Shop: LA Fabric Outlets

Posted by Amber in Dining Room, Shop on January 20, 2012  ||  2 Comments

We carved out a day to visit the fabric outlets in LA on our post-Christmas Disney trip. There were streets lined with fabric shops. We only took 1 one picture while we were there because it’s a shady area and I didn’t want to bust out the camera. (Also shopping with a 2 year old that has been to Disney for the past 3 days is a bit of a challenge.) I had to get at least 1 and text it to Jamie. She sent me a link to recommended fabric shops, so we decided to just go to those especially after we saw how many shops there actually were. Nick gave me a $100 budget.

We went into a few shops, but I am not the most confident shopper when it comes to a new shop (and a budget). I also had no idea what sewing project I was going to do. I should have thought more about that before we headed out. Lesson learned.

When I arrived at Michael Levine I still had $100 and was feeling a little lost. They had tons of fabric I wanted for nothing in particular. So I bought with little idea of what I was going to eventually do with it. The prices for the designer fabrics were comparable to what you find at City Craft, but they had lots on sale and tons of other options.

 

1. The striped knit was $3 per yard, so I got 3 yards. I might make myself a shirt or something with it. Maybe like this.

2. Black Ruffled fabric was $11 per yard and 50% off, so I bought 2 yards. I bought some in purple as well for Jamie.

3. Joel Dewberry Ginseng for 50% off. I can’t remember how much it was, but I bought 2 yards. I have a diaper bag with the same pattern but in gray (made by this talented lady).

4. Amy Butler August Fields for 50% off, so guess what I bought 2 yards. No idea how much it was originally most likely $12.

5. Robert Kaufman Metro Living. I don’t think it was on sale, but I still bought 2 yards.

6. Echino for Kokka. My favorite find. I loved it as soon as I saw it. Then I noticed it was $19 per yard. I tried to convince myself I didn’t love it anymore. I bought only a yard because I couldn’t justify anymore without knowing what I was going to use it for. We are now thinking drapes for the dining room. It would be a big expense since it will take about 8 yards total for 2 panels, but I really do love it.

My total was $100.05. Who says I can’t shop on a budget while on vacation. Although the FIDM scholarship store was closed, so I would have gone over budget if it wasn’t for that.

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New hutch

Posted by Nick in Dining Room on January 19, 2012  ||  Comments Off on New hutch

Ok so we admit it: we are obsessed with West Elm.

One of the West Elm objects we had been lusting after for a while was this hutch. At $800, it wasn’t quite in the budget, but boy did we want it. It’s a nice mix of modern and traditional (seems like we have a theme going).

Shortly before christmas the price was dropped down to $499 and subsequently West Elm had a 20% off all mark-downs. That brought the price down to $399.  That’s Half price yo! We were ecstatic. It’s unconfirmed, but there’s a strong possiblity that I did the PeeWee Herman dance immediately after finding it out.

We went over to West Elm in Dallas that night, and (after realizing it wouldn’t fit in our  SUV with a baby seat) returned to next morning to take it home. It was an early Christmas present to us!

We love it, though it’s hard to get a great pic of it since it’s right next to the window (Yes I know you can see me and the tripod in the reflection, sue me. Actually don’t, we can’t afford the lawyer fees right now). Now the only problem is that we have to buy accessories to fill this bad boy up. Currently, we are playing around with some antiques we have laying around (JFK bust, giant glass vessel, #3  sign etc…) to see what looks good. We also have a print that we need to get framed and it will take the place of that west elm frame.

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Feed Update

Posted by Nick in Side Note on January 18, 2012  ||  Comments Off on Feed Update

We’re working through some issues with our RSS feeds. Please bear with me, Life posts will probably show up in the main feed until I get it sorted out.

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Formal Dining Room / Entry Update

Posted by Nick in Dining Room on January 18, 2012  ||  1 Comment

We like to mix and match here at Wills Casa. High and Low. New and Antique. Traditional and Modern. We have a pretty clear vision as to how we’re going to achieve that in the dining room. Our table is new and we are pairing it antique chairs. The hutch is new and we want to add in an antique (but modern) buffet on the back wall. It’s a great concept, but it is taking a long time to come together. Unfortunately, that’s  how it works some times with antiques (especially when you’re on a budget).

We started off buying for the dining room by getting our giant table. It was an amazing deal. It’s 112 inches long, made of solid wood and we got it for less than $400. It’s gorgeous in person too. After that we started the ongoing hunt for bentwoods (if you see some around, let us know!). We currently have 2 different types of bentwoods (read about that ordeal here) and we’re looking for any chairs that will match either (and are reasonably priced). It’s the first to 8, so whichever style we can find 8 of first, will become the chairs we use.

Once we have our chairs, we’ll move that pottery barn bench to somewhere else. The wingbacks are from Affordable Furniture & Etc in Commerce. We saw an ad on craigslist for them and drove all the way out there to get them ($65 each).

Side Note: If you live near Commerce and like antiques, I would check that place out. The lady goes to a lot of estate sales  in the area and has a lot of furniture just sitting in trailers that you can dig through. We bought 2 wingbacks and an french-traditional style armchair when we were out there, all for cheap.

The rug we got cheap on clearance from Pottery Barn, but for some reason our dogs have peed on it (a lot, not sure why). So it’s going to have to be replaced soon.

