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INTERIOR DECORATING JONES

   

    I must say that after posting that photo of what I'd like the Atelier to look like and knowing that my budget was practically nil, I started to get an awful case of 'The Wants'.  I needed to desperately do something, anything and my budget was about $40.  What could I do with $40 that would appease my champagne taste on my wine-from-a-box budget?  It was hard, I don't go for crafty looking painted pieces of furniture or full-on thrift, besides in my neck of the woods anything worth having is usually bought up by some super thrifter with an excellent eye for the D.I.Y.
    I knew this much, I needed a large table in the atelier for a multitude of reasons, shipping packages for
Bella Bella co., a place to cut my paper, a place to sew, screenprint and a place that is not a desk but a work station.  I decided that I needed to commandeer the dining room table that we never use anymore.  It just sits there forlornly in the dining room that is soon to become my library/lounge.  So I dragged this thing into my atelier:                                           
    

It was looking pretty neglected and worn out, not to mention dated.  I wasn't going to just drag this in the atelier and plop it down and call it a day, no I had $40 (count 'em) BIG BUCKS to spend, what to do with all these riches?  Well, I sanded this baby down a little, a lite sand with fine sand paper, #240, couple pieces ran me about $3.  I bought a can of Zar wood stain in charcoal (about $12) a foam brush (.80) and got to staining  Staining is a lot like painting, it's pretty simple and you don't have to pull off all the previous stain to get a nice end effect.  I only sanded the darn thing because it had a bunch of water stain rings and I didn't want them to come through after the staining or else I would have been lazy and just started staining.  I let the stain dry and bought myself a quart of the Polyurethane Min wax gloss ($13), after that dried I needed to attach my new handles which ran me about $10 for the pair, they are gorgeous, shiny nickel plated beauties.  I chose a very clean lined hardware for the draw pulls because I didn't want it to be too femme and also I wanted to offset the traditional piece with a little modern day accessorizing.  Here's the finished piece:

       If you can see there is a little chest under the desk I am using it for my shipping supplies (boxes, tissue paper, scissors, etc.  It did look like this until I got to it  It was pretty ugly, but now it's not and  it can double as extra seating if I was so inclined.  The stain I had bought was enough for this job as well (lucky money bags me!) 

    I am definitely going to keep this area sparse as I need the room to lay things out so I don't want any extra clutter, but I did frame some sentimental items such as a sketch that my fiancee drew of us and a black and white photo we took last year.

THE EVERYTHING ATELIER

So here it is in all of its glory, not even minutely done in my opinion, but better than it was before. The top row shows detail on my newly gilded chair, I really liked how it turned out. There's no paint that I know of that can mimic the sheen of metal and the faux silver leaf does the trick (btw, just so you know I bought the cheapest one they had).  I love the way I was able to establish a worn look to it, so it didn't look like a new chair,( okay, I lie, I was going for the idea of chrome and as I progressed I realized the mistakes were better than my original vision, so there, you caught me, happy?)

The 2nd row is the chandelier (I think all ateliers should have one) and the raised curtain rods which make the ceiling seem like it goes on forever.  The rods are a brushed aluminum and the finials are inlaid mother of pearl mosaic (I'll have to get on a ladder to get you a nice close-up), I got them at Target for basically free but they are really nice quality and feel like window jewelry (I DIDN'T get those beaded pearls). The curtains are sheers from Ikea, it seems to me they're the only inexpensive home retailer that sells their curtains at an extended length, making me think that maybe the Scandinavians have been doing the ol' raised curtain  trick for many moons.

Okay there's Boeuf, my insane Frenchie, in her chair that I gilded for her, (or so she seems to think).  That table is just a temporary, I plan to make an 85"L x 35"W table with a long shelf that runs the length of it so I can stuff all the WIPS and cutting mat, etc under it and look like I am really a neat. I could try drawers, but my woodworking skills are not that advanced, not good to be an easily distracted individual when you decide to venture into woodworking.  The floors are Ebony and were near impossible to do.  Strands of my long hair (that is apparently falling out) are embedded in the polyurethane top coat.  I could of gone with a matte finish or semi-gloss, but with a high-gloss you get a sheen and reflection that makes the floor look like a body of water, the finish makes the room feel larger as well, something I wasn't planning on but a nice treat.  Phew, the last row, first pic is my faux-mercury glass, so EASY, if you like this look you must try!  The last photo is the inside of the closet, which I painted Tiffany Blue (sorry I can't remember the darn real name) BUT almost any Anawalt can mix you a custom color for no additonal cost, yea!

CALL ME...

So I have this big idea that what the world needs now besides "love sweet love" (I think the Carpenters sang that, I couldn't get a link to ITunes)--is calling cards. 

A calling card you say?  Not the kind that has minutes on it, but the kind that shows that you care enough about the person you are giving it to, to not subject them to a ripped off piece of your dry cleaning receipt with your digits scrawled on there in a pen that basically has no ink.  Your recipient then has to decipher your invisible ink/engraving and realizes that you spend more on dry cleaning than your rent and now they are not so sure they want to hang out with you anymore.  So in steps my custom calling cards (great for busy mums too!), these are a few design I have been playing with, the pink antlers I'm calling "Bad Ass", because you have to be a bad ass to be carrying these!  This is called my Spicoli, it's an ode to highschool doodling and daydreaming...

I really liked how it turned out, perfect for the aging hipster (like moi).  Then I figured there would be the docile ladies or mums that wanted something sweet yet modern, so I figured nothing is sweeter than butterflies or baby deer or even better butterflies and baby deer so here is my Fawn calling card

I know it may seem that my work is all over the place, not quite branded per se, but I am showing you my range, I can do EVERYTHING (thus the moniker), but even though I could, I probably wouldn't because I do have standards and I am a design freak, its a sickness that invades my every visual sensory input.  I don't even want to eat certain things if the packaging is visually disturbing to me or use certain products, this one makes me queasy

W.I.P. IT REAL GOOD...

As I segue into a career that is both creative and possibly lucrative, (if not a bit saturated), I have to sit back and pat myself on the back for my latest endeavor, semi-accomplished. 

I say 'semi', since the bride-to-be has not chosen a design yet and there are many little parts to a darn wedding invite, it's like a smorgasboard of info, there's the invite, RSVP (chicken or fish checklist?), maps, it's like the Russian Dolls of paper. 

So here are the samples for your viewing pleasure, if you too would like a couture invite made by yours truly, don't be shy, I need to pay the rent.