Vintage Hotel Dresser || And a Giveaway ||

Have you heard the news?  We're hiring!  We were so thrilled and humbled to find ourselves wrapping up 2017 with a waitlist of eDesign clients.  But making our customers wait is not our MO so we're onboarding a new design assistant to keep 'em happy and keep 'em coming!  If you meet our qualifications and are interested in applying, we want to hear from you!  Applications are due February 12th so get to it!

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While Chelsea is heading up the expanding design branch of our business, I'm still steering the furniture front - and I've landed a new piece with quite the untold history!

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The seller told me that his dad rescued it from a closing DC hotel somewhere on Florida avenue.  Let me tell you, he is certainly durable enough to have survived many-a-hotel stay.  But despite being built like a tank, he does have a few marks I couldn't mask: a scratch on the side, a sliver of missing veneer, and a faded water mark on the top.  All things I could have hidden with paint but OH that wood grain!  I couldn't bring myself to do it! 

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So I shined him up and celebrated the scars of his rich and storied life.  

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I removed the old damaged apron (those housekeeping sweeps had not been kind to that thing) and added sleek metal legs. 

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I did want to  keep the original knobs so I refinished them to match the new gams.

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He's also hides a secret: his top drawer is a hidden desk!

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The drawer front folds down to create a handy little work surface or mail drop spot.

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Complete with cubbies for stationary and office supplies.

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But the crowning jewel of this vignette is this canvas print by a local artist!

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This piece is just one of the many stunning abstracts by Laura Gunn Art.  I mean just go to her website and you'll be mesmerized by her process - its a riot of color in a dreary world (name that movie!).

Laura Gunn Art

Originals + Canvas Prints
Washington, DC
 

To me, art has always been personal.  I'm most drawn to the emotion in a painting.  Which my abstract mind most often finds in abstract paintings.  I doesn't matter what it makes me feel just that it makes me feel. 

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I could stare at Laura Gunn's "Still" for hours.  Sometimes I think it's a quiet ocean horizon.  Sometimes its a soundwave with the gentlest flutter, a tiny reverb.  I love that it changes for me, and yet stays the same.

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And we're delighted to announce that we at SMH are teaming up with Laura Gunn for a very special giveaway!  You could win your very own 24" giclee reproduction of a Laura Gunn original on gallery-wrapped canvas (that's a $149-$169 value!).  Follow these 3 steps to enter:

 

1) Follow @cate_stylemutthome and @lauragunnart on Instagram
2) Browse Laura Gunn's the Gallery Wrapped Canvas collection and
3) Comment below with the piece you'd like to win!

Winner will be announced next Wednesday, February 7th on Instagram!

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Vintage Hotel Secretary Dresser
Now Available for Sale
40"W x 19"D x 38"H
$545

And if you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com for availability or to ask about our third-party shipping policy.

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Gray MCM Tallboy

It's T-Minus 5 days to Christmas and I gotta ask: does anyone else have visions of furniture dancing in your head?  I can't tell you how many times I have asked Caleb for furniture for my Christmas/ birthday/ justbecauseitstuesday present.  This year, I'm hoping he'll approve setting aside funds for a headboard.  Or a new armchair.  Or another plant stand.  (I know: I'm trouble).

The good news is, if you are hankering for home decor that doesn't exactly fit under the tree, StyleMutt Home has some handsome new pieces in the garage shop!

In all my pre-Christmas dreaming, I stumbled across this dashing (albeit pricey) devil.  There's no way I'd be willing to pay such a steep asking price, but I was inspired nonetheless.  So when I first saw this chipped white & gold dresser on Craigslist, my wheels started turning.

Pretty close to the inspiration yes?  

Inspired by the double-breasted pulls of the inspiration piece, I added whistle pulls that match the brass-capped tapered legs.  The greige color was a custom mix using some leftover paint from our Navy Yard Condo client.  (Waste not, want not!) 

Although it looks like 5, this piece actually has only 4 dovetailed drawers - one is a faux double-front with extra deep storage for bulky sweaters and such.

And on the underside of the drawers, you can find the original maker's mark.  Apparently this fellow is Swedish!  

The styling for this piece was especially fun.  I really felt like I was channeling my inner Urban Outfitter with the colorful art and moon phase chalkboard.

But the best part is this white and gold cactus by GoodNight Light.

Yeah, you heard right - that cactus lights up!

It is safe to leave on for hours at a time and made of a shatterproof vinyl which, to my surprise, feels more like a matte porcelain in person!  It would of course be adorable (and safe!) in a nursery (one day ;) but for now it's the perfect light to leave on for Thor since we're not getting home before sunset on these short winter days.

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If you are still looking for a last-minute gift for any little-ones on your list, I highly recommend browsing the quirky inventory at GoodNight Light to see if any of their quality products pique your interest. 

And if you are local and looking for an affordable MCM tallboy (for you or anyone else on your list ;) this one is in our shop!

Gray MCM Tallboy
Now Available for Sale
36"W x 18"D x 43.5"H
$345

If you're interested in this gray & gold Swed (or a custom order like him), please email cate@stylemutthome.com.

Blue + Wood Sideboard ||with a storied past||

Did you all hear our big news?  We just scored ourselves a gem of an intern!  I guess it's been a lucky week for us because I also recently scored this credenza off my local craigslist.

The piece had good bones but the poorly-done black lacquer just had to go.  I still had some Compass Blue by Behr Marquee left from this campaign dresser flip I did last year and taking a page from Chelsea's recent hunter green piece where she painted the body but left the legs wood, I came up with this:

Blue-hoo! (that's blue for wahoo!)
 

The paneling on the left hides three large drawers - the top one with dividers for utensils or what-have-yous.

The other side of the sideboard is a cabinet with half open shelving and three more drawers for ample storage.

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Besides good bones, this piece also came with quite the pedigree!  I uncovered a few fun finds in one of the drawers which I posted about on instagram.

I like to think that this piece belonged to a version of myself in a previous life.  A version of myself who received a letter from a friend with excellent taste in jewelry, and then tucked it away in her beautiful credenza so she wouldn't forget to "make arrangements," and then promptly forgot about it because it got buried in that drawer along with the original credenza's informational tag because she keeps EVERYTHING.   And is also named Barbara apparently.  But thanks to my former self Barbara-the-Hoarder, I now know that this storage piece was made by American of Martinsville for the Dania Collection - can you spot the original dresser in the images below?  

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See I always knew holding on to everything would come in handy one day.

I chose wooden knobs for the cabinet doors that had faceted gold corners to play off of the wood in the legs and the angles of the drawer fronts.

Based on the drawings in Barbara's pamphlet, this guy was missing some legs so I had to fit him with some prosthetics [or in this case, tapered legs].

I styled this bad boy with my beloved kilim pillow children er... covers.  I simply hung them with vintage wooden pant hangers to give the wall some textured drama. 

Add in some fun finds like these ceramic pyramids found at Sweet Clover Barn this past spring, a lamp, and a plant and you have yourself quite the eclectic vignette.

Oh and if you're local my friends, this gem is ready for a new home!   Original American of Martinsville credenzas from the Dania collection can go for anywhere between $900 and $4,000 but this blue guy [complete with all his papers] is a deal!

Blue + Wood Sideboard
60"W x 18.5"D x 34.5"H
SOLD
$580

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, please contact me at cate@stylemutthome.com.