Molly Andrews & Tracy Jenkins rescue and reupholster old furniture with contemporary prints and textiles. The results are stunning and as their website shows, client satisfaction is guaranteed.
They have un-upholstered furniture for sale – the client can choose a fabric which Chairloom will upholster to the highest standard.
I recently heard from AA Living, a concept store about their new range of lighting ‘Chaste’. I loved these so much and thought you would like them too. The ‘Chaste’ lights are made from sustainable and recycled paper – mulberry or recycled newspaper. What an excellent use of old newspaper, don’t you think?
Of course, AA Living has a lot more than lights. Check out their range of trays, home furnishings and other accessories. AA Living’s first flagship store was set up in Mumbai’s Napean Sea Road over 15 years ago and their range is now available online.
and the cutest chairs (which might do better with arms, no?)
See more of their range here.
Images via AA Living
I love this unusual take on upholstery. This ‘Boy’s Own Annual’ fabric from Unique Fabrics is used on bespoke chairs and conveys just that right touch of fun to an otherwise traditional chair. The print also does away with the need for a cushion (though cushion in the same fabric would be terrific too). I really like the idea of using comic book or magazine covers as fabric art – makes for a nice change from the usual pop-art upholstery one is accustomed to seeing.
Found via HomeLife Australia
I’m delighted to have Tanya, of The Coral Cove on Frangipani Decor today. Tanya is a freelance writer and interior designer, specializing in nautical décor and she’s here with some interesting ideas on how to upcycle old furniture with a nautical theme. Thanks, Tanya!
For an inspiring nautical look, you can upcycle old or well-worn furniture to create a great new style for your home. Whether repurposing old tables and chairs you have around the house or refinishing pieces you found at a flea market or second-hand shop, you can achieve a stunning new décor that is as sophisticated or as fun as you want it to be. Here are some nautical refinishing projects that are easy to accomplish and easy on your pocket book, too.
Seascape Coffee Table
Materials: coffee table with a flat surface, large old sailing print, decoupage paste, clear coat sealer, primer, navy blue paint, common household tools/items like scissors or sandpaper.
A coffee table with a scratched or marred surface is the perfect candidate for a decoupage project. If your table has good bones, paint can cover a multitude of blemishes and will breathe new life into the piece. If the scratches are deep, you may choose to fill them or buff them out before priming. If you have self-priming navy blue paint, you can actually skip the priming step and get right to the colour! A thorough paint job usually requires three coats, but with good paint you may be able to get away with two coats. Choose a print that fits the surface of the table or one that fits within a border of the table top. After the last coat of paint has dried, glue your print to the top with the decoupage paste. Be sure to smooth away any bubbles--you want the paper to lay completely flat to achieve a professional look. Finish the top with a clear coat sealer that won't yellow with age.
The Captain's Dining Table and Chairs
Materials: dining room table, cane back chairs, paint or wood finish, primer, sealer, nautical fabric, staple gun, optional reupholstering items.
Cane back chairs with a simple square cushion seat are easy to refinish--especially for a first-time refinishing project. If the cane back isn't broken, you're in luck; if the cane has breaks, it's a good idea to remove it and replace it with a cushion back that you can make yourself. Depending on the quality of the wood, you may choose to enhance its natural beauty with a wood finish, giving it the rich look of a genuine captain's table. On the other hand, if the tables and chairs require painting, choose a colour in the nautical palette like white, gunmetal blue, or deep navy blue. Approach the painting just as you would for the coffee table described above.
Refinishing the chairs will provide a distinctive nautical look. First, remove the seat and paint the chairs in the desired colour. While the paint dries, remove the fabric on the seats and replace with a nautical colour--navy blue velvet, for instance. You may have to replace the cushions before replacing the new fabric using a staple gun. If you choose to replace the cane with a cushion, you must first find boards that will fit within the chair back's frame. Cover this thin board with a thin layer of cushioning material (available at any well-stocked sewing or craft store) and cover that with your desired fabric--a contrasting pattern with lighthouses, for instance, may prove just the right look to finish off your set.
Salvage Projects
Materials: Paint, primer, nails, common household tools
For furniture that is beyond help, consider breaking it down into salvageable parts--especially wood. Wood boards can be refashioned into wonderful and one-of-a-kind furniture with a nautical theme. A large old table top can be cut down into boards and reassembled to create a ladder bookcase reminiscent of old ships' deck ladders. Thick boards can be remade into long benches such as those that sailor's would use to take their mess. You can also remake old headboards to serve as a boat-shaped platform for a child's bed.
