draper

smokey blue velvet.  charcoal gray circular geometric designed back.  stained wood in jacobean brown

available for purchase on esty

I'm not sure if the name is going to stick, but that's all I could come up with for now.  If you're a Mad Man fan, I'm sure you get it.  Let me know if you have any name suggestions, I'm open!  For some time now I have been on the hunt for a mid century modern chair.  But no such luck until I came across this one!  I can't wait to find another.  It's really well made, and super comfy!  

The velvet is actually a curtain panel from Pottery Barn.  Now I can't remember why I bought it originally but I've had this velvet for a while now.  I started with the velvet, and loved how it looked, but thought it needed a little funk added to it!  That's where the Dwell fabric on the back came in.  My husband said I should name it the "mullet" -- it's work in the front and a party in the back.  I think I'll stick with "Draper" for now!  

Texas BBQ in New York City

This past week a woman contacted me needing somebody to design the furniture in her new brownstone she’s currently renovating.  Wow!  Chase and I made the trip up to Washington Heights to check out her place.  There’s lots of work to be done on it, but if she’s anything like me she’s going to have a blast rehabing it!  She has been buying old furniture off Craigslist (sounds like somebody I know!) for the last few months.  Her collection is so great, 3 sofas and 5 chairs...thank goodness she doesn’t want me to store all these pieces in my apartment!  Check out our design board and the before pics of her furniture on www.thewhitedesign.com -- FOLLOW ME tab.  Here are the first three fabrics we’re using.  I can’t wait!!  As y’all know I’ve been wanting to use this pink fabric for some time now! 

A trip to Harlem wouldn’t be complete without a stop at Dinosaur BBQ.  Yumm!  When you get off the train you can smell their pit smoking your lunch from three blocks away, you know that’s some good BBQ.  No where else in NYC is like that.  It reminded me of driving past the original Sonny Bryan’s in Dallas, that smell means home to me!  Dinosaur BBQ is no original Texas BBQ but it’s definitely the closest I’ve had up here.  Can’t wait to go back!

Cheers!

Kristen

inspirations

I love looking through design magazines, websites, blogs, online magazines... And I'm most always thinking about how can I use this for a new chair design.  Sometimes they pan out and other times they sit on my bulletin board staring at me each day.  Get into my head as I design..

 esty via ivy & piper

                                                          dwell fabric  

I love lamp : )  These lamps remind me of my wonderful and amazing Maw Maw Kitty (grandma) -- I didn't name her!  She has absolutely outstanding style and taste, and uses a lot of  this coral color in her home.  I love mixing some traditional looking with a more modern take.

If you love Lonny Mag check out Ivy & Piper, they have some great things!

Collage Wall

For some time now, I've wanted to incorporate a collage of frames on a wall in my apt.  It's a pretty big wall with sconces framing out fairly large space.  I believe that it should be a collection of meaningful things -- photos, paintings, objects -- Coming across these things have been harder than I thought.  Maybe it's because I'm in my shoebox apartment and have so many things packed away.  This summer my husband I purchased a beautiful stripped photograph in Barcelona.  This piece gave me the inspiration to begin the collage wall.  I have attempted this wall 4 times now without a final product!! My indecisiveness is really coming out!  Decisions, Decisions, Decisions -- Pics of my husband and I (seems quite conceded) -- Pics of our sweet pup (well of course!) -- Pics of our travels (sure) -- Symmetrical or not -- match the frames or not -- use my big chunky gold mirror or not (the mirror sitting my floor right now).  Ahhhhh!

For now I think I'll continue to collect pieces. Here are some of the photos my husband and I have taken over the years that I'm considering using.   

 view from Empire State Building

 these two are from a sailing trip we took last Christmas.  Anegada, BVI

 love locks in Paris from our trip this summer

love wall in Paris

As I continue to agonize over this topic I leave you with some pics of inspiration that one day will

be my wall-o-frames. 

  

lonny mag

stripe 

natural linen hand painted bold navy stripe fabric.  painted soft white, almost gray

I have to give all the credit to my husband for my newest chairs!  I’ve had these two chairs on the website under “Create Your Own.”  One afternoon Chase threw a strip of navy velvet on the seat of the chair as an attempt to help clean up the apartment.  It was so simple and pretty that I started a search for a really bold striped navy fabric.  No such luck though!  When I can’t find something I, of course, try to make it my self.  Lots of googling and trip to the paint store, I have a striped fabric!  And a new technique to use on my chairs.  Hand painted fabric -- ohh the possibilities are endless!!     

A few weeks ago I picked up a new chair, a bit more masculine than my past pieces.  It’s a midcentury modern chair, much like you probably would have seen in your grandparents house or on the set of Mad Men.  I’ve been wanting to snag one of these chairs but they are quite expensive up here.  Now I’m on the hunt for the perfect fabric.   

Thank you Allison for sending me some great pics of the ottoman in your living room, it’s up in the “Where Are They Now” album on White Design Facebook Page.  I especially love that her cute little dog is in the background!!  Keep the pics coming, and don’t forget to check out WhiteDesign on Facebook!  

Homebody

The other day I received an email from Homebody Boutique in Brooklyn wanting to sell my chairs!  I almost had a heart attack but took a deep breath and fell back from the ceiling.  So, I took my “Patty” and “Scottie” over to the store today.

Homebody is great and the chairs fit in so well.  I like to think of the store as their new “foster home” before they find permanent families.  If you’re ever in Park Slope, stop in.  They have lots of great things made by local artists, now including yours truly!  

Sunday I also sold one of my sofas...phew!  Additionally, it’s our two year anniversary today -- so much to celebrate.  

