Category Archives: Our House

03.01.12

4 Little Ghosts.

I LUST after these lucite stools from CB2.  I hunted them down after seeing them in this kitchen.
That being said, they were a little to big for my kitchen, and my budget.
We have a small galley between our kitchen island and our refrigerator.   But the girls love to cook with me and get tired of standing on step stools.
 So, I found the perfect acrylic stools to fit my kitchen and my budget.  ($199.95 for two!)
To upholster or not to upholster, that is the question.

02.28.12

Ikea Rast to Dorothy Draper.

I had been searching for the perfect side tables for our living room for what seems like forever.  I saw a few Rast DIY’s on various blogs and figured if I couldn’t buy them, I’d make them.  Much to Mike’s dismay, this was a project that I (ahem) we were going to take on.  These tables were a true labor of love.

 I thought it would be easy, but it took many weekends and trips to Home Depot.   Here’s what we started with: two Ikea Rast Dressers  (At $34.99 the price can’t be beat!)

 and a cart full of spray paint.  That little spray grip was a lifesaver, because I practically went through every last can of spray paint that you see below.
 Here is the how-to.  You may want to eliminate some of these steps and learn from my mistakes.
1.) Assemble the bases, but not the drawers (or have your husband do it while he is watching football.)
2) Spray on on two coats of primer.  BE SURE TO SAND THOROUGHLY between coats. (I wish I had)  I recommend sanding blocks versus sandpaper for this one.
3.) I sprayed on a lacquer and I am not sure if it was the fact that it was 20 degrees outside, or that the lacquer wasn’t cutting it (see those spots?) After six cans of black lacquer I had to switch gears.
4.)  After a SERIOUS sanding, I repainted everything with a black oil-based polyurethane.  I used a roller to apply it.  Polyurethane takes at least 12 hours to dry.  I gave it 2 days.  (Helpful hint: Skip the lacquer paint and go right to this step.)

5.) Next I Sanded and painted my O’verlays with Krylon Gold Spray paint. I love the rose-gold undertones in that paint.  I also used that paint for my Intaglio frames in the dining room.   I let them dry for a day and sealed with a clear lacquer.

6.) Attempted to assemble the dressers.  Mike had to bail me out on this one.

7.) Installed 12 of this brass hardware. (Burnished Bronze, 51 mm x 43 mm)
8.) Super glued the O’verlays on as well as a few of my fingers together.

And here is the final result:

Recognize that lamp?  Next week I will post how I gave it a make-over in 20 minutes.

02.21.12

Bit By Bit…

Guess what we finally put together last weekend….

I will post a full tutorial next week.  And in other news, my turquoise linen fabric came, and I couldn’t be more disappointed.  I paid $200 to have it backed, and the manufacturer is insisting it has an acrylic backing… I sent it back last week to have knit backing added.   Learn from my mistake… Always go with a knit backing.
I’ll give you one guess who is going to be pissed when these are reupholstered…..

02.08.12

Black Trimmings.

As many of you know by now, I have a lot of black in my house… Here are a few pics just to illustrate my love.
Our kitchen.
And adjoining living room.
Let’s not forget about the dining room…
Foyer… (We painted out banisters and front door a polyurathane black almost three years ago.  It’s held up beautifully!)
Find out what happened to our poor rug here.
I realize not everyone may share my bold love of black, but there are so many ways to incorporate it into a plain-jane room and yield stunning results.  Let’s take a look at a few of my favorites….

02.06.12

DIY Rast Project Update.

I received many emails about my little project in the garage.  Here is the current status.
With a little help from my friends at Duron, I sanded those babies down and applied a few thin coats of oil-based polyurethane.  I think it may have done the trick.  The down side is that it takes FOREVER to dry.  If you try this project yourself, here are a few tips:
1.) Make sure that you sand in between coats… I learned that the hard way.
2.) Prime it, spray one coat of spray paint to build a base, then roll on the next layer of paint.
3.) Don’t do this project when it is 26 degrees outside.
As you can see my O’verlays arrived and they were much thinner than I expected, but I think that will be a good thing.  Also, I was under the impression that they were wood… Not the case.  They are more like a waxy foam board material.
I sanded them down (on top of our trashcan, I was running out of space another reason to wait until Spring!)
Then I sprayed them with a metallic gold paint. I love Krylon.
And now it’s all drying. Tonight I will assemble them.
Stay tuned for the big reveal!

01.26.12

Let’s Drink.

It was right around this post in 2010 that I bought the bar car that you see in the picture below.  Although it will look much cuter once it is styled, I am thinking of selling this one and buying a new, more substantial bar cart.  (This is what drives my husband crazy about me… He: 1.) Sees no point in a bar cart in the first place (he just grabs a beer from the fridge.) and 2.) Can’t understand why this perfectly good bar cart won’t do.  He is convinced that I am on a mission to bankrupt us.
Anywho… There are so many beauties out there.  I love them all, so much more than mine.  Sigh.