Style Lush

It's a TV not art

by Christina

I have a confession to make and it's not a really big one but it's not lovely: I hate, hate, hate a flat screen TVover a fireplace in a formal living space. I just don't like it. Your TV is supposed to be below eye level for the most comfortable viewing, did you know that?

I'm too lazy to google the source on the info but I read it somewhere, probably InStyle and sure, what the heck do they know, or whatever. But fireplaces mantles are typically half way up a wall, putting the TV quite close to the ceiling which is too high. I do understand that space can be tight and putting a TV on the wall is a good space planning option, I totally get working with what you have. I'm not saying you shouldn't do that, I just want to show you some fun stuff to put TVs on. So, now that I've offended half of our readers I'd love to show you some awesome alternatives to bolting a television to your wall. (Actually, I don't mind it on a wall, just not over a fireplace)

I think this is super cool. SUPER COOL!

It's an easel! It looks unique and it is airy looking so it would work really well in a small space.

I think this is stunning! It looks like a steamer trunk but it is a media cabinet. The front drawers flip down so you can use your remote and everything.

I really like this one too. It looks like a bunch of tiny drawers but it too has a flip down space for your components that require remotes and tons of storage.

Good looking and functional. Done and Done. Is your TV over a fireplace or on a piece of furniture?

(iPhoto credits: Restoration Hardware)

A Trend I want in on: Campaign Dressers

by Christina

I think these have been trending for a good six months now but with Pinterest and on-line mags they have become even more visible. This look dates as far back as the early 1700's and was used for military campaigns and were built to last but with its sharp lines and handsome brass hardware it's no surprise that the look is back. I am wanting one of these so badly. Gorgeous storage for any room but I'm thinking as a dresser for my youngest boy in a high gloss gray or navy.

Gorgeous! It seems with the right hardware and a sturdy all wood dresser you could diy this, which unless I win the craigslist lottery, will be the way to go.

(image via pinterest via apartmenttherapy.com)

Slipcovers that work: Sure-Fit

Our couches are at least ten years old. TEN! They've survived a cat, a dog, a baby, three moves, countless juice spills and snack-dumping incidents, an endless parade of misdirected crayon use and frankly, they show every big of wear and tear they've earned. These things are nasty. NASTY. No matter how many times I scrubbed the arms, laundered the cushions, vacuumed the crevices, they still looked . . . disgusting. Comfortable, but disgusting.

After finally coming to the determination that it was time for a new set, I got pregnant again. Which means another small person to spit up, spill juice, dribble snacks, pour lotion on the arms, ETCETERA. 

(This just in: children are foul, delightful little creatures.)

I didn't want to spend the money on a new set that would be destroyed in a matter of months, but I sure as hell didn't want to keep being positively MORTIFIED every time someone came into our home. Slipcovers seemed like an awful idea until a friend promised me that Sure-Fit would be different. (I sound like an infomercial. I swear, I bought these myself, and Sure-Fit doesn't even know who I am.)

I went with the Royal Diamond stretch, seen here, but in chocolate brown:

And BADOW! My couch doesn't look QUIIIITE as sleek as the photos would have you believe, and it's true, I have to do a fair amount of tucking and smoothing a few times throughout the day to make sure they don't look like bags, but overall, I am thrilled. THRILLED. My couches are no longer humiliating sacks of shame, the covers are completely (COMPLETELY!) machine washable, and I only spent $170 at Overstock for a couch AND a loveseat cover versus, say, thousands of dollars on a new set my kids are bound to demolish. 

The covers are super-stretchy (well, the form-fit ones are anyway) and have a TON of elastic to fit around all the important bits on the couch. And they cover EVERYTHING, stem to stern, leaving only the tiny feet underneath, if you can even see those. Putting them on took about ten minutes, and I'll bet they'll be ready for their first wash next week. (I've heard they DO wash well, and since they're mostly synthetic---but soft, I swear---I'm not surprised.)

Do it! You won't be sorry. The only thing there is to be sorry about is buying red denim couches in 2001. Red denim shows EVERYTHING. 

How to paint old furniture

By A'Dell

I posted on my personal blog about some 70-90-year-old furniture (the age is a bit of an ongoing mystery that I'm researching) I just inherited and how I have grand plans to paint it white. Never mind that every woodworking project I've ever taken on has ended up as a complete disaster, I have decided that now is the time to learn and hone my skills on sentimental, family heirloom, walnut furniture from Arkansas. (I know. I know.)

Check out what I've got. Dark. Daaaaaaaark.

The furniture I've got in thinly veneered and isn't in the best condition. It's chipped, gouged and dinged. It is very, very dark and I would like it to be painted white so that it can live in my youngest daughter's room. I think it would be terribly cute in a little girl's room, painted white. This is going to be a long road of internet learning, but I've already found a few great tutorials.

