Target hack: high-end black and brass nightstand

12.30.2020

Target hack: high-end black and brass nightstand

I'm working on our bedroom now that we've moved upstairs, and going piece by piece. Now that we have a king-sized bed and more traditional padded headboard than we had in our downstairs/previous bedroom, I wanted larger, slightly grander nightstands. My top choices were waaaaay out of my budget, so I made something similar for way less!

Target hack DIY black and brass nightstand

Here's a look at the pretty brass and black nightstands I admired. They all have black hardware, and a nontraditional layout of drawers and maybe a shelf or two. I think this was my fave--$640 each. 

See that cute $160 alternative there? Target nightstand, not quite as wide as some of the pricier ones unfortunately, but I really love the shape and knew it could look more like the others with contrasting hardware.

One of the knobs is teeny-tiny. I'm sure it's possible to find hardware that size but I had some of this nicer gold spray paint and voila, added a couple of light coats to the ones the nightstands came with. They really don't get that much wear so I think it should hold up pretty well. If not, I'll hunt for little brass knobs that match more standard size ones for the drawers.

I'm sure it's not the quality of the $1,950 ones!!, but it is solid wood, and we only need one drawer of this size anyway. In a larger room, with a king sized bed, I think wider nightstands would be great, but for us for now this is just fine and leaves some nice white space on either side.

There is still SO much I have planned for this room (even since taking these photos I've already added sconces) but having the nightstands and bed locked down is great progress!

I'll share sources when it's all done, but here are links to the rug, quilt, and more.

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How to paint a brass fireplace screen (without removing it!)

10.24.2018

How to paint a brass fireplace screen (without removing it!)

This is one of those projects that I always figured I'd do. We've looked at a million houses and for all the ones with ugly brass screens, I figured I'd get one and paint it black!

So it's actually funny that it's taken me this long to encounter this project and see it through!

I wish I had done this right when we moved in!! But, of course I had other things going on then. Now that it's done I feel so much happier with our historic fireplace!

We had one of these at our last house, too, and instead of painting it, removed the screen entirely. That worked well because it was up a step and we didn't have a baby who will soon be crawling and getting into things. I might still remove the glass/metal/doors on ours one day, because I do like the look of an open one, but for now... this was a great fix and we still have the option of babyproofing.

We did look at removing this one before painting, and it was pretty easy to do at the top (they are bolted on inside), but it was very securely mounted at the bottom. I really didn't want to get stuck with not being able to put it back in. It would have been great to avoid the spray paint fumes inside, but we managed by doing it on a nice day and using big box fans to get the air out.

So this tutorial is now to paint your fireplace screen without removing it--indoors!

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Super budget DIY light fixture update for the breakfast nook!

8.29.2018

Super budget DIY light fixture update for the breakfast nook!

I really feel like I'm going back to my roots with this one! If you look at the "spray paint" tag on this blog you will find posts from ~2009 featuring rust-toned vintage lamp makeover projects (I'm pretty sure plural is correct there) and lots of other very crafty things from the days that birthed Pinterest. I've spray-painted a lot of things that I no longer own.

But, spray paint can be a great tool when used appropriately, and I recently updated a 70's?? light fixture that is just perfect for our breakfast nook!


This post contains affiliate links.

Here's the deal. Someday, hopefully in the next year or so but who knows, we'll update our kitchen. New flooring, lighting, cabinets, everything. Our breakfast nook is right off the kitchen so it'll get new flooring too, and I'm sure I'll want the lighting to coordinate with what we use over the sink and in the kitchen. But, our breakfast nook is a really special part of the house and we are making progress on it (lots of old woodwork to paint) and I did buy some cute chairs for it, so it's close to being a spot in the house that feels "done for now" and I want to enjoy. That means, I wanted to remove the 2000's era brushed nickel and modern glass light fixture. (See all the before photos here.)

But I didn't want to spend big bucks on something I will probably replace soon. So I looked at the Habitat for Humanity Restore hoping to get lucky. The one near me gets Rejuvenation donations, particularly lighting, and I did find some great Rejuvenation pieces but no whole light fixture that would work. I actually bought this shade cause I love it, but no pole or cord kit to go with it.

