No More Black and White Stripes?

Hey EVERYONE!!!! Oh how I have missed thee. I know, it has been so long since I've shared a project. Needless to say I haven't been just goofing around. I have been hard at work for the last 2 months. If you have chatted with me recently than you have heard me say I am embarking on my first true renovation. I have decided to finally redo my office...and for those of you who just said to yourselves "Again, didn't she just redo her office?". Well yes, yes I did. However, I decided it was time to stop trying to work around the red color, and make the room something I love. I had the idea for the red walls and black and white stripes before I moved in, and as much as I wanted it to, it just did not work in this room. I've had thoughts of changing it many times, but just never have. Why? Well painting this room is a complete chore to say the least. It's not square, and red is not the easiest color to cover. My time line is to have it in the "complete" stage by my birthday which will also be my 3 yr housiversary.  

So for those who don't know, here is what the office looked like before. 

First thing I did was clear the room. I did this over a course of a week or so.

As you can see there were some mishaps in the removal process. Some of those wall adhesives are permanent, and they tore up my wall. So first I patched and fixed all of destruction and holes.  

Next we're going to rectify part of the problem without color. There is only one small window in here and no natural light. I needed a really bright light, mostly for project sake. I knew I wanted a starburst pendant. I searched and searched and even debated making my own. Then I found one, and from Lowe's of all places. It was beautiful and wasn't that pricey either.

The light holds 18 bulbs. I know it's CRAZY! Each bulb holds a maximum of 60W.  It came with vintage bulbs, but those have a yellow glow to them and I needed bright bright. So, I swapped them out for clear regular bulbs. The light fully turned on is 1080W of light, which is honestly insane. However I only need that much light when I'm doing a project, so I installed a dimmer. Most times it is set at the half mark if not lower.  

Now for the walls. I cleared the room completely so I could start with a blank slate. I just thought it would make the whole process easier if I started from scratch. I got a good primer with stain blocking. The red on it's own is intense, throw in a few black stripes and this room is going to be a beast.

I tested a few colors out. This was tricky because the color had to look good in mid light and turned all the way up. I settled on Burnished Clay by Behr. This happens to also be the same color that is in my bedroom.

Now let's make some magic. I decided to do something fun on the back wall. First I'm starting out with a coat of Pure White paint.

I thought long and hard about this. I needed some flare because I couldn't just go back to plain walls. I contemplated more stripes, but I wanted something different. I did lots of research about focal walls to get ideas, and came across Herringbone. 

Now came the very painful process of creating this masterpiece. First I had to tape the wall. Normally when I've seen this done people use a darker color as the background and a lighter color as the lines. Me, of course I had to be special. I decided the main color would be white and the accent lines would be gold. This would be a lot harder and time consuming to paint considering I can't paint the gold first. So I started with the white and then taped the line edges. It took me a while, but not nearly as long as I thought once I got a rhythm and a good Pandora station. 

I painted inside the taped lines. Metallic paint is apparently pretty transparent so it took a solid 3 coats of paint to get the coverage I wanted. I painted all of the diagonals first, and then went back and did the vertical lines separately. When all was said and done. This is what it looked like.

Sorry, still playing with my new camera. In full technicolor...

FANCY!!!!! 

I absolutely LOVE how the wall turned out. It took me about a week to complete fully. 

This had to be one of the hardest rooms I've ever painted. Not only is it a weird shape, but the focal wall was not fun and there was lots of cleanup. Once I was done with the gray, I noticed just how messy I was with the red. It was everywhere, on the trim, baseboards, doorways, and ceiling. I never noticed it before but without the red walls it was shining at me like Rudolph's nose. Everything was an off red. It took me at least a couple of days to clean and touch everything up.

The rest of the room

What do you think? I think it is pretty darn fantastic. It looks so bright and airy down here now. 

Oh did I mention that I was getting new floors too. HA, Surprise! So I decided to get new flooring. I figured if out I was going to make changes why not go full out. Originally I had carpet in the main area and tile around the door and stairs. However, after awhile the tile was looking boring and the carpet was a direct reflection of my art/project life. I thought long and hard about how to make them work, and then one day it occurred to me to just change it completely.  I have wood in my kitchen and on my stairs, so it made sense to continue it down there. 

