{our new bulldog}

 While picking up some things in the flower district for the wedding a few months back, I happened across a huge selection of plaster figurines at BnB Floral Supply on Wall Street next door to the Original Flower Mart.   Most of the plaster figurines range from super tacky to super weird like huge David statues or creepy Easter bunnies, but hidden amongst those are some real gems.  I picked up this bulldog and an eagle statue for less than $25.  This past weekend, we spray painted the bulldog gold, named him Frank and he now lives alongside our bar....

{a little white spray paint}

I have been having a super productive week! In addition to finally hanging our upholstered headboard, I also tackled a small spray paint project that has been on my to do list forever.  One of the problems with living in the loft is you cannot just walk out to your driveway to spray paint something.  Instead, I have to go down to the street level and hang out with my stuff while I spray paint it behind our building (people give me odd looks like I am about the tag the side of our building. It isn't pleasant).  Anyways, I have had these candle holders since we moved to LA.  They used to be the stands to some glass hurricanes and I painted them Robin's Egg blue to use as candle holders (you can see them in action here).  While the blue is pretty, it isnt very versatile and I finally got around to repainting them a glossy white.  I really love how these turned out and plan on keeping them on our dining room table instead of hidden on our bookshelf from now on!

{outdoor deck: before & after}

By far the best part about our loft is the deck; coming by outdoor space like this in downtown Los Angeles is incredibly difficult and that's how we knew this unit was the one for us. Luckily, we already had the outdoor sofa and chairs from our previous house in Silverlake. The synthetic grass (I promise it's not astro turf!) was a great find at Lester's carpets near The Grove in LA. I highly recommend them for turf or large area rugs. We also found a collapsible teak table and three white patio chairs on Craigslist.

{Ikea table, Ikea Urban Chairs}

{trio of glazed pots from Joann's fabrics}

Since our dog would be out here during the day we decided to build the wood planter boxes for the entire ledge since it was only 40 inches high and Muji is a very curious dog.  After extensive calculating and recalculating of all the planks of we would need, we were able to make these boxes relatively quickly (and by "we" I mean Christopher and his dad).  I am mildly obsessed with succulents so this feature is one of my favorites and is still a work in progress as I am currently on the hunt for some more yellow/orange colored succulents to bring some warmer colors into the boxes.

{BHG outdoor sectional, Target outdoor throw pillows}

{Home South Bali chairs, Target tilting umbrella}

This tree was a housewarming gift from my mother, it is a "salad" citrus tree which has 5 different types of citrus on it: Bearss Limes, Valencia oranges, Minneola tangelos, Eureka lemons and Washington oranges. It should be bearing fruit this spring and we are so excited to stop buying citrus for cocktails at the store every week. 

  {deck at night}

{mid-century chair make-over}

One of our old neighbors in Silver Lake was getting rid of these chairs and we took them with the intention to refinish them as soon as we moved somewhere with more space.  Right before moving into the new loft, we finally got to give them the attention they deserved! We removed the old varnish, lightly sanded the entire chair and then finished them with one of Varathane's wood stains in "American Walnut."  The old yellow cushions went in the trash and we made brand new bottom cushions.  I created a paper stencil from the wood inside the original cushion and used that to cut a brand new piece of plywood using a jigsaw. Then I attached 2 inch thick foam with spray adhesive to the top of the plywood. The foam was then covered with batting that was staple gunned to the back of the plywood. The grey wool fabric was another Micheal Levine Loft find! The fabric was attached in the same way as the batting except with about 10 times as many staples holding it on so that the fabric was smooth. Instead of making new back cushions we bought simple white cotton pillows from Ikea.

{credenza makeover: part one}

At our previous house in Silverlake, we had a very small "bar", about 3 feet wide, that was always forcing us to re-arrange the bottles and glasses in order to get everything to fit. While shopping for a dining table at Pepe's thrift store (here), we came across this solid wood credenza which was in need of some work. We briefly debated trying to tackle refinishing and lacquering it ourselves, but Pepe offered to sell us the credenza and lacquer it in any color we chose for $250. I knew I wanted it to be dove gray, but we were afraid some of the detailing on the doors would get lost without some contrast so we added the white. I am really happy with how it turned out and I highly recommend Pepe for any refinishing and re-upholstery needs. Check back tomorrow for part two with the bar fully stocked! **UPDATE: click here for part two!