Tag: DIY

Industrial Shelving

Next time I have the opportunity to fill a whole wall with shelves, I am going to seize it with both hands and do it! I’m thinking painting a pattern or wallpapering behind the shelves first, then putting up rough industrial shelves: gray brackets and white or light pine boards. I especially envision this in/near a kitchen, holding nicely stacked groups of dishes.

I love the repetition of using the same wood and brackets for the whole space, and leaving the back open so the wallpaper or bold wall color can peek through.

Here are some inspiration pictures, gleaned from Pinterest (click the image to get to the original source):

From Country Living (my personal favorite)
From Apartment Therapy
From Roseland Greene

Excellent. Inexpensive, chic, and useful.

Mid-Century Chair Teaser

I’ll show you the “before” of what I’m currently working on now. By the end of the week, I’m sure you’ll see an “after!”

When I saw this chair i fell in love with the shape and size. I love the thin modern legs, but the slight angle between the cushion and back was the detail that clenched it for me. And the fact that there were two of them. The lumpy faded pink cushion? Not so much. (Actually, I don’t hate the color.) Thing is, the foam inside is all deteriorated and squeezes out in the form of suspicious fine yellow powder. Very no bueno.

So, I am undertaking my first ever upholstery project! The nice thing is that this should be fairly easy. No curves. No arms. Just pop out the bottom, dispose of the nastiness, create a new cushion and cover it in updated fabric.

Anyone wanna predict my outcome?  Guesses on colors or patterns?

(Adam, you are not allowed to guess)

A Tale of Two Cabinets

First, I know I showed you the preliminary “after” of my chalkboard cabinet but never showed what it looks like with chalk on it. My camera isn’t as crisp as it used to be. Does anyone know if they get fuzzier when they start wearing out? Or maybe I was just shooting too close….

My regret is not using a roller. By painting with a brush, there are brush strokes in the dried paint which means it’s not as smooth as a regular chalkboard and a little harder to write on.  Still, I like how it turned out and I think it’s really useful.

Secondly, this is a quick little fix-it I did over a month ago on my first snow day. The inside of my tall (broom sized) kitchen cabinet was dis-gus-ting. Cleaning with harsh chemicals didn’t even really do anything, so I just covered it up with some kitchen-colored paint I found among our 40 cans that came with the apartment.

before = gross.

clean= much better.

Plus, I added a shelf about a foot from the top of the cabinet to hold trash bags, etc. By doing that, I freed up some real estate under the sink!!

Painting this with “regular” paint makes me even more happy that we used Valspar low VOC paint for our living room and dining room color changes. It’s been a month and when I open up the broom cabinet it still smells like “new paint.” The rest of my house, however, even the freshly painted dining room, just smells like “my house.” The cost is the same so I don’t see any reason not to use low or no VOC paint.  For those who’ve heard the term but don’t know what it stands for, VOC stands for volatile organic compounds–aka the stinky smell of fresh paint, new shower curtains, etc. Evidently someone finally figured out that those offset gases are bad for you (who’da thought) and technology has been changing so as so be safer for all involved.