I went to Home Depot and selected flooring. Unfortunately my options were limited because I had to match the current flooring. I narrowed it down to somewhere in the Oak family. I thought how hard could this be, but do you know how many oaks there are? Geesh. Flooring is a lot more complicated than I thought. I ordered and had the flooring delivered, but decided to get a professional to install it. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a task I did not feel like doing. However, for some reason I decided I would try to remove the tile myself. (Sorry Herb, oh and Sarah too. Who I know is giving me side eye because she definitely was not okay with me chiseling at the floor)

 I don't know why. I think I figured it might cut down the time and/or money. It seemed easy at first, and of course the YouTube guy made it seem SUPER easy. He had his cool handy dandy tool, bang bang, and it popped right up. Well he lied. They all lie. Now it wasn't the worst thing I've ever done, but definitely not the easiest. I banged and banged and banged and banged some more. I chipped away at the floor piece by piece. It was hard work. I used safety goggles, gloves, and ear plugs. I still cut my fingers a couple of times and had to dodge flying bits of ceramic tile though. Nothing too terrible, but definitely not for the faint of heart.

In the end though it came out beautiful. I've already run around, danced, and did a twirl. The only thing left to do is practice pirouettes in my socks.

So the room is done, and I couldn't be more happy. I absolutely LOVE it! I'll be honest though I miss the stripes. They were amazing and beautiful. So, I just put them somewhere else!

HA! I bet you didn't see that coming. So, at the same time that I was planning the office, I was debating painting the wall in between my bedroom and closet. All of the walls are beige and I wanted something visual. Removing the red color was a blow to my love for bold things. Then one day someone saw a picture of the original room and said "Those are awesome", and the light bulb went off. They were awesome, and so I just moved them.

So there you have it. 2 months in the making and the first phase of this room renovation is done. Now all that's left is to decorate it. Piece of cake. This is going to be the fun part, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. It's going to take me awhile though. I want to be thoughtful this time around. I don't know if I have it in me to change this room again. Well at least for the next 2 years or so. 

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

Tanaira the Closet Designer

When I decided to turn my extra room into a closet I sure thought I was going to get evil looks from people as to why I didn't make it a guest room. To my surprise though most people dig it. Well except a few, but they'll come around. At the beginning of the year my friend Erica who just bought a home, asked me if I would turn one of her extra rooms into a closet. Of course! I mean, how could I say no. I get a chance to do something that I love. This is what the room looked like when I started.

Originally we talked about just redesigning her actual closets, but they are really pretty small. After discussing with Erica what she wanted, her ideas, what was going to go in the room, and how she was going to use it, I got to work. There's a big window in the middle of the far wall so everything had to go on the sides. I measured how much hanging space she would need. She has a lot of clothes so we did one whole wall of hanging space. Right now they are all the same height but I left them adjustable if she ever needs to change it up. On the other wall I added one tall rack for dresses and long items, and flanked it with 2 BILLY bookcases from IKEA for folded pieces and additional shelving. 

In addition to clothes I gave her shelving for her shoes. At first we were not going to do anything with them because Erica was just going to organize them in her actual closet. Then one day I get a call that she wants shoe shelves. "What? I thought you were just going to line them up in the closet". Well that was good in theory, until they started taking over the floor. She wanted them off the floor and up the wall. So that's what we did. I had her take down the existing rack, and installed shelves along the length and height of the wall. 

They're all about 10" apart with the 2 bottom shelves higher for taller shoes. 

Now for the project, and just to say If this turns out half as amazing as I think it will, I might be jealous that it's not going in my house. I'm building Erica a Jewelry Case. I actually got the idea for this piece while at the eye doctor, and have been dying to do it. Erica has a massive amount of jewelry, and she also makes bracelets. Looking at all of it, it pained me to see all of her nice stuff in boxes and bags, tangled together. So here we go. Here's the design I'm going for. 

