Old Furniture, New Purpose

We bought these shelves for our old house in Virginia at Ikea.  They are one of the best purchases we've made from there.  First of all, they don't really scream Ikea which makes me happy.  And because the piece connects across the top with another shelf, they almost have the feel of a built in.  It was the perfect piece to house my husband's need for a ginormous television and I was able to style things around it that I liked to look at.  Also, when you do something simple like change out the hardware, people truly don't believe that you got the thing at Ikea.

SHELVES BEFORE:

I almost didn't bother moving them to the new house because I wasn't sure where I was going to put them.  You see, the layout of our living room is a little hard to work with.  There is no foyer so you walk directly into the living room and the front door is over to the side of the room.  The only wall without windows is the wall beside the front door and so it would be really weird to put the tv on that wall because when you walked in the door, you'd be in the middle of the seating/tv area.  And the tv is just too big to put in front of the windows because a) I wouldn't want to block all the great natural light; b) um, major eyesore and c) the glare would be so bad it'd be hard to watch tv.  That left us with one option...mount the tv over the fireplace.  And that, my friends, is a saga for another day.  Suffice to say, our marriage was a little rocky for a while until we got that crazy ass situation sorted out.

So, because we mounted the tv over the fireplace, and situated the seating accordingly, we were left with this big long empty wall over by the front door which posed two problems.  First, the wall is so big that it required something SUBSTANTIAL.  A dinky piece of furniture would look dwarfed and out of place.  Second, remember how I said there is no foyer in our new house?  That means no hall coat closet either.  That in and of itself is annoying for adults but try having two little kids who constantly need coats, hats, gloves, etc.  So I got creative.

I decided that the height of the lower shelf would be just about right for a bench seat and that I could utilize the interior blank wall space as a spot for hooks to hang jackets, scarves, bags, etc.  Plus, I still got to have a place for my pretties to jazz it up a little so that it still looked nice in our living room.  The fabric I chose for the bench seat is upholstery grade and I chose neutral colored ikat that gave enough texture to make it interesting but was neutral enough that I wouldn't tire of it.  I had the bench cushion made with 3 inch foam and it ran me a couple hundred bucks for the fabric and labor.  I found the antler hooks at Anthropologie.  Originally I wanted to have one of each of these but they were sold out of the duck ones I two wouldn't have been enough hooks or looked right on that big of a space.  In the end I think the fact that they were sold out of them turned out in my favor because I think having the hooks match ultimately looks better than it would have to have three different kinds.

SHELVES AFTER:

So, there you have it.  For around $300 I have a new entryway piece that is pretty to look at and serves an important purpose in our new house.

#cameronjonesinteriors #ikeahemnes #ikeahack #livingroomentry #moderntraditionalmix #raleighdesign #anthropologiehooks #ikeaupdate #ikeashelves #ideasforikeashelves

OKL Today!

I'll admit it...as much as I love email sales, I sometimes run out of time to get through all of the emails.  Or, things start to look the same.  Or, I am trying not to spend money.

But today I took a look at OKL and found some awesome pieces at great prices.  I don't have one more inch of space in my tiny house but if you do, you should definitely checkout this sale asap!  Not a OKL member?  Sign up here for their daily email sales.

A Baby and Some Blogs

Happy Sunday all!  So, my (obviously) biggest news for those of you who don't know is that my husband and I welcomed our son, Forrest, on Friday, August 15th.  Forrest was a whopping 10 pounds, 11 ounces (yes, I had a c-section) and 21.5 inches long.  We absolutely adore our little (big!) boy!

A few pictures...

In other news, my sister in law let me know that she and my brother's wedding from last September was featured on the The Fete Blog.  It was a great feature and there are even a couple of pics of yours truly!  http://blog.thefeteblog.com/2014/08/sarah-hunt-a-sweet-southern-wedding-day/  Sarah Whitmeyer was their photographer and she is absolutely awesome.  Recommend her highly if you are in the market for a photographer.

Lastly, my friend Liz sent me this link to this blog mocking Anthropologie furniture and I nearly died laughing. Don't get me wrong...I love Anthro as much as the next person but she provides a hysterical commentary on the ridiculousness and impracticality of their pieces.  Totally worth the full read here.

Enjoy your Sunday...hope you are getting more sleep than we are in this household! xo

Nod Just for Kids

Some of the kids catalogs, Land of Nod, Pottery Barn Kids, etc. have some great deals on furniture that doesn't have to be solely relegated to a kids room.  Prices tend to be considerably less for not just furniture but accessories, lamps, etc. so you should always think outside of the box and keep your eyes peeled for good pieces.

I just got the latest catalog from Land of Nod and am in love with a couple of things for myself!

The space that really caught my eye was this one:

I mean could that campaign desk get any cooler and I LOVE the green!  Also love that such a classic piece is paired with a super mod ghost chair.  But the goodness doesn't just stop there - the gold lamp with the navy shade is killer and I really love the circle printed cork boards as a wall accessory.  Oh, and did I mention the desk is less than $350 and the lamp is less than $100!

While we're on the topic of campaign furniture - there's also a great campaign chest that would be great in a bedroom or any room for that matter.  People are constantly taking crap Ikea pieces and doing hacks to turn them into campaign style dressers.  Well look - here's an affordable one and you can save yourself all that time and effort!

Love these honeycomb shelves.  They come in a wide variety of colors and you can lump together several sets to take up as much wall space as you need.  Would look just as cool holding books, plants, accessories as they do toys.

I never met a spindle I didn't like.  It brings back happy memories of a piece my grandmother had in her house when I was growing up.  I love this Jenny Lind shelf that also comes in a wide variety of colors.  It would look great styled in a living room or even set up in a kitchen or dining room as a bar with accessories.

And if you didn't get enough spindles on that shelf, I love this chair.  It is featured in a nursery but this is one piece that surely would transition nicely to any other space in your house for years after you are done with it in the nursery.

Any other tips on places you look to save money on great, classic pieces?

The Ever Versatile Slipper Chair

Slipper chairs are my new favorite furniture piece.  I want one for every room.  It is small and tucks into corners but is comfortable for guests when they need an extra seat.  They're a little dainty and girly but perfect for all kinds of spots from bedrooms to living rooms to the corner of a dining room.

We went to Lucketts last weekend and I convinced my friend Lauren to buy one.  I think my friends thought I was crazy because it was old with some terrible pink fabric and fringe on the bottom kind of like this:

Pretty ugly, right?  Not for long!  I am dying for her to reupholster it into something like this:

Slipper chairs come in lots of shapes and sizes though - not just tufted ones like Lauren got.  Here are some other examples:

You know these are great chairs when Target's gotten on board...look at all their fun patterns!

Bargain Bench Redo

I picked this bench up for $15 at a consignment store a couple of months ago.  My husband hated it but I saw potential...or was it might have been the rock-bottom price tag.  Either way, I was determined to prove him wrong.

Here is the before picture:

Here is the fabric I decided on - it is timeless because of the polka dots but I like how they are randomized instead of evenly spaced out which feels a little more fun to me.

I got the fabric on Etsy from the Fabric Shoppe in case you are interested.

Step Two.

Heavy duty foam and zipped cushion cover created.  Now I just need to paint this sucker.

Final product will be forthcoming!

Turned on toTurned Wood

I've really got a thing for turned wood furniture these days. It has this antique feel that is modern at the same time. And I'm seeing it everywhere. Wisteria has two great pieces that I am loving lately:

There's just something about the detail of these pieces that elevates them to a new level of greatness.

image via Pinterest

image via Traditional Home

image via Houzz