Treasures in the Trash.

The first treasure:

 Eames Chair

I recently found an Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair, on trash day abandoned on the side of the road.  I drove by it, saw it, and called Scott who was still at home and asked him to pick it up ASAP.  After I hung up the phone with Scott  I realized that he was not the slightest bit moved by my shrieking over the phone that it was an original Eames chair! I decided that if I wanted that chair  I would have to drive back, around the block, in the middle of rush hour, and get the chair (we live on a one way street in a maze of one way streets) .  As I jumped out of the car, and ran towards the trash I couldn't believe my luck at finding this chair.  When I got close to it I realized that it was in amazing condition.  The back piece was not attached to the back rest but it could easily be fixed.  With my heart pounding in my chest I picked up the chair and ran towards our house and dropped off the chair in Scott's arms.  All this time (which felt like an eternity) I was double parked on our street, and there were a string of cars all honking their horns at me. Finding this chair made my whole month! 

The second treasure:

The Mirror

We were visiting my father-in-law recently when he mentioned that he saw a huge mirror on the side of the road.  Within seconds of him mentioning this we were both in his truck driving towards the neighborhood where he thought he saw the mirror.  We found the mirror and it was in great condition.  It is HUGE.  I can't believe that someone would want to get rid of this fabulous mirror.  All it needs is a couple of coats of oil paint.  My favorite oil paint is Hollandlac by Fine Paints of Europe because it makes everything look amazing.

In case you are wondering the  vintage settee was a gift from Scott.  I am currently obsessing over the right fabric and I plan on getting it re-upholstered (professionally) soon.

Second Floor Hallway.

We have been working on removing the wallpaper on the second floor hallway.  Once all the wallpaper is removed (which is a never ending process because there are multiple layers of wallpaper and the walls are about 11 feet high) we have to repair the plaster.  We have removed one small area of the wallpaper and this is what the wall looks like:

The plaster is in pretty bad shape and we need to repair all the walls in the hallway.  It looks like the previous owners attempted to "fix" the crumbling plaster by slapping on many layers of wallpaper.  Also this hallway has a beautiful curved wall so I think that this is one project that will last through the fall (at least).  What is really cool about this plaster is that it has horse hair mixed into it.  Yes your read correctly! Apparently this was very popular back in the day.  To find out more about the fascinating history of of plaster in old buildings click here.

Once of the first things that I did after buying the house was to buy rolls of black and white damask wallpaper.  I fell in love with the curved wall in the hallway and I couldn't wait to get the new wallpaper up.  Now almost three years after buying the house I am finally close to getting a black and white hallway.  This is what the hallway looked like when we first bought the house:

This is what it looked like after we removed the carpet and refinished the floors:

Successful upholstery project.

My friend and I were taking a stroll through our neighborhood (with Kiran in the stroller) when we found a stool on the sidewalk.  I was pushing Kiran in the stroller so I made my friend pick up and carry the stool home.  My friend obliged but she complained the whole way home about how ugly the stool was!  I recently upholstered the stool, in some fabric from Ikea and I think that it looks fabulous.

The stool is being used as an end table in Kiran's room.

The basement needs some attention.

Scott has been working on repairing the plaster on the wall leading to the basement and installing drywall on the opposite wall.  This is one project that I have had nothing to do with (so far).  He has also been working on the shelves that we want underneath the stairway. 

This is what the entryway to the basement looks like right now.  It is already a huge improvement from what it used to look like.  It had wallpaper (ah yes everything in our house had wallpaper) and it had black paint leading down one side.

I want to paint all the walls white, the shelves white and the stairs leading up white.  To liven things up a bit I want to paint the stairs leading down to the basement in fuchsia and then seal it.  I don't like going down to the basement but I am sure that if the stairs were fuchsia it will be a much more pleasant journey.

We will install hooks to the right of the door to hang mops, brooms, and dustpans.  We are going to install some hooks to the left for extra jackets because our vestibule doesn't hold a lot of jackets, especially when we have guests over. Also, I hate hiding the fabulous Moroccan tiles in the vestibule with jackets!

Sometimes you need to hire professionals.

I have been working on re-upholstering this chair.  I started working on this chair about a month ago and then I ran out of staples and then I ran out of the motivation. Now I wish I had just taken the chair to get re-upholstered! You can see what this chair looked like in this picture (chair is to the left of the picture).

 I got the fabric from Ikea.  I love black and white fabrics and I have a small collection of Ikea fabric.  Sometimes when I am bored or if Scott is working late I get out the staple gun, pick out some fabric, and I start upholstering a chair or a stool that I either bought or picked up on the side of the road.  Clearly this is not a project that I should have started.

I'm not a minimalist.

Via emmas designblogg

Minimalist is not a word that describes me.  I am always striving to de-clutter and not acquire any junk.  However, I love the things I love and I love a lot of things.  I find that having beautiful things around me makes me happy.  I am never quite comfortable in minimalist spaces.  Another thing that doesn't quite make me feel at ease is going to someone house and encountering a glass table.  A glass table is one of those things that doesn't evoke the feelings of comfort and relaxation.  It just looks cold, gets dirty really fast and feels pretentious. I also don't enjoy stark spaces devoid of any personal touches.   I enjoy  spaces without clutter but filled with color, streamlined furniture and full of personal flourishes.

This entryway pretty much sums up my sentiments.  While I may not necessarily pick the wallpaper or the stairway runner I love the way the patterns and colors all work together.   I especially love the Ikat bench.

I have been relaxing.

It has been almost a month since I posted something last.  Time certainly flies when you are not doing any house projects!  It stopped snowing and the sun started shinning again.  It certainly wasn't warm but it was nice not to have to deal with cold dreary days.  We went outside again to play and have fun. 

This is what we have been up to...

...going to the Art Museum

...going to the park

...running around in the field

...more running

...and taking the time to smell the flowers.