Dining room make over.

A few months ago I inherited this beautiful dining table and chairs from my great friend Rebecca. It needed a little TLC. The wood laminate was delaminating and the chair cushions needed an update. But I fell in love with it's beautiful curved legs and vintage lines.

 Kat was having fun playing in the fabric as I reupholster the chair seat in this gorgeous blue canvas.

The base of the table got a good coat of primer and then sprayed with this perfect color that is somewhere between gray and brown.

What do you think? I know I am looking forward to dinner parties!

Bench-Calling all Corrugated Cardboard

It's hard to say where an idea comes from. Pinpointing the exact moment the little seed is planted in one's brain is nearly impossible. In my experience, it's never just one thing that inspires, but a perfect storm of little things converging over time.

I've had this image of what I think is an Indonesian bench around for some time. I had saved it because, if I can remember back that far, I likes the form of the curving seat. It struck me as elegant. I also seem to recall loving that the seat was make up of a few large pieces of vertical standing wood sandwiched together.
More recently, I began thinking about designing a my own bench. As I talked with my Landscape and Site Planning students during the summer semester I was struck by all the beautiful topography models they create using such a pedestrian material as corrugated cardboard.
I suddenly remembered that Indonesian bench.

What does this all have to do with corrugated cardboard? Let's just say the details are not quite all worked out yet. As always with any design, it takes time, patience and a lot of testing. You can't rush an idea and it must come in it's own time. So, for now, I'll leave you with the sketches above and your imagination.

New seat cushions for VeeVee!

My favorite place to eat in JP is VeeVee. Literally, down the street from my apartment, it's a lovely neighborhood spot always filled with friends and amazing food.
I recently was asked by the lovely owners to make new seat cushions for the tables that occupy the bay windows of the restaurant. Today, I wheels the striped cushions down the street and set them in place!
I love how the striped fabric transforms the space. What do you think?

Sometimes...I make it just for me.

Having a business where I create and make things that I intuit others will love, I rarely find the time to make something for myself, or my home. More often than not, I'm "stealing" something off the MAKE.GOOD studio shelf and calling it mine.

Last night seemed like a good time to change that.

It started with a bench. This treasure lives in my front hall (I use the word "hall" loosely as it conjures up images of a grand entry in an old, perfectly restored Victorian, which is not the current situation). I love this bench, and my entry dearly. This lovely piece comes from a long past. It mostly reminds me of the years it lived in any one of my beautiful friend Alyson's apartments. One of which we shared. Before that it belonged to someone in her family. But this now bench, once a coffee table, is a treasured piece that I have loved since the day I inherited it. It's one of those things I plan to have for a very long time.

I had made a cushion for it, which helped it's transformation from holder of coffee, to supporter of humans. And last night I made two little pillows designed just for it, solidifying it's identity as bench.

The pillows are made from old burlap bags used to transport coffee! They have these beautiful markings on them, and a wonderful faint aroma of raw coffee beans that's a constant reminder of their origin and how far they traveled to get here, to live on my little bench.

Coffee bags are closed using a simple stitch made of burlap thread. I modernized the details and used a bright orange cotton thread. Don't you just love the little punch of color!

What treasured pieces do you love in your home? I'd love to hear their story...

chair.love

Oh the joy of owning an Eames Molded Plastic Rocker!  
I am so in love with everything the Eames' have made, and now I have a little piece of history in my very own living room. I love the way this chair feels both delicate and solid. It's smaller than I expected, but has a huge personality! What's your favorite piece of furniture?

I'm pretty sure my Womb Chair has a crush...

Eames.Love

I am in love with these Eames House Blocks!
They are simple and beautifully graphic without all the plastic typical of kids stuff. It seems to me that the imagination is pretty involved when playing with this toy and, bonus, it will look great sitting on a dresser or bookshelf!
Is there a little one (or big one) in your life that would love these?  I know I would love a set. It's never to early to start shopping for Christmas (hint, hint).

(Image House Industries)

before.after.1

We all have those random pieces of furniture that we acquired because we recognized their "good bones." They sit for years untouched, waiting to have layers of paint stripped, and their beauty revealed.
I have a few of those myself...
Here's a little preview of what I'm hoping will be some great transformations from before to after.

film.crew

Last week a film crew was at my apartment doing a shoot. No famous actors or anything like that, but it was a fun filled day watching the action taking place in my very own living room.

Here's a little peak into some of what was going on...

library.card.2

It took a while, but my new Card Catalogue has found it's place in my studio. It is a beautiful piece of furniture and works perfectly for holding all the odds and ends. I organized it vertically by category: small tools, sewing, drawing+ office supply, painting, crafts, other. What do you think? Does it work?