Category: projects

little shop of… reupholstery

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

I guess it’s time I divulge a little of what I’ve been up to as of late. I told you months ago, I would share what I’ve been working on. Now seems to be just as good of time as any. Some of it will be personal, my house is a work in progress friends, some of it will be client base. All of it will be candid. My attempt is not to hide the flaws and show you perfectly styled photos but to give you an idea what the process was like, minus the step by step instructions. I don’t follow them, so you probably don’t want me writing them. Maybe you do, let me know.

I bought this ottoman for $25 and lived with it, pleather and all for 3 years. I really don’t know why I torture myself for that long. The entire project took me under two hours to complete. The fabric is a wool houndstooth and ran me all of $5. An ottoman is just about the simplest thing you can reupholster. The perfect place for me to start. All you need is a sewing machine (or needle and thread), thread, staple gun and staples, screw driver, scissors and fabric. Be sure to get extra if you have a pattern so you can match ends.

When buying furniture you want to reupholster, first and foremost, make sure it has good bones. No wobbly legs, missing parts, broken pieces, you get the idea. Because if you aren’t handy, it takes money to fix these issues and often it costs more to repair than it does to purchase. There’s a reason that table on Craigs list is only $15. Be weary my friends.

If you are going to pay to reupholster, as an example, the ottoman above would cost me about $100-$150. A medium size chair that is modern in style, without any tufting or many details, and excluding fabric could run anywhere from $400-$1000, depending where you live. With that said, it makes sense to really love the piece. The great thing about reuphostery is you have an original piece.

Photos: the K.I.D Collective

work it

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

My office has been a bit of a disaster the past few months. I never properly set it up and now, I’m paying for it. To be honest, I’ve been avoiding cleaning and instead, opting just to work around the mess. This week, I finally hit a breaking point and all the clutter made me a little crazy. Maybe it’s the unprecedented spring like weather?

I’m trying to spend a little time each day to organize, purge and clean. I have open book shelves, inspiration boards, 2 desks, 2 computers and need lots of storage for drawings, project notebooks, fabric, patterns and material samples. So I did a little perusing to find some inspiration. Maybe, just maybe I’ll show you the end results. Would you be into that? Once that’s done, I still need to paint, get a new ceiling fixture and rip up the carpet. Never ending I tell you.

Photos:  1. New York Times 2/24/10. 2. Peter Murdock, Metropolitan Home, 3/08 3.  Elle Decor March 2010 4. Elle Decor 3/10 5. Interior Design 2/00

a long time coming

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Here’s a little peak at our new light fixture. If you follow me on twitter, you know that for 3 1/2 years we lived with an ugly arts and crafts robot armed light hanging above the dining table. The lighting was so bad, I took out 2 of the 3 bulbs. I decided I would rather dine in near darkness than sit under those 3 bulbs. Welp, the time has come and thanks to our dear friends Lauren (for the amazing hook-up) and Andy (for electrical expertise) the light is now installed. Here is the first official look. I really do love the thing. You should see the amazing shadows it creates. I hope you all have the most lovely of weekends and get into a little something fun.

PS. Can you believe my tulips have lasted almost an entire week? Yay spring! Or I should say Spring Tease, we have snow heading this way on Sunday.

photos by the K.I.D Collective

blog it foward

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

That’s right people, I’m participating. Check back for more updates. The first posts will roll next Monday.

• If you’re interested in joining the chain, email Victoria via her blog.

• We’re going to share a connected stream of blogger posts on ‘what inspires us the most’ on our individual blogs, but link back and forward to the other blogs participating, a bit like a chain letter (but, hopefully a lot less annoying!).

• Ez from creature comforts has graciously created this lovely badge to add to your blog if you are participating.


• Feel free to repost this on your own blog and tweet about it, then link back to this sfgirlbybay.com post URL or a link to Victoria’s email info, so people can get the details, how to participate, the theme, and how to contact her. We’re giving everyone a due date to sign-up via an email to Victoria by end of this week, Friday, February 5th

• Victoria will then make a list of bloggers who want to participate (perhaps alphabetically) and post it on Monday, February 8th, and everyone will see when their post is due, and the order of the mashup. Then we will post one day at a time, starting with hers and moving on to the next blog, and then the next — you get the idea.

• Victoria will post the first mashup on Wednesday, February 10th and from there link to the next blog and that blogger will post on Thursday, February 11th. Then she’ll link back to Victoria and then to the next blog on the list who will post on Friday, February 12th and link back to her (we’ll skip weekends since they are slow) and so on and so forth.

• Again, if interested in joining in, drop Victoria an email and she’ll send you detailed instructions. So, are you in or are you out?

[*image via vivienne strauss]

a valentine’s give away

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Hi there, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I’m starting off February with a big fat THANK YOU. I made a little something over the weekend and I’m giving it away, just for you. What you win is a lemony yellow leather clutch. Perfect for brightening up any winter wardrobe. It’s 7″W x 6″H x 1″D. Inside it’s lined with a white and black print and there’s a small pocket for credit cards or your gloss.

