Betty Draper Inspired Office

I've been hoarding collecting Mid Century Modern furniture since college. I'm always searching for something, so I hit up estate sales and thrift shops during lunch and frequently peruse the Mid Century Modern section on Chairish. Back in college, I was just trying to furnish my place on a budget, and I knew I liked "50's style" furniture. I remember my first awesome find like it was yesterday. *Cue cheesy flash back music*

I spotted a pair of  nearly perfect condition wood frame lounge chairs at the Salvation Army. When I asked a shaggy haired kid behind the counter about the price, he shrugged and said "fifty?" I thought he meant fifty each, but he meant for the pair. Oh, the pure joy! A few years later, after an abandoned attempt at re-finishing the chairs, I sold them to a friend. Oh, the deep regret! Whenever I visit her house, I can feel those chairs staring at me "why did you sell us?!" I'm only slightly kidding, of course, my friend loves the chairs and I'm pretty sure she knows I'd buy them back in a heartbeat. Angel, if you are reading this, don't you dare get rid of those chairs!

When the folks at Chairish contacted me about putting together a Mad Men inspired room using items available on their site, I was literally wearing my favorite Betty Draper inspired outfit. Earlier in the day, I had snapped an Instagram pic and cheekily titled the post "Betty Draper gets a job." Total kismet! So, in a fan-fic type moment, I thought, "What if Betty had a Madison Ave. office? What would her rad lady-boss office look like?"

I think Betty's office would be chic as hell. Modern yet feminine, with pink sofas, gold accents and art that references her past experiences. I'm not sure if she'd serve hard booze though, she's more of a day wine drinker.

Most of these peices are way out of my price range, but it's fun to play around with different looks just for fun and inspiration. I should note that on Chairish you can make an offer on most pieces, so if you live near the seller, you could probably negotiate on price. I think my favorite thing aside from the sofa set is the ceiling light, and the pair of lamps, I have a thing for lamps. What's your favorite piece?

1. Solid Brass Mid Century Ceiling Light
2. Mid Century Fashion Print
3. "Misty Village" Lithograph by Bogdan Grom (not mid century, but I think it works)
4. George Nelson Sofa and Chair Set
5. Horse Head hooks
6. Walnut and Mahogany Mid Century Desk
7. Mid Century Murano Glass Lamps
8. Set of Georges Briard Glasses with Cady
9.Mid Century Italian Bar Cart

P.S. - This is not a sponsored post, I just dig Mad Men, style boards and Chairish.

Let's Talk Rugs for the Dining Room

I'm gonna pull the trigger on a rug for the dining room...As soon as I decide which one to get! Maybe talking it though will help. Here are my six favorite rug options, all are priced between $150 and $650.

1. Black and White Polkda Dots, Overstock.com   2. Black and White Stripes, Overstock.com

3. Vintage Kilim, Etsy  4. Chunky Stripes, NFM.com  5. Moroccan-ish NFM.com   

6. More Black and White Stripes, Overstock.com

OK, let's take a look at some dining room eye candy and discuss.

                    

Image: The Interior Collective

Gosh this room from The Interior Collective is lovely. The pastel colored shell chairs with the rustic table, landscape paintings and black fireplace...It's perfect in my book. However, note the absence of a rug, which I don't think would be right for our space.

Image: A Cup of Jo

Kilim rugs are popping up everywhere and I love the vibrant colors and geometric patterns. Rug number three is beautiful and I think it would look great, but I can't justify the price tag. There are a handful of things in life that I believe are worth investing in; high quality sheets, well fitting jeans and good vodka to name a few. A rug I might not like in a year? Meh.

I'm loving black and white striped rugs and basically anything black and white. Although I love the Aztec-ish design of rug number five, I'm worried I won't like it in a year. As for number six, I don't know...Are those stripes too 'jailhouse jumpsuit'? I have it narrowed down, but I still might need to flip a coin! Which one do you like?  Here's what the dining area looks like currently.

And can I just say...Scandinavia .That's where it's at. Seriously, those folks have chic living figured out. I just started following a blog from Sweden called AprillAprill. Have you heard of it?

Entertainment Wall Before and After (Or, Cinderella Shelves)

(Note: I've recently updated this post by adding some brighter photos) 
One of the nice things about growing up is that I'm becoming more comfortable and confident with myself. For example, I'm not embarrassed to admit that I'm a little obsessive and type A. Therefore, when I dragged a pair of raggedy old shelves home and Jesse looked at me like I was nuts, I didn't feel hurt. I just said, "Wait and see! These are gonna be awesome!" and rambled on about paint, hardware and measurements.

As you can see below, the entertainment wall in our living room needed some love. Over the years, I've used various credenzas as TV stands but I never managed to snazz up the wall. A little paint, some modifications from my in-house carpenter *wink* and these raggedy shelves were going to be the ticket right outta boring town!