As to not have craziness going on, I'm going to do this in phases. Phase 1 was to build the base. I took my first trip to Home Depot which consisted of 3/4" plywood, and a 1x2". I had them cut the big pieces at Home Depot for me. I could have cut them myself, but sometimes it's easier to have them cut them all at once on their big industrial machine. The men at Home Depot are always so willing and excited to help a woman in distress doing a simple DIY. However, when I got home he had cut 2 of the pieces a little wompy so I ended up re-cutting them anyway. I pulled out my Saw Max and evened them out.

I took my 4 pieces and put them together. Usually I glue my pieces together and then reinforce with nails or screws. However I noticed a little bend, and as I started trying to glue the first piece I could just sense that it wasn't going to be as easy and nice as I wanted. So I decided to screw the base together first to make sure the edges were as perfect as possible, saving me time later in the perfecting process. Once the box was together I added wood glue to the inside corners.

The next day I added additional nails to the base, and used wood filler along the sides to cover up the nail and screw holes. Then the whole base got sanded. The wood was a little rough for my liking. Last thing was to add the bottom. To create a little visual interest, I decided to add a border around the bottom edge. I cut all of the pieces on the saw and clamped them in place.

  Once I was done and everything was set, I turned it right side up and gave it 2 coats of Semi-Gloss white.

Now on to Phase 2, the drawers. I made my second trip to Home Depot, and picked up wood and slides for the drawers. I ended up making a detour trip to Lowe's to get white drawer slides because Home Depot only had off-white and that just would not do. As for the wood, the nicer pine was a little more expensive than I thought. So to cut down on costs I only bought the nice pine for the fronts, and used the regular pine for the sides and back since those weren't going to be as visible for the most part. I measured the inside of the opening, and then all of the different lengths I needed. I cut enough wood for only one drawer. I measured twice (more like 4 times) and cut once. After the fiasco that was that last drawer install, I was very cautious with this one.

I went ahead and cut out the pieces for all 7 drawers, laid them out, and painted each piece white. Next day I put them together with a combination of wood glue and nails. Before I continued, I tested each drawer inside of the base to make sure they all fit. Can you tell I was serious about not having another drawer debacle? I don't know if my little self could take it. I might have passed out. However to my delight each drawer fit. YAY!!!!!

Using my Saw Max I cut a thin sheet of wood into pieces for the bottoms. At this point I wondered if my neighbors were wondering what was going on. There was an awful lot of banging  and sawing going on in these parts. Once they were all put together I had to go through the grueling process of patching them up. I got out my Wood Glue and filler and got to work. 

Patching up is always the least fun part. It takes patience and does a number on my nails. Once everything was perfect, I painted them all white. 

With the drawers complete there was only one thing left of phase 2. 

I grabbed 1 set of drawer slides, and separated the outer piece from the inner piece. I screwed the outer pieces to the inside of the base on both sides.

 Then screwed the inner pieces to the bottom of the drawer.

I held my breathe and proceeded to slide the drawer on the track. 

OMG It fit! *Happy Dance* I am so excited. These sliding mechanisms are actually a lot easier to work with than the other ones. I completed the remainder of the drawers, and put them all in place. It looked amazing. Not just a Happy Dance, it was a whole Happy Dance Routine. I was so excited about this (Can you tell) and I wasn't even done. Phase 2...complete.

I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. On to Phase 3, the display top. Another trip to Home Depot. I selected a couple of sheets of 24" x 48" plywood and 1"x 4" pine. I cut 3 pieces of pine, and added 2 pieces to the end and one in the center. 

For the top I created a rectangle with 2 windows. These were for the display. Getting the right measurements for this was a little tricky, as I needed to complement the wood and glass sizes that were available. It took awhile, but I finally got it.

Then I added the top layer of wood. This was smaller than the first to create a rest around the inner edge. 

Once the two pieces were done I decided to paint the bottom and inside portion first.

 Then I glued them together, and finished painting the piece as one. I wanted it to look like one uniform piece and not two put together. However, I was still seeing some separation on the sides. So, I decided to take the extra time to file and sand down the imperfections and fill in the cracks and crevices. 

I repeated that process until I was satisfied, and then repainted the whole thing. Phase 3 complete. 

So now on to the last phase....the details. What is a Jewelry Case without the pretty. First was adding lining to the drawers. I went with a dark purple (Erica's favorite color) fabric from Jo-Ann. I try to deter from bright colors when doing linings as to not create a clashing visual with the jewelry. 

