Tufted Settees | Vintage Furniture

These adorable settees (yes, plural!) might be my favorite Craigslist purchase to date. They are oh so lovely. Small in scale, these pretty little vintage settees are very comfortable and extremely well-made. The previous owner has two little boys, and these held up super well for the wear and tear I am sure they were put through! :) I also think I got a great deal on them - $200 for the pair.

I am on the fence as to what to do with them. The fabric is in MINT condition. Like, just-came-from the-upholsterer condition. But, they are not exactly my style, nor do they match any of my existing furniture... I really want to cover them in a cream linen-type fabric, but feel guilty about removing this pretty fabric. Should I leave them as is? Would you all black list me if I re-upholstered them? ;)

Progress | Myrtle House

I am sorry if these posts are getting boring, but for us, it helps our sanity by actually seeing progress! Over the last few weeks, we were able to FINALLY go through the whole house and bag up all of the garbage and donations. It feels so good to finally know exactly what is in the house and sort through it all. I will be honest, this was a very grimy process. Maybe the grossest thing I have done to date and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy... but, it really gave us a sense of accomplishment! Another step to having this house closer to ready for the fun stuff. Here are a few photos I snapped the day we got the house organized.

Tufted Orange Cane Wingback Chairs | Vintage Furniture

I think orange is my least favorite color. I know some people that REALLY love orange, and more power to them, but to me, this bright color always made me feel uncomfortable. Surprising, since it is complementary to my favorite color: blue. But, when I saw these two chairs on Craigslist, I had to have them. Especially since they were only $50 for the pair. Score.

My original plan was to paint them and then have them re-upholstered. I got a quote from our upholstery guy, and it was going to be $250/chair. What?? Apparently the tufting ups the price significantly, and sadly, that was just out of my budget. So, Brian and I set out to paint them white, and see what we thought about the glaring orange once the paint went on.

We taped garbage bags to the upholstery with painters tape, and this worked surprisingly well. It took a lot of time, and a LOT of paint, but these orange chairs did grow on me after a while.

When we were getting closer to moving, in my heart, I knew that I could not pull off orange chairs (if that makes sense). I am much more of a neutral kind of girl, and the orange just wasn't "me". I decided to sell the chairs and a fellow designer picked them up for a client she was working with. I am glad these little chairs found a good, permanent home. I also ended up selling the pair for $250, which makes the labor of painting them worthwhile. :)

How To Clean A Chandelier | How Tos

I have bought a chandelier or two (or ten) in my lifetime. Rarely do I get my hands on them and they are clean. Usually the fixtures I stumble upon on Craigslist or in a thrift shop have been sitting in an attic for decades and are covered in dust and sometimes very old bugs. Gross. Not to fear - with a little bit of elbow grease and a LOT of glass cleaner, you can get even the grimiest of chandeliers sparkling once again - just like it did in it's glory days.

Lola was skeptical we would get this one cleaned up.

The easiest way to clean a chandelier is to take it apart (if you can). Make sure to keep track of what parts go where. Also, try to make sure you disassemble the pieces on a soft surface just in case one of the crystals fall.

Once disassembled, place the glass strands and crystals onto paper towels and heavily spray them with glass cleaner (I used Windex). Once fully covered, gently rub the strands with another paper towel. I have found it helps to grab one end of the strand with a paper towel, and pull down to wipe off the entire strand. Please note, the chandeliers I have used glass cleaner on were not heirloom type chandeliers. If you have a fine antique fixture or true crystal chandelier, please consult with a professional before using any chemicals.

You will be amazed at what kind of dust and debris will wipe off those pretty crystals! I also ended up spray-painting this chandelier to tone down the 90s brass - taking off the crystals to clean them makes painting the metal a breeze.

This thing has so much sparkle! If you see an old, dusty, brass chandelier in a thrift store, don't be scared off! Almost anything can be brought back to life with a little love and time.

If your chandelier is already installed, the best method I had found is to put a towel underneath the fixture, and spray glass cleaner directly onto the crystals. Then, wipe down the chandelier strand by strand being careful not to yank too hard. The towel will absorb excess cleaner. I usually end up doing a deep cleaning about once a year.

The Borden Building, Raleigh NC | Historic Houses

If you are in the Raleigh area and haven't checked out Fred Fletcher Park yet, please pack up your kids and/or dog and head over there the next nice weekend. In my opinion, it is one of the prettiest landscaped public parks in the city and has lots of fun, family-friendly activities. Since Fletcher Park used to basically be my and Brian's backyard, we took a leisurely walk with Lola through the paths pretty much daily. Tucked away in this pretty little park is the Borden Building. This stately house was built in 1900 and was home to the superintendent of the Methodist Orphanage. Later on, this house was a home for dozens of children over the years. In 1992, the house was renovated by the city and is now available as a rental for weddings and events. The handsome brick exterior paired with crisp white columns and trim make this house so lovely. I can only image the view the homeowners used to have back in the day looking over the undeveloped area of what is now downtown Raleigh!

Dining Room Design Inspiration | Myrtle House

I never knew I wanted a formal dining room until I didn't have one. In the Brooklyn House, we had an itty bitty eat-in kitchen with *barely* enough room for a table, two chairs, and small bench. We could only sit four people around it if we were all friends - it was that tight. We ended up putting a rather large outdoor table outside for entertaining, but I swear, every time we hosted an outdoor dinner party, it rained.

So, when I first saw the dining room in the Myrtle House, I was super excited. This room is pretty massive and could easily fit my entire family (since my siblings all have significant others, there are 12 of us now!). While I would not call the house open concept, I do love that the dining room opens up to the living room with French doors which gives the space a rather great layout for entertaining. I already bought a pretty dresser to use as a buffet, and plan on using upholstered furniture that we already own for around the table. Here is my plan so far!

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The upholstered pieces are all from Homegoods, and I plan on having a mix-match look for seating. The chandelier is from a vintage shop and I am obsessed with it. We had it in our master bedroom, but this guy was way too big for our little bedroom. He will fit perfectly in this dining room, however! I also plan on using our two tall, smokey-blue glass lamps on the dresser we bought that perfectly match the chandelier gold color. The walls will be a deep, gray blue that is both cozy and sophisticated. It also looks like it will match our existing rug pretty well, too. I am hoping that Brian can craft a gorgeous dining table out of the old barnwood in the back. It would be nice to have a table made out of the old materials found on the property!

I cannot WAIT for this room to be done. I think it may be my favorite design in the house.