School of Restoration: Color Block Stool Tutorial

Welcome to another session in the School of Restoration!  So, after all the fun we had with spray paint for the Ombre Chair tutorial, I really wanted to do it again - but differently. Enter, the color block! You see this a lot in fashion right now, pairing up contrasting colors in "blocks".  What do you think of my stool up here? It was sturdy, but boring, and I wanted to give it some new life, and I chose some regal colors too... navy blue, white, and solid gold feet! Ok, not solid gold, but they look it.  I used to say no to gold, but lately I've been really diggin' it. Ok, on with the show, this is a fairly easy tutorial - but I have a few tips ahead to help give you that coveted clean line.  I had no leaks on this one folks, scouts honor here - absolutely. no. leaks. Finally!

Materials:

• A sturdy stool, or other interesting furniture
• Electric Sander
• Medium & Fine Sanding pads
• Sanding Sponge
• Tape
• Masking paper (newspaper works too, but these rolls are handy dandy)
• Spray paints:  Primer, 3 colors, Clear Seal (I'm using high gloss baby!)
• Dropcloth (old sheets work too, and they are almost free at the goodwill)
• Cute stuff to put on top of it after.

Let's begin!

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How To: Live Edge Table

One of my favorite things to do with a piece of wood furniture & an electric sander, is to just plain get carried away.  I don't know why I love that look so much, but when the edges are sanded down too all kinds of crazy beveled edges - I just think it looks great. Remember the Chiseled Chair? That's what I'm talking about. Beautiful angular edges. Today I want to share a wonderful tutorial I spotted a while back on The Hunted Interior, which by the way is an amazing blog. Look at these edges:

Man, I love those edges! This is a little different than the beveled look, which I usually do with a disc sander.  When I saw this I thought "they must be cutting huge chunks off of it first" but I was wrong, they use a belt sander. Genius. Hop over to The Hunted Interior for the full tutorial, which is beautifully done. I see why she calls it a "live edge", it definitely looks like slices of some huge tree. What are your thoughts on this look?

Happy Thursday,
                    Jesse

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Crazy for Colors

Mondays are boring, even if you have the day off it feels like a Monday, how is that possible? Let's brighten it up! Anyone who knows me knows that I like color. A lot of color. I have to tone it down sometimes, but I can't help it.  Bright colors are fun and energizing, and playful! Not everything has to be so serious and muted (Sorry Martha Stewart! Still love ya...) I know some people are deathly afraid of too much color, and it's very much a to each their own. I'm deathly afraid of the lack of color, and that's why these tables are right up my alley.  Let me start with my favorite:

I love this! The white base is great with it too.  This is from Instructables, which, is one of the most awesome websites on the planet. If you haven't seen instructables, call in sick to work today and browse that place.  So many great ideas posted up by real people, with step by step photos & instructions. I love it!  OK, maybe don't call in sick, I'm a bad influence.  Here's a great compromise, these tables are nice & simple in wood, until you turn them on:

Yes! A pair of these by the bed would be great. I found them on this site, but unfortunately the blogger didn't site the source (naughty, naughty!), so I can't find where to get them.  Though, I think you could easily figure out how to do this yourself. Especially now that all these lighting places are selling the LED sets for crazy rotating colors, you could just get (or build!) a cute set of tables, wire 'em up....... boom. done. These, I can't tell you how to make:

Photo Source

So you'd have to buy them.  They are a little more night-clubby than they are cozy-living-roomy but who knows. If I had the chance to own one, I'd find a way to work it in. What's your take on these, too much? just right? not enough?

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Ultimate Flattery

I love getting emails from my readers, and this weekend I got not one but two wonderful emails regarding projects they've tackled.  I was so flattered! It's so fun to think that something I've posted about has inspired someone else to tackle it in their own home, and wow did they ever tackle it! These two did an amazing job.  Amy wrote me saying she followed my wall string art tutorial from way back, in her own home. Check out her awesome wall:

Boom! Oh wow, I love how it came out. I think my favorites are the large one on the left, and that one directly over the bed.  Wait, and that large one that is almost a wreath - oh they are all great! The placement is nice too, very good design Amy! She also plans to do a ladybug theme in her daughters room, and I hope we're lucky enough to see those pictures too. (Please share with us, Amy!)

