Pretty Little Green Things

Posts Tagged ‘Stylish furniture’

You know the saying, the shoemaker’s children go barefoot?  Well, sometimes that’s how I feel about my house.  The projects I do for work are amazing, but my own abode is sometimes lacking in style.  Sure we did a bit of a renovation and the walls and doors look much better.  But I have drapery left to hang, dining chairs that have been begging for reupholstery and my aforementioned lounge chair that has to go (apologies to my friend Lizz who has the same chair).  So I’ve decided that I’m going to tackle one project a week and finish up this house.  I may not finish each one every week, but you’ll get a peek at some of my DIY projects and I’ll finally get this ball rolling.

So first up, my dining chairs.  Here’s the before picture.

We inherited these bad boys from my husband’s grandmother.  I love the shape of the curvy shape of the frame and for both sentimental and aesthetic reasons, I didn’t want to change the wood color at all.  One less project to tackle too!  The seat fabric however was a different story.  It was stained from years of grandkids plus the light colored ikat-ish print is really not my taste.

Here’s a close-up of the old fabric.  See what I mean?  Time for a change.

Fortunately, I also inherited a large piece of silk from my best friend’s mother that I think was destined to be a sari.  It’s colorful, unique and oh so perfect for these chairs.  So here goes, my first attempt at reupholstery.

So first things first, I had to rip off all the old covers.  I cheated a bit because I could see the previous bright pink under the ones I ripped off, but I just couldn’t bring myself to take them off too and open up a potential can of worms.

Covers are off!

Thankfully the previous reupholsterer had added a bit of cotton batting to the top of the chairs, so all I had to do was put my new upholstery on.  If you look really close, you can see a bit of the pink fabric underneath.

And here goes nothing!  This was my first experience with a staple gun, and let me tell you, I sort of wish I had purchased an electric one instead.  My hand is all kinds of sore!

The new covers are on and the chairs are almost done!  All that I have to do here is add a bit of trim at the bottom to cover up the staples.

Ta da!  All done.  I decided to go with a navy blue trim to contrast against the lighter silk ikat.  I’m going to try to take a better picture tomorrow morning.  It was dark out by the time I finished up and my nighttime shots never seem to turn out as well.

Here’s a detail of the chair seat.  You can see the trim a bit better in this shot.

All in all, I’m super excited about my new chairs.  It was a bigger and tougher project than I anticipated.  I give reupholsterers and furniture makers so much credit for the amazing work they do.  As for me, I’m taking the rest of the night off.  And tomorrow I might just treat myself to a well earned manicure to clean up my hands after all that staple gunning.

We’ve had a sad looking lounge chair sitting in our living room for what feels like forever.  Although I’ve eyed a few other options before, it’s finally time for this thing to go.  The reason is not so much that I hate the chair (even though I do).  It’s more because the low seat means that when you sit in it, you’re WAY to far away from our sofa to have any sort of conversation with even the nearest person.  So why haven’t I replaced it yet?   My problem is not that I can’t find what I want, my problem is that I have too many great options and I get cold feet.  Yes, it’s true, even designers get indecisive sometimes.  But I thought, why make myself crazy when I have all of you lovely readers.  So I gathered my top ten eco-friendly lounge chair choices for my apartment, in no particular order.  They’re all a bit unique, not too big, not too traditional and totally comfortable.  Tell me what you think and vote in the comment section below.

I’m always a fan of the casual chic style of Cisco Brothers.  The curves of this Grace Chair would complement our sofa quite nicely (in a fabric to match our decor of course).

My recent post on Kelly LaPlante’s new Jak furniture line may have been a bit selfish since this little Deleon barrel chair would look stunning in our apartment.  You’ll forgive me, right?

1stdibs is always a go-to for really elegant pieces.  Most everything is vintage so you’re good to go (I was going to say green to go, but even I was groaning at that one).  Much of what I find and fall in love with is well out of my price range, but I did find this cute chair from Lost City Arts just a few blocks from my apartment.  How’s that for local?  It would of course need some chic new upholstery fabric to pull the look together, but I’m kinda liking the unique lines of this piece.

I’m absolutely in love with just about every piece from Lawson-Fenning, so I couldn’t help picking two options from them.  This is the Rolled Arm Chair.  I love the slightly masculine look that’s balanced out with the curvy shape.

I’ve always been a wing chair fan.  Maybe there’s something about hiding behind those huge wings that really appeals to me (not that I normally hide behind chairs or anything).  This Wing Chair is also from Lawson-Fenning.

