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Leah

Isn’t this little cabin to die for?! I mean, we’d probably need to modify a few things. Such as where is the bathroom? I’d want a real fireplace vs a wood-burning stove, and perhaps a slightly larger kitchen and deck. But otherwise, I love it’s tiny footprint. It remindds me of another one of my favorite little houses, the Shot Trot via Hometta.  This one is designed for warmer climates, but again…perhaps could be modified for mountain retreats.

Does anyone have any other inspiration that you’d like to shared? I’m sure that I’ll be collecting images of my dream modern/rustic cabin for quite a long time before we’ll ever get to build one!

And here’s a mood board showing how the living room will come together once it’s all complete.

It’s a mix of American navy meets world traveler.  I guess that’s the only way I can describe it.  Funny enough, that’s actually the look we were working into.  Nick just brought back that vintage Russian naval flag from his trip to St. Petersburg, and we got the model ship a few weeks ago at a favorite consignment store.  If you can believe it, it all started with the vintage plaid wool blanket (on the lower left).  I found it at the Brooklyn flea several months ago, and decided that it should be the basis of the new living room design.  It coordinated perfectly with the Indian wool patchwork Kantha I’ve had for several years, an old purchase from Anthropologie.  Then this morning, as I was digging through some old inspiration imagery, I found the image below.  (Not sure who to credit it to.  It’s been sitting on my hard drive for several years now.  So let me know in the comments if you know where it came from.)

It’s maybe a little more Ralph Lauren than I would normally ascribe to our aesthetic, but it has elements here that I realize we’ve incorporated into our decorating over the years.  Such as the antlers.

Anyways…have a great day!  I’m so glad to finally have settled on a fabric.  Now I can see the whole plan coming together at last.

Also note the attention to detail.  One side has a Manhattan skyscraper skyline, and the other side is rowhouses!!

Flash forward 25+ years, and you find the adult Leah learning how to do just that thanks to 3rd Ward in Williamsburg.  This is my first project:

I found this mid-century beauty on the street in Philadelphia about 5 years ago tossed out with someone’s garbage.  It was perfect except for a big rip in the seat, and so I towed it home with me.  I knew that one day I’d redo that vinyl upholstery with something better.  Like they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

So starting on Saturday, I began the process of deconstruction.  This is what it looked like after I got the back panel off.  The back was basically a piece of cardboard covered with vinyl tacked on with upholstery tacks.

Then I took off the bottom panel.  There were several layers of fabric to get through here funny enough, and one of the great things I found inside was a stamp dating the chair to Oct 1959.  (Pretty cool!)  The springs are serious heavy duty with metal attachments like the kind you have in a mattress…not the normal 8-way hand-tied springs in most upholstery.  (This chair is meant to last forever!)

So this is the chair fully deconstructed.  The legs & arms were attached via two bolts and six flat-head screws.  Less than what I would have thought, but very easy to disassemble once the fabric was off and the frame was exposed.  (The frame is oak I believe by the way which is also interesting…for those other furniture nerds out there.)  The seat springs were covered with a horsehair “cushion” for lack of a better word (which I plan to re-use since it’s perfectly fine…but I will be augmenting it with new foam and batting).  I did keep all the cotton batting too “just in case.”  Also, I plan on re-finishing the arms/legs since the old polyurethane is worn off and looking ratty.

Now the big question is what do I put on it?  I’m debating between several at the moment.  I love those thick wool fabrics in both solid colors and blanket squares too.  Then I’ve found a couple more that are interesting, but nothing concrete yet.  Any suggestions?  Someone suggested leather…but possibly too difficult for my first round of upholstery.  (?!?)

p.s. if you haven’t looked into 3rd ward, i highly suggest it.  They have awesome classes on almost everything.

I also love that this is the view when I’m commuting to work each morning!

Life is good!!  For those of you that are actually looking for an actual review, I’ll give you one after the jump…While in Denmark, I actually did some research on buying and shipping a similar bike to the U.S.  I didn’t do it, but I did manage to ride several while there.  Over the last several years, I’ve kept my eye out looking for the right one for me…at the right price.

Here’s what I like about it:

1. It’s really easy & fun to ride.
2. Gear shift is easy and smooth.  Not loud, etc.
3. It’s lighter-weight than comparable bikes, specifically the Batavus Omafiet, Princess Sovereign, Schwinn Jenny and Raleigh Venture.  That may not be a big deal for those of you that don’t have to occasionally carry a bike up the stairs, but I have learned my lesson.  I’m trying to keep it as lightweight as possible.  (Caveat, the actual dutch bikes like the Princess Sovereign and Omafiet are tanks that will live forever, and they’re the difference between a cadillac and a mazda miata.  The miata is fun and stylish.  The Cadillac is a classic and rides like a dream.  You’ll never feel a bump on a Omafiet, but you will on the Linus.)
4. Did I mention fun and stylish?
5. Affordable.  Although not as inexpensive as the Schwinn Jenny…but I’d choose the Linus over that one any day.  Way more fun to ride and lighter too.
6. It comes with a rack and bell!

The cons:

1. It’s a bit rattly at times when going over bumps.  Mainly the fenders(?) I think.  I assume that’s fairly common with a bike that has these though…so not a big deal.
2. The seat that it comes with is pretty uncomfortable.  I’m definitely going to need to buy a different one.  Any suggestions on a super-comfy seat.  Let me know!
3. Might possibly wish I had an extra gear or two…but not a big deal.  If I had more hills, then it probably would be.

That’s it!  Love it!  Buy one!

This is the reading nook in the dining room…looking into the “living room” and bedroom.  (I put “Living Room” in quotes b/c it’s super small and really more of a tv watching spot and nothing else.  Oh well, we don’t usually invite people over for tv anyways!

This is our “office” zone in the dining room.

This is our “music & books” zone in the dining room.  I thought I’d taken a photo of the kitchen too, but I suppose I forgot to upload it from the camera…and now I don’t have much time to fiddle with more.  We’re off to PA today to spend a little time with MOM!   Have fun everyone!  Hats off to SUMMER!!!

Lovely.  Sigh.

You can see (below) which bare-bulb light fixture that we ended up going with.  It’s the “Defiance” fixture from Schoolhouse Electric.  I can’t even tell you how much we love it too by the way.   It’s black enamel, and looks great with an oblong edison light bulb.

Here’s our dining space.  It’s part of the main living/dining combo.  I must say that I’m really starting to LOVE the apartment by the way.  We are now becoming converts to “living small.”  There was no reason for us to have a 4 bedroom house before.  It was absolutely crazy and way too much to clean and take care of.  But now, this is completely manageable.  Possibly our only complaint would have to be about the size of the kitchen.  (But that’s probably more Nick’s complaint than mine at this point since I don’t have time to cook very often.)

A sneak peak into our bedroom.