Little Brother Bookcase

February 19, 2019 Cate | StyleMutt Home

Earlier this year, I scored two vintage West Michigan Furniture Co. bookcases off craigslist.

I shared what became of the bigger one in my last post but what became of his little legless brother?

Meet Little Brother:

He may be more petite than his big bro, but he is certainly just as stately.

I wanted the option for these bookcases to get adopted together so I used the same color to do a similar finish with some small changes - can you spot them?

This time, I painted only the sides and top and left the front trim in the original wood finish. This waterfall paint treatment has honestly become one of my favorite refinishing techniques. It allows me to maintain what I can of the original wood finish while still providing a pop of contrast in an unexpected way.

Little bro also go a new pair of legs.

They are a matte black powder-coated steel that matches the matte black paint finish.

Like his brother, he still has his original glass sliding doors to prevent the accumulation of dust on your collectables (provided you dust the inside before you put anything in there… unlike me).

For styling, I really had fun with this one. I liked the idea of incorporating some moody mother nature - considering she’s been quite moody here in VA lately.

And what’s more moody than a dramatic oversized tree branch?

Or some scraggly scavenged moss?

To class it up, I added a few porcelain mushroom figurines (thank you Target for yet another random purchase I don’t really need be somehow really want).

On our staging hunt, Thor even found some tennis balls that have grown a more mature shade of green moss. Leave it to the dog to sniff out old tennis balls like a truffle pig.

And yes, Thor tried to play with each piece of our haul on the walk home from the walk in the woods. Let’s hope baby girl Henderson will have a better appreciation for décor than my men do.

Hit me up if you’re in the market for this little guy (and/or his big bro)!

Little Brother Bookcase
Now Available for Sale
36”W x 12”D x 30”H
$395
If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com

Wood Pulls Dresser

June 25, 2018 Cate | StyleMutt Home

Meet the new workshop. It’s pretty much the same as the whole workshop - but it's the main reason for my blog radio silence for the last 2 months. Since April, Caleb and I have been in the throes of moving into a new rental townhouse (pics of that to come I promise!). Besides the usual packing/ unpacking, we've been putting a lot of sweat equity into the new place (huge shout-out to my paint crew AKA Chelsea and fam!) which has also entailed aking a crash course in drywall to transform the unfinished garage into a suitable new workspace.

Finally, we’ve got most of the major projects done and I can start accumulating inventory again - starting with this one!

I asked you on Instagram if I should paint or restore and got mixed results so the people pleaser that I am, I decided to do both ;)

Sometimes I can’t bring myself to paint beautiful wood that’s still in good condition.

So instead I re-oiled the drawer fronts and did my new favorite take on two-tone and painted the outer surfaces.

Yes you called it - I used my favorite “Black Boudoir” by Behr yet again. I mean just look at how moody and inky these other pieces turned out?!? It’s hard not to like.

Pieces featuring "Black Boudoir" by Behr Marquee

This extra-long beast has sx drawers and a cabinet in the center with three shelves.

The interior shelving make it an ideal media center or TV stand because you can simply close the cabinet door when you want to hide your electronics.

I had a hard time deciding what to do with the knob on the center cabinet door. The original pull was a fancy floret and read a little too traditional. After a quick poll on social media, I decided to go with the clear winner - an antique brass knob that has similar contemporary lines to the unique wood pulls on the drawers.

I'm in love with the organic lines of the pulls and the Mid Century Modern tapered legs!

This piece’s styling is brought to you by my dad’s vintage record collection (which heavily favors Bruce Springsteen I might add).

And for a touch of brass - my favorite little “pocket change” tray.

More pics to follow of the rest of our new place (but please let me get back into a cleaning routine first!) - ha! #letsbereal

Dark Wood-Pulls Dresser
Now Available for Sale
74” W x 19” D x 30.5” H
$745

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

Oh Grow Up... Art ||Flip List Item No.4||

May 23, 2016 Cate | StyleMutt Home

For a few months now, my collection of original abstract artwork has felt...off. It's like you're trying to copy your mom's crowd-pleasing artichoke dip and yet it just doesn't taste the same when you do it - you feel me?

