My client for the Hartford Ave Project bought the cutest mercury glass knobs, courtesy of Pier 1, for her dresser.

 

 To match the look for her dresser I spray painted vintage wine carafes with Krylon Looking Glass spray paint.

 

 

Now aren’t they adorable?

 

 

 

 

One of the ways I like to stage furniture is by using thrift store goods.

 

Creative Ways to Stage your Furniture:

 

Tip #1:

Use Thrifty Finds.

Second-hand pieces can be made new with a coat of spray paint, and not to mention you can save a ton of money. My mercury glass piece was $9 total, the closest match from Pier 1 was $25.

Tip #2:

Use your own personal touches. 

If you’re staging a family room piece, place your family's favorite game on top. A dresser, use a beach hat or gloves.

Tip #3:

Spend your money wisely.

Sometimes, I will buy a piece at retail value and then lump the price into the furniture for sale. So for example, when selling a desk add a lamp and a corkboard. The price of the furniture should take into account the price of the lamp and corkboard.

I recently did the same with pillows on a bed. The pillows were only for display, but it adds interest to the piece I’m selling.

 

Mid Century Modern Cabinet Update

Remember my mid century modern cabinet?

Navy with gold legs and gold pulls won!

 

 

 

 

Mid Century Modern Cabinet

36(l) x 29.5(h) x 19.5(d)

For Sale: Sold!

 

How you Should be Styling your Shadow Box

Negative: Too many shoe boxes in the closet

Positive: Lots of Memories

If you’re anything like my family, you keep EVERYTHING that’s sentimental to you. I’m talking about little league jerseys from the 80s, every birthday card, and thank you note. Just in a few short years, I’ve accumulated three shoeboxes full of memories with my fiancé. I needed to start damage control, stat!

 

 

 

I limited my “KEEP” pile to things we have done together that tell a story. So movie night tickets: OUT! Car rental receipts: OUT! I challenge you to do the same and see what you find!

My “OUT” pile

 

From my “KEEP” pile I displayed every ticket stub, photo, and souvenir in one memory box. Although this is one way to style a memory box, only a few of my items were especially important.

 

 

Ultimately I chose a few major events: life before we started dating, how we met, birthdays, holidays, and our engagement.

 

 

How you Should be Styling your Shadow Box:

1.       Use sewing pins to keep your tokens from moving.

2.      Display personal affections in the bedroom: wedding vows, love notes, baby’s sonogram.

Display items that share a story in common areas of the home: plane tickets, postcards, awards.

 

3.    Layer larger pieces in the back: maps, certificates, newspaper clippings, and smaller pieces in the front: ticket stubs, photos, event programs.

4.   Consider buying more than one shadow box if you have quite a few artifacts to display. Each display case can be used for a different purpose: a progression of your relationship, a box for each child, a box for each type of sporting event you attend.

 

 Take a trip down memory lane. Surprised by something you found? Share it with me!

Mid-Century Modern Office

Negative: No Sewing “Space”

Positive: Office Space

Now that we’ve sold our spare bedroom set, I’m working on my dream office. I knew I wanted a desk that I could use for cutting fabric (long, rectangular, flat) and I finally found what I was looking for online.

 

 

This desk is from the same company where my fiancé works, circa 1950. What I love about the desk is that it pays homage to where it comes from; the company designs airplane parts. Don't the legs look just like airplane wings?

The desk alongside the geometric pattern on the chair inspired the Mid-Century Modern office.

I’m in desperate need of a space for my sewing machine, patterns, and supplies, but kept waiting for my mid-century piece.

 

 

Here it is:

Using the industrial/modern palette I'm having a hard time choosing which direction to turn.

 

 

So here are my design options, and I need your help!

1.       Two tone grey: Dark grey with lighter grey on the inside of the panels.

2.       Navy with gold legs and gold pulls.

3.       Grey with natural wood on the inside of the panels and the top drawer.

Voting ends Friday, April 10^th, 11:59 pm EST.