PB Inspiration

Thumbing through the recent PB catalog for the 136th time, I noticed the tray hanging on the wall in this picture. I liked the idea and realized that I had a similar tray (not oval, but round and black with handles). I also noticed the buffet, but I gotta work with what I have, right? :) And that is a shelving unit found at Lowe's that matches my dining set and hutch.

This is what mine looked like:

I had bought it at Target in the 'outdoor summer stuff' section about 3 years ago and it was silver. I spray painted it with a hammered effect paint. Can't recall the brand, but I don't think they're all that different. I had then cut and Mod Podged cut-outs of a calendar that I had and hung it in the kitchen. I liked it for a while and in our last move, I almost sent it to Goodwill in an attempt to lighten the kitchen decor just a tad.

After seeing the PB catalog, I wanted to revamp mine, so yesterday I tried to sand off the cut-outs and paint over them with chalkboard paint. It didn't work so well. The outlines were still visible. Boo. So I took off the paint (it was still wet and washed away nicely) and scrubbed off the cut-outs with Goo-gone, steel wool and some water. (Ever heard the saying "It takes twice as long to do it wrong"?) ;) That process worked great and left me with a clean surface (oddly, the paint was barely scratched!) and I did a light coat of hammered paint over the top.

The best part was that the hammered paint acts like chalkboard paint in this instance! I didn't need to use (more like waste!) anymore chalkboard paint!! It writes smoothly and erases cleanly. YAY!

Now I just have to get it hung in my dining room and rework those shelves...

I finally see what you all already saw

About 5 years ago, after several sofa sets, we decided to splurge on our 'last' couch/loveseat. We went to Arizona leather and picked out a really nice huge sectional made with a naugahyde type leather (not too cold, not too shiny) and got two roomy ottomans and a sleek recliner. Lots of $$, but we were told it would last, blah, blah, etc.

Fast forward 3 1/2 years...the cushions didn't completely go kaput, but did so just enough that your back would hurt after sitting on it for a while; the back cushions were connected to the back so that if your butt made the seat go down, there was no real lumbar support. 'Bummer', we thought. And it was.

We then moved into a smaller place and the sectional wouldn't fit anyway, so we gave it and the ottomans to my cousin. She's happy; her family of six can all sit together and I'm sad...remember the $$ and now we're stuck (I love it, but it's not really roomy) with our Ikea Ektorp Sofabed in the living room. Don't get me wrong, I like the slip covered look and all...I just missed having all three of us cozying up on the couch.

Now we're in a 'regular' house (our last place was too weird for words, but close to hockey and that's what mattered at the time) and I want 'real' furniture. So out of curiosity I scanned Craigslist for a few weeks. Junk mostly and what wasn't, I never got any replies to my attempts at contacting anyone. It's like people are posting stuff for fun and never really intend to sell it, just post it. That's not any way to make friends. ;) But whatever.

Then one fine day someone posts:

"BRAND NEW IN WRAPPER POTTERY BARN PEARCE SOFA, LOVESEAT, CHAIR & OTTOMAN $2,500"

In my head I was screaming "OMG! How cool!!" So we called her and she said we could come see them the next day. I call her that next morning to schedule a time and she tells me SHE SOLD THEM!!!!

Rude!

I was fairly heartbroken. I had looked at the PB site and we would have gotten such an awesome deal! And she was close to us. At any rate, I noticed that that collection is on sale, so the hubby said we should look into getting the couch/loveseat. I went into the store yesterday to check out the fabric colors and feel them, etc.....

I FELL IN LOVE!!

I've never really shopped in PB, just browsed and I wasn't ever super impressed.

(Sorry PB lovers).

I don't know what did it, but now, oh wow, look out 'cuz I'm all about it! Whether it's a look-alike or maybe the real deal...I'm going for it! I love the simple-ness of their designs and although that's not my whole look, it's a good place to start and easy to build upon...

Let the obsessing begin! ;)