell's work, I encourage you to check her out and then forever feel inferior in everything you make and do and are.  I love her and I love her videos, but I can definitely never measure up.  All that aside, Mr. Bleu is on board for an idea like this...one day.  For now we're swamped with finishing construction, so this just isn't a priority.  So, I continued to puzzle over this little quandary and finally found an easy and inexpensive solution that doesn't waste any electricity.

Before I get to that, here's the space I'm working with.  Originally we were going to put the T.V. on a side wall where it wouldn't get any window glare, but for some reason, probably just to get it off the floor and out of the way while we were building the loft, we decided to mount it to this this beam...and it's jus there...and I have no idea why.  Since we've just kept going, I guess it's there to stay and I am dealing with it.

We purchased this map tapestry years ago from Hobby Lobby and it hung on our wall (you can see a post with this map here)  until that pesky leaky roof damaged it.  I took it down and stored it until we had the roof repaired.  As I have been working on decorating the loft, I thought of this piece and decided to see if it would fit the set.  It didn't quite, but close enough for me.  I filled a sink with warm water to gently wash the dust and water stain off and to my extreme disappointment, the print washed off too.

Fortunately Hobby Lobby still has it online so, I purchased another and when it came in I put it over the T.V. to see how it fit.  As you can see it was just shy of covering it.  Waste not, want not.  I decided to trim the sides off the now ruined piece and sew them to the edges of the new map in order to extend the new cover out to the entire width of my television.

I inserted the old top dowel rod with the hanging loop into the bottom so that I can just fold it up to hang it.  It's easy to move out of the way when it's T.V. time and easy to put back over when we're done, plus it matches the vibe of the room.

While I was still trying to solve this situation, Mr. Bleu finished the shelving for our entertainment center and I now wanted to cover this as well as the T.V. but that will have to wait for another post, which is why I've called this "Part I."  I also would like to do something different with the sound bar and the cords, but again that will come later.  You can also see the progress we're making on other parts of the house in these photos.  The ceiling is finished, just needs a light fixture, and the wallpaper is getting put up as well.  I love the way this print works so well with the color of the loft and the library.  I didn't plan it that way, but am so very thankful that it worked out.

The map works very well in hiding the T.V. and I decided to put another map at the back to hide the back of the T.V. as you walk into the library.  I hope one day to have Mr. Bleu do a painting to hang there, but projects like that have really taken a back seat at the moment, so the map is just to tide me over.  I'll include photos of that when I do a post on the library.  For now, I have a hook in the ceiling that I hang the map on and tuck it behind the T.V. whenever we want to use it.

In Part II of this post, I'll show you how I hid the sound system in this room and hopefully have this entertainment center finished.

Sofa Renovation: Part Two

 Back for part two of my sofa/chair transformation.  For this project I purchased 10 yards of olive green upholstery velvet (and then an additional 5 yards just to be on the safe side), olive green braided trim, and upholstery staple gun, staples, olive green upholstery thread, heavy duty needles, wood stain, sanding blocks, and paint stripper.  For the cost of these items I could have bought a new couch.  That needs to be said.  However I doubt it would have lasted as long or been as comfortable as this and I really wanted to save these beautiful antiques, so I invested in them instead of buying new.

All the work I did at home went smoothly.  There was a learning curve of course but I expected it and just tried to be patient with myself.  I enlisted the help of a very sweet lady who used to teach classes in upholstery.  She gave me advice before I started the project on what to expect and pitfalls to avoid.

When it came time to do the cushions, I really preferred the look of a single on the couch to three individual pieces, so I peeled back the stuffing and wired those three metal frames together.  I then replaced the original stuffing and covered it all in a single wrap of batting to create a smooth piece.  Then I loaded everything into the car and drove to my friend's to start work.

The majority of the first day was problem solving, which needle, whose machine, how to cut.  At the end of 9 hours, we had the couch pieces cut and the chair cushion done.  This was when my friend noticed that the 10 and 5 yard pieces were from different dye lots.  That's right, the work we had done was from the 5 yd piece and I'd completely covered the frames at home from the 10 yd piece, so nothing matched.  I went home distraught.  I could see the difference in the dark now, why hadn't I noticed it before?!  

