Tutu Desk -- Tulle Desk -- Made!!

This Black and Spiro desk is the one that started it all. I love this desk, and Lauren if you are reading this I would love to make one for you. ;)

Anyway, love this desk.

I have been using this old wicker 2 door cabinet in a room that sees little use except for printing, and exercising. It is ugly. It has been around for 15+ years, and was originally brown, painted white a few years ago. It has held, TV's and everything. When it held TV's I had a thick piece of glass cut for it that I have left on. It is a little rickety but it serves it's purpose. You can see from the back that I cut a place for cords.

But now it is a desk.....

Ok, so it is really ugly.

Having been inspired by Black and Spiro it is now a white tutu desk. I love it. This is the view as I walk by this room and it makes me smile.

How can you not smile. The red bag on the floor is for computers, but I use it as a cord keeper, it keeps the clutter down.

I kept the glass and left the wicker top. I like it that way, and can put pics under if I want.

I left the back side open, because I need to open the doors, and I use it as storage.

An old chair I put padding and stapled fabric to.

The other side of the room is for exercising.

Yep, more exercising and storage. Old houses, small closets.

No pic tutorial. I just took some broadcloth from the fabric store and cut/hemmed to size. Then double the amount of tulle, and cut the tulle into 6" strips. Then bunch and hot glue every 4" with 1" of hot glue. Then, honestly, staple gunned it to the top, where the staples would be hidden. Super easy.

If you could sew, you could sew it and it would probably be faster than hot gluing. But, I don't sew.

I have to say it again. I love it.

Recover a Desk Chair

This chair is in my husband's office. It is ugly, and old. I had some left over fabric that had been used in his office a while back, and thought, let's get out the staple gun.

I did take apart the chair, that took the most time. Then went to stapling.

Free, did I say free! Yep, and much better. When it get's dirty, which I am sure it will, I will simply change up the fabric.

Wine Cork Wreath

As you know from my previous posts, we have done a wine/liquor armoire, and are working on a wine room.

Then, I ran across this great wine cork wreath, (sorry don't remember where photo is from). I may just have to make one for the wine room. It is amazing. It looks like it was made from new and not used corks. You can purchase new corks by the bag, at a wine/beer maker's shop. Just look in your yellow pages under "brewing supplies".

Now.....do I make one? I just might.

DIY Wine Armoire

I saw this image over at Love Where You Live's blog, http://www.thegreenplum.blogspot.com/. It is Maria Gabriela Brito's Wine Cellar, Wine Closet. It got me to thinking, as I have no extra space in my 1947 house, where I could do a wine area. Like Maria, we too collect wine, and art. She has a new business Lifestyling by Maria Gabriela Brito.

So, I went looking for an extra closet, which I do not have. My husband is currently working on a wine room in our garage, as he makes wine, but not finished. So I still have a need for a wine cellar/closet/cupboard. See below....

This armoire, cabinet, used to hold a TV at my Dad's house. He sent it over here, and it was an entry catch all. See all the stuff it is catching. Well, I moved some wine glasses in it and it was immediate love. Stop by tomorrow for the finished project.

A project in a day. I love it. And, who doesn't have left over armoire's from TV's?

Outdoor Light Fixture Indoors

I have a long pass thru dining room. It sits in the middle of my home. On the left is the kitchen, you can see the glass tiles peeking thru. On the right bedrooms, and straight ahead thru a huge arch is the family room. So we walk thru this room, all day every day. Years ago, I spent a fortune on a long skinny table at Pottery Barn, that runs the same way the original hardwood floors run, and I have loved it forever. Worth every cent. Recently we redid the old overhead light fixture, and I came across this outdoor light fixture and hung it indoors. It is heavy and fun, and displays a great pattern across the dining room walls when on. Yes, it is hung very low, and that was by choice.

What are you using differently, or repurposing?

Coffee Table - Ottoman - Red Chairs

Emily A Clark is having a coffee table linky party. I love a linky party, so here are my coffee tables. If you haven't checked out her blog, it is wonderful. http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com.

What do you use for a coffe table? I use a copper top table in my front room, and an ottoman in my family room.

My house was built in 1947. It has a small entry front room as you can see in the photo. We use brown leather in both that and the family room, as you can see thru arches from the entry/front to the back. It gives a little more continuity. Not very easy to photograph, but as you stand at my front door, there are hugh cove arches that go to the dinning room, kitchen, family room, so you get a glimpse of all the rooms.

