Category Archives: Projects

Sep 08 2 comments
Design, Projects, Scott

The Plycraft Project (Phase 1)

scottchair

Having finally recovered from the Crib Hack, and starting to feel the crunch of the final month of pregnancy closing in on us, Scott’s next big undertaking, The Plycraft Re-upholstery Project, has begun.

Picture 8

Ours : Before

In the past few weeks, we started to doubt our DIY libidos, and thought that maybe this one was better left to the pros, but after having collected some price quotes (minimum of $400, not including the leather!) and consulting some veterans of this particular project, we finally decided to throw caution to the wind, and start dismantling our Eames Chair knockoff.    Now, I know that there are design purists out there who are offended by an Eames Lounge in anything but black leather, as the designer intended.   But we’re not those people.   And this ain’t no Eames chair.   (If it was, I might be more hesitant to decimate it…)   Plus, our Plycraft version wasn’t black to begin with.   So Scott began by unscrewing the pads from the chair, and removing the caramel covered vinyl.   We’re saving the welting and buttons to recover in the white leather we scored for free from Scott’s Mama, who found it in the garage of her new house.   What luck!

2408716776_9143363076

The Goal.

Feeling experimental last night, Scott (who was a leather craftsman in a former life) took our spare piece of leather (which, if we’re being honest, is a little thicker than what would be ideal for upholstery) and started working it around the existing frame and foam (we’re cheap, and since our original foam is in pretty good shape, we’re not going to attempt to re-stuff it.)    Despite minor meltdowns during the stapling of the leather, we’re pretty pleased with how it’s shaping up.   Hopefully, by the time all is said and done, our little girl will have a swanky white lounge chair to be rocked to sleep on…and when she’s done with it, we won’t be ashamed to display it in our living room.   We already have the spot by the window all picked out.

 Subscribe

Sep 03 4 comments
Design, Projects

Feeling Ambitious?

1962__BUILD_MID_CENTURY_MODERN_CHILDREN_S_FURNITURE_PL_005

A year or so ago, Scott and I stumbled across this eBay seller who specializes in DIY Home furnishing books from the 60’s and 70’s, and since then, we’ve developed quite a collection.   I’m not telling Scott about this one (hopefully he won’t get around to catching up on my blog posts until the auction’s over) because I know I’d lose him to the man-cave forever while he attempted to build our little girl every.freaking.project in this book.   But if you’re feeling ambitious, you should check it out – it looks to have some great mid century inspired designs in there just waiting to be recreated.

…And if you like the look, but aren’t into the sweat equity, check out the Oeuf Mini Library – HERE.

 Subscribe

Aug 10 4 comments
Baby Fever, Design, Projects, Scott

Ohdeedoh Love

Picture 12

Our [Scott's] Crib Hack is featured on Ohdeedoh today.   Check it out!    Up next?   We’re hacking our Malm Dresser into a changer to match the crib, and reupholstering our Plycraft Lounger, which will serve as the rocker in our nursery.    Oh, and I’ve got to finish the backings for our Expedit Hack – the final touch on our living room to office conversion, which is all but complete!   (Dear god, I’m tired just typing that out.)

T-Minus 9 weeks until baby’s arrival…

 Subscribe

Aug 07 21 comments
Baby Fever, Design, Projects, Scott

Voila.

Picture 8

He did it.   The shelf is on, the boxes fit (although ideally I’d still like to find linen covered boxes that won’t break the bank) and the thing is sturdy enough for all three of us to sleep in.   Our very own Ikea Crib Hack is complete, and I for one am over the moon with the end result (…obviously, seeing as I don’t even have crib sheets to photograph it with, but I couldn’t wait to snap some pictures and share this bad boy via the world wide web.)   It’s constructed of Leksvik Rails and base, custom built sides (2×4 framing, plywood shell, and organic non VOC paint to finish it off) and a remnant in the same stain from Ikea’s AS-IS department makes for the matching shelf below.    I couldn’t be prouder.    Total cost?   Just pennies under $200 (not including the 11$ counter sinking drill bit that Scott insisted I mention, since he said it wasn’t something most people would have, and was necessary to complete the look of the crib, and blah blah blah some other stuff that I was too busy admiring his handiwork to pay attention to.)   Anyway – here it is.   And in just 9 weeks or less, our baby will get to see this labor of love her Daddy made just for her.   (Hormones!   Stop it!)

