In this world of consumption, it grounds me to create instead. I think that’s probably why you’re here too is it not? To get inspired by what you can make out of the world’s sloppy seconds? Or open your eyes to what can be rescued from the dump?

Sometimes it feels like we live in what I call a “Disposable Culture”. Things aren’t really made well enough to last and it doesn’t matter anyways because you can instantly replace it on a whim. If there’s one thing this pandemic has taught me it’s that almost anything you want is available for delivery and on demand. But I wonder how our consumerism affects what we find value in. On the one hand, I can’t complain because I’m in the business of making things from what no one else wants. But on the other hand does the ease we can waste and replace lessen our concept of worth… and how far does that infection go?

Stories like George Floyd’s haven’t been lost on me. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the footage because I knew how wrong it was.
No person should be disposable.

As a middle-class white woman, I can’t say that I’ve felt the knee of the BIPOC struggle. And it’s a hard pill to swallow. My color automatically classifies me as a contribution to society. And not everyone is afforded that luxury.

I know, I know. I don’t normally open up about such galvanizing topics here at SMH. And if you came here for the furniture, I will get to that. It seems trivial to keep using this platform just to talk about design and not first acknowledge that. After all, it has been a true joy for me to find the value in what others may have dismissed.

Can’t we all try to do the same in each other?

Last year, I stumbled across a free dresser on the Facebook marketplace. It was a little beat up. It was missing the original legs. And the family had no use for it because the daughter was tired of the family hand-me-downs. I wanted the chance to restore it so I scooped it up and hoarded it in the workshop for a few months, and eventually added it to the 2020 Flip List to hold myself accountable.

But like most things in 2020…
Things did not go exactly as planned.

It was in overall good shape - I only had to add legs and repair some damage to the trim work. The wood grain was so beautiful that I didn’t want to do my usual finish. But the location of the repairs would make it tricky to match the original walnut stain. I still love to play with contrast in details so I decided to try gel staining for the first time. I chose a black stain that I hoped would allow me to mask the compound repairs on the trim while darkening the wood grain instead of loosing it to a flat paint finish.

I was loving what I was seeing! The blacken body helped play up the warm wood in the legs and highlight the sculpted details on the trim work. Yes everything was going according to plan.

Or so I thought…

See, I blatantly ignored the instructions on the can of gel stain choosing to seal it with my go-to soft wax finish instead of the recommended polyurethane. And as I applied the first coat of wax, I found that most of the dark stain I had painstakingly left to cure for 36 hours was wiping right off!

Now it wasn’t the end of the world but it certainly wasn’t the finished look I was imagining for this piece. Don’t get me wrong, the gel stain still did it’s job and overall darkened the existing wood grain while masking all of my repairs. I can still count it as a win, but I had wanted more contrast between the black stain and the warm walnut details.

Instead this dresser ended up with a moody finish from the varied shades of black stain.

Although the finished product wasn’t intentional, this was a valuable learning process for me. And ultimately, I’m glad I took the risk even if it didn’t turn out the way I had imagined. I still spared this piece from a trip to the dump - and found a way to keep it relevant in this new-is-always-better world.

It still celebrates the warm walnut tones but in a more rugged way than my signature matte paint finish.

For styling, I deconstructed a Thonet rocking chair. I know that may be a crime to some, but to me was a crime of opportunity - I’m just in love with those cane shapes!

This piece has sold.

But if you are interested in a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com

If you’ve read this far, thank you. Thank you for letting me share my raw thoughts along with my finished pieces. I appreciate having this space to be creative and honest and I hope you are continually inspired to do the same. It takes courage to be vulnerable. But I think that makes for good soil to do some beautiful things.

Catch up on the 2020 Furniture Flip Bucket List

Today is the day. I finally have a room in our new place to share: our dining room!

Ok so it didn’t look like much when we moved in. Basically three things had to happen to get us to this reveal day:

1) The dining room HAD to be painted something a little less light-sucking
2) We needed to find some chairs - because what is a dining room without chairs amiright?
3) I needed to decide what art to feature in here!

We (I mean er my familial paint crew - thanks again guys!) knocked out the painting on week one but finding some chairs that could really make a statement was proving more difficult. But eventually, I found them:

Brass... Breuer... CANE... Cantilever chairs.

Up until I found these, I didn't even know Marcel Breuer chairs came in anything but chrome. But when I saw these glittering gold chairs, I scooped them up - carrying two at a time through the maze of dusty furniture at the thrift store, slightly panicked that the other two wouldn't still be there while the check-out clerk waited for me to navigate them safely out.

My original plan was to flip and sell them. But I wasn't sure what direction to take them in. My gut wanted me to recover the seats in leather but I was having some doubts. Between the warm cane and bright brass, I feared that richly-toned leather would stick out like a sore thumb. It needed something to tie it all together.

I sought council from my favorite sounding board Chelsea. She actually suggested a soft, light velvet instead - wouldn't that be lovely?! But after more research at the fabric store, I realized velvet was out of my price range. Plus, I already had some yardage of leather in black and didn't want that to go to waste - but what could I do to marry the look?

Eventually, I landed on adding an unexpected touch of black on the back of the cane. Suddenly, this discreet black lip is what I needed to realize I was in love! Alrighty - let's see it all together shall we?

Ah the paint color already makes a WORLD of difference in this space.

And these chairs are the stuff my dreams are made of!

Can you see the touch of black on the inside lip?

At certain angles it even peaks through the cane.

It’s funny to me that rooms with molding used to always read really "traditional" to me. But when we toured this rental, it was the idea of making this space a fresh take on traditional is what sold me on this house in the first place - despite the dingy tan walls.

As for the art, I tried hanging all sorts of arrangements in this dining nook and was despondent to all of them. I had wanted something long and low to lean a cluster of art on but the dining room didn't have space for a buffet or credenza. But when I hung the art low and along the chair rail I realized it created the same effect that I love without the added furniture footprint!

Even though they were originally supposed to be for sale, once I brought them in around our table - I was done. These babies were mine. And the perfect crowning jewel to our freshly finished space. Hoping to have more of our new place to share over the coming months so stay tuned friends!