Loving the New Dining Room Chairs

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I have wanted a new dining room table for a while now. Perhaps a table like this one from West Elm or this one from Crate and Barrel. To be honest, the table we have actually works and it is similar to the ones I'm craving, but it isn’t as beefy as we prefer.  Instead of getting a new dining room set, we decided that it would be best to get new chairs to replace the benches we have that run the length of the table.  We've had them for eight years and those benches needed to go. They are now sitting pretty along the walls in the ground floor main room.

When looking for new chairs to replace the benches, we wanted something that was completely opposite of the black leather chairs. These chairs are already at each end of the table that are going to stay, so we were looking for something that was of a different material.

Here are some of the options we were considering.

Tobias Chair from IKEA-  $79

Jake Chair from Room and Board- $89

Tiffany Chair from Room and Board - $199

Delta Side Chair From Crate and Barrel- $99.95

We went with the lucite chairs from IKEA.  The metal chair from Crate and Barrel was my second choice, but after going on a quick stop to IKEA one weekend, we decided that the lucite was the look we were aiming for.  They were modern, but comfortable and fairly inexpensive at $79 each instead of $199 from Room and Board.

 

Putting them together took a few minutes each.  Don't you just love putting together furniture together?  Me neither, but seriously it took about 5 minutes per chair.  Easy, peasy! 

Before

After

My feelings about the new chairs with the existing leather end chair was mixed at first, but the more I walk past them, the more in love I become.  My craving for a new table has been pushed to the side now that we have the new chairs. Let’s see how long that will last...

<3 mk

From Under Bed Shoe Storage to Gift Wrap Organizer

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Under bed gift wrapping organization

Last year I showed you how to organize your scarves.  I also used the same organizer for under bed boot storage.  Well, I now am lucky enough to have a closet that is large enough to store all of my clothing, shoes and accessories in one place.

Under bed scarf organizer

I originally kept my scarves in the organizer under the bed after we moved, but in the early morning hours after almost tripping over it and almost spilling coffee all over the place I figured it was time for a change.  It turns out that I didn’t shove the scarf storage fully back under the bed after I took out my colorful accessory... blame it on pre-coffee brain!

I decided to put my scarves back on the their original holder, the IKEA Komplement that I originally bought many many many years ago.  It does what it was suited for, holds scarves, all 26 of mine. I don't see what this as a problem, do you?  Now, what to do with the organizer?

After a few days of thinking, I realized that my underbed storage for gift wrapping supplies was just overflowing and needed a little help.  It is stored in the guest rooms so it doesn’t really bother me, but I know when it is prime birthday or holiday season I always cringe when it comes time to find stuff.  

I left all of the wrapping paper and tissue paper (I didn’t realized I had so much) in the original Tupperware holder.   The other stuff; ribbon, bags, bows, stuffing, etc.  got organized into the little compartments that were intended to hold shoes.  I felt the bottom needed more structure so I cut the plastic and slid a piece of foam board to keep the bottom sturdy. You can also cut pieces of cardboard from a box.  I already had a piece of foamboard left over from another project.  I ended up cutting a few section dividers out to store all of my bags in organized piles according to occasion.  I use clips to keep them stacked together.

This couldn’t be easier to repurpose this under bed shoe storage again.  I love when a project doesn’t cost a penny, but it was worth all the effort.

Happy organizing!

<3 mk

Ikea Dresser Hack

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Ikea Hemnes dresser hack - After

A few weeks ago I hinted about another painting project when I updated my bar/dining side table.  Well, after many years of wanting to do this project, I woke up last weekend and just did it.  It felt so good to update a dresser that I've had since I first started working as a teacher.. over ten years ago!  Like the bar table, this was a big purchase for my early 20s self.  It was still in good condition, but sorely needed a facelift.

Ikea Hemnes dresser hack - Before

Inspiration.

The inspiration for this project came from many sources, including these two.

The Painting.

