Inky Dresser + Nightstand || Styling with a Tapestry

Sometimes I rather fancy myself a matchmaker of sorts. I like to pair raw pieces with the right refinish and then pair refinished pieces with the right buyer. I’m like the Hitch of furniture if you will. I’ve even been known to take lonely-heart items in my workshop and fix them up together (remember my light fixture family tree for example?).

I didn’t originally plan to pair this dresser and nightstand together, but the longer they sat next to each other in the workshop, the more I realized their clean lines and tapered legs “spoke the same language” as we like to say. Both had debilitating body damage that made paint inevitable. The dresser had some serious scratching and that nightstand - some water damage (did you see the glaring chunk of missing veneer?). So I decided to bring them together in holy refinishing matrimony.

Both pieces were perfect candidates for a coat of “Black Boudoir” by Behr - a favorite inky blue/ black shade that plays well with brass hardware and warm wood tones.

Although their original stains were similar, I sanded both sets of legs down to their skivvies and gave them a buttery wax finish.

Ok so I might be a bit of a one-trick pony. In addition to the repeat color pallet, I also deployed a favorite for the hardware - these Amazon.com brass whistle knobs have made their appearance here and here - oh yeah and here too. But really people - I am who I am *insert shoulder shrug emoji here*

For the styling, I had a fun opportunity to play with a new-to-me product: an oversized tapestry from Tapart - a company that sells modern tapestries by independent artists. The silky quality to the tapestries almost makes it feel more like a vintage scarf than a wall hanging, but they adds an easy punch to any space and have a variety of designs from surreal to graphic, abstract to cheeky matras.

I love to play around with art in our home but sometimes I catch myself craving something with a HUGE impact (just preferably not to my wallet). I mean, how many of you have resorted to hanging a sarong on the dorm room wall for this very reason? Well save your sarong for the beach ladies - you can still keep your wall décor casual with this hanging piece of fabric while simultaneously offering up some upscale visual impact.

It’s no wonder that Tapart and it’s contemporaries at Urban Outfitters and Society6 are now offering tapestries as a simply stylish way to dress your vertical décor space.

What I love most about this company is that each tapestry supports the artist who designed it as an alternative way for them to sell their work.

TapArt is an online marketplace of artists. We handle and market our artist's designs while they focus on what they do best - creating artwork.

thetapart.com

Check out their variety of inventory here and if you see something you like, use the code catestyle-20 to get a 20% discount. Oh! And hit me up if you are interested in these inky newlyweds or would like to here more about our purchase and shipping options.

Inky Dresser + Nightstand
Now Available for Sale
Dresser: 34”W x 19”D x 45.5”H
Nightstand: 24”W x 15”D x 23.5”H
$695 for the set


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

Wink of Wood

This pair. This pair of 3 drawer chests. This pair of 3 drawer chests with their clean lines and their gold buckle hardware. I wanted them so bad that I drove two towns over to pick them up. Twice.  No - not because they didn’t fit in my car but because for the first time in my furniture flipping career, I had to call an audible on account of the screaming baby in the car.

When I set up the meet, I figured all I really had to do was get baby H and me dressed enough to be considered decent, drive out there to pick them up, throw them in the car, then head home. Easy, peasy lemon squeezy.

That was my first mistake.

Baby fell asleep on the way. The seller was running late - no big! We can just wait in the car.

Strike two.

I had scheduled this pick up during what I learned later that many moms call “the witching hour” - that hellish time of day where baby can seem inconsolable…

YOU STRAIGHT FOOL YOU.

Never. Stop. Driving. If baby is asleep in the car, you keep that magical motion going or you’ll have hell to pay. Unbeknownst to me, the delicate window to get these pieces and be on our way without a nuclear meltdown BEGAN TO CLOSE as soon as we pulled up to the rendezvous. After 10 minutes of waiting, baby H went all Chernobyl and we had to evacuate STAT.