Click HERE to see the crib that inspired us.     Click HERE to see it as a work-in-progress.

 Subscribe

Aug 03 2 comments
Design, Projects

More Nursery Stuff…

luxus2

I feel my shopaholism slowly tightening it’s grip on me, but I’m trying to keep it as focused on the baby as I can.   So I bought a lamp for her nursery.   To offset our wild and crazy color, we’re trying to keep the lighting as calm and tranquil as possible.   Which is why I’m super excited about this vintage piece I just scored on eBay.

 Subscribe

Jul 31 3 comments
Baby Fever, Design, Projects, Scott

Hack in Progress

cribinprogress

What started as THIS now looks like that.   The sides have been constructed and holes drilled.   (The ends will be painted before the rails are permanently attached.)   We’re on our way to a modern crib!  (Don’t worry – that clutter is in our workshop, not our house.)

Vote For Us @ PoshLittle.Com!

 Subscribe

Jul 20 5 comments
Baby Fever, Design, Projects, Scott

Let the fun begin.

Picture 4

Our crib hacking adventure has begun, and I’m so excited about the prospects of positive results, I can’t wait until we have a finished product to share our progress.

It all started one afternoon while I was helping Sara convert her Baby Mod Parklane Crib (which I’ve always been a fan of) into a Toddler bed.    I was rattling off all of the cribs we were considering (none of which were the beautiful Netto Collection Cub Crib [2.0] that I fell madly in love with during an ill-advised stroll through the Juvenile Shop in Sherman Oaks.)   Ikea’s Gulliver had made the list however (along with DwellStudio for Target’s Silver Lake, and Baby Mod for Walmart’s Olivia) when Sara asked if I’d seen the Gulliver Hacks on Ohdeedoh.   I had not.    I rushed home, and immediately started searching, quickly finding three cleverly creative and budget friendly hacks that suited our taste.

(the respective OhDeeDoh articles on each hack can be found here, here, and here.)

We liked the rounded rails of the Gulliver, so we headed to Ikea to scout for supplies and price out the practicality of re-creating one of these hacks ourselves vs. just buying a suitable crib.   We were still unsure how we wanted to handle the sides of our crib – our favorite of the three hacks, center, required walnut stained restaurant tables and leftover coffee table legs we didn’t have…and being amateurs, we were weary of using potentially toxic stain on a piece that would house our newborn daughter.    Even non VOC stain felt a bit daunting to me…although Scott is usually game for whatever I can throw at him.

Anyway – roaming Ikea’s showroom floor, we noticed that the Leksvik – an otherwise kind of weird, country-esque crib – shared Gulliver’s rounded rails and hack-friendly assembly, but came in the Antique Stain, which we preferred for the rails of our crib, over Gulliver’s white.   We figured we felt a lot safer fashioning white crib sides over stained ones, and we’d be able to get a lot closer to the look we were going for.   But while the Gulliver’s 99$ price tag made it an appealing crib for hackers, the additional 60$ for the Leksvik was starting to edge us up into “just buy a crib already and be done with it” territory.    We left empty handed that night, but I hit craigslist and was able to find a gently used Leksvik for $40 within a few days.   Score.

Our original idea was to take two VIKA tabletops from Ikea, purchase some white veneer (Scott found a really cool option with embossed circles which we thought would work nicely to cover the bare underside of the VIKA) and fashion our crib sides from that.    But as fate would have it, our neighbors tossed out their white laminate Vika that same week, and we were able to experiment with it a bit before purchasing our own.   We didn’t like the width.   We considered doubling them up on each side, but that would bring our price point up to $120 just for the sides.   Plus we’d have to come up with a way to join them together that would be safe enough for us to trust with our little one, and not create and eyesore.   Once Scott sawed open our Expedit and found that it was filled with cardboard, he decided that the Vika were no longer a suitable option for his baby girl.

So this week, my handy (and ambitious) husband headed to the lumber yard and began plans to build his own crib sides.   As of this weekend, despite being laid up with a cold, his progress looked like this:

Picture 13

Very exciting!

 Subscribe

Jul 08 3 comments
Design, Projects, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have., The Trivial

Things that arrived in the mail.

Part of cleaning out our “nursery” has included a massive sell-off of everything we’re not using.   It’s been a while since I’ve spent some real time on eBay or Craigslist, but in the last few weeks I’ve been a selling/trading/bidding madwoman and we’ve been able to buy just about everything we needed for the office/nursery switchover from the money we’re making selling our old junk.  (Yes, even the non-VOC paint for her walls, and the lumber for our very exciting upcoming crib hack.)

