found it at a flea market

While scouring the Long Beach Antique Market last weekend, I cam across this cool metal basket that was the perfect size to hold my floor plans and rolls of trace and graph paper. To check out the market for yourself, visit http://www.longbeachantiquemarket.com

The Menu

This week I've been menu planning for our Thanksgiving feast. We will be serving turkey, but we mostly stick to vegetarian fare in our home so I'm on the lookout for interesting twists on traditional veggie dishes, and I've come across some awesome recipes that I just had to share.

For Starters
This sounds delicious, simple and it's pretty cute (the perfect combo). Recipe is from the October issue of Southern Living.

A new spin on the classics:
Carrot Soufle

recipe from House Beautiful

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Mushrooms & Spinach

from Sunset Magazine. Click here for the recipe

Browned Butter and Hazelnut Mashed Potatoes, also from Sunset mag

And for the morning after...

French Toast Bread Pudding! This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe from a recent issue of House Beautiful. I'll be serving this with fresh squeezed orange juice mimosas. Yum.

If you want a recipe for anything that wasn't included or linked let me know and I'll send it to you. Happy cooking!

weekend project

I stumbled across this picture in a magazine recently and was awed by their casual elegance. Unaware of the price tag (not even going to guess), I decided to embark on the project of trying to create my own version of these...or at least one of them. I'll start with the small one.

In other knit pillow news, if you prefer that classic cable knit sweater look ~which I fall in love with every year about this time~ there are plenty of surprisingly simple patterns out there to create the sweater pillow of your dreams. I found this one at the AOK Corral. It comes with fairly descript directions and a beginners guide for those of us who are pretty fresh to the knitting world (I've actually known how to for years, but never graduated beyond the very long scarf project).





I'll let you know how my project goes and feel free to send me feedback on yours as well. Happy Weekend!

over the weekend

My challenge this weekend was to turn this $15 flea market find

into a nightstand for our master bedroom. The plan was to end up with a white base and walnut top, similar to the Saarinen table I showed in last week's post. Here's how things went:

First, I had my husband resize it a bit to make it better for a nightstand. He sawed about 5 inches off of the legs. Next step was the oh-so-fun process of sanding. When I got to the tabletop I made the discovery that existing wood looked pretty cool, with deep grain and block edges. So I changed the plan a bit and decided to keep what was already there.

After sanding I painted it white using a non-toxic flat furniture paint. This took several coats since I was still going over black in some areas. Tip: using a paint pad instead of a brush gives a more even coat without brushstrokes. It takes a bit of time to get in the groove but it's worth it. I did use a brush to get into the smaller areas though.

And here it is in the almost finished state. I need to clearcoat it to protect everything, which will also bring out the grain in the natural wood a bit more too.

weekend project

This weekend I will be working on refinishing the black table I found at the flea market.


The inspiration for the redo was this classic Saarinen table with a white base and walnut top.



I'll let you know how it goes...happy weekend!

mirror mirror

My weekend project from 10/16 was focused on a large mirror that I wanted to give a little update to. Here's how it went:

Here is the (unassuming) mirror in its originial state.

All taped off and ready to go

Not sure if she likes it yet... (sorry, I had to throw that in!)

The process included two coats of flat grey wall paint

Followed by a coat of white paint brushed on then wiped off. D and I did this twice, okay he did this part.

And here is the final result. The mirror is on the wall in the master bedroom. While we were at it I painted a small side table for a nightstand. I'll post pictures when the room is more together.

one man's treasure

Check out our sweet finds from the Pasadena Flea Market last weekend. After a little sanding and some (non-toxic) clearcoat, the rocking chairs will be gracing our patio. More on the table later.

paperbacked

In place of a headboard in the master bedroom, we are thinking of creating a large wallpapered panel to go behind the bed. The color palette is totally neutral (so far at least) so we want to make a statement with the pattern. Here's what I am thinking...

this paper from Madison & Grow creates a really cool pattern from afar and is a bit quirky up close. What do you think? I'd love some feedback.

weekend project

This weekend I will be working on revamping a mirror I bought from Ikea a few years ago. The black-brown just isn't doing it for me anymore so I'm going to try my hand at a finishing technique that will give it a faux bois look (despite the fact that it is actually wood). If all goes well, it should turn out something like this:

Mirror - Mongstad, $99 at Ikea

I'll post the results and process when it's finished. Happy weekend!

moving day...

The boxes and furniture have all been moved, and now the work begins. Here's a peek at what I'm dealing with (this unfortunately includes a few damaged items...)

what will be the living room (a slightly damaged coffee table and side chair will need to be refinished)

I had a little bit of trouble with the slipcover!

Our soon to be kitchen and dining room


the master bedroom will be getting some attention this time around...

...and the office. I love a challenge!

blank canvas

It's official! I am finally moving into a new place and I couldn't be more excited. Our apartment has a couple of great features: vaulted ceilings, 5 huge closets, 2 bedrooms (upgrading from a one bedroom, this is like heaven) and a fairly efficiently planned kitchen, making it the ultimate blank canvas for me to play with.

So I decided that it would make a cool blog feature to document the process of making this place our home. Here we go:

Just got the keys!

This is the view from the entryway looking at the living room, with the dining area straight ahead and kitchen on the left. The door leads to the master suite.

A shot of the pass-through at the kitchen (another feature I love in small spaces)

A nice little kitchen (take note of the open shelving on the left. This will be fully utilized)

looking at the living area with sliding patio door (the patio extends to the left across the master suite with doors as well. I didn't photograph this.)

And, finally, a not-so-great shot of the 2nd bedroom, which will be my new office. Despite the photo, it actually has great natural light.

Stay tuned for my moving adventures. I'll come up with some nifty storage solutions too when we move onto the closets and bathrooms. So fun!