Inspiring Bloggers Series: Vintage Prairie Style

Hey all! It's time for my next feature in my Inspiring Bloggers Series!  I am so, so thrilled to have Keya from Vintage Prairie Style here today! I'm trying to think of when I first discovered Keya's blog and I'm pretty sure it was after she left me the sweetest message on one of my posts a long, long time ago. It doesn't hurt that she has awesome style! I find so much inspiration from her painted furniture and it just kills me that she lives so far away from me!

 

 

Hi everyone, I'm Keya and I blog over at vintage prairie style, which is my little corner of the web where I get to share all of my creations and inspirations. I think of my site as an ever evolving series of projects, so when you visit (and I hope you will) you never really know what you will find; my world can be a bit chaotic - in the best possible way... I cannot tell you how excited and surprised I was when Angela asked me to participate in her inspiring bloggers series! I have to say, as soon as I found Angela, which feels like many moons ago now, I was smitten. We share a love of thrifting, furniture re-dos and crafting. I could go on for days... Her style is so amazing, she has such creative ideas and her positivity and outlook on life are truly inspiring.  

This is the story of two thrift store chairs and the riot they caused in my living room. Maybe some of you will relate to this experience, and for those of you who don't, well, bare with me... You see, when I spotted them (my new chairs) I knew they were special. Diamonds in the rough, and I mean r-o-u-g-h! But, with a price tag of $15, I had to have them. I brought them home, fixed them up and proudly brought them up to our living room (I plan to do a before/after post over on my blog in the new year).

And this, my friends, is where it happened.

The RIOT.

These chairs were not playing nice with the other pieces in the room. Obviously I had to address this issue immediately. So after an afternoon of furniture shuffling I came up with something that is going to work for all of us. For the time being, of course.

So lets take a look.

When you walk into the room from the front entrance this is what you see. You might notice that I like to mix old and new; that I've never met a stripe I didn't like; and that I love to layer, but you need to know that I also HATE clutter.

Below you can see my new chairs in their new home. These chairs were truly a labor of love, as were so many other elements in this room. The wall sconces, for instance, were way too brassy; but after a hit of antiquing wax they were invited to join this crew (no fear of mixing metals in this house). All of the pillows were made by me using drop cloth remnants, linen scraps and even some ikea rugs.

Here is the new view of our book case wall, an area that sees regular changes (you can see some of the incarnations of this space here, here and here). I've mixed our hand-me-down wing backs with more hand sewn pillows, graphic Ikea plates and a lot of vintage treasures. I am pretty nuts over my new/old bowling pins. Not sure that the husband and kids understand that these are decorative...

I like to make things look interesting; no matter where you are sitting. So when we are relaxing in the wing backs this is our view. The gallery wall has stayed the same for over a year, a record in this house.

And finally, here is  my favorite spot in the room.

It is completely separate from my new chairs, but had the chairs not caused a shakeup then I never would have put this together. This little polka dotted cabinet is a favorite, I painted it up to sell but in the end I had to keep it (you can read all about that here). And no, that is not a real mouse scaling the lamp shade - it's a bronze. Made by my aunt. I have been coveting her pieces my whole life and finally acquired one - did I mention that I love him!

So there you have it. A harmonious end to a wild overhaul. I will admit that I have no idea if this will last much past this holiday season; things never stay the same for too long around here; but I can tell you I am enjoying it right now.

Thanks so much again to Angela for having me, and I hope that all of you will pop over for a visit soon!

 

 

Thank you so much for sharing Keya! And friends, be sure to stop on over to Vintage Prairie Style!