Furniture & Decor Archives - Page 2 of 3

March 16, 2016June 17, 2017

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

Wow, I can’t believe it has been over two weeks since I posted last! Whoops. But I’ll make it up to you this week by showing you my finished china cabinet! A few months ago (4 months to be exact) I shared my ideas for updating the cabinet and asked your opinions on what I should choose. I ended up choosing to stain the piece in General Finishes Java Gel Stain. Many of the pieces I saw were extremely dark, but I did see one that was lighter and I absolutely loved it. I figured I would only do one coat and that would be light enough and let the red tone of the wood show through.

To do this project I purchased:

GF Java Gel Stain (1 qt): $26.67
GF Gel Topcoat in Satin (1 qt): $26.67
Shop Towels: 3 rolls for $5.98
Mineral Spirits: $4
Foam Brush: $2?

I already had on hand:

Plastic drop cloth
Rub N Buff Antique Gold
Gloves
One foam brush
Ridgid random orbital sander
80 and 220 grit sandpaper

Here is what I started with:

Distinctive Furniture by Stanley mid century modern china cabinet; cabinet restoration

If you want to see more in depth pictures, there are some in the post I linked to above.

I cleaned the drawer pulls by soaking them in baking soda and vinegar then scrubbing with an SOS pad.

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet | Hardware

Next, I sanded the crap out of the whole thing (minus inside the cabinets and the faux wood backing). I used my Ridgid random orbital sander with an 80 grit sanding pad. I wanted to sand down to the bare wood in order to keep the piece from getting too dark. Another reason was due to scratches on the cabinet doors and shelves, along with some nasty water rings on the top. I didn’t want to have to fill the scratches in with wood filler.

After I sanded everything with 80 grit I hand sanded with 220 grit to smooth it back out. General Finishes has great videos that I would recommend watching if you are going to use their products. I watched this video on how to apply Gel Stain and topcoat. It also explained not to go any farther than a certain grit or the pores of the wood will be closed and won’t accept the color as well.

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

After sanding I wiped the entire piece down with Mineral Spirits to clean the dust off and prep the wood. For water based stains use a mixture of water and denatured alcohol.

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

You can see in the pictures above how the mineral spirits bring out the red color in the wood. It dries pretty fast so it was hard to get a good picture.

General Finishes also recommends wiping down the surface with mineral spirits right before applying the stain. This helps the stain glide across the wood since it is so thick.

I then used a foam brush to dapple the stain onto the cabinet. Then I used a rag to spread the finish out evenly and wipe any excess off. Work in small sections so the product doesn’t dry out before you get a chance to wipe off the excess.

Here are some pictures once I got the stain on:

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

I let the stain dry for a full day before applying the gel top coat. To apply the topcoat I got a new foam brush and brushed on the product in a very thin layer. I went quickly at first to get it on the surface then went back slowly to make sure the lines were even.

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

You can see in the pictures above how much richer the color is, and how the wood grain stands out after applying the topcoat. (The left picture is without topcoat).

General Finishes recommends putting more than one coat of topcoat on and sanding with a fine grit in between coats. This is because the first coat of topcoat is likely to lift the stain and create a grainy look. I didn’t have this problem so I just stuck with one coat. I also didn’t want to have to do any more sanding.

As I mentioned before, I cleaned the drawer pulls and did not use Rub n Buff on them. However, I couldn’t get the door hinges as clean as I wanted so I decided to use Rub N Buff on them.

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

This china cabinet also whispered to me how much it would love having little gold feet. Sooo I used some Rub N Buff on the black part on the legs.

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

Great thinking, cabinet! I love your little gold feet.

Here are the after pictures!

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

I love how much depth this stain has to it. It’s so rich looking, and it was very simple to use. I was shocked by the price of the stain when I bought it, but I hardly made a dent in the can. A little bit goes a long way, which I noticed even with the water based stain I’ve used on two other projects. And for an oil based stain, it didn’t have too much smell to it. I did have the windows open, though.

