DIY Projects in Queue
/The Mr.'s favourite pastime is undoubtedly working on home projects. This long hiatus from them while we're at the rental is making him anxiously restless, Some nights, he would be watching DIY videos, to sharpen his skills and gather as many tips as he can for our new house's home projects.
Seeing that his hands are itching for some projects, I put my shopping skills and eagle eyes to work! I've been curating some small projects for the Mr. to work on, to keep him at top notch condition :-)
DIY Sea Fan Artwork
We picked up this gold sea fan placemat during our recent visit to Elte Mkt. It's a great size, and we knew it would look amazing as a framed piece of art.
Framed sea fan pieces can get quite pricey. With this inexpensive placemat (only $10!), we can DIY something similar at a fraction of the retail price! This is an inspiration piece that we would often see:
And here is our take on the framed sea fan.
This was one of the two projects he completed over the recent long weekend. Of course it's the Mr.'s masterpiece... it would've been an epic fail if I had attempted any part of it. We'll share the details of this DIY soon!
Refinishing Bedside Tables
I knew that the sea fan project wouldn't keep the Mr. busy for too long. As mentioned in a previous post, I came across this pair of vintage beside tables and just loved the bamboo detailing of the pieces.
It's still a work in progress, but I'm happy to report that everything's ready to go! The Mr. is in the process of painting the pieces in a glossy finish with Behr's Silver Bullet:
After he's done with painting the bedside tables, he can install the hardwares that we've recently picked out for the drawers. Instead of going with drawer pulls, we chose these glass knobs to go on either side of the drawer. It's a more contemporary look and would transform the tables glamourously!
The 2 pieces of statuario marble have also been fabricated. The edge profile of the marble mimics that of the original table top. We can't wait to install them on the bedside tables!!!
Marble Coffee Table
I had wanted an open bottom coffee table with glass top for the living room, as illustrated in the design board. Instead, I found a traditional marble coffee table on kijiji at an amazing deal! It has solid wood construction, with a carrara marble top, but the wood stain was too traditional to our liking. At the price we paid, I don't think we can even get the coffee table legs of a new piece! I love the curvy lines of the marble top and had originally planned to replace the legs with fabricated brass coffee table legs, but the Mr. loves the original ones. The seller was nice to note there were some nicks on one of the legs, but it didn't matter to us, as we planned to repaint the wooden bottom to a glossy light grey. That would be a better match for our living room's transitional and neutral style.
Refinishing and Reupholstering a Set of 4 Louis Chairs
I never thought that Instagram would be my shopping source. When I came across this set of 4 previously-loved Louis chairs posted for sale on Paint It Like New's Instagram account, I knew I just had to snatch them.. How can I pass on the great deal of $50 each for these maple chairs?
We plan to eventually have a bar area built in our finished basement/ family room, with a small eating area. These chairs would be perfect for the spot! My plan is to have them repainted and reupholstered with tacks. I'm so glad the Mr. is all game for our (HIS) first attempt in reupholstering! This is the look we're going for:
I think the Mr. has enough on his plate for now, and I seriously need to stop looking at kijiji or other vintage shops... it's not easy to pass on a good deal! He's a happy camper again, rushing down to the basement to continue with his project after we put little man to bed, not to mention the occasional runs to the home improvement "candystore" to get supplies for his DIY project.
The Mr.'s goal is to complete the reupholstering of the chairs before we move in. It's all about time management, and he knows he'll be busy with other projects after we're in the new house. These small DIY projects not only help to keep the Mr. entertained, but his refinishing of the pieces will beautify our home, each piece with a story to tell.
