Love this: Mounted Bookshelf

From 16th Workshop

Reading about, chair rehabbing

My own recent project was turning my grandmother's rocking chair from turquoise woven wood, with a navy canvas cushion, to a glossy black with white silk seat and dark red pillow... Didn't even occur to me to take a before picture, but here are some notes for the process...

So much good information here...
About the process reader's DIY suggestions in comments

Reupholstery/Rehabbing supplies

Foam cushions, cut to order

A wingback chair, start to finish, (this site is also evidence of the complete overuse of adding "chic" at the end of a phrase to create a brand)

Simpler directions, for just covering a seat

Choosing your upholstery fabric

Fun Site: Day-Lab

Day-Lab.com, kitschy cute, fun art stuff, vintage stuff, very fun. Also keeps up a blog

Resident Curatorship Program

I would so move to Maryland for this, if only you could own the house instead of the life-lease... The Maryland Resident Curatorship Program

kitchen progress

pretty tired, oh and sore. but sooo happy.

before, during (painted cabinets, new hardware, and laying a floor, myself) and after

Chandelier, cont'd.

I usually don't even look at the Pottery Barn ten-pound "catalogs" that come to the house, but I did today, and i've found my solution to my desperation in my earlier post. Hallelujah. These will be the lighting in my long, skinny hallway shortly. Yay!

They are a simpler, WAY less expensive version of the French imports I've seen for years at T C Donobedians Paris Flea Market in Santa Fe.

Chandeliers in the hallway...

Was inspired by this image from Posie to incorporate chandeliers in my hallway instead of the can lighting we have currently...

and now, I'm desperate for these from Horchow to come not with candles but actual lights... even more Horchow goodness here...

Fabric wallpaper

Searching for options for the walls in my house, I ran across this, it was featured on apartmenttherapy.com but not sure when. The designs are beautiful... modern fabric wallpaper.

Keeping Cool

It's been over 105-degrees here all week. I thought I lived in Dallas, not Africa. But we're managing I suppose, as we Dallasites always do, and so far we haven't broken any records so I guess that's something to be thankful for. It's not even August yet though, so we'll see.

In an effort to keep cool, and keep our energy bills from becoming the equivalent of a payment for a brand new Mercedes (like we had last year), here's what we're doing, in case it can be of any help to you...

The Pool
We've purchased a small pool from Target. It's kinda trashy since we have it actually on the side of our house at the end off the driveway (I won't go into our backyard jungle until it's bugfree), but it totally works so I couldn't care less. It actually is so cooling when you come into the air conditioned house that we can keep the air running at a higher temperature through the evening...

Appliances
We're running the dishes and laundry only at night so as not to heat up the house any further. We've turned the "drying heat" on the dishwasher off, and we're running the laundry only in warm or cool cycles, and running the dryer only on "low heat" typically designed for a delicate cycle, but it works just the same on everything else.

Fans
We're keeping a fan in the bedroom for the time being, we have a ceiling fan but it needs to be replaced. We're hoping to make do with the standing fan through this summer, but are considering a window unit if it just gets unbearable.

Extra Tips
- We're keeping damp dish cloths in plastic bags in the freezer to bring to bed with us when it's super hot. It's not sexy, but neither is sweating, so we do what we can.

- We keep all our curtains drawn during the day to keep out the direct sunlight. I was so thrilled when we bought the house with all the natural light, but now we're trying to get it to be more of a cave. Go figure.

Best trick for ridding flies from your house

This is by far the most effective solution I've ever come across for controlling those little gnatty/buggy/fly things that seem so prevalent in the summer...

Buy some raw apple cider vinegar (I got the 365-brand from Whole Foods), pour about a cup or so into a bowl, cover TIGHTLY with good saran wrap. Poke a few small holes in the top with a sharp knife. Leave the bowl out for a few days, I keep mine in the kitchen since that's ultimately where all the flies would end up.

Just watch the little buggers get trapped in there, and voila, no more flies.

This of course is only a solution if you don't have them breeding in your house somewhere, if that's the case, I think starting with cleaning and exterminating would be far more practical. :)

Wallpaper

How fun is this wallpaper??

I always said whenever I had a kid (not now, not soon, but you know) that I'd let them color/mural their walls, this is perfect.