Copycat

I'm trying something new here - vulnerability.  I have secrets.  Secrets such as, how I feel like most of my projects aren't original, they're just copies of things I see.  This makes me think I'm not an artist, but just a great copycat.  But isn't that what it's all about?  Getting inspired by something and taking different pieces from different places to make it your own.

What started this next project was all of the great Ikea hacks kicking around these days, and is a knock off of what Ana Antunes had done to her Ikea Vittsjo shelves, except in desk form.

I did this a few months ago, and am still in love with the end result! And I love the size of the desk for laptop work, and it fits ever so nicely in any nook in the home.  My favourite part is working at my desk with a beautiful view of the park across the street :)  And because of the thin lines of the desk, it doesn't feel like it blocks the window.

ps, don't mind the labels on the planters...

Thanks for cyber-accepting me with my secret, I think I have the singer/songwriter music and candle to blame for the depth of this piece :)

Ash out.

why I'm a kijiji MASTER

My apologies for the extended absence, I know the one whole follower is eagerly checking every day to see if there's another post (in my dreams).  Ps, this is a plug for you all to follow us! Because if you don't, and I don't link new posts on facebook, you may miss a great post!

OK, I'm off of my soapbox.

Thinking back to all my great finds, I try to remember when my internet creeping started...and by that I mean furniture creeping.  Because I would never creep on someone on facebook and have never googled anyone.  Ever.  I'm glad we're now clear on that.

So, how do you find great pieces you ask?  The key is to creep.  In order to get cheap prices on good items, you have to check often.  You also have to be aggressive (disclaimer: not towards the people, towards obtaining the item) and willing to sacrifice a little inconvenience because often the seller wants it GONE and will sell it to the first person who gets there.  If there's both a phone and an email option, choose the phone - it's faster...I probably didn't have to point that out.  It does take work, but it definitely pays off in the end.

Seems like common sense, right?  Also, while that old cliché about men's trash and treasure stands true, some people just don't know what they have and what it might be worth.  In that case, I wouldn't nickel and dime the seller, especially if it's already a good deal.  Case in point, I found a great coffee table and the seller wanted $20 for it; while some people may have thought it to be ugly, I loved it and thought it had a great shape.  While I may have been able to get it for $15, I thought the price was fair so we bought it for that.  And on that note, a gallery of my greatest finds (in no particular order)!

The glorious coffee table in my sister's apartment

My pride and joy, a $20 sideboard off of kijiji :) Photo taken by the fabulous Amy Zambonin - www.amyzambonin.com

The infamous blue dresser.  Now with brass handles :)

And a little teaser, I completed a project that was SO easy and looks SO good (not from kijiji)...the post will be coming soon, I just have to get the perfect accessories for it.  So stay tuned!

Ash out!

tray chic...(it's a pun)

I love DIY.  But sometimes, things call for a little BITD (bring it to Dad).  I will fully admit that the following project was only partially my handy work and give a big shout out to my pops!

A bit of backstory for this project - it all started when I left my favourite small black tray in Victoria (*sniff).  It was perfect for coralling small objects that just clutter up a surface into a neat little package.

In fact, I love trays for that exact reason, where you can display knick knacks without looking like a crazy knick knack lady (it's all about appearances, people).

Enter this inspiration.  Who knew making one could be so easy?

So I texted dad (don't dads love it when their little girl needs their help?  Especially with things they spend all week doing, on their day off?) to see if he had any scrap wood laying around that might do the trick.  Well, it went from a simple and cheap slap-together project, to trays made out of solid maple and oak with perfectly mitered corners.  But did I mention I learned how to use power tools?  Ok, maybe I posed for a few pictures near the power tools and let dad do most of the work.  But I believe that saws deserve respect.  Especially after that safety talk with dad.  Yikes.

Keeping my hands well away from the blade

Papa making some measurements

The oak tray

 

The maple tray in all it's glory, photo taken by Amy Kroeker

Next step: choose the finish.  I'm thinking of staining the oak one greyish, and the maple one I gave to my sister who will leave it natural and probably seal it with some mineral wax.

Lesson of the day - take advantage of people who love you.  Just kidding, I never do that...

Ash out!

bedroom on a budget.

Friends!

My fiancé and I moved into a charming little house about six months ago. The home is in great condition and has many wonderful features. However, I wasn’t feeling the style chosen by the previous owners. For about $500, I managed to completely change our bedroom by giving it a coat of fresh paint and limiting the amount of furniture in the small space.