I was not compensated by General Finishes in any way for writing this post, and all of the opinions are my own. However, they did follow me on Instagram. score!

Mid Century Modern China Cabinet

So what do you think? Did I make a good color choice? Would you say this is a proper restoration?

Eventually I think I would like to sell this baby, but for now I’m just going to enjoy the product of my hard work.

See You Around!

Lauren <3

February 20, 2016June 17, 2017

Treasure Chest – X Marks the Spot

A while back I mentioned a treasure chest looking box I was restoring for a friend. I finally finished it and he was so happy with the way it turned out.

My advice to you is to avoid minuscule details AT ALL COSTS. Does this mean I’m suggesting you shouldn’t do projects with small details? YES. Are you going to want to do one anyway? Probably. In those instances where you (and I) are crazy enough to take on such a stupid thing, work smarter and minimize your frustrations.

At first I tried to work around the hardware because I thought I wouldn’t be able to get it off. Then I got really frustrated and realized maybe I should at least try taking it off. My life became SO much easier.

But anyway, here are some before pictures

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

A lot of people told me that they thought it looked okay beforehand. However, up close the stained areas look pretty whack and careless. The hardware definitely needed to be cleaned too.

Also, notice how the left hinge is missing and part of the felt in the box is messed up

The first thing I did was sand the box down really well. I didn’t bother going down to the wood because I figured the General Finishes stain would cover it up. This is what the box looked like after the first coat

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

Then after the second coat

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

I used a rag and tried to work around the hardware but I couldn’t get the stain to even out. At first I used q-tips to get the cracks (which I’ll admit was pretty resourceful), but it wasn’t getting the results I was looking for.

So then I said screw it and grabbed a screwdriver (no pun intended) and pried all the itty bitty nails off.

This is what the box looked like after I got all the hardware off and sanded it down some more.

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

Before I took everything off I tried to clean the hardware with a baking soda and vinegar paste. Needless to say that was a pain in the ass. But I found it hilarious that I was brushing the skeletons teeth :p

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

Once I took the hardware off I tried to soak everything in a baking soda and vinegar mixture then scrub the dinginess off. It wasn’t really achieving the look I wanted so I pulled out the Rub-N-Buff in antique gold. It looks soooo much better and still has some of the black showing through.

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

Once I got the hardware off I also got foam brushes to make the stain look even and get in the cracks.

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

I bought new hinges since one was missing and cut away the velvety liner along the two separate pieces to make it look cleaner.

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

Here is the box after I put it all back together.

Treasure Chest - X Marks the Spot

This actually turned out to be a fun little project and I made some money on it which made it even better. Again I don’t recommend torturing yourself with tiny little detailed projects, but I GUESS it might turn out okay.

This summer hopefully I’ll be able to flip some furniture as well as doing furniture for friends and family on a larger scale than this box.

If you liked this post I would appreciate it if you would be so kind to pass it along.

See You Around!

Lauren <3

December 30, 2015June 16, 2017

Antique Chair Revival

As I mentioned recently, I’m updating a chair for my mom, and the most difficult part was I could not save the old fabric as a template. This was challenging, but I will show you in this post how I reupholstered my chair without using a pre-existing template.

When I first got the chair I cleaned it and used some Restor-A-Finish on it. You can check out the first stages of that here.

Antique Chair Revival

The picture above is what the chair looked like in the very beginning before I cleaned it.

The next step in the process was to completely gut it and take all the old fabric off. There were a million and one nails on this thing and some of them were underneath a layer of fabric. This made it impossible to pull the fabric off without ripping it.

Another reason I couldn’t use the old material as a template is because it wouldn’t lie flat in order to cut the new fabric in the same way.

I also wanted to upholster the chair differently to leave more of the wood exposed. The old upholstery didn’t do the beautiful chair justice.

