Industrial Bookshelves

Did anyone else love the House Beautiful spread featuring Craig Schumacher's Dallas apartment?

It's not my style - too traditional - but I love, love, love his use of layers.  It's something I have been trying to keep in mind while choosing items for the house.  Layers make a space feel collected, not just a random grab bag of things I bought off of Craiglist the past 9 months.  Plus, I think maybe it helps hide clutter a little - you're not going to get away with much in one of those stark modern, all-white spaces.

The above picture made me go back again to the idea of putting bookshelves behind the couch.  The couch is centered on an enormous blank space of a wall and I've had the hardest time settling on what to do with it.  I've been going back and forth between bookshelves and big art.  Both are fairly expensive, but bookshelves do have the added bonus of storage and adding a layer to the room.  And as Schumacher's room clearly illustrates, you can still hang a big piece of art (or a mirror) on the bookshelf  for even more layering.

Ikea Billy bookcases are not going to do for this project.  I am definitely drawn to the industrial metal style of the above - the open backs and sides, the rusted patina finish.  Plus, I have a lot of books (even after recent purgings) and tend to buy more (we live within five minutes of a Half-Priced Books - my own personal crackhouse), and that means a lot of weight.  So I went on the hunt for industrial shelves that I like and quickly found out that buying them at a store is probably not happening.  Here's the inspirations and the DIY versions.  I still haven't settled on any of them yet.



Salvaged Wood Bookcase from Hudson Goods

This one is perfections - except for the $1495 a piece price tag.  (And I'd need at least 3, maybe 4.)  The cheap shopper inside of me instantly thought of those garage shelving systems that usually run about $100, then making salvaged-looking shelves.

The only problem is I can't find a decent one without the holes on the posts - which I can't get past.

Another option would be to build a Parsons Tower from Ana's plan and then paint it to look like metal using Freckled Laundry's amazing faux zinc tutorial.


Freckled Laundry

I would still use the salvaged boards for contrast in this scenario.  However, I am afraid it will just look like painted wood - and since it would be right behind the most used seat in the house, it's not like people wouldn't be looking too closely.  I love this look so much I've even contemplated covering the wood in contact paper, getting someone to weld it, or stalking Craigslist relentlessly until something close comes up. 


Wisteria - $1799

The next option would be to build two (or 3 resized)  versions of Wisteria's recycled pine bookshelf - also with a plan from AnaWhite.com.  They are mostly wood, but would still have a few touches of metal.  But metal casters can really add up, though, so I would have to do the math.


Industrial Mansard Double Book Shelf

The third option would be a version of this shelf from Home Decorator's Collection, the most economical out of the box at only $599. 


HGTV.com

HGTV.com has a tutorial on a very similar look (although I like the Home Decorator's proportions much better).  Once again it would come down to the price of the casters and galvanized black pipe - as well as if I could make it look awesome and not scream total DIY disaster.  Which, frankly, would be a concern with any of the above options, but I've seen too many plumbing fixture shelves go wrong to be overly arrogant.

I'll try not to disappear for another three weeks, but time are little tough right now and I don't have a lot of energy/ideas left for blogging.  I appreciate you guys sticking with me through this dry spell.

Project Pine Dresser - Part 2

I mentioned yesterday that the dresser I'm working on was missing one of its handles.  The original were bail pulls set 3 inches from center.  Since the goal was to do a whitewash finish with the grain showing through, I didn't want to use wood filler to close up the original holes - so I started looking.

Man!  Drawer handles are expensive!

We don't have a home for this dresser.  The plan from the moment I got it was to refinish it so that I could sell it.  So investing a lot of money in the pulls is not an option.  So I turned my budget-seeking mode up to high.

I thought I had scored when I saw that Hobby Lobby was having a 50% off sale on their knobs and drawer pulls.  When did Hobby Lobby get so cute?  I guess whenever they made the decision to start knocking off Pottery Barn?  My son was especially enamored with some letter hooks.  Of course you have to be silly to buy anything full sticker price there - they always have the 40% off coupon and most of their things are on sale for 50% off.

