DIY nursery art

If you looked really closely at my last post on the rug for the baby's room, you may have noticed the colourful artworks I created to brighten the room and decorate one section of the very high, bare walls.

Let's get a little closer, shall we?

Doesn't seem quite close enough so let's break them down.

I've been collecting ideas for artworks or prints I thought I could create for awhile on Pinterest (check out my board here). The larger piece on the left was inspired by two things - Rachel Castle's embroidery artworks like this one:

And a DIY nursery artwork from the blog Aux petits oiseaux from which I borrowed the words. 

I had my mum mix up the colours for me, incorporating all the colours I am using (or plan to use) in the baby's room.  My mum is an artist so has a far better knack and confidence for mixing colours than I do (there is a glimpse of the abstract she did for our living room in this post and a photo of the piece she for my bedroom a few years back in this post).

I used her colours to paint strips of each colour on white cardboard. After two coats and some drying time, I lightly pencilled on the letters required to write 'every day we love you' in lower case and the French translation 'tous les jours nous t'aimons' in capitals. I wasn't worried about creating perfect letters as the aim was to create something with a child-like sense of fun. After cutting out each letter, I used clear craft glue to stick them onto white card and popped this into a white frame from a local variety store for $15. I used the same cut-out method for the dot artwork too and a smaller version of the same frame (about $11 for this one). Rachel Castle's screen printed dot artworks inspired this design.

The final piece in this little cluster is a ampersand design found on Google images (unfortunately I don't have the exact source as I printed it many months ago). I simply cut out the printed ampersand, traced around it with pencil straight onto a thin canvas I had in the cupboard (probably from a $2 shop) and filled it in with some of the leftover aqua paint used in the other pieces.

Next up are some silhouettes I tackled with my mum. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours one afternoon at my dining table surrounded by paper and paints. I showed her these animal prints by Me and Amber....

Before I knew it, she had created these beauties: 

They are just hanging out under the red lamp for now until I get around to hanging them. So cute!

Meanwhile I was stencilling and cutting out deers to create this:

For now, this one sits atop a set of Expedit shelves in the room with a framed image from a Typo calendar (middle) and a painting by my little friend Sophie (on the right). 

I love the colours in the ferris wheel. Isn't it brilliant that you can create artworks from images that grab your eye in everyday items? Calendars are great for this.

The same calendar also has an image of balloons that I will frame in the same Ribba frame from Ikea (just not keen to tackle an Ikea trip at 40 weeks pregnant!).

So there you have some DIY affordable art to brighten up a nursery (or any room). I am hoping to add a huge zebra painting above the cot at some stage. Just gotta sweeten up a certain artist ;) Wish me luck. 

A kitchen dresser makeover

 

My recent blog hiatus cooincided with an unintentional break from many of my usual hobbies, and while I like change, and shiny new things, I'm realising that some of those pasttimes of old are part of me and are good for my wellbeing. One thing I needed was a return to my little projects around the house. A furniture makeover to be precise. Enter eBay and a $50 pine kitchen dresser. On the surface, sanding and painting can be quite the chore, but when it comes down to it they usually provide a great sense of accomplishment with a good dose of excitement and anticipation as you wait to see the end result. 

For this project, I used Dulux Whisper White in gloss that we had leftover from painting other things around the house, like the mantle. I stupidly slapped a full brush of it on before realising it was the oil-based version of this paint that we'd abandoned some time ago as it is such a pain to use and clean up. Since I'd already started and dirtied the brush I kept going with it, cursing myself from time to time.

If we renovate our kitchen one day, the things I'd most like to see changed are the floor tiles and the lack of a decent pantry. The most annoying thing is that there is room for extra cupboards near the fridge but there is nothing on that wall at all. I'd like extra cabinets there with a fridge cavity in the same style we choose for the rest of the kitchen. In the meantime, I decided a kitchen dresser would make better use of this space and would add more visual interest than the flat pack cupboard we'd used as a panty in our previous house (pictured below). It was just one of those pieces that we plonked there on moving day and never moved. I was keen not to hide the lovely cook books I recently received for my 30th birthday in it anymore and a kitchen dresser allows display room as well as hidden storage.

Below is the view from the French doors leading to our courtyard (older shots of this space can be seen in this older post). The dresser better connects the kitchen and dining spaces and I like that it is the same height as the glass cabinet in the corner. This photo also shows a glimpse of the fabric I used to reupholster the dining chairs before Christmas (I have other photos of this project to post one of these days).

For the knobs, I chose different sizes and styles for the drawers and the doors, with the common features being the flowery shape and the dark blue. The smaller knobs on the drawers are white with a blue stripe while the door knobs are shiny, solid blue. Both are from Provincial Home Living and tie in with the ones used on our bathroom vanity, guest room bedside table, hallstand and a lamp table.

