X Bench Redo

I've got another DYI for ya'll. This time we moved it into the master bed room. Our master is huuuuge, and our queen size bed looked like it was floating in the middle of the room. I've been obsessed with a good x-bench for a long time and figured that a pair would be perfect at the foot of the bed. But once again, the benches I loved came at a hefty price. Then I found this on SMP living. How perfect! I checked stock at my local Target and they had two, so first thing the next day I went and swooped them up. One was a little janky so I asked the cashier for a discount and *poof* 15% off.
They have been sitting around patiently waiting for their turn in the dyi circuit and last night I decided it was time.

So here are the benches in all their pleather glory. But, at about $80 bucks each, they were way less expensive than any other x bench option I could find.

The tools of the trade. I'm all about a no-sew project. I can't cut a straight line to save my life, so the batting was there to help me clean up my edges. 

SMP has a great tutorial on their page, but I wanted to prove that even us average girls can conquer this project. The first step was to remove the screws that attached the seat to the "x" part of the bench. 

Ernie, thought this part was really cool. 

Like the SMP redo, I wanted to add more height to the original bench seat. I got a 2 inch foam at Hancock's Fabric and traced around it with an exacto knife. I got really lucky as only one side of the foam needed a trim. 

Ernie helped me by removing the excess. 

And proceeded to tear it into shreds while Maybe watched.

I next sprayed a good coat of spray adhesive onto the foam. Definitely take this step outside as the surrounding area can get very tacky. 

I cut my batting to size and stapled it around the seat making sure the batting was smooth and tight all the way around. 

Flip it over and viola! Starting to look like a fluffier cushion. 

My fabric of choice. Everything in the room is looking a little blue, but we are about to switch over to our white winter bedding and that will break the color up. 

Repeat the stapling step the same as with the batting and there you go! 

Next step was to reattach the x part and things were starting to look good. The SMP called for spray painting the legs, but the jury is still out on that. The legs actually match our closet doors and other furniture pretty darn perfect so I think I will leave them for now. Who knows though. I'm currently having a love affair with gold spray paint so they could head that direction too. 

The finished bench and original side by side. I really like the added height of the seat cushion. Gives the bench a little more umph and weight in such a large room. 

Of course this project was not without its hiccups. I ran out of fabric. Yep, thats right. I got one bench done and realized I didn't have enough to cover all the sides. One emergency phone call to my Mom later though and I think I've secured another yard of fabric. Woo! Project Saved. 

I'm hoping to get both done soon though. MLW and I seem to be doing projects about 60% and then moving on to something else. It is making our house a little bit of a disaster zone, so I'm really looking forward to checking some projects off as 100%. 

Anyone else have a DYI project they only made it halfway through? 

Happy Fall! 

DYI Gold Dot Curtains? Yes, please!

Curtains are tough. I love the idea of a fun patterned curtain, but can just never seem to commit to a particular pattern or color scheme. That being said most of the curtains in my house are solid and neutral. I have navy curtains in guest room 1, gettin' wild! 

I've been trying to figure out exactly what to do in MLW's "man room" and just knew that neutral would make the room kinda bland. So far, we have grey owl walls, a grey sofa and white tile floor. It was getting a little 50 shades of grey. Then I found a kantha throw at a local shop Celadon with wonderful navys, oranges, greens and reds, and a very pretty medium tone green rug from One Kings Lane and things were looking up! 

But back to the curtains. What would look good?!? This room also has 4 big windows so I needed something with a little bit of a punch, but not enough to overpower the space. I came across this pretty Caitlin Wilson fabric and knew I was on to something. I loved the metallic gold geometric pattern, the gold would look good with the kantha throw, but still add a little punch to the windows. But at $65 a yard I knew it was wayyyy out of my budget.

So then I found this post on Pinterest and things really started clicking. The original post from Cakies was about using gold dots on fabric and turning it into a tee shirt. But I thought, why couldn't this go bigger? And with an weekend trip to Ikea in the near future I knew I could make something similar happen. 

So here is how it went down: 

I picked up 4 packages of the Merete curtains in white from Ikea. They are a nice cotton blend so I figured they would take the gold well. Also they were $ 27.99 and 2 panels to a package. A pretty good deal if you have been curtain shopping lately. 

