Happy St. Patty's!

[Before & After} Furry Footstool

Last year I went "shopping" in my mom and dad's basement. Remember the vintage chairs I got reupholstered? Besides those, I found an old, outdated globe for Mateo's room and this hideous footstool.
It was my grandpa's, so that part is great!  The fabric? Not so great.  It really shows its age wouldn't you say? 

Anyhoo, my parents brought it to our house and it sat in the extra bedroom for ohhhh, about 6 months.  Until I saw a picture on pinterest where someone used a flokati rug to recover an ottoman.  And I thought- Wait!  I have one of those in the garage!  It is probably 13 years old.  In fact, I think I would have tossed it had I not found this redo-idea.   (Incidentally, I followed the picture back to a blog called The Brick House. It's hilarious, I love her sarcasm...plus she seems to be addicted to Craigslist...like someone else I know...hmmm. check out her finds-they are ridiculous!) 

It was quite dirty.  I tossed it in the washer and also dried it in the dryer.  I knew it would shrink, but I didn't care since I was about to cut it up.

Even after the washer I had to vacuum and brush it.  Evidence of a couple [black] dog-sitting weekends last year were still buried in this thing.  I don't want to mention any names.

 After I got it looking pretty good, I grabbed Ernesto's staple gun, some 14mm staples and got to it.

 This process took me all of 15 minutes.  Crazy fur is very forgiving.  Even the corners were easy.

 If only all upholstery projects were this easy.

 I think it is pretty great!  What do you think?

I don't know where this thing is going yet, but it sure looks cool and I love that it cost me $0 to make!!  That's what I'm talkin' about!  Nester-the tester liked it for it's functionality.  Practicality. Yes, there is a purpose to my madness. 

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Fabric World and a DIY Cribskirt

I have said it before and I will say it again!  I LOVE Fabric World!

Even though its a 30 minute drive from downtown Atlanta, it is so worth it.  My mom and I went last week and would you believe that we were there for 4.5 hours?!   It is totally disorganized with piles of fabric everywhere.  You have to dig, but we both love the search.  It is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you are going to get.  What you do know is that it is going to be CHEAP!  $2 a yard!  You just can't beat that....anywhere.

This is what our cart looked like before checkout

What variety in that cart! My mom picked up a lot of xmas and kids fabric for gifts.  I found a bunch of cute cotton fabrics for crib sheets and who knows what else?
Of course if I see any chevron I pick it up pronto. 

I loved this geometric pattern as well. It is a beautiful raspberry color.

We paired down a bit in the store, but still came home with a ton of fabric.

One of the fabrics I bought on my last trip was this gray and white print.  I knew I would use it for something in Mateo's nursery.

I decided I would whip up a quick crib skirt the other day.  There are a ton of tutorials out there, and I took pointers from a few different ones.  I ended up sewing a few edges, and ironing hems with  stitch witchery, but you could easily use it the for the whole thing (ie: no sewing machine needed)

I used a little less than 2 yards.  I started by cutting four panels. (2) 19w x 21h and (2) 52w x 21h
then ironed a one inch hem.

If you have never used stitch witchery, this stuff is magic!
 So easy and really holds.

I could have made pretty ties to attach the skirt panels to the frame, but alas it was easier to just use safety pins.  I can then easily raise the fabric when I lower the crib mattress.

I love how it turned out!

One more project to cross off the list. Yes, that is a Guyasamin print leaning against the wall. Still needs framing. Many, many things to do yet.  Im shooting for this nusery to be habitable before Mateo turns 5:)

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Trip to IKEA

I love IKEA.ikea.com Do you feel like the most unorganized person after leaving there? I know I do. I am so inspired to change every time I go!

We had a list of things to pick up for my sister in law and several things to buy for our home.  Problem was, we only had about one hour and, if you have been inside IKEA, you know that it is almost impossible to get through in less than two.

First on the list...curtains.  I can only imagine what all the neighbors have seen through our [uncovered] windows in the last 6 months.  I thought maybe I would sew the curtains myself, but after spending over 4 hours in Fabric World and not finding the right fabric, I turned to Ikea's MERETE curtains. At $25 a pair, it would be hard to make these for less.

MERETE curtains

 I'm so pleased with the quality of these. Also, I didn't realize how nice the grommet style is.  When you open them they create perfect folds.  The white looks beautiful and fresh against my gray walls.

The back door in the kitchen is a solid window and I love how lets in so much light.  At night though, it would be nice to know that you can't see in.  This ENJE roller blind is awesome for just that.  It actually still lets light in, and is see-through to the outside, but from the outside you can't see in.  Privacy for $18.  Not bad.  It matches the gray paint I put on the door too.

ENJE roller blind

I have a lot of artwork that has never been hung or even framed.  I wanted to take care of at least one picture I have for Mateo's room.  It's called Maternidad by famous Ecuadorian artist Guayasamin.

It will fit perfectly in this 19 x 27 RIBBA frame.  Simple gallery style for $20.  I bought white.