Another reader, Abby, wrote me to share that she tried her hand at the Striped Round Table tutorial (that seems to have really been popular on Pinterest, thanks y'all!) and now has an adorable kitchen table.  Take a look at her table before, via craigslist:

 

Brace yourselves for the after shot:

Came out so cute! I love that she did matching chairs, they look incredible. You can tell by the glare that the finish is probably so soft.  I really like her stripes here too, the middle one is a little larger than the surrounding two.  This looks really nice, kudos Abby on a fantastic job!  Some tips we were discussing, that I should share with you, is how horrible & boring of a time painting spindles can be!  She was about to seal it when I suggested getting a spray seal for those chair spindles, when she replied saying she had done just that! Great minds think alike I guess, hehe. Seriously folks, this is a wonderful project to do - and if you try it, it's no longer just me suggesting some spray for those areas! It's just easier, and more fun.  And these things are supposed to be fun, too!

What do you think, didn't these ladies do a great job?  Special shout out & thank yous to Amy & Abby for sharing there projects with me, and allowing me to share with all of you! Give them a round of applause, or some comment-love since we can't hear each others clapping...

If you've tackled a project, I'd love to see it & share it with everyone here, just shoot me an e-mail and include your photos.  Have a fantastic Thursday - know what will make today even better? Tomorrow is Friday!

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How To: Modern Leaning Shelf

I can't remember exactly if I have featured a Lowes tutorial before, or if it was Home Depot - either way, the two of them seem to be ramping up the creativity to get a good flow of projects out there for us. And why not? They have all the parts at the store - bring the ideas on! I spotted this leaning shelf a while back, and immediately pinned it. You'll recognize the style:

Stunning.  Best part is, this one isn't hollow laminate, oh - and you make it yourself! That always gets a few extra points, right?  The steps look pretty easy, labeled beginner, and can be found on the Lowe's blog, or click here.  One tip of advice, when you read the steps it's a little overwhelming & confusing, but once you click the "Project Diagram" it makes a ton of sense. 

Since you start with the raw materials, you have the steering wheel on this to totally customize it.  Stains, paints, you name it.  Plus, you don't have to lean this little darling on the wall (especially if you have kids, yikes!) it could easily be mounted somewhere.  What do you think, seem tackle-able?  Is that even a word...... anyway, thought I'd share! This is goin' on my project list, which is roughly 24 pages long, give or take. 

Good luck!

-Jesse

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Spotlight: Murphy Bed, & Desk!

Prepare to be completely blown away.  This came through Design*Sponge last week, and I about dropped my grilled cheese & turkey sandwich, all over Lappy (laptop...).  This is exactly the type of solution I was thinking of when we looked at a less-than-large house the other night.  A solution to not letting your guest space sit empty and unused when you don't have guests, the Murphy Bed/Desk/Storage/Home Office/Sewing Station:

Can you believe this?  As it is it looks like some beautiful closet system with an added desk, but wait - there's more:

A pull here, a fold there - BOOM! You've turned this room into 3 different rooms, just like that.  Sarah, of General Assembly designed and implemented this beautiful beast for her clients, and it came out fantastic.   It's this type of space saving creativity that has always amazed me about cramped cities like New York, Tokyo.. or even San Francisco.  The white matching the white walls also makes it look open and airy, even though so much potential is packed away into what looks like about 16 inches of depth.  Hey, if you're going to put furniture against a wall anyway you might as well take it vertical, right?

What do you think, would you do something like this?  Head over to General Assembly and check out all their amazing designs & space saving creations, get ready to pin-it!  Have a great one :D

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Spotlight: Cross Stich Furniture

One of my favorite bloggers, Barb Blair of Knack Studios recently posted these amazing giant cross stitch furniture & rugs. I had to do a double take, this reminded me so much of my Grandma! Except that she didn't make rugs & sofas, more like wall hangings (amazing ones too!)... these are unbelievable, I can't imagine the time that goes into them.

Look at that - pillows, sofas.... rugs... what a great idea, and such a unique look.  With the stitches being so much bigger, I imagine this would come out pretty soft, and take less time too.   They are sort of industrial and modern, but cozy, charming & give the feel of handmade. If that makes any sense!  These beauties are made by the Belgian Designer, Charlotte Lancelot.

