Refinishing the Boudoir chair

I set to work removing the upholstery from the boudoir chair I bought on craigslist for my sister's condo. To go with the red, black, and white color scheme I wanted to refinish the wood with a black stain so the grain would still show through. And as opposed to painting, this would be less likely to show chips and dings.
It seemed like there were a thousand staples, but we finally got the fabric and padding removed the first day. We were set up in my mom's garage so it was a bit hot too and I had to keep taking breaks to nurse. So here it is naked:The next day I went back to strip the existing stain off. I went to Powell's Paint and they recommended I use Jasco Paint and Epoxy remover and a scraper. I also bought wood conditioner and and ebony colored stain. First I used a cheap paintbrush to brush on a thick coat of the stripper. This needed to sit for half an hour.It got nice and bubbly and then I just scraped it all off.Since there was only one layer of finish on the chair it came off very easy. I just used the putty knife to scrape everything off. Because it was so hot out sometimes the stripper had already dried by the time I got back down there, even though I thought I was working in manageable small sections, so this took the whole day.
But once I got it off it looked nice and ready to go.
Next we need to tackle conditioning and staining before we take it to the upholsterer next week. My mom is going to do that because I am going camping in Idaho. I asked her to take a picture before she drops it off. I hope it turns out great; I want this to look really nice for my sister.

Tying up loose ends at the condo

This weekend we went to wrap a few of our outstanding tasks at my sister's condo. Mr. W was going to install a new light fixture in the bathroom and we also needed to add the spacer at the bottom of the upholstered headboard so it would hang vertically. The trouble with the light fixture, which we found in the closet at her condo, was that the mounting bracket was set so darn low and the standard set backs weren't long enough. We searched around a lot trying to find a place that carried a 4" threaded set back. Finally after much colorful language, Mr. W was able to hang the new light. It provides much more and better light than that stupid, dinky mood lighting fixture that was in there when she bought the place. I honestly don't know why anyone would want such terrible lighting when getting ready in the morning! I only put on mascara every day, but still would want better light. My sister isn't a hair and make-up person either, but she does wear contact lenses and needs proper lighting.
The rest of the bathroom is looking cute too. My mom talked her out of her Emily Strange shower curtain, since she had picked out the new bath mat and I based the paint color on that. The shell bath mat was Martha Stewart from Macy's so they bought a shower curtain from the same collection and blue towels. The framed sea shell prints I found at Home Goods and they have all the same colors.
Mr. W and I could have a bit better communication when putting the spacers on the headboard. I was thinking he'd pre-drill the holes for the screws and then I could have put the batting around the wood and poked it through the hole. Maybe he was concerned with trying to line up the pre-drilled holes? Anyway he asked me to wrap the spacers first and when he screwed into the wood the bit grabbed a hold of the batting and ripped a gigantic hole it. So we took the batting off, screwed the plywood spacers on, and then glued the batting on to the main board. It's not pretty, but no one will see it and the batting will still protect the wall from scratches if the headboard gets bumped.
My mom finished the bed skirt too so everything is coming together in this room. I think if it were my room I'd tuck the bedspread under the mattress so it looks a bit more tailored and more of the bed skirt is visible. But this works for my sister and she loves her new room so much she makes her bed every day! I'm impressed!
The curtains for this room had arrived also so we installed the curtain rod and hung one panel. The seamster wasn't sure how many pinch pleats he would eventually need and my mom didn't buy quite enough packets of drapery rings. Each panel needed 13 rings. We used Levelor rings with clips but since we were doing pinch pleats with drapery hooks sewn onto the curtains I had to remove the clips. This way the main ring can slide along the rod and the hooks can slide into the smaller ring. Pretty simple but those little effers were a pain to pull off.
The black out fabric for the backing since she likes to sleep in total darkness. It is so simply attached, I bet I could do this myself for simpler curtain projects in the future.
I don't love that black band at the bottom. I wish that we had been able to get all the yardage in the gray fabric, I worry that band draws too much attention to the drapes, which since they aren't floor length, I don't think they need it. But both my sister and my mom like it so that is what matters. (Next up for this room is recovering the chair)
My mom decided to have drapes made for the office rather than hemming ready made curtains. My sister selected this grape vine window my father made so we selected a fabric that pulls out the green from the grape leaves. (This is why I selected a neutral tan paint color for the walls when we were up in the air about the fabric for the shell chair.) Which consequently we will be reupholstering as well. I suggested my mom look for a textured tone on tone fabric for the chair. With the channel back and the asymmetrical shape we really don't want a busy fabric to fight with the chair. I also suggested a purple color to pull out the grapes from the window.

