simple billy bookcase update

Yes, I've told you guys many, many times that the playroom reveal was on it's way, and yes, it turned out I was lying, but this time I mean it, I promise!!!!!

Everything in there is finished, I'm just waiting on one decal to arrive and then I can photograph the whole thing for you. I swear!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a quick little idea for jazzing up a bookcase with you.

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Ikea-hack for built-in dining room storage...when you have to work around a radiator.

Have you heard the expression "work will expand to fit the time allowed"? Well I have that problem, except it's stuff that expands around here. Stuff that fills every nook and cranny and falls out of cupboards to hit you in the face when you're already in that delicate pre-coffee stage of the morning and could really do without it.

True story

We used to live in a two bedroom apartment. It was not big. It seemed spacious when we moved in but then we...moved in, and realised there was pretty much no storage. It was like the anti-tardis. 

And while we were a bit cramped as Emilia was growing and the toys were apparently pro-creating while we were asleep, we managed.

The bath in the guest bathroom was full of boxes, but we managed!

So when we moved into our new, four-bedroom house complete with playroom, utility room, attic and shed I was expecting us to be rattling around in practically empty rooms. I thought I'd have to making shopping for ornamental things a priority, I envisioned clearing out the local charity shops, collecting all the lovely decor items I had been eyeing throughout our search for a home in a desperate bid to fill empty space and make the place look lived in....

What actually happened was we moved in, and the day after we unpacked all the kitchen stuff we were back to piles of lidless storage boxes and brightly colored plastic cups exploding out at us every time we opened a door.

Kid plastic - getting it on in your kitchen cupboards at night.

On reflection, our new kitchen doesn't actually have any more cupboard space than our old one did (there goes my dreams of open shelving on top), and now that we actually have enough chairs to have people over for dinner we've bought all the stuff that goes with entertaining, wine glasses, extra plates, side plates....basically just normal kitchen stuff but it's a lot more than the mis-matched mugs and stolen pint glasses that we used to make do with!

So, we needed storage. Specifically storage for the non-everyday items like wine glasses and fancy tea cups that were really only going to be needed every now and again (doing without them was not an option, I'd waited long enough, fancy table-settings would be mine!)

The obvious place was this blank wall in the dining area, and it would have been great to just be able to do a full built in, cupboards on the bottom, shelving up to the ceiling, something like this....

Centsational girl

Or this...

Amanda Rapp Design

But alas, we were working with a radiator on that wall, so we couldn't just stick a few Billy's in there with doors on the bottom and call it done, we were going to have to try and come up with something that disguised the ugly radiator but still left it functional, while adding storage either side and above, but still looking like a built in....easy!

So we figured the best thing to do was try and cover the radiator, add cupboards either side, and put some open shelving above (you can see the post about those shelves here). The idea was to make it look kinda like a modern version of a dresser, but to keep it open by having space either side of the cupboards and around the shelves to stop it taking over the room. The room isn't huge and anything too bulky would have made it look very cramped I think.

So we bought two of these Billy bookcases....

Billy bookcase €15

And the doors to match.....

Oxberg door €20

Luckily there was a radiator cover in the utility room when we moved in,and it was a perfect match for the color of the Billy bookcases, so we started with that. 
*If you aren't lucky enough to have a radiator cover in the perfect shade lying around they're really inexpensive in any good diy store, you can even just buy the front paneling (you won't need the rest for this project) and save even more that way.

Gavin removed the top and replaced it with a piece of pine board stained to match the shelves. This brought the cover out further than it was originally, bringing it in line with the bookcases.

We (i.e Gavin, I was basically just the idea's-man on this project) then took off the skirting board (a.k.a trim for the American's!) in order to get the whole thing flush against the wall. He also had to cut holes in the sides of the bookcases to make room for the radiator pipes.

*side note~the trim was grouted to the floor. Whoever built this house first installed it too low for the tiles to fit underneath, and then instead of fixing it just went ahead and laid them right up to it. This is the only wall where this happened. Seeing the shoddy work done by builders in this house makes me really confident that at the very least we can't do any worse ourselves!

So we now had two small Billy's with doors attached and a radiator cover all screwed together and attached to the wall. To make it look like one piece we added a top of stained pine to everything. I didn't varnish the tops as I liked it looking a little bit rough and rustic, and we did two coats of walnut stain on all the pieces.

