Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Where Do I Draw The Line? Or stripe in this case.

It's no secret that I love black and white and I love zebra stripes.

My purse


My kitchen

In an earlier post I talked about how I was trying to incorporate the zebra hide look. But I know you can take it too far and at some point the fun and funky becomes trendy or more like a jungle look. Yikes!! Not where I want to go.

I bought two of these sheep-zebra "hides" at Ikea about a month ago. I wanted to make pillows, but that didn't really pan out. Then I just sort of draped one on our coffee table (trunk) hoping it would give the feel of a hide rug. This just confused guests and my husband. People didn't know what it was there for, and didn't know where to put their drinks.


So my next thought was to do some version of the zebra bench that is popping up just about everywhere.

I did a Google search on zebra bench and here are just a few I found at all different price points.



Neiman Marcus $679


Bellacor $379

Kinefine $129


I have a bench that I got at Upscale Resale in the clearance room for $20. I recovered in brown during my brown phase.

So I pulled out my professional grade upholstery staple gun and attached the hide to the stool. I think it's cute. But I think the design in the wood makes it feel a little "tribal" when paired with the zebra.



As is often the case with my furniture redo projects. I'm not sure I love it. And, I don't think it's going to work in the sunroom. Good thing the total project only took about 15 minutes and cost only $30. I think I'll be sending this one off to the consignment store to recoup my investment.

What do you think? Is it time for me to draw the line and just say no to zebra stripes?

4 comments:

the gardener's cottage said...

Hi Julie,

I love all the black and white in your home. I love anything black and white too. I love the bench you made and I'd keep it if I were you. It seems like a small enough piece that you could tuck just about anywhere. Are the zebra skins from IKEA real? I would love a faux zebra rug for my LR but have not found one that I really love. Love all your pics!

~janet

ps - my husband took the pics w/o me knowing and I couldn't possibly do all the work around here without his strong back!

carla said...

I like your bench, I am thinking maybe paint it black.

My Notting Hill said...

I like your bench. Agree with Carla - if you paint it black it may take away the tribal feel.

If you come to the tag sale and don't recognize me, definitely ask for me. It would be fun to meet you! Michele

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