Wink of Wood

This pair. This pair of 3 drawer chests. This pair of 3 drawer chests with their clean lines and their gold buckle hardware. I wanted them so bad that I drove two towns over to pick them up. Twice.  No - not because they didn’t fit in my car but because for the first time in my furniture flipping career, I had to call an audible on account of the screaming baby in the car.

When I set up the meet, I figured all I really had to do was get baby H and me dressed enough to be considered decent, drive out there to pick them up, throw them in the car, then head home. Easy, peasy lemon squeezy.

That was my first mistake.

Baby fell asleep on the way. The seller was running late - no big! We can just wait in the car.

Strike two.

I had scheduled this pick up during what I learned later that many moms call “the witching hour” - that hellish time of day where baby can seem inconsolable…

YOU STRAIGHT FOOL YOU.

Never. Stop. Driving. If baby is asleep in the car, you keep that magical motion going or you’ll have hell to pay. Unbeknownst to me, the delicate window to get these pieces and be on our way without a nuclear meltdown BEGAN TO CLOSE as soon as we pulled up to the rendezvous. After 10 minutes of waiting, baby H went all Chernobyl and we had to evacuate STAT.

Driving home, my hormones triggered a meltdown of my own. I had been so hell-bent on maintaining my need to create that I hadn’t stopped to consider her needs. What if we drive all the way out there and we can’t get the pieces to fit around her car seat? Where will baby wait if I have to finagle them down some stairs?? What if something breaks in transit and there is super sharp debris rattling around her in the car??? These questions were raising an unforeseen growing pain of new motherhood (emphasis on the pain): how to rewire a ME to better think about SHE.

As she was wailing for relief from the car seat, I realized I had popped her in the car like an accessory. Something I could just bring along with me on a craigslist pick up like a tape measure or moving blanket. Yeah… NO. Babies are not tape measures people. And they will (un)happily let you know that.

It was a valuable lesson about new motherhood and I have a hunch that I’m not done learning it. And perhaps never will be. Yes these dressers were a great buy for the business but if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. I pulled a new-mom mulligan and reached out to the seller to explain our no-show. She was gracious enough to reschedule with me the following day so I had a second chance to make juggling baby and a small business work. So we set out again - this time I made sure that baby had a full belly and a clean diaper first, and that the pieces were grab-and-go ready, and that they would fit safely around my most precious cargo (the baby… not the dressers). Fortunately for us this time, it worked out in the end but I’m acutely aware that that might not always be the case. And that’s ok. The beauty of owning your own business is that you should make it work for your family. Not make your family work for it.

With the challenges of my first postpartum pickup behind me, I worked on the dressers when it wouldn’t interfere. Stringing together bursts of productivity during naptime or when Dad was home - and even sometimes with baby snuggled up and strapped to my chest.

A series of nicks and dings meant I had to paint the majority of the pieces after all the repairs. I chose a favorite sIlky black paint finish for the body but still wanted some way to keep at least a touch of wood.

The only place I could salvage ended up being a unique opportunity for a wink of wood. I knixed the original concave metal backplate in favor of staining the recessed cavity behind the gold buckle pulls.

It’s just a peek but I hope someone will appreciate the subtle detail.

I added dark walnut legs with brass sabots (that’s fancy furniture talk for brass shoes) to play up this little detail.

With such richly dark pieces, I decided to keep the styling simple with a couple white accessories and a pair of arched floor-length mirrors.

These babies are ready for a new home and I’m ready for a new project - provided I’ve figured out how to be a mom and a maker… *wink*

Black 3-Drawer Dresser Set
Now Available for Sale
32”W x 18”D x 30”H
$795 for the pair

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

Styling with Heirlooms ||And 2016 Flip List Item No.5||

Show of hands: how many of you have inherited a piece of furniture or decor that you're not sure will translate across generations and fit seamless into your style?

Chelsea and I have both been blessed by (free) heirloom pieces from family members.  These pieces represent our family history - and are usually of a much higher quality than what's for sale in the big box stores (that I can afford anyway).  So do we compromise a fresh young style for dated decor that has better bones?  Luckily it's not always a one-or-the-other situation.

As style mutts, we've learned that there are ways to mix old and new styles that still feels fresh, hip, and most importantly like you.

Take Chelsea's heirloom headboard for example.  I bet if we looked at a slide of Chelsea's blood under a microscope we would see mid century modern sprinkled with bohemian, rustic, and maybe a touch industrial.  And yet, when she was offered a gorgeously ornate bedroom set, Chelsea didn't turn it down just because it was on the traditional side.  She said thankyouverymuch to Grandma and welcomed home a bedroom set with rich family history (her great great grandma was born in that bed - can't get any "richer" than that ;).

