REUPHOLSTERING LOUIS DINING CHAIRS: PART 1

Remember when I found this set of 6 Louis XV style dining chairs on Craigslist?

Well after much thought I've finally decided to tackle them myself. 

It's been awhile since I've done any major DIY projects, but this should be a fairly simple (though slightly time consuming) project. To be honest, I'm just sick of seeing these white chairs hanging out in my dining room, and since I actually have everything I need to get them done, that's what I'm gonna do. My dining room is begging for reupholstered chairs.

The plan is to refinish the frames in a high gloss black and reupholster the cushions in a black cotton with a white double contrast welt on the front of the chair and one of these numbers on the back. I'm leaning towards the using the middle print on the back of 4 chairs and the lambswool on the back of the 2 head chairs to keep it interesting. 

So the tedious part of this process is removing the old fabric, glue and staples from the frame. To do the detail work I used a mini flat head screwdriver and a set of vice grip or locking needle nose pliers. First you'll want to pull off the cording/welt/trim, then figure out the best way to remove the fabric. Fortunately I was able to use my pliers to pull off the first layer, then go back and remove each of the staples with my mini flat head...and there were lots. I saved the seat & back fabric remnants to make a template for the new fabrics and that was all it took to take these chairs apart. Pretty simple!

I'm painting as I go to allow the chairs to cure as long as possible. At this rate, I should be done sometime next week, but I'm not complaining! Once everything is stripped & painted, I'll show you how I reupholstered the cushions in Part II.

One down, 5 to go. 

MY NEW PRESS: THE DESIGN COOKBOOK

So I've known about this for a very long time, but I wanted to wait until the book was released to tell you....

MY WORK HAS BEEN FEATURED IN A DESIGN BOOK!!!

Yup, it's kind of supercalafragilisticexpialidocious. 

Kelly Edwards of the Style Network (Thom Filicia) and HGTV fame has written a great new design book called "The Design Cookbook: Recipes for a Stylish Home" and my breakfast nook is featured among the designs! I was so excited when she reached out to me last year and could hardly contain myself when my copy landed on my doorstep Friday evening. 

I should tell you, the book is gorgeous (and I'm not just saying that because my work is in it)! 

Her idea is ingenious--compiling hundreds of great interior spaces and having the designers break down how the rooms were put together, just like a recipe book. If you're a DIY-er, this is a book you'll love because you can identify the spaces you love and then use the designer's method to design a similar space of your own. Not to mention, there are some pretty cool DIY projects in the book, too. I tell you, if I'd thought of doing a book like this mysef I surely would've done it! If you're like me and you like a good picture book, this one won't disappoint. 

Click here to order a copy. 

And speaking of Friday evening, I was invited by Kristin to a dinner hosted by Mohawk Flooring to meet designer Taniya Nayak from HGTV's Design To Sell and the Food Network's Restaurant Impossible and it was SO much fun. And when I say fun, I mean F.U.N. The company was great (Erika, Kristin, & Katie) and the Mohawk ladies, Amanda & Rachel were a blast. We had THE best time swapping stories and the conversations were all so engaging, I felt like I was torn as to what conversation I wanted to be a part of at any given moment (I love it when that happens). And the scoop on Taniya? After Friday night she is hands down, my favorite TV personality. She is SO warm and engaging in real life...she kept calling our dinner Girl's Night Out and it really felt like it, even though we were all new to her. I love it when you meet celebs/TV and they're even better in person than you imagine them to be. And let me tell you--that great energy she gives off on camera? Homegirl is the real deal, and so transparent. She's definitely the type of girl you'd want to hang out with...so cool. 

pic via Erika's Instagram

I can't rave about her enough, so a huge thank you to Mohawk for inviting me to meet & dine with Taniya. JCT Kitchen was delish & we stayed so long we practically shut the restaurant down!

LINKS I LOVE: 4.28.13

My favorite links from this week!

• This renovation-free makeover of One Kings Lane Editor Kerstin Czarra's tiny, dark kitchen makes me want to slap some blue paint on my own cabinets. The brass hardware is pretty sick, too. 
• I don't know how I missed this number Windsor Smith pulled on these basic, bland industrial shelves, but plating them in brass was brilliant! Luckily, Jenny's got the story here. 
• I see this quote everywhere that says something like, "Be responsible for the energy you bring in the room". This post by Mara & Danny (from A Blog About Love, one of my favorites!) speaks to this so well. 
• This is THE EASIEST roasted chicken recipe I've ever seen. And it's soo good. And totally Paleo. And even if you don't like/don't care anything about eating Paleo, you should add this to your repertoire. In advance, you're welcome.
• You know I'm all about masculine spaces right now, especially with the Room Service Atlanta install being just around the corner. Well Jessie wrapped up this insanely delicious bachelor pad that is everything I love about single dude spaces. Her reveal was posted over a few days so look here, here, and here to see everything. 
• I get a few daily newsletters, The Daily Love being my favorite of them all. I can always count on Mastin to write about something that hits close to home and this week didn't disappoint! Click here to read how great things come from small beginnings. 
• This song is my new jam! I've been listening to it on repeat like, multiple times a day. Makes me wanna sign up for a pole dancing class, lol. :)

Happy Sunday!

