Quick Flip of a Roadside Find

It was a warm, muggy day and I was walking out of the twins' elementary school with Mason and some neighbor friends who we had joined to help out with field day. My friend Alecia, with her belly about to pop with her baby girl, had locked her keys in her car. So, we all hopped in our van, drove to their house where she got the spare key, then we dropped her off at her car. It was then that I realized a few driveways up from her car was some sort of wooden object. Always worth checking out! So I pulled up and found this guy!

This piece was almost cool. The unique size, (almost square like), and tapered legs made it worth loading up to bring home for further inspection. It's not all solid wood, most surfaces were scratched up, and the back is some sort of cheap composite piece. But my biggest strike against the piece were the adjustable shelves. I'm a huge fan of adjustable shelves when they're hidden behind cabinet doors, but seeing the multiple holes drilled into the sides and those small metal bracket thingys made this particular piece look cheap. But, like I said; it was almost cool! Close enough, at least, to give it a go.

When it comes to mid-century modern furniture I always try to maintain the time period of the piece, and two-tone, (or white and wood), is a classic look that has withstood the test of time. I filled in the holes on the sides where the adjustable shelf options were and then made some simple wooden brackets to set the fresh white shelves on. Other than the wood brackets and the tapered legs, I painted the piece white.

I've always loved how items pop on white shelves! (Check out Cate's dining room campaign style shelves to see what I mean!)

Fuzzy kiwis. Adorable.

Petite MCM Bookshelf Now Available to DC Locals
43"H x 36"W x 12"D
$125

Thank you for stopping by!

Restored Mid-Century China Cabinet ||Now Available||

Hi friends! It feels like it's been a while since I've come by with a furniture flip so it sure feels good to be sharing one today! We've been working steadily with a couple more eDesign clients, interviewing intern applications, andon a personal front, I'm getting ready to step back a bit as soon as my Colin and Shire are out of school for the summer, (6 days to go and it's reminding me of the last 4 miles of a marathon; lots of pep talks, jelly beans, running through water and praying). The piece I'm sharing today is a china cabinet I found outside the Old Lucketts Store on a rainy day.

Due to the water damage I needed to let it dry out quite a bit once I got it home, (thanks to Cate and her truck). This was one of those finds where I wasn't confident it would work out - the structure of the piece was solid, but the condition of the wood was questionable. If it was severe I was willing to dump the entire piece since we are not in the business of covering up rotting wood with a band-aid of paint. I left it in the garage to dry for several weeks and, low and behold, once I looked it over the condition of the wood was restorable!  

After a lot of sanding and resealing, this piece is as good as new!

Upon first seeing this piece outside the antique shop I intended to give it a back. It had one at one time, (as well as sliding glass doors on the front as you can tell by the grooves). But my Momma, who was with me when I found this piece, encouraged leaving it backless, (so scandalous). I figured it was worth seeing how it looked before investing in materials and time, and it turns out that it's lovely all open like this! Way to go, Mom! :)

I haven't done many, (four, to be exact), but china cabinets are my favorite type of piece to refinish. I adore the idea of a piece that can tuck in seamlessly in various rooms. I've only styled this piece in our dining room and living room, but I've sold a china cabinet that went to a client's sun room, another for a study, and a third that went to a craft room! They're brilliant for storage without taking up a large footprint.

Here's our handsome friend in a living room setting - doesn't he look sharp?!

While this piece was in the garage drying over several weeks, I was hunting for hardware. These pulls were in my head long before I finally found them! I wanted these 'T' style pulls in brass and bone, but couldn't find them anywhere! Anthropologie saved the day. Of course. They're a little bit glam, a little bit bohemian, a little bit masculine, and a whole lot of perfect.

I'll tell you what, styling with all your books, even the ugly college text books you forgot to sell back, and suddenly you'll take on the presence of a prestigious professor genius. Just be ready to artfully dodge questions like, "Have you read all of these?!", "What did you think of Plunder and Deceit?", or "So, you like to read, huh?"

Open Mid-Century China Cabinet
66"H x 54"W x 18"D
$750
Please contact me at chelsea@stylemutthome if interested in this piece or a similar custom order!

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Modern Bar Table ||and treat yo self to a Giveway!||

One of my favorite parts about furniture flipping is finding something that could be cool - even if I don't know how exactly.  I've mentioned it before, but I often run through a checklist when I'm debating a new potential project at the thrift store: 1) Is it cheap?  2) Does it have good bones?  and 3) Can I make it cute?  When I found this chrome and laminate table, it hit points 1 & 2, but I was a little fuzzy on 3.  

I thought at first it should be transformed into a glamorous marble and gold console table.  But it was a little too short to be a suitable console and I wasn't really loving the cost of two custom-cut marble slabs.  But this is where it's handy having a partner in the biz.  I bounced some ideas off of Chelsea and was inspired to start simple and see if I liked where the project was heading before investing an exorbitant amount of time, money, and energy into it.

I took a long look at it again and realized this petite table might not be the best height for and entryway piece, but the unique gaps between the chrome trim and the flat surface of the top shelf made for some handy handles...

I replaced the bowing fake parquet with white melamine for a more modern look.

The porcelain pyramids are a Sweet Clover Barn find from their May sale weekend.  Chelsea and I braved the rain and mud and were rewarded with all the goodies.  Guys, if you're anywhere REMOTELY near the DC area, you should plan a day out to Frederick, MD for one of their sale weekends and capitalize on the best barn deals around my friends.  

You heard it here first ;)

I've been a little obsessed with brass lately, but something about the bright reflection of the chrome [can you spot me??] made me reconsider applying a faux gold finish.  Chelsea advised me to finish the table without painting the chrome to see if I liked it as-is.  And BOY am I glad I listened to her.  I never thought I would like to look of chrome so much!

This time of year Chelsea and I have a lot to celebrate: my birthday falls and the end of May with Chelsea's bday and anniversary right behind in early June.  Being the party people that we are, we thought we'd extend the invitation to you all and invite you to also

Treat. Yo. Self. 

To a StyleMutt Giveaway that is!!!  In the spirit of celebration, we are giving this wall hanging to one lucky winner.  Handmade by yours truly, this wall art is made from a swatch of Milton & King wallpaper, some vinyl letters, and white spray paint.  Their array of patterns is so diverse and downright juicy that it was difficult to pick just one.  But I stumbled on a sinful yet playful pattern named Gluttony and thought the Parks & Rec quote was too perfect.  [That little framed art print is also a swatch of the same wall paper].

To enter, comment below with what you would most like to treat yourself to today and find us on Instagram [@chelsea_stylemutthome and @cate_stylemutthome] for more ways to enter.  US/ Canada residents only. Winner will be announced next week!

And if you're in the DC Metro area, this smashing bar table is now available for sale ;)

Modern Chrome Bar Table
41"W x 17"D x 26.5"H
SOLD
$145

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, please contact me at cate@stylemutthome.com.