DIY Websites that are NOT PINTEREST

I love Pinterest, but I feel that in terms of upcycling, the offerings are limited for inspiration. Lately, I've been on the search for more independent DIY sites that push the envelope a little more. Below is a list of DIY and Upcycling Websites that I found very useful for inspiration with a briefsynopsis:

1. http://www.dailydanny.com/
An awesome inspirational Upcycling blog from a designer who sells items to major retailers like TJMAXX. 

2. http://www.swellmayde.com/p/swellmayde-diy-gallery.html
A great website for tutorials on how to make everything from upcycled reclaimed wood coffee tables to wire rings and jewelry. 

3. http://www.diyinspired.com/learn-to-decoupage/
An awesome guide to decoupage for furniture and other higher-end items. 

4. http://craftgawker.com/?s=furniture
A pinterest-esq website through Gawker

5. http://www.shabbylovefurniture.com/index.html
The website of Shabbly Love Furniture store located in Virginia. Shabby Love sells upcycled vintage finds and is a great website to get a good idea of what upcycled items sell well through their 'recently sold gallery'.

6. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/
The meca of DIY projects. Seriously, its a massive and sprawling website with just about everything you could ever think of. 

7. http://blog.freepeople.com/diy/
A DIY website covering everything from fashion to food to beauty to music. 

8. http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/
An awesome DIY Interior Design website. 

9.  http://www.hyggeandwest.com/
My favorite website for wallpaper and decoupage inspiration. Extremely modern papers that are available by the yard instead of the roll. 

10. http://www.growhousegrow.com/about/
By far my favorite website for fabric and wallpaper. Specializing in 'narrative-inspired design' these pieces are full of whimsy and whit that is enough to charm the pants off any English nerd.

DIY: Turning a Bookshelf into a Bar While Watching Dawson's Creek

While making a bar out of an old bookshelf there are any number of things one can do to make the moment even more enjoyable. You could have a preemptive cocktail. You could listen to the smooth sounds of Madeleine Peyroux, something I've taken to doing while doing chores to make them seem whimsical, Parisienne.

One thing that might not come to mind is watching Dawson's Creek. But that's exactly what I did while waiting for coats of paint to dry on a bookshelf I was turning into a bar. Subsequently, all of my book instruction headers will now be Dawson's Creek puns, interspersed with classic Dawson's Creek quotes. 

"I’d be much more inclined to answer your question if you weren’t looking at me liked I’d just killed Grams drunk-driving."

CJ (to Jen)

Dawson's Tears Flow like Paint Drips

My first order of business was to choose a color of paint for the bookshelf. This is something that takes me some time. I usually live with the piece for a few days, occasionally staring at it or holding fabric up to it to determine what would look best. For this bookshelf, I chose a soft grey chalk paint. I turned the bookshelf upside down to take advantage of the top design. 

After several attempts to take off the wooden backing of the bookshelf, I ended up having to leave it on. Every time I tried to pull out the old nails the back piece started to crack. Since this was what I considered a 'practice piece' I wasn't too worried.

"Just because every quasi-bohemian hipster with pretensions of literary greatness worships at the altar of Kerouac means that I should too?"

JOEY 

Fabric Angst and the Glue that Binds
Attaching fabric to anything is no easy feat. Anyone can paint, prime, sand, and refurbish something, but applying fabric is a real skill. After choosing to work with a grey and yellow fabric for the backing of this bookshelf, I purchased a can of Elmer's multipurpose spray mount. Since I wanted to put the fabric on the top AND bottom of the bookshelf, the challenge became how to measure the fabric.

Taking a tape measure to a bookshelf is easy, but then taking those measurements and converting them into a clean edge piece of fabric is hard. When cutting fabric, the ends will fray. Also, cutting a thick fabric completely straight is nearly impossible (for me, at least). As an alternative, I  measured and then pinned the edges of the fabric together, creating a much cleaner edge. Then, I ironed the edges to create a crease where I could then remove the pins and apply the fabric directly into the bookshelf.