So, the point is it IS possible to reupholster a chair with no previous template to go off of. No matter what your reason is, I just happen to have a few. A lot of blog posts I read on reupholstering made it seem like “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE SAVE THE OLD FABRIC OR YOU WILL DIE”. Which now having done this chair, that’s a hunk of bologna. You might cry, but you won’t die.

Anyway, so after I wrestled with this thing for a while the chair was down to this stage:

Antique Chair Revival

Underneath the upholstery there was a wool and straw filler. Below that it had burlap on the seat, backrest, and underneath (pictured above). I took this off because I would be adding a thick cushion, and the straw was all over it and messy.

Antique Chair Revival

Underneath the burlap was burlap straps. I left these on because they are the support of the seat which go over the springs on the inside. At this stage, I vacuumed the whole chair really well to get any dirt and straw that was leftover.

One strap wasn’t nailed down on one side so I stapled that back down.

The front and back of the chair wasn’t stained where the old fabric was, and the sides of the chair were sort of stained.

To make the color all look even I got a stain to match closely with the existing color and re-stained the whole chair. I went to my local store that sells General Finishes products, and apparently I’m lucky because there aren’t many retailers around here even in bigger towns. I told the lady about my project, and she helped me pick a matching finish that would work well. In the end, I chose Brown Mahogany in the water based stain.

Antique Chair Revival

Here is a picture where you can see the contrast with the stained areas.

To prep the chair for stain I sanded the whole thing down with 180 grit first followed by 220.

Antique Chair Revival

After the first layer of stain you can tell that the unstained parts are starting to more closely match the rest of the chair.

When I went back over the chair the second and third times I only went over the areas that were lighter in order to try to get a more uniform look.

After staining, I was ready to cut my cushions. To do this I measured the width of the top part of the seat, and the bottom part of the seat because they weren’t the same length. I then cut on an angle from the top to bottom on both sides making a trapezoid.

For the back cushion, I first measured the highest part at the top of the backrest and the lowest part at the bottom. This gave me a rectangle. Then I held the cushion against the chair like so:

Antique Chair Revival

After I held the cushion up you can see where I made my marks with a sharpie. Then I took my box cutter and made the rounded top.

The next step after making my cushions is adding the fabric. I chose the gray patterned fabric for the seat and back.The burlap is for underneath and behind the chair.

Antique Chair Revival

First I decided to upholster under the chair. To do this I had to cut out little squares where the fabric had to go around the legs. This reminded me of my high school math days and terrified me. You know those math problems where you have to find the area of a square with pieces cut out? That’s what this felt like at first.

Once I stopped being caught up on perfection and stepped back to think I figured it out as I went. Just hold the fabric up to the edge of the leg and make a mark where it needs to be cut. Or measure how long it needs to be.

Instead of cutting the whole piece I needed, I just measured and stapled as I went along and this made it pretty easy. I left enough excess to tuck the edge under so it was clean cut. My tip to you is to always air on the side of caution even if you measure the cuts. Cut less first and go back later rather than cutting too much to begin with.

I used this same technique to upholster the seat and back, with some adjustment to how I did the back.

Antique Chair Revival

Pictured above is the underneath of the chair reupholstered.

Antique Chair Revival

For the back of the chair, the first thing I did was cut out a chunk of burlap and stapled it to the back. To staple the fabric around the top of the chair I cut a piece that was approximately the right size leaving a little extra. This is the only time I used the old upholstery as a “template”.

Antique Chair Revival

Then I used a combination of tucking and stapling in the best way possible to get a tight, clean look.

The same thing with the seat in the back you can see a few weird folds, but that’s because there was no other way to get as precise of a look.

Antique Chair Revival

Here is the side view where you can see the combination of stapling and tucking.

Antique Chair Revival

The finished view of the front! This is my favorite view.

Antique Chair Revival

And I was even able to nail the original tag back on 🙂 I tried so darn hard to save that.