I actually was going to go with the darker shiny side when I bought it. However when I got home I liked the soft side better. So I cut out 7 pieces and wrapped them around card stock for stability. 

For the drawers I chose pulls. I drilled 2 holes, about 3 inches apart and screwed them in. We were going to go with purple, but stuck with something more classic. They were not as bright as I wanted so I sprayed them with a really shiny silver spray paint.

Next was to add the glass top. I bought 2 sheets of glass from Lowe's, and decided that I would cut the glass myself. I mean why not add glass cutter to my repertoire. I bought a glass cutting blade and everything.

I came home and tested it on a small piece before tackling the main one. Everything was fine. I did a couple of test runs and it worked. Well the day came to cut the big piece...and FAIL! 

I don't know why, but I tried again. FAIL #2. I messed up both pieces. 

I watched several YouTube videos and it seemed easy enough. I don't know how  could have messed up. I realized that cutting a small piece wasn't so bad. Cutting a larger piece was definitely above my skill level. So back to Lowe's I went, and this time I had the guy at Lowe's cut the glass for me. 2 snips and PERFECT. They have this fancy machine that cut it in seconds. I don't know why I didn't let them do it before. Probably because I'm a busy body, and thought glass cutting would be cool. Lesson learned. 

 The final step was to add the trays to the top. I started with foam board. 

Then I wrapped the remainder of the purple fabric around each piece. This time I used the shiny side. It gave a more luxe appearance from the top.

Then I painted the side pieces, and adhered them to the board with Gorilla Glue. 

I completed the trays by painting the bottom and adding foot pads to prevent scratching. 

Once they were completely dry I added fancy crystal knobs. I went to screw in my tray knobs, and realized the screws were too long. I was delivering the piece in a couple of hours, and I didn't have time to go get smaller ones. So I did what any DIY girl does, I improvised. There I was at the final hour with a metal cutting bit, sawing off the end of screws.

It wasn't the ideal approach, but it worked.

The last piece was done, and it looked magnificent. I honestly could not believe what I was looking at, and that I had actually built it.

I was ecstatic, but didn't have too long to marvel at my creation. I had to go deliver it to it's rightful owner. 6 weeks of my life, and now I'm giving it away. I won't lie I was slightly crushed. I've grown quite attached to this piece. I definitely have ideas though in case my jewelry collection grows. I piled all of the pieces in my car and drove to Erica's house. I have never driven so slow on the highway, trying to dodge every bump and pot hole.  #1 goal was don't break the glass.

To install it I turned the top piece over and placed the bottom base on top. It took me a few minutes to line them up perfectly in the middle. Once I did, I screwed the pieces together for security.

Turned it back over right side up (and once again I mean carefully rolled), added the drawers, added the glass, put the trays in place...and VOILA!

 Can I get 2 Snaps, a Z formation, and a bag of A-MA-ZING! I was so excited I could spit, and Erica was ecstatic. Before I was done she was already pulling everything out to organize. At some point I thought the piece might have been too big, but the more stuff she seemed to pull out of the closet I realized this was exactly what she needed. Before I even made it home she had posted the picture of it all laid out and in place. I was happy for her to be able to finally see all of her stuff.

The last piece of the puzzle was in place, and with that I was done. My very first closet design.

.

So what do you think? Isn't it fantastic. At her housewarming I got so many compliments. I must have done something right. People were surprised to find out that it wasn't my day job. Which is a good feeling. Last week with the abrupt changing of temperatures in the morning, Erica said it was nice and easy to reach for her colder weather clothing. So the whole thing was a success. It's never about the amazing closet for me, but rather the person gets a great benefit from it. If she's happy, I'm happy. 

So many have asked me if I do this professionally. Well yes and no. I do have a full time job which is analyzing large spreadsheets and databases. Absolutely no creativity at all. However, I do do this on the side if I can. In fact organizing and design are a few of my passions. Weird I know, but I love organizing, and creating organizing solutions for people. I think it's a shame for people to have beautiful things piled into drawers, bags, and bins that they can't get to. So if you are interested just ask, and I'll see what I can do. Until then...it's on to the next project