Once I had the fabric ironed and ready, I then took to the bookshelf. Carefully, I sprayed the adhesive 8-10 inches away from where I wanted to attach the fabric on the back of the bookshelf. Then, I slowly positioned the fabric starting with the top corners. Once I had these in place, I then moved down the length of the bookshelf. The great part about using spray adhesive is that you have a few seconds to shift the fabric around for minor adjustments until it dries. The bad part is that you can't always pick up the fabric and respray pieces or places that you might have missed or need more adhesive, like corners or edges.

"I’ve got my portable fan, I’ve got my water bottle, I’ve got my new glittery lipstick – which, by the way, rocks – I am ready to jog." 

AUDREY 

Table Legs are as Serious as Dawson's Highlights

Buying table legs is oddly intimidating. Upon initial reaction, I wanted to buy the cool retro wooden table legs that cost $10 each. Alas, I realized that no one would care about the table legs as much as I did and purchased 8" Waddell table legs from the home depot for $1.89 each. 

I try to use items that are found or recycled materials but when it comes to things like table legs, sometimes you just have to make a trip to the home depot. If you purchase table legs you'll also need to purchase a mounting base for said table legs. I aligned them and then measured the distance between the metal and the edge of the bookshelf to ensure that everything was lined up just so. Then, I painted them to match the rest of the bookshelf. 

"Cool. The movie star poster I ordered from my teen beat catalog arrive today. I was starting to worry.

PACEY

The Gangs All Here, Let's Have a Beer

The only thing left was to attach the under shelf wine bottle holder and wine glass apparatus to the top of the bookshelf. I bought a contraption that could both hold wine bottles and wine glasses from Amazon as this bookshelf did not have a lot of space to attach two separate apparatus'. This piece simply screwed into the top of the bookshelf. 

A Perfect Addition to the Potter B & B

Turning the table over on its newfound legs made me realize just how awesome this project was to work on. It came out way better than I ever thought it could and was a great experience. The only thing left to do was fill it with alcohol and put it up on the etsy page. This piece is available for $125. Now that its finished, I'm going to have a cocktail and watch Dawson's Creek. 

I'm excited to hear your comments/thoughts on this project! Please feel free to leave a comment or share your own bar building adventures. 

Upcycled Bar Inspiration

I live in Jersey City, a 7-minute train ride outside of NYC. Jersey City is much more sprawling but living space is definitely limited. With that in mind, I try to design and upcycled pieces that are best for smaller living quarters.

The project I really want to sink my teeth into is turning an old outdated bookshelf into a bar. I was inspired by seeing this project on Pinterest: 

This project cost around $60, mainly in the cost of the wine bottle holders and under shelf wine glass holders.  Some other examples I found were equally appealing:

For all my projects, I try to use found materials. This is challenging when it comes to finding things like wallpaper or fabric. My friend Emily brought me a small 2-shelf bookshelf from her parents garage sale (an item that didn't sell) and I've been so excited working on my own bar.

Look for my DIY post in the next few days on how I made my own bookshelf bar!

How to Sew an Invisible Zipper

Sewing invisible zippers can be really intimidating. It took me several tries to feel confident about sewing with an invisible zipper and even now, I usually practice on a piece of fabric before I actually sew something important.

When I was first learning how to sew invisible zippers, I took to the internet to watch and read tutorials. What I found was confusing. Many sites and DIY descriptions made the process seem daunting. When I found the below video by Collette Patterns on how to sew an invisible zipper I fell in love: the video was cute with a great soundtrack and had clear up close views of the process. The captions also really helped me when watching the video to be able to pause in specific spots. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me!

Tips for Making an Upcycled Pillow

Recently, I've taken to making pillow cases from vintage curtains. I find curtains at vintage shops, ebay, and tag sales. There are a few things that I look for when working with any vintage fabric, not just curtains.

