Geometric Tallboy

In all my furniture hunting, I have not seen a piece with that geometric detailing down the drawer fronts.  When I saw it on the Facebook marketplace, I just had to get my hands on it! 

Now I have a rather strict price-to-distance ratio where I am more willing to buy a piece if the pick-up is local.  This hit my price point just fine but was waaaay outside of my usual driving radius.  I decided to reach out to the seller anyway only to find out there was already a lot of interest (I figured as much) so I was ready to let it go and keep hunting.  A few weeks before the holidays I ran across the listing again.  It turns out the seller was preoccupied with selling a house and hadn't locked in a buyer yet.  I blew on my fingers, rubbed my hands together, and went to work... 

Despite her slow response rate, my persistence paid off and paid off big!  Turns out it was already loaded in the family van and her husband was going to be traveling my way for work.  Score!  Over a month of begging the seller for updates while weighing the logistics of driving deep into Maryland and her husband literally dropped it off at my garage door at no extra expense!

Once I had it in the workshop, I realized I had to do some serious repairs to the veneer on the sides - repairs which I could not mask without the help of paint.  And so I turned to my new favorite "Black Boudoir" by Behr Paint. 

But I wanted to save as much of the wood grain as possible (just look at it!!!) so I settled on a two-tone look:

While he was dropping it off, the husband told me it was his mother's dresser.  I tried to do her justice by bringing it back to life.

The original knobs got a quick refresh.

The exposed wood on the drawer front got some serious conditioning.

Because of the repaired damage, the top, sides, and geometric detailing got a coat of paint and sealed in a wax which I buffed to a satiny sheen. 

For styling, I decided to play with faces - literally.  I hung a few of my favorite Matisse portraits above an offset it with my new favorite home décor accessory: a Jonathan Adler-esque Dora Maar-inspired vase.

Geometric Tallboy
Now Available for Sale
36"W x 18"D x 42"H
$495

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com to ask about availability and our shipping policy.

Blue + Wood Sideboard ||with a storied past||

Did you all hear our big news?  We just scored ourselves a gem of an intern!  I guess it's been a lucky week for us because I also recently scored this credenza off my local craigslist.

The piece had good bones but the poorly-done black lacquer just had to go.  I still had some Compass Blue by Behr Marquee left from this campaign dresser flip I did last year and taking a page from Chelsea's recent hunter green piece where she painted the body but left the legs wood, I came up with this:

Blue-hoo! (that's blue for wahoo!)
 

The paneling on the left hides three large drawers - the top one with dividers for utensils or what-have-yous.

The other side of the sideboard is a cabinet with half open shelving and three more drawers for ample storage.

Besides good bones, this piece also came with quite the pedigree!  I uncovered a few fun finds in one of the drawers which I posted about on instagram.

And sometimes you find treasures in your #furnitureflip - dear Kit, I hope Barbara helped you get that Jade necklace from Mexico. It sounds like a real gem 😜 More anow(?) - Cate #oldletters #hiddentreasures #americanofmartinsville

A photo posted by StyleMutt Cate (@cate_stylemutthome) on Jul 7, 2016 at 3:52pm PDT

I like to think that this piece belonged to a version of myself in a previous life.  A version of myself who received a letter from a friend with excellent taste in jewelry, and then tucked it away in her beautiful credenza so she wouldn't forget to "make arrangements," and then promptly forgot about it because it got buried in that drawer along with the original credenza's informational tag because she keeps EVERYTHING.   And is also named Barbara apparently.  But thanks to my former self Barbara-the-Hoarder, I now know that this storage piece was made by American of Martinsville for the Dania Collection - can you spot the original dresser in the images below?  

See I always knew holding on to everything would come in handy one day.

I chose wooden knobs for the cabinet doors that had faceted gold corners to play off of the wood in the legs and the angles of the drawer fronts.

Based on the drawings in Barbara's pamphlet, this guy was missing some legs so I had to fit him with some prosthetics [or in this case, tapered legs].

I styled this bad boy with my beloved kilim pillow children er... covers.  I simply hung them with vintage wooden pant hangers to give the wall some textured drama. 

Add in some fun finds like these ceramic pyramids found at Sweet Clover Barn this past spring, a lamp, and a plant and you have yourself quite the eclectic vignette.

Oh and if you're local my friends, this gem is ready for a new home!   Original American of Martinsville credenzas from the Dania collection can go for anywhere between $900 and $4,000 but this blue guy [complete with all his papers] is a deal!

Blue + Wood Sideboard
60"W x 18.5"D x 34.5"H
SOLD
$580

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

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!