She is moved in! (mostly)

Saturday morning the majority of my sister's furniture was moved in. I wasn't able to go over until Sunday to check it out. On my way there I stopped in Woodstock and bought a cute little boudoir chair from a Craigslist seller for my sister's bedroom. I originally bought the shell chair for this spot, but it proved too big. I wanted something with curvy, feminine lines. Maybe something with bamboo so it had a bit of a chinoserie look. Definitely something that I could reupholster so that I could get a punch of red in that corner. This chair seemed to fit all my criteria and the seller only wanted $35. I called my sister and told her about it. I had actually found it Saturday night and thought about it all night before finally falling asleep. I decided I would paint or stain the wood frame black and then recover it in one of the red fabrics we found when we had to find additional fabric for the curtains. I thought that this would be my first undertaking in the world of real upholstery following my debut with the headboard. I was troubleshooting in my head how I would tackle the double welt or if it would be more practical for me to use a black braid to finish it the entire drive from Woodstock to Irvington. However once I delivered it to my sister's condo and placed in the bedroom, it's a perfect fit by the way, my mom said she would rather have it professional reupholstered. That's fine with me too. My sister picked out her favorite red fabric from the swatches we already had. I notice after I purchased it that one of the decorative brackets is missing in the front and I thought I could use a bamboo handle made for fabric purse projects as a substitute. Not only that, once I arrived at the condo and got a second look I realized that I can also swap out one of the side brackets and put the replacement one on the side.The bed is all set up now, with the exception of the headboard that Mr. W and I need to finish. My initial vision for the bedside lamps was either silver finish base or a Lucite look one with white drum shades. When I took her to HomeGoods to look at the selection there, my sister opted for these black, faux croc wrapped bases with rectangular shades. Not my first choice, but a nice juxtaposition with the cabriole legs on the nightstands and the sinewy headboard. One can see that the Emily Strange rug is unpacked already.I returned this afternoon as Mom thought it would be better to keep the boys away while the entertainment center and desk were being assembled. Each has about a thousand pieces parts, just what toddlers and crawling babes like to get into! They were still assembling when we arrived so I wasn't able to finish the headboard; I need a second person to staple while I pull the fabric around that inside corner. Instead I assembled the blue side chair. I originally wanted two of these to oppose the love seat, but now that I have one in place I think that two, plus a side table won't allow enough clearance. Instead I need to find something bright and fun to fill that void where another chair ought to be. The two blue, faux croc nesting tables were indeed too tall next to the chair, but they filled the corner perfectly when I added a cat accessory from my sister's collection. I spent hours last night searching the internet for a corner piece for that spot to no avail. Now I have the height I was looking for without too much weight.The other thing I was tasked with was arranging my sister's artwork and posters. There is a very large sandblasted mirror that my dad did that I originally planned for the bedroom opposite the bed. But the more I thought about it I thought my mom's idea to hang it in the living room would be better because we could bring more color to that back wall from the reflection of the drapes. On the adjacent wall I like two painting my sister did in high school because they pull in lots of color in addition to being very personal. Why not have her work front and center?
Along the same wall but outside the seating arrangement I propose a print my parents' friend made as a wedding gift. Finally near the window we will place an oak Art Deco cabinet and above it I intend to hang her Chat Noir poster. I think the yellow there will work with the drapes and give us some nice height to fill this zone with no real purpose other than future cat scratch towers.
A painting of my father's that my sister wanted above a sofa I think would nicely fill the wall in the dining room, especially given the brand new yellow Provencal tablecloth my mother just brought back as a souvenir.One of our grandfather's cousins was a member of the Mazamas and had a collection of black and white photographs that my sister enjoys. We are thinking we will do some combination of them in the bedroom opposite the bed. We have a lot of framing ahead of us.

