MONICA
Kitchen Nook - Concept Phase
Kitchen Nook - Concept Phase
Since our move in December of last year, a lot of work has been put into home-ifying our place. Pictures of our housewarming can be seen here. Besides hanging some more artwork on the walls, the last frontier I think would have to be our kitchen nook. We live in an old, charming quadplex that used to have those ironing boards that fold away into the wall like a Murphy bed. Fast forward to present day - the ironing board is long gone but the hole in the wall still remains. The dimensions of this remnant is rather odd because it is very shallow. The only solution besides patching it up with dry wall and paint is to turn it into a "built-in" shelf. I found the picture below a while ago on a blog that I unfortunately cannot recall but always loved it.
UPDATE: see finished DIY Shelves!
Because the space is shallow and irregular, I will need to get the wood cut to size. No off the shelf solution here. I'm looking into different stains and varnishes for the wood shelf as well as the hardware to compliment it. The image on the left below is the current state of our kitchen nook. It is just off of the kitchen and leads to the back yard. It's so small it can only fit a bar table and two stools but it's definitely a defined space which has been well used for an intimate glass of wine shared between two friends and the such. The image on the right is a photoshop hack job courtesy of moi of what the space could look like after the DIY built-in shelf idea. Of course some more art on the wall and maybe a hanging pendant would spruce it up as well.
Once I get back from my upcoming trip to Taiwan, New Zealand, and Australia (eeek!) at the end of October, this will be my priority. I can't believe it will have been almost a year since we moved in by that time! C'est la vie.
JUNETTE
Master Bedroom - Phase One
The first phase of my master bedroom redo was catalyzed by the Sleep Number sale. We couldn't pass this opportunity up, and my mom gifted BDF and me with a new bed! It's my first upgrade from my twin sized bed, and it's a big upgrade... to a King! Since I'm still living alone, I get to sleep on it diagonally (and I have! It's glorious).
We first tried to use a bed frame donated to us by a family member, but we found out too late that it was a California King frame. Sad trombone... So I had to go frameless for a week, and it was driving me crazy. Then, we bought this long-legged beauty at Ikea only to find that it was too tall to be used with a box spring too. Cue even sadder trombone...
BDF spent a very sweaty 30 minutes cutting down 5" from each leg. We couldn't find anyplace in town that would cut it down to size for us! I bought pretty grey sheets from TJ Maxx and this white coverlet from Target.
I spray painted my boring black lamp, and now it's gold and pretty. And finally, the last thing I changed was my very feminine and childish bedside table. I wanted to make it a little more grown up, but I didn't want to ditch the piece. I pulled off the decorative pieces, and filled holes with wood putty. I painted the faces brown, and I have to still change the hardware to brass pulls and give the white a fresh coat of paint to hide where the little flowers used to be.
Please excuse my very badly adjusted photos! It's hard to fiddle with camera settings when you have paint all over your hands!
The next phase will be:
Master Bedroom - Phase One
The first phase of my master bedroom redo was catalyzed by the Sleep Number sale. We couldn't pass this opportunity up, and my mom gifted BDF and me with a new bed! It's my first upgrade from my twin sized bed, and it's a big upgrade... to a King! Since I'm still living alone, I get to sleep on it diagonally (and I have! It's glorious).
We first tried to use a bed frame donated to us by a family member, but we found out too late that it was a California King frame. Sad trombone... So I had to go frameless for a week, and it was driving me crazy. Then, we bought this long-legged beauty at Ikea only to find that it was too tall to be used with a box spring too. Cue even sadder trombone...
BDF spent a very sweaty 30 minutes cutting down 5" from each leg. We couldn't find anyplace in town that would cut it down to size for us! I bought pretty grey sheets from TJ Maxx and this white coverlet from Target.
I spray painted my boring black lamp, and now it's gold and pretty. And finally, the last thing I changed was my very feminine and childish bedside table. I wanted to make it a little more grown up, but I didn't want to ditch the piece. I pulled off the decorative pieces, and filled holes with wood putty. I painted the faces brown, and I have to still change the hardware to brass pulls and give the white a fresh coat of paint to hide where the little flowers used to be.
Please excuse my very badly adjusted photos! It's hard to fiddle with camera settings when you have paint all over your hands!
The next phase will be:
- painting the walls. Sadly the very "Junette" yellow does not agree with BDF's manly constitution or the new bedding, so I think we're going to paint the walls a new color (exciting!)
- another bedside table for his side. I'm thinking stool + tray combination
- another lamp
I honestly don't think this first phase looks very impressive. I think it will all come together, and until then, I just have to trust myself and my instinct. I definitely have respect for those who complete massive redecoration projects while fully employed (and while taking great photos). I just have to remind myself to be patient and work on things one by one.
haha nice bed legs hack :)
ReplyDeleteQuick tip for shooting under artificial lighting: use the RAW format. It'll give you more flexibility with adjustments after the fact, especially with white balance settings.