Is Rust Really Beautiful as Decor?

Rust is Beautiful especially if you ask the folks at Bella Rustico! The folks are some of the same…Tess has moved over to open a new site and shop with cottage decor, rusted vintage, and DIY ideas using vintage pieces. Why? Because who doesn’t want your home to tell a story…of the great find, of the history of your luv for pieces with character!

If you just don’t have the patience to find vintage or decor with a story Bella Rustico has a Flea Market Finder Service that takes the pain for you out of finding it and you just get the joy of making it part of your fab home!

You can also get some great eye candy with the Bella Rustico Pin boards or on Instagram.

What to know when new items pop into the Bella Rustico online shop or in the local shop? You can drop in on the Bella Rustico twitter account.

 

Glass Garage Doors as Patio Doors

I’ve been seeing more and more homes use all glass garage doors as patio doors.  I luv how much light they let in and how open they make the space feel.  It has that industrial contemporary vibe which is a bit different than the usual mid-century retro I tend to go for, but really mix and matching is a good thing!

We’ve been house hunting lately and I’m dying to try something like this in my home. Anyone tried it? Luv it or hate it? Am I going to need to hire a window guy?

Here’s other versions I’ve seen…
Not sure I’m a fan of the aluminum frame inside the house, but this does give me hope it’s relatively easy to do (p.s. not for me to actually install because that would mean it’s likely not to work at all!)

 

Luv this fold up patio door look!

See more traditional patio designs

I really like how this door seems to slide just straight up the wall (which means you need really tall ceiling of course! )

 

(click on photos to be taken to the source)

DIY: Small Outdoor Patio Lounge

The drab to fab makeover for the bamboo chairs was the start of this DIY patio nook makeover! Style wise a bit of retro and mid-century look especially with the pops of color. Our outdoor space is partially covered which is great when its blazing hot. We luv to read and lunch outside or just hang out over a beer or glass of wine.  The space was in severe need of some color and coziness and I only wish I had the before photo but no luck. So this DIY patio makeover was a simple design of re-using existing pieces from other locations and adding a few new pieces for color. What do you think, relaxing?

So what was re-used and what was purchased?

First, the mosaic pedestal was originally holding just a pot in another garden spot, but was relocated here as small table top – glass table top was ordered from local glass company for $40.

Small pillows were added to the bamboo chairs in fun prints! The pillow colors were used as the palette for the space. The red pillow was DIY and the material and stuffing were left over from another project. The blue pillow was on sale from Target for $10.

The patio rug by Fab Habitat is an indoor/outdoor polypropylene ordered from Amazon for $40.  They have some great colors and designs I really wanted more of these patio rugs but just couldn’t figure out where to put them!

The hanging paper lanterns above the chairs are covers around hanging lightbulbs.  You can tell they are pretty sunbleached, but I luv the fun look of having hanging stars that light in the evening so I couldn’t just toss them.  I did give them a facelift with Krylon spray paint which I had left over from another project (if you’ve been following me you know how I luv  Krylon) which was still transparent enough to let the black line detail show through.  Here’s the before and after which I luv!

What else was added to the patio?
This side table were re-used and re-painted with a lime green and turquoise (Krylon spray paint of course!).

Succulents in clay pots add some color and form to a large blank wall. Purchased the large pot only for $20

A few other existing outdoor accessories like the DIY driftwood tree and another pot with a variety of succulents were added to the other side table nearby

 

It makes for a great escape we pretend is our little island at home and with a good book,you can lounge on the patio all afternoon!

 

 

 

Related articles

• Throw pillows: How one simple accessory can make your patio perfect (bellacor.com)
• Is Your Patio Party Ready? Craft Your Perfect Patio for Fall! (homesolutionsbylibny.wordpress.com)

Drab to Fab: 1930s Arm Chair

So what do you think of the FAB part of the re-upholstered chair? This was a 1930-1940’s armchair we picked up from a neighbor’s estate sale.  The lines of the chair were just too classic to pass up, plus it had a down filled seat cushion so it was dreamy to sit in! The downside was obviously the worn out fabric that looked like it was 70 years old, but at least the green was a livable color for a while.

So, it sat in our bedroom for a couple of years until we finally decided it needed a facelift and we had the money to do it. Let me be the first to say this was not a DIY job entirely! There are many things I will try but here’s what put it on my “need help from pro”…

1. Lots of sewing required to re-upholster this piece (to me this sounded extra tricky)

2. Lots of piping! Having had the experience of sewing piping on my dining room chairs I wasn’t anxious to repeat on this size of a project.

3. Lots of cutout areas around the wood arms and legs…yikes!

4. Time!!!!! Since I had never attempted to re-upholster anything this big or complex, all I could see was months of my time sewing, ripping out, sewing again, and calling my mom in tears begging her to fly out and vacation to fix it all (p.s. she does awesome upholstery work but doubt it would be the vacation of her dreams!)