The carpet is in!

I met my mom and the curtain fabricator yesterday at my sister's condo. This was my first opportunity to check out the carpet after it has been installed. The nice thing about my mom being home is that she is taking over a lot of the management of the condo so I can take a back seat and the condo isn't consuming every waking moment of my life.
It is a patterned carpet that my mom and sister liked best so while wouldn't have been my first choice I think the color looks great with the wall color and once we get furniture moved in it won't look so busy. After the carpet was installed the two of them moved in most of her dishes and kitchen things. The whole process of moving is a little overwhelming to my sister. It touches on a lot of her Asperger's and her doctor has up her dose on her anxiety medication. So my mom is moving things in gradually rather than one giant moving day. Smart idea, especially since we aren't in a rush. I forget how many cat accessories she has though! Even for the kitchen! Anyway here is the green paint in the kitchen. I'm very happy with the way it turned out and how well it works with the adjacent blue of the dining room and living room. And not to toot my own horn, but the curtain guy kept raving about how great the green made the red of the cabinets stand out.
I can't remember if I included it before, but the bathroom paint became a bit of an issue. When my sister bought a new throw rug in a sea shell motif for the bathroom I assumed she was planning on having a new grown up bathroom for her new condo and losing the Emily the Strange stuff. I picked her paint color based on the bath mat. When she later told me she wasn't getting rid of the Emily stuff I was horrified at how awful the paint color would be with it. Mom has convinced her to switch to sea shells and no more Emily. her is the finished paint. I still need Mr. W to switch out the light fixture over the sink. I bought a blue shower curtain to tie in with the bath mat and the other day at Home Goods my sister found a few shell prints for the walls. They purchased a particle board desk from Office Depot and it was delivered without notice and just left on the walkway. Good thing my mom happened to be stopping by, but she had to move the whole thing inside by herself, and she has a bad shoulder. Which was the point of paying for delivery. In these photos you can see that she is in the midst of assembling the desk. I hope that works out for her.She also decided that rather than using my suggestion of buying ready made curtains and hemming them up to fit the window in the office that she'd rather pay to have custom ones in this room too. Since the curtain fabricator had to meet me to pick up the additional fabric for the bedroom we had him measure and give us yardage requirements for the office. i want the curtain rod to extend the full width of the walls here with an ample stack back to cover up this poorly placed electrical panel. (This is a dreadful photo)And although I charge up the camera before I left, it died and this is the only picture I got of the bedroom. I really like the textured carpet in here, as does my sister. It may not be the stripe she originally liked, but she is glad I found this for her. I am contemplating using this in our own bedroom if we don't do wool because we buy the Mt. Tabor house. If we stay for another 3 yrs I'd rather have wool. So everything is finally coming together. I think the plan is to have my Uncle D help move the furniture in on Sunday so that should be exciting. The curtains should be ready in about 3 weeks. I can't wait for that! I am still looking for a furniture piece to go in her living room against the wall by the window but I think I'd like to wait until everything is in before I decide on anything. I am also still looking for some sort of slipper or occasional chair to go in the corner of my sister's bedroom. Before meeting up with my mom yesterday I went to City Liquidators but found nothing that would work. I'm running out of places to search. I may walk over to Division St. today, there are a few cute boutiques that may have something for us.