So in this front room is a copper top coffee table and side table. I love this room, it is perfect for greeting guests, reading, relaxing, just about anything.

You guessed it. The family room, and the Johnny Pole which I hate, but it holds up a clear story roof, (any suggestions?). We use an ottoman in this room, nothing on it, but our feet, although it is a favorite spot to lay down. The red chairs are a crazy favorite that we love too.

I guess I should have closed the laundry door, but, oops.


Thanks for stopping by.

Great idea for a fountain for a pool

Went to a builder's open house the other day and snapped this amazing pic. The fountains weren't turned on, as it was too windy. The flagstone style bench, is just a flag veneer, it holds the pumps, etch for the two pots on either side that shoot out water when turned on, into the pool. I saw this a year or so ago, and when the builder was holding it open I went back. That is an amazing idea. I have an above ground pool, inground and would love a fountain. I am thinking 2 large pots at the end, no need for the bench etc. as the pots can hold the equipment. Hmmm, I may need to figure this one out. Would look great for the pool.

New Haven Homes, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Barrel Chairs Redone!! Refinishing Chairs

The Barrel Chairs are Done!! Hooray!! See below.

Taken apart, washed, sanded and dried.

Sprayed with Kilz to eliminate any stains or odors. Hey, they are vintage.

Spray painted black. Some of the cane is missing, I just left it that way, gives it character.

Finished with great fabric my daughter picked out. After all they are going in her apartment.

They look so great with her butter colored leather couch, and she has a black throw, and some damask pillows, like you can see on the floor in the other pic. Love these chairs. They have even survived their first party.

These were a great find for $70 for the pair, and with all the paint and fabric my total came to $120.00. So that made them $60 a chair, you just can't beat that. Love Craig's list, great find and great chairs. What are you redoing?

Johnny Pole - Support Pole

Ok, so we have a very ugly support pole, (yes it looks like a stripper pole) in our family room, and yes, it is in an odd place. No, it can't be removed or moved. Well, moved but cost prohibits it. So what to do with it, and the clear story windows above, that are old and ugly, covered in the photo. Hmmm.

Any suggestions?

This below is great looking, a little fancier and probably more expensive than I want. But, I like the color.

Photo Wall or Door - Post-it Photo Paper

I love photos, and love to change photos around. Thought this was so cute when I saw it on Apartment Therapy's Small Cool Contest. My daughter was looking for ideas and we were checking their blog, because it is Small Cool time, and she gets to rent a small apartment, now she just wants to make it cool. But, I digress, I fell in love with the pitures over the fireplace. How easy that would be to create, and how fun. I also found that Post-it makes a photo paper that you can print on that is removable, and repositionable, just like a good old fashioned post-it. I think I will have to try it, or suggest it to her.

Now that I have talked about Post-its. I need to watch Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. (Only some blog readers will get the pun).

Enjoy.

Chalkboard Paint -- Great Ideas

Ok, I know, how many posts can you do on Chalkboard Paint. But I love it. I have been collecting and saving these images for a bit, so this is it, my final post on Chalkboard Paint. Ok, maybe one more you never know. But, what great ideas below. How do you use Chalkboard Paint?

Sorry I don't know where the above image is from.

Image Curbly.

Image Style at Home.

Image Pure Style Home.blogspot

Image Country Living.

Image Cooking Lite.

Image Architectural Digest.

Image Apartment Therapy.

Padded Headboard -- Fabric Headboard

Ok, so this is the headboard that started it all. I love Gossip Girl, a guilty pleasure, although this season, not quite as good. So I love Serena's Bedroom. I love the polka dot padded headboard. Gotta make one for my bed. I have just an old bedframe, and no headboard. So I'm gonna do it. I think. At the bottom of the post is a great instructional site on how to do this, as well as the allthingsthrifty.com, who has a great post on how she did hers. Enjoy.

"Serena's Bedroom" Gossip Girl. Photo CW Gossip Girl.

Love the blog below. Great instructions on how to do this headboard. So if you want a padded wall headboard, you can do it.


Photo and great instructions at: allthingsthrifty.com. Great Blog Too!

More instructions on how to make a padded headboard: http://www.jonathanfongstyle.com/decor/wallpanels.html

Enjoy.

