Sometimes you need to recharge and refocus your creative mind. This past week my boyfriend packed up the car and whisked me away for a surprise weekend of relaxing! We turned off all of our electronics to enjoy the beautiful weather and each others company at the Steep Ravine Campgrounds.
The cabins are set on the cliffs above the ocean and alongside the variegated greens and pops of floral colors of the Mt. Tam hiking trails! The days were spent soaking up the sunshine at Stinson Beach and spotting wild life on the surrounding trails, while the evenings slowed down to conversations over dinner, sunsets and s'mores. Read More
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Furniture hardware can make or break your makeover project. Select the wrong style and your piece will look like it's going through a midlife crisis and the wrong size will fade into the background or take center stage. The goal is to accessorize with the right hardware that will take the piece to the next level.
I am always on the look out for new hardware, whether or not I actually have a project in mind. So much so that I carry a screwdriver around in my purse. Some of my favorite hardware has come off of the abandoned furniture from the streets of San Francisco. When thrifting remember to not just looking at the furniture but to check out the hardware, if the furniture item isn't great but is a good price I will buy the item for the drawer pulls or knobs. Another great place to find unique hardware is at the Alameda Point Antique Faire, there are a few vendors that have a small selection but there is one gentleman that has an entire booth dedicated to vintage treasures! I have also found some wonderful pieces at many of the San Francisco thrift stores, Community Thrift and The Salvation Army in the Mission have a lot of furniture turnover so if you see something you like you have to get it when you see it or it won't be there tomorrow. With Delightful Designs moving in a new direction, I now have more time to focus on the creative side of the business. I am excited to pull out and start work on the pieces that have been in storage waiting for their turn to be transformed! I have some fun and colorfully chic ideas for a few of the pieces, but also looking forward to expanding into custom orders. I am currently in the process of creating a gallery for unfinished pieces that can be customized to fit your design style.
Below I have some rough photos of items that are in the queue for transformation. I will be updating the site soon with better photos. If interested in an item shoot me an email and we can talk more about the details! Read More Hello Friends!
Today marks the first day of a new adventure! Delightful Designs has had a wonderfully successful first year in business and like most everything you try you learn a lot along the way. I have found that the majority of my sales come from my online shop or via the monthly Alameda Point Antique Faire. So to start off Delightful Designs second year I will be focusing on those channels. I may have a heavy heart as I say goodbye to the little shop on Irving Street that has given me so much joy but I am beyond excited to take the momentum from this past year and move my business in a new direction where it can grow even more! Keep following along here on the Colorfully Chic Blog, posted every Saturday! Now for a look back at a few of my favorite moments and transformations! Happy Saturday Everyone! Can you believe how fast January flew by? We are well on our way into 2016 and it's going to be a great year! This next week will conclude the tenancy of Delightful Designs at the Little Shop on Irving Street. In honor of a great first year and to celebrate the new direction the shop is taking, there will be a sale on all In-Store furniture and home decor from now until the end of the month!
Hurry to save on one-of-a-kind painted furniture pieces! Below are a few items available at the shop but Follow along on Instargram @delightfuldesignsdecor to see more of whats for sale, DM me to purchase or come into the shop! The new year is a wonderful time to refocus and set new goals. On January 31st the little shop on Irving Street will be closing its doors and I will be traveling near and far to find beautiful treasures to bring to you via our online store. Outside of shopping online you will be able to find our furniture and home goods monthly at the Alameda Antique Faire (the first Sunday of every month)! The growth I have experienced in my first year of business has been so exciting, but as a solopreneur I have had a hard time keeping the shop stock with my one of a kind furniture pieces (a good problem). In order to continue to grow I must update my business structure, what does this mean for you? More furniture makeovers, DIY tutorials here on the Colorfully Chic Blog and home decor treasures in the online shop! I am excited about the new direction my small business is taking and ready to welcome the new adventure. In order for Delightful Designs to make this transition everything in the shop has to go...Good News for you! Stop by the shop from now until the end of the month to find great deals! Everything is marked down! Painted Furniture & Home Decor Deals Wednesday - Sunday 10am - 6pm Monday & Tuesday By Appointment Hello Friends and Happy New Year! I have recovered from all of the holiday craziness and ready to share my new year project with everyone! I moved in with my amazingly supportive boyfriend this past year shortly after embarking on the Delightful Designs Adventure. What a whirlwind of a year it was and now that I have gotten into a flow with all that small business ownership entails I have had time to tackle our home.