I also bought this brass nautical-look vintage one - I think I paid $5.50 cause all the lighting was half off. I shared both on my Instagram stories and you guys actually liked this one better than the Rejuvenation one! And it was ready to go, so it won.

But the dated brass was not my look. I've been planning on doing some antique brass fixtures in this house, to go with some of our legit authentic antique brass knobs and such, so I tried spray painting it a softer brass.

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The easiest, coolest stripe tee DIY tutorial

12.16.2013

The easiest, coolest stripe tee DIY tutorial

It's been ages since I did a J.Crew tee knock-off... I used to do them all the time, back in '09 and '10, I guess... ruffles, fabric flower shapes, even some painting... very trendy back then. But I saw this one randomly on J.Crew the other day and figured it was time to do another!

It's way more fun for me to make my own version of a cute tee, and it's not realistic for me to spend the big bucks for the real one every time I like something. So while I feel a little bad copying, in this case, it was time to DIY.

So here's the original: the gold/natural J.Crew bar-stripe tee.

And here's my version! Plus a few photos for the tutorial, nothing too in-depth, because, do you really need a tutorial for this? Well, you'll see in a bit...

DIY Gold Spray Paint Bar-Stripe Tee Tutorial

You'll need:

• Tee (I used the pocket kind from Target, so I carefully removed the pocket with the seam ripper first)
• Masking tape (perfect width!)
• Spray paint!

Instructions: Tape the pattern onto the tee. Tape some protective paper or plastic around the edges so you don't get paint anywhere but the stripes. (I recommend folding the tee in half lengthwise after each stripe to make sure they're straight and even. I also recommend doing this while watching Elf, because it worked well for me! ;) )

Oh, next step--go into your garage because it's way too cold to do this outside this time of year, and spray evenly over the taped area. I gave it one heavy coat, maybe three passes all at once.

Ta-da!!

Success!!!
It would be really cool in the black stripe-on-grey version, too, edgy but simple. I guess you could do all kinds of shapes, but I love the constrained stripes, and so easy to do with straight lines.

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A DIY kit: Gold spray paint dino jars!

8.26.2013

A DIY kit: Gold spray paint dino jars!

Of course I love gold spray paint. And I've always wanted to make some spray paint animals, though wasn't sure what purpose they would serve.

Have you heard of Darby Smart? I hadn't until the founder Nicole reached out to me about reviewing one of their fabulous DIY kits!! Such a fun site, all kinds of DIY projects and all so cute and classy (designed mostly by awesome bloggers)--and they sell kits so you can order everything you need to make the project!

As you may have seen on my Instagram the other day, I got the gold dino jars kit (bonus for cute packaging!)--the project was designed by Joanna Hawley. Very cool to have everything I might need right there in the kit!

I love projects that are this easy. The small scale was nice, too. I superglued the lid together, then glued the dinosaurs on, basically over breakfast and coffee while reading my latest Lucky mag yesterday. Used the sea salt container and a big bottle of vanilla as weights while gluing down the lid!

After I glued the dinos on, I took them outside on the lawn (on an old magazine) for their coat of spray paint!

Then waited for that to dry. Then done!

Figured I'd put these bathroom essentials in them for now, for the guest bathroom. It's hard to find the right bathroom canisters that aren't super expensive. Mason jars seem like the perfect solution! These are even better, with the extra personality!

So, that was easy. Thanks again to Darby Smart for sending me the kit!

Check them out, if you haven't already!

I got a couple of other cool crafty things done this weekend, can't wait to share! Until then, enjoy this celebration of gold spray paint!

Kinda makes you love the DIY kit idea, right?!

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Re-DIYing! When a DIY project gets another makeover

6.24.2013

Re-DIYing! When a DIY project gets another makeover

Minor makeover, yes, but... I'm sure many of us have had the urge to re-DIY an older DIY project we're no longer happy with, right? We've been reading blogs and pinning project ideas and playing with spray paint and old tee shirts long enough to have made a few trendy projects, a few mistakes, and a few things that don't fit, right? ;)

This is not one of those, exactly, but it does get me thinking about redoing DIYs! Funny story here, actually a swap of redone vintage furniture. Back last fall when we had recently moved in, I painted some vintage nightstands this awesome pistachio green color.