In an effort to solve this art conundrum, I declared "Grown-Up Abstract Art" as item No.4 on my furniture flip bucket list and began to do some research on what ingredients may be missing from my art collection. After consulting pinterest, I kept stumbling on some delicious abstract art showcased in gorgeous, minimal floating frames.

And so my first theory was formed. I rummaged up some spare wood trim to fashion a make-shift gold frame for one of my smaller pieces, but when I finished it still felt juvenile somehow.

Using my day off to work on a #furnitureflip #bucketlist item: grow up my artwork. I'm starting by experimenting with #diy modern frames. We'll see where this goes... #abstractart #floatingframe #gold #stylemuttprojects

A photo posted by StyleMutt Cate (@cate_stylemutthome) on Feb 26, 2016 at 11:54am PST

After mulling over it for a little while longer, I began to think that perhaps my portions were off. I love to paint but I'm no professional artist - when I paint, I can't help myself: I love ALL THE COLORSSSSSS. But perhaps I need to balance out the generous helpings of bold pops of color with some graphic patterns and white elements like this large piece I painted to help stage the cowprint bench. [It actually sold at our Pop-Up Shop at Sweet Clover Barn so I never got the chance to mix it into my new abstract art recipe.] And interestingly enough, despite my obsession with large-scale abstract art, I don't actually have any pieces hanging in our apartment.

Ok so let's meet the "art ingredients" I do have in stock and let's see if we can mix them together for a winning combo.

Van Gogh's Les Alyscamps — Van Gogh's *Les Alyscamps*

"Les Ales Camps" - a 3rd Grader made this piece at a school I worked for. The elementary art program was doing a series on Van Gogh and this young artist was studing Van Gogh's Les Alyscamps (which she mistakenly labeled as "Les Ales Camps" in the top right corner lol. I loved the playful take so much that I had it printed on a canvas to hang in my office.
"Unnamed" - this is the largest piece of abstract art I've done and yet I haven't found a place for it. I think I feel like it would overpower any of our small spaces so I've never hung it in our home.
"Hadley" - this is the piece I tried to give a floating frame. I think the proportions are off and I would like it better if the frame were thinner and little daintier.
"Picasso" - this is another piece I can't take credit for. I just love this line drawing so much that I traced it on some paper and popped it in a frame - forgive me Pablo P.
"A Riot of Color [in a dreary world]" - name that movie! I painted this poppy-inspired piece while watching a Heath Ledger favorite (may he rest in piece). You may recognize this pop of red from staging this piece here.

For plating purposes, I've enlisted the help of a fresh flip who'll be heading to his new home in DC soon [I removed the original toe-kick and added tapered legs with the nickle caps cut off and painted the top and sides a glossy white].

Art Recipe No.1:

Playful "Les Ales Camps" with a side of "Picasso" garnished with plant, brass candlesticks and record player served on a Mid-Century Record Console Table with storage for your vintage record collection.

[How cool is that rolling door for space-saving storage?! And there are four compartments inside with removable vertical dividers.]

To combat my tendancy to over-saturate with color, my thought here was to pair the two "lighter colored" art pieces on a white-wall background. The smaller graphic "Picasso" cuts the intensity of the color in "Les Ales Camps" and the record player.

Art Recipe No.2:

A large helping of "Unnamed" abstract with a side of "Picasso" drizzled with candle sticks and a fern for garnish. Since "Unnamed" is such a powerful flavor, I also tried to soften it with the dainty print and anchor it with a large plant.

Art Recipe No.3:

Spiced "Riot of Color" and "Hadley" with creamy "Picasso" served with natural elements encased in glass cloches and garnished with a potted fern.

[Look at that gorgeous wood grain in the slats of the console table's rolling front.]

Since I was using two bold paintings, I again employed the "Picasso"print and accented with the airiness of the glass cloches.

[Fun fact: the stand for the raw mineral is just one of my fluted candlesticks turned upside down].

Which recipe hit the spot for you? Any suggestions on how to make my art collection more flavorful/ refined/ spicy? Leave your tips in the comments below!