New Danish Modern chair

I admit, lately I have a little furniture problem, especially chair problem...I found this on Ebay, but the great part was that it was a local seller, so I contacted them directly, made them an offer, and picked the chair up. They wanted $125, I gave them $65- not a bad deal! Best guess is that it is late 60's or maybe early 70's but it's hard to say. It's solid walnut, and even though the chair isn't too big, it's really heavy!
You may also notice that my dresser is gone...I sold it on cl.com, but it was premature you see...the replacement dresser from Ikea was too big for the space. Now I need to find a new dresser, or just bag it and try to find a new home for the clothes that were occupying it.

Inspiration

Last night, Adam and I decided that our struggles with picking art should be OVER> we're sick of trying to figure out what we want on the walls, and we decided that we should revisit our own photography from our year of living on the road. This seems obvious now, since it was one of the best years of my life thus far.

Here you will see some of the pics that made the cut, and we plan to make the prints in various sizes from 4x6 to 11x14. If you have any feedback as to which ones you think would look best large and which would be best smaller, we'd love to hear from you. Also, if you have ideas for groupings let us know that too.

Hope you enjoy some of our favorite pics!

Chairs in Position

One of the chairs in it's new home up in the loft.
The other chair in it's new home in the living room, to which I have tried to throw in more color, after being accused of on Rate My Space (hgtv.com), of being 'bland and mundane' with color...bitches! Whatever, I'm still trying to figure out the artwork. I like this artist on Etsy- her name is Rachel Austin, check her out, her stuff is super cool and beautiful colors. I'm going to order some prints. www.http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=44863

Kim's Room- Before and After....

These pics are some 'oldies' from late Spring when we redesigned Kim's bedroom...I finally got her to give me some pics. Here is a 'Before'
In progress...
Bye bye ceiling fan.
Kim gets to work sewing her new pillows.

More Kim's Room 'Afters'

New light
New dresser with accent lighting
Gorgeous new bed and linens
You can see the wall color a little better here- think Dijon mustard, or 'calf shit' according to Kimmy's Aunt Suzy- hilarious!

Yard Sale Score!

A lot of people have been asking me 'Melissa, what do you do now that you are not climbing?' Well, if you haven't noticed, my blog has been tending towards more homey stuff, because obviously, one of my hobbies is interior design and shopping for cool house furniture and accessories.

A big part of my daily routine is scoping Craigslist to see what cool things people are selling, and I think it's fun to incorporate bargains and vintage stuff into your house- it's the ultimate recycle.

I have also been spending a lot of my days Garaging as I like to call it. Today was a banner day, as we scored a charcoal grill for 10 bucks, as well as the Coup de Gras of all garage sale finds: a vintage designer piece.

Yep, I scored two Eames fiberglass shell chairs for 10 bucks a piece. The real deal, stamped and authentic. Ok, so they had seen better days, but with a little guidance from Ron at the Green Ant, they restored beautifully.

See the pics below and view the complete transformation. Now, if I were a greedy bastard, I could now put these suckers on Ebay and make 10-15 times (or more) in what I paid for them, but with all the blood, sweat, tears, and itchy fiberglass now imbedded in Adam and I, why would I do such a ridiculous thing, especially when I now own a sweet little piece of Vintage Modern history.

Scroll down to the very bottom view all of the instructions for how to sand and refinish an Eames fiberglass shell chair, as well as to see the pics of how it went.

AFTER- Totally restored and ready to enjoy! Amazing classic for just 10 bucks a piece!

The happy sanders are smiling behind their masks!
Adam uses steel wool to polish the metal legs.
Melissa applies Penetrol with a soaked rag.
Post sanding. The chair on the left has not been coated yet with the Penetrol, the chair on the right has been treated- AMAZING transformation!

BEFORE: Dull, itchy, UV and water damaged, fiberglass-flaking chair...
A classic, stamped!
The "H" Base
Adam and I conduct a 'wet sand'. First with coarser 320grit water proof sandpaper, then finer with 600grit. You have to apply a fine mist as you sand and keep the chair wet to minimize fiberglass dust. A moistend dust mask is essential as well as heavy duty rubber gloves.

Mid Century Craigslist chair

I have been eyeing several pieces of Mid Century Modern furniture lately (also seen below in my "I am Coveting" post of the Eames rocker...Here though, tucked delightfully under the stairs is my latest gem of a Craigslist find- a cute little Mid Century bucket chair. The last addition to my living room, except for the artwork.

I LOVE LAMP

My beautiful lamp has arrived. As cool and lampy as I'd hoped. As Lubowski says: "it really ties the room together." Think I'll go pour a White Russian now....

Pole Fitness

Last night, I did something I had been dying to try for ages! I went to a Pole Fitness class at Studio Soiree, right in my neighborhood. Check it out: http://www.studiosoiree.com/about.html

My good friend Rachel knew I had been dying to try it, and she got us a deal on an intro class through a girl who recently started climbing at the Front.

Rachel and I not only had a fabulous time, but it was one of THE BEST workouts I have had in a long time. Think of it like vertical yoga or pilates, and extremely complimentary for climbing. The poles were TALL too (about 15 feet I'd say), these women were strong, sexy, and fearless, and there was absolutely nothing scandalous about it. The teacher, Niki, was totally ripped and she had some killer moves.

There was even a guy in the class! I would recommend this type of class for all of the climbers I know, and go with an open mind and you will get worked!

A couple of tips:

1. Do NOT apply lotion prior to class or you will slide down the pole and likely hit your head or ass on the floor
2. DO apply some sort of self tanner to your milky white thighs at least a few days before class
3. DO expect the skin between your legs and behind your knees to get raw
4. DO expect to have fun and get really sore