A swift little before and after

While I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off rustling up pieces for my space at IDS10 I realized that I needed a chair. Not just any chair, but one that felt vintage and cool, yet was bathroom appropriate. So, I headed to Mieda Design - the upholstery shop I always use - and talked my friend Dan into swiftly re-doing one of his own chairs for the space. That grubby old orange chair below had been sitting looking sorry for itself on the shelf for oh, nearly 10 years, and Dan had never gotten around to re-doing it. The original foam upholstery had totally died (and was turning to dust), so it was high time for a makeover. I needed vinyl to make the chair feel like a fit for the bathroom space, so we plunked for a Maxwell Fabrics number in a glossy and slightly crinkled antiqued metallic silver. Dan sprayed out the teak base in a basic black (yes, horror-of-horrors, lol, but if you ask me, I think it looks great) and managed to get the chair redone in under a week. Anyways, take a look below at the before and after shots. And the chair? After its stint at IDS10 it's now sitting pretty in Dan's living room.

This, now that

These chairs last showed up on the blog here. And now, after refinishing the frames at Beresford's, and re-upholstered by Mieda Design in a lovely grey wool I scored at Kobe Fabric's outlet store, this is the result. We have a mis-matched set of 8 all together, set around a reclaimed scaffolding plank dining table that we built ourselves. That vintage lamp was a great find too - A good mate (hello Morgan) grabbed it at Rogue Gallery for me and then kindly passed it on. The wall colour is a stunning dark grey - Ralph Lauren Paint's Palais Royal - which you can pick up at Home Depot. It's nice to see what a lick of paint and a bit of fabric can do, no?

AWOL in TO

Yep, the last couple of weeks have been, shall we say, major (to quote Ms. Victoria Beckham). Basically we rocked out and got just about everything finished on the house. Seriously. Everything. I am exhausted, as is my other half, and oh, since we weren't quite busy enough we brought home an impossibly cute Whippet puppy on Sunday.

So, what with the arrival of Spot the Whippet, painting, painting and more painting, furniture deliveries out the wazoo, wallpaper going up and hanging artwork, not forgeting the nailbiting time I had watching Dan and Craig of Mieda Design gingerly maneuver a 10ft long upholstered headboard up the stairs - well - no time to regularly post. Anyhoo, I'm back at it and sharing a taste one of my current fave lighting collections. It's called Havana, is designed by the always witty Jonathan Adler for Robert Abbey, and is available from quite a few spots across the country. Apart from lusting over that 3-Light floor lamp (I so have the perfect spot for it), there's another piece I totally fancy; the desk lamp. Take a boo here to see it, and the rest of an online gallery for the Style Scout feature I do for the National Post's Post Homes section.

  

  

No guts, no glory

Sheesh, this week is just running away with me! I've been working on deadlines for House & Home, coming up with some very cool projects for the next few months and working with a client on her lovely Arts & Crafts home. And, on top of all of that, I've been working on getting the house closer and closer to being finished.

One of the exciting things to come home to was the fact that - thanks to the always fab crew at Mieda Design - a fair chunk of our re-upholstery is nearly complete. That onetime grungy 70's gold cord sofa (take a look at the before here) has had the guts ripped out of it and the frame partially re-built (Dan from Mieda explained how sinuous springs can do a real number on a wood frame over the years). I also had the frame built up to increase the seat height and you'll spot the first of the semi-attached waterfall back cushions making an appearance. And yep, that rather vibrant plum fabric you see on the cushion will be covering the whole sofa...