$1000 Give Away to Interior Define!

Every time I post a photo of my English roll arm sofa, I get asked about alternative sources for a similar sofa. The last time around, a bunch of readers asked if I had seen the new roll-arm sofa from Interior Define. They collaborated with The Everygirl to design the sofa - and it's beautiful!

I reached out to Interior Define about getting some swatches for the sofa for a client (we love the bleached legs!), and they asked if I'd be interested in guest curating a collection (click here to check it out!) and hosting a $1000 GIVE AWAY. Amazing, right?

Interior Define is an online-only furniture manufacturer and retailer, which means they can customize size, configuration, fabric, cushion fill and legs on almost every one of their designs, while still keeping their prices 30-40% below comparable retailers. They do have a flagship store in Chicago, where customers can call in or stop by to work with their design team on custom pieces.

I really love that they offer complimentary swatches in 40-60 fabric options. I asked them to send me a few of my favorites and I'm super impressed with the fabric's durability and classic color options.

How pretty is that plum? I'd love to use it on a pair of Wesley chairs!

And I'm super obsessed with this sectional, which is something I thought I'd never say. :) I can't decide which color I like more though:

And the Harper!! This sofa is pretty close to upholstery perfection. Just structured enough, but definitely casual and comfy.

While I was poking around on their site, I also noticed they sell a few accent pillows made from Japanese menswear fabrics, and I had to have a pair. I got two of these stitch stripe pillows. They will be perfect for my daughter's bed, but I'm borrowing them for the music room for now :)

Now for the good stuff: Interior Define is giving LGN readers $100 off any order over $1500 through December 14! Just use the code LGN100 at checkout.

And to enter to win the very generous $1000 give away, click here and join their email list. Browse around and pick your favorite Interior Define product and then leave a comment on this post with a link to the pieces you'd buy with the credit if you won.

Here's the fine print below. Thanks to Interior Define for sponsoring this giveaway! Good luck!!

• Giveaway open to continental US readers only
• $1000 credit must be used toward a chair or sofa purchase
• Entrants must register their email address
• Giveaway ends December 9, 2014
• Giveaway winner will be randomly selected from the comment section and emailed by Jenny.
• Credit must be used in a single purchase. Any returns will be refunded store credit minus any applicable restocking fee.
• Credit must be used by May 1, 2015

UPDATE: A big congratulations to Janna McCalley for winning the $1000 give away! Thanks to all those who entered. xo

DIY: On Fixing Up Chipped Veneer

A few weeks ago I found a desk at Goodwill that was in not-so-great shape. The veneer on the table top was badly chipped and what was still there had pretty intense water rings and discoloration. The table base though, which is what really caught my eye in the first place, was in pretty decent shape, so I decided to buy the desk and cross my fingers that I could salvage the top.

I took a closer look at the veneer when I got the desk home and quickly realized the only real choice I had was to remove the worst of the veneer and paint the top.

To make the surface as smooth and even as possible, I whipped up a couple batches of Bondo that I applied in thin coats.

Bondo feels a little hardcore the first time you work with it (so, you know, maybe don't try Bondo-ing an entire staircase like I did). It's like epoxy in that you have to mix in a hardening cream and that you have only a few short minutes to apply the mixture before it starts to harden (also it has a very... distinctive smell). But, truly, it's not that scary once you have a batch or two under your belt - and it repairs and seals like nothing out there.

Bondo's finish is so smooth, unlike wood filler, and so strong, unlike plaster or putty. It sands beautifully so it's not that hard to just get a rough coat down and then sand away the extra until you have a smooth surface. Just remember it's easier to sand down the Bondo than to try and apply a perfectly-perfect surface with a spatula in the first place.

I Bondo-ed over the center seam (since the table didn't come with a leaf) and around all the rough spots, waited a good 30 minutes or an hour before sanding and then wiped everything down. There were a few places I missed the first go-round, so I made one more quick batch of Bondo and did some touch ups before painting the top.

I just used my trusty standby of Rustoleum's pre-mixed enamel line. I wanted a creamy white this time so I made my own color - about half of their white with half of their Almond color. It's so easy to get a pretty finish brushing on oil-based paints when most of the surface is horizontal. The paint spreads and smooths out so beautifully. I put on a pretty thick coat on the table top and applied two or three lighter coats on the vertical edges, to help avoid drips.

