Painting and a 'new' desk for me

So, my side project over the next few weeks is going to be painting. We have a new heating system going in and a kind-of-a big mess is being made tearing out the old pipes and old radiators. I had been planning on painting the two downstairs bedrooms and the hallway between them this Spring. But once the heater guys are done I'll go in and start painting and putting things back in place now, rather than wait for Spring (might as well take advantage of that new heater) The 2 bedrooms need to be enitirely painted and a little trim and space behind where the radiators once were needs to be painted in all of the other rooms. My project rooms are a dark magenta and a dark blue. This pink room will eventually be a pale yellowtone neutral. It should make the room alot more bright. We broke the bed trying to move it away from the wall, so hopefully that can be fixed, or better yet, replaced.



The dark blue room was made a little smaller because we had to build a closet in the room to house the new heater. Drop ceilings (which I am not a fan of) are going in the two bedrooms to hide the new heater ductwork. My Dad built the closet and is doing the drop celing himself. We do whatever work we can ourselves. The heater guys have done a good job and they were pretty neat about cutting holes in wall and ceiling etc. It could have been alot worse, but I think they had some respect for our sweet 105 year old house. The long hallway has dark 1970s paneling that I am going to be painting white. Following some kind advice that was emailed to me, I primed the paneling with Kilz and then I'll paint it Linen gloss. Again, it should make it nice and bright down there.



Here was my reward for helping my dad go thru the crawlspace in the attic. We had to clean things out for the heater guys to run ductwork up there. Way in the back of the tunnel-like, dark and dirty, mothball smelling crawlspace was this table. It was all taken apart. My Dad had forgotten that it was back there and I don't ever remember seeing it. It is a small oak kitchen table, nice 1940s Art Deco details. It was painted a light aqua-green color (how did they know way-back-when that they chose the perfect color for me to someday fall in love with!) The table looks kind of small in the photo, but it is a nice 3x4 feet and makes a great desk for my computer. Originally I was going to use it as a sewing table, but I decided to switch the desk that I was using for the computer, and use that as a sewing table and this for the office instead. Look at that chair, I really should have a more comfortable chair shouldn't I, considering I sit there 8+ hours a day! Anyway, more photos to follow as I start painting and decorating.

Patterns

This week, I purchased 2 patterns from the Vintage Fashion Library - http://www.vintagefashionlibrary.com/ (Not to be confused with the Vintage Pattern Lending Library - http://www.vpll.org/ ) They sell copies of original patterns and I was happily surprised at how nice the patterns were. Nicely copied, full size instructions, and the pattern pieces are printed on large sheets of nice quality paper. One pattern is for a 1940s shorts set and the other is for a 1930s pajama set. The pajama set I plan on making in a fabric suitable for regular wear, like a lightweight Summer cotton. No, I don't have fabric right now for either pattern. That's typical for me, I have fabrics with no patterns and patterns with no fabric!
A few weeks ago I got a Simplicity Pattern Counter book (the big ones with several hundred pages) on ebay for under $50. Which was a surprise, because they usually go for several hundred $$. The cover on this one is pretty rough, so maybe that chased away bidders, but the inner pages are fine. Here are two images from the pattern book that I'd love to find the patterns

Do you see a theme here with these patterns? I've got Summer and Summer clothing on my mind! This December has been so mild here in Jersey. I heard on the news that this has been the warmest December in New Jersey in 111 years. I'm already tired of wearing pants and can't wait to get back into Summer dresses! But I still have several long cold months to get thru though before I need to shave my legs and get out my sandals.

1940s Black Wool Button Front Dress

So I've had this dress, that I think is pretty cool, on the website for over a year. It is a 1940s black wool crepe dress with buttons all the way down the front. Very classic styling. So I was thinking, what can I do to make someone else realize what a great dress it is?
Well, first off, it needed a new photo, because it was shown on my old torso form, which really doesn't give dresses much life. So I retook photos of it on the mannequin (she got a hair cut for the new year)
Then I decided to take photos of different things that you can do to change the look of the dress a little. (anything to amuse myself)

First I tied a pink silk scarf around the neck to give it a little color. The neckline is notched, so it looks good up against a contrasting color. Next, I put a blouse with a fancy collar under the dress and left the top few buttons open. The fancy ribbed neckline of this blouse gives the neckline of the dress a different look.



I thought a wide cinch belt would really look great on this dress, and tone down the 1940s style a little, if you wanted to go with a different look. But I didn't have a wide cincher, but this faux leopard fur belt gives it a little funk and fun. Leopard shoes would be great too.
Then I tried the dress topped with a fitted jacket, cinched at the waist with a solid black belt. Now see, isn't this a great dress?




See the 1940s Black button front dress here .
The blouse #TOP-189- Ivory nylon with ribbed collar - $20.00.
And #VC-679- Brown & Black herringbone wool jacket - $32.00.