Kitschy Kitten...a wonderful blog full of good things. » decorating

Vintage kitchen inspiration: Magnolia Bakery

Alana Waters Piper — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:17:10 +0000

Last Friday my younger daughter and I spent the afternoon wandering around downtown. We took in The Art Institute’s new modern wing, then headed over to the Magnolia Bakery for a snack. I immediately fell in love with the decor and just had to share some shots with you. There’s a lot of vintage kitchen inspiration here. Cleanly displayed collections, industrial pieces mixed with warm vintage accessories that were probably in your grandmother’s home.

Christmas door ideas

Alana Waters Piper — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:31:48 +0000

This is our second year in our classic Chicago bungalow. It has beautiful Arts and Crafts era details, so I don’t want to overwhelm it with decorations. This year I’m keeping it clean and classic. White twinkle lights and lots of greenery. The space I’d like to really do right is the front entryway. I’ve been Pinning all sorts of ideas and I think I’ve decided to do natural pine boughs (I love the loose drippiness) and a pine wreath with a loosely wrapped ribbon instead of the traditional bow. Then I’ll hit up area tree lots for loose branches to tuck into our planters by the steps.

What are you doing with your front door? Any ideas to add to the ones below?

Update: I decided the thing that bugs me about most wreaths are the bows that are the size of 80′s shoulder pads. Slipping a simple red sash around a natural pine wreath was the perfect alternative. Simple, fresh, and clean.

AND while pondering my empty planters, I wondered if the Christmas tree lots gave away their trimmings and they do! So I’ve filled the planters around the porch with boughs of greenery. It smells so good when you walk up to the door now. Mmm…Christmassy!

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Edgar Blazona-esque dollhouse

Alana Waters Piper — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:16:51 +0000

When we had a tiny house with a big backyard, I bought the plans for Edgar Blazona’s MD100 one room structure with the idea that I’d make a studio out back.

Before that could happen, we moved to a bigger house with a tiny backyard and no room for the MD100. I’ve never given up on the dream of building a smattering of Blazona’s structures, maybe in the woods somewhere near a river or lake. Someday that will happen, but for now I’m thrilled with the idea of having my own mini Blazona-esuqe structure to play with, thanks to CB2. {que not-so-subtle “cough cough” hint directed at my darling husband}

The original touts an approximate $1500 in materials to build. CB2 comes in at an even more affordable $59.95, rad fireplace included. They even have a line of Christmas ornaments in the form of classic modern chairs and furnishings. {again nudging my husband}

Reed Chair Ornament $3.95 @ CB2
Igloo Chair Ornament $2.95 @ CB2

Tell Santa, this girl isn’t too old to play with dollhouses and she’s been really good this year.

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Master bedroom on a budget 2

Alana Waters Piper — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:00:23 +0000

Yesterday we started our master bedroom makeover using budget finds or items already in our home. Some things are swap outs for other spots, some from our garage, at least one is an alley find. This isn’t a project I really have money to do right now, so we’re going to work it and work it HARD.

Old furniture that’s gone out of style or maybe has a not-so-great finish can get a fabulous new life in a bright hue. These thrifted nightstands have taken on a bright teal paint job and give us much-needed drawer space.

Gone: piles of books, lotion, medicine, bobby pins, tissue, and rogue juggling ball. (Why is that in here?)

The nightstands replace the metal TV trays we had been using, previously covered with black tablecloths. We had the lamps from our old house.

I topped them with a set of rikrak-edged cloth napkins from World Market just to keep the finish nice. I’m not sure if those will stay yet.

Elf on the Shelf ideas

Alana Waters Piper — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:30:28 +0000

Holiday contest for ideas!

I recently picked up a vintage Elf to start the “Elf on the Shelf” tradition with my kids. I’ve seen a few posts from around the web with tons of cute ideas for how to place him around the house. I think Dave and I will have as much fun cooking up ideas for where to place him as the kids will when they discover his nightly activities each morning.

This is the cute little guy I picked up at my favorite antique mall for $6. Love that he’s teal and green. He fits right in! The felt mistletoe is from West Elm.

My question to you all: Do you do the Elf on the Shelf in your own family? What are some of your favorite ideas for ways to place him? What’s the funniest or most creative idea you’ve heard for the Elf? And just to make it extra fun, I’ll draw a Elf on the Shelf idea at random from the comments section below. You might win a set of vintage Christmas stocking ornaments from my online store, Bluebird Goods. I’ll make the selection on December 1st.

