Estuary Designs

Debut: Gray & black desk

By Meagan Tucker on March 21, 2013 in Family, Furniture Makeover

This sweet gray & black desk was redone for a fabulous young man! I seem to have lost the before picture. Oops! So here is the after picture.

gray & black desk

close-up of the knobs

I styled the desk with a picture from Ballard Designs titled The Inconsolable. I fell in love with it about 3 years ago and then waited a while to purchase. It was worth it! The puppy in it looks just like our Alfie. Here is our Alfie!

Doesn’t he look just like the puppy in the Inconsolable print! That cute red rhino in the photo is actually an eraser! How cool is that!

xoxo

Meg

Debut: A mustard chest of drawers

By Meagan Tucker on March 13, 2013 in Furniture Makeover

This chest of drawers was in quite a state of disrepair when I found her. Her ninety-seven years had taken a toll on her exterior, but her drawers still opened and closed like new. Quality construction, right there…folks.

After creating a design plan, a lot of prep work, painting and distressing… here she is now. Isn’t she fabulous!

When picking a color, I take into consideration the shape and presence of the individual piece. Many times design inspiration comes from family and friends (as in the turquoise sideboard). The current piece was inspired by my grandmother. Now my grandmother is not quite the same age as this lady, but she has an unexpected inner vigor. Some consider her sassy. I like to think of my grandmother as spicy or zesty, which is exactly what this chest of drawers was missing. Not anymore it’s not. The mustard color makes this piece interesting; then to top it off I threw in a little bit of chippy goodness.

I really think it would fit in any design aesthetic. Here is another picture in a room with a non-white wall.

She is for sale in my Etsy shop here. Linking up at Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday!

xoxo,

Meg

Spotted: Better Life Bags

By Meagan Tucker on March 7, 2013 in Spotted

Have you ever found yourself looking for a specific type of bag?

A camera bag. A laptop bag… or a large enough bag to carry around everything ~~you think~~ you might need. When traveling I take books, notebooks, my camera, knitting projects and a dozen smaller items with me. I might have a problem! (Don’t tell my husband about my admission.) Mary Poppins’ bottomless carpet bag where are you?

Image Source via Google image search

Oh, there you are! The carpet bag is functional, but not quite, ahem, my style. Does it seem like you can never find one that is stylish and functional?

While perusing Pinterest the other day, I saw a bag that seemed big enough and it was definitely stylish. The pin led me to the Better Life Bags shop. I fell in LOVE! Better Life Bags are stylish, functional and you can customize them! Exciting, right!

Item links ordered from left to right then top down 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Now that is some serious eye candy! Rebecca has fabulous basic designs, and I would buy any of them pictured above just as they are now. Stylish, check. Functional, check. Wait there is more…when shopping online, I ~~usually~~ want to know more about a company. Better Life Bags mission is to make lives better. They do this by hiring women, who otherwise are not able to obtain employment, to make their bags. You can read more about their mission and how they give back to their community here. I LOVE it when a company has a beautiful spirit and a fabulous product. I’m sold and I will hopefully be ordering this lovely bag (with the darker chambray) in the near future.