This really unique lounge chair comes from Suite New York.  It might get a bit too low and thus not solve my low-rider problem, but there’s no shame in looking, right?  I’m not a big leather upholstery fan, so of course I would pick a fun eco-friendly fabric to match our decor.

For something a bit more traditional, I also like this upholstered linen chair from VivaTerra.  It, unfortunately, only comes in two fabric options so the Java would be my choice.  And I’d add a few colorful accent pillows to spice it up a bit.

As always, the furniture from the New Traditionalists is elegant with a slightly irreverent edge.   I love this tailored take on a traditional barrel chair.  And the added strap detail at the bottom is quite chic.  Why let handbags have all the fun?

Don’t let the clean lines fool you, the Todhunter Club Chair from Q Collection is totally chic.  It would be the perfect contrast to the much more ornate Hepplewhite style dining chairs that are next to my lounge chair’s future home.

And last but absolutely not least are these fixer-uppers from Chairloom.  Although the crushed olive green velvet definitely needs to go, I love the lines and the raw potential of these two chairs.  I might not end up with these exact chairs, but I’m definitely leaning toward buying something from this awesome company just because I love what they stand for.  The wonderful people at Chairloom scour markets and dealers’ inventories to find interesting chairs that just need a little bit of love to turn them into the beauties they were meant to be.  Take a look at their gallery of sold chairs for a bit of inspiration.

So there you have it, my top ten eco-friendly lounge chair choices!  What do you think?  Which one is your favorite?  Vote in the comments section below and as soon as I get my indecisive butt in gear and purchase something, I’ll reveal my final choice!

After the success of painting my kitchen cabinets from an ugly cherry color to glossy white, I’m ready to paint just about every piece of furniture in my apartment.  So when I saw these zinc wrapped tables from Scarlett Scales Antiques, I thought this was right up my alley.  While I probably don’t have the space or the technical skills to pull off a zinc creation like this chic tables, I can certainly enjoy them.  Scarlett and her father, Barry, take vintage tables and wrap them with zinc scraps rescued from old buildings near their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.  I think they would be perfect in an entry foyer with a colorful bunch of flowers on top.

Scarlett Scales has a lustworthy collection of antiques so make sure to pop on over to her website and check out some of her items.  Maybe I’ll even be lucky enough to score something from her at this summer’s Brimfield show.

Photos from Scarlett Scales Antiques

I’ve been hoping to get out to San Francisco soon to visit a few friends and it looks like I now have a new reason to get myself out to the west coast.  Adding on to their first location in Los Angeles, HD Buttercup just opened a new 35,000 square foot store in the city by the bay.  Started by co-founder of ABC Home, Evan Cole, this chic store sells a huge range of products including many eco retailers such as Cisco Home, Urban Woods, Lee and Green Home to name a few.  HD Buttercup’s inventory is hand-picked and ever changing, so you’ll never quite know what you’ll find (or miss!).  The pictures below are shots of the new store, although I’ll bet it doesn’t look this this anymore!













Photos from HD Buttercup via Interior Design Magazine

I was wandering around during lunch a few days ago and popped into Lillian August’s new showroom in New York City to check it out.  And guess what I discovered…they have a green line!  I couldn’t be more excited that this chic retailer really gets it.  Their Environments collection so far is the only line that is eco-friendy, but I’m hoping the rest isn’t too far behind.  According to Lillian August’s website, “Environments embrace the authentic link we have with our natural surroundings. We work with companies that are finding innovative ways to build products with sustainable, natural and organic components.”  In addition, they are a founding member of the Sustainable Furnishing Council which is a group dedicated to promoting sustainable practices within the furniture and design industry.

I’m going to leave you with a few pictures from Lillian August’s website.  If you’re in the area, you should definitely stop by one of their stores and take a look for yourself!

These pics are from the store, not necessarily the Environments collection.

Photos via Lillian August

I’ve been looking for the perfect lounge chair for our home.  I only need one, but it has to be unique, comfortable, not too big and above all, green.  I haven’t yet found my perfect chair, but while I was searching, I came across this beautiful and artful reclaimed furniture from Amsterdam based Swarm.  Everything is made by founder Leslie Oschmann, who grew up helping her carpenter father in his shop.  She is now using her skills to transform found objects into beautiful and unique pieces.  Each one is truly a work of art complete with a ton of character.  Take a peek for yourself.

These are the chairs that first drew me in.  The artwork on the front and back of each one is covered with found canvases making them truly a piece of art.

