My New Headboard

Yesterday I went to The Needle Shop, a small fabric store here in Chicago.  I'd heard of them awhile ago on Etsy and had been meaning to go to their store, but never quite found the time.  Then a groupon to the Needle Shop came up...can't pass up a discount!  I finally headed over yesterday.  It was AWESOME!  As I said, it's a small store and it's not the place to go if you're just looking for basic supplies or a specific fabric.  But, if you want something unique, quirky, or fun, you'll love the Needle Shop.  Most of their fabrics are about $10/yard which is pretty reasonable.  They also have vinyl and upholstery fabrics.

Two of the fabrics I bought. {images via The Needle Shop}

If you customer service is what you want in a fabric store, you'll love them even more!  I spent an hour trying to pick which fabric to choose to recover my headboard.  The two guys working yesterday (forgot their names.  sorry!) were super friendly and put up with me and my indecisiveness.  They even pointed me to the nearby ribbon store and recommended some good things to do in Chicago come spring.  Now THAT'S customer service!

The headboard fabric I went with. {image via The Needle Shop}

In the end, I chose this super cute pink on pink fabric.  I had to use 2 separate fabric panels to make the headboard.  At first, I was simply going to use ribbon to hide the seam so the Needle Shop recommended me to Soutache, an awesome, super helpful ribbon and button shop.  The woman at Soutache was so nice...we sat at the table sorting through ribbons until we found the perfect colors and width.  Again, customer service is everything!  But after getting home and arranging the different pieces, I decided to add a panel of my old, green headboard fabric to brighten things up a bit.  I flanked the green with the navy and grey ribbons from Soutache.

Our old headboard.  Now you know what I'm talking about when I say our room is horrible and far from done!  Because our room is small and weird shaped, the bed can ONLY go in the room sideways which is why it looks so wide.  Just one of the annoying design challenges of this narrow condo.  If it wasn't for the nice master bathroom, I'd switch rooms!

I won't show you a full picture of the headboard since the actual bed and room leave much to be desired, but now that the rest of the house is almost done, I'll be able to focus my attention on our room!  I'm going to make big, dramatic window treatments to cover the window behind the bed which is why the headboard is so short on the wall.  We'll see how long that project takes me!

What do you think so far?

Textile Discount Warehouse, I love you.

Monday night, the husband and I headed over to Textile Discount Outlet to find fabric to reupholster our new vintage sofas.  We'd already struck out at Joann Fabrics (pricey, low selection) and Vouge (good prices, okay selection), but after reading the Yelp reviews of Textile Discount Warehouse, I had high hopes that we could finally find just the right fabric.  Boy am I glad we went.  The reviews were right!  The warehouse is a huge, three-story building FULL of all the fabric and sewing notions your heart desires.  Bolt after bolt.  Isle after isle.  Room after room.  The place is even bigger than I imagined.  Now I know why most Yelp reviewers recommended you take a couple hours just to look around.

There's a print for everyone at the warehouse!

The main floor is where you'll most likely find your fabric.  There are four big rooms of hanging bolts organized by type. They have all the fabric you can think of: ethnic prints, solids, spandex, lace, satin, animal prints, retro themes, etc.  As a bonus, almost all the fabric is 54" or 60" wide so you get even more for your money.  You'll also find multiple isles of ribbon, tie-backs, and lace.  One thing I'd suggest is that you bring small scissors.  I saw it mentioned in a review so I brought mine and I'm glad...the bolts are too big to carry around doing comparisons so I was able to easily snip off a small swatch instead.

Ribbons anyone?

Just one isle of fabric on the main floor.

The attic and basement are supposedly where you find even bigger discounts.  The bolts are on shelves so it takes a lot of digging to see what's there.  You'll definitely need patience and a few hours to find hidden gems here. I came across an awesome teal in the basement.  I hid it inside a bigger bolt so I can come back and get it later!  The basement also has loads of zippers, buckles, buttons, and even more ribbon!  I'm pretty sure they own stock in the ribbon business!  The attic had even more fabric and an awesome door original to the warehouse...super cool.