This thing was basically a giant pain in my butt almost the entire time I was working on it, but I am really happy to have restored a classic piece of furniture. I think I will take on some more upholstery projects in the future, but only if they are more simple to upholster.

Here is my materials list and cost breakdown:

Chair – Free!
General Finishes Water Based Stain in Brown Mahogany – $11.31
1 yd burlap fabric – $4
3 yds gray patterned fabric – $12/yd = $36
two 2 in dense cushions – $15/ea = $30
5/16″ Staples – $4.23

This project in total would cost about $85, but I got some serious deals at JoAnn’s when I bought my fabric and cushions so it cost me a little over $60.

I delivered it to my mom when Chris and I went over to her boyfriend’s house for Christmas. She was so excited, and loves how it looks! I told her if she ever wants to get rid of the chair, it has to come back to me.

Antique Chair Revival

The before and after still amaze me!

Would you attempt an upholstery project without a template?

See You Around!

Lauren <3

November 18, 2015June 17, 2017

China Cabinet Makeover Plans & Poll

Recently I bought a china cabinet off of Craigslist, and I am now trying to decide the direction I want to go to restore it to it’s mid-century glory (possibly with a modern twist).

I’m so glad to have gotten this cabinet with very little hassle, and only a little bit of stress. I didn’t even have to drive far to pick it up either, which was a huge bonus.

She’s in pretty good shape, and I like her the way she is, but I feel like with a little elbow grease she could be totally fabulous for her age. Before I get into my plans (and you share your thoughts), let me show you the details.

First off this is a cabinet made by Stanley furniture or, as the label says, “Distinctive Furniture by Stanley”. I found a lot of other cabinets by them online which weren’t selling for a ton of money, but I didn’t find very many exact models as mine online that included prices. However, I did find a listing on eBay for around $600!! I think that seller might have been insane. I bought mine for $75. Maybe people just aren’t selling this cabinet.

There are two doors on the sides and three drawers in the middle. You can also see in this picture that the color is a little faded and not even. I love the lines in the doors, and the drawer knobs but they could use a little sparkle.

Here is a close up of the hardware and the faded coloring of the door.

In the first drawer is this nice separator for silverware. The other two are just plain old drawers.

China Cabinet Makeover Plans & Poll

The cabinet on the left has this shelf, and the right cabinet does not have a shelf.

China Cabinet Makeover Plans & Poll

The back of the whole cabinet is a sheet of fake wood veneer 🙁

China Cabinet Makeover Plans & Poll

One of the shelves has this deep scratch which I will probably fill in

China Cabinet Makeover Plans & Poll

And the top has quite a few water ring stains.

The Plans

I know for sure I want to stain the piece using a gel stain by General Finishes. I’m not quite sure which color I want to use yet, but I’m leaning towards Java (a super popular color), Brown Mahogany, or Antique Walnut.

China Cabinet Plans and Poll — Photo Credit: The Weathered Door

This is an example of the java stain on a mid century credenza.

Brown Mahogony Brown Mahogany

Here are two examples of the Brown Mahogany stain. These examples also show you how much of a difference there can be between pieces depending on the wood and the amount of stain used. I’m assuming they only used one coat on the piece on the right, and two coats on the left. One of the reasons I’m having such a hard time deciding is because of the variation in all of the pieces I’ve seen.

This is an example of the antique Walnut from Niagara Furniture Painting.

All of these colors are pretty similar, so I’m not sure if it even matters which one I pick. I don’t want to stray too far from the original finish of the cabinet, and I don’t want it to be too dark. I do like the red tint that the cabinet already has in it, but I wouldn’t want much more. Also, I would like it if the grain was emphasized more than it is right now.

Now, the next decision I have to make is if I want to paint the back or not. Since the backing is a fake wood veneer I’m not sure how well it will take stain, or if it will end up looking too different than the rest of the cabinet since the grain is obviously different. I think painting the back a light gray would make the glass pop out more. I was thinking General Finishes seagull gray milk paint.

