Zhushing and Reorganizing For Free

Hello!

This week, Norfolk got some snow (maybe three inches?) and some very cold temperatures.  I grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago, where that kind of snowfall happens from November until March.  In southeast Virginia, though, that is an extreme, and my district gave us two snow days.  I spent one of these snow days deep cleaning our apartment and beginning to work on one of my home resolutions fro 2014: beautiful organization.

I started with the living room.  We have several basic three shelf wire shelves (you can find them at Home Depot or Lowes).  Two of these have a home in our kitchen, where their utilitarian appearance works well.  However, this one didn't really match with the rest of the living room, but it's the perfect size and height for that area. 

I had been thinking of making a basic slipcover for the wire shelf and my day off seemed like a great time to start.  I have a pretty big stockpile of fabric and though that this basic muslin would do well.  To make this simple, no sew slipcover, I draped the fabric over the table, letting one end touch the floor in the back.  I then cut the end that was draped over the front so that the fabric just touched the floor, with no puddling.   Next, I folded the top ends on either side, just as if I was wrapping a present.  I used simple straight pins to hold the fabric in place.

It's a simple, temporary solution that makes that table blend in much better. 

I added several items to the table to organize our "on our way out the door" essentials.  After looking through our place for some items to use for organizing, I found an apothecary jar for Wick's dog treats and bones, a silver tray for gloves and scarves, and an antique tobacco tin for dog baggies.  Right now, I'm storing summer hats on the shelves the slipcover hides, and I figure that when the temperatures shift, I can swap the scarves out for sunglasses.  I pulled some decorating elements, including two photographs and a brass rabbit, to add some pretty to the table as well. 

I'm loving that area of our living room right now.  If I could, I would do something about those awful cable cords, but those are an unfortunate reality of living in an apartment that was built in the 1920s.

Another aspect of living in a historic building that really affects us is the lack of closet space.  Walk in closets just didn't exist in that time.  We have a small closet in each bedroom, a hall closet, and a linen closet.  I use the linen closet to store my jeans, workout clothes, and sweaters, in addition to basic household items.  However, it was a disaster, as you can see below. 

I took some cloth covered bins that I had bought at Target a few years ago to organize a desk space in our old apartment and repurposed them to hold my workout clothes and sweaters.  I also rearranged some of the items, moving my fabric collection to our spare bedroom, putting holiday decorations in the hall closet that we tend to leave shut, and making a separate shelf area for extra towels and laundry.  So far, it has helped with daily life so much to have that space more organized. 

Lastly, I tackled my bedside table.  My bedside table tends to accumulate so much stuff- lotions, books, pens, cups of coffee, contact cases, glasses... I could go on for a while.  I decided to take a giant silver bowl that I had just hanging out in the pantry and use it to hold all of my random items to give the bedside table a more contained look.  I also use this porcelain hand my husband found in a vintage store last summer to organize rings and bracelets and decided to bring it over to my bedside table to free up some space on our dresser.

I hope to keep sharing my efforts to organize our space and life a little more beautifully.  What are some of the things you do to organize?

A DIY Industrial Rustic Table Part 1: The Story

Hello!

I m so, so, so excited to finally share this DIY with you.  It is without a doubt the most complicated one I have ever made and has had more stumbling blocks than any other project I have eve undertaken.  I wanted to make sure that I had a foolproof tutorial before posting, but I have spent some time thinking about how to best present it.  When you spend such a long amount of time on something, you want to share the whole process: the ups and downs, the inspiration, the splinters, the stained hands... I can't just write a clean cut tutorial on something that has meant a LOT to me.  Today, I'm sharing Part I: the story of the table.  Tomorrow, I will be posting Part II: the tutorial on how to make it.

My idea for this table first began with this image: 

I pinned it ages ago.  I have this love for anything industrial, and I've always found the construction of old sewing tables beautiful.  There's just something about a curving, feminine shape in the form of very masculine iron that strikes that perfect combination of soft and tough.  These old sewing tables have turned up at auctions I have gone to and at thrift stores I frequent time and time again, but often, they're still in that table form. I have no idea how to begin disassembling all that ironwork and would never want to get in over my head so deep.

I keep a saved search on my eBay app for "vintage industrial".  I love almost anything with that tagline, be it signage, furniture, or containers, but I noticed after a while that these sewing tables showed up ALL.  THE.  TIME.  Often, the listings were even just for the legs of the table, already disassembled from the gears and treadle.  It just made the project too tempting; my first roadblock disappeared.  I began watching the listings and eventually managed to snag a pair of Singer legs for a low price and reasonable shipping. 