Mom reviews my work

Since she arrived home from France after after 8 pm on Saturday and had to babysit for me yesterday, today was my mom's first look at my sister's condo in over 3 weeks. We met there in the morning, after a breakfast of bagels at Kettleman's...my sister is so lucky to have this within walking distance of her new home! All the painting was completed so it was also my sister's first look at the green kitchen paint. They both were very happy with the colors I'd selected. We spent a bit of time going over furniture placement and I displayed all the accessory pieces and bedding I'd purchased. They both liked the green lamps and blue croc nesting table for the living room and the black nightstands and lamp for the bedroom. We have decided to put the chrome plated Metro shelving system inside the closet of the office and sequester the least desirable of my sister's knick knacks there. They will also purchase a blonde p-lam desk from Office Depot for this room. And I think we successfully convinced my sister to keep the pair of lamps from her Tom Peterson set in the office.
The bedding they liked best was a DKNY in a chrysanthemum quilted pattern with options in red, white, and charcoal grey. I'm going to let them make all those returns and exchanges to save my boys from another shopping trip.But today we did need to go shopping. My mom wasn't familiar with Home Goods and I needed to help them get all the components for the Ikea entertainment center. I decided I could take advantage of the free babysitting at Ikea for My Little Helper. I also found out the reason why my sister never measured the depth of her TV like I had asked her to so I'd know which base cabinet I needed to specify. She doesn't know how to measure! At Home Goods we found only one more piece of the blue nesting tables, my sister picked out different lamps for her bedroom, and a red framed full sized mirror. We also found a few sea shell pictures that will coordinate with the bathmat she bought at Macy's from which we based the paint color.
Before I was involved in the project they had selected the Besta system at Ikea. We all decided the brown black finish would be best. I specified a few glass doors on illuminated cabinets above the tv in which she can display he car collection. I also included a lot of pieces parts so that she can organize her movies and music with in the unit. As always, finding things at Ikea is kind of a nightmare, and they are often sold out of things, but we were mostly successful. I also convinced my mom not to pay for Ikea to deliver and install. I just feel like that defeats the purpose and is a waste of money. I had asked my other uncle if he would help with assembling it for my mom. I can ask Mr. W to hook up all the electronics for her, in this way no one person is overwhelmed with doing it all.
Now we just need to wait for the carpet to be installed so we can begin to move everything in! I'm getting so excited!

The upholstered headboard

The more I thought about doing a red, black, and white bedroom for my sister's condo, the more I realized that the hand-me-down brass bed she was currently using just wouldn't look right. Especially up against a red accent wall. Instead I decided that this would be a good opportunity for me to do a DIY upholstered headboard. I found a black, white, and grey graphic fabric that my sister loved. I also bought enough yardage so that we could make a tailored bed skirt, this way we would only need to find coordinating pillow shams and bedspread. I volunteered my mom to make the bed skirt, since she was out of the country and couldn't protest, and Mr. W agreed to help me with the assembly of the headboard.
My mom was returning from France Saturday evening so my original plan was to have the headboard completed that day so that she'd be impressed with all my hard work while she was gone. The more I thought about it though, I realized a toddler and a baby stuck in the condo with us working with power tools was a bad idea. Plus the ocean was calling me. So Saturday we took the boys to the Hug Point for the day and Sunday my mom watched them while Mr. W and I went to work on the headboard.
I wanted a really curvy, feminine shape to the headboard and while I was looking online to find a shape I could use as a guide, I found a step by step tutorial video. The only new step that she did that I hadn't considered was using spray adhesive to keep the foam in place. I'm not sure that I really needed this step though since I have one large sheet of foam rather than a patchwork of three smaller, cheaper pieces. We had mocked up a template with craft paper the previous weekend. Today we finessed it with a DIY compass of string, a push pin, and a pencil to make sure we had perfect curves. I originally planned to have the headboard at 40"h, but today we decided to make it an even 4 feet because both the plywood and the foam were already 48" and we could save ourselves some cutting. After we transferred the template onto our materials, Mr. W cut the plywood while I cut the foam. Here's a tip: make sure to use a new blade at the beginning of the project rather than halfway through. My first few cuts were pretty rugged looking. After I replaced the blade it cut smoothly through the 2" foam.Next we used the spray adhesive. I only sprayed the foam first which didn't adhere well enough so we sprayed both the wood and the foam getting them nice and tacky before putting them together.A twin size piece of batting was all we needed for the headboard with lots of excess for another project. Doll bed quilts perhaps?
Because fabric comes in 54" widths and the queen size headboard is 54"w I thought that I'd have to sew together a few pieces of the fabric so that we'd have enough to wrap around the 2" foam and staple to the back of the board. I was not looking forward to this but had packed my 1954 New Home sewing machine. Mr. W and I decided though that the graphic fabric was non-directional enough that we could use the fabric going up the bolt saving me from having to piece it together and having seams ruin the look.Everything was going smoothly until I got to the inside corners of the the first curve. I knew from regular sewing projects that you need to cut in at angles to get the fabric to go around the curves. However I was not getting the trick for getting in there. We kept worrying that I was going to cut to much fabric. I decided that perhaps I ought to hold off and check the internet to see if I could find a DIY tutorial that would show exactly how to cut into the fabric to make this corner. The brackets I bought for mounting the headboard to the wall did not include screws anyway so we wouldn't have been able to complete the project anyway. So I'll wait and come back with my mom to finish up.

