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.