Seagull Gray

Last but not least I want to update the hardware with Rub N Buff Antique Gold

I think it will really make the hardware pop and show off that mid-century modern style especially if I achieve a distressed look and let some of the darker parts of the pulls show through.

Your Turn

so let me know what you think:

#1: The Stain

Java
Brown Mahogany
Antique Walnut
Another color?

#2 To Paint or Nah

Yes, paint the back
No, don’t
Yes, but paint it a different color

#3 Rub N’ Buff

Yes, use Antique Gold
No, don’t use it at all
Yes, but use a different color

Feel free to add any additional thoughts or give me other suggestions that I haven’t already mentioned.

See You Around!

Lauren <3

October 30, 2015June 17, 2017

Fall & Halloween Decorations

Fall is by far my absolute favorite season. I live in Michigan and the colors here are insanely beautiful. Below is a photo taken by the university I go to, and I think it really captures the beauty we have here during the season.

With the outdoors looking so beautiful, it just makes sense to me to bring these colors inside too. I’ve slowly been building my fall collection every year, and I’m going to look for some great deals on fall/Halloween stuff after the season is over. Here are a few pics of how I decorate for the season/holiday. Hope you enjoy!

Autumn

Halloween

“There’s something spooky out tonight, and I think it’s YOU!!” – Creepy talking skeleton

“Enter if you dare” appropriate for a bathroom door 😉

Pumpkins carved by my best friend, me, and my boyfriend (respectively).

This is a masking tape silhouette of me that my boyfriend and I created for our Halloween party. And no I was not making that face, lol.

We also hung up two black vinyl tablecloths in our stairway entry and cut them into strips to create a spooky entrance. We changed the regular light bulb out for a red light, and black lights in the living room.

So, what do you think? My fall decorations are definitely minor compared to the Halloween decorations, but I think that’s because we throw a Halloween party every year.

Do you decorate for the holiday? What’s your favorite season? Do you tend to wait until seasonal items go on sale, or do you splurge right away?

See You Around!

Lauren <3

October 16, 2015May 31, 2017

5 Creative China Cabinet Ideas

I have been gawking over beautiful china cabinets recently, but new china cabinets are outrageously expensive and my house has limited options of where I can even put one. I did some searching on Pinterest and came up with a list of 5 creative china cabinet ideas.

5 Creative China Cabinet Ideas | Unique ways to display china and glass

Buy a Thrifted Cabinet

The most common approach I have seen is finding a cabinet on Craigslist, at yard sales, or Goodwill/Salvation army. This is a great approach because you can find a typical cabinet, and upgrade it to your needs. Some people restore the hutch to its original glory or even restyle it to something completely different.

Here is an example using General Finishes Java Gel Stain. General Finishes is a really popular brand right now that I have seen a lot of people use for furniture makeovers. This technique changes the look completely while still keeping the beauty of the wood.

This is one of my absolute favorite painted hutch makeovers. I also really love the details of the hutch itself. The transformation from before is crazy!

Upcycle a Bookshelf

I would love to restyle a thrifted hutch, but I am just having a hard time finding a cabinet that’s the right style and price. Soon I might try following this idea of taking a plain bookshelf and adding molding and legs to it. It might even be simple enough to add glass doors to it too.

I’m sure it would be way easier to get my hands on an old bookshelf, not to mention how much easier it would be to transport. This would also be a good fit since I don’t have a ton of space in my house for a huge cabinet.

Use Picture Shelves

This is another great option if you have limited floor space, but need some more decorations up on the wall. This would be great above my table in the “dining room”.

This would also be a great option because if you upgrade to a hutch the shelves can easily be used for something else… Maybe as a picture display? 😉

Wood Crates

Another particularly unique idea I came across was hanging wood crates and displaying dishes in them.

I love the rustic vibe this gives off, and I think the possibilities are endless. You could paint the crates, stain them different colors and arrange them in different ways to get a different look. These crates could also be reused if you upgrade to something different.

