Quirky MCM Nightstand

One of the perks of being the furniture flipper in my friend group is sometimes they give me er... presents...  In the form of discarded furniture.  

This asymmetrical wonder came to me when a friend got a fish tank off craigslist that came with a quirky base.  They kept the tank and were about to kick it to the curb when they probably thought, "Waste not: Cate not" and passed it off to me for some hail Mary refurbishing.  

But the good news is, being quirky has its perks.  In fact, mid-century modern furniture is iconic-ly quirky.  Besides making the piece stand out in a space, there's something... endearing about their asymmetrical lines: 

Source: 1st Dibs

Source: Unknown

Source: Blood & Champagne

Upon closer inspection, this little odd-ball was certainly a little worse for wear: deep scratches in the finish, funky Christmas tree pulls, yellowing paint...  It would be undoubtedly be easier to paint the whole thing but that burled wood grain!  So in the end I put in the extra elbow grease and restored him with some repurposed leather pulls.

Yes those stylized tree pulls had to go.  They were easy to unscrew but the awkwardly-placed holes made finding new pulls to fit difficult.  And the textured drawer fronts made filling them in to drill holes for new pulls just as challenging.  So here's where I had to get creative with a touch resourceful: I had an old camel leather string belt lying around and cut three lengths that were long enough to fit the off-center holes with a some extra slack for easy grabbing.  

I punched holes in the belt for the cabinet screws, threaded them through with a washer for extra reinforcement, and secured them on the inside with a nut.

To add to the quirk of this piece, there is a slot cut into the left side of the nightstand.  At first I couldn't make sense of it.  I mean, was the nightstand designer so lazy that he didn't want to have to open the top drawer to put some papers away?  But then I realized, this designer wasn't lazy - (s)he's tech savvy!  This slot turns the top drawer into a charging hub for your personal electronics so instead of having a rats nest of cords cluttering up your bedside surface real estate (like I do), you can stow them away discretely!

Keeping the piece two-toned lets the texture of the drawer fronts play off of the banding in the warm wood grain.

Keeping the burled wood grain did mean I couldn't mask some of the discoloration along the edges.

I'm not sure what caused the "worn" edges but they are completely flush so the surface is still baby-butt smooth.  Plus, I think the markings lend themselves well to the vintage character of the piece.  

As a beloved teacher once told me, you have to earn your wrinkles.  I think the same goes for vintage pieces: they don't get to be this old without collecting some storied markings along the way ;)  

Two-Toned Mid-Century Modern Nightstand
21.5"W x 14"D x 24.5"H
SOLD
$85

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

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.

Meet McKenna!

April: "How funny would it be if we had an intern! LOL!!!"
May: "So, we might actually really need an intern..."
June: "Let's put out the word and see what happens!"

Everyone, meet McKenna, our new intern!

Holy smokes, this may be our most exciting announcement yet! It sure is for us, and we are just thrilled to introduce you all to the latest addition to the StyleMutt Home team! McKenna has already been a tremendous blessing to us and our business and we couldn't be more excited for what's ahead. As soon as we expressed interest in bringing on an intern, the response was as heartwarming as it was overwhelming. We received over two dozen applications for the position and reading a bit about each person just gave us a strong sense of community - there are so many passionate and like-minded individuals out there doing their thing and going for it and we felt incredibly blessed to be a part of such a talented and creative group.

Among all the inquiries, we were drawn to McKenna right from the start. While reading a bit about her and her background, (which, like us, has nothing to do with interior design), we felt like she was a true kindred spirit. Her voice and point of view are exactly what we've been looking to add to StyleMutt Home.

The process of finding an intern was completely new, uncharted waters for us. We spent time praying and considering the ways in which we could really use an intern and the qualities we were looking for in our ideal candidate. We asked McKenna to fill out a questionnaire and to help you get to know her a bit, we thought it would be fun to share her answers! Because nothing says hazing like waving around the new kid's test scores. Hah! Just kidding. She knows we're doing this. Or at least she does now. :)

We asked McKenna to share with us an inspirational space and write a brief 'mock blog post' explaining why she identifies with it:

Source: Studio Matsalla

I think we can probably all agree with this statement: The simple and monochromatic approach to design has hit the blogosphere like crazy.  Like many of you, I design for function, so I've been wondering - 

1.   Is this craze practical?
2.  Is it going to last?
3.  How can I make it work for me

This adorable sideboard space tells me one thing: the answer to all of the above is "YES!"

This space has everything I love.  The white oak wood wash make this piece perfect for pairing with warm tones - for those gold lovers like myself - or cool tones.

Sideboards are traditionally used to store china or other dining supplies. But, the great thing about them is that they can really conceal anything (kids toys, arts & crafts, your weekend wine supply). Then again, it also makes me want to throw a good old dinner party.

What about you all? What would you do with this piece?

For funsies, we also asked McKenna to solve this design puzzle:

Here's an example of a mock-moodboard for an eclectic, fresh, and color-loving client. If we had $75 left to spend on accent pillows, find some suitable candidates within budget that would help finish the space.

Option 1 will test if the client is really a color lover. It includes an awesome beaded pillow, which would not be practical for a bed but would live well in a less-used chair, and two matching Ikat pillows for the bed that tie in well with the curtains. I’m all about function and am personally the kind of person who likes to sleep holding an accent pillow – hence my preference for two pillows on the bed.
Option 2 is the more neutral choice and features a vintage felt pillow from Chairish, which would add an interesting textural element to the space. 

From McKenna

I would describe my style as living somewhere at the intersection of mid-century modern, industrial, and "glam."  By "glam," what I truly mean is that I love anything gold and will always find a way to incorporate it in some way.  This part of my style can sometimes conflict with industrial elements - but, practice makes perfect!

We are so looking forward to what McKenna will be bringing to the table here; plans and ideas are already in motion and we have no doubt that you guys will like her better than us in no time. Lol! Seriously though, please leave her a warm welcome aboard!