Things to look for when shopping for vintage fabric: 

1. Look out for stains. Make sure the fabric isn't tattered or stained in prime areas. I recently found a BEAUTIFUL fabric that only later did I realize had a light slight stain that would be smack dab in the middle of the pillow case I had envisioned making. Bummer.

2. Look for large curtains. If you buy a small valance curtain or small window curtain, they're typically a similar price to buying one large curtain. I recently bought a boat/villa scene curtain that was on its way out for roughly $5 and its huge. Like, could be a tablecloth huge. I can make a lot of pillow cases out of this curtain and I feel really great that I was able to give it new life. See Photo Below

3. Look out for rotten fabric. A fabric might look great but could be rotten. Fabrics age just like any other material and when stored bad conditions (extreme heat, humidity). When looking at a fabric it can be hard to tell whats okay and whats rotting. My advice: pull it at the corners. Take the corners between your fingers and give it a little tug. If it doesn't feel REALLY sturdy, don't buy it. If you sew with a rotting fabric, it will completely fall apart.

Boat/Villa Pillow Case

4.  Buy funky fabric! Making pillow cases from vintage curtains gives them a second chance at life. I've noticed a trend of fellow vintagers only using vintage curtain fabric that 'look' modern. I love this idea too but I try to push myself outside of the box to find pieces that pique my interest in a different way. For example, I made the below vegetable pillow after finding a kitchen curtain I found intriguing. I then made the back more modern to blend the two styles. This pillow would be great in a kitchen or breakfast nook or for someone who lives near water.

4. Write funky descriptions when selling! Recently, I sold a set of pillows to my friend Chris, a recent medical school graduate, when I ran into him studying for his rotations in a cafe. I had sewn a pillow out of a vintage kitchen curtain and wrote the following description:

Veggie Pillow Front

"Double Sided Vegetable Pillow Cover Made from Upcycled Vintage Curtain. 24"x 24" pillow cover with invisible zipper. Pillow insert NOT included. Pillow inserts can be purchased from local craft store. Easy to clean fabric. One side features green pattern, the other vintage veggies. A great conversation piece. Would look great on a couch or in your kitchen! Everyone needs a kitchen pillow, right?"

Veggie Pillow Back

When he first saw me he yelled, "I need that kitchen pillow!" He read the description! So many times I write things like blogs or item descriptions thinking no one reads them. It was exciting. Since I only had one pillow ready for him, I'm making a second. My next post will be a DIY for  making a 20 x 20 invisible zipper pillow cover. 

Painting Wood Furniture, Awesome or Terrible?

To most people I tell that I paint furniture I get 1/2 reactions: AWESOME! or Who on earth would paint wood? In one particular blog response, I had a woman practically shriek at me for painting a wood chair white. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I have a take on this argument that moves towards the functionality of a piece through its appearance. If you can improve a pieces function and desire for it to be used from painting, why not paint it? 

Painted pieces can fetch hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Why? It looks modern. It's appealing. It gives new life to an otherwise drab piece of furniture that was more than likely rescued from the curb. Or a dumpster. Or a tag sale. People are taking these incredibly well made pieces of furniture and practically giving them away in exchange for NOT custom wood furniture. By painting the piece and making it modern again, you're giving something incredibly well made a new life. If taken care of, these pieces can be used for upwards of 100 years.

Look at these before and afters. Its like looking at someone's high school prom photo vs. their 10-year reunion photo:

This piece is from 3CITYGIRLSNYC:

These pieces are from Shabby Love: 

Though I love a painted piece of furniture, if a certain piece had that je ne sais quoi in terms of wood grain, I would most definitely abstain from painting and revamp the wood finish. Problem being, this is a much more tedious and difficult process. 

Many times, you're dealing with wood that's been refinished multiple times. When there are multiple finishes you're going to have to go through multiple processes to clean up the wood. You'll need to strip the wood, sand it, and then stain it in a color that brings out the true color of the wood. 

I judge pieces based on what I believe will sell. More times than not, painting furniture wins. What's your take? 

Upcycled Pieces I Can Make!