Dear Santa, I know it’s a bit early but I would like a magical machine like this that makes faceted vases. Thanks. (via mocoloco)

In my head this seemed like it would be a pretty easy project, and in reality, it kind of was, except for the most important part, getting that “weathered wood” effect. OK, so first I picked up three pieces of pine wood from good ol’ Home Depot. Also picked up two smaller pieces to act as side braces to attach to the bed frame. I had the Home Depot peeps cut it for me (2 free cuts per piece of wood = awesome). I wanted a really wide headboard, so for those pieces, I just kept them as is (I think they’re about 7 feet wide?) I should note, I used this awesome tutorial from Designsponge as added inspiration- except I wanted mine a little simpler (not multiple pieces) and as mentioned, wider)

Now that the wood part was handled, next came the “weather-ing”. I originally was thinking about trying a faux painting technique. This ended up being too much of a headache to try and figure out, so I googled other possibilities to “weather” wood. I came across several tutorials that said to use a mixture of steel wool and vinegar. It seemed easy enough… right? Well, it kind of was, and kind of wasn’t. There are many tutorials out there, but I referred to this one the most. If you’re going to try this, plan on needing to do a little experimentation before actually applying it to your finished product. I played around a little with a scrap piece, but lost patience and just went for it. (In hindsight, I probably should have played around a little more.) Anyway- it appears the actual steel wool you use is important.

I bought two large deep plastic containers (about the size you’d use to hold a good amount of soup), poured the vinegar in (just used plain white distilled) and tried two different packs of steel wool. One I bought at Home Depot, and one I actually picked up at the 99¢ Only store. In the tutorial, it said to leave the steel wool overnight in the vinegar, where it would ultimately dissolve. After 24 hours, they both looked the same. Nothing happened. Just a piece of steel wool floating in vinegar. hm…. So I let them sit a little longer (I kinda forgot about it and they sat for a few days) When I went back to check, the 99¢ Only steel wool clump actually broke apart, while the other one remained in tact. I don’t know if the dissolved mixture makes a difference, but it’s the one I went with.

Next, I applied the mixture liberally to the wood with a cheapie brush. I tried it on one piece- didn’t sand it, just painted it right on top. At first, it seemed like nothing was really happening. It just looked like wet wood. But I figured if I started, maybe I should just continue on the second piece so at least there’s consistency. So I applied it to board #2 (remember that my headboard consists of 3 boards). Then I thought, why don’t I try sanding the last piece. So I sanded piece #3 and then applied the mixture. After letting it soak in and dry, I noticed that something was actually happening! It really started to look like a piece of wood that had been left outside. It wasn’t totally gray like I was hoping, but it didn’t look like blank new unfinished wood either. I applied a second coat and things did get darker, but oddly the third piece (the one I sanded) turned a completely different color and had a different tone. I’m not sure if maybe that piece was not the same kind of wood- but it wasn’t matching the other two.

I had to go back to the Home Depot for paint for another project (coming up in the next post!) and while in the paint aisle, I noticed that Minwax actually has a “classic gray” stain. I was like, oh great- NOW I find it!… after I’d gone through all this time with the vinegar/steel wool thing, I could have just stained it?! – (sigh) oh well… So I picked up a small can of the stain and figured maybe I can just do a quick coat over the whole thing and hopefully it will even things out. Well the stain didn’t even things out, but it did leave a nice added layer of color. At that point I just decided to leave well enough alone. The vingear/steel wool mixture gave a nice realistic “weather” and the stain gave it an added patina that enhanced the overall look.

I finally put all the pieces together and attached it to the bed frame. I placed the odd colored board at the bottom. When the pillows, bedding and night stands are in place, you don’t really even notice.

It’s not 100% what I was going for, but I’m still pretty pleased with it. I think that had I just went with the pure stain and no vingear/steel wool mixture, it would have been too solid of a gray tone for me. I really wanted to have some of the natural brown wood showing through. The whole project was really reliant on a just “try it and see what happens” kind of technique. I don’t know if I could ever duplicate the same results again, but it was a good experiment and ultimately I got my “weathered” headboard for under $100! woo hoo! I think Pepé likes it… (ok, by the looks of it above, I don’t think he really cares, lol!

Project #1: ye ol’ classic ENETRI shelving unit. Do any of you have/remember this?

I loved it when it came out and it was such a versatile piece. Anyway- I actually bought two (in the light “oak?” wood veneer) and used them in a former office location. Since then, I’ve moved offices and they have been collecting dust in the garage. I really needed shelving so I figured, why not re-use them and give them a happy new home.

But for the look I’m going for here, the wood finish I got would work, but it needed to go a bit darker. Also, the metal frame would best be suited in black (as opposed to that cheapie looking wanna-be-chrome-but-is-not-so-it-just-looks-that-weird-IKEA-silver). So… out came the spray paint bandits and after a little contact paper madness- voila! Instant mid century modern inspired makeover!

Here’s how it looks with lots of pretty tchochkes on it:

So since I was already in contact paper mania, I decided to give another IKEA piece a little faux walnut sexy-ness: behold the MICKE.

I love the minimal drawers and the gloss white top. I bought it in the “birch effect” (love that description! lol)

Anyway- contact paper madness again ensued on those drawers and bam!…

I feel like the walnut finish just gives it such a different look. Subtle, but so much better no? Also the walnut color matches the vintage chair I have and looks quite nice with the painting. Subtle changes make all the difference right? Now I’m looking around to see what else I can contact paper!… my furniture be warned…

Well lookee here! Happymundane made the News! woo hoo! Big thanks to Umika and Ben for including me in this fun article about the Pinterest phenomenon on CNN.com. Check out the whole article here.

artist: coco morier

I’m so excited for this collection and also to see Todd Oldham’s creativity again! (and… get out of the way kid, those large diamond shaped crayons are mine!) (via A Bullseye view)

I just had a good ol’ friend stay over the past few days with me. The weather has been sunny but crisp, and we’ve been enjoying the walks with Pepé on the beach. I’m gonna leave you with a few snaps we took and hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Some nice graphics from Wellen. Available here.