The Beauty of Built-Ins

I've been in love with built-in bookshelves for as long as I can remember.  Maybe it's that they remind me of my childhood home, or maybe it's just that I knew from early on, without really knowing, that built-ins can be a beautiful way to maximize a space and make it feel positively custom.  Whatever the reason, I have been ripping out pictures of built-ins and fantasizing about them since I started hoarding home design magazines a decade ago. So my dream finally came true when after spending more than two years talking incessantly about how the knee-wall in our master bedroom would be the-perfect-spot for built-ins and making grand promises of how my ever-growing piles would transform into neat, useful, and dare I say, decorative additions to our room, my husband finally gave in.   

Enter Bill Jones of FreshAir Millworks, carpenter extraordanaire.  In one short week (and only one day in our house for the installation), Jonesy whipped up a new piece for us that delivered exactly the vision I had every night as I fell asleep staring at that wall.  I don't know why it took us so long to move on this project -- possible fear of working with a contractor (we're newbies), not knowing how to access a contractor without getting ripped off (personal referrals are key), or just getting up the gumption to spend a chunk of money on something so -- well -- permanent (that's a hard one to swallow unless your absolutely sure what you want).  But the whole process of working with Jonesy was so easy, that it's hard to stop coming up with projects for him now. 

Want a little bit of FreshAir Millworks for your home?  Contact Bill Jones at (508) 587-1109.

Built by IKEA, Updated by Bemz

I'm a big fan of slipcovers.  In theory. When my husband and I bought our first "real" living room furniture (read: not a hand-me-down futon on an unfinished frame with splinters that I slept on beginning my sophomore year of college) every piece was slipcovered.  Dirty? Throw it in the washer!  Bored with the look? Order another one!  The washability was great, but when we did, in fact, get bored with the look, I dicovered it was going to cost $750 to get a new slipcover for an $800 club chair.  If only I had bought that chair at IKEA and then, if only I had known about Bemz, things would have been different.

Bemz, a Stockholm-based company whose products can be found only online, specializes in custom slipcovers for the most popular sofa and chair models from IKEA including the Ektorp, Klippan, Lillberg and more.  The fabric offering is vast (but not too vast -- a plus in my book), and prices are reasonable (a slipcover for a 4-seater Klippan sofa is about $200), but the real clincher for me is that Bemz offers slipcovers in Marimekko prints. 

If only I had known.  Our big ol' club chair would've been from the IKEA PS collection and covered in Marimekko's Unikko poppies...or maybe navy linen...or orange cotton...

Image credits: Bemz

Toss One On

One day recently, I was at a friend's house consulting on a living room reinvention (maximum change for minimal cash) and I spent some time extolling the virtues of throw pillows and their ability to pull together a room through pattern, update a couch or chair, or just generally add visual interest to a space that's spare on accessories.  So on that note, let me share some of my faves from this season:

Look to CB2 for some great cheap and chic options, including the Kala Pillow, featuring a collage of bright fabrics in graphic bars.

For a summery addition to your living room, look to L.L. Bean's new Maine Isle Throw Pillow collection including the starfish motif in navy cotton.

As the Fourth of July approaches and I reflect in my renewed sense of pride in our country, I'm loving the American Pillow Cover Collection from Restoration Hardware, particularly that little boudoir Flag pillow cover.

Because there are so many unique, affordable options for pillows from major retailers, as well as local artisans through sites like Etsy, I wouldn't normally advocate for a spending a ton of hard-earned cash.  But after catching a glimpse of John Robshaw's new collection which includes a series of stunning handpainted pillows, I'm advocating.  If you can spare it, I support it...and feel free to pick up the Painted Stork for me while you're at it.

Image credits (from top to bottom): CB2;  L.L.Bean; Restoration Hardware; John Robshaw

Chroma Lab Love

Once upon a time, after an auspicious run-in with a $20 drop leaf table, some rockin' Paper Source paper and a good deal of Mod Podge, I had fantasies of making a living reinventing Craig's List furniture into masterpieces.  That was until it took me five days to scrape, sand and do a masterfully bad job of decoupaging my bargain.  I was so tired after the experience that I still (almost a year later) haven't found the where-with-all to refinish the table legs. Turns out someone else had my great idea, but was far better equipped to deliver on it.  While browsing the SoWa Market yesterday in Boston's South End, my pal Greer and I had the good fortune of coming upon Jamaica Plain-based Chroma Lab.  Owners Alicia Cornwell and Tony Bevilacqua transform vintage pieces in need of some love and attention (and maybe some nails and glue too) and turn them into things of beauty.  I was drawn to Alicia and Tony's tent because of this joyful Marimekko-covered chair, but once inside discovered even more swoon-worthy items including a pair of sinuous yellow lamps and the practical-joking Pretend Table, faux bois-finished with the wood grain likeness so real that it wasn't until I got home and was checking out their site that I realized the piece was painted.

Best of all (I think) is that they do custom jobs -- so if you have a piece-of-junk dresser that you are ready to trash, get in touch with them and be prepared to fall in love.

Image credit: Chroma Lab

SoWa Sundays Begin!

Eight years ago, when I moved back to Boston from New York, I was surprised to find that there wasn't an open-air art market (like the ones that you can find every weekend in nearly every Manhattan neighborhood) anywhere to be found.  But just a few years later, the SoWa Open Market began to fill that void, pitching tents in Boston's South End and filling them with local vendors offering everything from original art to handmade accessories to fresh-off-the-farm produce.  This weekend, the brains behind Open Market launch their newest addition to the SoWa family -- the SoWa Antiques Market, housed in the historic Trolley Barn.  Dealers offering antique and vintage pottery, furniture, textiles, collectibles, glassware and more, promise to be a great addition to this Boston institution-in-the-making.  And if I weren't away this weekend I would be angling for some child-free time to roam the aisles...    SoWa Open Market, Antiques Market and Produce Market, Sundays through October; opening weekend only open Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17; 540 Harrison Avenue, South End, Boston.

Image credit:  SoWa Open Market