Stencil, Stencils & More Stencils

Wallpaper is in vogue, but stencils are a great alternative....Here are some great ideas

Mediterranean Spaces design

Traditional Kids design

Contemporary Dining Room design

Contemporary Kids design by San Francisco Interior Designer Niche Interiors

Eclectic Home Office design

Eclectic Kids design by San Francisco Interior Designer Regan Baker Design

Modern Family Room design by Amsterdam Home Staging HUISSTYLING

Eclectic Kids design by Amsterdam Media And Blogs Iris

Traditional Hall design by Orange County Interior Designer Allison Cosmos

Traditional Staircase design by New Orleans Architect Bockman + Forbes Design

modern-family-room.jpg' border=0 width='500' height='756' />

Timber inspirations

Fantastic Foyers

great natural timbers and a design that brings the outdoors in!

Entry design by Santa Barbara Interior Designer Jessica Risko Smith Interior Design

The simple detail in this entry is heavenly

Modern Entry design by San Francisco Architect J. Weiss Design

More great timber

Traditional Entry design by Chicago Interior Designer Tom Stringer Design Partners

Love the pop of blue against the dark grey!

Eclectic Entry design by Los Angeles Photographer Stephanie Wiley Photography

A pop of red

Traditional Entry design by Birmingham Architect Dungan Nequette Architects

Upcycled Chair

I bought this great plywood chair at the local op shop for $10 -  I and am rejuvenating it as part of project I am working on with a client.  The chair will be used as the desk chair in a 10year old boys room.

After a sand, a couple of coats of paint and some personalisation - I have stenciled his initial on the front and back.  A very funky chair for $15.00









Today reading the Sunday paper there was a feature on butterfly chairs from Temptation Design  - these chairs retail for $545 each!!! ouch

Although the shape is a little different, they do look similar and I think my $15 upcycled chairs is a knock out!

Upholstery - the finished product

I know its taken me a little while to update my progress reupholstering my two chairs - time just got away.  The last few weeks have gone so fast and I have been so focused on getting both chairs finished at the same time, that I didn't have time to update my blog.  But I am here now...would you like to see the finished product.

This where i last left off....the front and seat had been completed....

If you look close you can see the buttons

 The contrasting back fabric and handmade piping trim

The finished product - isn't this so sweet....!  

My next project will be an ottoman so stay tuned

Cheers

Vicki

Uphostery - New look new life - Part 2

My little project to bring new life to these little gems is progressing well.  After 3 weeks, the removal of countless staples, removal of old stuffing (aka as flock), new wadding, springs and the restuffing process the chairs are coming along very nicely.    I was amazed at how taught you need to get the the hessian and calico, all while trying to hammer in the tacks...truly and art......

Here are some progress pics.   This week will see the beginning of adding the fabric...very excited.

poor little chair is just about totally naked...suprising what is underneath all the fabric - not much at all

Getting back into shape - new wadding and springs...very well secured but it took some time t get them just right....

starting to get dressed

                                                              getting stuffed!!!!

Petticoat on - getting ready for the final dressing and zushing!!!!! 

Upholstery ……New look – New life part 1

I am so excited as last night I started a course I have wanted to do for ages……UPHOLSTERY….I especially wanted to do this as I bought these (2) wonderful little chairs at St Vinnies – they were an absolute bargain.  They are in great condition, think around from 1950’s but need a new fresh exciting look.  

Another reason I have wanted to do an upholstery course is that I love watching Sarah Richardson and some of the things she has done is out of this world.   I also wanted to start making upholstered bed heads and reupholster piece for others…..

I have found a fabulous course held at Padghams in East Moorabbin, so for the next eight weeks every Tuesday night is Padgham night…last night was fun and the class is all women. I must say we were all pretty focused in our task and there wasn’t a lot of chatter happening. I’m sure that will change over time. Adrian and Dianne that run the class are brilliant.

Last night was stripping back our chairs so that we can start to rebuild them and make them look wonderful.   I, like all the ladies in class never knew that an upholstered chair has so many staples and tacks, there seemed to be no end in sight.  It had to be the quickest two hours of my life, but I am glad to say that after two hours of lots of hammering, pulling out staples and some help from Adrian I am nearly there……..This is what my chair looks like now  – not so pretty, but in a few weeks time that will all change!!  

I am going to use two fabrics in the chair, one is a large multi coloured paisley/floral (for the front of the chair) and on the back I will use a complimentary stripe – aren’t these just fabulous.  

 




 Stay tuned for next weeks installment

Cleaning Candle Jars

Are you like me and love the scent of candles burning around the house.  Candles today come in all types of wonderful containers and if like me you buy quality long burning candles  - they are not cheap.

So what can you do with the containers - throw they out - such a waste.  Why not clean them and then reuse them for other purposes - hold cotton balls, buds, paper clips.  New uses are only limited to your imagination...

Let's get started cleaning your containers.  Supplies:

• used candle jar,
• freezer,
• blunt knife,
• old newspaper,
• paper towel,
• vinegar.

Place used candle jar in the freezer for approximately 1 hour to harden the soy wax.

Remove candle from the freezer and with a blunt knife remove excess wax from the bottom and sides of the candle jar.

Empty container of any excess candle wax.

Take clean paper towel and wipes inside of container to remove any wax residue and soot from the container.

Once the jar has been wiped clean, place some white vinegar on a clean paper towel and white all surfaces inside and out to remove any sticky residue.

Lastly, place the container in sink of warm soapy water and thoroughly clean.

Rinse and dry the containers and you are now ready to reuse them......

Chevron Art

I love the clean lines of the chevron design and wanted to include a piece at home.  Here is how I made my Chevron canvas.

Step 1

A plain canvas with a coat of white acrylic paint.

Step 2 

Divide the canvas into even sections - I divided the canvas into 8 (horizontal)  I then cut out triangle template.

Trace the template across each of the lines.

 Step 3

Using painters tape, start to create the lines that will transform into the Chevron pattern.

I found the easiest way to get a clean sharp point is to overlap the tape at each point.

  Using the outline of the tape  - trim the tape to create a clean sharp point.

Step 4 - Now for the fun stuff 

I wanted to create a bright multi coloured chevron canvas and used a range of acrylic paint colours that i picked up from the Reject Shop for $4...

now start painting...  randomly apply the different colours.

Don't be afraid to overlap the colours. The canvas completely covered with paint. 

Step 5 

Let the paint dry and slowly remove the tape.......to reveal an original piece of art.. 

The finished product