The Hutch is from West Elm and we’re going to talk more about it another post soon. We actually bought another chandelier for the room, but took it down and put the original back up. I like the idea of keeping it up.

Here’s our punchlist for the Dining Room

  • Make Drapes
  • Find then paint the bentwood chairs black
  • Reupholster the wingbacks
  • Find the perfect mid century modern buffet
  • Get a new rug

The Entryway is pretty much a blank slate at this point and we haven’t been in a big hurry to decorate it. We’re going to move the west elm rug from the nook in here at some point, but we have to get another rug for in there first. The good thing is that since it’s a small space, once it is made a priority things will come together quickly.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention the light fixture in the Entry. It’s a brown capiz shell that we bought from The Consignment Solution in Dallas (i think it was only $100). We originally bought it for the nursery, but decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to put it in there. It sat around our house for almost 3 years, but now it has a new home and is looking fantastic. It was mounted with a west elm hardwire kit in black.

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Nook Progress to Date

Posted by Amber in Kitchen on January 17, 2012  ||  6 Comments

This is really just the second half of the kitchen, but I figured I’d make it a separate post to keep the kitchen progress one from being too long. I forgot to mention that we took up all the flooring in the kitchen and had 16 inch porcelain tile installed in the kitchen, formal dining, and entry. We did a chalkboard wall in the nook area which is cliche, but we love it. Ramona always wants to color it. We added a Loft Cable System from West Elm to put Ramona’s art on display. She explains each piece over breakfast. (She’s a bit of a talker especially while she is eating.) I chevroned a lack table from IKEA  for Ramona to color/play at while I cook or for her and her friends to eat at when we entertain.

There used to be a ceiling fan, but it disappeared after we closed on the house. Nick installed this pendant light. The Eames chairs are real. They are vintage but plastic not fiberglass. However, we only paid $35 per chair on Craigslist for them. Who can argue with that? The table (it also has a leaf) was also a Craigslist find. I wanted a table with Queen Ann legs to mix it up a bit. After we sold the chairs that came with it, our final cost for the table was $25. Jute rug is from West Elm. It was super cheap on clearance.

I made the 5 drapery panels out of Jonathan Adler bedsheets. I lined them because the sheets were too thin without lining. I used 2 sheet sets because it was easier to make the curtains from the straight sheet than the fitted one (read this as I was too lazy to cut up the fitted sheets). The sets were only $9.99 a piece at Burlington Coat Factory (here).

Nook Punch List:

  • Paint the table black
  • Reupholster/paint chairs that I found on Craigslist (I’m sure you didn’t see that one coming) for the end of the table
  • New rug – I love the West Elm one, but it doesn’t work well with the Eames wire bases. They get stuck in the jute weave. Plus I think it might be too small for the area since you should be able to pull your chair all the way out and still be on the rug. We will have to relocate the West Elm jute.
  • Hang something on the walls
  • Woven wood blinds

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Kitchen Progress To Date

Posted by Amber in Kitchen on January 16, 2012  ||  Comments Off on Kitchen Progress To Date

We figured we would start off with the biggest room update here at la casa…the kitchen. We started with green striped wallpaper (and not the cool striped kind either). All of the appliances were barely working. This made for a very interesting 9 months living with it. (Also it was a pregnant 9 months for me too). The countertops were white formica. The floors were wood laminate and chipped in several places.

We kept the cabinets but repainted them white with the island a green-gray color that I can’t remember the name of.  The countertops are ubatuba granite from Home Depot (here). We took the trash compactor out and replaced it with shelves for wicker baskets (here). Nick installed can lighting and changed the fixtures over the island.

The backsplash is tumbled marble subway tile. You can read up on our KitchenAid appliances here. I love that we went with induction cooktop. We added oil rubbed bronze knobs to the doors.

Here’s the punch list for the kitchen:

  • Put drawer pulls on (we have them somewhere around here)
  • Organize inside the cabinets
  • Paint the baseboards and crown molding white
  • Style it – I love clean countertops, but we definitely need to decorate.
  • Hang the onion print that is seen by the cooktop
  • Hook up the intercom system – It in its slot, but not connected because it will require wiring throughout the house. It’s a pretty big undertaking, but we’ve had the stuff to do it since we moved it.

 

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Welcome Back Wills

Posted by Amber in Side Note on January 16, 2012  ||  2 Comments

Nick and I decided one of our resolutions this year would be to retry this whole blog thing. We got so far behind in our first attempt that we just stopped altogether. Blogging is the best way for us to stay on track with our goals with home improvement, design, and our everyday lives with Ramona.

Plus I am staying home now, so I should be able to manage my time well enough (um sounds like another resolution) to maintain the blog as we complete our projects. Of course it won’t be all about completing projects. Not because we don’t have enough projects around here, but we want to share about us not just our money pit of a house one aspect of our lives.

Nick in all his amazing internet skills labored over the design and layout of this blog. I did contribute with brainstorming and my note taking skills, but I don’t have the know how to create it. We feel like we have a clear vision on what we want this blog to be to us. We tried running 2 blogs: Wills Casa Dos and Wills Family Circus. It didn’t work for us. Now we are running 1 blog, but we are separating our little details in life (like say Ramona’s wonderful potty training experience) under the life tab on the menu bar.

I promise to keep this up. Partly because I love looking at what we have accomplished. Sometimes it’s hard to see the progress when you look at the long list of things left to be done. But mainly I need to justify spending money to Nick.

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