She found a way to take a piece with such formal presence and make it feel ...dare-I-say-it... casual.  The modern stencil (that's right, I said STENCIL) paired with  a floating nightstand, a modern brass sconce, and some fun pillows has this vignette speaking fluent boho-chic instead of in a thick formal accent.

Now recently I had the opportunity to play with some heirloom pieces myself: a pair of rather large and stately ginger jar lamps.  I don't often gravitate towards the Asian flare of chinoserie-style pieces, but these babies have some beautiful details and just the right shade of red for a piece I just finished... 

Remember this guy?

As you may know, I set out to refinish a dresser in another jewel tone (I just can't help myself) for this year's Furniture Flip Bucket List.  And back in January I asked you all to help me figure out what color I should choose for this mid-century fella.   I thought that by polling you, I would 1) be able to determine what bold color would most attract a buyer and 2) get some clarity on what I my color-loving self really wanted deep deep down...

 You know when you ask your mom to help you decide between two outfits?  And after she gives you her opinion, you go with the opposite of her suggestion?  I did this repeatedly in my teenage years and my mom would always throw her hands up and walk away saying "Why did you even ask me in the first place?!" Well my friends (and mom) - I ask because sometimes I need you to activate my emotional-decision barometer.  If I feel even the slightest twinge of disappointment when I hear your suggestion, then I can finally get some clarity on what I really really want.  When I asked you all which bold color should I refinish with, I was surprised that Emerald won with Teal and Navy in a close race for second.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized doing another teal or navy piece or trying to follow up Chelsea's knock-out emerald tall boy  wouldn't satisfy my jewel-tone craving.

Soooooo I went with my gut and chose one of the underdog colors...

Poppy Red

Did you see that coming?  I'm so sorry if I let any of you down who were rooting for a different color.  But rest assured, my jewel-tone days aren't done so you can expect some future fun projects.

How does he compare to the original rendering?  Close no? 

Let's loop back to the lamps really quick.  This staging sesh was a total alignment of the stars.  I had a bold piece to style that really needed to be balanced by a strong pair of  lamps.  My father-in-law had recently decided to shed some office decor he had inherited from his folks and asked Chelsea to help him photograph some oriental lamps for resale.  While loading up for our latest design project, I happened to spot grandma's vintage but in-impeccable-condition lamps (with the PERFECT color scheme and scale no less) in Chelsea's garage. 

And in the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, I borrowed the lamps in hopes that Big Red and his lamp arm candy could help each other find new homes with a fun photoshoot.

I accidentally stumbled on this color scheme: poppy red + hunter green.  And I'm really digging it.  Red and green are opposite each other on the color wheel so they really make each other pop.  But a red with an orange tint countered by a saturated green keeps it from going too...Christmasy.

I decorating with brass to bring out those gorgeous bow tie handles.

The impromptu moss & candlestick topiaries are both classy and whimsical which keeps this vignette fresh instead of stuffy.

Now I'm kind of hoping someone will buy all three so they can stay together forever.

Poppy Red Dresser
64"W x 19"D x 31"H
Now available for sale
$545

If you are interested in this piece, a custom order like it, or if you're local and are looking for some immaculate antique ginger jar lamps, please contact cate@stylemutthome.com.  

If you want to catch up with my progress so far on the 2016 Flip List, here's where I'm at:

Mid-Century Modern Cabinet

Hi friends, happiest of Friday's to ya! Sorry, can't shake the leprechaun out. The things we do for the babes we love. Hah! Just stopping by quick to share some fresh meat in the Garage this week. I snatched this piece up last week at a mid-century modern warehouse flash sale. Other than cosmetic damage, (tons of scratches), this solid wood piece was in perfect condition!

When I have a true mid-century piece on my hands I love to restore it's character in a way that honors it's time. Two-tone, (or white and wood), is my favorite restored mid-century finish. It's a classic look that has withstood the test of time and is still a popular favorite today!

Since I had to remove so much of the existing finish, I stripped the entire piece, unsure if I would re-stain it or not. I decided to keep the raw wood when all was said and done because I love the grain on this piece.

This piece has just the right proportions and storage to serve well as a media center! True to the era, it's a bit on the smaller side but has quite a lot of style for it's size.

Two-Tone Mid Century Cabinet
Available for sale
54"Lx26.5"Hx17"D
$585
Contact chelsea@stylemutthome.com if interested!

Happy weekending, friends!