I think the ottoman, or a few pillows would be more than welcome in our house.  What do you think could you add these to your home decor? Enjoy!

-Jesse

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 Hey check out that sweet lamp on the left there too, cute!

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Spotlight: Vinyl Designs

Lately I've been thinking more and more how I'd like to get my hands on some vinyl cut designs to incorporate some reverse stencil images.  Essentially you lay a gorgeous vinyl sticker down, paint, and remove.  The look is amazing, but I don't have an vinyl cutter (yet!).  So after some googlin' I found these beauties:

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Pinterest Picks: Back to School

For many families across the country, the school bells have gone a ringing.. the kids are back to school! It's a bittersweet time, sad that summer is ending - while a little glad the kids are back in class most of the day! Terrible I know.. with school starting up though it's the perfect time to completely reorganize and revamp the paperwork side of our homes.  Even if you aren't in school, having a desk or a set area to organize bills, files, mail and the like will keep things from taking over the rest of your house.  Admit it, we've all had that huge pile of papers at the unused end of a dining table.... I cannot be the only one. So, for today's Pinterest Picks we're going to scour ye olde pinterest for some new & clever ways to stash a desk in your house, where it won't take over your life.  As usual, remember that the following pictures are click-able to pin-able. First up, this petite floating desk:

Source: pinterest.com via Jesse on Pinterest

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Barn Red Bar Chairs

I am just finishing up the final touches on these lovely bar chairs that my sister picked up for me.  I believe these are called "Mission Style" and they will be for sale! I'm deciding whether or not to add some black upholstery tacks around the edge of the seats... maybe.  I was debating between red & teal, and while teal would look awesome... something about the style was saying "Barn Red" to me. 

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School of Restoration: DIY Chalk Paint

Hello and welcome to another class in the School of Restoration! Yesterday my next tutorial was posted up on The Divine Minimalist. In case this is your first class, my name is Jesse and I post monthly tutorials that teach different techniques you can use on your furniture.  Today, I am so excited to be sharing the long awaited DIY Chalk Paint tutorial.  You've probably heard a lot about chalk paint lately, and if you haven't then you're about to.  It took me a long time to finally try this stuff, for no other reason than sheer laziness. If you have the same problem I had, then I'm here to motivate you to get to it.  This paint was easy, fun & is soo soft!  It sticks to almost everything which is why I knew it would be perfect for this roll top desk a friend gave to me.  Enough talking, let's get to it!

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Bar Stool Brainstorm

*** UPDATE: Finished stools HERE***

I recently finished up the Roll Top Desk using chalk paint for the first time, wow - that was great! So great in fact, that I'll be doing it again with these beautiful mission style bar chairs my sister picked up for me (thanks Denise!):

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Sneak Peak: Roll Top Desk

I finally did it, I tried chalk paint! I see what all the fuss is about now, this stuff is really amazing. It coats great, so soft to the touch, and distresses so much easier than regular latex.  I decided to try it on my first roll top - double gamble! I didn't know what I was getting into, luckily the whole process was relatively painless.  Here's a sneak peak:

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Update: Beach Towel Bookcase

Last Thursday I posted about the Beach Towel Bookcase that I started.  I wasn't sure how to finish it up, and after throwing a few ideas around (thanks everyone!) I decided to keep it simple. I did very minor distress, since it had a few natural flaws from age.  Here she is:

What do you think? Of course I had to do some fun staging before I listed it for sale.  That's one of my favorite moments, not just seeing the finished piece - but setting it up! I think it helps people visualize it in their homes. I thought the stark white ceramics and the pop of yellow would be perfect with this fun & bright shelf.  It's for sale here, message me for more info.  Have a great day!

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How To: Succulent Dresser

A while back in one of my Pinterest Picks posts I featured succulent furniture.  Now, I just chose these images straight off pinterest - and wouldn't you know what came through Shelterness not too long ago? The full tutorial to make that cute dresser!