Driving home, my hormones triggered a meltdown of my own. I had been so hell-bent on maintaining my need to create that I hadn’t stopped to consider her needs. What if we drive all the way out there and we can’t get the pieces to fit around her car seat? Where will baby wait if I have to finagle them down some stairs?? What if something breaks in transit and there is super sharp debris rattling around her in the car??? These questions were raising an unforeseen growing pain of new motherhood (emphasis on the pain): how to rewire a ME to better think about SHE.

As she was wailing for relief from the car seat, I realized I had popped her in the car like an accessory. Something I could just bring along with me on a craigslist pick up like a tape measure or moving blanket. Yeah… NO. Babies are not tape measures people. And they will (un)happily let you know that.

It was a valuable lesson about new motherhood and I have a hunch that I’m not done learning it. And perhaps never will be. Yes these dressers were a great buy for the business but if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. I pulled a new-mom mulligan and reached out to the seller to explain our no-show. She was gracious enough to reschedule with me the following day so I had a second chance to make juggling baby and a small business work. So we set out again - this time I made sure that baby had a full belly and a clean diaper first, and that the pieces were grab-and-go ready, and that they would fit safely around my most precious cargo (the baby… not the dressers). Fortunately for us this time, it worked out in the end but I’m acutely aware that that might not always be the case. And that’s ok. The beauty of owning your own business is that you should make it work for your family. Not make your family work for it.

With the challenges of my first postpartum pickup behind me, I worked on the dressers when it wouldn’t interfere. Stringing together bursts of productivity during naptime or when Dad was home - and even sometimes with baby snuggled up and strapped to my chest.

A series of nicks and dings meant I had to paint the majority of the pieces after all the repairs. I chose a favorite sIlky black paint finish for the body but still wanted some way to keep at least a touch of wood.

The only place I could salvage ended up being a unique opportunity for a wink of wood. I knixed the original concave metal backplate in favor of staining the recessed cavity behind the gold buckle pulls.

It’s just a peek but I hope someone will appreciate the subtle detail.

I added dark walnut legs with brass sabots (that’s fancy furniture talk for brass shoes) to play up this little detail.

With such richly dark pieces, I decided to keep the styling simple with a couple white accessories and a pair of arched floor-length mirrors.

These babies are ready for a new home and I’m ready for a new project - provided I’ve figured out how to be a mom and a maker… *wink*

Black 3-Drawer Dresser Set
Now Available for Sale
32”W x 18”D x 30”H
$795 for the pair

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

Fraternal Twin Tables

Meet the twins:

Ok they are not identical. But they are fraternal if you will. Yes they have their own different personalities (and if you ask, one is 1/2” bigger than the other) but they are definitely related. I met one at a thrift store and the other on the facebook marketplace and nearly did a double take. Could they be brothers-from-another-mother separated at birth?!? Only one way to find out - get all 1990’s family portrait up in here and dress them alike:

I refinished both of them in a matching color pallet of forest green, rust red, and an inky blue-black. Each has a unique distressed design but the color coordination allows them to “speak the same language” as we like to say.

Both brothers have a hidden drawer. One has it in the front…

And the other on the side.

They each have a lower shelf for more storage…

And brass feet.

How can you deny the resemblance?! These near doppelgängers are distressed to impress and that worn finish will only get better with more use. I can easily picture them in a boys room or even better a vacation rental. Can you tell I have lake living on the brain by my Pendleton Wool inspired styling?

And can I just say I was never a lake person before I married Caleb? My family was split into two camps: mountains or beach. How did I NOT know you can have the best of both worlds with a flippin’ lake house!?!

That coat rack from QT Home Décor would be the perfect drop spot for wet towels when you come up from the dock. And the stainless steel construction means it would withstand heavy vacation rental use too. *Side Note* they also have an incredible selection of modern house numbers if you want to up your rental’s curb appeal too.

Memorial Day weekend means lake season is officially open people! If your shopping for your property, these tables are up for grabs - just email me for purchasing and/or shipping options.

Twin Tables
Now Available for Sale
18ʺW × 28ʺD × 22ʺH
$95 for the pair

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