Love this stuff. I used it to paint the handles on a basket and had some left over. I love the brass color, a little more toned down than the gold, but I'm sure that would be lovely too. I ended up needing two more jars but at $7ish bucks a pop, still not too bad. 

I also picked up this dabber at Michaels for paint application. I actually didn't want each dot to be perfect and loved that I got a couple of good solid dots before it would fade a little bit. The original post mixed their paint with modge podge. I tried this at first but it turned a dark brown color that freaked me out. Needless to say I forgot that modge podge dries clear and only the gold would show through in the end. It worked out just fine though with using the liquid guilding. The fabric of the curtains soaked it right up. Tip: I wrapped my plate in plastic wrap to protect it. The liquid brass does not come off easily! I would recommend using a triple stacked paper plate if you have them laying around. (also yes, that is corgi hair on my dabber. no judgement.) 

I would also recommend using a plastic barrier, but I got excited and this curtain from our past house that didn't make the cut did the trick. It is a thicker weave and did add a bit of a pattern to the dot, but i the end the extra texture was quite nice. 

Next I laid down the clean white Merete curtains and started dotting. It took about 15 minuets per panel, so times that by 8 panels and there you go. 

Hang those bad boys up to dry over night and....

 Hang them up in the morning. The curtain rods are also Ikea finds. Love that store. MLW supervised from the couch. 

Ta-da! I love, love when an idea in my head actually turns out well! 

Close up of the various saturation of the dots. 

Man room is looking pretty cozy right about now. And I know I've kept ya'll in the dark about its transformation, but it just looked so drab until these curtains went up! 

I had a pretty good haul at ikea and I'll be customizing some other purchases pretty soon too. In the mean time I hope ya'll like these curtains as much as I do!

Love ya'll! 

Bridal Trends Spring 2014

So I haven't done a post about my "day job" yet and figured it was time. Especially since I just got back from bridal market last week in Atlanta. I went with the boss lady and had a great time! Some very pretty gowns are headed our way starting early next year. There were definitely some noticeable trends from designer to designer and I'm going to share them with you here. Unfortunately they aren't releasing photos of the new gowns just yet, but as soon as they do I promise to do a post with my top 5 gowns for Spring '14.

1. The Flutter Sleeve
There were several dresses with either a detachable flutter sleeve or a flutter sleeve that continued down a plunging v-back. They came in both beaded and lace varieties and were super pretty. Marchesa started the trend in Fall '13 with the dress below (which can be found at White). I found them pretty and super girly. I especially like the removable option as it gives brides some flexibility.

Check out Marchea's website here.

2. Art Deco/ Great Gatsby
Gatsby was big this year especially in bridal and that is carrying over into spring '14. Slip dresses, art deco inspired beading, shorter trains, plunging necklines and beautiful draping. If it looked like it could have been on the film set, expect to see it walking down the asile. This trend and the first really tie together nicely and the flutter sleeve adds a little of that flapper-esq style. The dress below is actually a fall '13, but we got her and she fits this description perfectly. She's a Maggie Sottero and I'm in love.

Maggie Sottero Gianna.

3. Blush
I'm actually not a huge fan of this trend. Mori Lee and Allure did a few blush/pink gowns spring '12 and I was not impressed then and I'm not now. Girls tend to go with a more neutral tone like champagne, gold or cafe if they do an "off" color. The pink is just too...pink. That being said I'll probably have about 50 brides requesting blush, but such is life.

Allure 8914

4. KISS- Keep it Simple Sweet
Severa designers featured gowns with no rouching, bling, lace, bows or any other adoration. They were shown in several silhouettes from ball gown to more fit and flare but all had that very sleek and simple look. I personally love these as a consultant because they are great building block dresses. The structure and shape are great and then you can add whatever you want to it to make it pop a little more. They also looked great as they were, very modern and clean. Think classic Amsale...

Paige, by Amsale 

We did get some pretty great silhouettes that don't fit into any of the groups above. Peplum, hi-low(its pretty I promise), beaded cap sleeves, and stunning keyhole lace backs, oh my! Get excited Charleston area brides!!

Here are a few iphone pics of inside bridal market. We saw a big group fashion show the first night, which was incredibly well run and a great teaser to things to come. Also an awesome wall of paper flowers that I have every intention of figuring out how to imitate for the store windows....

Till  next time...