Xo,

dayka

TGIF: WHY THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "THERE"

"There" doesn't exist. It simply doesn't.

Every time you get close, your ceiling becomes your floor.

But let me first, back up.

When I came home on Monday and found a postcard in my mailbox from Patricia saying I was missed in blogland, I figured it was high time I get back to my duties.

Then when I was at the gym later that afternoon and got a text from Cris with a very similar message, I thought, "wow...this surely is a sign."

And then a phone call from Helen after my workout was like God himself speaking and saying "girl--quit fooling around and get back to that blog!". 

So from God's lips to my ears, here I am. 

And this is what's been on my mind this week. 

It's great to hear people list my accomplishments and how far I've come...but I don't always think about it in the same way they do (does anyone, really?). Now don't get me wrong--I am the first one to acknowledge that this business I now have was created from nothing but a late night seed of an idea and has grown organically into to a successful blog, interior design business, resale business and styling work for the top Atlanta lifestyle magazines.  I truly feel like it's quite the accomplishment, especially for a girl like me.   But I want more.  And accomplishing and achieving has helped me to become clearer about what I do and don't want to do with my career (and my life). 

So in essence, my ceiling has become my floor. 

And I think this happens for everyone. 

The things that you once viewed as your goals end up become the foundation for your next steps, and that means there's a lot of adjusting and recalibrating along the creative path. 

For anyone who's ever had a dream, a goal, or even a challenge, "there" has always been this magical destination where answers come easily, life is a little less unpredictable and living gets easier.  But what every dream chaser eventually comes to find is that that place surely does not exist. Because by the time you get "there", your latest accomplishment appears much easier than the process of getting there felt, and that goal then becomes the path by which you reach all of your new goals. 

It's like every time you take a step towards it, it moves back a little further. 

But that's really a good thing, because one random day you'll look up and realize..........             your ceiling has become your floor.

And things that you were once striving for, the thing (or things) that you once thought would be the epitome of your career will one day just become another part of the foundation that you use to expand your business (or your life). 

So for me that means things like:

-relaunching my website

-having my work published nationally 

-styling photo shoots

-becoming a One Kings Lane vendor

have just become other foundational bricks upon which I build my business. And I wanted these things so badly...but when I accomplished them, that adjusted my ceiling of expectation and my old goals had just become my new normal--does that make sense??

Life is constantly expanding, shifting, adjusting, readjusting, changing course, reversing and sometimes a mix of all the above...and that's okay! For me I'm finding that my shifting is actually leading me into expanding my ideas of what's possible. And that is exciting. 

So there is no "there", there's just right here, right now.

But that alone is something to shout about. 

Thank God for the floor. 

RSA 2013: MASCULINE BEDROOM INSPIRATION

When I feel really good about a project, I like to lay the fabrics out in my office and stare at them all day.

And I feel really good about my Room Service Atlanta bedroom, so I'm doing a lot of staring these days. 

I'm feeling like I want to do a little of this...

Elle Decor

Jimmy Stanton/AHL

Jimmy Stanton

Jimmy Stanton

I'm going all Jimmy Stanton in that piece. 

Drapery + bedding.

BAM.

Still working out the furniture details, but I'm feeling like this is a pretty good start!

WHITE LIVING ROOM WALLS

I've been trying to avoid this for a long time, but I'm finally giving in.

Essentially, undoing. 

Because I want to paint my living room white, and it totally goes against anything I'd ever normally do. When I walk into a new space, my mind always goes to paint & wallcoverings. And while I DIE over wallpaper and would love to grasscloth (just made that a verb) my entire LR and entry, it's not in the budget right now. And then you'll remember that I had some reupholstery done last year but it's so not me now...and I kinda hate it.  After finding this amazing, geometric wallpaper for my DR and being so close to completion in that space, I'm finding that I LOVE that room. It's graphic, it's dark, it's sexy and it's clean, and now I'm realizing that I want to continue that look to the rest of the house. And instead of trying to intentionally do something for bang, I'm going to scale back, be thoughtful, and start with white walls (and I may still paint my white fireplace Dark Cavern-Behr-as originally planned). Right now, I'm loving these kind of spaces...

Elle Decor

House & Home

Style At Home

House & Home

These pics have confirmed it--white walls it is.

Yay or nay for you??