Patched Up

We scored these 3 chairs quite a while back and they have been in our overfull attic ever since. They are very solid and heavy and have a fancy shape, however, their original upholstery was done with fake leather that was worn down till the thread, at some places there were even holes, even worse was that they were extremely sticky, some kind of chemical reaction to the leather with the heat or something.

They were extremely well upholstered, which was a pain to remove.

And while pealing things off it became clear why they are so heavy, 3 layers of wood! One layer for the feet, one for the seat and then the body as well, very well made (except for the choice of fabric).

The dark brown paint got sanded and then they got painted black.

Each will be different as we are using vintage embroidery for them. They will look great together as well as solo.

To match each embroidery we cut 60 (!!!) pieces of velvet from discontinued fabric catalogs for the back sides of the chairs.

180 pieces of straight cut velvet, it was a mess :)

But the results are worth it in the end, we had a perfectly matching patchwork.

Time to dress up the chair.

What a difference :)

I still had some hand sewing to do.

And time to cover up the ends and staples.

The saw was my birthday gift of this year, yes that was what I wanted :)

It is always the little finishing touches that take the most time.

All nicely covered up now :)

Now time to put all pieces back together!

I've made this chair in 5 different rooms and the terrace, she has traveled and my muscles are getting bigger :)

But the result is satisfying and worth all the muscle aches.

Hard to imagine that this is embroidery! The fabric is white!! Not a millimeter of fabric can be seen with all the stitches.

Cutting those pieces of fabric and painstakingly sewing them together was well worth the effort.

Beautiful from each and every side, one down still two to go!
Available at StarHomeStudio.

Art Deco Pedestal Table Make over

This adorable Art Deco pedestal table has been waiting for some TLC for 3 years!

It had a lot of damage, most of the wood veneer was damaged or peeled off. We could have replaced it but we wanted to give it a new look instead.

After lots of sanding, filling, varnishing and more sanding it was all smooth and fixed. The feet all needed to be reglued as it was dancing like a drunken sailor.

After all the fixing the fun part could begin.
I painted it entirely cream.

But the top got only a border as I wanted to keep the lovely Art Deco design on the top and also still some of its original wooden look.

Then I went stencil crazy and gave it all kind of checkered details.

With some adorable vintage leaf transfers and some hints of green and pink this pedestal table is all fresh with a romantic vintage flair.

The checkered details remind me of old palaces with their marbled floors, like this one in Warsaw.

I'm in love with the unexpected combination of patterns and colors and am happy it finally gets the chance for a new life.

Or it would be like having a piece of Rome in your home :)

It is, of course, one of a kind and available at StarHomeStudio.

Miami

My final post of our vacation! I hope I did not bore you but in 5 weeks we did so much and I wanted to share the highlights at least.
Our final 3 days we spent in Miami, and what is Miami without fancy flashy red sports cars, Palmtrees and beaches :)?

When we first arrived in Miami from Turkey we were too jetlagged to really check out the city.

Miami is huuuuge, very flat and endlessly big. Actually, various towns got glued to Miami, like Miami Beach which is a separate town. It is however pretty green for a city which does make it pleasant. It is also a vibrant, hard working and well organized city, where the main language is Spanish!

We took a hop on hop off bus to enjoy the city without having to drive. Driving here was intense, especially on the toll roads the roads are like roller coasters with locals driving like maniacs and roads splitting and coming together all the time, you can be in a two-lane road one second and all of a sudden it turns in to an 8 lane road and you are on the right side but you have to exit on the left in a few seconds and don't forget that in the US drivers can pass you from both the left as the right, unlike most places in the world. So not for the faint-hearted, or if you really must drive here, take the long ways and avoid the toll roads.

There are many different kinds of neighborhoods, from tiny houses in adorable streets to huge villas right at the water or chic apartments overseeing the ocean, whatever your budget, Miami is not cheap, not as expensive as San Fransisco but not far from it.

While most buildings are low and stretched out there was a bunch of skyscrapers Downtown.

Little Havana, you are better off speaking Spanish than English around here, and this is in a lot of Miami as  Hispanic or Latino makes up 70% of Miami's population. In most shops people started speaking Spanish to me, luckily my Spanish Mum came in handy. I was surprised that many actually did not speak a word English, I guess they did not really need to.

If you want to live around here, you might want to brush up your Spanish, a lot of jobs require you to be bilingual.

Those little train rails are for the so-called Metromower, which are little metro's driving without a driver. A clear attempt to bring relief to the traffic downtown as they are completely free of charge.

Due to various hurricanes, there were not many old buildings left, here is one among the skyscrapers.

This building was still being made, designed by Zaha Hadid, the pre fab concrete parts couldn't be made in the USA so had to be shipped in from Dubai, crazy!!

Lots of chic yachts, if you are really lucky you have a villa right near the water with your yacht parked in front :D

The Art Deco district was built up during the redevelopment “boom” that followed the 1926 Miami hurricane “bust.”

With simpler architecture that the more detailed buildings before that and the smaller windows to keep the heat down. Amazingly, these buildings were almost destroyed by developers in the early 1970s. Their survival is due to a handful of activists who, in 1976, founded the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL). With their help, a number of the best Miami hotels, and even some South Beach clubs have maintained their beautiful façades and historical designation.

So many balconies and not a single person enjoying it :/

There is also a Graffiti district, normally this area would be boring gray buildings but now it is colorful and full of hipsters.

This is a cement factory, they painted these as spray cans to match the surrounding.

I saw some awesome ones that I was not able to photograph from the bus, but we wanted to have a lazy day so we actually did not hop off from the bus.

Our last day, Tuesday the 8th we stayed in the hotel and I puzzled all our luggage. 8 suitcases of 23 kg each (50 lbs) and two carry all of 10 kg each, and our handbags with laptop and such, yes like last year we went crazy with thrifting :). The 2 planes got us home at 11 pm the 9th, and we are now finally over our jetlag  :D We had such a great time and would do it in a heartbeat all over again!