Sample Sale Report: Marimekko

I dropped by the Marimekko sale tonight at 260 SampleSale to see what I could rustle up. Being a long time fan of the Finnish design company's eye-catching graphic aesthetic, I super excited for their first ever sample sale. There was a short line when I got to the sale that moved rather quickly. Like all sales at this location, you're required to check your purse and your coat.

Once inside I headed straight for the shoes and bedding. Here you can shop for sneakers in vibrant prints for just $30 a pair. And so the crowds were pillaging the boxes as staffers struggled to pull out new stock from under the tables and get it organized. I spotted size 3 (5 for women) all the way up to a 9.5 Mens. Some of the sneakers were separated from the other half but if you looked around a little, you could find the match without too much difficulty.

As for sheets, the sheet sets were just $20, while duvet covers were $40. They pretty much blew out of the sale and at least every other person in line seemed to be holding sheets in some form or other. There were pretty much 3 main patterns at the sale. The Lumimarja in taupe was only available in King size. I spotted some Kevatesikko print pillowcases for King beds and shower curtains (for $30, but the same shower curtain can be found at Crate & Barrel for $13). Kaivo Percale Duvets were available but only in King size. I spotted some Kivet's but only for long Twin size. I overheard the staffer say that they anticipate more bedding to arrive on Thursday.

Sample Sales This Week: February 27-March 4, 2012

Who: Barneys Warehouse Sale
What: Enjoy up to 75% off on designer clothing, shoes, accessories, and more.
When: Extended through March 4, 2012.  Mon-Fri 10am-9pm, Sat-Sun 9am-8pm.
Where: 255 West 17th St (b/n 7th & 8th Ave.)

Who: Showroom Seven Spring Sample Sale
What: Designer clothing & accessories priced at wholesale and below on brands like Odd Molly, Erickson Beamon, Issa London, Block, Lieberskind, Treesje and more.
When: Now through March 3, 2012. Mon-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 11am-6pm, Closed Sundays
Where: 263 11th Ave, 3rd Floor (b/n 27th & 28th St)

Who: Krizia Warehouse Sale
What: 70-90% off on RTW & accessories.
When: Now through, February 28, 2012. Mon-Tues 11am-7pm
Where: 446 West 14th St (b.n 9th & 10th Ave)

Who: Rent The Runway Sample Sale
What: Snag retired, gently used dresses and accessories. The sale will feature a variety of designer dresses and accessories from your designers including Badgley Mischka, Nicole Miller, David Meister, Catherine Malandrino, Rebecca Taylor, D&G and many more-at up to 95% off.
When: Feb 28-March 4, 2012. Tues-Wed 10am-8pm, Thrus-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-3pm
Where:260 5th Ave (b/n 28th and 29th St). 212-725-5400

Who: Slane Jewelry Sample Sale
What: Score discounts on accessories/jewelry
When: March 1-3, 2012. Thurs-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 11am-6pm
Where: 260 5th Ave (b/n 28th and 29th St). 212-725-5400

Who: Ralph Lauren Home Sample Sale
What: Furniture, Lighting, Home Accessories, Decorative Pillows, Gifts, Vintage and Antiques at a discount at the Ralph Lauren Home Sample Sale. Credit cards only (American Express, Visa or MasterCard). All sales final. Strollers not allowed. No children under 12 will be admitted.
Shipper will be available on premises. All shipping costs and arrangements are the responsibility of the customer.
When: Sale ends February 27, 2012. Mon 9am-5pm
Where: Metropolitan North Pavilion, 110 West 19th Street(b/n 6th & 7th Ave). 718-747-1656

DIY: Re-Upholstering Chair Cushions

A little while ago I shared my recent addiction to making over my living room.  I’ve been busy as a bee whenever I get a spare moment sanding, painting and finishing furniture I have to take it from a random assortment of furniture that I ended up acquiring into a home.  Now that my furniture was nicely painted in burgundy I decided that I had to get some new fabric to liven up the look.  I went to several fabric stores in NYC before deciding that Mood seemed to have the best selection of upholstery/home dec fabrics I could find - the entire lower floor for that matter.

I brought my color swatches and took pictures with my phone to remember what the print would like like and got swatches to bring home and make sure that it still looked good before purchasing the fabric. The fabric I originally chose ended up not looking like the correct shade of grey once I saw it against my table and I went back to the drawing board before finding this retro geometric print that I loved.  Since most of my furniture in the apartment is solid, a print is great compliment to add life and character to your furnishings.

I bought 1 1/2 yards of fabric just to be on the safe side but I probably could have done fine with 1 1/4 yards.

Tools you'll need:
1 1/2 yards of fabric - depending on the size of your seat cushions
Screwdriver
Heavy Duty Flat Staple Remover
Pliers
Safety Glasses (I actually just wore eye glasses)
Heavy Duty Staple Gun
Heavy Duty Staples
Pen/marker/chalk
Sharp Scissors

The first thing I did was remove the cushions from the chair frame using a screw driver.