I’ve been taking a page from my brother-in-law Pep (like Pepper) – whom I consider to be the greatest saver on earth – and putting the money for everything we need in an envelope which is only to be touched for baby-related purchases (and/or purchases to facilitate the moving of my office, which I’m counting as a baby-related expense.)    It’s seriously the best thing ever.    Two trips to Ikea in two weeks, and our bank account doesn’t look any worse for the wear.   Of course (being a Gemini) during the great sell-a-thon of ‘09, I naturally had to put aside a little “fun money” for Mama (that’s me) and my purchases have finally started to arrive.   Man I love getting new stuff.   Even when it’s old stuff.

goldtonethings

Okay, so only two of these things are new, but while my iPhone and I captured our recent arrivals, I couldn’t help but be struck by how many gold tone things are hanging out around my house.    And I wanted to share some of my Expedit progress.

So clockwise from Left:

Birds Flying Across the Sun (or BFATS, as we like to call it.) BFATS came in to our lives back when we were living in West Hollywood.   I woke up in the middle of the night with visions of some rad metal wall art to pull our tiny apartment together and started hunting.   Scott wasn’t sure about her until I brought her home and we hung her on the wall.   Now she’s our crown jewel, and when I found our current place, all I had to say to Scott was “there’s a wood-panelled wall for BFATS!” and he was sold.   Seriously, we’re that easy.

The Cattails. Okay, this is new, and just arrived.   I actually bought it by accident on eBay for ninety-nine cents.   I was looking for something to put in our nursery that might echo the vibe of BFATS, and since there were no bidders, I placed a starting bid.   A few days later I got an 8$ shipping bill.   I’m not one to jeopardize my all-important feedback score during a selling frenzy, so here it is.   Unfortunately, Scott was watching another MUCH cooler piece of metal wall art, but C’est la vie – that one sold for 60$, and this one is actually kind of growing on me.    Aside from the rails of our LEKSVIK crib which we bought last week, this may end up being my very first baby’s room purchase.   I’m thinking of painting it, but Scott’s trying to convince me that that would be tres 90’s, and I’ll be pissed that I ruined it.   We’ll see.   Either way, kind of exciting.

The Crane:  This isn’t new, but it’s just found a new home atop our newly hacked Expedit.   It was actually a found item that my Father-in-Law snagged for me after he caught me pining away for a carved wood version I’d seen at a furniture store.   This one is cooler than the one I’d seen, and it was free!   (I know, I know, it’s blurry – but it’s not easy to hold a cell phone camera over your head and get a good shot.)

Two’s Company Lamps: They’re here!   If you’ve been following the blog, you may recognize them as my first purchase from ONE KING’S LANE – which is like Gilt Group for Home Furnishings. (Email me if you want an invite to join either.)   We were about to buy two not-as-awesome lamps from Ikea to shed some light on my new office space when I joined OKL and saw these bad boys for 20$ a pop.   We’re pretty psyched on them, although Scott’s taken a liking to the wide one and insists it’s cooler, while my clear favorite is the tall-y.   Let the battle of the lamps begin.

Oh, and one last thing.   My legs have now swelled to the size of tree-trunks, and exposing them in any way shape or form is officially out of the question, so I needed some new lounge pants.

Picture 1

(That’s the view you get if you’re nearly 7 mos pregnant and you look down.   You can also tell that she’s hanging out on the left.)

Anyway: My new summer-y lounge pants.   Juicy from eBay.   (Believe it or not this is my first pair of Juicy sweats EVER, and they’re AMAZING.   …Just in case you haven’t heard.)    But since I ordered them a few sizes up to accomodate the Belly for the rest of the summer, they’re quite long.   Are you supposed to hem sweatpants?    Do you just cut them?    Luckily Sara’s gotten insanely good with a serger…maybe I should ask her for help.   (And if you’re planning to cloth diaper, make sure you click that link.   You won’t be sorry.)

 Subscribe

Jul 06 14 comments
Design, Projects

Expedit Prison

photo1

That’s the view from my new “office.”

We’ve used an Ikea Expedit Shelf as a room divider between the “lounge” and the “living” portion of our main living area since we first moved in.   So in order to create an office space that still provided some separation between home and work, we decided to fashion a sort of cubicle to conceal my desk and junk.

