Friday, March 18, 2011

Florida Challenges

Well I arrived safely after a long ride from New Jersey with my car making some crazy airplane noises. Right now it is in the shop getting ball bearings and brakes!
938 miles is a long way. I had no idea it needed work till half way down.
Before heading off to the Keys  in a couple of weeks, I will be attempting to "neutralize" this Florida house.
When we bought it, everything was Black, Aqua, and Purple. Yes, I said purple.
The walls are mostly grey and I can live with that.
But some things had to ...and still have to go.  The E- normous purple formica entertainment center is gone...it went last year when my big strong boys were down here with me. And that has been replaced with this adorable little tropical theme console table.
I never did take a pic of that purple entertainment center. Trust me it was really big and really purple!
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And the hall foyer had a glass and chrome table which, needless to say, I wasn't crazy about,-->
That has been delegated to the garage and will probably wind up in a consignment shop for some college student. I replaced it with this cutie  below from Home Goods


 The previous owners had the coffee table and end tables that matched the glass and gold foyer table,
 that I also hated. Off to the garage again.. The last time I was down I was able to swap them out for a much more cottage looking set.


I'd like to get rid of the aqua rug but that won't happen this year!
So this time around I am working on the dining room chairs! Get a load of these. We call them the "Beetlejuice" chairs. ....Absolutely not me. Go ahead , laugh if you want. I understand.

I wasn't kidding. Black, Aqua, Purple
So what is a girl to do? I don't have an extra thousand dollars to spend on a completely new dining room set right now, nor will I any time soon. So they will have to get "neutralized."
I am thinking slipcovers from dropcloths.... the perfect color and texture that I want.

I've been experimenting a little bit  and like the idea of some fabric paint on each chair with phrases such as "Beach" "Ocean"  "Surf" 

just so they aren't so plain.

I did this on a throw pillow and like how it looks. And this fabric paint stays on in the wash.
 One side is a nautical print the other the canvas dropcloth with "Ocean" and" Beach" written on them


So that's what I will be busy working on.. my chairs.
So far only one is done. And there are 7 more.
I do prefer this look to the black 80's look!

My sis will help me after our trip to the Keys.. she is a much better seamstress than I am.
In the meantime. I will have to spend some time on this gorgeous beach, on the gulf coast by Sarasota.  In this gorgeous water.
and tanning up this super white skin... I got going on.... from a cold New Jersey winter!
Just jump in!

Now for the Florida challenge...
Does anyone have any ideas what I could possibly do with this dining room table?
*Note>>> hub is NOT handy, this one is on me.
*Note>>> buying a new one is out.
How in God's name would you cottage this thing up? 2 big black formica pedestals hold up an extremely large piece of glass.
Any ideas ?

Changing this thing is a risk worth taking!

joining the nester's risk taking day

6 comments:

  1. Is covering it in all those mini shells you can collect on the warm Florida beach a usable idea?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eileen @ Cottage Beach HouseMarch 18, 2011 at 9:26 PM

    Wow. driftwooddesign. That's a really great idea. I didn't even think of that. I have so many shells that I have collected too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That shot of the beach kills me~longing for warm weather up here!!!! Great pieces!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have an idea. Make two placemats the shape of
    the top to cover the black. For the sides you can velcro the drop cloth material around the top edges.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would cover the base with a grass cloth
    wall paper or burlap or some other textured
    fabric in a neutral color. Really I think the base of the table is an interesting shape, not
    bad. I live in Florida on the east coast in Martin County-near the beach. We seldom
    decorate with a lot of beach-y things, I have a few shells around but they aren't glued to anything!
    I do like beach colors; tans, greens, browns
    and pale sea glass colors. That is what I have in my LR-green sofa, brown leather chair, wood floor,antique furniture and an open hutch with sea star drawer knobs that look rusty. I display
    a lot of white dishes with some aqua glass-like
    old Ball jars, etc. Other than that I don't go
    overboard with the beach-y look. For inspiration I love Coastal Living Magazine.
    You will find your style...the chairs look much better covered-you did a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You could wrap/glue rope around the base. Maybe add a shell or starfish here and there.

    ReplyDelete

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