Bemz can help to give your shabby Ikea pieces a fresh start. They sell ready made slip covers for Ikea's popular pieces such as the Tullsta, Klappsta, Ektorp, and Karlanda. If you don't have one of these chairs, scour Craigslist (don't pay retail) and then start clicking away on Bemz! Here are a couple of my favorities:
The first purchase was made for my friend's place - hooray!!! After strong urging, Soojee ended up getting the same wall hanging as moi. Here's a before & after:
I've been seeing a lot of positive press lately on these new couches from Blu Dot. They certainly look comfortable and undoubtedly modern. Simple in shape and made from a PETA friendly leather alternative... but the jury is out on whether I'd want it plopped down in my living room
I applied the last coat of paint yesterday. Now, she graces the floor of my living room! The final color is more vibrant than the primed color.
Here's an overview of all the action that took place. I applied my first coat of Herbal Green, but soon realized that I should have been more diligent of ensuring a smooth sanded surface. If you didn't know, it's vital to use a tack cloth or lint-free rag to remove ALL tiny little particles after you complete your initial sanding. This will ensure that you have a smooth surface when you paint. I used a
320 grade sand paper which is great to remove dust spots or marks between finish coats. Some of the color stripped off, so another coat of paint was needed.
Now, I am debating on spraying on a coat of lacquer for additional shine. But, for now, I'm happy with my end result, especially for the original cost of $25!
At Home Depot, I invested in a orbital sander which was $30 (with my coupon). I figured having a little "help" would not be a bad idea and could save hours of manual labor. Here's a picture after I stripped its original skin. This took about 1 1/2 hours to complete. All the curved areas required manually sanding and some good old fashion s-w-e-a-t. A word of caution, whenever you use a sander, you should wear googles and a mask! I learned the hard way with a severely irritated eye and hacking cough that took a day to get rid of. (No worries...I'm feeling better now).
Here's another photo with my first coat of tinted primer. Alas, the light is at the end of the tunnel. Now for the final coat of paint.
This past weekend, I decided to experiment with modernizing an old traditional rocking chair. Here's the chair that I found at a garage sale for $25! The style of the chair - early American - was not to my typical liking. Then, I started envisioning ways of revitalizing its original heritage with a contemporary color treatment - glossy herbal green - to be exact. For $25 I was sold. I handed the seller my money and off to Home Depot happily I went.
My entryway is long and narrow so I've been looking for a console table that has clean lines and is visually undistracting. Here are two that I have have caught my attention: 1) CB2's Peekaboo Clear and 2) Pier 1's Mezzo. Both have a barely there but sturdy presence to be able to handle everyday traffic. But as you know from a previous post, I really like Lucite! For now these are the two contenders. I'll let you know what I finally settle on.
Anthropology is a great store to find unique items for your home. I especially love scouring through their sales. Here's a lovely lamp that's available for 50% off. Design Sponge first spotted the trend but now they are more affordable than ever! The lamp's simple lines will add a timeless touch to your collection.
This is how the main living space turned out. As you can see, I have a penchant for bright colors.
The main source of light comes through the patio sliding doors and two bay windows. Unfortunately, our unit directly faced the apartment building next door. To create some privacy without compromising daylight, we added 3M ScotchTint film to our exterior windows. Basically, from the outside during the daytime, the film is reflective, and prying eyes cannot look inside. The film does not have much benefits during the evening, so we added two layers of sheer window treatments. Believe it or not, JC Penney is a jewel especially over any 3 day weekend when they invariably have their awesome home sales! I got the Lisette sheers for 8.99 a panel. The outer panels were purchased from the Great Indoors (also in Los Angeles). A little more pricer but worth it given the steal that we got at JC Penney!
We purchased our sofa from the Sofa Company down in Los Angeles. We customized ours to be 40" deep so that both of us can lounge together watching TV.