And then of course she repeats the process on other types of furniture.  If I had that table, I’d never use a tablecloth.  Why cover up the beautiful art with fabric?  Stains from dinner parties would give this piece even more character and beauty.

This buffet almost looks cross stitched.  I wonder if it actually is.  And I love that she didn’t do the same thing on either side of the furniture piece giving it an asymmetrical look.

This is one of my favorites.  Leslie also uses the same art canvases to make bags.  I would love to head off to the farmers market with one of these bags in tow.

Leslie has also been experimenting with the form of a chair by replacing various component parts for her Altered Ego Chair series.  She says that the juxtaposition of chair parts breathes new life into what a chair can look like and how it functions.  I couldn’t agree more.  And do you see that hook on the side?  As a girl who always has a perpetually large purse in tow, I think all dining chairs should come fitted with one of these.  Don’t you agree?

Here’s another Altered Ego Chair version.

Photos from Swarm

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day to feel inspired.  Not just by the amazing man who defied his opponents with such courage, dignity and humility, but by other amazing people too.  It’s a day to remind ourselves that inspiration comes from all around us.  So I’m taking the the day to share with you some of my absolute favorite interiors that inspire me and elevate what design should be.  Happy MLK Day.

Miles Redd

Ashley Hicks

Elie Saab (this is one of my all time favorite houses)

Also Elie Saab.  How amazing is that bed?!

Herve van der Straeten is one of the most talented furniture designers out there.  And his apartment is no less than stunning.

Jean Yves Lanvin (yes, that Lanvin)

I’m not sure whose dining room this is, but look at that amazing ceiling!

Jonathan Berger

Tory Burch

I don’t know whose entry this is, but I’m loving it.

Design doesn’t always have to be immaculately arranged.  A mix of old and new, perfect and imperfect makes this room so special.

I know we’re all in the midst of getting ready for the holidays, but I wanted to take a quick break from all the planning and decorating with a peek into the Andrianna Shamaris showroom. I’ve often visited their shop in Soho just to be inspired by (and drool over) their gorgeous collection of furniture and home decor.  While not technically green, most of their products feel very organic.  In fact, most of the furniture is handmade out of reclaimed teak & petrified wood.  Plus one of a kind furniture made by skilled artisans always makes for a smaller eco footprint.  I figured all of these were a few good reasons to share this gorgeous furniture with you.  If you’re in the area, stop by their showroom on Greene Street.  There’s also a showroom in Malibu and one coming soon in the Hamtons.

Such a beautiful dining table and cut of wood.

I’m in love with these petrified teak side tables.  The contrast of white and black organic streaks is just stunning.

This side table is made of reclaimed teak and filled with cracked resin.  I love that it looks like a big square geode.

This are antique necklaces, turned into a gorgeous sculpture.

Andrianna Shamaris sells architectural pieces too, like this one which is made from a banyan tree.

Photos from Andrianna Shamaris

I feel like I’ve been running around like crazy since we got back from our trip to SE Asia (the price you pay for a vacation, right?), that I haven’t even gotten a chance to take a look through any of our photos.  But I made a point to look through the pictures of Hong Kong today because I wanted to share a stylish home store we happened upon while wandering the streets of Soho.  Tree is Hong Kong’s first eco-chic furniture boutique, started in 2005 by Nicole Wakley.  I’m loving the clean lines and simple design of their pieces.  Plus their wood is all responsibly sourced – either certified wood from Indonesia or reclaimed wood from the Philippines.  And because they’re located in Hong Kong, this is actually local!

The pictures I took in the store give you a good idea of what Tree does, but make sure to check out their website too for more inspiration.  Enjoy!

Yup, that’s Trove eco-friendly wallpaper behind.  And this is my absolute favorite pattern of theirs.

How cool is this coffee table?  Love!

Eco-friendly Wishbone chairs!

I love the shape of these pendants all hung together.

I have a soft spot in my heart for red home accents.  These side table are just the perfect amount of red.

I love the white side table version as well.

I’ve been working hard on the apartment all week so I thought I’d take a quick break from the painting, sanding and cleaning to blog away.  And what better way to relax than on these super chic fuzzy chairs from Fredrik Farg that were exhibited at RH Gallery.  You can absolutely see how Farg was inspired by classically tailored suits and dressmaker details to create these one of a kind chairs.  He transformed flea market finds by using recycled industrial felt for their new fashionable backs.  I love that even though the felt shapes are elaborate, he kept the color palette muted.  It would have been easy to go overboard with color so I’m glad he didn’t.  Now if only I could decide which one is my favorite!  Which one is yours?

Photos from RH Gallery