So far though I am happy with our work. I think it will turn out nicely once I solve this problem. At one point my sister and I liked the idea of a nail head trim, but I decided to hold off on that in the interest of saving money and not getting too carried away with the project. Once we get all the furniture placed and the curtains are up we can re-evaluate whether the headboard is complete or not.
Thanks to craigslist I was able to score queen size bed rails for her mattress for $3, although I did have to go to two different sellers' locations.

Fabric issue

Wouldn't you know it, all that time running out to the Mill End Store last Sunday to meet with the drapery person to give him our measurements and he gave us yardage requirements and he figured it wrong! We met with him at my sister's last Thursday and he realized his calculations were wrong or that he hadn't understood me. The only reason I went out there was because he made it sound like he could avoid coming out for a measure. So now I need to go back to get more of the grey fabric for the bedroom curtains.! Sigh!
Then when I finally went back with my sister I couldn't find the fabric. And then it hit me, we had bought the very last of the bolt! No problem I thought, I can add a band at the bottom of another fabric. Not ideal, but the best solution that won't waste the yardage we already purchased. A darker grey was my first choice but none of them were the right color or weight, and I don't want a lighter color fabric on the bottom or they will look top heavy. So I entertained a black or red band. This would have been fine but I had my sister with me (because I thought it would be a simple trip of getting more of the same grey and the foam for the headboard.) It wasn't and I could tell she was getting as angry and frustrated as I was. I really need to do the narrowing down myself and just presenting her with 2 or 3 options. In the end we walked away empty handed because I couldn't get a hold of the seamster to find out how much yardage we needed for a band.
I went today with the boys after swimming class and bought the same fabric as the grey, but in the black colorway. This is what I was hoping for in the first place but was having a hard time finding it with my sister in tow. My son didn't make it any easier though!
I'm giving him a deposit to begin work on the fabric tonight. We will have pinch pleats curtains in the bedroom. In the front rooms we will be using hardware called Ripplefold. It mounts to the ceiling and will give it a real Mid-century Mod look. I can't wait to see them installed!

