A Collected Home

I love this little San Anselmo bungalow designed by the super talented Alison Davin. Clean lines, monochromatic pallet, and oh so collected. My favorite spaces look like they took years to evolve. 

 photos by Matthew Millman

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Needlepoint Pillows {for less}

Anything goes designer Jonathan Adler has for several years now made needlepoint pillows a highly sought after accessory.

We used several on the project I worked on in New York. The pillows are quite pricey and for something so small, can easily put a huge dent in your budget.

I was recently in a chain interiors store here in Boston, called Boston Interiors and noticed they offer a couple of cute options at half the price.

I love these specific designs because they are so New England.

Wouldn't they be cute on a pair of twin beds?

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More Recent Work {charlestown}

These are some very low quality iphone pics. But I installed a few things for a project I have in Charlestown this morning and wanted to share. I am in love with the drapery. in love

 I hope to get back soon for some real pics.



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Mad Plaid

My sorority in college had an annual date party called Mad Plaid. If you would have told me ten years ago I would want to use plaid for interiors, modern interiors at that, I would have probably called you crazy. 

plaid mosaic tiles! love. and bless that installer

 I've been keeping a pretty crazy schedule these days, but this looked like DIY I could actually handle. 

Also, Wally World, can you please get this back in stock STAT. I will buy 20 for that price.

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Recent Work {a custom dining table}

I designed this table for a client I have mentioned who recently bought an apartment in the South End. It was delivered yesterday and I'm pretty excited about it. If you remember, they have a very small floor plan and it is going to comfortably seat 6! I share their love for entertaining, so I'm pretty excited about that as well.

A close second to the table are the lights we are having installed.

Two of these...

And three of these...

I can't wait to see this one come together!

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Something Blue

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I Guess Everything IS Better in Texas {diagonal stripes continued}

This weekend I did a little internet perusing to see if I could track down that diagonally striped fabric from the last post. I have yet to locate the larger scale, but I did find this little pattern via the Best Little Fabric Store in Texas. They do not put scales on their photos, but I'm thinking this is on the small to medium side.

And then I got a little more creative with my searching and found diagonally striped fabric tape in this cute little Etsy shop, that also happens to come out of the state of Texas.

She also sells black and white twine, which if you think about it, is a teensy tiny diagonal stripe.

Another thought I had was if you wanted to do add a diagonal stripe as a trim down one side of a curtain panel, kind of like this...

You could cut strips out of a couple yards of chevron patterned fabric and fold them in half. It would create such nice detail to have the stripe going one way on the side of the panel and then on the back side, have it go the opposite way.

But speaking of Texas, anyone else want to be Tami Taylor when they grow up? or at least harness some of her wise parenting skills? Mr. Sabbe and I have been burning through some Friday Night Lights via Netflixs. We never watched the show when it was on tv, but now we are obsessed.  A couple of weeks ago I heard him tell our baby "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts...CAN sleep through the night"

He totally wants to be Coach Eric Taylor.

Texas Forever 

{insert Tim Riggins' southern, with a dash of Canadian (mainly when he says the word college), accent}

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Dear Diagonally Striped Curtains...

...I want to marry you.

that is all.

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Our Halfway House

I've come to terms with the fact that my house is pretty much in a constant state of halfway finished projects. My poor husband. My poor baby. Here is what we have on the docket these days, the projects narrating for themselves.

Remember my chairs? I made a white slipcover for one and then they discontinued the fabric. Then I decided I was too lazy to constantly wash slipcovers anyway. So I bought some outdoor fabric, ripped my hands apart stripping the chair, and here is where we are today...

Can you believe the one thing that is holding me up is staples? Only available online...annoying. Sourcing all of the componets has been the toughest obstacle. I could not fathom renting an air compressor and staple gun for $100 for a day when I could own both for $150. So I am now the proud owner of this...

My husband jokes that I need to start a tool renting business in our building. Who lives in a high rise and owns an air compressor and pneumatic staple gun? This girl.