And they were! But it didn't happen over night. The project was relatively simple, but with full time jobs, a kiddo and other modern family stuff, the shelves took several weeks to finish. A big chunk of time was spent covering up the thick brown paint. It took four tedious hours for me to sand the bumpy / drippy spots to a somewhat smooth finish, followed by three coats of white semi-gloss paint and primer.

The shelves alone weren't big enough for the wall, and there was nowhere to set our TV. So Jesse added four shelves; one across the top, one in the lower middle and a box type shelf in the center. When he was finished making the shelves, guess who got to paint 'em?! Yep. me.

Ta-Da! There she is! The Cinderella of Craig's List book shelves!

Once the wall unit was in place, I spent some time styling up the shelves - my favorite part of the project! Back in my retail days I developed a knack for arranging displays, so it was fun to practice my little skill again. Everything on the shelves is from around our house except the two black canvas bins on the floor which I purchased from Garden Ridge - they're for B's toys :)

I'm so happy with how this turned out and I love having space to show off our treasures and tchotchkes!
Materials list and budget breakdown:
- Shelves, Craig's List - $65
- White semi-gloss paint and primer in one, Lowe's - $30
- Nickel and faux crystal drawer pulls, Lowe's - $30
- Pine lumber for modifications, Menard's - $80
- Large black canvas bins, Garden Ridge - $30
- Total project cost - $235

Have you ever transformed an old piece of furniture into something fabulous?  Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear about it!

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Sewing DIY: Applique Fox Pillow

As part of my living room plan, I'm using toss pillows to add some color and texture to our light brown sofa. I set my budget for pillows at $20 each which is dirt cheap, but not impossible. I really wanted a fox pillow, but the one from House of Fraser isn't available state-side and the adorable options I spotted on Etsy are priced around $25. That's reasonable, but I'm determined to stick with my pre-set budget. So, what's a crafty girl to do when she can't find the perfect thing? Make her own, of course! This looks fancy, but trust me, if you can use an iron and have basic sewing skills, you can make this.
The best part? Well, there are several great parts! First, the cover doesn't require a zipper. Second, it's removable and washable. Third, it only cost ten dollars!
Ready?! Here is what you'll need for a 20 x 20 cover:
- 2/3 yard of light pink fabric
- 1/3 yard of orange fabric
- 1/3 yard of no-sew applique fusing
- Yard Stick
- Pencil
- Tape
- Stencil
- sewing supplies


Follow the directions on the package and iron the no-sew fusing to the orange fabric. Find an image you like and print it on card stock. Use a little tape to keep the stencil in place and trace around it with a pencil. Easy peasy, right?

Looking good so far...but wait, something's not right...It didn't occur to me that the stencil would be a mirror image!

So, place your stencil BACKWARDS on the fusing and then trace around it.

Use your trusty yard stick to measure and cut a 21 inch square out of the pink fabric. Then peel off the applique backing and center the image on the pink square. Again, follow the package directions to iron the applique onto the pink square.

Next, measure and cut two pieces for the back of the pillow that are both 21 inches by 12 inches. These will make a flap closure similar to a pillow sham.

fold, press, pin and hem one of the long sides on each of the back pieces.

Pin all the pieces, right sides together, and sew them in place. I used orange thread because it's what I had on-hand and I thought it would make a cute contrast.

Last Step! Cut diagonally across the corners. This will help make your corners more "pointy" when you turn the cover right side out.

And there it is! I'm pretty sure this Fox says "I'm adorable!"

Plans for the Living Room

This is the sitting area of our living room. We spend lots of time here so it's important to me that it looks nice but is also inviting and comfortable. The sofa is rather special to me because it was (and is) my first real sofa. Everything up till this sofa was purchased second hand and spruced up with a slipcover. Since starting our house revamp last fall, the only things I've really done are paint the walls and make some toss pillows. Lately I've been considering ways to give the room a cohesive and stylish yet comfortable look. This is where Polyvore comes in.

I've only used Polyvore a couple of times, but I am completely hooked! It is the handy dandiest tool for planning a room - no Photoshop skills necessary! I started by finding some furniture that matches the general shape and color of our existing pieces and then started playing around with ideas. I'm so excited about what I came up with! I think I'm going to be able to whip this space into shape with a few small changes.



1. I have a vintage tension rod lamp, but I'm not keen on the color. I think a coat of black paint will look great.

2. I made brown and white chevron toss pillows for the sofa a few months ago, so those are covered. For this plan, I'd like to have four more pillows in mixed textures and prints including kilim, ikat and faux fur. I'd also like to find a quirky or whimsical toss pillow like the curled up fox. I'm setting my budget for the toss pillows at $80 - roughly $20 a piece. That's dirt cheap and the reason is because it kills me to buy toss pillows when they are so easy to make. I'll probably go ahead and buy the kilim pillow from etsy, but I'm going to see what I can come up with for the rest.

3. This sleek black metal coffee table from Pottery barn is perfect, but at $399 it would definitely be considered a splurge. I could make yet another slip cover for the ottoman, it's comfy and nice to put your feet on, but I'd really like to try something different.