I got a little distracted on the knob aisle.  Forget Anthropologie - they had some real cuties!  Here's one I'm still thinking about using in the girls' room. 

They are $3.99 each, but 50% off - not too bad.

They also had some seriously cute red striped ones (reminded me of a circus - but in a chic way - if that's possible) and some adorable letter knobs.  I couldn't find pictures of them, you'll just have to trust me. 

But I digress.  Anyway, I was looking at these cup handles.  I was really liking the idea of doing cup pulls - since it's for resale, and that seems to be the look that everyone likes.  (The picture is from the Hobby Lobby website - but I do think it's upside down.)

They were nice and heavy - felt and looked very aged.  However, who in Hobby Lobby world decided it would be a good idea not to put the measurements on their handles?  I, of course, had not brought either my tape measure or my original handle - so I had no idea what size they were.  I went over to the sewing section to see if I could find a yardstick - no luck.  By this time, I was starting to second-guess my choice.  So instead of buying one to test out - or even all 12 that I needed that I could have returned later - I left.  On to the internet searches.

One of my top 3 favorite blogs, Little Green Notebook, suggested an Ebay shop The Knob Shop.  Talk about deals.  Most of their stuff is in the $1-2 range and they do a combined shipping rate if you buy over 10 things (free if you buy 25).  I really started to like this one:

The finish is Antique Brushed Pewter - which I thought would look really nice with the greywash.  Total cost with shipping:  $29.35  However, I finally decided against the cup pull look.  The holes are drilled in the upper part of the drawer face to accommodate the original bail pulls - so I thought a cup pull would end up looking very odd.

An even cheaper option I found was at The Tool Consignment Store.  They sell some of their handles in lots - so I found this one in a lot of 12.  I wasn't sure how the brass would look, but I liked the lines.  And they offered free shipping.  Total cost $16.99!

The issue I was mainly worried about were these circles:

Even after sanding the heck out of the drawer fronts, they still have the circles left from where the backplate was on the original hardware.  I was almost set on buying the brass handles, when I decided to do just one more search - this time for backplates.  And I found these:

They're black - which I am a little worried about.  But I love the backplate and the design.  They come from Farrs Home Store, which had a large selection of unique handles.  And can you believe they were only $1 each with $2 for the entire shipping cost!  SCORE!  I was so excited I even called my mom.  Total cost $14!  That's half of what I originally thought I could do.  As you can see, the picture is a little blurry - so I'll get a better one when they arrive.  Fingers crossed!

Project Pine Dresser - Part 1

This is the project that I'm working on today:

It was a free Craigslist find.  Of course the lady listed as being "solid oak" and it turns out to be "pine with drawers made of plywood" but free is free.  And mostly, once I was already there, I was a little embarrassed to say "pass" - does anyone else have that problem?

So I took the baby home.  The drawer is actually not missing, I had already started sanding it when I remembered to take the "before" shot.  That drawer was missing a handle though.  The previous owner had basically stopped using the dresser because the drawers weren't aligned.  I thought I would have to fix the drawer slides, but it turns out that she just didn't know how to put them back on properly.  Less than a minute and they were all fixed.

The dresser would obviously look good and cottage-y with some white paint and oil rubbed bronze handles - but why would I go the obvious route when I can try my hand at something different?  And complicated?

Not to mention, I am really tired of priming thanks to some bookshelves I have been working on all summer.

I have really been loving the lightened wood look.  When I was searching for the finish that I wanted to do, I came across lots of cool techniques like limewash, ceruse, bleaching, pickeling.  However, most of them didn't have very good how-tos online, or (in the pickeling case) didn't give me the finished look that I wanted.  So I ultimately decided to try a whitewash technique that will still show the grain of the wood through - but make it look more like driftwood.

