Archive for Furniture

May
14

Inspiration for a Nightstand

Posted by: Erin | Comments (1)

I’m in need of a new nightstand. There is nothing worse that not having anywhere to put a glass of water before you go to bed. (OK, maybe there are worse things, but I think this one is annoying!) However, bedroom furniture is just NOT in the budget these days.  When forced to choose between fun vacation and furniture, vacations are the winning. You can always get nice bedroom furniture next year.

My BF did have two older coffee tables that he wasn’t going to use when hemoved.  He very sweetly let them both become project pieces for me.  He has this big one, and one that’s just like it, but a little higher, and smaller – perfect for a bedroom…if only it looked different.

While I was searching the blog world for ideas, I came across this beauty on Twice Lovely. She took an old dresser, used MOD PODGE, some damask paper and some black paint.  And who knew?! It’s now adorable.  It’s the perfect idea to turn that coffee table into something beautiful!  Stay tuned for my own version of the project.

Categories : Furniture, Home & Garden
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Apr
27

Chest of Drawer-ganization*

Posted by: Lia | Comments (2)

Martha Stewart, you've done it again!

Moving is the type of task that points out to you – in the meanest way possible – just how un-organized you are.  It’s much easier to move important papers and files when they are packed neatly in storage boxes and containers. I learned this lesson the hard way.

When I was moving from my former apartment to my current one, important documents like tax forms, receipts and health insurance updates were unceremoniously dumped from the faux-wicker tray in which they lived ( on my nightstand, which was also home to the occasional water cup and leftover ice cream bowl) into a plastic bag identical to the ones in which I was placing trash.  How it survived the journey intact is anyone’s guess, but I realized upon move-in, “I need help.”

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Categories : Furniture
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Feb
22

I Heart Vermont

Posted by: Erin | Comments (2)

Over the long weekend, I was lucky enough to join a group of a friends on their winter ski vacation to Stowe, Vermont.  For those of you that have never been, Stowe is absolutely beautiful.  The skiing was pretty good, although the snow definitely could have been better – apparently DC hogged all the snow.  We had an amazing time.  We ate at a few really good restaurants, found some incredible antiques at Sir Richard’s antique store and went to Ben and Jerry’s.  Our friend Alison took a snowboarding lesson from a man who  also owned a dairy – Mt. Mansfield Creamery – and made Vermont’s only Havarti! She brought us some of us cheese, which soooooo delicious.  (I mean, really, his life consists of making cheese and teaching snowboarding. Seriously? I’ve never been so jealous of anyone before.)

But the best part of the trip was hanging out with our friends in the amazing house they rented.  It overlooked the mountains, had an enormous kitchen and huge, comfy couches on which enjoyed hot toddies after skiing!  The house was decorated so cute – but of course – two things stuck out more than the others to me, and I wanted to share them with you. While I doubt the home owners made either of these things, they are two things I hope to be able to make one day:

A Chair made out of skis!

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Feb
16

Finding a Color Pallete…

Posted by: Erin | Comments (5)

My sweet boyfriend has kindly agreed to let me paint his spare bathroom any way I’d like – as long as I don’t involve him in the process.  Because I can’t make a decision by myself, I’ve polled everyone I know about my plans, including now, you all.

Our friend Leslie over at The DIY Diaries recently posted a slew of inspirational ideas for her own powder room, which she recently refinished.  She has a few great ideas, but this one really caught my eye.  I just love the preppy stripes!

However, when I showed it to one of my friends, she suggested going with a monochromatic stripe pattern, which may be a bit more masculine.  I love the green/blue combo, but I do think a monochromatic pattern would also be nice.  We’ll be keeping the mirror and sink that’s in the bathroom now, which is a more standard bathroom vanity and mirror than what’s in this photo.  I would like to carry the ribbon idea to the top of a few picture frames I plan to hang, even if it is a bit feminine.

What do you think? This color pattern or a monochromatic color palette? Do you have any other preppy design ideas for a bathroom? Do share!

Feb
15

Mirror Images

Posted by: Lia | Comments (0)

Image via Freshome.com.

Poking around the craftier sites of the Internet, we stumbled across this really cool blog entry on Freshome.com about mirror stickers that can add a super funky twist to any room in the house.

The ones highlighted in Freshome’s post are from a French company called Mandellia. They aren’t cheap, running between 19€ – 71€ (roughly $40-$142). But we can think of a few friends- and New York bars – that wouldn’t mind ponying up for something that looks so cool.

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Jan
26

Dressing Up a Lampshade

Posted by: Erin | Comments (1)

I recently inherited a very corporate-looking lamp from a friend after her recent move.   I took the lamp, even though I knew it didn’t match the somewhat girly décor in my apartment. But I saw its potential, so I kept it.  A few months later, Yay! DIY contributer Alicia sent me this link from one of our favorite blogs, Living With Lindsay showing us how to fancy-up a lamp shape with some grosgrain ribbon and old buttons.

And you know what? It totally did the trick! The lampshade took on a whole new light. (Pun intended.)

Using my trusty hot glue gun I wrapped some ribbon around the top and bottom, then faked a bow in the front by wrapping the ribbon back and forth.  I found a pearl button and a black button, and glued them to the bow, in the middle.

Isn’t the end result cute?  My only complaint is that I rushed the project, so it’s not as straight as I want it to be, because I did this after four galsses of wine but it looks good enough!

Photo courtesy of Homes & Gardens

I’m not one to get too jealous over things I don’t yet own, but I can’t help being a little bit envious of just about every room in this incredible gallery by Homes & Gardens.  I think I covet just about every room, knick-knack and pattern!

Guess I’ll just have to re-configure my dream house to be roughly 150 rooms and 87 bathrooms large.  That should be enough space to fit all this, right?

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Jan
04

A Wicker Redo…

Posted by: Erin | Comments (2)

Last September, my roommates and I moved into a new apartment in which my new bedroom is much larger than my previous one. This is both great, because my last room was literally the size of a closet, but annoying because I spent most of my extra cash on summer happy hours moving that I had very little money at the time for furniture, which I needed, badly! Luckily, my dear friend Hillary was moving from her sprawling one bedroom in Queens to a much smaller, but much more conveniently located apartment in Manhattan and let me rummage through her extra furniture before she gave it to charity. I found this table, that I thought had major potential:

Before, waiting to be painted!

It was wicker, which I thought was cute, and the shape was perfect for a nightstand. It also had two decent shelves that I badly needed for my overload of books. But it’s brown hue didn’t fit my otherwise pretty girly-colored bedroom.

After some thought about what color direction to take it, I decided to go with white. I absolutely love white wicker, and I figured it would look darling in a bathroom or guest bedroom in the future. Wicker can be tricky to paint, so on the advice of my Aunt Kathy, who handily happens to be a furniture restorer, I chose spray paint. The spray paint was super easy to use (just follow the directions on the can!) and gave it solid coloring with a few coats.

Here’s how I did it:

Tools:

1. One can primer (white)

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Categories : Furniture, Restoration
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