Those table legs shipped fast and they spent a long time (over a month, actually) just sitting in my dining room looking pretty.  At the time, my dining table was a cheap Craigslist purchase that was meant to fill a need rather than be an investment.  I finally made the choice to sell that table (again on the CL) to force myself to tackle the project of building a new dining room table using the sewing machine legs.  Sometimes I need an extreme amount of motivation.  It's a flaw.  I'm living with it.

I consulted tons of online tutorials.  There was no exact tutorial for what I wanted to do, so I improvised and combined as much of the knowledge from the table building tutorials I found online as I could.  I sketched out a detailed plan and went to the hardware store with my friend, Erin, to buy all of the lumber, bolts, and stain that I needed.  I bought four long beams and bought additional small beams for underlying support.  I drilled all the boards together with the help of my sweet puppy, Wicket, and then excitedly began staining the underside of the boards.

However, as soon as I came to the part of attaching the legs of the table, I began to hit roadblocks.  First, when drilling holes through the boards in order to create an opening for a bolt, I drilled a hole in my wood floor (hopefully it can be refilled so I can get our security deposit back!).  Then, I attached the legs to the tabletop, but as soon as I flipped the table over (with the help of Erin and Kat!), the legs immediately slid outwards and rested diagonally rather than vertically.  HUGE PROBLEM.  They didn't break off, thank goodness, but the table appeared ready to collapse at any minute.  I looked closely at the legs and noticed that they had three holes where some kind of pipes or rods had originally been used to help distribute pressure evenly, locking the legs in place and preventing this problem. 

Immediately, I went to Home Depot to find a solution.  The helpful salesman directed me towards threaded rod.  I bought zinc rod in the right length, as well as some hex nuts to hold the legs in place.  These worked... kind of... they held the legs more upright.... but zinc is pretty bendy.  While initially the table felt sturdy, after I had finished sanding and staining the top and using it a few times, it began to become more rickety.  My husband, Jon, was very apprehensive, but I insisted that as long as I continued to adjust the tightness of the hex nuts, it should stay pretty stable.  And he loves me, so he let it go.  That being said, we had this conversation in June, so since I didn't post about the table once during the summer, I clearly had my own misgivings despite my protests to the contrary.

I spent time researching other options, but was unable to find steel threaded rod precut to the length that I needed.... turns out that stuff either comes in a really short length or a really long length, and I didn't need any more than six feet (the length of my table).  They do make shorter round steel rods, but after I discussed this with a sweet salesman at Home Depot (who, I kid you not, spent 45 minutes walking through the hardware aisle in an attempt to help me problem solve), realized that nothing could attach well enough onto that to hold the legs in place.  At this point, I started thinking about unbolting the legs and taking them to a welder to see I could just have iron rods welded in place, but that potential cost of that dissuaded me.

Finally, some friends came to visit us in September for Labor Day weekend, and while my Jon and his best friend, Brent, were hanging out in the dining room, the table shifted dramatically (allegedly, it nearly collapsed on their feet and would have if they had not caught it). Jon was pretty frustrated and chose the moment to put his foot down dramatically and told me that we had to figure out a solution or we had to find a new table.  Not unlike the earlier scenario I inflicted on myself of selling my dining table to force myself to build, I now had the motivation to find a solution.  Also, knowing that my husband had reached this point of frustration with the table gave me the courage to express my doubts and frustrations about the table to him.  I didn't want to give up; I loved those table legs and was now really passionate about the idea of upcycling those legs and using something so old in a new piece of furniture, but I couldn't find a way to make it work.  After I poured my heart out to Jon about the project gone wrong, he brought up the possibility of buying the absurdly long steel threaded rod and just cutting it.

It was so simple; I should have asked that question earlier, but I didn't think it was possible.  In my mind, that was something that happens in a factory with large machinery.  If I had had the courage to share my doubts about the project with my husband, an avionics tech who is familiar with all kinds of materials and machinery that I am not, this problem would have been solved so much sooner.  Excited, I asked him to take a serious look at the table and see what else I was missing.  He noticed that I could also increase the size of the bolts I was using to attach the table top to the legs to decrease any of the wobbling.

After picking up steel threaded rod, reattaching the table with the thicker bolts, and then cutting the steel bolts down to size, I'm happy to report that the table no longer wobbles or looks like it's on the verge of collapse, and it's held up for over a month like this.  This DIY taught me so much about perseverance and about humility- I've always been the type to insist that I can do things on my own, but asking for my husband's input was the best choice I made.  I still got to do all of the work and take credit for everything (cutting through steel is surprisingly easy!), but I don't know all the answers to everything. 

Tomorrow, I'll be posting a step by step tutorial for building the table, complete with a shopping list and loads of pictures.  I hope you'll stop back by and check that out now that you have made it through this long story of a DIY that very nearly became a "Nailed It!" style failure.  I'm so proud that it didn't. 