Old Windows

This last idea is particularly creative. Use old windows and reclaimed wood to make a cabinet for your dishes.

This idea is really customizable too. The picture is linked to a post on how to use old windows, and it didn’t have a link to the original project for this. This cabinet could also be made in different sizes depending on the old windows you can find.

Would you try any of these ideas? If so, which ones? Can you think of any other creative china cabinet ideas?

If you’re interested in learning more about the specific projects all the photos are linked to the source where I found them.

See You Around!

Lauren <3

P.S. if you liked this post, or thought it was helpful, don’t forget to share it! 🙂

October 11, 2015June 1, 2017

Thrifty Bathroom Storage

My bathroom is pretty small, and seriously lacking in the storage department along with the rest of my house. I’m a total storage and organization nerd, and I would spend SO much money on storage if I could. But since I can’t, I’m always looking for thrifty ways to get the same effect. The other day Chris and I were at Goodwill, and he spotted this 3 piece bathroom organizer for only $10!! Thrifty bathroom storage for the win!

I found the exact same thing in the $30 range online!! For some reason I couldn’t find this exact thing on Wal-Mart’s website. Maybe they don’t sell it anymore? In that case this piece is a collector’s item 😉 I was a little nervous to buy it at first because I thought maybe some of the pieces were missing. The box was taped really well, but I was able to peek inside and see that the pieces were still in the plastic bags. So, we decided to take a chance on it.

When I got all the pieces out I found half of the directions and got scared until I found the other half. Nothing a little tape can’t fix!

After I fixed the directions I pulled all the pieces and was making sure they were all there. And then I came across this…

You can’t really see it on the paper, but this is supposed to be one piece. I don’t know what happened but there are two of these parts, and both of them were broken. I put the rest of the shelf together while I figured out how to fix these pieces. They went on top so they weren’t necessary, but it would be better if they could be used.

Finally I remembered some sort of welding stuff that came in a tube. I had seen it on Pinterest before but couldn’t remember exactly what it was. When Chris came home from work he told me it was called JB Weld and he already had some! 😀

It comes in two tubes. One labeled hardener and one labeled steel. He just mixed a fair amount together (equal amounts of both) on a piece of cardboard and applied it to each broken piece. We let it sit over night and it was all fixed!

Not the prettiest repair job, but it’s fixed and it’s not very noticeable when the shelf is all put together.

I’ll have to figure out what all I want to store on here, and how to style it but for now I’m just happy to at least have a place to set things 🙂 I want to store towels on it, but most of the ones we have are stained and ugly. That’s another thing I need to invest in.

Have you ever ran into a thrift store disaster, or had a close call? What was your favorite thrift store find?

See You Around!

Lauren <3

September 28, 2015June 16, 2017

Living Room Tour

I’m one of those people who likes to rearrange. Furniture, decor, organization, anything. When I get a new piece of furniture I rearrange to make it fit right in with everything else. When the seasons change I add different decorations. Sometimes I just get bored with the arrangement of a room, so I switch it up. My living room is probably the most versatile room to move around the furniture. After cleaning the carpets I figured it was time for a change in the living room.

Flip This Rental | Living Room Tour

Above is how the living room was set up beforehand. I liked the couch set up because it made a more social space for when we had company. We could comfortably chat with each other or watch television. On the other hand I felt like the set up made our living room feel much smaller than it actually is.

Here is a panorama of the new living room set up.

A closer up of the couch set up.

Here’s the fireplace and T.V. You will notice a T.V to the left and the wall mount behind the T.V. on the fireplace. The wall mount T.V. is waiting to be repaired, so the T.V. we are currently using is from the bedroom. I’d like to rearrange the fireplace once the T.V. is fixed so it looks more even. The left side looks really cluttered because of books and DVD’s, whereas on the right the PlayStation and internet router almost blend in.

