Happy Coincidences

A few weeks ago we saw an L-shaped couch that seemed perfect for our new home. It was somewhere between our old and new home, pretty high in the hills. It wasn't as soft as I hoped it would be and it turned out to be brown not gray as it seemed in the pictures. However the same lady had also this coffee table and when I said I liked it, it turned out she was selling that too so I didn't leave empty-handed.

Of course, I loved its legs and bought it to turn in to a big statement ottoman.
The top was of course very securily attached like everything that needs to be removed. The top was the exact right side for a table we have, I still need to paint it but it is already attached.

The legs I sanded and then painted in a distressed gray and then varnished it.

I had to do everything twice as things didn't go as planned first time around.
But with many layers, linings it finally worked out.

Deciding last finishing touches.

Tadaa! The top is made with a kilim we bought this Summer during a small local auction, the size was PERFECT for it (just like its original top was perfect for another table.

I love the color combo, and the happy coincidences of all the perfectly sized things were extremely satisfying.

Although it seems just gray it also has the same pink and mint green as the kilim in its paintwork, but very vague.

I upholstered the foam first with gray fabric as the kilim has weaving holes, the gray fabric now pops through giving it an extra pattern.

This one of a kind beauty is available at StarHomeStudio.

With all the moving this will most likely be our last furniture project for this year, but we have plenty of pieces in the shop.

An Upcycled Chair

This very old and very sad chair was in no condition to sit on.

Lots of pieces were missing but also some parts were rotten away. So as a chair it was trash, but I loved the backrest which was also in the best condition.

I sawed off everything of the chair that I did not need.

And added this wooden piece, to make it a towel rack.

I painted it dark green first.
And the next day with daylight a layer of teal and with some help of stencils and a rust-colored paint I gave it some rustic adornments.

The piece got varnished and turned out beautiful.

You can hang towels in your bathroom, kitchen or laundry room.

Or you can use it in your bedroom for shawls, scarves, ties, belts or necklaces.

Another mission of saving something from ending up in the landfill accomplished feels good :)

It is available at StarHomeStudio among many other home decor pieces.

Upholstery Springs and What to do with them

So we have a whole bunch of upholstery springs, a byproduct of restoring vintage furniture. We do not use them in the chair again as they are not very practical. They are super strong and I love how the ends are twisted around. I thought they were fun but we haven't been using them.

They are impressive!

And turn out to be great to display driftwood!

They also turn out to be super handy to hold tools and brushes.

But after a search on Pinterest there turns out to be many possibilities like cool Steam punk style lamp caps.

Fun plant pot holders.

Vases by putting glass tubes in them, these are attached to salvaged wood making them more stable.

They also make for fun candle holders.

And even paper/photo holders!

Even wine bottle holders.
But also wind chims, earrings holders, Christmas trees, wreaths, even a chandelier and so much more that I start to wonder how on earth I have done without them all these years :)
If you'd like to tackle some of these projects or got even a better idea, they are available at StarHomeStudio :)

Big Little Project

We got these cool brass feet during our last trip to the USA. And I thought a cute little side table with a vintage embroidered top would be fun to use it.

This little plan/ project took more than a month! Things did not go as planned. The first problem was how to make the top, the embroidery would need protection (glass) and this would all need to be kept together neatly.

We first ordered a nicely cut round MDF but we were not able to find nice clamps to keep the wood, embroidery, and glass together. We then ordered an MDF with a frame, so that the embroidery and glass would fall into the frame, however, the seller seemed to have disappeared as it never got send (no worries we go our money back as it was a very trustworthy site).

Finally, we found a beautiful brass tray, we would just need to put the embroidery and glass in it and we would be done.

However, the embroidery I initially had picked out for the project did not fit in the tray (I did not add a picture of it here) so I had to choose another embroidery. This one needed some repair and then be fixed to some cardboard to keep it neat.

I had a piece of round glass cut but it was too small as I had only brought the tray and not the embroidery which added height and the tray's diameter was not straight! Finally, with a second piece of glass everything fell in place.

What should have been a quick and easy project turned in to quite the project, with all kind of side projects spurting out of it as I have an extra piece of glass which is now in progress for something else, and the round MDF will turn in to an ottoman :) But I got there in the end, you can find it among many other one of a kind furniture pieces.

Pffeeww and then people wonder why handmade is 'so expensive' :)

Newly Listed: Test Tubes Vase

Test Tubes Vase, Rustic Driftwood Rack, Botanical Display, Reclaimed wood Home Decor by StarHomeStudio
Art, Photography, Venice Photography, Italy, Wall Art, Vintage, Turquoise Door, Print by cottagelightstudio
Beach Photography, jellyfish, ocean, sea, beach wall decor, wall art, Ephemeral by LynnLangmade
Old Rusted Teal Turquoise Door, Knob Lock, Rustic Home Decor Art Print Photography Art Print by jessicareisspix

From Trash to Treasure

This ugly coffee table has been waiting for a make over for over 2 years.

Its previous owner tried to 'fix it', which only made it worse.

The glass was all scratched up and the middle shelf was damaged so I took those off. My initial plan was to cover the top with all kind of found boat wood and driftwood to create a surface like a sold coffee table I made. And then adding driftwood branches to fill up those gaps in the legs and to strengthen it but it never really clicked so the table kind of hung around for all this time.

And then I decided to just make an ottoman of it and forget about its original purpose.
I cut off the legs to get rid of the ugly gaps and nails and to shorten it as foam will make it higher again.

I also cut of the sides to make it ready for upholstering.

I wanted to sand the feet as they were actually beautiful wood under that ugly brown but they were so badly painted that I just couldn't get it all off and had to paint them. So I want for something a bit crazy to make it different.

With fabric under and plywood on top, then foam, batting and a beige fabric it was ready for its pretty Kilim I found among our Kilim stash.

Tadaaaa! I used a foam thickness that would make the Kilim the exact correct size, without any cutting beside the corners.

So happy that I went with my instincts and made an Ottoman out of it.

It is very long 42'' (106 cm) so perfect for in front of the couch, or at the foot end of your bed or in the hallway to take off your shoes :)

I used brass bead caps and nails for a prettier finishing touch.

This Ottoman / Bench is available at StarHomeStudio among other one of a kind furniture pieces.