Project Two! Transforming an Ikea Shelf

It's been a busy summer so far, but I've finally finished up my second project! I scored a shelf for free off Craigslist. Pretty plain, simple, Ikea shelf. I wanted to paint it to match the look of my wine cabinet (picture pending). The idea is to have an antiqued look, with black glaze over a base coat of paint.

Original color of shelf

I originally wanted to paint it white, since I thought I had white paint laying around and I'm kinda going for this beachy, Hamptons, vintage, cottage by the beach look (think Emily Thorne from Revenge). Turns out I didn't have white paint. Being lazy--I mean innovative and quick on my feet!--I went through the various cans of paint I already had. I found some aluminum metallic spray paint and decided to see how that would look with the wood shelf. I'm kinda diggin' the metallic look!

So step 1 is to paint all the parts of the shelf. Once the base coat of paint has dried, I sanded the shelves a bit. I wanted to create little grooves where the glaze can stick into.












After that, I painted the black glaze all over the shelves.

Let the glaze dry a bit, maybe a minute tops. Then I took a rag and *lightly* wiped away some of the glaze, until it had the look I wanted. Repeat as needed, depending on how dark you want the glaze to be.

The great thing about this project is that it doesn't need to be perfect! You can just tell people it's all part of that weathered, beat up look.

Overall, it's a pretty simple project, but it can get super messy. I'm loving how the shelf looks with the white couch. Still debating on decorations, not sure if I want to keep those blue pillows...but that is another post!

Project Uno

It took me days. I changed my mind 100 times. But I finally decided on my headboard. This will be my first real project here at the new pad, aside from putting together that Ikea TV stand.

When I first saw this project I knew I found the perfect headboard!! It looked like an easy project and I estimated it would take me a couple of hours tops and that it would be really cheap. Well, it wasn’t as cheap as I thought. Apparently plywood doesn’t cost like ten bucks...but it was a pretty quick project to complete!

This is probably a two person job, just because the plywood is pretty big and awkward to move around to staple the back, but in the true spirit of independence, I tackled this on my own.

First step, get the batting on the plywood. Retrospectively, I probably should have used a few more layers of batting to get a more upholstered look, but oh well, can’t change the past. I used spray adhesive to glue the batting to the plywood.

Next is stapling the batting to the back of the board. This is where a friend would come in handy. Getting the plywood to flip over was a tad bit tough.

Next is laying the canvas out on the board. I stuck with the painter’s canvas mentioned in the HGTV project. I liked the rustic feel of it. Plus, getting a comparable amount of fabric would be more expensive, this piece here cost me around $5. My canvas was a bit wrinkled, but since I don’t have an iron, and because there was a giant warning label on the canvas that said “EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE,” I decided I’d let the wrinkles go away naturally.

Next is setting up the string guide. This helps to mark out where the nails will go, and to ensure they will be in a straight line.

And then I measured out how far apart I wanted the nails and marked it with a pen. Then it was on to hammering in the nails. I loved these carpet tacks, they have a great rustic look that really meshes well with the painter’s canvas.

By this time, my shoulder was already killing me with all that stapling, and hammering in 300+ nails did not help. But all in all, it only took about 2-3 hours (even counting the trip to Ace because I ran out of nails)!

Although it’s still wrinkled and I wish I had more batting on it, I love the look! It’s a bit larger than my frame, but I figure if I get a larger bed, I can still use this headboard. Once I get the perfect bedset and some nightstands, the look will be complete!

Now on to the next project!

Welcome!

I’m a twenty something gal living on her own for the first time in one of the greatest cities in the world, San Francisco! This blog is all about decorating my teeny, tiny studio, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, and enjoying the beauties of the Bay Area.

I’m mainly starting this blog to keep track of all the projects I work on and to share them with the world! I have a million ideas on how to make this space my own, so bear with my ADD as I’m trying to figure out the best way to customize my new home!

This blog is also going to be my virtual cookbook. I’m the type of cook who puts in a little of this and a little of that until something just tastes...right. It’s fantastic that every dish is unique, but that also means I can’t recreate those apple and onion stuffed pork chops. Plus, I figure browsing through a webpage looking at stuff I’ve already made will also help me make up my mind faster on what to make for dinner.

So that’s pretty much it, a blog with a buncha projects and a transformation in progress....



Coming soon: before/current pictures of the studio!