Faux Brick Hardboard Wall Panels

I took a trip to IKEA recently and noticed the badly patched seam in this brick wall on one of their displays and thought, "oh, that's not brick then. duh."

Looks like they could have filled the gaps a little better? But I did like the effect of the texture from the "bricks."

Later I did some digging around the web and I discovered these faux brick hardboard sheets at Lowes. I wonder why I've never noticed these before in the lumber aisle? About $26 for a 4x8' sheet is so affordable! And the reviews are all really positive.

I think with a little effort and some plaster you could make the walls of your bathroom or laundry room look crusty and old like this:

Or if you're on a super-tight budget, I bet you could use the sheets in your kitchen even (painted flat black or white like the IKEA room above, but seamed better, of course!). Have you ever tried the faux brick hardboards? I'm dying to use them somewhere now!

(WHOA, FLOORS! ^^^)

Reader DIY: Linen Upholstered Rast

Just try and show me a piece of IKEA furniture that's been hacked more than the $35 Rast dresser and I'd say you were lying. :) There are SO SO MANY hacks and I think for good reason - it's a cheap and super versatile piece! And the Rast is the perfect small-bedroom-bedside-table size.

Kelly from Hello Boudreux was inspired by this Martha Stewart tutorial and wrapped her Rast dresser in a lovely charcoal gray linen.

Kelly gives a great step by step here. And I'm crazy for the results:

Have you done any Rast hacks of your own? We're in need of some smallish nightstands with storage, so I'm thinking of coming up with another Rast project myself.

Thanks for sharing, Kelly!

If you have a project you'd like to see on LGN, feel free to email your submission here. Thanks!

Topiaries at IKEA

I just got back from a marathon shopping trip to the trifecta: IKEA, Home Depot and Target. I may never walk again! :)

While I am hundreds of dollars poorer, today's outings were successful. I found everything on my shopping lists (and more! two full carts at IKEA!), including these adorable little topiaries. I will be considering the addition of some festive bows just like this.

Run to IKEA before the topiaries are gone! No fewer than five ladies and one gent asked where I found them while I was checking out. (The garden section. $15.99 ea.) Now run!

Brass Etagere IKEA Hack

I love good, clean-lined etageres for displaying just a few pretty things. They're not the most functional pieces of furniture (I wouldn't want to overload these with piles of books), but they are perfect for picture frames, a few horizontal stacks of pretty design books, little boxes and baubles that tell your story and that you want to display, but never know where to put out.

House and Home (Tommy Smythe's apartment)

via

Lonny

Atlanta Homes

If you're lucky, you can find vintage etageres in thrift stores or on craigslist. Sometimes eBay comes through. But buying new will set you back at the very least $1200 and up into the thousands. That's when I was surprised to see in this pretty room by Ana Antunes (via VT Interiors) that these pretty brass-looking etageres were actually IKEA shelves painted gold!

Each of these Vittsjo units was only $70, which is a steal!

While I sort of like the original black version, I'm sure the finish is less nice in person. And I'm really loving the brassy tone Ana painted the frame. You could try gold leafing for a really natural, mottled look, but Rustoleum's Metallic spray paint in brass would work really well too (and would save you about 10 hours of labor).

And can you even handle those chairs? So pretty! Wishing they shipped to the states. :)

DIY Campaign Style Side Tables

Yesterday's post on campaign furniture in the kitchen reminded me that I hadn't shared this easy DIY yet. These photos are old in-progress shots from an eDecorating client.

We bought two of these Lack tables in the sky blue color:

And 16 of these brass corners (they're about $5 for a set of eight) and just tapped them into the very outside corners of the tables (tops and feet).

So easy and very inexpensive!

It looks like the light blue Lack table is not available any more, but there are some very pretty high gloss versions at IKEA now. (Wouldn't the birch be just gorgeous with the brass? Or that glossy gray!) Prices range between $7.99 and $12.99 each, which is about the cost of a sandwich here in NYC. Not too bad for a pretty and unique version of a classic Parsons style side table.

My Desk

With all this talk about work schedules and approaches, I thought it would be fun to share some photos of my home office in progress.

(See here for the story on my vintage office chairs.)

Our loft has two long banks of windows. One is in our living area and the other is in our office/guest space (both these rooms are open to each other). I wanted the desk to basically run the length of the windows so an assistant could work there during the day and my husband at night. I wanted a shallow desktop. Also I needed something with legs that were or could be pushed forward so the desk could sort of sit over the top of the radiator vents. Sounds like a custom job, right? No good for me ($$$$$), so I figured I'd have to build something myself (like this).

Then I remembered that IKEA sells interchangable table tops and legs at really reasonable prices. I was hoping for something on the more modern/streamlined side anyway. I was able to buy two of the VIKA pine wooden tops and three of these metal legs for about $90 total (the pricing is/was a little less in-store -- I bought the legs for $10 each and the tops for $30 each).

The legs attached very easily with the use of a drill and the provided screws. Just make sure to measure where you want the legs to sit, so that the legs line up together.

We were a little nervous that putting a single leg under the seam of the table tops (in the middle) was a bad idea, but it has been really fine - no problems here. I really just didn't want the added bulk of a fourth leg. Then it would just look like two desks pushed together. I'm so glad it worked to just use three legs. The result was exactly what I wanted.

I love the modern shape of the legs.

Once I had everything put together, I whipped up a quick pickling paint concoction with a little bit of white paint, some gray primer (because that's what I had around in the dark gray department) and water. I would say I ended up with four parts water to one part paint. I wanted it on the watery side.

I wanted to be able to see the knots and some of the grain in the wood through the paint job.

Pickling the tabletop was about the easiest paint project I've ever done. It took about 10 minutes to brush on all 100" of table length!

I wanted a brass look on the legs, so I broke out my quart of Ralph Lauren Regency Metallic Parlor Gold and brushed it on the legs with a foam brush (no primer first, because I was feeling a little lazy - it was after bedtime. See me in my jimjams?). I did two or three coats and then sealed the gold painted with Polycrylic.

I made this desk a couple months ago and it has held up beautifully. No chipping on the legs and the tabletop has withstood it's fair share of rogue crayon/marker scribbles.

I'm happy with the look of mixing the pickled wood with the modern brassy legs. And I really love how much surface space we have in that room now. It's great for a second work station, but I also use it a lot for laying out fabrics and samples. Two thumbs up for this great IKEA product.

More on my office next week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!! xx

Abbey's Mirror

Over the past few months, I have been working with Abbey Nova (of Design Scouting fame) to decorate her amazing NYC apartment. Abbey and her little family are so, so lovely. It's been a treat to get to know them and to collaborate on their space, which is about 95% done now. Hooray! I was looking at my notes from our first meeting and there were about three pages of to-do items. We are down to FIVE items! Crossing off a to do list is just about my favorite thing in the world.

Here's a photo from that first meeting. Abbey got this great mirror on sale from Pottery Barn a while back and it's no longer available. At $300 or so full price, it wouldn't break the bank, but it also wasn't super cheap. I love the shape and the finish and I was so surprised when Abbey told me where she bought it.

Then last week I was at IKEA buying some Ribbas and I spied this new series called Odby. The largest frame is almost exactly the same as Abbey's mirror.

For $40 you can buy the Odby at IKEA and then get some mirror cut for another $20 or so and then paint or gold leaf the frame. $50-70 buys you a really lovely, large mirror, perfect for a dining room, above a mantel or in a powder bath.

{Stay tuned for more photos and some great projects from Abbey's apartment.}