Seaside

Last weekend we went to check out the English seaside in Brighton. I think every Londoner had the same idea! It was soooo packed (though you can't really tell from these pictures). It was a little too packed to be comfortable for us, but it made for a few pretty pictures. I'd like to go back and check it out again, but maybe during a different time of year or on a not so beautiful day. (That might sound strange, but of course it was the great weather that drove everyone to the beach last weekend.) A carousel, great beach chairs, interesting pebble beach (no sand!), fish and chips--all nice beach treats.

Before and After: Entry Inspiration

Our little entry has been cluttered and dark since we moved in. It's a narrow, short hallway. The landlord left a bookshelf there, but I didn't like the natural wood color so I asked him if I could paint it white. He didn't have a problem with that, so I painted it a creamy white. Above the bookshelf is an ugly, half-moon sort of lighting fixture (see below). It's quite the fixture as it's apparently part of the wall. I couldn't figure out what to do with that lighting fixture, so I thought I just try to disguise it. I thought about putting a plant in it, but a real plant in there would be a pain, and I don't like synthetic plants, so I scrapped that idea.

I've had this picture (top picture) of a shelf with branches in a vase for a while now in my inspiration folder. I love everything about it. I love the painting--how it's off center, the vases (including the paper cone-vase), and especially the the branches in the vase and the notes and pictures in the branches. I used it for my entry inspiration. Our entry looks much better than before, I think, though it still needs some tweaking. For now though I'm happy with it being the first thing you see when you walk in. It includes some of my favorite things--a pretty lamp I bought for $10 in San Francisco at the Alemany flea market, a seashell box my neighbor left when he moved out, some books I love, a bulbous wood vase Andrew gave to me, and some pictures and notes that mean a lot to me. I like the idea of changing out what goes into the branchy-tree. During the holidays, some ornaments and Christmas cards will look very festive there. Welcome home!

Blueberry Breakfast

Well, the dumpster chairs are finished, and we celebrated their makeover with a pretty breakfast! Here's Lois modeling one of the shabby-turned-chic chairs. I rinsed them off, scrubbed them, painted them a creamy white, and made seat cushions for them. I'm also working on throw pillows for them, but have just made one so far. Blueberries were on sale at the grocery store, so I thought we'd have a true blue celebration with one of my favorite breakfast treats--blueberry muffins. Here are some pictures from our true blue breakfast.

The chairs before and after. I used ticking on the top for the seat cushions and a yellow floral print for the undersides. Then I made this pillow with part of a vintage tablecloth on one side and a vintage pillowcase on the other. 

The chairs before. Yikes, up close I could see why they were in the trash, but the still had good bones. Wish the person who threw them out could see them now!

Trash to Treasure

When I saw these on the street, my heart went all a-flutter! I've been wanting some chairs for our back patio but hadn't come across any that I thought I could lug home. I've seen some great ones at the flea market, but without a car, it's not exactly a snap to swipe any set. I was thinking of just getting 4 mismatched random chairs so I could bring one home at a time (I always like the look of mismatched chairs), but when I saw these on the street right near our place, I knew they were the ones! And FREE!

They need some TLC, as you can tell from this second picture, but I think I can spruce them up. I like chippy painted things but these are way too worn--not just paint chipping but dirty looking too. I tried to scrub what looks like soot off, but it doesn't come off, so a coat of paint it is. I'm going to paint them a cream color, but I was having a hard time deciding on a fabric for seat cushions. I want them be colorful and look good with all the colors of the flowers in the garden, and look good with various tablecloths. So, what fabric to choose? I was thinking instead of choosing just one fabric that I'd make patchwork chair pads like Alicia's patchwork pillows I made a while back. So cute! I've started cutting the squares, but I'm no square cutting pro and I think this is going to take a while. I'm making strips and using a rotary cutter, but I wonder if maybe I'm missing some key to cutting lots of them quickly. If you have any patchwork cutting tips, let me know! After pics coming soon.
Update! I just changed my mind! I was looking over at some totes I made last week (I should show you those!) and I used ticking for the exterior fabric. I decided I'll do the same charcoal grey ticking for the chairs pads as well. Classic and it will go with all the colors of the flowers and my tablecloths. I'm afraid all the colors in the patches might be too busy. 

Garden Party

Andrew's out of town so on Thursday night I was thinking about taking Lois out on a date, but the weather was so nice and the first rose in the garden was blooming, so I decided we'd have a date at home in the garden. We got dolled up, made things pretty, had a nice dinner, and watched the sunset. It was a carpe diem sort of night. I couldn't just let leave the house and miss out on that rose blooming! I knew in the next day or so it would be withered. It made me think of a classic carpe diem poem by Robert Herrick, "To the Virgins, to make much of Time." The first stanza is...

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying 

So we gathered our rosebud and and made the most of it. It was one of the best dates I've ever had.