Sunday, January 3, 2010

Busy Break

Posted by Allison at 9:17 PM
I've done many projects over this break (and consequently many posts)- but I'm not done yet. I finished painting the table and put it in place in my living room. I switched my ugly floor lamp with my ugly table lamp, because of the length of the table and the size of the lampshade.
The color of the table is the same as the color of my desk. It is called "mocha white," basically a white with a slight brown tint. I am quite happy with it. I also replaced the knob on the drawer on the front-- for a whole $.49. Ace had a basket of "clearance" knobs and that was one of them. It's a nice one-- much heavier than I would normally consider buying. Perhaps in the future I will get a pretty knob for it.




(Franklin likes it too: see fuzzy butt)
Pretty knobs: I think you can see what I'm going for.




Another find this week is this other table. Maybe its a console table? I'm unsure. It's currently in and going to stay in my office. I intend to paint it, as soon as I pick a color.


Currently its serving as a tissue paper flower/cat bad table. It needs some work. There is some damage to the detail on the legs, and notice the piece of paper I'm using the keep the table level. It needs to be reinforced a little.
Heres a close up of the table with a couple color options I picked up at Ace.


When I'm looking at the table in person, I like the middle option best. But when I see it in the picture, the darkest option strikes me. Either way, the lightest option is out. Another possibility is to do a completely different color altogether. I have seen many projects where furniture is painted a crazy, unexpected color, and this might be a good chance to do that.



I guess time will tell. My classes and work start again this week so I can't promise this will be finished soon.
Labels: , ,
0 comments

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Well...

Posted by Allison at 2:33 PM
For a while I've been thinking about replacing my bed with something that allows a fabric headboard.
Until very recently, I was the proud owner of an Ikea MALM bed, which I bought in Chicago about 5 years ago. It's treated me well, but I needed a change.
I listed the frame on Craigslist, and within 4 hours, it had been sold! I was surprised it went so fast, and unprepared, so I spent a night sleeping on my mattress on the floor. You see, the MALM bed doesn't require a box spring. So I didn't even have one of those.

The day after it sold, I set out to find a boxspring or equivalent, and a frame. I bought just a standard metal frame. This isn't the excited part. The exciting part is now I get to make a headboard! Below are some of the headboards I dig and will be taking inspiration from:




These headboards range from out of my budget to completely ridiculous.

But, making a headboard very similar to the ones shown isn't an impossible task. Below are some DIY-d headboards.




I don't think this is a project I want to rush into, so at the moment I am headboard-less. I have ideas, but I need to do some research before I move forward.
Labels: ,
1 comments

Friday, January 1, 2010

My Favorite Blogs- Shelter Blogs

Posted by Allison at 2:59 PM
I know I did a post like this in June, but I feel like it can't hurt to tell you again about my favorite blogs.

First and foremost:
Making it Lovely
Making it Lovely is an awesome blog by a woman who lives outside of Chicago. Her blog is about her adventures "transforming the so-so" in her house, as she puts it. I really like her color choices and have been learning a lot about placement of objects from her posts. My favorite posts are about her china cabinet in her dining room, her pink christmas tree, and her living room rug! I highly recommend checking her site out. Also, she is a finalist for Apartment Therapy's "Homies 2009"-- You have until Jan 6th to go to here and vote for her!

Next, in no order:
This blog is about Camilla's journey starting a home design business. Her blog regularly features other designers/bloggers who write an "in the day of.." post. In addition to the great projects she does herself, which are very much along the lines of mine in terms of style and budget, her features introduce me to a ton of new and awesome blogs. Many of my regular reads are a result of her "In her shoes" posts.

Good Bones, Great Pieces is written by a mother and daughter team. The mother worked for Martha Stewart for many years but now works as a decorator. They have exquisite and often very pricey taste. They also are more on the traditional side. Their blog normally serves as inspiration for me to find a copycat piece or item for a lower price. In addition to interiors, they also blog about fashion. Again, very classy, pricey pieces.
These ladies are very accomplished-- in addition to the mother working as a producer for Martha Stewart Television (and winning five Emmys!) the daughter worked as a fashion writer for Teen Vogue. And, they have been featured in House Beautiful and Martha Stewart Living.

Tomorrow, or later today, I will write about my favorite DIY type blogs.

Labels:
0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)