Bench - complete!

Remember this weekend project? Chloe reminded me that I never showed you all a final picture of the bench in action. So here are two photos of the bench at the end of the bed storing too many books and newspapers. It's definitely serving its purpose.

I hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend before a week full of too much food. Do you have any plans? Are you preparing for Thanksgiving? Any good recipes you want to share? xo

Weekend project recap

I have been looking for a new bench for our bedroom for a while now. West Elm and Pottery Barn sell some beauties, but you have to shell out $200-$400. I needed something in the near-free price range. Thus, Ben and I took a trip to Home Depot to build our own.

We were clearly beginners at the hardware store - not knowing which wood, screws, or wood stain to buy. But we swallowed our pride and recruited the help of Mr. Mike in the orange apron. He showed us the ropes and now we'd like to share some tips with you!

Tip #1) If you don't own a saw, plan ahead and make sure you have someone at the store cut the wood for you. We wanted a bench that was about 3 feet in length to fit in our pint-sized apartment. After lugging home five bags of goods on the Metro, Ben was off to work on the bottom part of the bench.

Tip #2) Buy pre-made legs. They are about $3.50 each at the hardware store and when you're painting your bench outside in front of your apartment you get lots of compliments like "those are beautiful legs you've got."

3) Paint outside. Whether you have wood stain or paint, do not paint inside. The fumes will make you go brain dead. But don't sit as close to the street as I did. That is also dangerous.

4) Use push pins (or thumb tacs) to turn your bench right side up when the legs are still wet. Ben and I started staining the bottom of the bench before the top. That meant that we had already painted the legs of the bench. To prevent the legs of the bench from sticking to the newspaper that we laid on the ground, we stuck push pins in the bottom of the legs, lifting the legs an extra inch in the air. Although you can't see the push pins in the picture below, the bench is very happy to not be stuck to the trash bag.

Tip #5) When nothing else will remove the wood stain on your hands, nail polish remover will! It was a life saver when I super glued my fingers together last year, and it was a life saver once again this past weekend when the sticky wood stain wouldn't come off of our fingers. Thank you, nail polish remover.

Stay tuned for a pic of the final product in use!

The Friday Find

We posted a while ago about one way to brighten up an old lampshade; here's a new idea!  Laura at Enjoying the Simple Things came up with a way to use paint stir sticks (which are almost always FREE, by the way!) to create a unique, super easy-to-make lampshade.  This was the final result:

via Enjoying the Simple Things

It has a very cottage-y feel.  I think it would look cute in a screened-in porch or rustic-style kitchen!  

Hope you have a great weekend.  I have two birthdays, an anniversary, and a friend's return from Kenya to celebrate as well as a baby shower to plan....not to mention exams to study for next week.  Eek!

New curtains

I have had sage green curtains for three or four years, and by now I am so sick of them. Green is not my color. Thus, they are staying in my old house while I move to my new house :) And a few weeks ago I treated myself to some nice fabric to make new curtains.

Robert Allen Cats Cradle (a navy blue color)

 
These simple curtains were pretty easy to make, but they're nothing fancy. In fact, I can't believe than anyone would be willing to pay $225 for them. I'll let you know how they look in their new home!

Happy hump day. Hope it's not too unbearable for you.

The Friday Find

Happy Friday!  It's been a beautiful but long week in Portland, and it's not nearly over yet - four hours of class await me this afternoon followed by a Basic Life Support class tomorrow morning.  I thought I'd stop in to talk about the saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure."  Or maybe "what's old is new again."  When Andy and I moved into our apartment, we didn't have much furniture.  Luckily, his parents have what could be an entire antique shop/flea market in their attic!  When we were in the market for a coffee table, they generously offered us an old lobster trap, similar to this one:

Living in Maine, it's not uncommon at all to see these repurposed as coffee tables.  After living with it as-is for a few months, I decided that I could make it a little more useful.  I ripped out the netting, sanded it down, nailed a few loose pieces into place, and wiped it clean.  Now it doubles as a coffee table and very handy board game storage.  Here's a pic: 

It's not my ideal coffee table, but it works for now.  Have a happy weekend!