First, a how-to from Centsational Girl details (simply!) the basics of how to refinish a piece of furniture. She goes over piece selection, removing marks and holes, sanding and the painting plus lots of other tiny details. For someone who has never, ever refinished or repainted anything with success? This was gold. I've read this post about ten times already and several people that I reached out to pointed me in the direction of this very post. If you're in my shoes? Start with that post.

Next, I have been reading about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for several months now, and we've even talked about it before at Style Lush (here). The idea behind this paint is that no prep work is required, which sounds FANTASTIC to a painting novice like myself. It sticks to anything, is highly versatile and everyone just falls all over themselves about it. The downside is that it can be a bit pricey (I think about $35/quart) but considering all of the time and other materials you'd be saving it sounds almost like a bargain to me.

Shaunna at Perfectly Imperfect has put together several videos that talk about chalk paint and they are WONDERFUL. Normally, I am not a video person but with DIY stuff like this? Oh, video is AWESOME CAKES for this kind of thing. Start here with her notes on how to distress chalk paint and click around her YouTube channel for more gems. 

What about you? Do you have any places that you go to learn about painting furniture? Please leave me your favorite links so that I can read more. I really need all the help I can get on this one. 

DIY Upholstery?

By Jessica

I'm having an issue with my living room which can be summed up in one word: brown.  We have a crazy tall accent wall that we did with wood, brown of course. We have Pergo floors, dark brown. We have an enormous leather and micro-suede sofa and it's brown (camel and chocolate brown, but still brown). The walls are all tan (GAH MORE BROWN) and we have two chairs that match the couch, still more brown!

See? BROWN.

I do have a bright coffee table,

colorful pillows, and bright prints from Etsy on the walls.

I also recently painted the fireplace

white, which helps, but I'd really like to recover the two matching chairs.

You can see them in the top picture, one flanking the fireplace and the other in front of our entertainment center. They have wood accents and are in a similar micro-suede fabric to the couch. I have no idea if I should paint out the wood in addition to changing the fabric but that'd be easy. The hard part, at least it seems hard to me, is changing out the fabric. I considered taking them somewhere to have them redone for me, but they aren't high quality furniture (they are "good enough") and it seems crazy to spend big money on them.

Have you ever tackled your own upholstery? Do you have any tips or tricks?

 

 

 

 

Score one for short people: IKEA BEKVÄM step stool

By Manda

It pains me to admit the following, but I need to share something with you: I'm short. Five feet and four and a half inches, to be exact. I have to buy the "short" jeans at Target. My husband (who is only six feet tall) towers over me. My daughter (who is only three, but is tall for her age) is already half as tall as I am. And yes, I have to keep a step stool in my kitchen to reach things up high in my cabinets.

I HATE IT.

For years I have been using this little square footstool that I found ages ago at TJ Maxx and my husband has always hated it. It has sharp corners and he always bashes his shins on it, it's covered in this weird old lady fabric, you can't sit on it comfortably ... but I NEED IT, so in the kitchen it stayed. That is, until last week!

You guys? I am so excited to share with you the best $14.99 I have ever spent at IKEA:

{photo via Ikea.com}

The BEKVÄM step stool!

I saw it (flat packed of course) and tossed it onto my cart as an afterthought, thinking I'd probably ditch it before I got to the checkout. But then I had the brilliant idea that it would be a project my daughter and I could do that afternoon while her brother (hopefully) napped.

Which as it happens? Was a BRILLIANT idea! We assembled the stool together, I let her hand me screws and turn the allen wrench, and it only took about 25 minutes to complete (and that's with a squirrely three-year-old "helping" and one piece in the wrong place that required a partial un-assembly!).

Soon we put the stool to work in the kitchen. It's the perfect height for my daughter to stand on to wash her hands at the kitchen sink or to "help" me in the kitchen. It makes a great place to perch when I'm hiding from my kids and shotgunning coffee in the morning, and best of all, it's a (much safer) way for me to reach high places! Not to mention my husband doesn't mind stubbing his shins on it so much since it's made of a (totally BEGGING to be spray-painted!!) soft pine.

WIN!

What's your favorite IKEA score?

Bean Bag Chairs

By Blythe

Now that the official Unveiling of the Red Starbucks cups has occurred, and the (awesome!) Style Lush gift guides have been published, I can officially begin Christmas shopping.  I'm thinking about buying my four-year old a bean bag chair.

I was initially inspired by the Pottery Barn Kids version.  It's cute and I'm a sucker for personalization, although since I only have one child, I'm not sure why we need to point out who the chair belongs to, but I don't really care.  I like it.