Vintage Bedside Lamps

Hello!

First of all, let me express my regret that I haven't updated in the past two weeks at ALL.  The pace that life rushes past at never ceases to amaze me.  For those of you who do not know, my passion lies in my day job as a high school art teacher.  School starts after Labor Day here in southern Virginia and this year, I find myself teaching five different classes (Introduction to Art, Drawing/Painting 1, Crafts 1, Advanced Crafts, and Sculpture/Ceramics 1) and sponsoring the National Art Honors Society.  Teaching a large course load and facilitating after school community art programs requires a huge time commitment beyond the school day, and I just now am starting to feel like I have a grasp on my schedule.  I am hopeful that as the school year continues I will be able to post weekly, but I am sure that during peak busy times (i.e. finals week), there will be some gaps.  I hope you'll indulge me!

While I have been slowly working away on refining a DIY table project that I hope to share in the near future, I have also been diligently scrolling through updates to my saved searches in eBay.  For a while, I had been looking for a pair of wall mounted bedside lamps, preferably antique ones.  These are surprisingly difficult to find (I suppose because a majority of wall lamps are sconces that connect to the wall's inner electrical wiring?) in general, but especially for a reasonable price. 

However, lo and behold, one day these popped up in my saved search:

Hobnail glass, intact wiring, wall mountable and could plug into an outlet.  They were PERFECT.  And they were $38 (for the PAIR) and a "buy it now" option, which was even better. 

After they arrived, I picked up some cheap mini shades from Lowes (I am normally partial to my local Home Depot- between the two in Norfolk, I find that I get better service there), which has a great lighting section.  Now, these are brightening up our bedroom.  They are perfect for reading before bed (or, as is often my case, grading before bed).  They're also a great vintage decor touch.  I think that small things like lamps are great way to add personality to your home- I have found that that is something easiest to do in the details of a home rather than in the bones of a home.

New Find: Vintage Living Room Rug

This week, our living room got a much needed update.  I had been searching for a long time for a large rug (minimum 8 x 10) for our living room.  I had a smaller rug in there originally, but having all the furniture clustered around a small focal point made he room look much, much smaller than it was.  I moved the small rug underneath our dining room table a while ago, and it is a much better place for it.  However, pulling up the rug exposed wires leading to our surround sound speakers and left a a very hard wooden floor for us and the dog to stretch out on.

I have spent a few months searching for a reasonable alternative it he right size, but the thing is, rugs are EXPENSIVE.  Super, duper expensive.  Initially, I was looking at a few short sale websites (One Kings Lane, Joss & Main), but even with the enormous discounts that those sites put out, a large rug was still between $400-$500.  If I'm going to spend that money, I wanted to really love the rug, and I have a hard time falling in love with anything mass produced or done in a really modern way.

This led me to look instead at eBay and Craigslist, hoping something vintage, unique, and most importantly affordable I'm really big on not settling when it comes to important, focal point pieces. I think you should always love them; if I don't love something, I find myself looking around for something to replace it almost within a week. 

I had several searches that I looked at daily for "vintage Persian rug", "antique Persin rug", and "Persian rug".  I wanted something with an intricate pattern, in good shape, but also unique.  I found some absolutely stunning rugs on eBay, but it took me about two months to actually obtain one.  The bidding was pretty intense and there were times when someone outbid me within the last minute and times when prices got too outrageous.  However, I finally found a rug that was the right size and gorgeous and the right colors and was selling for an insanely low $57.  Somehow, the price didn't go up above that (I think due to the presentation of the rug in the photographs) and after two weeks of waiting for the shipment to arrive, I finally have this gorgeous rug in my house and our living room looks SO.  GOOD.

SO GOOD!  Even if the couch is slightly unkempt at the moment... And do you notice my sweet puppy in the corner?  We just had her spayed last week and contrary to what we expected, she loves her cone.... Weird.

I adore all the detail in the pattern, both centrally and along the border.

Wicket the Cone Doggie adores the rug (it is super soft).  I just love how one piece can change everything about a room.  The whole space feels larger and more inviting now.  I love it!

DIY Cane Chair Reupholstery

I am a huge believer in adjusting and redoing classic, vintage pieces of furniture over buying something brand new.  I care deeply about investing in furniture that is classic, well made, and will last.  In my price point, that is more likely to be a historical piece rather than a contemporary one.  You can find amazing pieces at estate sales, auctions, thrift stores or as hand me downs, and it is surprisingly easy to refinish or reupholster them.