The next morning I laid out all the pattern pieces on what was left of the 10 yd lot and thankfully there was enough to do all the cushions.  While I hated to lose the day of work, my friend agreed to start over and we completed the cushions on our next work day.  Finally, after two months of work, we had a place to sit down a relax again!  And it turned out just as I had imagined and hope.

Sofa Renovation: Part One

Years ago I found a matching antique sofa and chair set for which I paid $100.  The antique store owner told me the set had good bones but needed some TLC, so she just couldn't in good conscience ask for more than that.  It just so happened that I had $100 and plenty of TLC to spare, so I brought them home.  At that time we were in need of a new couch, ours had immediately given up the ghost even though we purchased it brand new only a few years before and paid top dollar hoping we were buying our forever couch.  No, like so much consumer goods today, it was expensive junk.

As I struggled to get the absurdly heavy cushions into my truck, the dealer told me that she thought they were stuffed with horsehair, which is why they were so heavy.  I was intrigued.

The upholstery was likely done in the 70s and was a black/red/gold paisley.  It was in perfect condition and something I thought I could work with as far as decorating.  However, the couch was trimmed in alligator faux leather which was crumbling and peeling. Years prior I read about painting fabric in a issue of Mary Jane's Farm.  I'd saved it and decided to revisit the idea since I had never done any major reupholstering before.  I started with the chair, painting the wood with chalk paint and using all-in-one for the fabric.  It was fairly easy to do and the effect was that my chair now looked and felt like vinyl.  It was great...for a while.

Although I attempted to scrape all the alligator vinyl off, once the paint soaked in, it began crumbling.  I frequently vacuumed up my chair crumbles and watched as it continued to disintegrate.  Crumbs aside this couch and chair were the most comfortable and durable I've ever owned, so I put up with the quirks.  You can see what that project looked like by clicking here.

Now, in our third summer of renovations, the house is finally starting to take shape.  We've ripped out carpet, torn down paneling and added on some rooms.  I had a clear vision of what I wanted from our living room and these pieces in either form, no longer fit.  I decided to take the plunge and reupholster them.  The chair needed the paint stripped and to be re-stained mission oak color, and I enlisted the help of a talented seamstress to help me cover the cushions.  Once I pulled all that old upholstery off, I discovered the original burgundy velvet underneath, and that the reason for the heavyweight cushions was not horsehair stuffing, but rather that each cushion had its own metal springs and frame!  The stuffing was actually cotton and straw.  Check out the completed work in my next Home Renovations post!

Crafting Project: New Life for Old Selkies

In 2022 I bought a Selkie Abbott Puff dress and altered it to fit in a way that is more flattering for me (click here to see that post).  Encouraged by the success of that project, I decided to tackle a few more problematic design features on my favorite Selkies including my Mucha Cottage Puff Dress (and click here for that one). 

  

At the end of each of those projects, I had a lot of left over (mostly organza) fabric.  Since the prints were so pretty, I decided to keep them in the hopes that one day I could use them on a different project.  As soon as I completed my first lampshade, (click here for that one) I knew exactly what I wanted to use all that extra lovely fabric for and the recent snow days presented me with plenty of time to sit down and really dig into the work.

I was gifted a pair of crystal globe lamps that had crumbling shades.  I removed the old shade outdoors so that the wind could carry away all the tiny crumbs. Then I wrapped the shades and selected four pretty ladies from the organza fabric of my Alphonse Mucha puff conversion and cut two of each.  

I spent so much time working on these shades, I developed callouses on my fingers.  And to be perfectly frank, because I am new to this game, the compositions aren't flowing naturally yet.  I spent a lot of time trying different fabrics and colors to see what looked best.  In the end I used an antique pink scarf topped with a floral applique for the center pieces to tie it all together and I am pleased with how this Mucha shade turned out.  

I'm going to put this little project under my home renovations tab although I don't intend to keep these shades for myself. I have recently inherited an abundance of antique lamps and fully intend to make new shades for them before gifting. I already have a taker for this set and look forward to blessing others from my abundance.