DIY "Upholstered" Sitting Chair

I've had to put "DIYing" on hold for the most part over the last 2 months in favor of organizing and packing and unpacking, and I've really missed it so much. I get such a boost of creative energy from getting out the spray paint or a hammer and nails, and now that we're getting settled I'm finding time to take on some projects I've been keeping in the back of my mind.

I got this chair a few years ago (from TJ Maxx) because I loved the shape and style and thought it was so sweet and ladylike. It's an ideal little sitting chair for a bedroom which is where I had it before, but in our new house I think it's made for this spot in our entryway. We'll be able to sit here to put shoes on and it fills this little wall space to a tee. Here's how it looked before.

I never really loved the speckled grey finish of the metal frame or the bland fabric covering the seat and have wanted to change it from the beginning. It was a great day when I discovered the top could easily come unscrewed. All I'd have to do to update its look was spray paint the frame and "upholster" the seat with a prettier fabric.

I chose a rich black/charcoal velvet from a local upholstery shop that has an amazing remnant section. This was an expensive fabric that was deeply discounted and I still have some left over for a pillow or two! I love how the color changes in different lighting--sometimes it's a true black, other times grey, sometimes it even looks navy or forest green.

Covering it was so simple--I'm not sure "upholstered" is even the right word because it wasn't at all fancy or difficult like the word implies. I used a staple gun and worked back and forth on opposite sides to make sure the material stayed taut and even. This was a great first "upholstery" project because all of the messy staples and cut fabric are completely hidden underneath.

Once I had the fabric I decided on a glossy black for the frame. It's funny because my natural inclinations are usually to go white or at least lighter, but I'm so glad I tried something new and went dark and dramatic. I was trying to channel this incredible lady who is never afraid of mod, glossy paint and deep, highly pigmented colors, and whose DIY work is always spot on.

You can see that the seat isn't as perfectly covered as it was before, but I've learned to embrace that quality in DIY projects. Of course it won't look factory-perfect! I'm not a factory! A touch of a homemade element is completely ok with me, as long as it's a subtle thing and not an actual mistake. It's like leaving your own little signature, a reminder of your hand in the piece.

Anyway, it's been awhile since I've done a DIY post so I hope you enjoy reading about this project as much as I enjoyed doing it! What do you think? An improvement on the original?

Let's Get To Know One Another: A Word To Describe Your Style

My eclectic china cabinet, currently

We've been really busy running around cleaning, unpacking and arranging for the last few days. It's been so so so much fun but my back could definitely use a break from all the bending and lifting. Thank goodness, my parents arrive tomorrow from D.C. to help over the weekend. And my mother-in-law was here on Saturday helping us get our bedroom together. Have I mentioned how lucky I feel to be a hop-skip-and-a-jump from family? This move to Charlottesville has so many bonuses.

Anyway, it's been really interesting having all of our belongings in one place. Seeing all of our dishes together, for example, the ones I've collected from thrift stores and our simple white wedding dishes and beautifully textured pottery bowls and plates that were given to us as gifts. I had a funny little revelation the other day about these dishes. Our china cabinet has three open shelves with glass doors, which is where I've been putting our nicest, fanciest things. At first, I had only our wine glasses and some white footed soup bowls on the shelves and I thought, "That's so gorgeous and simple, I'll put only glass and white dishes in our china cabinet! It will look streamlined and French and lovely against the dark aged wood of the cabinet!" This was my grand design idea.

But then a few days went by and necessity demanded that I stop reserving the space for only white pieces. My beautiful chartreuse tray and collection of pie dishes needed a home, and so did my hammered silver teapot from Grandma and my blue handmade sugar and creamer set from my college girlfriend and my copper colander. I began tucking each piece into place, and as soon as I strayed from my white only! theme, I breathed out and thought to myself, "Who was I kidding? This is so much better. Eclectic, that's my thing. I wouldn't have it any other way."

So that's it, my "one word" to describe my style. Eclectic. That's not to say that my style is always funky or offbeat, but that it's a mix of tastes and textures and colors and modern and old. I like earthy and antiqued but I also like bright and glossy and the contrast between the two is exciting to me. All white dishes would be lovely in that cabinet, there's no doubt. But that's not quite me. It would be too perfect and planned, not rustic enough, lacking the pizazz and serendipity and mix of styles I so love. My eclectic china cabinet, with its white and glass and old and new and everything in between, it feels just right.

Now it's your turn! You have only one word to describe your style. What'll it be? I can't wait to hear.

