The END CHAIRS

A few weeks ago I went to the Boulevard of Dreams Green Living Show Home here in Kansas City and saw a gorgeous pair of end chairs. I became knew I had to have them and after a few weeks of pressure and negotiation with my husband (the chairs “count” for Christmas and my next birthday present), I secured them. I also have to give credit to Nancy (Fun with Nancy) for this victory. She is not only my friend, but is also my husband’s friend, and she was instrumental in breaking him down. Thanks, Nancy!!  I picked them up today….

 I think they are spectacular. The chairs have a black distressed finish with crocodile embossed leather seat and back cushion and nailhead trim.

Here is a close up of the croc embossed leather.

What is really unique is the animal hide on back of the chairs. The hide is shaved in areas, making an interesting pattern. This is because the hair on the hide is light and the hide skin itself is dark, so the shaved areas are dark pops of color against the lighter hair. The hide patterns are not identical.

Here is one… 

this is the other.

Here the difference in pattern is seen when they are side by side.

Close ups of the hide...

Here is the carved detailing along the top….

and the chair base.

I'm sure these chairs aren’t for everybody, but they are good for me. :)

Linking to:

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

SNS at Funky Junk Interiors

Textured and Glazed Handrail

 I love iron spindles and railings, so in planning our new house, choosing iron for the staircase was a no-brainer. The difficulty for  came in choosing a specific design. I initially was hoping to have an all iron look with swirled iron panels and an iron handrail, but the cost was exorbidant. This was probably fortuitous because that treatment probably would have overwhelmed given the scale of the area. So, I went with a simple spindle and wood handrail.

Here is a pic showing the raw wood hand rail at the bottom of the stairway.

Since I wanted an all-iron look, I decided not to stain the handrail. Instead, I did a metallic paint treatment that had texture that mimicked metal. After priming the raw wood, I applied texture (weathered bronze lusterstone) with a chip brush, and lightly sanded after it dried. Here is a pic of the lusterstone after sanding.

I then applied a metallic paint glaze (mixture of two Modern Masters metallic paint colors plus some glazing medium) to match the spindle color.  Finally, I topcated with two coats of  polyurethane.

Linking to:

Project Diaries at Stories of a House

Kim at SSS Before and After Party

Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick

DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different Act Normal

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest

Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming

Remodalaholic Friday at Remodelaholic

Weekend Wrap Up at Tatortots and Jello

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch

Light Fixtures

When building our house, one of the most enjoyable part was choosing the light fixtures. The not so fun part was trying to stay within the lighting allowance. One fixture I absolutely loved would have eaten up 20% of the allowance... I just couldn't do it. So, I started out picking fixtures I really liked that were reasonable and then got to the point where I had to settle for fixtures I 'kind of ' liked for other areas. The first fixture I chose was for our entry.

 I like the scrolling leaf detail and the finish in general. I also chose to put shades on the the fixture.

 

Here is the dining room chandelier and sconces.

I’m still trying to decide if I should change or paint/glaze the candle covers (a little more yellow/gold than I would generally choose).

 For the great room, I wanted this is the fixture that I saw in a model home.

Unfortunately, the fixture was no longer in production and not available. So I went with this chandelier.

                        I like the scrolyl shapes at the top and the tear drop shaped dangly things. 

 Here are the sconces I chose for above the fireplace.  I am not crazy about the mirror and am looking for something different. 

In the main floor powder room, I decided to put two sconces on each side of the mirror.  

 I like the shape of the base and glass beading. My husband hates these sconces.  

 I also chose to place a couple of sconces in our master bath area. I was not real excited about these, but they were fixtures I settled on to stay within budget. At a later time, I want to get a pair of sconces that are longer and with more weight... maybe some crystal, too.

 This is the chandelier in our master bath. I purchased this for 60% off retail at a local lighting company that was liquidating their inventory. I am going to string crystal beading to the fixture to add a little more bling.

For the stair landing, I chose a lantern.  It looks kind of small in the pic, but it is about 4 feet in height.     

           

A close-up of the cage look. 

Below is the fixture I chose for our kitchen dining area.  

I chose to add shades to this fixture. 

In our kitchen we have an arched opening and I placed sconces on each side of the opening.

Here is the right side... 

and a close-up. 

 Above the kitchen island, I initially chose a pair of chandeliers, but they were on back order for several months. So I ended up choosing these lantern fixtures.  In retrospect, I think that was good  because of the number of chandeliers in other areas.

A close-up. 

Linked to:

Strut Yourself Thursdays at Somewhat Simple

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Animal Patterns and Prints

This weekend I went to the Boulevard of Dreams Green Living Show Home here in Kansas City. The home was gorgeous, especially the dining room. What initally caught my attention was the groin vault ceiling that had some sort of metallic finish and the fact that the chandelier was the same as what I have in my dining room. However, what really took my breath were the two dining end chairs. The chairs had a blackish distressed finish with crocodile embossed leather seat and back cushion with nailhead trim. What was really unique was the animal hide on back of the chairs. The hide was shaved in areas, making an interesting pattern on the back.  This was because the hair on the hide was light in color and the hide skin itself was dark, so the shaved areas were dark pops of color against the lighter hair. The chairs had ornate carved detailing along the top and the chair base. I think they were spectacular.

                                   
                                                   Kansas City Homes and Gardens Blog 

I have recently seen a lot of furniture and accessories that have animal print fabric, animal hide and animal patterned embossed leather.  Here are some chairs with an interesting use of animal print fabrics or animal pattern embossed leather...

                
 Pair of the wing backs... look at the gorgeous eglomise panels (by John Richards) on top of the chest.

             
                                                                   Animal hide on chair back...

Cheetah, giraffe and tiger fabric...

Accessories....

          
                                                                    Tables and ottomans...

 

The zebra print ottomans paired with a desk which legs look like a spider.

Love the chippy black finish.