This painting project was a lot simpler than the Ikea bar/dining table because it did not have as many nooks and crannies. The exact Hemnes dresser that I have isn't the same as it was when originally purchased, but it basically is the same idea. It took less than ten steps and about two days with lots of downtime in between.

Cleaning:  There wasn’t a finish on this dresser.  I simply used the frugal alcohol water mix spray we use to clean everything.  When the drawers were removed, there was a beautiful layer of dust collected in the back that was cleaned off, ewww. 

Prepping: To make the painting process easier, I took out all the drawer sliders on the inside.  Two screws each with the electric screw driver is all it took.   Taping off some of the areas could have been done, especially on the drawers themselves, but the way the lines were on the dresser, it wasn’t necessary.  I was able to paint without getting paint on the side drawer areas because they were not flush with the face of the drawers. The inside wasn’t completely painted, but one can only see that if you take out all the drawers and investigate.

Primer coat:  I used a foam brush and small foam roller for the two to three coats of tinted primer.  Our local home improvement store paint department chose the primer especially for the job I was doing.  They tinted the primer as dark as they could get it, which was a dark gray color.  I know in the past I have been able to get my primer tinted black, but at this store they said they couldn’t do it.  

Top coat: Black glossy paint.  It took about three coats with the foam roller and small foam brushes.  Give yourself some time between the coat to let dry and really pay attention to any drip marks.  They really show up when it is a glossy paint.  I painted outside on a warm sunny day so it didn’t take much time to dry in between coats.

Wait:  After all the painting was done, I waited a few days before I put the dresser back together (sliders) and put on all the decorative ornaments.  It felt a bit tacky after day one so I just let it sit until there was time to put it all back together.

Decorate: You will need to play around with how and what you want to decorate the dresser, or even at all.  There have been a ton of ideas where people are decorating the outside with grommets, etc.  I had seen an idea with metal L-brackets, which I took and ran with it.  The L-brackets are very inexpensive (pack of 4 was under $2 at Walmart) and easy to attach to the outside.  I also attached new handle hardware.

Ikea dresser hack money saving hints.

Hint 1: To ensure the L-brackets line up perfectly, use another L-bracket to be the measuring tool.  Simply line them up with the outside edge and screw the inside L-bracket in place.  See below.

Hint 2:  Play around with different styles of decorations.  The brackets also come in simple flat plates or t-brackets that you can also use to attach any way you choose.  It all depends on the layout of the dresser and your particular style.

Hint 3: Hardware handles can be expensive.  I was lazy and didn’t want to fill in the existing holes on the drawers to put in double handle holes.  Through some research at our local store, I had found single hole handles that resembled the style I was going for.  They were about $7 each at the local home improvement store.  That was a bit more expensive than I wanted to spend especially since this dresser had seven drawers.  Jeff came to the rescue and found the exact same brand on ebay for less than $1 each.  SCORE!  Lesson learned, do some research prior to purchasing.

T-handles from eBay - $1 each!

Overall, my impulsive move last Saturday morning paid off.  The dresser looks so much better in the room with its new finish and decorative metal touches.  The best part was that it looks like a whole new dresser with the materials cost of just under $20. One wouldn't think that I disliked painting by the amount of things I've repainted recently, but I still loathe painting!  It is like running or working out to me, I enjoy it, but only when it is all over and done.

The results.

Remember this DIY personalized acrylic serving tray?

Do you have anything you have been wanting to give a facelift?  Just do it.

<3 mk

Updating the Ikea Norden Bar/Dining Table

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Dining room with updated bar table

I feel like every time I read a blog or see a pinterest post, people are painting their furniture all sorts of bold colors.  I love seeing the transformation from a sad looking piece of furniture to something new and exciting.  I like to view these projects from afar, but when it comes to my house, when we redo furniture, it usually isn’t as colorful.  I like to think we are are just consistent with our color choices, black, white, gray, and a splash of color.

