Dark Record Cabinet

So let me just start this post by saying this may be my last flip before baby H comes!  What-the-wha??? I can’t believe I’m saying that - is this really happening?!  I think she just heard me because she’s elbowing me right this very minute as if to say “Yes mom.  Ready-or-not here I come.”

Since it could take a while for me to get back in the workshop, I do hope this flip will suffice for a while.  Let’s meet this capsule project shall we? 

He was a whopping $10 and had really only known life as a printer cabinet as evidenced by the shreds of hammermill paper wrappings and wedged paper clips in the drawers. 

He was a little low but made of solid wood with good bones and I knew I really wanted to see it become something special. Between the drawers and the cabinet, he has a lot of versatile storage so I began to see him as something worthy of a suave bachelor pad or the glossy pages of a West Elm catalog…

You guessed it - I resurrected our old favorite inky blue/ black color “Black Boudoir” for a moody chalky finish.

I added some “jewelry'“ to this piece in the form of sleek finger pulls and brass tapered legs.

That hardware matches the gold gams perfectly.  Yum.

Fun fact - those pulls were actually leftovers from this project.

The simple sleek design lent itself well to some more masculine styling so naturally I decorated with music and booze... bow-chicka-bowow!

I kept my favorite monochromatic formula of warm terra-cotta, a touch of leather, and some plant life.  Oh and a simple nod to our first born… Thor.  He doesn’t even KNOW what he’s getting into with a little sister on the way.

The interior of the cabinet has a shelf that could easily fit a tabletop record player when not in use. Or your good booze if that’s your thing.

And the large bottom drawer fits standard LPs.

So here he is! My last pre-baby flip (unless she comes late and I need to crank something out in hopes of inducing - ha!).

Dark Record Cabinet
Now available for sale
39”W  x 16” D x 29” H
$495

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com for purchasing and shipping options.

Vintage Hotel Dresser || And a Giveaway ||

Have you heard the news?  We're hiring!  We were so thrilled and humbled to find ourselves wrapping up 2017 with a waitlist of eDesign clients.  But making our customers wait is not our MO so we're onboarding a new design assistant to keep 'em happy and keep 'em coming!  If you meet our qualifications and are interested in applying, we want to hear from you!  Applications are due February 12th so get to it!

While Chelsea is heading up the expanding design branch of our business, I'm still steering the furniture front - and I've landed a new piece with quite the untold history!

The seller told me that his dad rescued it from a closing DC hotel somewhere on Florida avenue.  Let me tell you, he is certainly durable enough to have survived many-a-hotel stay.  But despite being built like a tank, he does have a few marks I couldn't mask: a scratch on the side, a sliver of missing veneer, and a faded water mark on the top.  All things I could have hidden with paint but OH that wood grain!  I couldn't bring myself to do it! 

So I shined him up and celebrated the scars of his rich and storied life.  

I removed the old damaged apron (those housekeeping sweeps had not been kind to that thing) and added sleek metal legs. 

I did want to  keep the original knobs so I refinished them to match the new gams.

He's also hides a secret: his top drawer is a hidden desk!

The drawer front folds down to create a handy little work surface or mail drop spot.

Complete with cubbies for stationary and office supplies.

But the crowning jewel of this vignette is this canvas print by a local artist!

This piece is just one of the many stunning abstracts by Laura Gunn Art.  I mean just go to her website and you'll be mesmerized by her process - its a riot of color in a dreary world (name that movie!).

Laura Gunn Art

Originals + Canvas Prints
Washington, DC
 

To me, art has always been personal.  I'm most drawn to the emotion in a painting.  Which my abstract mind most often finds in abstract paintings.  I doesn't matter what it makes me feel just that it makes me feel. 

I could stare at Laura Gunn's "Still" for hours.  Sometimes I think it's a quiet ocean horizon.  Sometimes its a soundwave with the gentlest flutter, a tiny reverb.  I love that it changes for me, and yet stays the same.

And we're delighted to announce that we at SMH are teaming up with Laura Gunn for a very special giveaway!  You could win your very own 24" giclee reproduction of a Laura Gunn original on gallery-wrapped canvas (that's a $149-$169 value!).  Follow these 3 steps to enter:

1) Follow @cate_stylemutthome and @lauragunnart on Instagram
2) Browse Laura Gunn's the Gallery Wrapped Canvas collection and
3) Comment below with the piece you'd like to win!

Winner will be announced next Wednesday, February 7th on Instagram!

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Vintage Hotel Secretary Dresser
Now Available for Sale
40"W x 19"D x 38"H
$545

And if you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com for availability or to ask about our third-party shipping policy.

Quatrefoil Credenza ||A Collaboration with Modern South||

Today I have the privileged of debuting not only a fresh piece but also a fellow creative!  Posts like these are some of my favorites - when two creatives join forces to make something together.  I connected with Cory of Modern South via Instagram and jumped at the chance to work with her on a juicy collaboration.

Modern South Studio

Original Artwork by Cory McBee
Charleston, SC

Cory and I share a mutual love of color and abstract art.  When we were looking for an excuse to work together, I had the perfect piece in mind to show off her ethereal landscapes art.  I found this four door credenza without a leg to stand on and the sweet quatrefoil detailing was so endearing that I couldn't pass it up. 

Plus I was jonesing to do something in a buttery gray again.

The classic lines of this piece called for a feminine and glam look - something a little softer than I normally debut in the garage shop.  

The paint color I went with was Hailstorm Gray by Behr Marquee.  In person, it's almost blue, almost purple, almost green and therefore an all-around very mysterious neutral.

It actually did pain me a bit to paint the burled wood inserts on the doors but there were too many areas of damage that needed repair and I just couldn't picture a two-toned look.  I think because the two-tone is more indicative of a modern streamlined piece that wouldn't fit a piece like this with more decorative details.  

For her new gams, I found these metal 7" legs.  Their sleek lines help modernize the credenza so it can appeal to a wider variety of home decor styles. 

The piece's original floret-ed knobs complimented the quatrefoil design on the doors too perfectly to give up so I gave the legs our favorite faux-gold finish to match.

Inside is a cabinet on the left

and a set of drawers on the right.

Any one of her prints would have been the perfect compliment, but Cory's "Blue Fever" and "Dreaming in Orange" make such a lovely couple. 

Blue Fever by Cory McBee, Modern South Studio

Dreaming in Orange by Cory McBee, Modern South Studio

The navy and blush paired with the gray and gold of their piece reminds me of a quiet sunrise.  

I kept a relatively neutral color scheme with the rest of my decorative items: dried eucalyptus in a white ceramic vase, a couple stacks of books, white picture frames and touches of glass and gold.

Cory's prints are the precise soft/ feminine accents I was picturing when I finished this piece.  If you want a set of your own, you can shop Modern South Studio or email Cory for customize print sizes.  And if you're local to the DC Metro area, this gray quatrefoil beauty could also be yours.

Gray Quatrefoil Dresser
Now Available for Sale
72"L x 20"D x 30.5"H
$685

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com.