We added the same cup pulls as we used on the Rasts we have in the bedroom but they're just doing the job until the ones I ordered arrive. These obviously will be sprayed gold. 

That's just how I roll

We then added the open shelving above, and those were treated the exact same way as the pine tops below.

Can we just take a second to talk about the fact that I bought fruit specifically to stage a photo? I feel like that must be some kind of a blogger right of passage. 

Approximately 0.5 seconds after I put the fruit out....

The cheek! Also, note to self: at some take photo of crazy-haired child with slightly less crazy hair. I do groom her occasionally, honest.

So there you have it. I'm pretty much in love with them, they somehow make the room look bigger, I guess cos the shelves draw your eye up and make the ceiling look higher? I dunno, I'm no expert, I just know that they look great and they store all the ridiculous things I rarely use but MUST have, like dessert glasses and fancy teacups...

The heart wants what the heart wants.

We do need to move the light on the left now, but that's a small job. We needed to move the table back slightly to center it with the cupboards so now the lighting is slightly off.

So basically what I'm saying is this light is probably going to stay like this for all eternity. Bygones.

How many plants in one room is too many do you think? It's starting to look a bit like an oxygen farm in here.

The whole thing ended up costing €160, including the shelves, materials etc, and it's really cut down the amount of things that fall on me in the mornings, so I'm pretty happy with it!

 What do you think? Ever "hacked" anything? Bought fruit for a photo? Been caught in a plastic-cup tsunami? I'd love to hear about it in the comments ;)

Linda xx

If you liked this post you might also like:

Blinged-up Ikea shelves

DIY upholstered Ikea bed

Super simple Ikea rast hack

diy velvet upholstered ikea bed

Just a quick update today, I finally got around to finishing off Em's bed!

Isn't it pretty?

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Half hour retro table makeover

Now, full disclosure, when I say half hour I mean work time, not counting the bit of drying time in between coats ;) 

So.....

While having my regular nose around the Limerick Animal Welfare charity shop a couple of weeks ago I came across this little beauty for €10.

Pardon my hideous 90's tiles, they're next on the big job list!

And that my friends is why this is my favourite charity shop. Nine times out of ten when you call in there there's nothing but a lot of rubbish, but on that tenth visit you might just be in the right place at the right time and pick up a gem.

They don't have a lot of room, and they haven't gotten as picky with what they accept as donations as other charity shops have so the shop is often filled with....well junk! But the pay off is that they price things really low in order to get rid of them as quickly as possible, so you might just get lucky!

I've gotten a LOT of my furniture there over the last year.

So when I saw those hairpin legs peeping out from under a pile of old toys I snapped it up quicker than you can say "mine!"

The legs were a muddy brown colour and the top was horrible laminate that was mouldy underneath, but I knew I could make it beautiful with just a little work.

So I sprayed the base gold (act like you're surprised), after a coat of spray primer, and then I focused on getting the top looking, well, less disgusting!

Now, I love marble top tables, I think they are just so glamorous, but unfortunately having marble cut to size wasn't in my budget! Thankfully I had seen a post over on Swoonworthy where she had used marble effect contact paper on her vanity to jazz it up, and it looked great! So I took myself off to Guineys and bought a metre of some nice blue/grey stuff that I liked the look of.

I laid it out under the table top and cut around it, leaving a slight lip.

Now, this is the part of the project where you're going to need the help of a crazy haired child in pyjamas. If you don't have access to one I cannot in good conscience advise that you continue. Their help, good people, is essential to the success of this project! ;)

She needed an apple halfway through, to keep her strength up I presume.

So I peeled off the backing and carefully applied it to the top, before using a bank card to rub the paper, forcing any bubbles out towards the sides. If you have stubborn bubbles the paper can be lifted off slightly and re-attached, rubbing with the card as you go to force the air out, but the marble pattern is actually really forgiving so if you can't get it perfectly smooth I wouldn't worry about it too much, I don't think it would be noticeable.

When I was happy that all the bubbles were gone I ran the card around the edge in order create a bend in the paper, then i took a craftknife and carefully cut away the excess.

Then, after a quick prime and spray paint of the underside it was finished.

Voila!!

I tried it out in Em's room too, but it's better in the guest room for the moment.

I think it's really cute. At some point in the future I might paint the legs a really vibrant colour, like a fuschia pink, but for the moment this fits in perfectly with my home, and it will be very useful in the guestroom, where it's doing double duty as both a vanity and a radiator cover!