So that's my home project that I hope will help get me back into other fun, creative projects at home and back to blogging. I've really missed it but I guess I've just been coming home from work tired and drained. It seems easy and relaxing to come home from work and flop in front of a downloaded TV series after cooking dinner. Then it gets addictive! We are off to visit New York City next month so I have been inhaling the sights on Gossip Girl. Sad but true! After awhile though, I start feeling like I am wasting my life in front of the TV. I've also stopped going to the gym lately. At first that was because I was enjoying the beautiful bike I got at the end of last year but now it's too dark to ride when I get home from work so it's just weekends. On the positive side, I have picked up a new hobby - learning the piano with a weekly lesson and a short practice each day - and I recently read two books of fiction just for pleasure, something I haven't been doing enough. So it's not all bad, but I just feel like I need to find my way again and I wish it was easier to get back on the bandwagon. Life can easily become a daily grind but I want more and I choose more. So I'm digging in my heels and crawling back. It's not enough just to find the things that make my heart sing, I actually have to do those things to be happy. What do you think?

A desk for Charles and Whyte

I've been obsessing over long, white desks since we moved into our house two years ago and last weekend, I finally got my hands on one. So keen was I, that in one weekend I picked it up in a trailor from the other side of Melbourne then sanded it and gave it three coats of white paint. We now have everything required for a project like this at home so the only outlay was the payment of $192.50 to the friendly eBay seller. Yee haa. Let's just say we have way too many sanders and tins of paint these days.

You may remember that I did up the below desk only 18 months ago (details here), and as much as I like it and its spacious drawers, it has never been long enough for both the Mister and I to sit at comfortably. Not sure whether to sell it or keep it in on the other side of the study as a sewing table.

The criteria for a desk this time was very similar to last: drawers along the top rather than down the side, less than $500 (preferably much less!), sleek but not too modern so it would suit our older Victorian style home and, most importantly, white. Length was the only difference this time around and I'm happy to say the new one is 180cm long compared to 110cm of the old. I used Pinterest to keep all my office and desk inspiration pictures together. You can view my board on Pinterest here - I'm still lusting over some of those office spaces.

And yes, I bought the Ikea Ingolf chairs in anticipation before I found the desk! Better storage options have had to wait until the desk was found so we can find something that fits around it. For now, we have a mix of old Ikea cupboards we bought for storage in previous houses but I'm hoping for something more coordinated to create symmetry around the desk and perhaps some over desk storage or shelving.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself though. For now, I need to appreciate the most recent updates to this room. A little 'before and after' of the desk should help.

Nothing like a little project with your own two hands to make your heart sing!

Trying out DIY abstract art

Between eating, sleeping and sanding every surface in our living room this weekend, I had a go at some DIY abstract art. It was so fun! Last week, I posted some of my favourite abstract art as inspiration (see here) and wondered if I dared give it a try. Just looking at gorgeous pieces by Michelle Armas and photos of art in Kelly Wearstler's divine interiors was inspiring, then I received an email with tips and encouragment from a friend. It cemented my ideas, gave me some confidence and I was off.

The girl at the art shop told me to use acrylics over oils if I meant what I said when I told her I didn't know what I was doing. So my old trusty acrylics it was - student quality, not artist, because I wasn't keen to spend a fortune on an experiment. What I was about to paint may never make it to the wall. I did splash out $12 on a small tub of impasto gel as "the girl" told me this can be mixed with acrylic paint for a textured look. I found it hard to make brush stroke marks when I tried this so I'm not sure I will use this too much.

The paintings pictured are my first attempts on some white card stock, framed in some unused Ikea Ribba frames I had. I hadn't been to my trusty $2 shop for the canvas at that point in the weekend and I wouldn't have been game to paint straight onto it anyway. I really enjoyed having a play around without the pressure of knowing I want it to go in our living room when it is finished. Below is the very first card I painted yesterday. It's not my favourite so just as well I got to try a few more things...

After this one, I stopped using blue and came up with three others using all pinks, yellows and white. This colour combo worked for me.

My mother duck is an artist and she will be very proud of me when she sees these I think. I'm pretty proud myself. I started picturing myself opening an Etsy shop with my DIY abstract artworks and taking commissions for special colour combinations to really make my clients' hearts sing! Tonight I came back down to earth when I painted another two cards and didn't like them nearly as much (too dark to photograph sorry).

I have now purchased a 60x60cm canvas. It was only $12.95 (from a shop called 'Up to $5'!) but I still feel that I need to "find" my technique or style before I put pen paint to paper canvas. Right now, the end result is a complete surprise to me. I don't feel I'm in control of how it turns out. It's a wait and see thing. Maybe that's the point of this style of painting?! Maybe I need to relinquish control and trust that the universe will provide?!

A chandelier reborn

The best thing about revamping old things is that it often doesn't matter if it doesn't work out. Unless you're dealing with serious antiques or things of sentimental value, the stakes are low and you're free to let loose and be creative. When it comes to transformations by paint, I'm yet to find myself wishing I didn't apply that fresh coat. It almost always looks better. 

