Wall-O-Mugs

For those of you that know and those of you that don't, I have a fetish for Coffee Mugs. OK maybe fetish is a strong word, but I like them A LOT. I have grown quite the collection over the years. I like all kinds, and the more unique the better. Much to my delight when my house just so happened to have double sided glass cabinet doors. It was the perfect spot to display my collection. However sadly, I have already outgrown the space. It's not much of a display when they're all crammed in there. This was further made clear when I was putting away dishes, pushed too hard, and one mug fell out the other side plummeting to it's death. Well maybe not death, but it definitely lost a limb (handle). Luckily it was not irreplaceable so the event wasn't earth shattering, but I did shed a small tear. A new solution was in order.

I started off with a serious Pintoogle search. I saw lots of ideas, but settled on L-shaped shelving. Not too exciting, but got the job done. The goal was to not only display them, but also make them easily accessible as I am a big time coffee and tea drinker. I headed to Home Depot and got all of the wood I needed for the project. This was to be a pretty simple project. Cut the pieces, glue them together, paint, and secure them to the wall. 

I had to measure and cut pretty precisely as each piece had to come together like a puzzle. Then I glued them together using clamps on each side until the glue dried fully. I only had 6 clamps so this process took a couple of days.

Once all 5 shelves were set, I moved on to the paint phase. Normally I am a Latex paint kind of girl, but this time I decided to use Wood Stain. I usually am not one for the authentic wood look so I almost never stain, but something said go for it this time. I made an attempt once before and could quickly tell I had no idea what I was doing, so this was going to be an adventure. I went with Walnut stain, and did a test on some scrap wood first. I started off by giving the shelves a light sanding with one of my blocks. Then I followed the directions for application. I brushed on the stain, let it sit for a few minutes, and wiped it off with a rag. When I wiped it off it looked a mess. Not at all like what I thought, and not half as nice as the guy in the YouTube video. So I did it again. This time letting it sit for 15 minutes before wiping away. It was still quite blotchy. I let it dry overnight thinking it would look better in the morning. No such luck, it still looked crazy. 

I was about to give up, and just paint. Then I tested the Walnut stain with some leftover Red Mahogany that I had in the house. It wasn't the perfect color, but definitely looked better than what I had. So I repeated the process on all 5 shelves. 

When all was said and done, they looked completely different than what I was originally going for. It was not a perfect stain job, but I liked them though. The imperfect zebra look was starting to grow on me. I finished them off by giving them a coat of Polyurethane. 

To add them to the wall, I screwed  a few small pilot holes to the back side of each shelf

I brought them all upstairs and screwed them into the side wall. I used a level and a ruler to make sure they were all straight. The worst thing would be for them to not be secure and fall off the wall. That would be an absolute disaster. I've had that experience before, and broke a porcelain toilet bowl lid that day. Trust me, it was not pretty. 

I did the remaining shelves, and VOILA! 

Now it was time to fill them with mugs. I put them all out on the counter. I don't think I ever realized how many there actually were. No wonder they were looking crammed in there. 

Here is my full collection minus a few really generic and plain ones that there was no room for.

I didn't notice until just now that some of my favorite ones are all on the bottom 2 shelves. Probably because those are at my eye level, and easy to get without me having to reach up high, or stand on the stool. 

 So there you have it...however...my biggest issue has already happened. I don't have any room for growth. I have just enough room, and this isn't even the total collection. My original plan was to do hooks, that way it could easily accommodate new mugs when the collection expands. I did not want to be back at square one in 6 months to a year. Some where in the planning process I decided to switch to shelving. I wanted the mugs to sit upright. Also I have a few that are quite wide, and wasn't sure if they would hang nicely. I guess I could stain another shelf if I have to, but that would be a hassle and can't guarantee it would come out the same. 6 months to a year...how about 6 hours. So, we'll see how long this lasts. I can't promise that this solution won't change in the future, but really I can't promise that with anything. 

It's on to the next project!

Office Dreaming

The moment you all have been waiting for, and the thing I have been talking about for the last 6 months...MY OFFICE! I am finally "done". Well work in progress, which is all any room will ever be to me. It's too easy for me to come up with another cool idea. This has been such a labor of love. I spend the majority of my time in this room. I do projects, I work, and I even watch movies in here. Something I am trying to stop in 2016. I have a very nice new couch that needs some butt action. This is the 4th time doing this room, and I can say with confidence...the last. After years of trying to just make it work, I decided to stop trying to live with something that I wasn't truly happy with. SO, I started from scratch. First the walls and the floor. Check it out *here* if you haven't seen that yet. Now it was time for the fun stuff. 

But...before I show you the room I have one final project. I recovered my office chair. This is like the 4th office chair I've had. I sit in my chair a lot, so finding a comfortable one is really important. My current chair was lower than the desk which made my elbows bend at the wrong angle. One day while driving through the neighborhood, I spotted a rolling desk chair in front of the parking lot donation bin. I felt bad at first taking from the donations, but then some other lady jumped out and started digging, and then so did I. I grabbed the desk chair,  checked to see if it was broken, threw it in the back of the SUV, and took off. What a score! The only thing now was to figure out how I was going to face lift it because ugly generic black, it could not stay. 

