CHAIR REHAB

As any of you who follow me on Instagram know, I found a steal-deal at the Church Mouse when I was in Palm Beach a few weeks ago. I have wanted one of these classic Chinese Chippendale armchairs for years and even painted one (print available here)and so, when I spotted this for a mere $95, my husband suggested I snap it up.

The seat was filthy and dingy, but I knew that I could either clean it or reupholster, so I didn't let that small detail deter me one bit! I hated to have to rip out the nailhead trim, so I opted to clean the white upholstery with Bar Keeper's Friend after reading online that it works on vinyl like a charm. It did the job and the seat is now spotless.

The frame was a little too drab for my liking as well, so I decided to mix my own paint color and give it a brighter look.

Here it is, cleaned and freshly painted with my "Italian Gardens" cushion that is available here

Hope you have a great start to your week!

20% OFF EVERYTHING AT ANNECHOVIE!

prints

totes

clocks

and originals!

20% off everything in my shop from now through this weekend! Use code MOVE20 for discount.

Check out all the goods here

LACQUER LOVE

I love these lacquered blue walls in this Robert Couterier interior (I'd ditch the Chinese figure, though)

This color is soothing and the shine is perfect!

PURPLE POTATO SALAD

I just made this recipe for the first time last week and it was a hit. It's not your everyday potato salad, but it's pretty delicious. The key to the extra flavor is leaving the skin on and roasting your potatoes in the oven vs. boiling or steaming them.

I diced up some purple potatoes, threw them in a glass baking dish, splashed on some EVOO, a dash of garlic salt and coarse ground pepper, bake at 375 for 45 minutes to an hour and then let cool until the potatoes are just warm. Dice up about half of a large sweet onion and then add defrosted frozen green peas and mayonnaise to taste. Combine together and grind out a bit of sea salt and more pepper and then you're done!

Ingredients

5-6 medium purple potatoes, diced and roasted

1 1/2 cups peas

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

4 tablespoons mayonnaise (or to taste)

coarse ground salt and pepper

Let me know what you think if you decide to try this!

Bon Apetite!!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Love these outdoor chairs new this Spring at CB2 here

These go well with the chairs also.

Are you looking forward to time outdoors and relishing the warmer weather?

ANNECHOVIE RUGS ARE HERE!

These are just a few samples of the new rugs I have available now in my shop in 3 different sizes.

Peruse the selection here

ANNECHOVIE NOW ON HUNTER'S ALLEY

I am now selling on Hunter's Alley and will be adding more to my shop very soon! As many of you know, Hunter's Alley is a subsidiary of One Kings Lane and is a marketplace for decor lovers that lets you buy and sell vintage, contemporary pre-owned and handcrafted furnishings and decor. 

Feel free to check out my shop

HERE

SERENE DOMESTICITY

I just love this painting by Laureano Barrau found here

POOL TIME

There's just something that I love about vintage outdoor photos, especially of pool scenes. Brings back happy memories of days in the sun as a kid. This is a photo by Slim Aarons of La Concha in Acapulco, Mexico - looks to have been taken in the 60's....? 

Hope this brings a little warmth and sunshine to your Monday!

O'VERLAYS FOR FURNITURE

The nightstands in my master bedroom are IKEA "Rast" chests with the O'verlays "Pippa" design mouldings

"Pippa" dresses up my MALM dresser as well, so all of the dressers coordinate.

Having recently moved into a new home, I have been working on getting it furnished and decorated. While it's still a work in progress, one thing that was a great find was the furniture mouldings from O'verlays that were given to me to add just the right finishing touch to our bedroom nightstands and dresser. These innovative and versatile mouldings are an inexpensive way to give simple pieces of furniture that extra finishing touch. I had seen them on the web and Pinterest and their founders generously offered to supply me with the kits for my IKEA Rast dressers and my Malm chest of drawers. I chose the "Pippa" kits and was very pleased.

It started with a few coats of white paint on the rast dressers and then I coated the mouldings with plastic primer

Paint the mouldings the color of your choice and let them dry (mine required 3 coats to cover thoroughly)

Place drawers on their backs and line them up so you can lay out the mouldings before securing them with adhesive (I used Liquid Nails). I penciled small marks along the edge after lining them up to use as a guide for before I glued them down. I used a small paintbrush to apply the adhesive so it didn't get messy with lots of excess oozing out the sides.  I pressed them down hard after placement and then made sure to wipe up any excess glue with a damp paper towel before leaving them overnight to dry. The great thing about having the drawers on their backs is that gravity works in your favor while the adhesive dries and goes to work!

I also used the "Anne" kit for my TV stand. I cannot say enough complimentary things about O'verlays - I was thrilled with the results and think they are the perfect low-cost and creative solution for dressing up IKEA basics or vintage furniture that just needs a little paint and pizazz!

See all the great options here

NEW CHANEL AND HERMES MATCHES!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

I hope that your week is off to a good start. I just wanted to mention that I have now added 2 new matchbox designs to my shop here

IT'S CURTAINS FOR ANNECHOVIE!

$5 OFF AND FREE SHIPPING ON NEW ANNECHOVIE SHOWER CURTAINS AND MORE 'TIL MARCH 9TH ON MY NEW SITE HERE

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

NEW ANNECHOVIE CLOCKS AND TOTES!

Hello and thanks for stopping by!  I wanted to show you a few of the recent additions to my shop lately - I have added many new totes, pillows and clocks, so check these and many more out here

A LITTLE LATE, BUT IT WAS GREAT!

The V&A doesn't serve regular "cafeteria" food, so it stands to reason that the trays the food is served on are far from standard as well. Love the refined floral in lieu of boring beige or something even worse!

I know that this blog has not seen many updates for a long time, but I've been so busy with work, marriage, travel, decorating our home, setting up my studio and life that I am just now getting a bit caught up. I took so many photos during my trip to London last Fall and so wanted to share my visit to The Victoria and Albert museum, even though it's a bit late in coming.

I hadn't been back to the V&A since 1989, but enjoyed it even more on my return visit.

The best museum food that I've ever tasted, hands down. I usually consider "good museum food" an oxymoron.

Both the exterior and interior architecture are quite impressive, with Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's beloved Consort, as the central figure and icon of this place and so many others around London.

You could spend days examining all of the art, artifacts, textiles and antiquities here.

These snapshots feature just a few highlights of what my husband and I saw.

The mammoth skylights are key to the openness and light here, in spite of the fact that the edifice hails from the Victorian era when "heavy" and "dark" were the norms of the period's architectural vernacular.

This piece was especially impressive because it was constructed entirely of glazed terracotta and so beautiful.

I hope they used some heavy-duty sinkers to hoist that massive carved architectural relic up on the wall!

This pagoda and the Oriental pieces were especially fascinating.

This handpainted wallpaper dates from around 1790-1800

After lunch and several hours of perusing the art and historic treasures, we took a late afternoon stroll over to Hyde Park. I love this place and relished the space, light and people watching. Lots of darling little British charges with rosy cheeks tucked in their prams for a ride in the fresh air.

The V&A is certainly a "can't miss" if you are visiting London. You won't be sorry that you took a precious slice of time to see the world's finest museum of decorative arts!