The awesome attic door.  I envision it in my dream loft one day!

Just some of the many buckles we found in the basement.

If you're in the market for fabric and you're in the Chicago area, you definitely need to hit up the warehouse.  Keep in mind it is a warehouse with concrete floors, open ceilings, and no frills.  It's actually cleaner than we expected.  If I have to give up decorative displays in order to get dirt cheap prices, I'm all for it!  We left with an awesome green fabric that was only $6.50/yard (the most expensive fabric we saw in our 2hr shopping session was $12.99).  Because we bought 15yards, we got a 10% discount which brought it down to $5.85/yd.  Our total for the night was $107 including the yard of grey wool fabric we bought.  We went into the reupholstering project expecting to pay about $350 at Joann...more if we missed the 50% off sale...so we're looking at a savings of at least $250.  AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went with green fabric for our couch.  It looks solid here, but it actually has a great texture.

For more pics, head over to our facebook page.

My New Sectional

I've always wanted a vintage sectional but they're hard to come by and expensive to reupholster.  Nonetheless, I kept searching.  Just when I thought my dreams of owning an awesome sectional (for a reasonable price) were gone, I finally got one this weekend for just $500!  While it's not a full sectional, it's close enough in my book!  To complete my dream, I'm building a corner piece that will connect the two sofas and give me the retro sectional I've always wanted!

As great as the original coral Naugahyde covers are, I'm recovering the couches in fabric so they're comfy for movie nights.  We tried Joann Fabrics but they're a little pricey for the amount of fabric we need and the selection isn't that great.  We also stopped by Vogue Fabrics over by the UIC campus.  They have super affordable fabrics and a good selection, especially for clothing.  Unfortunately we just couldn't find the right upholstery fabric to go with our color scheme.  Our next stop is Textile Discount Warehouse which is apparently THE place to go in Chicago and is literally a warehouse of amazingly discounted fabric.  I CAN'T WAIT TO GO!!!!!  Just look at all the fabric.

 {image via Yelp}

Aside from the couches, I also got two vintage chairs from the same seller for just $10.  They're in horrible shape right now but they'll look great once I'm finished fixing them up.  Keep a lookout, they'll probably end up in the Apt528 Store's soon to come furniture section!

Headed to the Supermarket

Soundtrack of the Day: The Mysterious Production of Eggs by Andrew Bird
Songs to Try: "Opposite Day", "Measuring Cups" (I can't get them to upload but believe me they're good!)

I recently stumbled upon Supermarket, a website for designers and artists to sell their work, much like Etsy.  While I'm a super Etsy fan, Supermarket is quickly finding a place in my heart!

The main difference between Etsy and Supermarket is size.  Etsy is HUGE and offers products from a diverse range of people.  From hobbyists to serious, independent designers who sell their work for a living, you'll find them on Etsy.  On the other hand, Supermarket is smaller and includes only the more serious designers.  Of course this means you're less likely to find some of the less expensive items that Etsy offers but sometimes it's worth it!  Take a look at a few of my faves below!

 Grid Wall Pocket

Felt Table Runner

Flora Wall Wear

Northampton Bag

Modern Blessings Pillow

Istanbul Bag

Uppercase Finds

While browsing around twitter (@apt528 if you're not already following us!) I found a link to an awesome Canadian store called Uppercase. Located in Calgary, Uppercase carries papergoods, books, and odds & ends that make your design senses tingle.

Take a minute to browse through the Uppercase store and you're sure to fall in love with them like I did. They carry pocket mirrors adorned with kitchy vintage typewriters (my favorite!), flowers, maps, and letters. Totes are screenprinted with bold typography, and notebooks are made with such detail that I shutter at the thought of ruining them with my sub par ramblings.  The best part is that most Uppercase products incorporate vintage materials. Vintage maps, magazines, and prints are used on the mirrors and journals...it's the best of both worlds!

If cupid's visited you a little early, you'll love the gallery section where they feature prints to bring out the romantic in you.