 

This is how the room looked when we bought the house. It is clean and bright, but I was not a fan of the yellow toned, creamy walls. Also, with limited square footage, a piece of furniture on every wall, really made the room appear smaller.

 

 

Because we chose to paint the rest of the house an off white, I thought it would be good to paint our room a dark colour – this is Behr Amazon Stone. To keep things under budget, I purchased our bed linens and bookshelf from Ikea; the coverlet, throw pillows, lamps and mirrors from Homesense and our headboard from homedepot.com. Just changing your wall color and bedspread can make a big difference, without breaking the bank!

I’m looking forward to sharing the rest of my budget home makeover with you!

Loves ya,

Jordyn

art, tea and music (in no particular order)

It was one of those afternoons - the sun was shining and birds were chirping.  I made a cup of the most amazing decaf tea (Stash Vanilla Nut Creme - drink and love) and had some great music playing such as this, this and this (of course, you've gots to have some soul).

Naturally, the atmosphere lead to some creativity...

I was originally thinking about making an ikat painting to incorporate into a gallery wall, but turns out I didn't have a stretched canvas :(  However, I did have some loose canvas fabric and an empty beddside picture frame.  Thanks to my lack of planning, I have now completed my first project I posted!  Lemons = lemonade.

The key to having the colours run for the true ikat look is to have the canvas slightly damp

Sorry 'bout the glare...

I was stoked on my newly finished project and beaming with pride.  Until I showed a friend.  Her first words were "is that homemade?" I said yes.  She replied "I can tell".  I felt the need to justify and defend my creation, but I know it's not everyone's taste.  And that's ok.  Even on here, I want to say that it's not intended to be perfect and defend it.



Yes, it's homemade

Lesson of the day - if you love it, go with it.  As Julia Child would say "no apologies!"

Ash out!

salmon got fresh.

It all started with a cheap dresser I scored off of kijiji (I like to think I'm somewhat of a kijiji master...more on that another time).  I had planned to paint it a wicked bright colour, because apparently that's all the rage right now, and I wanted to incorporate some colour into my bland "renter's special" bedroom.  But let me tell you, paint choices are agonizing!


After I stripped off the old paint/dirt and cleaned of the spider webs

My project got put on hold for weeks (maybe months) while I flip flopped between coral, vintage-tinged neutral, kelly green, and back to coral.  After much deliberation and coaxing from Jordyn and a sister, I finally decided on coral.  But it didn't stop there.  What shade of coral?  What intensity?  All choices seemed too red, too orange and too pink.


All primed up, ready to go!

But alas, I thought I found it - cil's "Fresh Salmon".  However, I got cold feet after I painted the first coat, and ran straight back to Home Depot.  This time I made my decision in 15 minutes - navy.  What can I say, I'm a practical and predictable Mennonite.  But I love the end result!

This is where I had my heart attack - bubble gum wasn't exactly what I was going for.

Getting better.  I just applied the new colour right on top of the pink.

And there she is.  Ain't she a beaut?

Now for some handles.  I saw lovely DIY handles here, but couldn't find a brass cotter pin to save my life.  I guess hardware from Lee Valley will have to do.

Lesson du jour - while it's good to step out of your comfort zone, listen to your gut.  In the end, you have to live with it in your house.

- Ash

bedside picture frames

Let me start off with a warning - I have an ancient blackberry, and try as it might, it takes terrible photos (a little disclaimer for the poor photo quality).

Anyway, on to the good stuff.  A few weeks ago I went to my local flea market and scored gold picture frames with fantastic blue mats - at $5 each!  They're not perfectly identical, one is larger than the other by 1/4" but I doubt anyone will notice...unless I point it out to them like I just did now...

Once I got those bad boys home, and just about tore the house apart looking for something to replace the horrific original print.  I was just playing around with some scrapbook paper when it hit me - a lovely navy napkin was just laying around in a drawer collecting dust.  Could this be it's shining moment?  In my haste of ripping apart the back of the frame I accidently cracked the frosted glass (oops), and forgot to take a "before" photo (double oops).  But I guess you'll just have to admire the finished product.

So here it is, my pride and joy.  And for those friends reading this and visit my house: yes, please stop to admire the framed piece that I once offered you to wipe your hands on and smear across your face.



My lovelies

Hmm, now I just have to think of something to put in the other frame...

And I almost forgot - the lesson of the day is that you'd be surprised by how repurposing items you already have can give them greater appreciation (that napkin went from rags to riches).  That, and I'm a baller when it comes to flea markets.

Ashley out!