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Stanley.

( By: paola | 25-08-2011 | Before & After, Daily, DIY?, Plans | 1 Comment )

Which is a lot. I wanted to make it easier for her caregiver to.. well, care for her. I knew I didn’t want another dresser in the room (she already has two and I need more storage than it could provide) but it had to be easily accessible and near her bed. One day I had the brilliant idea of using an armoire. So I took to Craigslist. Even downloaded the app(!) and set up automatic notifications for “vintage armoire.” After weeks of either missing out on great pieces or having dimensions that weren’t quite right… we found him. Yes, him. His name is Stanley. And let me tell you… Stan is the man!

I mean, look at all that storage! We paid $100 for dear old Stan and his buddy (who we haven’t named yet), a matching bedside table which we will likely use in the “master” bedroom. Nevermind that shifty looking board at the bottom there, that happened when someone *cough* decided to start lowering Stan onto the ground before I had a chance to get out from under him. Neither Stan nor I was harmed in the telling of this story.

The plan is to paint (yes, paint!) Stan a light gray with some subtle (I hope!) metallic accents. I’m still undecided as to what I want to go about the hardware. I like it but I wonder if its a tad bit dark for the look I’m going for. Hmm, but mom’s room has plenty-o-dark going on anyway (chocolate brown wallpapered accent wall and dark brown dressers) so it might just work. Decisions, decisions.

We picked up the paint today, I color matched Martha Stewart’s “Sharkey Gray” in Behr’s Premium Plus Ultra semi-gloss paint. I’m a sucker for that PPU, it hasn’t failed me yet. And also because I’ve decided that I refuse to paint anything other than walls more than twice. Also picked up some Liquid Deglosser (since Sherry has been singing it’s praises lately) and some metallic paint. Can I just tell you how excited I am? Can I??! :)

Won’t you be my neighbor?

( By: paola | 02-02-2011 | Daily, DIY? | 1 Comment )

I have to share these two sites I just discovered with you guys (whoever you are, *waves*). Wood & Faulk and The Brick House. Can I just say uhhhhh-mazing? I’m completely obsessed with both of these wonderful sites. This is actually the second time I’ve “discovered” The Brick House, after which I clicked too many links and couldn’t find my way back. Always take the time to bookmark, folks!

Super duper inspired by both sites and their amazing DIY projects. You know, the kind of DIY projects that make you want to order a circular saw off of Amazon at 3am? Yea, those. Through their projects I’ve somehow managed to find the courage to take on more challenging projects in the future.

Below are just a couple of pictures of what I’m talking about. Morgan’s rotting fence turned awesome bench (complete with Eames legs!) and Matt’s barn door track system. I have to find a reason to install a barn door system somewhere in this house. I must.

photo credit: the brick house, wood&faulk

Cork Board!!!

( By: yong | 19-11-2009 | DIY?, Inspiration | 2 Comments )

so, i view the house and impending improvements as more of a “community” thing than anything else. yes, it will be a home to myself, p, and p’s mother. but, as with the corean culture, houses are for both family, and extended family.

with that said, i’m really liking the idea of all of our loved ones (friends and family alike) having a hand in restructuring the house the way we like. large or small, any contributions, advice, or labor from folks would be awesome. that way, our home would be a collective effort, and everyone we care about would have helped out. well, those wanted to at least.

in recognition of that, i wanted to arrange one entire wall in the home specifically to those that have aided us. i’m going to attempt to line the wall with corkboard, and everyone that comes over to help out is gonna take a polaroid with us and get put on the wall.

White Kitchens, Possible DIY?

( By: paola | 19-10-2009 | DIY? | 4 Comments )

As we (impatiently) count the days until the big move (73 days!) we’re trying to prioritize what we want to tackle first. Besides the usual setting up of the cable, switch the utilities to our names etc. We’re both coming from shared apartment living and both relied semi-heavily on what the other person brought into the apartment (okay, maybe just me). Thus we’ll have to purchase brand new flatware, bakeware, cookware etc. Now as exciting as that all is it got me to thinking about the kitchen as a whole. Not saying we have an awful kitchen to work with because its actually pretty nice. But I’ve just never been a big fan of wood grain unless I’m stepping on it.

So my mind wandered onto what I would like to see as far as kitchen cabinetry is concerned, right-click saved all the pictures I loved and at the end of the day I noticed a pattern: white cabinetry.

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