Wrap-Up
You can give old and broken furniture a new life with a little creativity and elbow grease. A nautical theme is a classic look that can be as sophisticated and luxurious as an admiral's cabin or as rustic as the lower deck where the humblest sailors once slept. You can easily find inexpensive furniture at thrift stores or yard sales to practice on and browsing through design books will provide you with a treasure trove of ideas to adapt to your nautical theme.
Images courtesy The Coral Cove.
Via Peter Carlson Photography | Source not known, sorry | Ellen McDermott Photography | Source not known | James Michael Howard
While doing the post on Shopo’s Diwali Fever, I fell in love with everything on the Varnam store. They have such gorgeous cushion covers, lamps and other accessories. The goods are simple, elegant and quite inexpensive.
Some of my favourites:
Channapatna Candle Stands
Cushion covers in lovely colours. I’m still hankering after these.
Channapatna Bharni tea-light holders
Channapatna Bharni lamp base
and these gorgeous door-knobs that could be lollipops (or tops) in disguise
See their entire range here. Great going, guys.
You can catch a glimpse of the founder’s home on Rang Decor.
This chest designed by Lilliana Ferreira from the Portuguese design firm Boca Do Lobo is a real beauty.
Crafted to imitate traditional crochet work, this is actually metal. In the designer’s words,
The mood of the moment dictates fantasy and heritage. As its name denotes, this sensational piece was inspired by the traditional craft of crochet, a process of creating fabric that consists of pulling loops of yarn through other loops. The method of crocheting was reinterpreted in this piece through the forging of 60kg of classic brass pulls by a local jeweler resulting in a mesh which adorns the sinuous silhouette of the piece. The solid wood frame consists of seven drawers finished with a darkened gold leaf that ensures a mystery and an elegance which contrasts with the vibrant jewel toned purple of the handles.
See more of their beautiful work from the Limited Edition collection here, including this very colourful Pixel cabinet and a gorgeous, gorgeous gold folding screen.
Images courtesy Boca do Lobo.
What do you think of this chair?
This is from a cottage in Nova Scotia which was featured in the NYT. The chair was made in honour of the owner’s birth, by his father’s roommate at Harvard, in 1969.
I love the simplicity and elegance of the design. A long plank for the back, a smaller one for the seat and two legs. Voila! A chair! A design like this is so easily do-able; I’m not sure how sturdy it would be, though. I’m quite tempted to ask our carpenter to do something similar for us with the piles of left-over wood we have stashed in our house.
The house itself is very lovely, with lots of vintage and modern pieces blending seamlessly into the decor. I find that blue colour on the wall very soothing and it is magic with the outdoors. See the full house tour here.
While writing about Furnism’s Goa series, I discovered Narmadeshwar Exports, a Jodhpur based company that exports furniture and other accessories. I really liked the range of reclaimed furniture available on the site. From sideboards, bedside tables and cupboards, there is a good selection to choose from.
The company has a lot of other styles of furniture available, but in my opinion, this series was the best. See more here.
I discovered this Goa series of furniture quite accidentally just now and was quite taken by them. Designed by Furnism, a Danish company, the GOA series of chests and sideboards are made from reclaimed wood, salvaged from demolished buildings and old structures in India.
I love the look of the reclaimed wood and the patina is wonderful. It inspired me to leave more furniture unpainted or unvarnished. Aren’t these lovely?
Furnism “develops furniture and accessory objects from a vision of sustainability, social awareness and a belief that, like art, our material surroundings can inspire and motivate us to greater things.” Amen to that.
This treasure trove of old and new things has been around in Goa (Porvorim, to be exact) for over nine years, but I only got around to visiting them now. They advertised a clearance sale in the papers recently and this is what they had on display.
(I’m sorry for the bad photos –the light was not too good indoors and I was also balancing a half-asleep toddler who didn’t care much for antique reproductions* (but wanted to take a huge marble elephant home). There’s no accounting for taste, I tell you.)
Walls of mirrors in metal and wood
A staircase lined with boxes of all shapes and sizes.
painted wooden trays
clocks
a funky tricycle which could be a magazine rack
dozens of photo frames (priced between Rs.150-600)
and a whole menagerie of wonderfully whimsical animals
You can’t see it too clearly here, but this wooden owl has a baby owl in her tummy.
and my favorite – this half-metal, half-painted horse.
* A lot of the stuff isn’t really antique, but made to look old by craftsmen in Goa and Rajasthan. They also specialise in custom-made furniture.
What do you think of lace being used as a cover-up device? I don’t care for that chair cover very much, but I somehow like the look of that cabinet. Not sure how it will look in a house like ours, though, where everything is vintage, patterned and a tad cluttered :) I think this would look very nice in a modern space, though. No?
Found via DIY or DIE