Oil-based paint takes a long time to dry, but the hard-wearing (and water-repellent!), extra beautiful finish is worth all the effort to me. 

The wood base is still in "vintage condition" but it cleaned up pretty well with a quick wipe down of Restor-A-Finish on a rag and that was pretty much it! It's so fun to have a new, super unique desk in my studio for almost no money!

DIY Folding Screen from Bifold Doors

I've always loved a good folding screen! They are super useful and versatile for large homes and tiny apartments alike. And the best part is they are a cinch to make yourself using inexpensive hardware store bifold doors! 

I got these flat masonite doors at Home Depot for $40, which was cheap enough, but looking back I probably should have checked Habit ReStore before buying new. They sell a ton of closet doors just like these for just a couple bucks usually.

The masonite was pre-primed, so we rolled on a good coat of my forever-favorite Safety Red enamel paint as a first step.

We rolled on the backs first and then all the edges. We left the fronts white for the floral fabric application.

I had yards and yards of this pretty Brunschwig and Fils floral that was the perfect candidate for the decorative fronts of the screens. I should have taken a photo of the full width of the uncut fabric, but it's basically a thick wall of florals in the center of the pattern, with lots of black negative space on the edges. Since each door panel is only 15" wide, we were able to make the most of the black space (which felt a little more modern to me) and then create a new pattern with placement of the fabric repeats.

I wanted the fabric to look almost wallpapered, so we cut two sets of each pattern repeat, so there would be two sets of two matching doors.

The fabric decoupaged chair project worked out so well that I was quick to pull out the Mod Podge again on this project.

I brushed on an even, thick coat on the unpainted side of the doors, about two feet at a time.

I used the black edge as my guide and smoothed out the fabric as I went. It's really important to get out all the air bubbles before the Mod Podge dries.

Once the fabric had dried a bit, I cleaned up the edges with an X-acto knife, just like with the chair project.

Then we brushed on a top coat of Mod Podge, to even out and seal the fabric, especially around the edges.

After the top coat had dried, we flipped the doors over and screwed in new brass hinges. Each pair got three hinges installed on the backs, just like this, with the spine of the hinge facing down:

And then the two pairs were connected with three hinges installed inside the inner lip of the doors, so that the doors would zig and zag and fold correctly. Again, the hinge spine was facing down here.

Isn't the brass so pretty against the glossy red of the door backs?

And the pop of red peeking out from behind the black floral is so striking!

It's hard to tell in these photos, but the top coat of Mod Podge made for a really dreamy, matte wash over the pattern. It is SO pretty.

I really love the folding screen application, but I'm also thinking this would be a great way to dress up boring old bifold doors for a closet space! It's a really cheap way to get a wallpaper look in a room without the cost, hassle and commitment.

Have you seen any other folding screen projects around lately? I'm looking around my house thinking of all the places that could use one. They're so easy to make and so pretty! :)

Rust Mohair Slipper Chair

A long time ago, I fell in love with a rust-colored velvet slipper chair I saw at Lillian August. I loved the cream contrasting welt. It felt so pretty and fresh to me!

A year or two later, I found this tight-backed slipper chair at the Restoration Hardware outlet from their deconstructed line.

I think it was about $100. We kept it in our living room in the brownstone while I was trying to figure out what fabric to cover it in (or really, just trying to find the time to do it).

Then after we moved to Phoenix and while I was rushing to get the house ready for the Domino shoot, I popped into one of my favorite local fabric stores called SAS Fabrics (the one on Indian School is the best) and I found a few yards of the prettiest deep rust, almost oxblood, mohair fabric there for only $3.99 a yard! I used a lot of dusty mint colors in our library and music room area and I loved how these colors looked together.

I had my upholsterer follow the curve of the back and sides with a cream piping, inspired by the Lillian August chair that I saw so many years ago.

Isn't it funny how some things just sort of stay with you? I'm so glad I finally got my rust slipper chair. I feel like it was a long time coming! :)