Personalized Bean Bags

{Photo credit: pbkids.com}

 

This one is also personalized AND looks like a penguin!

Penguin Bean Bag

{Photo credit: lillianvernon.com}

 

This one is the most affordable of the bunch, which is nice.  But do you get the feeling they're trying to get me to buy a dog bed for my child?  No?

Roundabout Lounge Cushion

{Photo credit: overstock.com}

 

I like the corduroy cover on this one.

Purple Bean Bag

{Photo credit: overstock.com}

(Incidentally, did you know there is a company that makes bean bag chairs called Lovesacs?  They make something called a "SacTional."  The internet is a strange and wonderful place.)

Convertible Cribs: Worth It or Not?

By Lauren

Even though I'm not pregnant, we're in full-on baby mode around these parts. My sister-in-law had a little girl two weeks ago, and my younger sister is expecting her first baby in March! It's been so much fun for me to pass along the good advice I received from other mothers when I was pregnant and when my son was tiny, and to share what worked for me and what didn't.

My sister will soon be shopping for nursery furniture, and I'm finding that, as a mother whose child is about to outgrow his nursery furniture, I have Many Opinions on this subject. Specifically, I really wish I'd taken the long view when it came to furnishing Nate's room, spending less on furniture that is short-lived, and considering what sort of color palette would work as he grew from baby to toddler to little boy.

I thought we'd done this right: For example, I skipped the changing table in favor of a low dresser, and just threw a changing pad on top of it. We also bought a convertible crib -- one that goes from crib to toddler bed and then becomes the head- and footboard for a double bed. I failed, though, to consider two things: First, my son destroyed the finish on part of his crib by using the top rail as a teething toy. Thankfully the worst damage is on the short sides of the crib, which go away when it converts into a headboard and footboard. Second, though, I'm now locked into having a double bed in a smallish room, rather than, say, a twin with a trundle that would allow for more floor space.

It just seemed so practical at the time. Buy once! It grows with your child! You're saving money in the long run! I totally bought into the sales pitch, and now I flip longingly through the big kid bedrooms in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and gaze at the bedrooms we'll never have.

I might be in the minority here, though, and my sister has the opportunity to benefit from the collective wisdom of our dear Style Lush readers. What do you think about convertible cribs? Did you get one? Did you enjoy having it as your child grew from baby to big kid, or did you wish you'd chosen an inexpensive crib for more flexibility later on? Did the color you chose for the nursery furniture transition well into bigger kid decor? (Ours is white, and I wish we'd gone with a wood tone for the transiiton to big boy room.) Did you enjoy having a double bed as your child grew up, or would you have preferred more floor space? Please share!

{Image source: lullabyinteriors.com, via Pinterest.}

A Modern Adirondack Chair Alternative

by Blythe

I love my Adirondack chairs.  I really do.  But they're feeling a bit tired and, since I live in the soggy Pacific Northwest, they've started to warp after just a couple of summers.  (We do bring them inside during the rainiest seasons but the rain is an all-year thing around here.)

A friend of mine pointed out these chairs recently as we sat on them drinking wine.  They are fabulous, and a great alternative to my sad Adirondacks.

Emmett Lounge Chair

They're made from recycled milk jugs (weather-resistant!), they're comfy and sturdy, and they come in a bunch of fun colors along with attractive neutrals.  I wonder if Room and Board takes trade-ins?

{image credit: roomandboard.com}

Dream Room for a Growing Boy

By Lauren

My husband's brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby next month, and I've really been enjoying watching them choose nursery furniture and bedding and all the little extras to make their daughter's room beautiful. It makes me a little wistful for the days when we were planning Nate's nursery. It's occurred to me, though, that even though Nate is still in a true nursery -- at not-quite-two, he's still in a crib -- it won't be too terribly long before we're tweaking his room to suit a growing boy.  

Cue the Restoration Hardware Baby & Child catalog arriving at my door. Oh, y'all. If I had unlimited funds I could create quite the room for my little guy just from one terrifically overpriced store. I don't, of course, but I still thought it would be fun to pull together everything I might like to use if money were no object.

Milbrook Iron Bed

Heirloom Quilted Voile Quilt

Vintage Airplane Bedding

Jourdan Wide Dresser

French Railroad Cabinet

Braided Wool Rug

Vintage Sepia Plane Art

Vintage Synonym Flashcard Art

1930s Solid Wood Airplane Propeller

Leather Bean Bag Cover

Vintage Pedal Plane

Obviously, I won't be able to create this dream room, though I hope maybe we can incorprate some similar elements for Nate. How would you decorate your child's room if you had an unlimited budget?

{Image credits: Restoration Hardware Baby & Child, via Pinterest.}