Painted Red Rocking Chair

I love repurposing old furniture, etc. This great red rocking chair used to be white. It was from when my daughter was young and had been moved room to room, (she is in college now). Anyway, white really didn't fit any of the rooms. However, I use alot of red as pops of color in my home. Even have red leather chairs in my family room (one of my favorite purchases). So I decided to paint this a Cherry Red. It is your standard off the rack spray paint from Home Depot, really called Cherry Red. Took 3 cans and a good 24 hours of drying time. But I love it. It is in a guest room, with the big Teddy Bear.

Since Spring is Springing all over the place, what kind of DIY are you working on?

1947 House Fireplace Mantle

So our old house has old fireplaces. This one in the front room is painted a flat white. It has a Ralph Lauren Brown Suede finish on the mantle, as well as on the floor. I have also put a mirror in the firebox to reflect the light.

How have you decorated your mantle?

Clustered Pictures on Fireplace Mantle.

Stainless Steel Contact Paper -- Portable Dishwasher

Currently in use, haha. So this old 1947 house with the L shaped kitchen has no room for a dishwasher. Ya, I could take away what undercounter space I have, but no, I have space on an empty wall, and that is where the portable dishwasher lives. For those of you not familiar with them, they roll around on wheels and hook up to the sink. Well most of the kitchen has been redone, (tomorrow and following days post), but I had to pick up another portable, as my old one broke. If you have never priced them, they are pricey, wow, so on to Craig's List. Watched Craig's List for about a month and this beauty came up. True I would have rather had the solid black but, hey for $150.00 and pretty much almost brand new, I'm all in. So I ran down to my neighborhood Home Depot and picked up some Contact Paper that mimics stainless steel and put it on the front. Now the only question left, is do I paint the sides black, like all the stainless steel appliances are? Or, maybe the grey/green that my kitchen is? Or, maybe even black chalkboard paint on the side that sticks out in the kitchen to leave messages? Hmmmm, not sure.

But, the jist of this post is, if you haven't checked out the Contact Paper section in your Home Depot, you should, they have some great stuff. You don't have to be stuck in the 1950's, you can turn it up a notch.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, I am not the only one in the world still using a portable. Saw an episode of Divine Design, and Candace Olson took and old kitchen, repainted the cabinets, put up some bead board, stainless appliances, built an island and sliding into the island was a portable dishwasher--believe it or not. If I had room for an island, I would steal that trick, but alas, no room for an island, it does however fit perfect where it is.

Have a DIY day.

Red Desk

I love this cute little red desk. I believe the image is from Pottery Barn. Any old desk can be painted in a great Red color. I recently painted an old rocking chair that had been in my daughter's nursery (previously peeling white paint) a bright cherry red. It is great in a guest bedroom. Look around, what are you waiting for? What can you repurpose?

1947 House and "Johnny" Support Pole

I live in an old 1947 cinder block house. Which I love. We have been lovingly restoring and fixing for years. I love to change and redo. The one thing we hae that we haven't changed is an old metal "Johnny" pole that is in the family room. Ok, friends call it a "stripper" pole which it is not. Any suggestions? I saw this great picture, can't remember where and saved it to my computer. I don't think I could use the silver, but maybe a copper color would work. Don't know about the top, hmmm..... Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Green Chalkboard Paint

I love chalkboard paint. With St Patrick's Day upon us, I decided to show Green. I have been dying to do more chalkboard paint in my home, just looking for space to do it. I am a list and note person, so chalkboard paint really appeals to me. You?

Creating Your Own Headboard

We have a very odd shaped Master Bedroom. I think it used to be the Garage. It is long and skinny. I have been wanting to make a headboard for quite some time. Then I ran across this tin roof headborad and thought how cute. However, I do worry about the rough edges. So when I was wandering my local Lowes, I ran across this tin backsplash stuff. It is made to look like tin, it comes in colors and it is plastic, yes plastic. Looks real, easy to put up and cut, so it may do the trick.

Or, I will go with a bold color wall. Still thinking. Any ideas?

Clipboards for Organization

I love the idea of clipboards for organization. When I ran across this pic (can't remember where), I fell in love with it. You could display photos on a wall, or kids artwork, or simply ideas, or appointments. 2010 is the year to get organized.