I Pintergoogled desk chairs and came across several that were fur. It seemed fancy enough yet still soft so I went with it. I found the white fur I had imagined at JoAnns. It was $40 a yard and in another lady's cart. Needless to say I stalked her until she got what she needed cut, and then grabbed it from her. I bought a yard, and with my coupon it was half off. So, not bad. Especially considering I did not pay anything for the chair.

For the base I went with gold to play off of the walls and the desk. I gave it a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum spray paint. 

While that dried I tackled the seat cushions. I brushed on a layer of fabric glue to the top of the seat and placed the fur on top. I gave it quite a bit of pressure and let it dry fully overnight. 

For the seat I wrapped the excess around both the cushion and the plastic bottom, and hot glued the edges down

For the back I did not have enough fur to wrap around the whole thing fully. Instead I wrapped the fur just around the cushion and pushed the ends in the opening between it and the plastic back. 

To cover the back I used left over remnant pieces and glued them down. The fur backing made it easy to hot glue, and the texture helped in hiding the seams. 

Only thing left to do was put it back together. 

Say WHAT! Isn't she fabulous...and fluffy.

I quite love the way it turned out. Unfortunately, it does not look that fluffy still. Being that I sit in it all the time, the fur on the seat portion looks a little flat and wild now. I also have to be careful when eating and drinking. I can't spill anything on it. Like nothing, or it will be ruined. It's so much pressure. 

 So now on to the amazing moment at hand. My office reveal. I have tried not to show too much of this room since the wall blog. This is what it looked like after the walls were done and the main furniture was loaded back in. 

People I present to you....my new and improved Lab! 

I took my time decorating this space. Last time I tended to rush into ideas and then change them shortly after when I came up with something better. I made a real conscious effort to avoid that this time. The right of the staircase pretty much stayed the same. I did add the makeshift umbrella stand from a vase that needed a new home. 

The TV area got a small makeover. Previously I had shelving and my photos on the back wall. With the addition of the focal wall, I didn't want to cover it over. I used the 2 long shelves from that arrangement, and cut off about a foot to fit this wall. I created a photo collage from my travel pictures. Some of my favorites I blew up to display over the TV. Photos from my travels are some of my favorite things to hang up. It reminds me of all the places I've been, and encourages me to travel more so I can see more amazing things. 

You'll notice the cubbies under the TV don't have anything anymore. (What's in there now are supplies for my current projects) Something will go there, I just haven't figured out what yet. I'm thinking some sort of collection. In the middle of the room is my new art/work table. Click *here* if you want to read about it. It's working out really well so far. I do need to find a chair for it though. Standing is good, but after awhile I get a little sore.

Don't mind the sewing stuff on the floor. That is not normally there. However, if you follow me on Instagram than you know that I'm in the middle of Sewing Palooza. It helps to keep everything out, and at arms reach. The back focal wall I wanted to keep free of too much visual stimulation. The only thing I decided to hang is my Romero Britto print. The wall and the print are actually a good complement to each other. 

The last area is my desk area. My original plan was to build something L-shaped. However that all changed when I found a piece of table top glass in the IKEA As-Is section for $15. Yes people, $15. A total steal considering a table top like that would have easily cost $200-$300. I just couldn't walk past it. I had to rethink the whole design and configuration of the space. I bought a pair of glass table legs also from IKEA, and painted them gold. Next to the desk I added a 12" shelf for extra space. I realized from the last desk set-up that I need lots of horizontal area. 

I made my new mouse pad using Iron-On fabric sheets. I had no idea about these things until I was doing some research. Average Iron-On fabric is thin and used with cotton t-shirts. These sheets were thick canvas material, apparently meant for things like bags, aprons, and (lucky for me) mouse pads.

In addition to the side shelf, I used 2 of the small shelves from the previous back wall and repainted them white. 

I like having somewhere to display things and keep better organization.

Behind the desk also got reconfigured. The file cabinet got a makeover and my desk drawers got moved to the side.

SO that's it. I started this renovation in September. 6 months later this is where I ended up. Now believe me it's not totally done. I still have a few things I want to add, and a few projects in mind that I want to do. This is ALSO the end of my house renovation. YAY!!!! *backflips and cartwheels*... and before anyone gives me a side-eye followed by a "Yeah Right", let me clarify "end". Of course it doesn't mean I won't touch anything, it just simply means that every room is in an official "work in progress" state. I don't have any major room overhauls on the horizon. Now that this is done, I'm hoping to actually get back to a more regular blog schedule. Also a guy I met suggested that I start a vlog. So I've been pondering that lately as well. What do you think? Currently I am in the design, research, and measurements phase of my latest creation. Which I am very excited about, and cannot wait to show you. Trust there is never a dull moment around these parts. 

Until then....It's on to the next project.