Paint progress at the condo

There was a little melodrama Sunday night with my Uncle feeling discouraged when he pulled up the painter's tape in the office and found it had bled through. He had spent so much time prepping and fastidiously wrapping all the trim in blue tape that seeing the bleed through put him over the edge. I don't blame him, but felt like having my sister follow behind with Goof-off on a rag would remedy the problem. That sort of tedious work is the kind of task in which she excels. However it took me 25 minutes on the phone with him and another 15 minutes on the phone with her to talk them both down and make a plan for her to go and check it out yesterday. I needed a break and was NOT willing to go over there until after the holiday.
I planned on cleaning out the basement with Mr. W Saturday and maybe getting a sitter for the baby and taking Our Little Helper to see Cars 2. Instead I spent 5 hours driving around going to her apartment to mock up the headboard, back to the fabric store since we are short on curtain fabric for her bedroom, and then to Cost Plus to buy an occasional chair for her living room while my coupon was still valid. By the end of the day I was really feeling mad and under appreciated. Next time my mom buys a condo for my sister (which will never happen, this is her forever house) she needs to suck up the extra month's rent if she just so happens to be going out of the country for 3 weeks the day after closing. Arrrgh!!!
So Day 1 of the 3 day weekend was spent on the condo and day 2 was devoted to cleaning up rat poop in the basement. I was disappointed.
Anyway, Uncle M made great progress and my sister isn't bothered by the bleed through on the baseboards. If it doesn't bother her, then it doesn't bother me. And if my mom says anything about it I will have to resist the urge to punch her in the face. Okay, that is drastic, but I'm feeling angry. Thinking happy, peaceful thoughts now while I post some progress pictures:
The office is practically complete in BM Arizona TanA first coat of the grey (BM Cement Gray) and red accent wall (BM Deep Rose) in the bedroomHe started cutting in the blue in the dining room and living roomShe is so cute because she is so excited about the paint color and keeps talking about how things are going to be "popping" with the paint color. I'm glad she likes it.

Finishes Finalized!

There has been a lot more running around for my sister's condo. The fabric has been purchased. Yesterday I placed the carpet order. Tonight I put together the final paint order so that my uncle can pick it up tomorrow and start the painting. It feels great to get this part completed, but I am exhausted! When is my mom going to be home? My poor Little Helper is beginning to dread going over to Auntie's condo. I feel bad because I hardly have time to get them fed and I'm just relying on the baby taking his naps in the car. That doesn't always happen; I feel like a bad Mommy.

In any event, here is what we have for the Living and Dining Rooms: The fabric is called Sunscape, color: Tropic and will allows us to pull in so many different colors as accent pieces. The paint will be Benjamin Moore Tear Drop Blue with Navajo White for the ceiling (in the entire apartment). The carpet will be acut pile that has arabesques in it called Blessed View color: Cat Tail. No joke, we had it narrowed down to two brown colors that would work with the fabric and when she saw the word Cat, the decision was made.

In her bedroom we have Grey raw-silk-look fabric called Shinto color: Gray for the curtains and the black & white graphic fabric for the headboard is Gallilee color: Metal. this room will have a different carpet which is reminiscent of bamboo called St. Croix color: Watersport. The walls will be BM Cement Gray and the accent wall behind the headboard will be BM Deep Rose. Lastly there is the Office which is getting away from me. Unfortunately I had to take my sister with me to the fabric store to meet with the drapery man and while browsing around to see if there were any fabrics that she liked better for the windows she spied a cat fabric. And it was not good. I talked her out of it for the curtains because it isn't the right fabric weight. But now this fabric is in her head and she called me a few days later to tell me she still likes it and wants to reupholster the "shell chair " in it. I cringe just thinking about this awesome chair being sentenced to a life covered in cat fabric. But I decided to not worry about it for now. I told her that is a project she and mom can work on when she returns. This way I don' t have to tell her no. I feel a little guilty though. I keep telling her this is her condo, she can do what she wants and doesn't have to listen to Mom's opinion, and then I do the exact same thing to her. I know cat things will be in this house, but I want to start out with her having a nice, grown up place. A place that she loves even with nary a cat tchotchke in sight.
Anyway, the carpet will be the same Blessed View, Cat Tail as the main rooms, and BM Arizona Tan on the walls. It is a nice brown that can work with just about anything in case this cat fabric doesn't materialize. (Hahaha)

Tomorrow we will meet with the drapery guy during which he'll do a field measure. More running around. I'm sure my boys will love it.

