Gilded & Upholstered Chair

Someone on my street put a set of dinning chairs out on the sidewalk. After some gold leaf, a thicker pillow and new fabric one of them has a new home in my living room.

Sad Street Chair

I removed all the fabric and foam before bringing it inside.

Cat Approved After

Supplies

• Gliding kit and gold leaf from Stepp Gilding
• Upholstery foam and batting from DIY Upholstery Supplies. I went for the custom cut option and used this video tutorial to learn how to upholster the seat.
• Fabric from Mood Fabrics

EtsyMetal's Project Runway Season 9

My metalsmithing group, EtsyMetal, follows each season of Project Runway and translates the episodes into jewelry challenges.

This week's challenge was "Pet Project". We were tasked with going to a pet store and picking out items to make a piece of jewelry, using as little metal as possible.

I selected a Cat Dancer and a platic cord with ball, bell and feathers. The end of the cat dancer was the inspiration; I wanted to make a necklace with a toggle clasp.

I cut off the "dancer" part of the Cat Dancer (don't tell my cats!) and trimmed and curled it to form the structure of the necklace.

I took apart the toy and threaded the plastic tubing over the wire, then formed the loop of the toggle. The wire was difficult to work with as it is spring hard and very brittle. I used binding wire to attach the plastic cord and divide it into sections.

I added the bell to the loop of the toggle as, as with my regular jewelry, I like to have a decroative clasp.

Garden - Progress

Solar energy. I'm "going green" and that's the story I'm sticking too.

Semi de Paris 2011

I'm in this photo, somewhere.

Painting

A few shots of the painting process.

Living Area

We went back and forth between Benjamin Moore Super White and Benjamin Moore Decorator's White. We have Super White in our current apartment and I really like it but, after a few coats of each, decided Super is a bit too harsh for the new space. These are "progress" shots. The darker paint is the new paint. Note the primer covering the Maroon the previous owners used on the skirting and window trims.

Passage

The passage wall will be a salon wall for all the art. Originally it was going to be white as well, but my friend Laura Cattano suggested black. I'm a big fan of black but didn't think I was brave enough to try it in such a small space. It's incredible how much it opens up the room and accentuates the height of the ceilings. I tried a few shades, and went with Benjamin Moore Witching Hour, which dries down to a soft black.

Passage After the First Coat

New Home

There's been a lot going on over the past few months, most notable being my new home. I closed on my first property last week and have been busy renovating and preparing to move in.

Here are some photos. They were taken from the Appraisal so have the previous owner's furniture etc.

The Garden (the reason I bought this place)



Living Area



Bedroom (There's a Murphy Bed against the wall, so the room's actually larger than it looks here)



Kitchen (with massive American fridge)

Paris