Fleekest Design Trend of 2016

Well wouldn't you know, body alignment trumps feng shui! In a recent study done by the chiropractic school at University of Phoenix Online, the human spine does not like to be in a reclined position. In fact, the hours that we spend leaning back into our sofas and chairs every day is causing irreparable damage to our body alignment.

Instead, it is advised to turn your seating around and drape your body over the backrest. This will prevent further damage being done and keep our backs and core strong!

A reversed couch or chair even promotes fitness by forcing you to stretch for the remote when it's being held captive by your family's remote hog.  

And allows for you to truly reflect on whether you should be spending your free time watching TV.

Especially when there's nothing good on.

This news is sweeping through home design world-wide as professionals are encouraging their clients to turn their seating around. It's a concept that may seem strange at first, but once you are draped over the backrest of your favorite sofa to catch up on the Walking Dead, you'll never remember why you ever reclined in the first place. This is so much better!

Be ahead of the trend and turn your seating around before your next dinner party.  This new configuration will undoubtedly encourage better and more meaningful conversations between you and your house guests as you prop for a chat in the living room.  And your guests will thank you for saving their backs!

You heard it here first,

A Vvvvery Interesting Piece, Indeed

Hi friends! I posted this stack of pieces the other day that we collected after a particularly lucky weekend on Craigslist a few weeks ago. I've already shared how the mid-century cabinet in the middle turned out, and how Shire flipped those accent tables on top. If you're an Instagram pal you may have seen a teaser of that bottom piece already. Well here it is, done and ready for a new home!

I really wanted this piece to be something unique when it was finished. It didn't need hardware as there is a deep lip underneath each drawer for easy opening and closing, but even before I began painting it just seemed to fall a little flat. As soon as I saw it I wanted to add some visual interest here. I sketched a few things out on paper, and while my drawings are at the artistic skill level of a 1st grader, seeing them side by side made the decision easy!

There was just something about these 'V' pulls that was so unique, but not in a 'what in the world are those' kind of way, (unless I'm missing something). So I measured out some 3/8" wood trim and cut all the pieces I'd need. Each individual pull is made up of two pieces, which you can see below. My '1' marked pieces were 4", and my '2' marked pieces were 3.6". I made 9 pairs in total, one for each drawer.

I used a very small nail to tap the pieces together as shown. It didn't really matter that they be attached well at this point, since I would ultimately attach both pieces to the drawers. At first I thought I would attach the pieces to the drawers facing down, as shown below. I didn't hate it but wanted to see both ways. I really loved the pieces opening upward; I can't explain why, but it just looked better!

Gentle distressing, (with my go-to tool, a medium grit sanding sponge), along all the edges and corners of the piece brings out the shape and lines without being too distracting.

Now available for sale!
66"L x 29.5"H x 18"D
$625
Contact chelsea@stylemutthome.com if interested in this piece of a custom order like it!

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Hairpin Legged Map Chest ||2016 Flip List Item No.6||

*OCD Alert!* I warned you I'd once again be tackling my furniture flip bucket list out of order.  If you are prone to severe OCD tendencies, this series may not be for you.  I'll give you a courtesy buffer so you can jump ship before I jump right in...

5...4...3...2... Still with me? 1  

Well ok then!  I'm glad to see you've decided to stick around.

For those of you who don't know, every January I like to informally declare some DIY projects I'd like to tackle for the year.  And I infamously go out of order (or even run out of time - ahem *bakersrack*).

Here's what I set out to do last year (in order of completion):
No.6 - White chippy dresser 
No.5 - Best vintage chart hack
No.7 - Turn a swivel chair into an accent chair 
No.4 - Navy and gold dresser
No.3. - Rivet something
No.2 - Wood shim surface treatment 
No.1 - Build my own baker's rack (still pending ;)

Here's what I've set out to do this year (in order of original post):
No. 1 - DIY a baker's rack (because I didn't last year)
No.2 - Reupholster a chair
No.3 - Build a chandelier
No.4 - Grow-up my abstract art
No.5 - Jewel toned dresser
No.6 - Hairpin Legs
No.7 - Creative hardware

And true to form, this year I started with item No.7, and here I am a week later introducing you to item No.6.

You dazzled?!?!  No?  Well that's probably because this is what it looked like when I found it.  Let me try again: 

This flip list item didn't actually start with the map chest, it began with a weird $5 table painted like a football.  You heard me right - a football.  But I had no purpose for a 10" tall table with a laminate oval top but I did have use of the table's hairpin legs...  Once I had the legs I wanted, it was a matter of finding a suitable new top.  I new I wanted to make a storage piece so I started trolling wooden pieces with a vintage flare.  

I stripped the chest's orangey stain and went with a weathered wood look that would play up the vintage vibes my hairpin legged vision was going for.

Since he's a petite piece, I kept the styling minimal (I know - not usually my "collectionism" style).  I went with two simple vases and a brass seed pod from target encased within a little cloche.  The pant-hanger art is a traced Picasso line-drawing (hope you don't mind Pablo!).

If you are OCD and still reading, your supreme attention-to-detail skills may recognize the original knobs from the fugly twins.  I kept them for a less eyeballesque layout like the two columns on this piece.  They are real porcelain and truly vintage plus I liked the scale for such skinny little drawers.

Thank you again to my type-A personality friends who've been putting up with my crazy scatter-brainedness.  I'd like to think I'll do better next time but who am I kidding...

Please still accept me despite my faults ;)

Map Chest with Hairpin Legs
20"W X 17"D X 39"H
Price: $265 SOLD