New Display

Sold a great dresser so I needed to move stuff around and create some new displays.  When it comes to displays sometimes I'll plan on a certain look for the store (like the upcoming Rodeo Days) and I'll shop or create items for that 'theme' or, more often, I'll come across something unique or amazing and it starts the creative process.  With a store, I'm constantly moving things around and creating new displays - hopefully because things have sold, but sometimes just because there is always a 'new' look.

Today, I decided to put the focus on this great ladies desk.  It has been painted white, features wonderful cabriolet legs, minimal storage, wide work space, and is a piece that brings character to a room.  I also have these great old doors with chippy paint and an aged patina that will make a great background. 

As I moved the doors into place with the desk, I loved how gold looked against it so I hung the mirrors and then added the candle sconces.  Then it was adding nick-nacks that fit in the color scheme and making the top of the desk look interesting and touchable.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but the proof will be the customers who come in and pause to check out the items.

Magazines, Magazines, Magazines

Even before I owned a store you could say I was addicted to magazines.  I peruse them at the grocery store, book store, airport, Doctor's offices, even when I visited friends I would glance through their magazine collection to see if there was anything interesting.  Now that I have a store I can justify the addiction because I need to stay on top of trends, colors, styles, new decorating ideas, creative junk, and most especially stay creatively challenged.  Currently I have subscriptions to 12 magazines that come monthly, or bi-monthly, and I usually pick-up 2 or 3 extra a month. 

I probably have the typical collection of magazines including Victoria (original and new), Country Home (sadly out of print), Country Living, ME's Home Companion (very sadly out of print), Romantic Homes, Cottage Living (also out of print), and MS Living.  Some not so common might be Veranda (love it!), Traditional Home, LaVieClaire (fantastic pictures!), Southern Living, Coastal Living (for my beach house dream), and the quarterly Summerset Home.  Finally, due to the recession, several of my most favorite magazines went out of business and switched me to something else like Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, and Bon Appetite.

Because it can be somewhat challenging deciding which magazines I keep or which I pass on to another person, I came up with a minimum number of 'keeper' articles - 5. Each magazine I keep has to have a minimum of 5 articles that I want to rip out and keep. Only then do they make it to the magazine bookshelf to provide ongoing creative stimulation.

This month, I loved Flea Market Style (on sale till July).  It's put out by Ki Nassauer & Matthew Mead (amazing creative geniuses).  It was an easy decision to keep this magazine because almost every article was inspiring/interesting/creative - I loved the hauling hints (page 15), I am inspired by confessions of a Vintage Style Blogger (page 27+), I LOVED Joe and Jermonne's Portland farmhouse, and I can't wait to have a garden party inspired by Afternoon Delight (page 108).

I also loved the green, yellow, and blues throughout the latest Veranda magazine.  I love picking out the vintage or shabby details in the amazing homes pictured throughout the magazine.

The May/June Victoria magazine is lovely and I even carry several items from the magazine including the silver knife handle pen (pictured on page 23), the silver platter (page 26), and the vintage silver servers (page 32).  The shabby store (Posh on Palm) featured is similar and yet different from Not Too Shabby (page 70+).

I hope you enjoy your magazines this month, and if you want to glance through any I mentioned, stop by the store, I share well with others!

Bobbi 

Recovering a Stool

Just picked up this great vanity stool. It has a nice wooden seat that makes it perfect to recover, I'm going to use burlap, some egg crate foam, and cotton batting. This is a great first upholstery project because there is a wooden seat to wrap and cover instead of strapping.

Here, I'll show you all the steps.

You'll need egg crate, cotton batting, burlap, staple gun, screwdriver, and scissors for this project.

First, I unscrewed the seat bottom from the legs, then I cut an
egg crate cushion to fit, cotton batting slightly larger (so it wraps
around the egg crate) then a much larger piece of burlap.

Then center the seat on top of everything, with the burlap as the bottom, and I pull on corner of the burlap up and over everything, then using the staple gun, I staple it into place. Next I pull up the corner of burlap opposite the side I just did, pulling tight, and staple in place. Then turn the seat a 1/4 turn and pull up that corner, staple, and then the final corner, pull tight and staple.

Now I can flip it over and make sure that I have pulled it evenly and like how it lays, now is the time to make sure the cover lays flat, shows the design you like, and isn't crooked or unevenly pulled. It's easy to start over here, just pull out the staples and reposition, then start over.

Note: I used size 8 staples, and stapled along a 1/2-inch edge of the seat.

Now that I have verified I like how the cover lays, I will go around the cushion, pulling the burlap a uniform tightness, staple, and shift to the opposite side, doing this about 15 more times, I finish the cover.

Flip it over to give it one final review, now it's time to trim the excess burlap. Using good scissors, I like to trim the burlap within a 1/4-inch of the outside staples. This gives me a smooth finish that won't show when I re-attach the legs.

After trimming the burlap and cotton to a nice even look, I then use the original screws and re-attach the covered seat to the legs.

Now, I think I'll add a little burlap ruffle along the edge. This will help cover the staples and add a little personality to the seat.

Viola! all done in under an hour, and the stool looks fantastic. I'll bring it into the store on Thursday and we'll see how long it takes for someone to fall in love with it and take it home.

Bobbi

Monday, May 17

Went to the fantastic Flea Affair on Saturday and picked up tons of stuff including this amazing European Bakers Rack. They were nice enough to deliver this to the store this afternoon so now I get to figure out what to display on it so that it becomes as amazing as I know it can be....

Maybe I'll start with some blues, silver, and nesting items... You'll have to come in and see for yourself.

May 15

Hi, well it has been a crazy wonderful amazing awe filled month! First off I have made changes to the blog, and I have lots more to make but I hope you enjoy them and join me for the ride!

Next, the store was looking fantastic this morning, I spent last night moving things all over, creating new displays, just really mixing it up. Hope you caught the 'was looking' because Wham! This morning was crazy busy again and we sold 3 pieces of furniture (to 3 different people) and now it's time to re-do everything again. So, if you come in today, please forgive the mess, or better yet pitch in and help me re-do.

This was after getting up early and heading out to the Flea Affair this morning to buy some fantastic garden stuff, a really rusty bike with a flower basket (that's what sold me), red trunk, red ladder, red suitcase, garden basket, and a great wooden glider (that I think will stay at the house for a little while). I definitely had a red thing going today!

Brought in some ice tea and brownie bites to share on this great day - guess I need to say bye so I can focus on fixing up the store - share with you later!

Bobbi