Livin' the ModLife

I can't stop thinking about ModCloth. I check their website on a weekly basis and eagerly await tweets from @ModCloth everyday. As always, I'm going to share my new obsession with you in hopes that I'll get some of it out of my system and not go broke buying everything from their website.

Clockwise from top: Born-Again Vintage - $24.99; It Takes Two Plate - $7.99; Toast and Boast Water Bottle - $19.99; St. Petersburg Pillow - $27.99; Petit Chat Noir Pen Case - $13.99; Pour Little Owl Pitcher - $13.99; Night Watch Door Mat - $27.99

My thoughts...if you like Urban Outfitters, you'll LOVE ModCloth. It's got the funky vibe of Urban but is 20 times better.

Don't forget to checkout ModCloth's apparel section. They carry super awesome clothes from carefully chosen, talented designers. I would show you pictures but I'm afraid everyone will buy the things I want before me!

Vintage Shops

My blogging schedule's been thrown off lately. I planned on using a few posts to show you pics of all the changes we've made to the apartment. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to buy batteries for the camera and the charger for the rechargeable batteries is broken. Batteries...just one more reason I hate my camera! I swear I'm going to get a new camera soon. If you have any recommendations, let me know. Something under $250 would be great!

Since I can't show you my apartment, I'll show you the next best thing: vintage shops.

First there's Artyczechs. Their awesome 1950's Bakelite Radio is so amazingly awesome that I just HAD to show you! I love the clean lines and futuristic design. It would go great with the rest of my radio collection.

Aside from great accessories (like the 1960's Bone China Vase below), Artyczechs also has an assortment of funky hanging lights. This glass Czechoslovakian chandelier is my favorite and seems to be in great condition.

Once you're done at Artyczechs, head over to Vintage Swank who lives up to their slogan of being "just plain cool!" Vintage Swank has everything from clothing to housewares. I love the Fabulous Fondues cookbook ($12). We have two fondue sets so this would definitely come in handy!

I've been drooling over these glass candleholders for quite awhile. I want them so bad I added them to my wedding registry!! I'm probably the only bride who has a registry full of vintage items. For those looking for something practical, check out this electric skillet from 1968, also from Vintage Swank. It's never been used...the cord is still coiled! For $75, you could definitely get good use out of it for short money. Not to mention, it comes in the original box with the original papers. Amazing!

Chiasso

Nowadays, everyone's looking to save money where they can, especially on non-essentials like furniture and decor. For most people, that means heading to Ikea to pick up an affordable flat-packed furniture item that takes FOREVER to put together.

Don't.

Instead check out Chiasso. Their prices are somewhere between Ikea and Crate and Barrel - not too cheap but still reasonable. You can find sofas for around $1000 and cheeky gift ideas for under $50 (see the doorstop below). If that's still a little pricey, check out the sale section. You can always find a great bargain there!

Abbey Sofa - $1198

Stiletto Doorstop - $15

IKEA goes Hollywood

Ever wondered what it would be like if celebrities took over our jobs for a day? Well, you're about to find out! IKEA and SXM are debuting a new webseries titled Easy to Assemble, created by actress Illeana Douglas.

(all images via SXM)

In the show, Illeana and other celebrity guest stars will don the yellow and blue as employees at IKEA's Burbank, CA location. According to a release by SXM, the production company behind the web-series, you'll see things such as "Jeff Goldblum doing a 10 minute improv monologue to a growing crowd of shoppers or Robert Patrick doing a scene with a real-time family chosen from within the store..."

For many celebrities, pulling hard to pronounce Swedish furniture from isles and bins might not be a walk in the park (welcome to normal life!) but Illeana's no stranger to retail work. In 2004 she played herself as an actress who quits acting to work at a supermarket. The appropriatly titled show, Supermaket, became an internet hit. Now she's back to repeat the success with IKEA.

The 10-episode, scripted series will air late September on several video sites including YouTube and Daily Motion. Aside from Illeana, look for guest-stars Jeff Goldblum, Justine Bateman, Tom Arnold, Robert Patrick, Ed Begley Jr. And Greg Proops.

