DIY « Covet Living

Trolling for the perfect dining room table to sit on that rug / below that jug above is no easy task, I’m coming to find. I always kind of thought that the perfect one would magically appear on the side of the road, and when I caught a glimpse of it, I would just screech across 5 lanes of traffic, toss it on top of my hooptie, and drive it home. You know… something chunky and farmhouse-y, with oversized turned legs, the perfect patina, and something made out of reclaimed pine or old barn wood. But even though being the trash lady is fun, I think this time I might (gulp) have to spring for one. And the sooner I get a real table, the sooner I can move my “office space” out of the dining room… Did a bomb just go off in my house?? It might’ve. I bet my parents are so proud. And yes – that is a tub of butter. What.

Since I have a garage full of projects already and zero time to do them, this is probably not going to be a junk-and-refinish endeavor. This time, I may have to actually scour for and invest in a piece I really love. Care to weigh-in? Here’s what the guts of the room and the in-progress-space look like…

{TWO CLAPS FOR MY FRIEND ALISON FOR HELPING ME PAINT THIS ROOM. The girl’s dangerous with the extend-a-roller. Ceiling: Benjamin Moore’s Green Wave. Walls: Lemme get back to you on that.}

{POTTERY BARN’S CLIFT GLASS PENDANT – giant, jug-esque and awesome}

{Photo of my oldest friend’s little boy, Simon + antique green glass candlesticks + favorite piece of all time, scored at Habitat for Humanity in 2004 for $125}

{Rugs USA’s Violet Overdyed Rug, scored at 75% off. Money.}

{Tufted linen chairs – the perfect shade of chocolate-y grey. From Nest Furniture on Clark in Chicago.}

{Bad a$$ alabaster and funky flower lamp, scored last month at a local antique shop for $50 bones}

{Curtain fabric options… leaning toward Schumacher’s Ambala Paisley in Oyster on the left}

{The loveseat waiting to be recovered in burlap linen, with a long lumbar to be made out of that navy & cream Lee Jofa Threads linen piece via Shannon at the Designer’s Attic}

{Mini-wall of family photos – of both my mom and dad’s side around the dinner table… a giant antique spoon – that’s for you, Hoover… and a napkin with directions to my favorite restaurant in Florence, Italy written out for us by an obliging local}

{It’s a hot mess now, but it’ll clean up good later… Right??}

Sidenote: Don’t you love how Gus has injected himself into almost every picture?? À la the gnome in Amélie. Anyhow, my options for tables are as follows:

1. OLD FARMHOUSE BEATER WITH CARRERA MARBLE TOP. Pipe dream, people.

2. CHUNKY AND AWESOME. Do not love the nailhead/metal detail though. Nor do I love the $1340 price tag (on eBay). 3. RECLAIMED TEAK TABLE… love the wood, don’t know if I love that that silhouette is everywhere right now. $899.

4. WORLD MARKET. Eh. Meh. $500.

5. LOVE THE CHUNK, LOVE THE PATINA. No longer available at Pottery Barn. That solves that.

6. CRAIGSLIST FIND. Homemade. Feel like Paul Bunyan made it. $800 but he said he’d “deal.” Jury’s out.

7. LONG OVAL MASTERPIECE, from Celadon Home in Mt. Pleasant, SC. I think I just let out a little pee… If you haven’t been to Celadon yet, it’s honestly worth a trip to Charleston. With a U-Haul. $2200 though… yeek.

8. SWEET PATINA if I’ve ever seen one. Not in love with the shape, though.

I’m leaning towards #1 (if I could find it), #5 (if I could sell my left nut to buy it), and #7 (there went my right nut). Penny for your thoughts, anyone?

Signed,

If anyone needs me, I’ll probably be sanding in the backyard after all 🙂

(aka)

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Not sure how I’ve just discovered the art of subversive cross stitching, which is apparently taking the DIY world by storm. But I have, and I thank my freaking hilarious co-worker (and Covet Living’s brand spankin’ new DIY guest blogger!) Heather on telling me about this burgeoning hobby. Before we continue, let me just notify those with virgin eyes, that yes, there could be some salty language on this post. So get your Bibles out; you might need them. Without further ado, here’s Heaths!

(Heather aka Lady In Red)

Hi all! So, I used to do a lot of cross stitching with my mom. We’d sit together on the couch and crank out butterfly, unicorn and puppies-rolling-in-flower bed patterns ’til our little fingers bled. Ahhh the good old days. I wanted to relive the magic but juuzz up my needlepoint with something that screamed “I’ve become an angry, bitter woman”… so I made this! It’s my stab at subversive cross stitching, commissioned by Covet Living’s own Karrie.

And here’s how I did it:

MATERIALS

Stitch Fabric (14 count is the most common)
Tapestry Needle
Thread
Embroidery
Scissors
Pattern
Pictures

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Get inspired

What up subversivecrossstitch.com?!

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Step 2: Map out your pattern

I really hope imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, because my design was (*cough) inspired by Miso Funky.

I counted all the little x’s in the picture and then plotted out the masterpiece on graph paper. Sounds easy, but I never excelled at math… or counting. I’m not going to lie; I struggled a bit. Kind of sad. Good luck to you though.

Step 3: Get your sew on

For those of you who haven’t cross stitched since you were in the 1st grade, here is a great sewing 101 tutorial. They’ll do a much better job explaining than I ever could.

Step 4: Put a frame on it! (Karrie’s note: This frame below cost a whopping $3 at Goodwill)

Step 5: Voila!

Happy stitching everybody!

Thank you, Heather, not just for your awesome little DIY project, but for always, and I mean always, being the life of the party at our work holiday bashes.

Below are some other ideas pulled from the web. I die:

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