So this chair was my first piece of furniture to be professionally re-upholstered and I would totally do it again!  I thought professional re-upholsterly was only for the rich and famous, which I’m not, but it was completely doable and here’s my experience…

1. Find a good upholstery shop. I didn’t know one but Yelp app came in handy. Great list of shops with reviews – yea!

2. Get an idea of price.  Two things affect price, your fabric choice and the amount of work. I did all the pricing estimates by email. The shop asked for a photo of the chair and returned an estimate which included upholstery ($600), refinishing the wood ($200) and re-stuffing the cushion.

p.s. I also asked for an estimate to make a slipcover for a coordinating ottoman. The price of the slipcover was as much as buying a new one so I skipped it!

3. Since I’m completely ok with refinishing wood and there was so little wood, I decided for DIY refinishing. Took only about an hour plus dry time between top coats.

4. Delivered the chair to the upholstery shop and he asked me a bunch of questions about fabric ideas to steer me in the right direction. If you’ve never been in an upholstery shop (which I hadn’t) this is the overwhelming part and part eye candy!  There are literally a jillion fabric swatches everywhere and a million more books of fabric swatches. You really want to look at them all but DON’T do it – you will go insane!  The shop owner steered me to a small set of books to look through that were in the fabric price range and type of fabric I described (4 books of swatches so plenty of choices!)  Pick one and off you go.  Yes you can check out the books and take them home too.

(Tip: If your fabric has a pattern your cost may go up slightly since they will need extra fabric to match the pattern as they put it together)

Luckily, the shop offered to include re-stuffing the cushions with fresh down so my cost was just the re-upholstery!

Re-upholstery took about 3 weeks.  When it returned to our bedroom I did add the DIY Ikat pattern pillow.  Just the right accessory to pull in other colors of the bedroom!

 

So don’t be scared off by calling in the upholstery pros when you have a piece you really luv!

Related articles

• Good Bones + Beautiful Fabric = 1Happy Customer (houseofchrysalis.wordpress.com)
• Give Those Old Desk Chairs New Life! (instructables.com)

DIY: Vintage Danish Octagon Dining Set

 

If you’ve spent any time on Craigslist it can sometimes feel like searching for a needle in a haystack…a million wrong choices but you hope for the one great find!  I was on the hunt for a dining room set and came across this amazing find – vintage octagon Danish mid-century modern dining table …with chairs! If you’ve ever looked for a dining set you’ll understand my excitment at finding 6 chairs with the table because I felt extra lucky!  Plus I absolutely luv, luv, luv, that the table is an octagon! I luv round tables since they make table talk so cozy.

I luv Danish style furniture and was jumping for joy when I found this beaute.  Yes, that’s harvest gold velvet fabric on the dining chairs but completely fixable …although I was contemplating keeping it since it looked so great with the wood tone.  And yes those are interesting blue dots in the middle of the table – very retro but add great character!

And did you see the lines on the chairs…yep I was drooling!

 

No the harvest gold didn’t live on, but with a bit of reupholstrey help from mom, it was a DIY reupholstery possible task!  Yes, I had to re-evaluate just how much piping I wanted on the chairs.  I decided only on the backs but not on the seats – very practically, the piping on the seats would get a lot of wear and I didn’t want to replace the upholstery anytime soon!  I also decided on using an indoor/outdoor fabric that was soft but cleaned up well since these chairs would be starting their life with at least one kid under 5 and of course wine drinking adults.

Here’s the DIY reupholstered chairs…

 

For the table the wood and finish was in great condition so just a couple coats of Danish oil and it looked brilliant – no sanding, no refinishing (but I’m sure in a couple years the table top itself will need some TLC).

If  you need inspiration for furniture treasures on Craigslist, Emily Henderson’s blog (HGTV host)  has been posting some great finds in different cities with her amazing redo style ideas!

 

Grow Your Own Food

Yes I think you should grow your own food if you have the chance! Fruit trees, vegtables and herbs it’s all possible even if you don’t have a green thumb or a lot of time.  And it all tastes so much better, plus who doesn’t luv it when you can walk out to your garden and pick something to eat.  When you grow your own food you feel like you’ve tamed the wild west, become expert at foraging and living off the land…just don’t actually leave me out in the wild. I’ve been hit and miss on my own vegtable garden and this year tried using just two raised beds.

Had this horrible creature invade my tomato plants, a tabacco hookworm, which I’ve never seen before and hope I never ever ever ever see again!

Even with the creature, we had a few decent Roma tomatoes and a first for me, a great harvest of potatoes! Yes I did just call my dozen or so potatoes a harvest and makes me feel pretty green thumbish.  Who know you could grow potatoes in Southern California! Yes, that is also a sweet red pepper.

