Week 23 Project

I often get lost in google image searches. It's bad. I won't even remember what I began searching for and then I'll notice its two hours later. But, I gotta tell ya, I find some pretty cool stuff.
I will not be sharing the inspiration photo for this project. Mine turned out nothing like the photo I saw and I originally thought I'd chuck the whole thing. I hated it compared to the original. However, the thing has been in my living room for over a month now, and its starting to grow on me.


As is becoming usually, I started this project with a trip to Vally Thrift.This odd little lamp came home with me.


 Then I picked up 1500 zip ties, floral wire and two cans of spray paint from the local home improvement warehouse. I can home and tore up the lamp shade and started constructing a "birdcage".

Lots of time spray painting and zip-tieing and this little spot in the living room went from looking like this...


 to this.

Here's a close- up of the shade when its on.

And here's what it looks like when the lamp is off. I had originally put the zip-tie shade on the lamp that was in the corner, but the shinny-newness of it didn't jiv well with the retro-y shade. So I pulled an old lamp table up out of the basement and it works soooo much better.

Zip-tie lamp shade, Done.

Week 2 Project

I bought my house 2 years ago this January. In this house I have a lot of "inherited" furniture. I don't mean " I inherited this Chippendale desk from Great Aunt Francis upon her passing. It's been in the family for seven generations." I mean couches with slip covers that my parents bought for their basement 23 years ago. My sister's old day bed. A dresser left in the house after Grandma died. In no way am I ungrateful. Waste Not, Want Not. Hand me down furniture is what gets most young adults settled on their feet when they set out in the world. However, If I were to say have $10,000, I would not exactly buy these pieces.

My mother knows this and will occasionally throw my usually very fiscally responsible plans off course. She did this just last week. Evil, Evil Mother wanted to see if a store had the rest of her new dining chairs in stock. This store carries some seriously nice furniture and some normally serious prices, except... its an outlet. An Outlet. "Let's just stop by Laura". sure, "stop" by...

I bought this chair. Not a cheep chair, but a chair I simply fell in love with. Seriously, if you don't like this chair, you're not gonna get invited to my house anymore. By the way, my mother walked out with nothing. Every time. She needs to go somewhere and walks out with the same amount of money in her pocket she walked in with. I walk out poor.

 I placed it by the front window next to this chair from who knows where. The rando chair has this great goldenrod color. A color I'm sure was "hip" in the 70's (Was hip, a cool word then? or was it groovy?)

I wanted something to tie the two pieces together and chose to make a pillow for the grey chair. I bought this fabric, that in the store looked much more high-end and goldenrod in color. It turns out it looks more youthful and definitely has a cheetah print underlay. Perfect. Well, not really, but whatever.

I like the rectangular shape and the general idea of the pillow. I'm just not in love the the fabric, like I was in the store.

I closed the back of the pillow with an envelope closure.  They're super simple. They don't require zippers, which I plan to tackle this year, and look really nice when finished.

Lumbar Pillow for Fabulous Chair, Done!