Encyclopedia Side Table

If you kept up with me via social media while I was off the blog grid then you saw me post this fabo table not too long ago. This was one of those projects that I had all the pieces laying around for ages and I just never did anything. But then I did and I instantly didn't want to sell it. 

Reed and I finished this piece off back in about February but I just never found a spot I wanted to photograph it. Then I did, right in my own living room and I fell even more in love. But alas, I do not need another table, despite how cool this one is so it's up for grabs. 

This awesome side table features some 1950's  world encyclopedias, mid century modern table legs, vintage beveled glass, and hardware. 

That list is sure full of history. Each material has so many story lines etched on its surface and I am IN LOVE with it. I wanted the table to feel like it was made from history and I think that was achieved nicely by the simple design. 

The best part of the table is the negative space between the binding on the books and the glass top. 

Such beautiful lines that allow each material to stand on its own. 

 I hope the home that this little table finds loves it as much as I do.

All this history needs a place to be the center of attention, and those lines need some loving too :)

I am hoping to pump out a new furniture design every month for the remainder of the year. Join me on Instagram to keep up to date on the progress and I will be sharing the final products here!!

Ordering Custom Art & Home Decor (Why it's awesome!)

Last week I shared with y'all how to love a creative person. It was really fun to write because it kinda made me understand myself a little better, and totally made me appreciate Reed so much. As I was writing that post I was about to start three HUGE projects I have had on my plate for  a while and so I was still very much in the excited stage. Now I am in the midst of those projects and I'm still pumped but I'm a little bit nervous too. Every time I start a project for a client I always have to explain myself to the people who help me along the way. I don't want that to sound bad, it's always good explaining but I start off with "Well, my dream is to be a furniture builder, so I am starting this for a lady..." and what I have learned from Reed is I need to give myself more credit. I AM  furniture builder, I AM designing and building this for a CLIENT.

So as a kind of transition from last weeks post on how to love a creative person I thought I would write a post about why supporting a creative person is important, and how you can do that while also getting awesome work for your home :)

I don't want this to be a "buy my product" post, so I am not going to post any thing "for sale" but I am using images of pieces I have built and sold in the past. I want this to be a post that will talk about the benefits from buying from a maker and helping support THEM while getting awesome unique work for YOU.  

So anyway, in this world of IKEA furniture at awesome prices, everyone falling head over heals for chalk paint thrift finds, I have found that often times it is hard to convince people that purchasing custom work is worth it. I get it that custom work can cost more than a thrift shop, and some cases IKEA. But when you are purchasing work made by a small time, small business you are doing so much more than purchasing an item for your home.

You are supporting a dream.

You are helping pay the bills.

You are funding a new business. 

You are telling them they have a talent. 

You let them know they are worth it. 

Now, those are not meant to be cheesy gooey "quick go buy something from ETSY" reasons. Those are legit things that every time I get a purchase of any item, $15- $1,500, will run through my mind. I am always so encouraged when someone thinks my product is WORTH their money. They don't ask for discounts, they don't try and barter or bargain with me. They treat me like they would a real business. THAT means so much! 

Now, I also wanted to share a few reasons on why purchasing custom work benefits YOU!

You are getting a quality piece.

  - Usually. Now I get that some ETSY shops may not produce the "best" work. But for the most part, people that are wanting this to be a career. They are producing QUALITY work for  a crazy good deal. Think about it, when you purchase something from IKEA, 1. it's not real wood and 2. you have to put it together when you get home. If you order a handmade cusotm piece of furniture from a local builder, they will put in HOURS of work, and use the best materials and you don't have to worry about assembling it when you get home! 

You are getting something totally unique. 

- You know how when you see an HGTV home and it always has the coolest stuff, like so many unique pieces that you can never find. Usually, it's because you are right, you can't just find those. They are having pieces made for the space, or reworked specifically for them. Guess what YOU CAN DO THAT TOO! It may sounds crazy, but you don't have to copy an entire room from the Pottery Barn magazine, you can make one that functions and looks the way YOU want when you work with a custom builder/maker. 

You are getting a story.