I drew inspiration for the whitewash from this post Coastal-Style, Distressed Wood Flag Tutorial at The Lettered Cottage.  I loved how the wood looked in this shot:

The color of driftwood - right?  I went to Home Depot a couple of days ago and picked up a Martha Stewart paint color called "Driftwood Grey" in a tester size. 

I have done a little sample paint on the dresser and so far like the color, but it looks a little too light, so I might have to do a couple of coats with a darker grey. Or even mix in a bit of dark blue that I have on hand.  Then I want to maybe do a glaze or stain on top.  Haven't quite decided.  Mostly because I'm still in the sanding process.  I had to go to Lowe's today and pick up a sanding block since I was tearing my hands up with trying to do the details with a piece of sandpaper.  I don't know if it will work better - I've always read to "sand with the grain" but on some spots that's really hard to do.

Welcome

While reading A Midsummer Night's Dream in college, I came upon this little quote

                         Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:

                         It fell upon a little western flower, --

                        Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound, --

                        And maiden call it love-in-idlness.

I didn't know that love-in-idless is actually an old name for a pansy until I started searching for the quote to post here.  Learn something new every day!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viola_tricolor_LC0041.jpg

I fell in love with the flower's name.  So romantic and descriptive.  Over the years it morphed into the pefect name for my house - my dream house.  Because a home should be that - a tangible expression of love.  My fantasy vision is a charming old house, rich in details and brimming with family memories in every room.  It's gorgeous.

Unfortunately, it is not my current home.  Well, the old part and the family memories part - but that's about it.

We moved into our rental home a little over two years ago.  At the time we desperately needed to move into an expensive neighborhood because of the school district - but our rent budget was a lot lower than the average rental price.  And I mean a LOT.  I was determined to avoid moving into an apartment because I wanted my son (and boyfriend - both avid golfers) to have a yard to play in.  The wish list wasn't crazy (3 bedrooms, yard, school district), but we were having the worst luck finding anything we could afford. 

Then one day, I stumbled upon a Craigslist listing that sent me over the moon.  3 bedroom, 2 bath house, right school district, totally in our price range.  It even had a laundry room - you should have seen how excited that made me.  The catch, of course, was that the house needed work.  You could tell just from the pictures - the living room was painted charteuse green with school bus yellow trim.  But I was actually loving the challenge - I was so tired of living in white-walled rentals - we could paint, build, whatever!  My boyfriend needed to be convinced.  He saw the house for what it was - a nightmare.  But I bulldozed him over with my DIY-attitude, and the fact that this would probably be our only chance to get his daughter into her dream school.

So we moved in and immediately started working.  We painted the walls.  We tore out a closet in the master bedroom so a queen-sized bed could actually fit in there.  And then we started realizing that we had bit off way more than we could chew.  After years of HGTV training to look for "good bones" - I had picked a house with very, very bad bones.  Every project led to 3 others as I discovered something was falling apart.  Everything is "fixable", but even with the landlords reimbursing us for supplies, how much time and effort was it worth to put into someone else's house?

So we lived with it.  And are living with it.  We slapped a few band-aids on it and called it a day.  We kept saying, "We're only here for another year... Why bother?"  But, despite the problems with the house, I don't really feel like we should move until we buy a place, and that is still years away.  So, for the moment, we're staying.

Then, in February I quit my job to be a SAHM for a little while with my son.  Money is tight - so I don't get to go out and do a lot of things.  So I started working on projects at home.  Lots and lots of projects.  I made a list and started going to town.  However, I am really bad at finishing projects.  I get to a certain point and move on to something else.  Bookcases I am building for my son's room ended up staying on our dining room table for 2 months as I "worked" on them.  So, that is why I'm starting this blog.  I'm hoping that having to be accountable to someone (even myself) for finished projects will motivate me to finish up the gazillion half-finished things around this house.  Hopefully, anyone else living in a fugly house will be able to find some inspiration as we try to make this one less of a transitional place and more of a home.