Vintage Hotel Dresser || And a Giveaway ||

February 1, 2018 Cate | StyleMutt Home

Have you heard the news? We're hiring! We were so thrilled and humbled to find ourselves wrapping up 2017 with a waitlist of eDesign clients. But making our customers wait is not our MO so we're onboarding a new design assistant to keep 'em happy and keep 'em coming! If you meet our qualifications and are interested in applying, we want to hear from you! Applications are due February 12th so get to it!

While Chelsea is heading up the expanding design branch of our business, I'm still steering the furniture front - and I've landed a new piece with quite the untold history!

The seller told me that his dad rescued it from a closing DC hotel somewhere on Florida avenue. Let me tell you, he is certainly durable enough to have survived many-a-hotel stay. But despite being built like a tank, he does have a few marks I couldn't mask: a scratch on the side, a sliver of missing veneer, and a faded water mark on the top. All things I could have hidden with paint but OH that wood grain! I couldn't bring myself to do it!

So I shined him up and celebrated the scars of his rich and storied life.

I removed the old damaged apron (those housekeeping sweeps had not been kind to that thing) and added sleek metal legs.

I did want to keep the original knobs so I refinished them to match the new gams.

He's also hides a secret: his top drawer is a hidden desk!

The drawer front folds down to create a handy little work surface or mail drop spot.

Complete with cubbies for stationary and office supplies.

But the crowning jewel of this vignette is this canvas print by a local artist!

This piece is just one of the many stunning abstracts by Laura Gunn Art. I mean just go to her website and you'll be mesmerized by her process - its a riot of color in a dreary world (name that movie!).

Laura Gunn Art

Originals + Canvas Prints
Washington, DC

To me, art has always been personal. I'm most drawn to the emotion in a painting. Which my abstract mind most often finds in abstract paintings. I doesn't matter what it makes me feel just that it makes me feel.

I could stare at Laura Gunn's "Still" for hours. Sometimes I think it's a quiet ocean horizon. Sometimes its a soundwave with the gentlest flutter, a tiny reverb. I love that it changes for me, and yet stays the same.

And we're delighted to announce that we at SMH are teaming up with Laura Gunn for a very special giveaway! You could win your very own 24" giclee reproduction of a Laura Gunn original on gallery-wrapped canvas (that's a $149-$169 value!). Follow these 3 steps to enter:

1) Follow @cate_stylemutthome and @lauragunnart on Instagram
2) Browse Laura Gunn's the Gallery Wrapped Canvas collection and
3) Comment below with the piece you'd like to win!

Winner will be announced next Wednesday, February 7th on Instagram!

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Vintage Hotel Secretary Dresser
Now Available for Sale
40"W x 19"D x 38"H
$545

And if you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com for availability or to ask about our third-party shipping policy.

Pop of Color Custom Order

November 28, 2017 Cate | StyleMutt Home

It's a REAL treat to work with a client with similar design sensibilities. I mean, that’s gotta mean you’re doing something right, right? Your tribe is finding you. And you get to work with people that inspire your creativity.

This fall, I had the opportunity to develop a DIY nightstand tutorial for Apartment Therapy. Shortly after, a couple reached out to me hoping to get a customized a version of the tables that could work around two specific design elements:

The tables needed to be large enough to showcase a West Elm Pelle Table Lamp:

And they wanted a pop of color that played well with the West Elm Expressionist Printed Rug.

So with these specifications in mind, I rendered two options for them to consider - one with a teal accent color and one with an "inky" black.

And which color did they choose...?

Deep Breath by Behr Marque

Instead of painting the entire piece to match the rug, I proposed we just paint the inside to preserve their "airy" quality while giving the clients more versatility down the line if they ever got the itch to rearrange things.

I used the same materials as my original design for the rest of the build: blonde wood + camel leather straps but I did have to modify the proportions a little to accommodate their ideal dimensions.

To highlight the interior pop of color, I chose to style with warm earthy tones comprised of...

1) Terracotta touches (always)

2) A grouping of paintings

3) And a salvaged tree branch (ok, I pulled it off a sapling in the parking lot)

The happy clients picked up these custom orders this weekend and I'm happy to say they are already settled in their new home!

If you are interested in your own custom order, please contact me at cate@stylemutthome.com.

NY-Bound Custom Order

November 13, 2017 Cate | StyleMutt Home

There's a lot about this little business that has blown me and Chelsea away. We've accrued clients from across the US (and even Canada!), designed for a battery of dream spaces, and even shipped pieces out of state! That's crazy to think about - I mean, we're just two women working out of our homes! In our garages, at our dining room table, late at night or the wee small hours of the morning. And God is still growing us!

Recently I was commissioned for a custom order for delivery to New York. And I gotta say - it makes me feel swanky to have a piece in the Big Apple *sheepish grin.* The client wanted something similar to my brass finger pull tall boy but needed a lot more storage.

I did some hunting on my local craigslist and found the perfect low boy (from the same furniture line no less - how does that happen?!?).

Her design aesthetic was simple: she wanted a matte color that could go with anything and a touch of brass. After seeing some photos of her space and discussing her vision, I worked up 3 renderings for her to review:

She liked the idea of a warm gray or white in her space, but in the end she kept coming back to her first love: the moody dark finish from my finger pull tall boy. My client had a tight deadline so I immediately set about painting. But T-minus a few days until our scheduled for pick up, I ran into a bit of a problem...

Where was the brass hardware?

I had ordered these yummy brass finger pulls a week prior and had selected 2-day shipping. 7 days later, my tracking number was reporting that it was bouncing between distribution centers in the vicinity but never “out for delivery.”

What the?!?

Stupid hardware. Why you got to play me like that?!? I looped the client in on the conundrum and she gave me the green light to get creative in order to meet our deadline. She only wanted a “peek” of brass anyways so I combed through my local hardware store to see if there was something outside-the-box that would work. And I found...

Strike plates!

ould you tell?

Strike plates are those metal plates that you attached to a threshold to correspond to the bolt of the door. Much like the library pulls I reconfigured for my original tall boy, the strike plates had a subtle lip that could protrude off the drawer top like a true finger pull. I used the same brass tacks as my other piece for a low-profile attachment method that wouldn't interfere with the functionality of the drawers.

Recognize them now?

I showed my alternative idea to the client and she was all for it! So I attached the hardware right-quick and had the piece ready for pick-up in the NICK of time.

The piece arrived at my client’s NYC walk-up the next day and after the delivery guys fenagled it up the stairs (Pivot! Pivot!), it is safely in its new home with minimal wear and tear from the harrowing out-of-state journey.

And I can officially say I have big city clientele ;) *Eek!*

If you’re interested in a custom order like this piece or how we can work with you out-of-state, check out our helpful FAQ guide or email me at cate@stylemutthome.com.