Remember my swagged Ikea chandelier? Well I decided I hated  that too. So I made this contraption.

The main fixture is West Elm, but the shade is made of two giant, oval embroidery hoops and a piece of strathmore paper. Best part? It covers the swag and allows the fixture, as a whole, to be centered over the table. yay!

And lastly, remember my new tv stand? Not 100% finished, but it does currently hold the tv.

I decided I liked it better sans doors. So I had to sand down some imperfections on the green, thus the discoloration on the bottom. I still need to touch that up. And this pretty little number is on it's way to adorn the drawer, which I'm pretty pumped about.

And that is the current state of projects in the Sabbe household. To think we joked that I would have nothing to do since we were moving into a practically brand new space....ha, ha, ha. Like Jenny said, it's a sickness.

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Craig's List Dominator

I wanted the title to be Craig's List Killer, but then I thought that might be terribly inappropriate. Point being, I have been finding some great stuff on Craig's List the past couple of weeks. I started a board in my Pinterest account just to keep track.

Dear Pinterest, you have made my job easier in so many ways. I love you.

People's junk in New England is the best junk ever. Remember Wayne's? I miss that store. With the baby, I have not been able to make it to Brewster this summer. I am working on a project with a lot of industrial/ reclaimed cues, so most of these reflect my train of thought on that project. 

 Vintage School Chair $35

 Vintage File Cabinet- $125

 Reclaimed Wood Tray - $150

 Mirror- $75

 Desk $50

Vintage School Desk $40

If you do live in New England and love buying stuff on CL, you must follow Crocodile Tears. She really finds some good stuff....and shares!

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This is How We Roll {Pun Intended}

Behold, my new workshop space..

So this is where I will be making stuff happen for the next 3 years. It's the only non-carpeted space in the new apartment, besides the bathrooms. And a little known fact...normally I cringe at laminate hardwood flooring, but for a workshop floor it just happens to be great. We had it in our old house, in the kitchen. With a little magic eraser action, everything comes up.

So yesterday, while Mr. Sabbe grilled us up some steaks... on a grill pan (ah, city living) I thought it would be a good idea to be all in the way with my latest diy undertaking. I have a sweet husband. He tolerates me saying things like "if you hit this furniture with that refrigerator door I am going to kill you." (joking of course, he's too cute to kill) Because it's normal to be painting 4' long dressers, while someone else is trying to cook, in a 8 x 8 kitchen, right?

I'm not 100% finished, but remember the before...

And here is where I am. I  know, not quite breathtaking...yet.

But is it not so amazing what a difference a coat of paint can make?

This time around I researched painting tips. Centsational Girl has written an excellent post that anyone interested in painting a piece of furniture should read. The biggest ah-ha moment for me was her suggestion to buy this...

It works. They have it at Home Depot. But be warned, no one there had any idea what I was talking about and it was not with the paint thinners, like you would think. Another tip, add cautiously. I think I went a little heavy and ended up having to do a coat or two more because of it...BUT, no roller or brush marks!

Then I also remembered a post Jenny wrote on painting furniture. I use latex now that I have a baby and no outdoor space to paint. Oil based paints are much, much tougher, but they will make you high. So I needed a way to toughen up this piece because we are sitting a 40" tv on  it and I would like it not to have tv stand marks on the top when we move in 3 years. So I followed her instructions and added two coats of this...

The great thing is, the Floetrol takes the sheen out of your paint (it tells you this on the label). So my semi-gloss was not so glossy, but the the wipe-on poly added that gloss back. Problem solved. 

I'm going to paint the inside the same color as our last living room, because I have some left over. 

Cute architecture, I miss you.

But did you catch the cabinets and counters in our new space?

Ugly, 4' wide kitchen, I do not miss you.

So that is that. Seen any good hardware lately? I haven't really started looking, but I want something fun. 

I'm thinking brass. I recently discovered chicken wire comes in brass, get excited.

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