This weekend while the Mister was putting render and final finish plaster on the fireplace, I got sidetracked from my next job of sanding all the wooden surfaces in our living room and reached for the spray paint. Oh, how I love spray paint. So fun to apply, so quick to transform something. I had my sights set on the chandelier in our living room. Eventually, I'd like to replace it but nice light fittings are never cheap and the good ones need to be installed by an electrician. That would cost even more money so I set about wondering how I could improve this old chandelier. The biggest barrier were the crystals. To paint over the brass fittings would require removing and then replacing each crystal. That sounded too long and arduous a task for my impatient self so I decided to try to cover them instead. Drips of paint all over them would look very amateur too so what to do? Masking tape all over them may have been hard to remove and could leave sticky bits which would have been a nightmare to clean when still attached to a light dangling from a 3.5 metre ceiling. Then I thought of plastic film/cling wrap. Genius I thought until I started questioning whether I could make it tight enough around the top of each crystal so no paint dribbled down. Mulling over this led me to my final solution which was aluminium foil! 

Wrapping all the crystal pieces of the chandelier was pretty painless. Just made sure I pressed them tightly around the top to stop any drips getting through. The final prep was masking the top of the light and sticking some newspaper up to protect the ceiling rose.

A coat of White Knight Super Primer and we were on the way. 

Then two coats of White Knight Quick Dry satin Enamel in black (this and the primer cost less than $10 each from Bunnings). I followed the instructions of the can and waited an hour between coats. I was pretty excited at this stage. High on life not on paint fumes, me hopes!

I managed to wait an hour before removing the aluminium foil, then I just had to see what it looked like! The photo above shows the bottom crystals half unwrapped. I took this to show the little strips of foil that I wrapped tightly around the top of each crystal before wrapping with a larger piece to cover the whole thing. I felt I had more control of this little piece and could make sure the top was tighly covered. It was mostly a success. 

Once all the foil was removed, there were only 3 or 4 dots of black paint on the crystals to remove with a little turps (mineral turpentine). At this point I realised that the white plastic things that sit under the light globes were a dirty cream colour so I threaded these on a piece of string, strung them up outside and sprayed them with a couple of coats of white paint (leftover from the lamps I painted here).

Another hour of waiting later and the makeover was complete. Old globes back in et voila! Some new globes are on the list of things to hunt down, maybe something a bit daintier. The current energy saving globes are not cutting it.You may notice that I didn't put quite enough newspaper up to protec the ceiling rose. Whoops. Lucky fresh paint is on the agenda.

So there you have it - how to revamp an old chandelier for less than $20 with minimum fuss, without an electrician or removing it from the ceiling!

Here it is from afar with a glimpse of the progress on the fireplace (final coat plaster now applied and tiles ripped up). 

With a new lease on life, this old beauty is now fit to remain in the revamped living room. The black gives it a bit of a pop and will help it tie in with all the other black elements in the room (the curtain trim, the lamp shades, the ottoman, the paintings etc). One final, before and after to showcase spray paint satisfaction...

I'm linking to:

Mantle makeover (and fireplace demolition!)

Warning allergy sufferers: this post contains a lot of dust. May also contain content that is unsuitable for clean freaks as you may start to imagine that the said dust will sneak past the rolled up towels at the three doorways in this room and into the rest of our house (you would be right, but nothing a week of dusting won't sort out!).

We started with a fireplace and mantle like this:

Bricks staggering out, pressed in a geometric pattern and then covered with a mint green paint...nice. The old gas heater is an ugly brown but very efficient so we are keeping it for now to save dollars. We are hoping it will be improved with a new mantle and surrounded by new tiles and carpet (good bye terracotta tiles and grey speckled school carpet!).

Imagine me taking to the wooden mantle (the white bit) with a hammer then the Mister attacking the bricks with an angle grinder and a demolition hammer drill. We were left with this:

Yes, there is red brick dust ALL the way up the very high walls!

The dust was so thick that we had to wait a few hours to take these photos. Those holes have now been filled with mortar. Five layers were applied over a week to ensure it was dry underneath and stuck to the wall. As I type, render is being applied to create a smooth layer over the bricks and hide the pattern. This photo was taken in progress at 11.35pm this evening!

Don't worry, I'm not always sitting back on the interweb while the man does all the work. I made myself useful in the last week by preparing the mantle, picked up on eBay for just under $120. It is a reproduction mantle that was never used as the sellers had purchased the wrong size for their fireplace. Sad for them, happy for us.

With the help of an orbital sander, a detail sander and a few sheets of sandpaper, I gave it a good sand, followed by a dust and a rub down with water and sugar soap. I did this outside so the mantle stayed clean, which is funny really because I usually sand outside so the house stays clean!

After one coat of paint (the old Dulux Whisper White gloss came out again), the coverage was quite uneven, as you can see here when I pulled it inside for the night. I'm thinking I may have sanded it too well, if such a thing is possible.

The coverage was much better after the second coat, although I noticed too late that there were paint drips under the scrolls.

There were a few gritty bits in the paint finish too so I then sanded it lightly and did a third coat. I don't have a photo of that yet so you'll just have to hang out to see it installed when the fireplace is complete. Sorry to be a tease - if I had the finished photos, I'd show you! We just need a few more weekends to get it looking like the beautiful mantle we know it can be. That means a few more weekends in my painting clothes, my favourite being the paint-splotched yellow and blue Canterbury rugby shirt embroidered with the eagle of my hometown football and netball club. Renovating is a sexy business!