Waiting Makes Everything Sweeter

I never thought we'd have to wait 2.5 years to open all of our beautiful wedding gifts, but I have to say, there's something very exciting, something giddy and happy, about performing this newlywed ritual months and months after we could realistically be called newlyweds. Our gifts had been boxed up and tucked away until this past week when we finally retrieved them and starting going through each special package, one by one.

Some of them are things we carefully picked out online for our registry when we were first engaged and we're just now getting to see in person how perfect those simple white dishes are. Some are bridal shower gifts that bring back the sweetest memories when I see them again (of a day positively brimming with the most heartfelt kind of love) and it's such a pleasure to show them to my husband and tell him a story about that day. Some are gifts that we took the quickest peek at the morning after our wedding before catching the train to New York. Now, when we open them again, we can savor them and turn them over in our hands and re-live that morning. With each gift we're reminded of how thoughtful and kind and generous our families and our friends are. And we're reminded of that most special time in our lives when we were just becoming husband and wife.

You'd think I'd have learned this lesson by now, but please feel free to remind me of it whenever I'm acting anxious/impatient/sick and tired of waiting.

The waiting makes everything sweeter.

We Made It

I am not a careless God. When I allow difficulties to come into your life, I equip you fully to handle them. 

There were times over the past two years when I actually believed this day might never come. The thought crossed my mind and it seemed entirely possible we'd be stuck in Alabama forever. I'm so happy to be proved wrong. Today I'm brimming with joy and relief and gladness because today, we're moving!!!

We made it. Over and over again, God has given me the grace I so desperately need. Wish us safe travels! Virginia, we can't wait.

(Quote above from the Jesus Calling app.)

Just Some Thoughts

A just because photo....isn't this such a soothing image? All the neutrals and orderliness! / Source

I haven't been feeling inspired to write lately which isn't like me. I think it must have something to do with this strange in-between state we're in. I've got one foot out my front door and the other just dying to join it, but we have another two weeks until we move. It's a weird feeling. There's a new front door waiting for me (and it's red, friends!) and I'm going a bit stir crazy with the anticipation and the fluttery energy inside me.

Our house is looking more and more bare by the day and there's still lots left to do. Closing accounts, making sure our mail is forwarded, getting new military IDs. And of course more fun tasks like last visits to our favorite local German bakery and a goodbye dinner with one of my students and his family. It's hard work closing out a chapter of your life! It keeps you busy for weeks and then you're gone and everything is new again. New address, new grocery store, new doctors, new streets, new walls to wake up between each day.

It sort of hit me yesterday that we really lived here in Alabama. It sounds obvious, I know--but as much as I wanted our time here to be temporary and short-term, the reality is that we built lives here. And while I can assure you I'm not feeling nostalgic about leaving or sad in any way (I'm thrilled and beyond excited), it is a little overwhelming to be starting over so completely. This is the first real move my husband and I have done together and we have a lot of newness to navigate, like, where will we get fabulous chicken red curry takeout when that inevitable craving hits on a Friday night? In addition to all the bigger, more life-altering things too, of course. It'll all be fresh--everything from the sidewalks our sneakers will come to know to the very rhythm of our days.

Anyway, I guess this post is just a simple update on how things are in the Harvey household lately. Lots of giddy eagerness for the future, lots of thoughts on endings and beginnings, and lots of praying for smooth and healthy and happy transitions. Thanks for letting me share it.


(On another note I highly recommend this new Ingrid Michaelson song, Wonderful Unknown, which also features her husband. It's beautiful. Let's let unknowns be wonderful!)

An Easy Choice

Tulips for Easter and Springtime and new beginnings

Finally, the cat's out of the bag! Thanks so much to my dear, sweet readers for being excited and happy with us! Charlottesville is a vibrant, wonderful little city and I'm pretty sure we're going to love it there.

These last two years in Alabama were very much not a part of our plan, as I'm sure you have gathered from my posts. We thought we would live here together as a married couple for three months, max, but it's been close to 24. We also thought we'd be in a very different situation by the time we left Alabama than we currently are. Life has surprised us.

But you know what I've learned? That this trying, frustrating, patience-testing, worry-filled, big unknown phase of our lives has been one enormous blessing in disguise. God had a plan for us and my husband and I both honestly believe that we are in a better place as a result of the chaos of the last few years (the details of which I won't get into here). If that isn't a praise-worthy revelation I don't know what is.