One last note -- If you know me you know that I am not a confident person.  And now having to market myself and my product has been extremely challenging.  However, I am so thankful for the constant encouragement and uplifting words I receive almost daily from y’all.  Enjoy some pics of the chairs in their temporary home.  

Gobble, Gobble

I hope everybody had a fabulous Turkey Day, filled with too much food, family, friends, football, and little time off.  We stayed in NYC for the holiday and even though we weren’t surrounded by our families, I have to say it was extremely nice to not be traveling!  It wasn’t a holiday totally without family, we managed to squeeze in a quick early Thanksgiving in Houston the weekend before.  So very thankful to for that weekend -- family, mexican food, friends, Chick-fil-a, and an Aggie win (that’s for my husband).  

The White Design Fan Page on Facebook is up and running.  As usual, I’m not sure how it all works, but I’m learning.  Give it a look!  If you have bought one of my pieces I would love for you to post pics of it in your home on the Fan Page!  If your not an F-Booker or aren’t familiar with it feel free to email it me.  I want to have an album of “Where They Are Now.” 

cpw

golden cut velvet on gray background.  tufted.  trimmed with french natural nailheads.  stained jacobean wood.

Before Thanksgiving, I finished up a custom tufted ottoman for a fellow Upper West Sider.  I absolutely love how the tufting turned out!  This fabric is my new fav!  Originally she wanted an animal print -- I wouldn't call this animal print but it definitely has that feel.  This fabric is amazing!!  I have it in pink too, but I have the feeling I need to find a single girl to use it -- I know my husband wouldn’t be too excited about a pink side chair in our living room.  It would be really cute in a little girl’s room, but all of my pregger friends are having or had boys!  Come on ladies. 

Greyhound Guinea Pig

I have to begin by saying thank you to KP for being my “Greyhound Shipping Guinea Pig.”  I shipped her beautiful ikat bench to Austin last week.  What a learning process this has been!  The adventure began with my husband and I attempting to fit the bench into our small car.  Always having SUV’s in the past, the thought of “Will something fit in my car” never has crossed my mind.  I really should start thinking this way, especially after trying 31 different ways we got it in!  Who cares if the windows had to be down.  The bench was wrapped in trash bags and packing tape, as I didn’t want the paint to be scratched; but it still looked pretty ghetto.  Next I was posed with two questions: How do you fit a 56 in long bench into a box; and, Where do you find said box?  Answer:  Buy 3 boxes and a role of duct tape at Staples, of course!  Thankfully we took it up to the White Plains Greyhound Station, knowing that there would be a parking spot (gotta love NYC).  We assembled the box, I guess you can call it a box, and after a bumpy ride from NY to Texas it arrived and put a smile on KP’s face when she walked into the Austin Greyhound station.  Hopefully the expression on her face was a smile and not an “Oh geez, what did I get myself into!”  Thankfully it made in one piece and KP was able to hack through the duct tape and trash bags to find her new bench -- and the two lived happily ever after!  


My newest project is an ottoman for an Upper West Sider neighbor.  I picked up the piece in Connecticut last week and found some fabulous fabric while I was home in Dallas.  I love this fabric so much I bought it in two different colors.  My Mom described it best as tiny little velvet pebbles.  

The main purpose of my trip home on Sunday was not for fabric, but to see my beloved Texas Rangers in the World Series.  What an experience,even though they lost!  And of course I couldn’t resist  fabric shopping all day on Monday with my mom, after taking my husband to the airport at 5:45am so he could get back to work and pay for my fabric shopping adventures.  Needless to say, we found some amazing things that I can’t wait to use!     

 Go Cowboys, just kidding, long live the Rangers!

kendall

royal blue and silver-gray authentic ikat fabric.  silver-gray braided trim.  painted glossy black. 

A girlfriend of mine in Austin had been wanting a chaise to put in her house.  And so the hunt began for a piece we could work with and eventually ship to Austin.  I found this and wasn't quite sure if it would work for what she wanted, but she immediately jumped on board and saw the potential I did.  I forgot to take a before pic (as usual), but the guy I bought it from said it was from Crate and Barrel.  Originally an bench made to go at the end of a bed, wood frame with a rattan seat and arms.  

I had been wanting to use ikat fabric on a piece and luckily KP loved it also!  When I ordered the fabric I didn't pay attention to where it was being shipped from until I received a package from Uzbekistan!  It truly is authentic!  I ordered another pattern that I haven't used yet.  The only problem with my "authentic" ikat is that it's only about 17 in wide.  Not a whole lot I can do with that...I'll find another bench I guess.  

Attempting this "small business" idea of mine, I need to be able to ship.  I had heard from multiple people that Greyhound Shipping is really convenient and cheap.  KP agreed to be my Greyhound Guinea Pig...I needed to use somebody I already knew instead of putting a random client through the learning process.  It's quite a humorous story so I've saved a whole entry for it  : ) 

cheers!

scottie

navy blue velvet. painted shimmery gold.

I found this chair out in Queens from a lady who spends her time at garage sells. Her entire backyard and garage was full of random junk! Maybe I should have nominated her for Hoarders! The insides of this chair were quite gross, it's a very old chair. It looks very nice all freshened up though. This was the first chair I spray painted. I think I should spray paint more chairs, it took no time at all! Luckily my apartment building has a "courtyard" (some outside space where the trash is kept) where I can paint outside. Spray paint and small enclosed apartments do not mix well together!

Scottie never even had the chance to sit on Etsy or Craigslist, he went straight to Homebody Boutique in Brooklyn. I went by to check on him this weekend and the owner had a great story for me. An older women sat in it the other day and completely fell backwards! I was horrified! I told her that I would take Scottie home since he clearly wasn't stable, but she said that wasn't the problem. It was totally the old lady. Thankfully nobody was hurt, including Scottie!