Picture 2

Since I failed to take any good "before" pictures, here's a general idea of how the area that's becoming my office used to look (at Sara's Baby Shower last year.) You can see the original Expedit serving as a room divider on the right edge of frame.

Step one was getting a second six foot tall by six foot wide Expedit to supplement the first, which we accomplished yesterday.   Step two will be hacking that Expedit down to a 3×5 cube version to allow for a doorway through which to enter the office.    Step three will be outfitting said office with the storage necessary to contain my obsessive note-writing and inspiration-boarding without allowing it to overtake our entire place.   (We haven’t quite gotten to step three – but contrary to my nature, I’m trying to do this in an organized fashion rather than just pulling all my junk out of the current office and seeing where it falls.)

As of now, I’m sitting in a prison of black-brown particle board.   The two six-foot shelves butted up next to each other barely allow room for my big belly and I to squeeze through, so it feels like I’m being held captive at my desk.     We’re also saddling ourselves with the challenge of trying to ensure that our “cubie” stays confined to the space behind our couch (not the couch pictured, we’ve since acquired a sectional) to keep the lines as clean as possible.

middle

Progress as of this morning. Outlook not-so-good.

While the prefab Expedit inserts are certainly a part of the plan, they’re $15-25 bucks a pop, so we’re looking for some more cost-effective storage options including a trip to St. Vincent DePaul for a suitable filing cabinet to match our steel vintage desk, and possibly some wallpaper or fabric covered Lekman or Drona boxes (also from everyone’s favorite mecca of affordable Scandinavian home furnishings.)   I also loved the idea for record storage that I found during this morning’s epic Ikea Hack google-a-thon (Scott rightfully insisted I find out what’s inside this particle board monster before we start sawing it open.)   It’s sure to be an adventure.

This will be our first “hack” so if you’re interested to see the results, check back – I for one hope to have it completed before the end of the week.

Update:  Scott Rules.

photo

He came home from work to find me struggling to write in my little box of boxes, so he sent me off to swim at his Mom’s while he completed this project in an afternoon.  (Don’t worry Vince, he structurally re-enforced it.) He also took photos of every step of the process since he knew I would want to document it.   Which I do, but not today.    We still have a lot of work to do to get my so-called office in shape, but at least this most daunting portion of the project is done!   Yay Scott!

 Subscribe

Jun 23 3 comments
Design, Projects, Stuff I bought but probably shouldn't have.

It’s a sickness, really.

459_00010076008100000000

I effing love me some Home Decor.  Maybe it’s because growing up, my Mom was an interior designer (both by nature, and by practice) and was/is constantly bringing home new accessories/swatches etc. to switch out with the old and keep the house “fresh.”    When Scott and I moved in together, I went into overdrive.   I’m a home furnishings shopaholic, and I can’t be stopped.    Luckily, my taste skews vintage, so my manic shopping sprees are usually confined to garage sale picking/eBay/Craigslist/flea markets and the like.    Of course news of the little one’s impending arrival gave me cause for pause on the shopping front – gonna have to send the girl to college one day, after all – so I’ve been on a six month hiatus from buying anything new (except for the occasional maternity tank top – this belly won’t be wrangled by my pre-weight-loss wardrobe alone.)

Now the fun begins.   In order to make way for the beast that’s been playing bongos on my cervix lately (a really uncomfortable sensation – I don’t recommend you try it…) we get to do a little bit of home redecorating.   The office/music/workout room is about to become a nursery.   The “basement” is about to become a man cave/music room.   The “lounge” (where the bar is) is in the process of becoming the living room.    And the living room is becoming an office.   (It will make sense when you see the before and after pictures one day.)   With all this reorganizing and redecorating, comes my favorite part.   Purchasing.   Last night we moved the swag lamps from the old living area to the new living area and realized that (seeing as our place has no overhead lighting whatsoever) we were left with a very dark corner where the office will be.   So I got to buy some new lamps.   The ones pictured above.

I know, I know.   So irresponsible of me to buy lamps before we buy a changing table, etc.   But don’t worry!   They were a great deal!   I bought them from an amazing site called One King’s Lane, where these lamps were a whopping 50% off.   (If you haven’t heard of it, One Kings Lane is like Gilt Group but with home furnishings – everything is up to 70% off..::wipes drool off keyboard::)   Want to check it out?   Email me for an invite.

 Subscribe