My Sister's Condo

My sister has Aspberger's Syndrome. The summer before my dad died I was trying to get my parents to buy a place for my sister. She was almost 30 and had only briefly lived on her own in an apartment. They were nervous about her bringing the wrong type of people home. My thought was that it would be a lot harder for her to have to adjust to living on her own at 60-something after my parents died far off in the future, rather than in her thirties. They thought I was morbid and creepy for bringing it up. Since we were on our way home from a family funeral in Seattle, I thought I was just being topical. Sadly and ironically my dad died unexpectedly less than 3 months later.
After he passed my mom tried out apartment life again for my sister. This time instead of a "risky" location in downtown, she was out in South Tabor, but with easy access to bus lines and in close proximity to our grandparents' house and my mom's work. Due to a whole lot of legal and financial details between SSI, the state, mom's insurance and a rent hike, they decided it was finally time to purchase a condo for her. I stayed mostly out of this process because I am busy with the boys and working on the Povey presentation. (I couldn't procrastinate anymore!)
At first I was a little disappointed with the final condo selection. Rather than some cute old building with loads of charm and maybe some clinker brick, or even a high rise with a view. They settled on an ugly infill apartment building turned condo in Irvington. Yuck! My sister is going to live in a product of The Great ReMuddling?! But it is close to Lloyd Center and the house where we grew up so she is familiar with the neighborhood and there is ample access to public transportation. (One of the high rise buildings is cat free. My sister is a cat fanatic and the permanence of a condo is what my mom has been waiting for to allow my sister to get a cat of her own.)
My sister has always wanted me to be her "interior decorator" since that was my former life and I am happy to do that for her. She and I don't have a lot in common and that applies to our aesthetic style as well so this will be a fun opportunity for me to do something modern and bold. I met htem at the condo to take measurements after their offer was accepted. In reality the building is much better in person. The street is very shady and residential, with plenty of great old Irvington houses on the same block. In fact former clients are across the street. I think this building can grow on me. If nothing else it will give give me a Mid century Mod starting point.
Our mom, being a mom is quite concerned with the baseboard heating being under all the windows, we can't have the fabric touching the heater! It will be a fire hazard! What will we do? My plan is to Mod it up with pleated drapes that hit just at the window casing. The previous homeowner's solution leaves a lot to be desired!
Another problem to be solved with draperies is the electrical panel's position in the bedroom which will become her office. My plan is to have curtain rods that extend to the corners of the room so the fabric stack back will always keep that covered up. That's important because otherwise the panel is the first thing you see when you walk into the room. And we won't compromise on accessibility.
The kitchen cabinetry is very mid-century, with some updated hardware and new ceramic counter top and floor tiles. It is awfully dark in there, but since my sister doesn't really cook it isn't too much of a problem. I'll want to lighten it up with a fun, bright paint color for her.
It does have some really great art deco inspired light fixtures in the kitchen and dining room. Mom hates them and wants them replaced, but my sister and I both like them. It is my sister's apartment so I think we can make them work for her.
The shade in the hallway light is not bad.The lights in the bathroom are bizarro. What on earth were they thinking? This is a tiny, windowless room. Why paint the walls dark brown and hang a pendent light that is best used for mood lighting? I can't see how this would have been a good space to get ready for work.The passage hardware, as well as all the light fixtures and other hardware has been updated to brushed nickel.
Another view of the future office with ill fitting curtains.
Lastly the master bedroom. Ever since she was a pre-teen and read The Babysitter's Club books my sister has been obsessed with the red, white, and black color scheme. I think this is finally the time for her to get her RW&B bedroom. I think I can acheive this with grey paint on the walls with RW&B bedding and accents. More specifically I'm thinking about doing a red accent wall behind her bed. I've never been a big fan of accent walls; they are seldom done correctly and frankly, I think they are played out. But in this case I think it is a perfect application. All red walls would be too much.
Now, here is the tricky part. My mom is going to France for 3 weeks at the end of the month. They're not sure when exactly it will close, but guess who will get to coordinate everything while my mom is gone? That's right me. This could be really great or really bad.