August 9, 2012

DIY- Grasscloth Ikea Lack Hack

 Hey guys.  Sorry to promise you a DIY and then leave you high and dry, but I found my project incredibly hard to photograph.  I finally snapped a few pics this morning that kinda capture the texture and color of my table, and I am sharing them below. 

But before we get to that… A few weeks back my pal Meg cam up to Philadelphia and we spent several hours shopping, dining, drinking and hanging out around town.  Where did we go and what kind of trouble did we get into?  You’ll have to hp over to Mimi + Meg to find out!  Yup I’m the feature of this week’s “My City” column.  Read it here.


Now onto my little DIY:  I made myself, I grasscloth parsons table.  I had an old LACK coffee table, leftover grasscloth from a project and a bucket of paint and the result is the end table in my bedroom.



Here’s the deal.  I had an old Ikea Lack table lying around, and it was ugly.


I cut up strips of grasscloth and started on the legs.



Once the legs were done, I template the top.



The whole thing glued together fairly easy with modgepodge, but the corners didn’t look very good.



So my sister and I made up little corner pieces to cover up the ugly seams.



Once it was all done, I painted it gloss pink- them same as my ceiling and trim.



I know its hard to tell in photos- but its subtle and pretty in person.  I dig the extra texture it provides in the room!  The corners still aren’t great, but maybe I’ll swap them out for metal brackets at some point. 

July 31, 2012

Project Downsized Update: Curtains, Art & Bedding

So I’m still off gallivanting in Vegas.  Yesterday was super fun and super exhausting.  I had ambitious plans to hit the cool clubs last night, but got back to my room and ended up ordering room service, taking a bath and crashing early.  Crrrrazy kid right here.  Today I’m going to check out some more showrooms at Market, but not before I get some morning rays at the pool.  I feel so spoiled being here… its awesome :)

While I’m vacationing working, I thought I’d share some progress I’ve made on my little bedroom makeover.  When I last discussed the project, I had finished painting and my bedroom looked like this…

CURTAINS  The bed is placed off-center from the window in order to fit a nightstand on the left side.  Normally something like that would really bother me, but I was able to mask the issue with window treatments.  The first thing I did was hang my curtain rod.  I ignored my window, and centered it on the bed instead.  I hung the rod as close to the ceiling as possible, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU DO, PEOPLE.  YOU HANG YOUR CURTAIN RODS AS CLOSE TO THE CEILING AS POSSIBLE.


With the curtains up, the bed feels perfectly positioned in the room and its amazing how much higher the ceiling looks now.  I just did simple white linen curtains from Ikea because I don’t plan on staying here long, plus I’m morally opposed to fussy curtains.  (Sorry for the craptastic photos, but I figure I’ll save pretty fancy photos for the end.)
If I were staying longer, I would have bought rings to hang the panels, 
because they look much nicer than rod pocket.

ART WALL  Next I started filling in the walls with my assortment of art.  I decided to mix sizes, styles and frames because I’m bad-ass like that.  A gallery wall is certainly easier with some sort of cohesive theme, but honestly, I like this one all random.

Here’s the portion to the left of my bed…


And the right of my bed…



I hit a bit or a road block on the wall adjacent to my bed.  There are two shelf brackets that I couldn’t take down (they’ve been painted over so many times that they are practically a permanent fixture.)  At first I hung art in between the brackets, but that just drew attention to them and drove me crazy.




U-G-L-Y you don’t need no alibi.  You ugly.  Big ugly. 

So I put on my thinking cap and decided to cover the brackets as much as possible.  Lucky for me I have lots of art.  Cover away I went…

not perfect, but much better.  
plus this room isn’t about being perfect, its about being cozy

BEDDING  Before I went all cray with the art everywhere, I was planning a rich mix of patterns in the bedroom.  A little maximalist bungalow if you will.  I fell for this red paisley quilt from World Market and thought it would look great with my existing pieces and pink walls.  I just love pink with red!


And you know what?  I love the look.  I know with the art everywhere, this combo may be a bit busy for some of you, but it made me really happy.  It was cozy and warm, eclectic yet cohesive.



Unfortunately, the quilt is complete CRAP.  The quality is really poor and there is a seam right up the middle of the bedding that leaves a discolored yellow line running up the center.  I’ve decided not to keep it.  (PS- I’ve tried out two quilts now to make sure the first one wasn’t just a bum version.)