UPDATE: I used Random.org to generate a number between 1 and 12, and it drew #1! So Natalie Seim, you’ve won a set of 3 vintage-style stocking ornaments from BluebirdGoods.com! Please email me at alana@alanawaters.com so I can get your mailing address. Thank you!

Master Suite

Alana Waters Piper — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Decorating the Master Suite on a Budget
After being in the house just over a year, we’re finally getting to a point where we are able to turn some of our focus to decorating our master suite. There’s a lot to work with here, including a window nook, soaking tub, and king size bed. We already have a smokey blue nail head trim headboard and I like our yellow and white patterned comforter.

Also reused from our old house are the drapes, Ikea arm chairs, and small cafe table. Dave needs a space he can use for some alone time, so it needs to stay “radio-friendly” for his extensive collection of vintage punk vinyl and turntable. I like to pour over my shelter mags in the tub or at bedtime, so there are 2 sets of bookshelves.

We also have a TV in our bedroom, which is not a popular choice, but we love coming up here after the kids are asleep to curl up on our big, soft bed and watch a movie or show.

I’ve started a Pinterest board here with lots of inspiration for what I’d like to do with the space. Really, I think even some paint and a small chandelier over the table would make a nice impact. I already have slipcovers for the chairs (the clawing culprit seen here) to replace the previous ones.

So here we go. I can’t wait to look back at this post and see the progress!

SOTF solo trip

Alana Waters Piper — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:58:07 +0000

We’ve been all over the area this summer in our little camper, but I hadn’t been anywhere alone yet until this past weekend. I joined the Sisters on the Fly last spring after getting tons of inspiration from the book of the same name and this weekend was the first time that I was able to join one of their adventures. We all met in Potato Creek State Park just outside South Bend, Indiana.

Sorry about the dark camera phone pictures. I haven’t been able to find my camera for 2 weeks. I live with a toddler. Stuff goes missing.

Everything is set up and ready for visitors.

Warm and cozy inside.

Finally got to debut my homemade chandelier.

The dinette, all set up and ready to present.

Girly vintage linens for the bedroom.

Vintage enamelware wash basin

Huge batch of cheese grits for the ladies’ breakfast.

More cozy girly linens.

I laid in here at night and watched movies or read a little before slipping off to sleep. Fresh air, great company, wonderful rest. It was a very good weekend.

Weekend projects: repurposing stuff to make a new chandelier and painting the Windsor chairs…again.

Alana Waters Piper — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:08:08 +0000

My arms feel like jelly. I just took what I vow will be the FINAL swag at getting the color on those dang Windsor chairs right. I gave up on spray paint and invested in a power sprayer so I could use custom-mix latex instead of the limited blues offered in the can.The color came out right this time, just like the chairs in the inspiration photo. Remember this?

So, of course that meant re-priming everything.

I hung tarps in the garage to rig up a makeshift spray booth.

And of course you can’t see the very pretty pale blue they turned out to be, but you’ll have to trust me…they’re perfect. FINALLY.

THEN…

I saw this article over at Shabbyfufu and was so inspired to try one of my own that I gathered up stuff I already had on hand and gave it my best swing. The inspiration piece is stunning, but I think if I didn’t look at them side-by-side, I’d be perfectly happy with mine. Note that it’s still a work in progress. I have more crystal droplets in my car, which is still at the body shop. I’ll permanently affix all of it once I can get the rest of those in place and painted.

Work in progress

There’s a third project waiting to dry out in the garage. I picked the cutest little foot stool last weekend at an area flea market that I painted white, stripped off the fabric cushion, and am in the midst of recovering. Pics of that later.

By the way, if you’re on Pinterest, why not follow my boards? I’d love to follow yours back. It’s such a great source of inspiration!

That’s it for now. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Catching up

Alana Waters Piper — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:30:36 +0000

The summer is always a busy time for us. Chicago keeps us locked indoors for so long during the winter months, that it’s hard to get me to stay inside very long once things warm up.

Here are the broad strokes:

We went to Texas to visit family.

Sophia turned 10 and got her ears pierced.

Will turned 2.

We got the Yellowstone camper and have been fixing it up.

I got hit in my Subaru by a red-light runner.

And then have been on a mega-crafty-craftiness bender.

The time when we paint

Alana Waters Piper — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:39:10 +0000

We’ve gotten to the part where we decide what color to paint the exterior of our vintage Shasta LoFlyte. I’ve very quickly put some options together in Photoshop. The fabric for the awning (I’ve already purchased) is an outdoor wide cabana stripe in light teal and white.

Which one do you like?

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