I decided to start with the spare bedroom (and I know we are beyond lucky to have a spare room in San Francisco). Our home, a rental, was built in 1907 and was original a single family house but somewhere along it's path was chopped in half and is now two apartments, we live upstairs and have a lovely downstairs neighbor. This modification has resulted in a strange layout, I love a challenge! The plan for this spare room is to transform it into an inspiring office. I will be posting the progress of the room as I complete it. There will be plenty of DIY tutorials starting with today and the transformative power of Paint! I was starting with this two-toned green and numerous holes. It's the week of Christmas...6 days to go! Some of us are Wahoo-ing and some maybe scrambling to get the shopping started. I have put together some ideas to get your creative juices flowing, whether they be final touches, stocking stuffers or gifts alike I hope this helps! Stocking StuffersThese hand crocheted headbands are a great gift to toss in the stocking on Christmas morning! With four colors to choose from they offer endless ways to style your hair.
A few months ago while treasure hunting at the Alameda Antique Faire hidden behind piles of items I saw a lily pad base popping out and was instantly in love. I have seen this type of lamp before but never with an ornate shade base. They were beautiful and they needed to come home with me! Once home I did some thinking and decided that though they are lovely in their original form I wanted to update them. My first thought was Edison bulbs, industrial chic and modern. To do so the lamps needed to be rewired from a chandelier base to a standard socket. This is something I have never attempted before so I took them to a lamp expert only to be told it would cost $110...Eek! Not willing to drop that much cash on a couple of lamps I decided to give it a whirl myself...after all I changed all the electrical sockets and hardwired the ceiling pendants at the shop why was this any different. After digging through the lamp kit section at my neighborhood hardware store I found what I thought might do the trick! First thing make sure your wiring works, if it does not you will need to use new wiring. Secondly make sure the lamp is unplugged and gather your tools. In this case my wiring was good all I needed was a small flat head screw driver and the new socket. While removing the chandelier socket I made sure to mark which wire went with which screw, as you can see in the photo below one is silver and one is gold. I used a purple sharpie and just scribbled on the wire to be connected to the silver screw. Slide your wires through the hole that attaches the socket to the lamp, bend the wires around the proper screw and tighten. Screw the socket back onto the lamp, add a lightbulb and hit the switch! It really is that easy! The lamp expert I spoke to said it was hard work and time consuming hence the hefty price tag. This took me 15 minutes and $9 to complete both lamps. I was a little weary after hearing how hard this could be and I didn't want to ruin such beautiful pieces, but when I plugged the lamps in and the light bulb lit up I was elated. I called Dad to tell him my story so proud of myself for accomplishing something new, but what really made me smile was what he said about the lamp expert, "He hasn't met a Stoecker"! Dad was right, as usual, you can do anything you put your mind to, have confidence in yourself and give it a whirl. Thanks Dad!
I have stocked the shop for the kick-off of the holiday shopping season! Give the gift that no one else will, all home decor accessories and furniture are one of a kind! Here are a few of my favorites! Shop the Small Business Saturday Sale! 10% Off Home Decor & 20% Off Furniture through Monday November 30th. HOLIDAY HOURS: Wednesday-Sunday 10am - 7pm
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~ ABOUT ME ~Creative Owner of Delightful Designs, a boutique where furniture is given a new colorfully chic life! Read more...
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