We are moving to Charlottesville because my husband got the unexpected opportunity to go back to school in order to pursue a career change (a career of the "dream" variety). We're moving there to be close to our families--my in-laws are a little over an hour away and my parents are a little over two hours away. We are moving there so that I might feel more stimulated artistically and creatively and hopefully grow as a musician and a teacher and a writer. We are moving to Charlottesville because it's a beautiful and interesting part of the country. Simply put, we like it there.

Last week we signed a lease on a cute house to rent and--get this--we did it all sight unseen! Something I wouldn't have imagined doing in a previous life but I guess I'm getting gutsy and learning to be flexible. To be fair, my mother went to see it and proclaimed it adorable and perfect for us. (Also, it has a red door and a screened porch. Sold.) We can't wait to see it and move in.

It's a wonderful feeling to have made this relocation decision together as a couple and to know that it is the right one for us. It was weird, sometime over this past summer I started to feel a pull to Virginia generally and Charlottesville specifically. As we thought about it more and more the decision pretty much made itself. It was an easy choice and after months of hard choices or too few choices, that felt great.

It goes without saying that there are still unknowns in our lives (there always will be) and issues to overcome (of course!) but we feel so hopeful for this new chapter and the changes it will bring.

(Not least of which is the happy reunion that will take place when I get to unpack the boxes filled with wedding gifts. I've had many a daydream about Grandma's china and our white embroidered pillowcases and our pretty dining room chairs.)

At Long Last

Music by One Republic

Spring Cleaning

A "just because it's gorgeous" photo for you

There's lots of busyness and logistics getting sorted out in the Harvey household these days. New phones and a new phone company (an actual human picks up on the first ring whenever I call customer service--we're totally sold!), decisions about moving and housing, and all kinds of future stuff. It feels like spring cleaning on a life level, if you know what I mean. Lots of new-and-improved, lots of goals, lots of change.

I'm trying to be really mindful in this season of my thoughts and my stress level and the way I'm dealing with all of this change. Because it's a lot! All good, but I really want to do it well and not become overwhelmed (whenever possible) and keep the important stuff at the forefront of my mind. This move will entail a lot of adjustments in our lifestyle and sometimes I put pressure on myself to make everything smooth and flawless and to do it all perfectly. The truth is, I don't really know exactly what our new lives will look like and that can be frightening. I have to remind myself that we will meet people and make friends, that I will find piano students, that I'll connect with the artists and creatives in our community, that we will make our home beautiful no matter what, that we will figure things out like we always do.

So I'm making it my mission to be mindful. When I first wake up, I remind myself to look at my husband next to me instead of jumping up to check my email. I'm taking a lot of walks and listening to pretty songs. I read my Jesus Calling app early in the morning and try to let it guide me in my thoughts for the day. One of the phrases from a recent devotion was "Trust with every fiber of your being." That stuck with me, that image of letting trust into every single nook and cranny of my life. Trusting with every inch of my body and soul.

This is life lately and it's a bit of an up and down battle, but it's rich and beautiful and filled to the brim with lessons and a whole lot of love.

Packing Tip

Image Source

I'm starting to pack up our townhouse for our move to ???? (I know, it's getting to the point where I feel mean for not saying) and I have a simple but super helpful--at least I think so--packing tip to share.

It's twofold actually. Start early, and pack in layers.

We don't have a firm move date yet, otherwise I'd be shouting it from the rooftops and certainly from the pages of Something Ivory. But that doesn't mean that I should procrastinate on the packing because really, that will just add to the stress. So I pack in layers. (And maybe everyone does this, so forgive me if this isn't news.)

Instead of packing room by room in a flurry, I start with the things that I know we won't need over the next few weeks or months, things that are more decorative or that I don't use on a daily basis. Things like vases and pretty jars--one box. All of our books--I've packed one big box and I have one or two more to go. My craft supplies were packed up yesterday. Our tablecloths and other linens went into a box. Also my DIY tools like spray paint and sanding sponges. I tackled my winter clothes, because I won't be needing those for months.

I plan to pack up a big box of shoes later today, leaving out a few pairs to wear over the next few weeks. I've also been steadily going through closets, drawers, and cupboards, getting rid of things and organizing so that there aren't any mysteries and big problem areas to tackle later on. As we get closer to move date, I'll take down all the art on our walls and bubble wrap each piece. I don't want to start that just yet because things will begin to look bare at that point.

Then when it gets down to crunch time I'll mainly have the kitchen to worry about. Clothes that haven't yet been packed can go in suitcases, and furniture can be wrapped up by the movers. Cleaning supplies are also packed last so I can give the house a good scrub before we hit the road.