I have a great pair of chairs that I was given by my friend Cate when she moved from a house to an apartment and needed to edit her furniture a bit.  to be honest, they aren't a perfect pair (there is a slight difference in the cushioning in the back, but there are the same cane sides, arms, and legs, which create a uniform look.  Cate had gotten the chairs hoping to work on them someday, but never got around to it.  When I first got them, they were very 1960s, with a walnut stain and pink and orange velvet upholstery.  I never took a formal picture of the before stage, but they did make an appearance in a Christmas tree picture a few years back:

I have not every taken an upholstery class and do not claim to be a expert; I've followed a lot of tutorials on blogs and via Pinterest.  While it is not as difficult as you first anticipate it to be, it is something that I have gotten better at as I've gone along.  In our old apartment, I first reupholstered these chairs in a white and yellow chevron.

While these chairs worked okay in our space at that time and I enjoyed experimenting with patterns, ultimately I always want my projects and artwork to look high end.  I am always on a budget, but practice, research, and self teaching are free.  I believe in reworking on projects, whether it is a home DIY or more fine arts related, until I am completely satisfied and feel like the product looks sophisticated.  Once we moved into our new place and developed a plan for the colors, textures, and prints in our new place, I chose to keep the wood painted white and to pick a luxurious textured linen fabric in a sandy taupe color.

First, I removed the old fabric and used it as a pattern, leaving about two inches of extra border to help pull the fabric taught.  I used pliers to help pull the fabric tightly across the seat and back as stapled it to the frame.  This a trick I learned from stretching canvases across a wooden frame in painting classes in college.  Keeping the fabric pulled tightly is essential to keeping the upholstery job looking professional.  Any lumps, tears, excesses, etc., make the item look like a cheap hand me down rather than a piece that is classic, antique, or well cared for.

 

While I know that some high end furniture stores, specifically Restoration Hardware, has been featuring deconstructed pieces with raw fabric edges, I don't trust myself to pull off that without it looking clearly inauthentic.  You can't fake the wear that an antique, French flea market piece would have, or at least, I can't.  I wanted to finish the edges and hide the staples and raw edges with double welting made from the same fabric.  If you want, many upholsterers can make this for you or you can buy cording from any fabric store to make it.  Or, if you need the cording in a larger quantity, like I did, than your fabric may have on hand, you can use clothesline or rope from Home Depot to make the welting.  to do this, I started by first wrapping the clothesline in the fabric and pinning the fabric shut.  I then stitched as closely to cording as possible using the double stitching setting on my sewing machine, removing the pins as I went.

A nice perk to this step is that my sweet puppy loves to sit by the sewing machine while I work.  She's helpful like that.  

Afterwards, I trimmed some of the excess fabric, but left a half inch or so border so that I could ensure I had enough to attach the welting to the cushion and cover the staples.  To attach the welting, I used basic tacky glue for fabric, applying it liberally to the excess fabric and then pinning it.  To be on the safe side, I let it sit overnight.

The next day I repeated the process, this time facing the cording upward rather than downward.  The following day, I applied glue between the two cords and then pinned them together to create the double welting, leaving the chair looking polished and professional

I so proud of how the chairs turned out.  Overall, the cost per chair was around $45 each.  The chairs were given to me, the paint I had, the fabric was purchased on sale, and many of the tools I already had on hand.  Plus, the feeling accomplishing a furniture makeover on my own is pretty satisfying and motivates me to continue to work on things throughout our apartment, making it more and more our own beautiful space.

Have you ever done reupholstery?  What has worked well and what hasn't? 

Dining Room Gallery Wall

In my last post, I mentioned that my husband and I moved during the month of December.  One of the first things I did was to set up a large gallery wall in our dining room.  While I wouldn't consider myself an expert on transitioning from home to home, I am a veteran enough of it to know that the best things I can do once everything is in the new space include:

1. Pouring myself a drink
2. Inviting friends over
3. Setting up one room in its entirety

I know some people see moving as a long checklist that must have everything crossed off of it THAT DAY, but in my experience, that doesn't happen fully.  Additionally, when I make quick decisions about where things should go, I often see a better solution a few days later and wind up changing everything.  I would much rather go through the process slowly and thoroughly, reminding myself that not everything has to be placed perfectly within the first week.

Our dining room was an ideal place to start on this.  Save for the bathroom, it probably has the least furniture to place.  It's also relatively small and has the most wonderful long expanse of a white wall that BEGS to be covered with artwork.  Putting up items I love and artwork of my own went a long way to making this space feel like it was our home, and not a strange new apartment.

 Two of the pieces listed there are lithographs that I made in college, as well as a lithograph made by my friend Alicia.  My goal with this wall space as I continue to expand the gallery wall out is to keep everything NEUTRAL.  Our last apartment was a study in contrasts, with lots of deep navy blue, white, and pops of gold and red.  It was a little much at times and I felt more energized than relaxed around those colors.  With our new space, I want to have a much softer, neutral color palette that feels soothing and sophisticated.

Have you tried putting a gallery wall in your space?