P.S. Don't forget to show your dad some love on Sunday!

The Friday Find

I'm feeling the need to be particularly thrifty this week. Why, you may ask?

1) I have been spending entirely too much money on securing an apartment for the upcoming year.

2) I am spending a pretty penny on a July vacation in Honduras with my cousins. (Side note: It is so worth it.)

3) The vaccines to travel to Honduras are PRICEY! Not to mention, I haven't had chicken pox, so I had to get that vaccine too. Let me tell you - it is definitely more cost effective to have chicken pox as a kid than to get the vaccine as an adult.

So this week there is not much money left over for furniture shopping for the new apt. Thus, I will show you how to re-paint an old, dilapidated dresser and make it shiny and new for just over $50.

1) Have a friend like Rachel with an old dresser. Rent a Zipcar and pick it up from her ($8).

(The other drawers did come with it,
I had just pulled them out already)

2) Visit your local hardware store. I like Logan Hardware. If you are a female, you will have a particularly fun time at the hardware store because all of a sudden, the male workers become oddly friendly. Hilary tells me this is the "female in a hardware store" experience. Anyways, purchase 3 sheets of sandpaper, a paint brush or roller, a can of primer, and a can of paint in the color of choice (I stuck with black). They will give you the tool to open the paint can and the stirrers for free. (Unless that is only part of the "female in a hardware store" experience.) (About $25)

Primed dresser

3) Visit Lee Valley Tools online and purchase new brass drawer pulls. While shipping is not included, these drawer pulls are a steal at less than $2.50 each. (About $25)

Sanded, primed,
two coats of black paint, new ring pulls

And voila! You have a new dresser. Happy Friday!

Home Improvement Part 2: Lampshades

Happy Monday!  I feel like I've barely come up for air since mid-may.  I've been in nursing school world - new faces, new concepts, and lots and lots of reading about bodily functions.  I decided to take this afternoon off from school and come up for air to share a little project I did recently during my home improvement spree.  I was inspired by this post, which I originally found over at Little Green Notebook (one of my favorite decorating/DIY blogs).  I actually liked the original fabric on the lampshade I used, so I chose to just add some simple trim.  The original trim was peeling off and starting to look pretty ratty.  Here are some pics of the process:

I used regular old fabric glue, which made the project quick, cheap, and easy. 

I probably could have done a neater job on the inside of the shade, but it ended up looking fine. 

Here's the outside edge.  The tape helps to keep it in place while the glue dries.

All in all, it was super quick and easy fix for a not-so-pretty lampshade.  I will definitely be trying this again!

Home Improvement

Today was very exciting for two reasons: it was my first day of nursing school (!!!), and we FINALLY put the finishing touches one some of the home improvement things we've been doing around our apartment.  This weekend, my dad built us a L-shaped desk that is very simple and exactly what we have been needing for our very small workspace.  Here are some pics (no before pictures, unfortunately, and sorry about iPhone pics!):

We gave the desk (which is a simple but nice looking birch plywood) a few coats of semi-gloss poly.  I thought it would take forever to dry, but we were able to put three coats of this water-based coating on in one day.

Here is Andy's gear-filled side of the room.  I ordered the rug at West Elm and it was SO cheap compared to every other rug I've seen of similar quality.  Plus, I love the cheery color!  It's bright and summery and contrasts nicely with the grey walls.   

Here's my sad corner of the room...a few pictures and my medical terminology cheat sheet.  I'm still looking for a cheap but comfy desk chair.  Suggestions?!

Since I have only been working part time the last two weeks but haven't been in school, I was able to cross some other things off my to-do list, including this.  I'll have more to share later on this week!