8.30.2010

Current Love = Brightly Painted Chairs

Design*Sponge
Chair #2 is still awaiting its transformation. I know, I know, I've had it for a week now and can't decide what to do with it! I'm dying to try something bold. From the start I was considering attempting gold (a la French chairs at the Getty) but now I'm also playing with the idea of picking a beautiful bright color. I love these examples I found on Design*Sponge. So many ideas, so little time!

8.29.2010

More from the Getty

Weekend Adventure = The Getty Center


Eric and I visited the Getty yesterday and we had such a good time we ended up staying the whole afternoon until we could barely feel our feet. The majority of the day was spent browsing the various exhibits indoors but the thing I love about the Getty is it's just as visually appealing outdoors. We spent some time laying around on the lawn enjoying the sunny weather, eating hotdogs, and people watching. All of the art was amazing, some more thought provoking than others. My favorite piece of the day was a little watercolor called Waiting (1882 c.) by Edgar Degas. I am going to look into getting a print for the apartment. 


The decorative art exhibit was above and beyond my favorite part of the day. I fell absolutely in love with the beautiful French armchairs and furniture from the 1700s. I would give anything to be a fly on the wall when museum conservators restored these things. Interesting factoid: Furniture became increasing specialized in the 1700s in France, and chairs in a variety of shapes and sizes were one of the most important features in a formal reception room. They were designed either as chaises courants (literally, running chairs), to be moved around the room as needed, or chaises meublants (fixed chairs), to be placed against the wall as part of the interior architecture. 


I was a little obsessed with this exhibit so I did some more reading on the Getty's website. They have listings of every item including in-depth descriptions and in some instances photos of the furniture pre-restoration if that's your thing :)


I highly doubt I will ever get my hands on a chair of the caliber that I saw at the Getty, but it's even more inspiration for my projects moving forward (Chair #2 is awaiting paint as I type). I have already begun researching the process of gold leaf gilding to match the effect.


I'll be posting some more fun pics of our day later! For now I need to get off the computer and spend what's left of the weekend with E. Happy Sunday!

8.27.2010

Current Love = Marimekko Juhannustaika Fabric

Marimekko Juhannustaika Fabric

I am currently obsessing over this fabric. I want to make out with it....or I mean make something out of it. Anyways, the pattern is much too large for a chair which saddens me, but I could get crazy and make some curtians out of it. Or just continue obsessing over it. That's good for now.

8.26.2010

Chair #2

I picked up this little beauty a few days ago off a Craigslist post. Turned out the sweetest lady ever was selling it in preparation for her migration to Florida. I love the details in the front. It has potential...I'm thinking of attempting GOLD. Anyone with me??

P.S. Welcome to Blush


So clearly this is the new blog home of BlushVintageRevival (also on Etsy!). Maybe that should have been my first post...oh well. I hope I chose a name that explains my mission and portrays my individual style. I did play with a lot of ideas and create some mock-ups to get opinions on the matter (thanks friends!). Ultimately, when I think of my personal style I think of my little garden, of pink walls and white sheets, ballet flats and fresh cut flowers. I also think of freckles, my little dog, hazy days at the beach and the thick books that I keep as treasured possessions.

In the process of pinning down a concept most true to myself, it reminded me of when I moved to LA a few years ago and set out to make my humble apartment a home. I had only what fit in my car so naturally the first step was finding furniture I could afford and painting the walls, but I just couldn't decide on a color or general vibe. I carried around this page I cut out from Elle Decor magazine for a while...it was a bedroom with grey blue walls and modern mirrored furniture. It seemed like what I should aspire to as a grown woman. I went to a local furniture store and whipped out the picture thinking it would somehow explain my personal style. This woman, who I had never met before, just looks at me and says "You don't want that. What do you really want? Pick what will make you happy everyday when you open your eyes." I was taken aback by the simplicity of the advice, and those words still ring in my mind to this day. That day I bought my first piece of vintage furniture, my dresser, I painted my walls pink and I never looked back. 

I intend on using the same instinct when it comes to Blush. I'm committed to bringing beautiful vintage pieces and more to all the other lasses out there who have grown up but never grown out of loving pretty things :)

8.25.2010

Weekend Project = Chair #1

After
Before
Finally got around to refurbishing my first chair ever...and I tell you it feels pretty good! In one weekend we (being myself and Eric, my oh-so-amazing boyfriend) had to make about 8 trips to various hardware and fabric stores before we finally had everything necessary to paint and reupholster this vintage chair (see before photo below). Being a man's man, I'm sure Eric never imagined himself in Joanne's fabric store searching for trim all weekend...but he was a trooper and I made sure we were stocked up on cold beer and sandwiches from Bay Cities to keep everyone happy. 

This being amateur hour and all, the following list is a sampling of lessons learned:
1. We had to try various foam/batting thicknesses to get the right amount of cushion for the seat. After playing around with various options we managed to pull some batting apart to get what we needed to layer with the foam.
2. It took about 3 more coats of paint than anticipated to cover the previous dark wood stain.
3. We learned to ALWAYS bring the fabric with you everywhere when buying supplies (which is obvious, but if you know me you know I'm bound to forget the most important thing when I leave the house). We guessed on a trim color without the fabric on the first try...as anticipted, it didn't match so we had to return it. 
4. When buying supplies, check your supplies before check out. We were all geared up to assemble the seat and realized our newly purchased staple gun was missing an important piece. Back to the hardware store we went, and then we were finally set.


It was a true learning experience and all-in-all a great way to spend a weekend (for me at least!). I anticipate the next chair will take half the time without the amateur mistakes. Once I have it down I want to try a more difficult upholstery project. I'm so glad to have taken the first step :)