{RIBBA frame}

I saw these dog butt hooks and could not resist.  Take one guess at which color I chose.

BASTIS hooks

I have seen so many creative ways to display kids books, but I am still stuck on this picture I saw a year ago using picture ledges.

I was going to buy some at Ikea.  I would like to have 4 shelves.  They were $10, so $40.

When I saw them, I thought...Ernesto can make those.  Really,  I could make them.  Just 3 pieces of wood to nail together, sand and paint. Easy!  Anyhoo, I bought the wood and had it cut at Lowes yesterday and it only cost me $11 for 4 shelves.  I'll share them with you...just as soon as they are done.

Another thing that I went to Ikea for, but didn't have time to find and pick up [during our short trip] was the RAST dresser.  There are so many make-overs out there for this plain dresser.  It is solid wood, and perfect size for a nightstands and cost.....wait for it..... $35!!  

RAST dresser

Here is one of my favorites DIY's

I bought two of these JARA shades for my grandma's vintage lamps, but they didn't work.  Ikea does have a HUGE version of this shade that would look really nice over the dinner table.  I thought I could paint the inside gold and hang it from a pendant with a ceiling medallion.  I have had my heart set on this huge drum shade from Crate & Barrell, but can't pull the trigger with the $200 price.  It is just a lamp shade after all...surely I can find something cheaper.  I may buy this one and see how it works.

JARA shade

Do you guys love Ikea too??

Fluffy Chandelier for the Nursery {a how-to}

Well, I did it! I finished a project completely!  I have so many different ones going on, and many are only half done.  On march 4th, I decided to March forth and so far I am on a roll.  Many project updates coming your way!

If you are a subscriber to Houzz you may have seen Nicole's  pendant light made out of coffee filters.   Yes, you read that right.  Coffee filters.  I bookmarked it knowing I had to recreate it.   Im a total copy cat.  I hope Nicole knows that old phrase "Imitation is the best form of flattery." 

At first I thought maybe I would put this in the dining room, but after we painted the stripes in the nursery, I thought it would be the perfect spot.  Yes, yes it is!  It's totally awesome right?

Believe it or not, this beauty was really easy to make.  It took me roughly 5 hours [over 3 days] to put it together and cost me less than $25! 

Here is what you will need:

One paper lantern (Mine was a 15.5" from World Market for $6.99)

800 flat bottom coffee filters (I bought Kroger brand -200 pk for $1.29)

Hot glue gun

Hot glue sticks (for gun)

Here are the simple directions:

Glue the filters on the paper lantern.

Ok, ok...I'll be a little more specific.  Put your hand around the filter with the bottom facing up.  Add a drop of the hot glue and attached it to the lantern.  That.  Is.  It.

 Start wherever you want on the lantern, just place the filters close together.  You want them to be scrunched in pretty tightly.

The process starts out slow, but moves quickly once you get into a groove. 
When you see progress you push on.

I bought a hard wire kit for $12.99 (also at World Market) and my dad hooked it up in less than 5 minutes.  The glow the light gives off is amazing!

I am now reconsidering buying a huge drum shade pendant for the dining area and making one of these...but in a color! Ombre maybe?! Oh that would look so cool!
What do you think?

The Nursery Part I: A Striped Ceiling

I knew back when I first found out I was pregnant that I wanted stripes on the ceiling. It all started with the blue stripes I saw in this nursery.  I was pretty much decided on a horizontal orientation....until I saw this:

 I traced this picture back to a Swedish blog and unfortunately there were no details on this amazing ceiling.  I showed it to Ernesto and he said..."No problem, I can do that!"
I was so excited, we got to work that day!  Ernesto drew up the plan by taking the dimensions of our room (10x12ft)

  He marked the walls in 14-15 inch stripes.  Then he and my mom snapped a chalk line from each mark to the center of the ceiling. 

This went very quickly and then we got to taping.  As you can imagine, this part is the most important step.

We used Frog Tape and the lines came out perfectly. No bleeding whatsoever.

I chose Behr's "vintage orange" paint in a flat finish.  (I actually color matched it to Martha Stewart paint which was on clearance.  $4.90 for a quart!!) 
The color is vibrant and so happy.  The white paint is "Lamb" also by Martha.

It is really amazing how these stripes make the ceiling look vaulted.  The ceiling is 9ft but the room  just feels more open now. 

After finishing the stripes and painting the walls "Sharkey Gray" (also by MS), we didn't think it looked finished.  We first tried painting a black stripe, but though it looked like electrical tape and ended up painting a thicker white stripe at the bottom.

The griege color on the walls is pretty bland, and I considered re-painting, but I have a lot of colorful art to go on the walls and a really bright turquoise armoire, so I think a neutral background will be perfect. 

I am so happy with how Mateo's room is coming together.  As you can see I have added a light fixture.  It's a DIY...and made out of a surprising material.  It could be my best DIY EVER!!!  I saw it on houzz a couple months ago.  It was unbelievably easy! You can see how I made it here.

So, what do you think?  Do you guys have stripes somewhere in your house?

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