Ever rescued something from a charity shop? I'd love to hear about it!

Linda

xx

Easiest upholstered headboard tutorial/cheat, promise!

So today I'm going to show you the easiest way to re-upholster a headboard. It's so easy that it's basically a cheat, and while it may not be the "proper" way of doing things it most certainly worked and I'm delighted with it! And as one of my fave bloggers over at the nesting place is so fond of saying "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful", and I couldn't agree more. So here we go......

As Max got bigger and needed to move out of the moses basket and into a cot, we decided that the time was right for Emilia to get a big girl bed, freeing up her cot for Max. There was no way we were going to buy a second cot when Em was nearly three and able to climb out of hers anyway, and neither were we going to use the travel cot for Max in his room. It's fine, but it's ugly. So it was time to bite the bullet and buy a single bed.

Now, the minute I knew we were getting her a bed I started thinking about what would be the best option, both style and function wise, and decided on a divan or a wooden framed bed without a headboard, the idea being that I could hang one on the wall behind the best and therefore have it be really easy to update as her room changed.

And the minute I knew I had free reign with the headboard situation I knew I wanted a really luxe, over the top vibrant velvet upholstered headboard. I've always loved the style, and I thought in a kids room it would stop if from being too "little girl" while still being really colourful and fun.

So I kept my eye out, not sure how I was going to go about it, and then one day I was nosing around the LAW charity shop and found the perfect solution....a single headboard in a gorgeous shape and great condition in the exact style I wanted, for three frickin euro!!! The lady in the shop told me they often get them in and have trouble selling them, so it was cheap. 

Only problem was the colour. It was an olive green, and while I actually really liked it as it was I had set my heart on something really bright for the room (Em's room is coral pink/white/gold) it had to be changed.

So I went on Ebay and ordered up a metre of beautiful mint green velvet, thinking that it would be a real statement, and then I could bring the colour into the rest of the room with accessories.

The velvet arrived, the colour was perfect, I had all my materials (stapler and fabric!), I was good to go.

And then I made my first mistake...I cut out the shape I would need after laying it over the headboard, not taking into consideration that it would have to be forced down into the button hols, so this wouldn't be enough.

Nightmare!

Noooooooooo!!!!!!

And while this would have been fixable by just pulling the material tight and stretching it, that meant that there was too much strain on the staples in the buttonholes, and it started to rip! 

(I had bought dressmaking fabric rather than upholstery/curtain fabric which is much more robust as I couldn't get the colour I wanted in it)

Double nooooooo!!!!!

So it was back to the drawing board, and this time I chose a coral pink velvet (€4.99 a meter in Guineys) as it had turned out I wasn't that happy with the mint green in the room anyway.

This time I was determined to not mess it up!

So I ironed my fabric, even though ironing is one of my very least favourite things to do!

This child better LOVE her room! I only iron on VERY special occasions.

The I dug out my trusty hot glue gun.....

....and laying the fabric over the headboard with plenty of extra over all the edges, I simply started from the middle and glued the material on... I didn't even remove buttons, I told you this was a cheat!

Liquid fire, a.k.a hot glue

To hold the fabric in place while the glue dried (hot glue is approximately as hot as the surface of the sun) I found the inside of a childrens Nurofen syringe was perfect! Happily this was sitting by the sink when I was looking for something to do this job :)

                                 Then I had a toddler inspect my work with a pencil......

Now, if I had thought about it a bit more I would have realised that if I worked up/dpwn/up/down the lines between the buttons would have been much more even, but whatever, I think it's fine :P





I then flipped the whole thing over, trimmed the excess fabric off and then pulled what was left tight before stapling top and bottom in the middle to start with, then worked the whole way around, pulling it tight and smoothing the edges as I went.





                                                            And there she is!

It could be smoother, and the lines a bit more even, but I think it's gorgeous anyway! It took around an hour, not counting my first attempt, and I think it's going to really pull Emilia's room together.

It cost €9 total, and if I had just slowed down and actually thought it through before I started the first time I could have saved myself a lot of trouble! This was a project that I had convinced myself was going to be so easy that I was way too confident and ended up sabotaging myself. But now I've told you what not to do so it should be easy peasy for you ;)

I should hopefully have a full reveal for Emilia's room up sometime next week, still have a couple of projects to finish for it.

So tell me what you think, I love comments almost as much as I love it when a plan comes together ;)

Linda xx