Then using a staple remover, gently slide the remover under the staple and I found that a slight wiggle helps loosen the staples to pull them up.  If only one end of the staple comes out, you can use pliers to easily pull the other end out.  There were a couple staples that brute force couldn't muster out so I just left them in the chair.

My chairs were previously covered in 2 layers of fabric and starting to get really thick so I pulled both layers off and used the original fabric covering as a pattern for cutting out my new fabric.  If desired you can iron out the fabric so it's nice and flat (but I didn't bother).  Now carefully trace out the pattern from the old covering with a pen/chalk and trace out as many as the number of chairs you are covering.

Cut out the traced patterns using sharp scissors and center the chair seats against the wrong side of the fabric.


Carefully place pins as you center the seat in the fabric with a gentle relaxed but firm pull.  Do not pull too tight or you will get puckering.  Once your fabric has been placed you can use the staple gun to staple down the fabric.  I started at the centers of all four sides for even distribution of fabric and worked my way outwards.



When you get to the corners pull gently as you carefully fold the edges to wrap the corners - kind of like wrapping a present before securing with staples.

After months of re-painting, sanding and finding the perfect fabric I was so excited to see the finished results!  At last a room to call my own...now to tackle my next furniture project!

DIY: Painting Furniture

Home decor is not really something I ever paid much attention to.  When it comes to clothes I have no problems dressing myself or knowing what works and what doesn't but when it comes to the home I have really little experience.  My parents decorated my room when I was a child and I never changed it.  When I moved to New York, my previous roommate had an amazing knack making a room look warm, inviting and comfortable.  My current bedroom is actually the first room I ever bought furniture for and for a long time all I had was a mattress, a desk and a chair.  After she moved out of the apartment, things kind of started becoming much less cute as I had new roommates and we all had different odds and ends that didn't quite go together.  The homey feeling that I had taken for granted was gone - I was determined to make my home home again.

The piece of furniture that started it all was the dining room table. I had bought it off Craigslist and it was painted grey, but the finish wasn't in the greatest shape and the lady I purchased the table from ended up giving me the leftover paint so I could fix it.  I ended up looking up a little bit about furniture painting and decided it would be my next project.  Fixing up the table led me to paint the chairs and I keep on painting and still have more painting left to do - guess you can't redo an apartment overnight and even though it's hard work it's been rewarding and kind of addictive.

One of the first things I learned about painting furniture is that if you are painting un-finished wood (without a shiny finish) like the Ikea chairs I had inherited a primer is not necessary.  However, if you do end up re-painting furniture you can buy an oil based primer to use as a base or a self priming paint.

Next, I removed any parts of the furniture that would be easier if it wasn't in the way of paint.  I removed handles and seats using a screwdriver.

Make sure that your furniture is clean and dry.  I scrubbed the table with soap and water and wiped everything down with rubbing alcohol to remove any trace of oil.

Using a fine grit sanding block I gave everything a light sanding to build up a grit on the surface so the paint sticks better.  Make sure you wear a dust mask for this part to avoid breathing in any harmful carcinogens that may be in the paint.  Wipe off any excess dust using a tack cloth or damp paper towel/rag.

Using a water based paint and good quality brush (to prevent streaks and bristles falling out into your hard work) I followed the paint directions and added one layer of paint at a time, letting dry and sanding lightly in between to create a smooth surface.

Finally, I used 2 coats of Minwax Poly Acrylic in clear to make sure that my paint job especially in heavy use objects like the dining room table would stay in place for a long time and not stick to any dishes or objects placed on top.

Although everything was dry to the touch within a few hours, to make sure your paint job lasts make sure you don't put anything on top of your surfaces for at least 48 hours or preferably 5 days to make sure everything is completely dry and set.

Since my table was grey, I decided to use Classic Burgundy for the chairs as a bit of a pop and to tie back to the burgundy sofa in the living room area.  However after painting the table grey and the chairs burgundy, I noticed the place looked a little dark so to make things look more fun I decided to add another fun accent color into the mix to brighten things up and add some cheer.  Also since I am not allowed to paint the walls, it only makes sense to have some colorful furniture.

Make sure that your paint is well blended, I stirred it inside the can but also made sure to pour it into a small container mixing again to ensure even color.  It also is nice to use a small container so that the can doesn't dry out and get lumpy and in case you knock over paint by accident, it won't be a huge mess.

For this piece of furniture, even though I was a bit nervous painting over something dark, I didn't use a primer but a self priming paint.  After 2 coats it looked pretty great but I added a 3rd coat in certain areas to ensure maximum coverage.

I wanted to paint my side tables to bring some of the Blue Spa color into the living room but unfortunately these were more of an endeavor.  The side tables are made of metal and MDF board.  The self-priming paint doesn't seem to like to stick to the metal portion very well although the MDF board section painted over nicely.  I ended up having to scrape the paint off again, use a heavier grit sandpaper to rough up the surface and use an actual primer before painting over it again.

While my work with making my apartment look like home isn't complete, it's been a lot of fun watching it all come together and my apartment is definitely a lot more cheerier and comfortable than it used to be.