Curbside chic

I feel like Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street: I love Trash!

Now that's Spring's here it's time to start trolling the streets for nifty furniture finds. Students are out of school any day so there could be even more stuff on the street this time of year.

I found this white leather chair on my street. The springs are wonky and the seat has sort of collapsed - something that could be fixed if I had the cash and the inclination - but I picked it up anyway as the rest of the bones were good.



I simply built up the seat by piling a couple old blankets. In the winter I had a white faux fur rug over the seat concealing the blankets but now that it's warmer a swath of silk material is less wintery weighty - it also pops nicer against the white.

The orange silk cushion picks up the orange in the material and adds an exotic look.

Tossing material over trash finds is an easy peasy, non-handy way to deal with a slightly ramshackle piece of furniture.

This teak veneer coffee table was a bit worn on top when I found it years ago, and now it's even more worn.
The objects I had on its surface looked rather hodge-podgey until I threw a black velvet handmade scarf (found at the thrift shop for a couple bucks) over the table top.

Now the items pop against the black, and the black balances the lacquer mirror and lamp base.

Voila: instant curbside chic.