Store Review: Streamline and the Darkhorse

I've been super busy lately apartment hunting, planning my mom's visit to Boston in a couple weeks, and trying to keep up with all our summer activities. It's been crazy! But, I always have time to go thrifting.

This time we checked out a couple of stores in Lower Mills which is on the Dorchester/Milton line about 20 minutes from Boston. The first place was Streamline Antiques, which specializes in art deco and mid-century items. Don't let it's small size fool you - there are enough tchotchkes inside to keep you busy for at least an hour! The first thing that caught my eye was an amazing orange vinyl chair with a teak base. It would be perfect for my apartment! We also found several great silverware sets, vintage cracker tins, dishes and glasses galore, and tons of jewelry. They had a great selection of books too...I purchased one on collecting mid-century furniture. There were two sisters shopping in the store with us who were amazed at the selection. They came in to browse and ended up buying new silverware, serving dishes, and plates for their upcoming dinner party. Who knew a second-hand store could be the new Crate and Barrel!?!

Our second stop was Darkhorse Antiques. Darkhorse is FULL of furniture and oddities. My recommendation: don't bring large bags or purses with you, otherwise you'll end up knocking something over! If you walk carefully through the cramped isles, you'll find majestic looking desks fit for a palace and massive mahogany armoires. They also have random things like chess sets made of bone china, a barrel from the old Baker Chocolate Factory, and neat cigar boxes. I'm going back for a set of chrome bar stools. They're cute and not like the typical 50's chrome stools. I plan on using them at the dining table once we get moved.

Streamline Antiques

1168 Washington St.

Dorchester, MA 02124
617-298-DECO (3326)

Darkhorse Antiques

2297 Dorchester Ave

Dorchester, MA 02124
(617) 298-1031

To the Market!

No I haven't been slacking, the internet's been down. I guess that's what I get for stealing wireless from the neighbors!

I've been pretty productive though. I read some new design books for upcoming reviews and made it out to the Sowa Open Market in Boston's South End. The Market is full of local artists and vendors showcasing their merchandise. We found some great things: popcorn bowls made out of reshaped records; turned wood serving platters; funky purses and wallets; organic clothing; handmade breads; and amazing jewelry. You could do all of your Christmas shopping here if you wanted to!

The vendors change from week to week so there's always something new. Not all of the artists have business cards or websites but many offer mailing lists to keep you up to date on the latest happenings. I mangaged to grab a few cards...here are just a few of my favorites this week:

Vonica

purses, wallets, accessories

http://www.vonicadesigns.com/

I love the Chic Chick bag...it's SO cute :)

Bella Bags by Marcia

purses, totes, messenger bags, accessories

http://www.bellabagsbymarcia.com/

There's no such thing as too many purses!

Jolly Bike

hand-painted bikes

http://www.jollybike.com/

You've never seen a bike until you've seen one of these!!

More Yard Sales

We went to another yard sale. This time it was hosted by Salvage Chic in Pembroke, MA. Be warned, it's a bit of a hike if you're coming from Boston.

When we first pulled up to the store, there was a hodgepodge of vintage housewares displayed out front. I'm not really into vintage furniture or decor, so I was a little nervous I wouldn't find anything to fit my 60's craving. Then we went inside where we found a store FULL of goodies. The setup is cute. There's a retro kitchen in the back stocked with cool retro and vintage kitchen finds. Make sure to open drawers and doors. In the ice box of the aqua-colored fridge (awesome find!) are an array of cool vintage ice trays. The cabinet drawers have neat old kitchen utensils and the cupboard shelves are stocked with dish sets. The dining area had a set of glasses we DESPERATELY wanted and lots of neat vintage toys fill the shelves by the register.



In the end, we walked out with some great deals. For $16 we got:

• about a hundred records for the bargain price of $10. There were several awesome records in the box including The Beatles. My favorite new record...The Village People!