They were great!! I loved them! But, I felt a little trapped into the pale grey/white/light green color scheme, ya know? I figured that might happen but it wasn't a big problem--it's not like I had any other ideas for the space. They were also a little too short for our bed once we got a new mattress set.

Wasn't going to do anything about it, until I mentioned the height issue to my friend in passing. She said she had some very similar ones that were slightly larger in her guest room, and would trade me! Like, a direct trade! Hers were painted black, with painted silver handles. (And one upside-down one!)

As you can see, they sat in our bedroom for a while (we enjoyed the extra height and width compared to the older, smaller ones, and I like the edgier black instead of pastel!!), but a lot of the other accents in our room were gold. (Like the initials, square canvas, and vanity stool.) So I re-did the re-do. Remade the makeover. Repainted the repaint job... you get the idea.

It took me literally seconds to repaint the silver handles with gold spray paint.

The black and gold is still glam, and goes with my other gold DIY decor!

Know what I mean about time to re-do a remake??! 

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New home project, new ugly mirror for the sewing room

5.15.2013

New home project, new ugly mirror for the sewing room

It's been quite a while since I did a spray paint project... I guess winter gets that way. But now it's spray-painting weather, and I was megaproductive last weekend and made over a super ugly mirror I got at Goodwill a while back. It's been sitting in my garage while I used a tiny square mirror from my closet in the sewing room, and I was so ready for a new one.

Here's the before... pretty dated, as you see. (There's actually a stamp on the back that says, no brand or anything, just "MARCH 9 1988." So we know for sure it's not from a great era for home decorating style. ;) )

Pretty proud of myself on this one--I actually pulled out the sandpaper and sanded. Such an important step for something with a heavy grain, and with thin peeling varnish...

Then I gave it a light coat of the rest of my spray primer. Love that stuff.

I debated, but since I haven't really decorated the sewing room much yet, figured a neutral would be best, even though I love the bold spray paint colors. So I went with a matte black spray paint.

After!

I'm working on dressing the space up even more, maybe with some art on one side or some other colorful touches in the rest of the room, but for now it serves its purpose and reminds me of some pretty Glitter Guide-worthy office spaces. =) Here are a couple inspirations so you see what I mean.

Source: prettyfluffy.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

Source: bijouandboheme.blogspot.ca via Suzannah on Pinterest

Until I get to decorating the sewing room/office!

Oh, another thing I did this weekend--finally made a page for our home tour. Goes through almost all the rooms of the house, with names and links to all the oodles of sewing and DIY projects I've done everywhere. Check it out here or linked from my linkbar!

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Super quick update to last year's fave shoes

2.11.2013

Super quick update to last year's fave shoes

I loved a pair of Target wedges last year (or are they two years old? I guess a year and a half...) and they're super comfortable and easy to wear. You saw them with full-legged pants, a flippy skirt dress, and then with the peplum top I made out of that dress. So I really enjoyed them last year, but wanted something new this year. I've seen a lot of similar shapes in bootie form this year, some really cheap ones from Forever 21 online, and here and there... some in tan, brown, or black. I like the sleek (rather than chunky) wedge for a little dressier look, and the toe is a nice shape.

But, rather than buy something new... I figured, I wore my similar pumps enough last year! Why not make them into something new?! (I've been reading a very recent book about the garment industry and "fast fashion" culture we've gotten used to. Sometimes cheap stuff is not awesome. Really making me want to buy and own less cheap clothing!--more than I already did. I love when DIYing makes it easier to make your own than to buy!)

So I took my old faves, stuffed them with newspaper, and gave them a good coat of matte spray paint. The $1 kind Home Depot makes in black and white, matte and shiny. WOW, how easy was that?!

I don't love black, and I suppose ideally would have had a medium tan color, but they don't make spray paint in fake leather tan color. ;) But the matte black is nice, different than a showy, shiny black pump. They already made an appearance in a How to Wear DIY outfit I'll be sharing as soon as I get the rest of the pics edited...

Ta-da! I know it's so simple it's almost obvious... but, take it from me, you CAN spray paint your shoes (within reason--I've tried and failed before with patent!) and you CAN update last year's style without spending money or filling the landfill with more Forever 21 crap than absolutely necessary. ;)

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More easy home dec spray paint projects!

