Heather, of Pineapples and Pearls, has graciously welcomed us into her new Washington, D.C. apartment. You'll soon find that her home is a perfect mirror to her style: preppy, coastal, and totally welcoming.

Heather's aesthetic is as sweet as her dimples. This place just invites you to take a seat, have a sip of prosecco, and stay a while.
From Heather:

“I moved into this apartment by myself last month from a much larger apartment that I shared with a roommate. It’s been a fun challenge to make everything work in a 530 sq ft space! ”

“Mixing colors and patterns has never been a fear of mine, so nothing is off limits, though I’ve kept a navy, coral, and turquoise theme running throughout the entire apartment. When the main color palette remains cohesive, it’s no big deal to throw in an animal print chair here or a glitter tray there. I like to think I’ve created a space that’s colorful, bright, just a bit girly, and also comfortable.”

... And boy did she nail that animal print! Right now, I think we can all agree that the world of design is obsessed with neutral minimalism. But I completely admire Heather for her ability to just go with it - and make a space that is totally hers. They say that the best compliment is when someone walks into your space and says "this is SO you!" And even though I haven't met Heather in person, I know that she is represented perfectly.

“While my style is definitely colorful and modern, I love mixing in older pieces. The trunk in my living room came from my grandmother and is well over 100 years old. The nudes above my desk (with the exception of the blue one, which is from a local DC artist!) were done by my grandfather, who dabbled in every art form you can think of.”

And for those StyleMutt loyalists who saw Lejla's post - AGAIN we have the pineapple trend. It's everywhere. I perused my favorite local boutique this past weekend, and was completely tempted by a gold pineapple shaker. I passed on it, but that decision and practice in abstinence haunts me.

“I didn’t want to spend a lot on redecorating and wanted to work with what I already had, while still ending up with something that felt totally different than my previous apartment. I hadn’t set out for a coral and navy room, but I love the way it came together! ”

Thank you, Heather, for sharing for beautiful space with us! We've loved getting to share your specific 'breed' of style with our mutts!

Until next time,

Woohoo! It's fall and I've got another item to cross off my Furniture Flip Bucket List! I know I shouldn't celebrate too much because I've only got 3 months left to finish the last 3 items, but I'm still gonna take moment to pat myself on the back.

Since debuting my list of new year's resolutions back in January, I've crossed off items No.6, No.5, and No. 7 and now No.4: Refinish a dresser in a velvety navy with gold hardware. (I know, I'm going in a weird order. If you're OCD-prone, then my apologies.) I really should have added refinish a campaign dresser to the list too because that's been a dream of mine too - so I'm crossing this one off as 2 personal wins:

Inspiration Photo Source: Wife in Progress

So if you are so kind as to follow me on instagram, then you may recognize the original piece from this post:

Guys. This never happens when I go fishing for new projects but I actually scored this campaign-style dresser for free! When I see gorgeous potential on Craigslist free pages or for giveaway on a Facebook yard sale group I'm usually too late to nab it but this time I got lucky!!!! Project progress coming soon... #stylemuttprojects #campaignfurniture #furnitureflip #diy #canibringmyselftosellit #thriftscorethursday

A photo posted by Cate Henderson (@cate_stylemutthome) on Jul 24, 2015 at 5:03pm PDT

I was lucky to nab it indeed! Although it wasn't a true campaign piece with flush recessed pulls and corner braces, I felt like it could still become one. I decided the best route to go would be adding my own braces but first I would have to remove the brass plates and over-sized stuck-on faux bolts. Prying up the brass strips was easy, but shortly after I got them off my project stalled out: I didn't realize that the brass was recessed so deeply into the wood piece between the drawers and I needed that piece to be flush in order to add T braces.

I stayed stumped for a good long while. I thought about replacing the two pieces of wood or filling the grove with a piece of wood veneer, but then I realized if I just flipped it around then I would have a flat surface to work with and wouldn't need to hunt down the perfectly sized replacement piece!

As you can see the recesses for the brass plates were quite pronounced. But the other side was as smooth as a baby's bottom so I flipped them over and wood-glued them back in place.

Then, I temporarily employed my T braces for some extra support while the glue dried for a few days.

I sanded the piece down and primed the flipped wood pieces to prep for paint. I chose a quart of Compass Blue by Behr Marquee and was DELIGHTED with the quality. The wet paint settled well without any paint strokes and the eggshell finish was just the right buttery texture I had wanted from my inspiration photo. I hardly need two coats so I have lots of paint left over to play with.

The flat corner and T braces I found in the hardware aisle at Home Depot but their zinc finish did not match the original aged brass pulls. Cue my next challenge.

I was going to have to refinish the hardware and still get an rich antiqued finish. First I primed the braces with flat black spray paint. This will 1) help the next layer of paint adhere to the metal and 2) create the first layer of dimension to the gold finish. Once the black dried, I applied the second layer of dimension: the gold. But since the shade of gold wasn't quite "brassy" enough to match the original pulls, I had to give the original pulls a fresh coat of gold so all the hardware would have the same shade.

Then I lightly sprayed both braces and pull again with a little bit of black for the third layer of dimension. The faint black over-spray gives more of an aged finish and is the third layer of dimension. The fourth and final layer is to rub each piece down with some dark wax. Then using some aged brass upholstery tacks, I nailed the freshly painted braces into place.