Guest room 1

So far the neatest aspect of this little blog has been looking back at the photos of each room and seeing how far it has come. It's crazy to think we closed on this house a little over 2 months ago. It is definitely starting to feel more like "ours" and not like we are squatting in someone else's home. 

My Mom came down last week and that really lit a fire under my backside to get guest room 1 ready (I feel a little like I'm referring to air force 1). We had done almost nothing to it other than slap a coat of kilz on the walls and place the bedroom furniture haphazardly in there. I can officially say that I now think the room is 93% complete! If you came for a visit I wouldn't be embarrassed about where you would sleep and I call that an accomplishment! 

So here is the evolution of guest room 1: 

The day we bought the place, in all its army green glory. 

Layer one of Kilz (aka elmer's glue). 

Moving Day. Just throw it all in and close the door!

Paint at last! We went with Ben Moore's Windy Sky, a lovely greyish blue. 

Add bedding, a rug, curtains and nightstands and this room is staring to look pretty good. 

Up goes the art! 

Art on the opposite wall. 

                Left night stand gets styled with a pretty book. 

Right nightstand complete with my fave new lamp combo from Target. 

Craigslist reupholstered chair. This is the wall that needs a little extra love. In time. 

Ta-Da!! 

Pretty crazy huh? We got lucky with this room since all the design aspects where already in our guest room at the rental house. The only new additions where the gold night stand and wooden lamp, both from Target. That definitely helped speed the process along. MLW is actually a little jealous of the bedding in this room because it is super soft. It was an anthro find and wedding gift. The bed frame was my first "big girl" bed after my crib and has travelled with me ever since. Thank you Mom for having killer furniture taste back in the 80's! The night stand and dresser have also been with me since high school, but thanks to a recent paint job  and new hardware are looking fresh and new! The rest has just been slowly accumulated as life happens. You just never know where you will pick up your next nicknack. : D 

Anybody else have furniture from childhood that still has killer style? 

Love ya'll! 

-B

London

As promised here is the second London installment. I want to share everything, but I also don't want to make this a snooze fest, so here are my favorites.
Also, can we talk about how the Brits know how to do a good door. I mean really! Their doors and hardware are just so much prettier than ours. Also I would love to get a door with a door knob in the middle. I love it and want one. Would it look good on my 50's ranch, maybe not. But frankly my dear, I don't give a d*&n!

High gloss paint, door knockers, odd shapes and sizes. Door perfection.

The three amigos.  

There are two things you should know about this photo. Hayley likes to climb trees and you can legally drink in parks in London.  

The Roman baths in Bath. 

Liz selecting mushrooms in Burroughs Market.

Tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. 

Just a lovely little side street. 

The V&A mesuem. London's hipster museum. 

If I ever move to London, I will live on this street. The end had the mews (stables) for Hyde Park. Unreal. 

Pssst: Society Social is now at Charleston Revision's which is right in my old hood of the Old Village in Mount P. My next day off is totally planned as I have been pinning over this headboard for months! I was dreading paying shipping on it and now I can just go load it up in the back of the old Sante Fe!

Chipping Campden

So I recently returned from a beyond wonderful London trip with three of my best friends since middle school. We. had. a. blast. Also, we walked a ton! I broke every tourist rule I have and was wearing my tennies and tom's without shame by the end of it all. My friend Hayley, also noted that I cared less and less about how my hair looked as the trip went on, which was 100% true. We were hustling, and it's just hard to take in that much culture and look cute. For real.

My absolute favorite part of the trip where the few days we spent in Chipping Campden. It is the small perfectly adorable town in the country side. I can't even describe how picturesque it all was. My new life goal is to by a B&B with a barn in the back there. MLW can run the breakfast part and I'll keep it furnished and run trail rides. Also the corgi's would be in their native habitat so it would all be perfect! (speaking of corgis, I only saw one the whole time I was there. Maybe I stalked it...)
Part of being in the English country side is walking around, which we did. 5 miles up and down hills to a nearby town, Broadway. The walk was stunning, but Hayley and I ended up taxi-ing back. Major kudos to Laura and Liz (my other homegirls) for making the 10 mile round trek!

Hayley and Laura checking the map. 

Walking through fields and checking out the view. 

Home in Broadway. 

Back ends. heh. 

I'm excited to share a few more London photos with ya'll next time, but then I promise to give an update on the house. Big changes around here!