Before

When we moved into the new house, we realized a good amount of our furniture needed a facelift.  The bar table in our dining room needed some help.  I had purchased that bar table when I moved into my apartment in 2003.  It has been with me from my moves in NJ, VA, and now to NC.  It’s an IKEA original that is still being sold in stores to this day (sans wheels) for probably the same price I purchased it about ten years ago.

  

Our dining room table is wood as well as our floors.  The bar table just wasn’t working for us, so I went with a tried and true color, black, glossy black.  Honestly, it made a huge difference. 

The process was easy and only took a day. First, I sanded it down to make sure there weren't any areas that weren’t perfectly smooth.  Then I cleaned it off to make sure what was sanded wouldn’t get in the paint.  I taped off the drawers and primed the whole piece with two coats of a tinted primer.  I used a foam roller, but also had to use a foam brush for the smaller nooks and crannies.   There were a lot of those tight areas which ended in more drip areas than I like to admit.  After allowing that to dry fully, I hand sanded down the drip marks and imperfections, which made a huge difference when applying the glossy black.  It took about two solid coats and the piece was done.

Primed

I had grand plans to replace the wheels on the one side, but in the end I just painted them.  Normally I would be against that, but honestly they turned out great.  We wont really wheel the cart around so there wont be any wear on the paint.

I taped the drawers so that the paint wouldn’t scrape off the side.  The drawers aren’t on a rail system so painting them totally would  lead to scraping and ugliness.  I rarely use them anyway so it worked out perfectly.

Painted

A few hours and just a little effort and I had a whole new piece.  It works much better in the dining room.  We use it mostly for storage of our alcoholic beverages, but it looks nice holding our drinks.

So now that I have a whole gallon of tinted primer and glossy black paint, I think I will need to paint a few more things in the house.  I have been jonesing to paint a wooden dresser like this for many years, it might just happen this weekend.

Are you painting anything besides walls this weekend?

<3 mk

Quick and Easy Picture Gallery

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Easy Picture Gallery using Ikea Ribba shelves

So have you ever put a good amount of time into doing something and then never actually used it?  Well, I spent a good amount of time prepping and planning a picture wall for our dining room and then never ended up using any of it.  Frustrating yes, but the final product of what we ended up doing is way better than originally planned - and painfully easy.

In our last home, there wasn’t a wall space big enough to put many of our framed pictures together in a large cluster. We ended up having a mini gallery in the front entrance and some in the living room.  With the new house we have the space to put all of those pictures together.

When it comes to home projects, I'm usually not heavy on the prep work.  I want the instant gratification of the final product ASAP.  I occasionally realize I need a different brush or more taping when my hands are covered in paint or something.  So when I actually did all of the prep work for this project and did not use any of it, it proves that I've been doing it right all along!

Similar to what I did by tracing and cutting all the frames.  Look how much fun they are having!

First, I gathered all the pictures I wanted mounted.  I then used left over boxes we had to trace and cut the outlines of all the pictures we were going to use.  Using paper that can be taped to the wall is much easier to visually see what the final product would look like.

Layout possibilities for hanging pictures

I also used inspiration for different frame layouts (see above) and then measured and laid out the different combinations to use.  I did this for short amounts of time over a few days and came up with a few possibilities.  And then…I saw this.

Inspiration from Ikea

This IKEA inspiration totally took all the work I had done and negated it. All my work and effort gone because we like this idea better.  It also has the added benefit of requiring far less work.

I went on a day trip to IKEA and purchased the Ribba shelves that came directly from the inspiration on IKEA’s website.  They come in black and white and in two different sizes.  I ended up purchasing two of the longer 45 ¼” versions in black for $14.99 each and one of the shorter 21 ¾” version in black for $9.99.  

After some quick planning we ended up recreating the idea of the inspiration photo.  Obviously our pictures weren’t the same, but we really went with the idea and weren’t trying to be original.

We didn’t end up using the two of our larger wedding pictures that were to go on that wall, but they ended up together over the newly painted bar table.

There are still a few empty picture frames that will eventually have something.  With time, the ideas for their contents will come.  Our experiences in our new house, new state, new lives will help with that.

<3 mk