I'm Alia and this is Jamie.
We have been dating for
a year and a month?
and
I just moved to Simsbury, Connecticut a month ago.
A month ago?
Two months ago?
Three months ago.
So I wrapped up my whole
studio apartment in New York
had it moved up here and
coming from my 300 square foot
apartment in New York
It's interesting to see also like
the shift in lifestyle being here.
Compromise is tough for me
I tend to get an idea
and just take off on a track
What's interesting about the projects
that Jamie and I have done together is
I've recognized that
when I do that, it's great
but when I take some of his idea into
consideration, it can be better.
I think there could be one
little special addition
into the putting green room.
You know, when my friends come over
everybody likes to putt there now.
Everyone's in that space.
So
I don't know whether we put like a wet bar in-
We just have to somehow bring
drinks into that situation
I totally agree with you
I was just thinking about how we could do it just so
it doesn't look like a bar.
So what if we do like a cool old wooden
dresser or like buffet or
something super old and-
Right.
Like polo bar lounge.
and then you open it up and it's like,
"Did not except this."
I just want to keep that whole Mad Men vibe
in that room.
whatever it is you can come up with
that kind of stays within those
parameters
I love it.
I actually feel like I won the furniture lottery.
It's the most gorgeous armoire, this wood
is incredibly heavy and thick.
It has the most beautiful details.
It's in the Louis style.
This is definitely something to look
for and when you find it
it's something to cherish.
I was actually scouring Facebook marketplace
like it was my job.
Local, then I expanded it 90 miles, 120 miles-
I found it in Staten Island, New York
and I tried to drive a hard bargain
but I found it and I felt Like I had to jump on it.
So he actually hasn't seen the piece yet
and I am just about to show it to him
and I hope he loves it just as much as I do.
I'm so happy, I can't.
Babe?
Let's hope this is a win.
What's up?
Okay, so you know how we were talking about the bar?
Woah
I know
Do you love it?
I feel like it really represents the
The prime time Jamie brand.
I had four guys trying to carry this in here.
I mean it was comical. They neighbors
were walking by, there was the whole Simsbury scan
of like here's what's happening.
It's beautiful on the inside, so you wanna
do what in here?
So I want to turn this into the bar.
One of the things that I love is that like
element of surprise when you see someone
using something that's not necessarily made for
that intent.
In design actually, opposites work
together often so
the opposite here would be
this very old vintage piece on the outside
and when you open it up it's this very modern
glamorous, Jamie will call it,
"Soho Loft Style"
It's great, I think it's gonna be great.
The only challenge with this is
this mirror on the front.
This door is so heavy.
What I'd like to do is put a weight down there
and just balance it out
so we can kinda just tilt it back a little bit.
What if we actually put like a reel fixture in here?
A light?
Maybe I can get an electrician to take a chandelier
and convert it so it can plug into the wall
'cause then, anywhere you move the armoire
the fixture comes with you
Oh yeah, I don't want to do one of those like
battery powered lights.
No.
What are you doing today?
No.
Do you really want it done?
Do you want me to do the double tap again for you?
Let's do it.
I wanted the bar to really feel like a cozy room
and mirrors actually create that effect
so we decided to distress this mirror
to really reinforce that old school vibe of the armoire.
Scraper
Sexy
The way that you distress a mirror
is scrape off
with paint thinner on the back
and a lot of modern mirrors
actually have plaster or something
that actually you can't scrape off.
Okay, so we're gonna start with paint thinner
and brush a thin coat
so the mirror actually ages
first around the edges
so we are going to scrape off some strategic spots
and pour the acid in those spots
because what the acid will do is actually take away
the mirror on the front and that's what creates
that really cool french antique distressed look.
A lot of progress.
So
lot's of space to do something really cool on the inside.
So I talked to Calico, I actually picked out a wallpaper.
did you bring it with you?
I have it right here.
I can't wait to see it, I have no seen it yet.
Hey guys!
Oh you are just in time.
I'm just being nosy.
Woah.
I love it!
Wow.
The colors in this wallapaper
navies and metallics actually look
really great with this old wood
so we are actually preserving some of the history of the piece
It looks great. I love it!
Wallpaper helps create that drama
of a party on the inside.
If you make amazing wallpaper, call me.
I'm adding an untraditional ceiling fixture
into the armoire and I've asked Jamie, my electrician,
to come help me because it really needs
to be donde right.
Looking great.
Wow.
This is great.
When you're from the midwest
you gotta love a good coozie
but there's no way to make foam look chic
so I am gonna actually make
faux fur coozies.
The first thing you want to do is create a pattern.
You're just gonna wrap construction paper
around the glass
so once you have that, you'll cut out your patter
just like I have here
and you're gonna find a hide.
This is just a remnant which means
it might be part of a bigger hide that was already cut
but for our purposes that's totally fine.
So you take your pattern
and you're just gonna trace it
so once we have our patter traced
we're just gonna cut it
with regular scissors.
And then you have
a cow hide
and the next thing we're gonna do is
actually create the inserts.
So the backing of your faux fur hide is
is actually gonna be felt because
you're gonna see through
so you don't want to see the actual back of the hide.
We're going to sow the both of them
together to create a loop.
A nice even line
right through the hide.
we're gonna trim it down after
so don't worry about being super precise.
Now we have a circle
so we are going to do the exact same thing
with the felt.
So now we have
two loops
and we are going to glue them together
Slowly.
Then you're going to want to let it dry actually on a glass
so it molds to the shape of the glass.
You can actually trim that extra half inch
down to the stitch.
we are going to fit it on the cup
and let it dry.
The coolest thing about this is this can actually just
be a blank canvas
but you know I'm gonna put some jewels on some.
We are gonna have a Jamie and Alia bar.
Alright babe.
I am
figuring out my hack.
It might not be as sophisticated as yours but
I got a ten pound weight.
Ten pound weight.
It goes into a drawer.
You're gonna open up the drawer
and take the weight
place the weight in the drawer
push the drawer all the way closed.
Babe, I'm done with my hack.
It's all set.
What's your hack?
I put a weight in the drawer.
It helps balance it.
Gives it a little bit more weight.
No double tap.
Double tap.
Rather than just put back in
the same wood shelving that the armoire came with
I wanted to mix materials.
these gold pedestals really bring
out the metallic in the wallpaper.
No worries.
Long ways?
Yes please.
You'll notice there's no liquor bottles in this bar.
These decanters are filled with different types of liquor
and have that old world vibe
that really continues the theme that we've
created the inside of the armoire around.
They would be right at home on any Mad Men set.
It's pretty much safe to bet that
nobody in Simsbury is going to have
a carbon copy of our bar.
Pretty safe to say that no one on the globe
will have a carbon copy of our bar, baabe.
This is pretty good.
For 24 hours, I think we slayed it.
I think its kind of cool that we can see the-
I love it.
-the wallpaper through it but
you know technically when it's distressed
you wouldn't see the whole mirror but
I scraped a little too much mirror off but
Got a little aggressive?
I'm gonna take an L.
It's not an L.
It's a learning experience.
It's not a loss is a learning.
It's a learning.
Take the learning babe.
Thanks for your help.
If you love to entertain in not
just about what you serve.
You get a lot of credit for presentation
and creativity.
So don't be afraid to add your own twist.