Go number six! Go number six!

Daaamn this has been a busy few weeks! I was doing a decent job of photo documenting all the happenings for future updates (still can't seem to make my blog ever keep up with real life) but then my computer experienced some sort of technical disaster and I lost a month's worth of photographs! How frustrating! Fortunately, the most important thing I wanted to share didn't get lost.

Most important thing = WINNING!

This sentiment may come as a surprise to those of you who know me as a good natured and laid back person. The truth is, I have a wild competitive streak that I no longer even try to hide under an air of dignified calm. I can't stand fighting but I love love love competing. I play Scrabble with narrowed eyes and lip-biting fervor. Nobody shit talks like I do when putting around the mini-golf course. I promise, bringing an irrational level of intensity to these games makes them so much more fun (for me).

I bring this up because I'm currently in the throes of contest-induced passion. I entered The Ready Aim Redesign furniture makeover challenge sponsored by the heartwarming Dwell With Dignity organization. I decided to participate because I'm always dragging junky furniture off the curb and into our garage while promising to fix it up but I needed a contest to motivate me to get it done. The best part is that the top ten finalists were selected by a handful of impressive people like my absolute favorite designer Jonathan Adler and favorite design blogger Grace Bonney of Design Sponge! I know I use exclamation points generously but I really meant that last one.

So, holy crap, I found out that my chair makeover made it to the top ten finalists! Now the winner is decided by popular online vote. I've been checking the vote counter like a spider checks it's web and I'm currently in a three way close running for third place.

This is the part where I ask you for a favor...

If you want to indulge my win-centric nature or maybe vote against me because I once sunk your battleship, please head to the official contest page, click over to the voting area and pick your favorite. My entry is number six.

If you are are not easily moved to vote and want to be convinced that my entry is worth your vote, I'll tell you a little about my chair and why I think it deserves to win. Also, voting is easy and you don't have to sign in or anything.

chair story:

I was walking home from work and saw this bedraggled chair on the side of the road waiting to be picked up on trash day. Despite the fact that it looked like it had been partially devoured by squirrels, I picked it up and carried it home on my back (+1 for being tough).

I gave it a thorough washing, sanded the wood and stripped off what was left of the cushioning and upholstery and gave it multiple coats of bright chartreuse paint. (+1 for color bravery?)

I have a habit of hoarding any upholstery scrap fabric bigger than a dinner plate that my boss is throwing away so I saved three pieces of gray wool for this project. (+2 for trash saves)

I wanted to make the chair as unique as possible to get the judge's attention so I decided to embroider the wool before upholstering the chair with it. I learned how to do french knots and I spent hours creating a barnacle-like pattern with the knots using pale blue thread. (+1 for imparting a tedious process?)

I'm very proud of the way it turned out. I love the lines of the chair and that I got to save a nice sturdy piece of vintage Drexel furniture. Hope you like how it turned out and I double hope you still like me after finding out how competition crazy I can be.

Making do

A fresh coat of paint and cushion covers for the porch!

I've been taking an unscheduled break from the internet and my business for the past month in an attempt to take care of a few neglected elements of my life that are forever being pushed aside so I can do Argyle Whale stuff.

One of the projects I worked on in my absence is apartment beautification. Justin and I realized that we're most likely going to stay in our current place for a few more years and that made me feel restless. Instead of making an irrational move, I focused on freshening up our space and treating it more like a home than an in-between-places type of apartment.

The worst eyesore in our life is the porch that all our neighbors share with us. It's a depressing dumping ground for bedraggled old furniture and since it's everyone's, nobody takes responsibility to care for it. My upstairs neighbor and I tackled the gloomy chipped black iron patio furniture and enlivened it with a few coats of intense green paint. Then, I ripped off the deteriorating cushion covers and recovered them in dark blue denim. We spent a whole day scrubbing the deck and tables and planting herbs and the place looks much livelier. I still have more to do, but it's made a huge difference.

I'm trying to embrace the old saying, "make do or do without". I'm hoping to save up enough money to reupholster our stained couch too. I'm also emboldened to break the no painting rule in our bathroom. The walls are the color of masking tape!