For now I put my trunk table underneath this painting. I could put it on the other end of the couch as an end table, but for now I think putting it here shows off it’s charm a little more. When we decorated the living room I didn’t even realize it, but the colors in our throw pillows and blanket go perfectly with the blues and browns in the painting.

I have two of these penny vases that I DIY’d over on our movie cases. Typically I put them on the fireplace, but right now that space is taken up. I got two almost identical vases at goodwill, (they were the same shape just a different shade of green and one was slightly heavier) and I spray painted them black and hot glued pennies to them. Such an easy decor item and you can hardly tell they’re pennies from far away!

Another simple update to the living room was changing out the plain white rods and nasty curtains for nice oil rubbed bronze rods and long curtain panels. We left the original hardware and kept the old curtains so we can put them back when we move out.

Project Plans

My goal for winter break is to repaint all the window trim. As you can tell in these photos the paint is peeling (just like the rest of the trim in the house was), and it is yellowy underneath. The biggest reason the window trim started majorly peeling was we used plastic over the windows throughout the winter to seal the heat in. When we pulled the plastic off in the spring the paint peeled with it. On the windows that the locks are broken we also have wood pieces to keep the windows “locked”. All the boards are plain wood and I want to paint them white so they blend in. The next best thing would be replacing all the locks, but that costs money.

I want to paint the ceiling trim too as I noticed it is quite nasty in comparison to the baseboard trim that I repainted (you can really notice it in the third picture from the top). I also need to go back and sand down some spackle spots that the boyfriend forgot to sand before we painted. There are also some spots that look a little streaky that we will go over again.

A few other small projects include cleaning the electrical outlet covers, sprucing up the fireplace mantle, and hiding the cable cord and internet routers.

Which set up did you like better: up close and social, or the wide open spaces?

See You Around!

Lauren <3

P.S. If you missed the bathroom tour – check it out here

September 8, 2015June 16, 2017

The Easiest Pallet Headboard That Ever Existed

Recently, Pinterest created a lot of buzz about reclaimed wood and pallet furniture . So, I wanted to get my hands on some pallets and see what all the craze was about. The first project I wanted to do was create a simple headboard for my apartment bedroom. As you may have already seen here, my apartment has white textured walls and in order to make a cozy space I needed to add color as well as more visual interest.

My goal with this project was to not spend any additional money, and I also wanted a piece that I wouldn’t feel bad trashing once I moved out of my apartment. A pallet was perfect because you can find tons of them for free, and upcycling gives them an extended life.

To begin any pallet project you need to make sure they are safe to use. This post helped me learn what the different markings on a pallet meant, and which markings meant a pallet was unsafe to use. Below is a picture of the stamp on my pallet:

The label marking on the left side is the stamp of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and this stamp means the pallet is up to the IPPC’s standards (read the linked post above for more details). The upper right marking MX 1255 is the country code (Mexico) followed by the registration number of the supplier. Below that, HT means the pallet was heat treated opposed to MB – treated with Methyl Bromide. Do not use pallets with an MB stamp!

After making sure my pallet was safe to use I began using a palm sander to smooth out the pallet. Using that thing didn’t last long! There was either something wrong with it or I’m just a weakling. It was bouncing all over and made my hand tingle way too much. So instead I decided to switch over to the good old fashion non-electric sanding block. A headboard doesn’t need to be baby butt smooth either, so a regular sanding block worked just fine. I sanded it just enough to make sure I wouldn’t get any slivers. This is how my pallet looked to start:

To add color to my pallet I decided to use leftover Howard Restor-A-Finish in Dark Walnut from this project instead of buying a stain. To apply the finish you can just use an old rag or use steel wool. Fine steel wool is typically used to buff out scratches in wood that is being restored. I used steel wool since I had quite a bit and I didn’t know if the Restor-A-Finish would stain my rag or not. We don’t have a lot of crappy rags around our house and I didn’t want to risk it ;).