2.08.2013

More easy home dec spray paint projects!

I'm happy to admit I get a little overenthusiastic about spray paint every so often... been doing a lot of home dec spray painting since we bought the house, and have a couple more big ones to share with you today!

You remember my colorblock tray project? That was super fun. The whole tape-and-spray-paint process is so easy and fast and pretty. I got the idea for these gold-dipped candle holders from a friend... I bought 8 of these plain candle holders at Dollar Tree just knowing they needed to be made over. My friend suggested painting the bottoms!! And, why not gold (like practically everything else in my living/dining rooms, oops...)??

Wrapped these in Parade Magazine pages and taped them off with painter's tape. Spray-painted Krylon shiny gold, rolled over after they dried, gave another coat... done!! Gold dipped candle holders, yay!!

I spread them on the dining room table since I didn't know what to do with all of them... love that they're different heights. Still playing with where they go.

Okay, so then my other most recent amazing and successful spray paint project is this totally "duh!" DIY necklace hook system. I spray-painted some jewelry stands recently also, and they're great for small things, but for my big necklaces I wanted a stable hanging place where I could see them easily. As you'll also see in that post, I've been thinking about the myriad of DIY jewelry stand examples out there (thanks, Pinterest/overwhelmingness...) and I'm really happy with this one as opposed to a chicken wire frame or some other solution--although there are some very cool ones!

This one was SO simple, can't believe I didn't think of it for so long. I bought a TIE HOOKS at Bed Bath and Beyond and spray-primered, then spray-painted them white! Duh, right?! Tie hanger hooks, the perfect size for chunky and bigger necklaces!

I'm stoked. I hung it prominently in our closet under a mirror, so convenient. (Why didn't I think of this until now, yikes!!) Our closet has a weird wall thing where some vent goes through the second floor, super annoying since the floor space would be nice!!, but perfect for hanging these. (The rest of the closet has the perfect shelving that we built--I'm overdue to post pics, but you can read about it here.) We're getting pretty close to an incredible, functional, attractive closet! (Lifelong dream!! ;) )

So, uh, yeah, spray paint is amazing. I also invested in some painter's mask things, since in the winter, spray-painting in the garage is super stinky and terrible for me, I'm sure. Come on, spring!

So are you inspired?! Doing any spray painting this weekend??!?

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Two pairs of DIY curtains for my dining room, plus a DIY double curtain rod

1.30.2013

Two pairs of DIY curtains for my dining room, plus a DIY double curtain rod

Curtains are such a pain, aren’t they? Not only are they expensive and a big color commitment for the room, they often don't come in the right size!! We wanted to hang the curtain rods as high and as wide as looked good, to make the room look bigger, so you'll remember I made the living room curtains custom (7 yards fabric, 7 yards lining--eesh!). The dining room ones are the same length, 107" or so, and while some curtains come in 108" lengths, they tend to be, like, $60/panel. Or only come in a few colors. Bleh. Target's curtains are sooo cute, but pretty much only come in 84" lengths! What do they expect me to do with those?!

I've been hunting Goodwills for ages for long enough curtains for the dining room, and never finding. So a while ago I found some 96" tan Ikea ones for $10. I figured, closer than some of what I've been finding. I can give them a colorblock hem treatment, right??

I didn't like how the tan looked, so we dyed them with two boxes of grey RIT dye. Then on to this problem:

So, then I just needed to find the right fabric for the hem trim. I didn't expect to find something perfect, but wasn't sure what color and texture to go for. I also thought about inserting a contrast trim band somewhere in the middle or near the bottom, to give them sort of a stripe and make them longer. But, then not long ago I found some neat teal cotton twill on the JoAnn clearance shelves, an extra half off, and bought the rest of the bolt. I made colorblock hem facings, I guess you could say, as long as I could do with the length of the fabric. It was a little wider than the curtains so I tore the extra off and still have it, maybe for something else.

They don't look FAB, but they're fine for now. I think I made them a little too short, and the teal isn't as bright or interesting as I was hoping. But better than too short!