- This is my favorite part about buying from small businesses. I love to tell people, "Yeah I found this girl in town that does custom work, she has a sweet little studio where she does everything in her yard." Or whatever the story was. There is always a story, how you found them, the process you went through to design the piece, a new friendship, SO MANY STORIES! 

Basically, buying custom art and home decor isn't as scary and expensive as you may think. Do your research find a local maker that can help you build a dining room table to fit YOUR space AND your BUDGET. Find someone that you want to support their dream of painting for a living. ETSY has made this a little easier, but if you want something local to you, usually the good ole google can help you find someone local. Just put in a little bit of time and you could end up with something you never dreamed could be apart of your home. 

Find someone and be apart of their story. 

Master Bedroom Revamp!

Back in January I mentioned that after 2 and a half years I finally decided to tackle our "master bedroom". It isn't really a master, its just got the better windows than the other bedroom, there is no on-suit or walk in closet. But hey, saying it's a master bedroom makes me feel a little grown up :)

Anyway,  I was finally ready to make this room be a place I enjoyed. We had moved furniture around multiple times and I had even painted the walls but I never attempted to make it look like anything special. With a few minor tweaks and a teeny tiny budget I was able to take our hodge-podge college-esque room and make it feel like adults live in it.

The first part of that revamp involved figuring out a space to put all of our clothes and shoes. Like I said before there is no walk-in closet so I have the one closet in the room, Reed has the one in the guest room and before we had a metal rod that Reed hung his work clothes on. Not so pretty.... 

These built-ins where a hassle because we didn't really plan super well, but they are a god send now!!  (Just check out this before picture... ugh horrible.)

After we got the built-ins in place I realized I needed a new bedside table. I just didn't have enough space between the bed and the built-ins. So this lovely galvanized tray turned hanging table was perrrfecct! 

Then I needed to make our furniture match. This dresser is one we've had since Reeds high-school days but it was kinda orange and didn't match the stain on the bed or the new built-ins. So I fixed that one lovely afternoon with a can of paint and stain :) Now it may possibly be my favorite piece of furniture in the house.

 Last but certainly not least, we got new bedding. I found this lovely ruffle quilt set online, to be honest it wasn't exactly what I wanted. It's more dingy than ivory, but hey it hides Tepes hair and dirty paws quite well :) And now I get to enjoy my room. All the little details fit, and it's a space I feel like belongs to the rest of our house.

It may not be a big room, it may not have a walk-in closet or on-suit, but it fits us well. It's a lovely "first" master bedroom. I'm sure it will be changed again before we leave this house but for now I'm extremely happy and so proud of us for finally finishing moving in after almost three years :)

PS> Check out these links for the posts on each one of the projects that completed this Master Bedroom Revamp! 

Vol. 1 -Dresser Makeover 

Vol. 2 - DIY Hanging Bedside Table 

Vol. 3- DIY Built-Ins 

DIY Galvanized Hanging Bedside Table - Master Bedroom Revamp Vol. 2

Back at the beginning of January I shared Volume 1 of our Master Bedroom Revamp where I shared a makeover of our old dresser. Just that one project made our room feel SO much better! We had a lot going on with life lately so I just got around to playing around with our room again. This time I was able to super simply make a DIY Galvanized Hanging Bedside Table! 

I was in desperate need of a new bedside table. What I had was taking up too much space and making my side of the room feel extremely crowded. With our new built ins (that I will be sharing soon promise!) I wasn't able to reach a couple of things and really just felt cluttered. I don't need much on my bedside, just a light and enough space for a glass of water and Chapstick. So to open up the space I decided I needed to get everything off the floor to give the illusion of more space.

If you've been around this blog long you know how much I love tin and all things galvanized so of course I went on a hunt for anything with that look that could be easily hung. I found this fabulous faux tin tray from Walmart for $8 and figured if it didn't work as a side table I could just use it for the cute tray it was designed for :) Luckily I have a handy husband who understands my brain and he easily removed the handles and helped me hang the tray with some extra twine I had around the house. 

