thrifty style at 73: chairs

Showing posts with label chairs. Show all posts

hygge on my mind

A visit to Coffee Tea Books and Me and a link therein

gave me a new lens through which to view this corner of our bedroom--

a hygge corner to me.

It also left me wondering what form (if any)

hygge will take this spring...
By the way, without using the word itself,
Abigail Ahern NAILED the essence of hygge here, in my opinion!
(Let me know YOUR reaction to her post, will you?)

more (tweaking)

In the spare bedroom, this time.

This shelf - an old box I'd been holding on to for a long time.

Found in the garage and now fastened into the wall.

A headboard.

More to come, but for now, as it appears above.

(I see by the photo I could have hung the box lower...)

Also in this room, a place for two extra chairs

(chairs being one of my soft spots along with pictures/paintings and books).

When it comes to accessories, lighting and even art I’m happy to muddle in flea market finds.
Style has nothing to do with money! (Abigail Ahern)

tweaking

Saturday, I tweaked!

The sun porch in the back of our house had become the unloading dock

for most everything all winter long.

While trying to get it straightened a bit,

I came across both the print AND the empty frame (above).

My husband took the frame to the local hardware store and had a glass cut to fit in,

cut in insert to cover the back and applied a hanger.

I have JUST the place for it!

THEN...

he stitched the binding that had begun to detach from one of the rug's (below) back sides.

When surveying the finished product,

I realized there were roosters in each corner and the middle!

How could I not have realized this?

Having noticed that, the logical place to put it was in front of the faux mantel

in our dining area where the five roosters join

more roosters, swan, geese and a few other miscellaneous fowl.

All items seen in these photos were garage sale or thrift store purchases

or -in the case of the mantel, for example - curbside treasures!

my new chair

Simple,

straightforward,

comfortable

and blue.
(And no, the tags aren't off of it yet.)

anxious no more

In my last post I said I was "anxious" to get these chairs finished.

I'm anxious no more.

It took three coats of chalk paint.

Then we sanded and my husband applied clear wax and buffed them.
The old, velvet seats were reattached.

And I'm pleased. VERY pleased.

almost. not quite.

Almost. Not quite...

One more coat of (homemade) chalk paint, a coat of wax and a buffing...

Stay tuned.

book decor

Today it was book decor that caught my eye

while thumbing through current magazines.

I actually THOUGHT I'd taken more photos,

but when I got home to upload them from my phone's camera -

this was it!

I'll add them to my Pinterest board bearing the same title as this post.

Meanwhile, here's a great quote with which I completely concur:

I like it when people don’t try too hard. I think the best results come

when people are true to themselves and create an environment that reflects their personality.

My favourite homes are real homes

where you are not left wishing you had the same

but rather feel touched by the experience of being in that place.

we call it HOME

Yesterday I had fun setting up the eating area of our kitchen

for a rather informal Salad & Dessert Luncheon.

In order to accommodate an unknown number of guests,

I slanted the main table in the room and put a tablecloth over the dropleaf

(shown "naked" above after the fact).

The room looked attractive to me, somehow...

so this morning while cleaning up, I snapped some photos.

I realize that most people would probably not place three tables in such a small space,
but it's what has "happened" here. And it feels quite homey to me.

I'm also aware that furniture in its natural or stained wood state is not in vogue,

but except for our curbside-found mantel and a few picture frames,

most everything we have retains its original wood tones.

As I look around, I mentally calculate how little money we've actually spent

in this room. The furniture and accessories have mostly been free, thrifted or gifted--

and we call it HOME.

silent sentinel

Rather worn and ragged,

it uncomplainingly stands beside my makeshift bed,

handsome, sturdy, useful.

Pulled into temporary service,

it has stood as silent sentinel to pain and

holder of all and any things necessary for recovery.

I'm thankful it caught my eye one day at a thrift store or garage sale.

Details escape me.

always evolving - never static

While reading the August 1993 issue of

House Beautiful last night,

I came across THIS sentence, and my heart leaped:

"The farmhouse seemed a retreat far from the world—a place where an ascetic aristocrat

might retire to read philosophy and reorder his soul."

Ours is not a farmhouse;

nor am I an aristocrat...

but in every other way,

I believe this is the inner ideal that I have long held

for my surroundings.

I look around me and see bits and pieces of just such a

"retreat from the world".

Like me, our house is a work in progress--
a place AND a soul reordering itself.

Always evolving.

Never static.

couch-less

Yes, we are. Couch-less.

After selling our $20 garage-sale find (sectional couch),

I spread out the chairs in our living room

and am just FINE with the results!

I'm all over the chart with lighting in these photos....

but it gives you an idea of how we're living!

All chairs except for the large leather Man Chair

were garage sale or thrift store finds.

Well, not this rocking chair. It belonged to my grandparents.

I even called this backless, rustic chair into service!
Turned it around so the flat side was against the wall.
(There are multiple pillows to hold since we are couch-less.)

As you can tell,
I have a THING for chairs.