• an orange fondu pot...the ultimate retro piece.


• a 1959 Polaroid Land Camera Model 80A. I did some research on the camera and found that it's the same camera used by Mary Moorman, one of the witnesses to the Kennedy assassination. Apparently she used the camera to capture several pictures of the grassy knoll before the shooting. She sold the assissination pic earlier this year on eBay for $175,000. I learn something new everyday...

My opinion, definitley stop in Salvage Chic the next time you want to find some great "new" pieces for your apartment. There are several other second-hand stores along the way so don't be surprised if you end up spending the whole day in Pembroke! Can't make the drive? Visit the Salvage Chic blog Diary of a Mad Antiquer.

Salvage Chic
8 Main St
Pembroke, MA 02359
781-293-4411

A Taste of Victory

I was blog hopping when I came across a post on Hatch, the blog of modern design store Design Public. Becky, their blogger, mentioned a funky vintage store in Georgia. Of course I had to check it out. Victory Vintage, located in Decatur, Georgia is a neat store with tons of awesome furniture. With the wealth of goodies they have online, I'm sure they have even more at their store. If you're ever in Georgia, make sure to stop by. Can't make it? Shop their online store.

Here are just a few of the things I found:

Home Depot: Home of the Drones

It was a LOOOONG weekend. I spent most of my time trying to make a pair of storage ottomans for the dining room. They're mostly for decoration, though I made them chair height so they can be used at the table if extra guests come over.


I have to tell you now that if you're looking for help and advice on a project, Home Depot is NOT the place to go. I go to the Depot simply because it's close to my apartment and all the Lowe's I know of are farther away from the city. Suburbanites get all the good stuff!


Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I went to Home Depot in the hopes of getting help with my ottomans. I mainly needed help picking out the right tools. First, I asked for help picking out a nail gun. It took three different workers to find me find the WRONG nail gun. I left empty handed. The second trip I asked for help finding a table saw. After waiting 15 minutes for help, it turned out that the only person who knew the answer was this woman contractor who was there to pick up a few things. She was full of advice.


I'm starting to think those orange apron's are really full of some toxin that drains all of the common sense out of their brains. Either that or aliens have taken over their bodies and turned them into mindless Zombies.


Those things being said, there are two guys at the South Bay Home Depot that know their stuff - Tony in tools and Chris who sometimes covers a register and other times helps on the floor. Both actually know what they're talking about.


**On a side note: This is a random picture I found it on Google Images. Steve may know a lot about junction boxes. Please don't judge him by the color of his apron, as he could be immune to it's effects!


Anyways, several trips to the Depot occured this weekend until finally I gave in and called my BF Kris who knows pretty much anything about building and design. Thankfully he had a minute between landscaping and decor shopping to give me the right advice. I built my ottomans and now all I need to do is find the right fabric to upholster them.

H is for Home

I...LOVE...THIS...SITE!

H is for Home is my new love. In their own words, store creaters Adelle Robinson & Justin Keefe describe their merchandise as "unusual, the quirky, one off, handmade and vintage." I couldn't think of a better way to put it.

Unlike other sites offering mid-century items, H is for Home actually takes you back to that period. If you check out their Product Sets page, you'll see what I mean. They've staged the items so well that even the modern-day Apple computer blends in. Most everything in this picture, including the awesome phone, is for sale.

If you have a passion for retro, this is definitely the place for you. H is for Home sells everything from men's tie's and briefcases to vintage orange coffee makers. When they say their stuff is unusual, they're right. They don't go after the mainstream items you find on most retro sites, but instead focus on everyday items that will stand out and help give your apartment a vintage touch.

Aside from their vintage offerings, H also carries a selection handmade items including a large variety of crochet and pottery pieces. Though they were made in the present day, even the handmade items make you feel like you're going back in time.

Perhaps the best part is the prices. The company is based in the UK so you'll have to do price conversions to get to US dollars. Believe me, it's worth it. I'm already stalking the orange coffee maker and the orange pedestal ashtray, they're just the right amount of funk.