Winning is simple, comment below and be sure to leave an accurate email address so I can get in touch with you. The winner will be chosen at random on Monday, February 8.

Surely there’s a lady in your life that might want a little yellow clutch? Or maybe it’s for you. Either way, I’ll ship out the clutch so you get it in time for Valentines Day. It’s just my way of saying thank you and I truly appreciate you. International readers, I’ll ship to you, but you may not get it by Valentines Day.

If all goes as planned, I hope to have a few pieces up in my etsy shop in the next few months, so stay tuned.

design after dark | skin

Friday, January 8th, 2010

What are you doing January 22? If you don’t already have plans, you should pick up tickets for Design After Dark. An event hosted by the Denver Art Museum Design Council to raise money for the Architecture, Design and Graphics Department. The past few weeks I’ve been busy working with the Design Council finding the most perfect In Kind donations for a silent auction.

I wanted to stay local, so I set my goal on smaller businesses in Colorado. I have to admit, I was a little cynical about the whole concept due to our current economic situation. Boy was I wrong. I am completely blown away by these small companies and their generosity and willingness to contribute. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to listen to my spill and for your amazing contribution. It is truly appreciated. We are still gathering donations, so if you are local and want to contribute, shoot me an email at casey {at} thekidcollective {dot} com

On top of this exciting event in a few weeks, we have a great weekend lined up with maybe a Nuggets game, snowboarding at Keystone, Sunday dinner with architect friends Karlin and Wells who are going to give us a little advice about ripping out walls in our living and dining room. And even a Broken Resolutions pub crawl, I guess this means I should get my resolutions list finished. Hope you have a lovely, fun filled weekend yourself!

a classic home – dining room preview

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

tennessee inspiration

While my style lends itself to being modern, I love the idea of working with a client who has a more traditional aesthetic. This gives me a chance to explore other styles as well as add modern elements to an otherwise traditional palette. While working with Mary on her dining room, living room, office, lounge and powder room she determined it was time for a big change from the yards of floral, plaid and patterned wall paper all with deep reds, cornflower blues and pale yellows. The goal was to make the house more sell-able (she and her husband are downsizing), add some classic pieces she can take with her to a new home and transition to a neutral, lighter palette while still keeping a traditional aesthetic. Take a look at the inspirational images above to see the starting point.

For the Dining Room, there are a handful of existing pieces to work with; a very large brushed brass dining room chandelier, a tall cherry corner hutch and a cherry buffet. To balance these 3 very traditional pieces we found a simple Mission style table in cherry (this table seats 12 when it’s fully extended – can you imagine the dinner parties!), comfy inexpensive upholstered chairs with dark legs that we are adding brass nail heads to the base and a cow hide rug. To stay in the classic realm I added two brass wall sconces to flank a large wall mirror (please ignore the dust) with a pineapple detail to go above the buffet. In colonial times pineapples signify hospitality. And that’s exactly the feeling we are going for. A place where everyone can sit back and enjoy themselves, for a while. This is just the beginning, so check back in the coming weeks to see what’s going on with the other spaces and all the details and accessories.

tennessee home

[Images above are clockwise from top left: Bar cart (via Design Sponge bar cart guide); Brass Wall Sconce; Antique Pineapple Mirror; West Elm Dining Chairs; Mission Style Butterfly draw top Table; Cowhide Rug.]

tennessee paint colors

Above is Mary’s Color Palette. All colors are Sherwin Williams Harmony Interior latex (meaning no nasty, toxic paint smells). For the Dining Room we are using the light blue (2nd from left) as the main wall paint and the warm gray (3rd from left) for the wainscot. All the trim will be white. The other colors, you ask? I’m saving them for a different post.

If you are looking for an update, trying to incorporate pieces you can have forever, need tips on what style works best for your tastes or you just don’t know where to begin, I would love to help out. Whether it’s a room for your new baby or an entire house remodel, I’m up for the challenge and am more than happy to work with you to find something you love and also fits your budget.

[Inspirational Photos: Blue Dining Room - Elle Decor; Taupe lounge - Design Sponge Sneak Peek]

a blank slate

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

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If that title sounds like a repeat, you’ve been a good reader. In the past month kid collective has landed two design projects and both are blank slates. What a great month it’s been. While both projects are both landscape design projects, they still involve a lot of design work and I’ve teamed up with a landscape architect friend to help me work through the plants and odds and ends that are involved with designing patios, walkways, outdoor kitchens and selecting plants.

James and Jess have also graciously allowed me to post the process on this here blog. Thanks you two! More updates to come as the project progresses.

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a blank slate

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

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kid collective just landed it’s first official project. Needless to say, I’m more than excited. I teamed up with a landscape architect and we hit the ground running. First up. Site survey. We measured, photographed and documented the entire yard. And let me tell you, it’s a blank slate. There’s something about a new project that I love. All the possibilities, ideas, the end result could be anything. And that’s the best part. Now on to the design work. More updates to follow as the spring/summer progresses.

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Malakai helping out in the yard