So I’m back to the white quilt now.  In an ideal world, I’d buy some hotel bedding because I love the idea of preppy bedding balancing out all of the bohemian touches in the room.  But honestly, I don’t think I’ll be staying here much longer, so this may just have to do.  We will see.


When I get home I’m turning my attention to the rest of the room.  Hoping to finish up and share some proper photos soon.  What do you guys think so far?  I have to admit, I just love it and I’m kinda sad to leave it.  Kinda excited to have a whole new place to decorate too, though.  Tee-to-the-Hee-Hee.

July 17, 2012

Project Downsized: Painting Complete

Yesterday I painted the trim in my tenement bedroom (BM Soft white in semi gloss) and moved my bed back into place.  It feels so good to have the drop cloths gone and things starting to come together!  I’m hoping some crafty curtain finessing will mask the fact that the bed is not centered under the window.

I’m using my Docksta dining table as an end table on the right and plan to use another already-owned table on the left.  I’m planning to tablescape-up the Docksta and it’s going to be pretty.  For the other end table I’m thinking about this little lady…  


I enjoy her delicate lines, plus she fits in between the bed and the wall and is the same height as the tulip table.  (When two end tables are totally different shapes, I like them to at least be similar heights.) I think the black is too harsh in the space, so I’m contemplating painting her the trim color so that she recedes into the wall elevation.

I’m also about the pull the trigger on a new quilt, thus killing my paint-only budget.  I can’t help myself, it’s inexpensive and puurrrfect.  Well I think it’s going to be perfect.  Need to try it out for realz and then report back.


So that’s all for the bedroom, which I have named Project Downsized.  Really hoping to hang those curtains today (in between real work) and then start on the art hanging.  Funsies!  


PS- It seems The Bitter Decorator was a hit!  Thanks for all the great feedback.  I’ll have to find another topic that makes me bitter.  Shouldn’t be too hard.

July 12, 2012

Going Pink {In Progress}

Much of my free time this week has been spent painting my bedroom pink.  I went with Benjamin Moore “Sunlit Coral” (2170-60.)  It’s the perfect color for me- soft, yet saturated, pink, yet not baby pink.  The roof line creates a sloped ceiling in my room and in the past the left wall was always painted white along with the ceiling.  I opted to paint the stem wall and ceiling and even softer shade of pink: BM’s “Sun Washed” (2169-70.)  I love the effect!  At first my walls felt brighter and darker against the white, but now that they are against soft pink, everything flows and feels really warm for me.  The stark contrast just didn’t work for me.  I plan to paint all of my doors and trim Sun Washed as well.


(Right now the baseboard and door to the left are dirty white.  
They will look much better when they are Sun Washed!)



I definitely recommend thinking outside the box when it comes to trim.  White can be great, but sometimes a softer shade of your wall color works great too.  

It’s hard to tell, but I already painted most of this door the soft pink.



So yea, I’m definitely one of the worst painters ever.  Top 100 fo’ sho.  Did you notice all of the drips I got on the floor?  Oopsies.  One more coat to go, plus all the trim and sometime before Christmas I should have this room all together.  I can’t wait to see my art against the walls!

June 18, 2012

Schemin’

My temporary bedroom is horrific.  The walls are pea green with spackle patches everywhere. The space is overcrowded with art and furnishings from my loft.  Its all just a big mess right now.   A normal person would realize that its temporary and just live with it.  
I am not capable of such things.  I’ve decided to re-do it in hopes that once I actually make it pretty, I’ll move out.  That seems to be my modus operandi.  I’m embracing it.

Wanting my little room to feel like this…




D Magazine

(The love seat is this gold color)



Katherine Hill / Marin Designers Showcase via Katie DID

Dan Marty via Greige
It will be light pink.  I didn’t want to put my art in storage, so I have many more pieces than walls.  I think I’ll just layer it on heavy and try my hand at the gallery wall.  There will be lots of pattern because I think my next home will be more neutral, so I may as well flex my maximalist muscles while I’m “playing” here .  It will be girly, but not too much so.  Oh and the only money I plan to spend on the spruce-up is the cost of paint.


Now I just need to find the inspiration to paint!  (Oh and find a pink like…)