Category Archives: Furniture

Get Your Color On! Yellows

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Get Your Color On blog series yellow buttercup lemon ochre gold schoolbus taxi cab dandelion psychology decorating tips home decor furniture accessories lantern vase fabric Greek key bees dandelions rug shower curtain frame dinnerware IKEA Pier 1 World Market Crate and Barrel Kohl's Threshold Rachael Ray Joann Fabrics Fabrics.com

Yellow is quite the powerful color. It’s inspired many songs in various music genres, is a color guaranteed to grab your attention, and is symbolic of wisdom and optimism.

My inspiration for this current post of Get Your Color On! is the abundance of sunshine and warmth we’ve had here in northwest Ohio. With summer on its way, it’s the perfect time to celebrate yellow by decorating with it.

Because yellow is a very stimulating hue, it can be tricky to decorate with. It comes in a spectrum of shades that can spark a variety of moods in our homes. Creamy, pale hues like buttercup evoke a sense of happy calmness, while saturated yellows like lemon or schoolbus yellow inject energy and cheer into a space.

Continue reading for my tips on using this color in your home, decor projects & tutorials from other bloggers, and my personal selections of yellow decor items.

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Work in Progress: IKEA Rast Dresser Makeover

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Note to self: cut yourself off from painting anything with drawers. Seriously. If you hear me talking about another dresser or desk to make over with paint, contact me, stat.

I started this project of painting two IKEA Rast dressers about a month ago. Almost every piece of furniture I’ve made with over with paint has had drawers.

Drawers=more planes=more sanding=more painting=more work=less fun.

Here’s a close-up shot of them so far:

IKEA Rast pine wood dresser furniture makeover latex paint Behr Premium Plus Ultra in Sterling Rustoleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover in flat white Minwax Polycrylic in semi-gloss light cool gray mid-century modern decor bowtie

My weapons of choice: Behr Premium Plus Ultra in Sterling (flat), Rustoleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover in White (flat), Minwax Polycrylic in Semi-Gloss.

This round of furniture painting has taught me a few lessons. Continue reading after the jump to see what I’ve learned through this process.

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DIY: Easy Padded Headboard Tutorial

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DIY Easy Padded Floating Headboard Tutorial with foamboard, plywood, fabric, foam padding, upholstery nails

A few years ago, I created a floating headboard with squares of foamboard, batting, fabric, & velcro. When I outgrew the green color scheme in my bedroom, I removed the headboard. I tried using more pillows as a substitution, but it just wasn’t the same.

Forward to the present, where I’m making over my bedroom & felt the need for a headboard again. An upholstered headboard doesn’t just provide cushioning so you can watch TV or read in bed, it also helps anchor the bed in the room.  Your bed is usually the automatic focal point of the room because of its size, so a headboard also allows you to coordinate the bed into your decorating scheme.

Check out my current bedroom before & after the headboard to see how big an impact it makes in the room:

Bed Without and With DIY floating padded headboard Before and After foamboard padding upholstery nails plywood wood grain fabric

(You’re also getting a sneak peek at my new curtains, lucky you!)

Keep reading for more details & my tutorial… Continue reading →

Before & After: Entertainment Center/Bookshelf Makeover

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Welcome to the final leg of my living room makeover: the “entertainment center.”  It’s not an entertainment center unit per se, but it’s where I have all my books, my TV and electronic toys. Click on the photo to zoom in.

BEFORE AND AFTER TV Entertainment Center in Living Room with Ikea Expedit Bookshelves -002

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My Vintage Tanker Desk Makeover

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During my recent vacation, I planned to finally paint my wooden tanker desk. Problem was, I couldn’t figure out what color to paint it. I’ve been updating my living room from turquoise and red to a neutral color scheme of black and white.

I wavered between painting it in gray/white or turquoise/teal (my favorite color). While a neutral shade would’ve been practical, I thought “what the hey” and decided to go with color. I even went a step further and chose a different color than turquoise: green. I bought “Garden View,” in the Behr Premium Plus Ultra line; I wanted to eliminate extra work with a paint that included primer. This line of paint seems to have worked well so far.