A fruit luver? I decided to add dwarf fruit trees in our front yard.  I haven’t yet gotten a harvest, but I was pretty excited to get just this one absolutely delicious peach!  I also have apple, mandarin oranges and pear trees, all dwarf varieties so I cross my fingers each year hoping to at least get just one.

 

Hope you give it a try to grow your own food. It’s pretty darn satisfying even if you start with just herbs.

Related articles

• Harvesting Potatoes in an Apartment (cherubsgirls.com)
• Espalier (faithsyard.com)
• Grow Your Edible Yard With These 10 Lesser-Known Fruiting Trees and Shrubs (realfarmacy.com)

Public Art: Funk Zone Mural Picasso style

I just had to share this fab Funk Zone public art mural – seems to have the influence of Picasso or at least the bright colors Picasso liked to use from the 1930’s period.  This public art mural has happiness and sunshine oozing from every color!

I’m not certain of the artist so let me know if you do.  If you’re in the Santa Barbara area, the Funk Zone was just doing a call for mural artists.  If you want to see more Funk Zone public art murals check out this street which changes pretty frequently and was updated to this set of murals.  Yes, one more public art mural worth putting on your walking list is this one.

Picasso Inspriation…

The Dream by Pablo Picasso

Still Life with Pedestal Table by Pablo Picasso

Now that I’ve mentioned Picasso, my art bucket list includes creating a stained glass Picasso wall hanging – I’m kind of leaning towards the Still Life with Pedestal Table.  After seeing this Picasso stained glass work of art-it does look amazing!

TD Stained Glass Picasso

 

 

DIY Public Art: Ski Fence

Photographer: Christine S.

You’ve probably seen the DIY Ski benches but this is a first DIY Public Art ski fence spotted in Montana by my friend and awesome photo scout Christine! Luv all the color and am baffled at how someone could get their hands on that many old skis! I think it would make me happy each morning to see this rainbow!

The upside to the DIY Ski fence… no need to repaint! Talk about low maintenance.

Inspiration for repurposing old skis into DIY furniture…

DIY Ski Bench

 

DIY Ski Adirondack chairs

My favorite that would look aaamazing and classic – the repurposed runner sled and snow shoe chair! I want one because it brings back the old school runner sled days – no sled I swear is faster or as much fun as careening down the snow with three people stacked on top hanging on for dear life praying the driver won’t make a turn!!!

DIY Runner Sled Snow Shoe Chair

Business Bits: Business Billboard Art

 

Business billboard sidewalk chalk art? In case you’re looking for a unique way to promote your bricks and mortar business (or outdoor show booth) that is virtually free – assuming you can draw, use a template or find a great artist friend – check out this inspiration! Dragon sidewalk chart art was at the entrance to an ice cream shop “Treats” and next door happened to be a magic shop “Tricks”.  Maybe you’re a bath shop next to a massage shop? How about island chalk art, bathtub with bubbles and duckies with an arrow to “Rub” and another to “Tub”. The possibilities are endless and Yes as a potential customer this art did get my attention to stop and check it out…didn’t need a trick but did need a treat!

I know you’re thinking this is just and exception and no one really does chalk art for business but big business does…cable channel TBS, Nike, American Medical Association have all used chalk art to promote.

Another bricks and mortar (or show booth) business billboard inspiration is the 101th use for a repurposed picture frame. DIY this picture frame with a mesh backing and add rotating hangers for new and changing merchandise inside!

Creating a business billboard with art? Would luv to see it and share it!

Public Art: Pioneer Square People and Rodents

On a recent trip to Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle, I stumbled on this fab work of public art that really captures the diverse people in this historic area that make it so unique! Luv the stylized look and did you notice the hats? 4 out of 5 people luv their hats – at least from this artist’s perspective! I didn’t see the artist signature on this piece of work so if you know – drop me a note and I’d happily give credit.

Pioneer Square is known for its diversity of everything from people, art galleries, delicious food, great music, to quirky shops, street performers and amazing architecture! One of the first historic areas of Seattle and well worth a visit especially if you can make it to the First Thursday Art Walk. Put Occidental Square on your day trip itinerary which always has unique rotating public art too!

Did I mention Pioneer Square was diverse? Here’s another great public art creation by Kate Tesch. Furry rodent meets iron lollipop is my interpretation but likely not the artist. I luv the painting style which make the rodent actually look cute and evil in a crazy hair short of way. Even luv the background which could have easily been a single boring color but is instead mixed color blocks adding great depth. Would I have it in on my wall? It’d be a great conversation starter if I did!

 

Sometime side streets and alleys have the best surprises for public art!

Related articles

• Pioneer Square Living: Art from Seattle Streets (aptalumni.com)
• Historic Living Pioneer Square: Occidental Park (aptalumni.com)