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Spotlight: Modular OSB Furniture

I recently came across these amazing modern shelves from the Etsy seller Modosb.  Aren't they great? Stackable, modular, totally customizable.  I love their simplicity. The colors he chose for the stains are great, very fun combinations.  I can totally see a future living room of mine having a major colorful book case from this shop.  There are some tansu style as well, which I've always been a fan of.  I've seen this type of wood used before, and assumed it was plywood.  Though when I went to find the plywood at the hardware store, it never looked quite the same.  Today, I learned that it is actually oriented strand board, and I love it!  Here's a quote from his shop that explains the wood much better than I can:

"Oriented Strand Board OSB is a modern engineered product that is designed as a replacement for traditional plywood in the building industry. It has been created to make strong and light panels. It is more eco-friendly than traditional plywood."

If you look at that dresser on the bottom right, you can really see the details in this unique wood. Very different from traditional wood grain, and affordable. Bonus! Hop over to Brian's Etsy shop and browse around.  I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

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School of Restoration: Color Wash

Wow, is it July already?  These months keep sneaking up on me. Welcome to another session in the School of Restoration, that I did for The Divine Minimalist.  Today I want to touch base on one of my favorite techniques, the color wash.  This is perfect when you want to update something with color, but still want to show the underlying wood grain.  I chose to do this outdoors since it's pretty messy, plus it's been beautiful out lately.  Before we start, check out my before and after:

Materials:

• Furniture
• Sanding sponge
• Fine & Medium Sandpaper
• Water based paint 
• Empty containers for mixing
• Paint Brushes
• Minwax Polycrylic - Satin
• Old shirts or clean rags
• Gloves
• Mask
• All purpose cleaner

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Sneak Peak: Color Wash

(Psst.....see the full tutorial here.)

I was lucky enough to have the day off yesterday, but lady luck decided to throw a wrench in my spokes. As I went out to the car to get the grocery shopping done bright & early, I noticed it was strange that my car didn't unlock when I hit the button.  Either I left it unlocked last night, or this is a very bad sign... sure enough, the door was open, and when I went to start the little guy, silence.  Dead battery!  Adding insult to injury was when I found out AAA's computer systems fouled up for the day, and there was no getting through.  Luckily the towing company was able to bill them, and they came right out (Thanks guys!). I didn't let this get to me, just rearranged my day a bit, which also meant the stores would be packed.  Plus I didn't' expect to go battery shopping yesterday, those things are pricy!  What's done is done, my baby has some new juice, and I was still home in time to keep working on the Armoire.

If you didn't know, I publish these tutorials called "School of Restoration" over at The Divine Minimalist once a month.  I have been meaning to tackle this armoire for a while:

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Before & After: Making Ikea Unique

I love Ikea. Everyone loves IKEA. I bet you even people who say they don't love Ikea now and then catch themselves liking something they didn't realize was from there.  Affordable and attractive? What a combo.  The only drawback with there being in Ikea in every town on the planet with a population over 50, is suddenly you start seeing your furniture everywhere.  I don't mind that too much, but I definitely get inspired when I see all the creative things people are doing with Ikea's mass produced wonderfulness.

I subscribe to Ikea Hackers, which is a fantastic blog, so every day an email with 4 or 5 "hacks" comes through, and it's awesome.  Normally it's taking the parts of furniture and making all new pieces with all new purposes, which is great.  But there's something to be said about a simple makeover, so when I saw this one come through, I had to appreciate it's simplicity.

I love them even like that! But that's not all, they took it to the next level with some nice paper:

A basic stool, and some fun colors & papers makes all the difference.  Just think how many different ikea pieces we all have could use a little creativity to make it all your own.  This just reminds me how I've been needing to make the trek and battle the crowds, for some fun (not to mention flat packed!) projects.  Head over to their blog to see more of these stools, it's not in English, but I don't think you really need it to be.  The pictures speak for themselves.  Enjoy!

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Spotlight: Painted Glass Tabletop

I have been SO into geometrics lately, I just can't get enough.  So when this DIY project came through on design sponge, I immediately wanted to share it! I can't wait to try this out, take a look:

What makes the project spectacular, in my opinion, is painting on the back of the glass. Painting triangles this close together has always seemed like a taping nightmare to me.  However, by painting on the back of the glass, the layers work in your favor and give you clean & crisp lines.  Plus, you end up with this almost enameled tabletop look, and no need for a coaster! Head over to Design*Sponge for the full tutorial, and if you try this out (think of all those old glass tables in need of some love!) send pictures and tips for the rest of us.  Enjoy!

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