Garden View interior paint Behr Premium Plus Ultra line

Unfortunately, this color appeared much brighter when I started painting. Thankfully, I began this project with the desk drawers. I knew I wouldn’t be happy with seeing that color close up, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Plan B: new color. To save money, I used some leftover paint and only bought an additional quart of a color I’d previously used when I created some Moroccan-influenced wall art. It’s called “Pacific Sea Teal” and is in the same line of Behr paint that includes primer:

Pacific Sea Teal interior paint Behr Premium Plus Ultra line

I like that it’s one of those colors that looks different in light.  In the daylight it appears bluer but at night in artificial light, it’s more like a true teal/green-blue. Here’s some shots of my revamped pride & joy:

Vintage Wood Tanker Desk paint makeover to teal and silver DIY home office silver drawer handles mod Moroccan decor

Vintage Wood Tanker Desk paint makeover to teal and silver DIY home office silver drawer handles mod Moroccan decor

(click to see a larger image)

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Make Over Your Decor With This Cheap Mosaic Method

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Love the mosaic look but hate to spend the money for glass tiles and grout? Check out a cheaper and simpler alternative I created with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. Adding a mosaic is a clever way to customize an existing piece of furniture or accessory.

Mosaic Parsons coffee table makeover with Mod Podge, paper, and Rub n Buff in white and silver

Previously, I created a piece of mosaic wall decor but have since retired this piece since it no longer matches my living room. Using this mosaic method, I gave my plain, Parsons coffee table an update along with some Rub n Buff to add a metallic vibe. Sure, buying a new coffee table would’ve been easier, but it would’ve been boring. Learn how to do it after the jump. Continue reading →

What Color Should I Paint My Desk?

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Painting my desk is something I’ve considered for a while now. After the furniture-painting spree of 2011, I was burnt out. It truly is a lot of work!

But, I have this beautiful wood tanker desk that I’ve finally decided needs a make-over. I have some vacation time coming up soon, so that will make the task much easier. In typical Libran fashion, I’m going back and forth on how to re-do it.

MCM vintage wood tanker desk in home office

I’ve recently made over my living room with a neutral color scheme of black, white, gray, and silver. I like color but will accessorize with pops of it… so far, that color is turquoise. The decor style is a combination of vintage, modern, & Moroccan. It’s a pretty hefty desk, so I want a color that will really complement the room.

Here’s the options:

*White

*Black

*Silver (Rub N Buff)

*Light gray… such as:

*Turquoise/teal… probably this color, since I have leftover paint:

It has to a color I can work with everyday for 8 hours a day, since I work at home. What do you think?

How to Makeover Your Patio Furniture On the Cheap

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One of my favorite past-times is to make over something, especially with paint. I’m a sucker for any activity involving a paint brush. This mission to redecorate involved my balcony, a lovely space I consider as another room in my home.

The issue: the colors of my patio furniture no longer coordinated with the colors in my living room. I like to coordinate the colors in each of my rooms to create a sense of flow. They aren’t all decorated in the same colors, but they do each share a common color. I chose to extend this decor flow out to my balcony.

Several years ago, I scored a couple of outdoor sling chairs from Walmart for my balcony. They’re made of mesh and are fairly comfy, and were a decent golden yellow, not too bright like a lot of patio furniture. At the time, these warm colors matched well with the purples I had in my living room.

balcony outdoor space yellow patio sling chairs before

Before, 2010…

Last year, I tried working with the yellow and incorporated it into my indoor color scheme of turquoise and red. I sewed these pillow shams and painted a lotus design to tie the colors together:

balcony outdoor space yellow patio sling chairs before turquoise red color scheme

Before, 2011…

I dug the gold/turquoise/red color scheme, but I just didn’t love it. So, I decided to coordinate ALL the colors on my balcony to those in my living room,which now includes mint green and makeover those yellow chairs:

Painted patio sling chair in mint green jade seafoam with batik teal pillow

…After, 2012

The new color is also great because I can mix and match decor between the living room and balcony. There’s no tutorial since it was a pretty easy process. Here’s how I did it with latex paint:

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DIY: Bookshelves Repurposed Into TV Console & Storage

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I own a pair of bookshelves that have seen a lot of action in my home. They’ve gone solo as bookshelf-slash-side “tables.” They’ve been upright as (duh) bookshelves. They’ve been with a coffee table to create an entertainment center. They’ve been on top of one another in my closets for storage/organization. Their latest rendezvous is with them on their sides, next to each other to form a long console for my TV.

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Kick Your Feet Up On Me: DIY Round Ottoman

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Are there DIYaholic Anonymous meetings out there? Because I think I may need an intervention.

In keeping with the high I get from creating new stuff for my home, I recently made an ottoman. I’d been weighing how to create more seating space in my home and considered buying an armchair. Building an ottoman was a great (and cheaper!) alternative. You can buy or build some with storage for cheaper than I made mine, but how unique will they be?!

I determined my expenses would be less or equal to the cost of a new footstool. The great thing about DIY is that you can customize the style, shape and color of your project. (Yes, that is a justification for my habit.) AND I also won by getting some new tools and supplies to use with future projects (hello, staple gun!).

DIY round ottoman upholstery project for living room with fabric batting wood legs and stain

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