Knowing I needed a light I decided to just go with a pendant hanging from the center of the table. Annnnnd because I do so many projects around here I happened to have one hanging around that wasn't being used :) Then I had a fabulous little table taking up very little room and only cost me $8! 

I love the way this table turned out and think it totally adds a fun bit of style to the bedroom with out taking up much space. I'm just so happy with all the galvanized goodies that everyone has now, I've always loved tin and now it is finally available in so many cute pieces for every room!! Do y'all love the galvanized trend as much as I do? 

2014 Project Review

Yesterday I posted my year in review post with lots about lessons I've learned in 2014. It is a lot of personal posts and things that I learned A LOT from.

But for those of you who could care less about my life and just want some good project ideas, here is the year in review just for you!!

Murphy Bed Tutorial - complete with not so great pictures :) 

DIY Cloud Light - a gift for a babies nursery 

Whimsical Stump Chairs - my favorite part of our yard! 

Industrial Hanging Planter - cheap cheap look for less 

Not one but TWO dress refashions! 

Long Bridesmaid Dress 

Little Black Dress turned Skirt 

DIY Arrows - rustic fall decoration

Halloween Costumes for you and your Pup!

Custom Built Wine Buffet - by far my favorite project of 2014!  

What a transformation to look back on 2014. I can't believe it, but at the rate I'm progressing I'm excited to see what projects I come up with in 2015!! 

Custom Wine Buffet

Guess what peeps!!??! 

This is my first ever commissioned piece of furniture! I L-O-V-E furniture but until recently I usually just redo things. Ya know, paint, refinishing, small things. But luckily with the way my etsy shop has grown I've been able to save up to do some of my bigger projects. But this one is even more exciting than saving and doing something for myself, this piece was COMMISSIONED. Meaning somone actually believed in me to get me to do something totally just for them. sayyyyy waaaa :) 

So here is a great big post of basically just detail shots of my first ever commissioned piece of work :)

This is a 70in wine buffet that can hold up to 10 wine bottles and 16 wine glasses. 

Perfect for a party!! 

Made with pine and steel we left it all very raw for a primitive and rustic look. 

The glass top keeps everything really open and light. And what a fun way to choose what you want to sip that night :) 

Basically, Reed and I are in love. We can't get over how awesome this was to build and if we had space in our house we may not have been willing to give it up! We also wouldn't be able to fill it up with wine so we decided it needed a good home that could give it all it was capable of.  

And of course Tepe had to model :) She is too funny, I tried my hardest to get her out of the way and she literally sat there for most of the shots. Eventually she chased after a falling pine cone and let me get to work!

Also, I'm getting ready to head out of the country for the Holidays. So no more posts from me for a while, not even parties :( I hope you guys take this break too and enjoy your family while being unplugged. Merry Christmas and can't wait to catch up in a few weeks!! 

Before & After Hoosier Cabinet

So, I've been saying I was super busy lately. I showed y'all the whimsical chairs last week and I'm pretty sure that one of the pictures had this hoosier in the back ground. This cabinet has been floating around for a few months now. It came with my studio and I've always wanted one, but sadly we don't have the space. So I got to fix it up and give it to my brother for his new house!!

Basically this cabinet was totally falling apart. It had about a million layers of old paint and lots of water damage. It took hours of sanding and lots of sandpaper. 

The hardware was pretty bad too. Rusty beyond recognition and painted over multiple times. So after sanding those down I realized... the top hardware didn't match the bottom. For a quick fix I just got some silver spray paint and gave them all a quick once over and WA LA! Uniformity.

We chose the color based off what would go best with the awesome counter top. It was pretty dinged up, but it just added some awesome character too it. We couldn't do a white because the top had yellowed too much and we really wanted for it to be a statement piece.

 I LOVE the blue and green together. Once I got it finished I wished that I could keep it. I guess that is the life of a furniture lover in a small two bedroom house. Maybe one day I will be able to find another hoosier and have a spot for it too!

I just can't get over the transformation. I mean, its already gone to it's new home but I still want it in my house! I pray the furniture gods appreciate my love for them and one day will grace me with an awesome hoosier for myself.