Reader Design: Lejla's Light & Bright Atlanta Apartment

Hello, StyleMutt World! I'm McKenna, the newest addition to the team. I'll be sharing my humble abode with you all in a couple of days - just waiting on one tardy package to arrive. But FIRST, I'm going to introduce you to Lejla and her light & bright apartment in Atlanta, GA.

Lejla and I actually went to high school together in Richmond, VA - Go Rebels! -  back in the day and have reconnected over Instagram. I'm continually both inspired and intimidated by the ability of everyone's favorite app to keep us connected. 

Now, on to the good stuff...
From Lejla:

“This is the first apartment my husband and I moved into since moving down to the city. It has large windows and very high ceilings; in fact, at first I thought ‘how am I going to fill up those walls?’, but now I have learned to embrace them.”

Okay, I think we can all agree that Lejla nailed this year's pineapple trend - all while staying true to what she describes as her "rustic glam" style. It's a look that Restoration Hardware has perfected to a T. And in my opinion, so has Lejla! 

“I love weathered wood and shimmery objects. Whites, grays, and hints of gold make for a great color palette without going out of style.”

And now this... this motto is something I can get behind. And I bet my local florist would agree! 

“Fresh flowers are a weekly binge; they are my favorite grocery run and bring so much life to a room! My motto is, ‘splurge on great furniture and enhance it with chic accessories such as pillows, books, candles, or flowers!’”
“My favorite room to unwind and relax in is my bedroom. It’s bright, calm, and relaxing, and after a long day, there is nothing better than plopping down on that comfy bed!”

Lejla's husband Arnel is a photographer, so most of the art in the apartment is actually his work. If only we were all so lucky! I'll have to remember to tactfully recommend a new hobby to my boyfriend...

Lejla, we're so excited to celebrate your beautiful home! Thank you for inviting us along. Follow Lejla at @lejla_oh523 to see more!

And remember, StyleMutts: we'd love to celebrate your style too on our Spaces page. Just shoot me an email at mckenna@stylemutthome.com. 

Till next time, 

The Light Fixture Family Tree ||why I don't throw things away||

I hate throwing things away.  My husband would say that makes me a hoarder.  But I believe that makes me resourceful ;)  I will often hold on to old parts from past projects until I can find another use for them - and sometimes my... resourcefulness... pays off.  

Last summer, I scooped up this faceted foyer light at my local ReStore.  I liked the look of the brass + bulb components inside and started thinking, maybe I can repurpose them into a DIY sputnik-style chandelier.  So I bought the whole kit-and-kaboodle and promptly took it apart.

After disassembling it however, I couldn't bring myself to scrap the faceted lantern.  I thought about turning it into a terrarium or a more functional table lamp again [I have a weak-spot for disassembling light fixtures apparently...] but in the end I brought it to our pop-up shop at Sweet Clover Barn and sold it as a dainty umbrella stand.

As for the original "guts" that had inspired the DIY chandelier on my 2016 furniture flip bucket list - well, I held on to those babies for almost a year [much to my minimalist-of-a-husband's dismay].  Until I found this lamp...

Behold!  That tall, handsome, square piece of brass pipe that's the perfect length.  I finally had all the pieces I needed for the frame of my sputnik light!

 
 

But after I had my hands on the brass pipe I needed, I still had the other perfectly-good components of the table lamp to play with - like the 4 decorative pieces of turned wood.  After stumbling on a $2 round wooden tray at the thrift store, I soon had a plan for those too: a mid-century modern plant stand.

So just to recap, here's a handy infographic on how one old lantern and one old table lamp came together to make 3 new beautifully functional  pieces and nothing was wasted in the process!

I'm still working on the wiring for the sputnik chandelier and [if all goes well] will be sharing the results soon!  In the meantime, I'm curious if any of you have created your own diy family trees by repurposing project left-overs.  Please share in the comments below!

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: 1st Dibs

Source: Unknown

Source: Unknown

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.