So, another problem... unfortunately, most curtains and even fabric only come as wide as 55" or so... I think the rule of thumb is you want curtains to be about 1.5x the width of the window for nice pleating, so if you have two 55" panels, that means your window could only be 73" wide. Mine are waaay wider, and I put the curtain rods an extra several inches out to make the windows look nicer and bigger! So pretty much any curtains (two panels) will be too narrow!)

So I decided the grey curtains need to be more faux curtains, and sheers will let in more light, anyway. I had a pair of old white ones on a tension rod filling the space in the meantime, but wanted loooong sheers that went the whole length of the grey curtains and the wall.


Then, of course, my other issue was the sheers-- ideally I would use a double curtain rod, but I already had the nice brushed chrome-ey one up... so, I bought a super cheap curved-end white, boring curtain rod from JoAnn and spray-painted it silver, because I couldn't stand to have the cheap white metal showing at all.

Now we can leave the sheers closed all the time for privacy, but still get lots of light in, and keep the grey ones pretty open to the sides.

So I was so excited by how my DIY double rod worked out that I bought another cheapie one at JoAnn... even took a picture of the label of the first one so I could remember which kind it was! I now see they have a bunch on Amazon for way cheaper than the JoAnn ones, of course, with lots of choices. I think the key on this one was the shallow depth--it only "projects" 1 1/4", way shallower than the big curtain rod for the outer curtains, so it tucks behind nicely.

I gave it the same silver spray paint treatment, and hung it in our bedroom in the same placement. I had just bought some Ikea sheers to replace some plain white ones I had on a tension rod just for privacy and light, so this is a big improvement. Close-up on the double rod situation!

Curtains can be so expensive and challenging, so it's a big relief to have these done. At least for now. ;)

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In love with my DIY colorblock tray project

1.23.2013

In love with my DIY colorblock tray project

So, I had a fabulous and productive weekend, but am now ready for some recovery time from it... ;) not how that's supposed to work. Break from the weekend? I must be doing something wrong. Husband was gone Thursday through Tuesday working in California, so I had the whole house to myself and did a million zillion house projects, running around like crazy and having a great time!! I put up shelves, I moved pictures around, I cleaned, I organized, I ran errands... I'm still catching up from all the projects and photos I took and want to share with you! Sneak peeks on my Instagram and Facebook.

I also got out on home shopping with three different friends on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday the day off. Wow, lots of things for the house. It was super fun, though, and I feel great about sharing my home ideas with my friends and talking with them about their homes!!

It wasn't all sunshine and roses, though... other efforts of the weekend include five broken nails, three smallish cuts on my hands, and way too much time spent in Ikea and Target. And probably some dead brain cells from too much spray-painting in the 35 degree garage... I kept it ventilated as much as possible!! Definitely not ideal conditions.

But, the fruits of which I will share with you now! In this fun little tutorial for a colorblock decor tray I just made from an ugly old Christmas tray I got for $2 at Goodwill. I have been obsessed with trays since we got the house, funny since I seriously never had a use for them before. Now I have like six, and I love them. They are SO useful!! Anyway, here's the story...

Before and after:

Steps:

Paint the sides with your outside colors, then tape them off. I used painter's tape and was just careful to lay it out as straight as possible. It worked pretty well, no complaints from the tape.

Then spray the center color on top!

Super easy! It was a major pain that it took sooooo long to dry between layers since the garage was so cold. Took several coats, too. Ah, well, it was worth it.

I put it in our upstairs guest bath, which is a megaboring room aside from the horizontal stripes I painted... I really wanted more color in there, and to complement the aqua towels, the pale pink and bright coral are perfect! And the silver goes with the print in the shower curtain!

YAY. Who doesn't love an easy way to get bright, pretty color in a room--for $2!! I already had the spray paints. My colors, I guess. Now the bathrooom is even girlier... but, tough, my husband can deal. He shaves in there sometimes, but he can handle it. ;)

Also great parts of the weekend--I got some goodies from Kollabora for projects I'll be doing in my book! And I got to take the class for/pick up my BERNINA 350, the lovely machine BERNINA is lending me for the book. This thing is amazing. I've been sewing on Flintstones-era machines all my life in comparison, it feels like. It's not that this one is a robot or anything, far from it, but it just does everything so much better, cleaner, more efficiently than my vintage machines. Anyway, can't wait to share more!!

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