Above is a close up of the contrast between the wood with finish and without. I really like how the finish emphasized the grain in the wood which will add visual interest for my room.

You can especially see in the board on the right in the above picture that there are little holes and imperfections in the wood. I used Q-tips dipped in the finish to get into the little crevices. it worked really well, but I went through quite a few Q-tips because the finish drained out of them really quickly.

Here is a farther back picture of the difference between with and without finish.

Here is the finished product up on my bed! This project was so simple I really could not have asked for it to go any smoother. To get the headboard up I pulled my mattress out a little and the frame stayed put. I simply set the headboard on top of my bed frame. Once I pushed my mattress back the pallet wobbled a little, so I stuck two command strips on the back of each side to keep it held against the wall.

Now I will share some complimentary glamour shots 😉

As soon as I got the headboard up on my bed I was so giddy. I can’t believe how easy this project was and it looks great! I absolutely love how the wood looks worn in some places. It has a rustic barn feel to it. I have two more pallets at home and I already have ideas for them! I’m not sure how soon I can tackle those projects, but I’m definitely excited to get started.

See You Around!

Lauren <3

Pssst.. If you liked this post don’t forget to share it!

September 4, 2015June 17, 2017

Flip This Rental – College Style

Now that I’ve been settled in to my apartment for almost two weeks I figured it’s time to give you a little tour of my bedroom! The main goal with my room was to fill as much of the wall space with color as I could. I ordered a tapestry from Amazon and it practically fills up my entire East wall. To the right of my wall I hung a big map from my kayaking trip last summer.

Above is the panoramic view of my room. I was standing in the doorway when I took this picture. As you can see the room isn’t huge, but it’s a decent size.

This is supposed to be an entryway bench but I use it to store jeans, pajama pants, and leggings. I put the bench on risers so it would be easier to grab stuff and I wouldn’t have to bend way over. It also makes it blend in with the room better because all of my furniture is about the same height. On top of the bench I have my textbooks, a jar of change, my jewelry holder, and upcycled cans used for holding pens, pencils, and what not. The lampshade is for a future DIY project.

This is my small gallery to the left of my window. Once I print out pictures I will add them here to fill in the spaces.

Here are the little details on my bed. I love the idea of having basic black and whites and adding splashes of color with artwork and small objects. The puppy was a valentine’s day present from my boyfriend and he keeps me from getting homesick (yes I know that sounds childish).

Everything you see in the gallery above my desk is a DIY I made. I made my calendar from a cheap poster frame with paint samples and washi tape to divide up the days and weeks. I write on it with a whiteboard marker. The vase is a spray painted wine bottle with “flowers” made from melted CD’s and gold wire.

My closet isn’t very pretty but for now it’s pretty functional. I have two different sets of drawers for more clothes and the black bin is all my extra shoes. To the left is my laundry basket, a box full of sweaters, and on top of that I have a bag full of purses I’m currently not using and other bags. On the shelf I fold all my sweatshirts, t-shirts, and tank tops as well as extra sheets for my bed.

This is my scarf rack inside my closet. I made this by putting two command hooks on each end and using a curtain rod. Most of the scarves are hung up with shower curtain rings. I didn’t quite have enough otherwise they’d all be hung on rings. The winter fluffy scarves are towards the back and the lighter scarves are in the front.

I keep my printer on top of this storage ottoman. In the ottoman are random things for hanging pictures and just stuff I don’t use on a regular basis. Below the Arctic Monkeys poster I plan on hanging two sheets of paper. One will have all of my professors office hours and contact information, and the other paper will have the detailed goals that I set for this semester. When I took this picture I just realized the trim on the closet and the trim on the door are different colors and grain :’D gotta love college housing.

I love how cozy my room turned out and it’s definitely nice being able to have a space to call my own since I don’t have that at home. So what do you think? Did I do a good job hiding the fact that I live in cheap bland apartment?

See You Around!

Lauren <3