Pretty simple, but this way of packing makes me feel 100% more relaxed about the move. It makes things manageable. Procrastination has no place in packing up a house, as far as I'm concerned!


Another tip: never pay for boxes. I get mine from places like Starbucks and grocery stores. I do, however, pay for clean packing paper for all breakables.

Houses And Homes

Noah Zinsmeister Photography

A house....a home....I've got them on the brain in a big way these days. Why they're important and what it is that turns brick and concrete and wood into a space that feels like "home" and why these spaces mean so much to us.

The timing is almost eerie. My husband and I are looking for our first house to buy--and while that may not happen, and we may just rent, we're looking and hoping and trying to determine if this is the right path for us to take. Meanwhile, my parents have just sold my childhood home in Upstate New York. While we play the role of the buyer my parents have been playing the role of the seller, and it's made for some interesting perspective.

I'm glad that I've had this very apt distraction while my parents' home is changing hands. It's sort of poetic actually. I know that I haven't lived in my childhood home in 7 years, and that my husband and I made a home of our own 2 years ago. But this house I grew up in was home, it was familiar in a way I haven't really had since. I always felt so proud of it and loyal to it. I'll always treasure this photo my brother snapped on the morning of my wedding. Me, on the most important day in all of my 23 years, heading to my parents' room to look at myself in their full length mirror right after getting dressed, in a hallway I traipsed through thousands of times over many years. This photo juxtaposes "once-in-a-lifetime" with normal, familiar, known.

And now, my husband and I are searching for precisely this. Our first home. It may not be in the cards just yet. A rental is still a home and we'll fill whatever place we end up in with our things and our particular scents and our love and struggles and joy. It's ok if we have to wait.

Either way, I know we have a lot to look forward to. If it's in 2 months or in 5 years, someday we will have the opportunity to make a home, a home, for ourselves and for our children, just as my parents made one for us.

Trip In Photos

Setting up for dinner with friends at our Airbnb. 

A "small world" experience I had with the owner of a house we looked at.

A fuzzy photo of our dinner with my parents, who came down to treat us to some good food and house-shopping wisdom. We're so glad they made the trip!

This retro kitchen.

My dad fearlessly climbing onto the roof of a house we looked at. He has years of experience in old houses and we were so happy to have his expert opinion.

Yup, that's a potbelly pig in the front yard. This was NOT a house we looked at, just a hilarious, weird thing I had to capture on camera.

I never knew I loved mountains so much. 

On the way home we picked up this vintage brass bed in Birmingham. A Craigslist steal!

Not pictured: 

My beautiful, kind, lovely sister-in-law and our wonderful girl-talk and Prosecco date. I love her, and love that she's my sister and my friend for life.

* 

My spunky mother-in-law who helped us house-shop and who doesn't mind peeking into windows and backyards and who gives so generously of her time and energy.

*

The incredible laughing fit my mom and I fell into as we were trying to decide what to get for dessert. Tears were streaming, our men didn't get it, and the waitress thought we were crazy.

*

The 3 or 4 other dinner dates with our good friends who have welcomed us with open arms into their city, which will soon be our city too.

*

My partner in crime, who drove the whole way there and whole way back and listened to books on tape with me and let me rest my eyes in the passenger seat when I got sleepy. He is the best part of this whole new adventure. 

House-Hunting

A totally retro kitchen. I can't decide if I hate it or if it's actually sort of cool?

Well, house-hunting has been an experience, and it isn't over yet. We've seen maybe a dozen homes or more in the span of a few short days and we have the stories to prove it. At one house, the owner had cats and I actually stepped in cat vomit while checking out the living room. (The realtor was embarrassed and apologetic. I smiled and told her not to worry about it and then we left, never to see that house again.) We've seen 60s-era kitchens and all kinds of pink and mint green bathroom tile. It can be fun to see a home that is still occupied, I think. To get a glimpse into how people live, what their home looks like when the kids are at school and the parents are at work and only the dog is there to keep watch over silent pieces of furniture and ticking clocks.

It hasn't been all bad or weird, of course. We've seen lovely homes too and well-kept rooms and walls that hold histories and countless stories. My sweet husband would probably be pretty happy living in a brand new home, but it's me that gravitates toward the old ones, the ones that are creaky and not-quite-perfect and filled with character and charm. So we've been mostly looking at older homes and with that comes a fair share of datedness. It's pretty hard to find the right mix of vintage and modern!

I've been missing my writing and my blog and my dear readers so I just thought I'd check in to say hello. No news, really, yet. As soon as I can share I will! Please keep us in your prayers, if you think of it?