Archive for the ‘decorating’ Category

Built-in

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Since we moved in a year ago I’ve been dreaming of building in some bookshelves next to the fireplace. The wall area always looked a little blank and it was hard to position furniture without a ton of wasted space under the windows.

Thank you Craig.

Craig is my stepfather and a lover of carpentry – so the labor was cheap. I drew up some plans for what I wanted and through the magic of plywood and tools he constructed a pair of very simple bookshelves.

This is the base that matches the molding and is set back to create a two inch kick gap under the shelf.

This is one of the finished shelves getting ready to get installed.

Ta-Da!

There were a few weird hitches, like trying to fit the electrical outlets through the shelves and dealing with the uneven plaster walls. Craig was a champion DIY guy and we couldn’t have done this without him. Every new homeowner needs a Craig.

I primed each case with two coats of Kilz. THIS I know how to do. Awesome fun.

I caulked all the gaps around the edges. I love caulk.
Then I painted them with three coats of Behr Ultra Pure White in a satin finish.

Wasted space finally made useful.

I FINALLY finished them last night. They look surprisingly nice and very seamless. I love the off-set vertical supports mirrored on each side. Saving the outlets and installing them through the bottom shelf really adds to the illusion that they may be original built-ins.

Now its all about filling them up with crap.

Coming soon…the built-in breakfast area in the kitchen

Bedroom Glam

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

On the recent thrifting extravaganza I picked up this fabulous lighting fixture for $50 at the Palm Springs Revival thrift store. It has a very glam seventies vibe which I really am starting to dig right now – admit it – we are all loving Lucite and brass.

When we first moved in we installed this Ikea Fado pendant lamp to replace a broken down mess of a ceiling fan. I love replacing the Ikea with something a little more vintage, eclectic and unique – it just takes time and lots of digging to find those perfect fixtures.

The Boy has now initiated a cease fire on installing ceiling fixtures after all the Jerry rigging we’ve had to do in the last week. Too bad – I’ve got a cute Lightolier fixture that needs to be installed in the kitchen.

Here it is all installed and making the master bedroom just a little sexier.

Just as a personal reminder – here’s that same area in the bedroom almost exactly one year ago to the day.

Another thing that makes this bedroom sexy – this fab vintage pillow thrifted here in town. WOW.

CH-CH-CHanges…

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

We loaded up the “Beast” with all sorts of mid century goodies for Barterfest ’09. Its looking like springtime around here and that means dusting off and trucking out all those things cluttering up The Brick House…

That meant heading to civilization…aka…Orange County / Los Angeles. Looking at this pic of the 10 Fwy I remember how much fun it was to sit in traffic everyday.

Uh-oh. Even though this is technically spring cleaning – Barterfest ’09 calls for new treats to come home. Bartering is a great way to spruce up your house without spending tons of dollas’. Mine your stylish friends houses for great finds or make new friends with flea market and vintage store owners. Everyone likes to do the barter!

Soon I will reveal all my new awesome pieces…