Vintage Vogue Cover Art

I wanted to share a quick update on a little project I did with my Vogue vintage cover art mirror that I have featured on the wall above my marble-topped bar cabinet.  I painted the cabinet glossy black and so I wanted the mirror's frame to match. Here it is after about four coats of spray paint and one coat of acrylic polyurethane to give it the same "lacquered" finish as the cabinet: 

It was previously a dark-brown stained wood as seen here in the 'before' picture: 

The illustration on the mirror is by George Wolfe Plank and it was featured as the Vogue cover for the April 1918 issue.  The new black frame makes the dress of the lady riding the peacock really stand out so much more than the brown frame did.  It's amazing what a little paint can do!  

Entryway Inspirations

I'm thinking about my entryway again (I first posted about it here) and I'm really bummed that the white lacquer parsons console table from West Elm that I've had my eye on doesn't ship to Canada.  I've looked everywhere for something similar, in countless brick & mortar stores and what feels like every single online furniture retailer.  I found several runners up, but nothing as perfect for the space or for what I have in mind.  So until I find something great, instead of spending money on something temporary, I thought I'd just paint my existing dark wood-stained demi-lune table.  Here are some images from Pinterest that are inspiring me: 

This picture captures exactly what I have in mind for my space - white lacquer parsons console table, bench underneath, large mirror (except that my mirror will be hung above the table).

This picture is getting a little closer to my vision...my mirror is gold-framed.

I was thinking of painting my table white, but black looks so chic!  And a black console table would anchor my black marble-topped bar on the opposite wall...

Sigh...This is the West Elm table that I'm coveting but it won't ship to Canada!!!

This looks very similar to my demi-lune table (only difference is mine has a middle shelf).  This picture gives me an idea of how the table would look black...

...and then I see something like this and I think I might like to try giving my table a coat of chalk paint and distressing it, make it look French provincial.  It would look so darling since the demi-lune shape is already very traditional, but  because of that it just wouldn't be the right style for the room it's in.

All images via Pinterest except last image via

Billy Bookcase DIY

I'm getting tired of looking at my dark, unorganized IKEA Billy bookcases and I've been itching to make them over for a long time now.  They were once packed full of books with a few knick-knacks tucked in, but the main focus was on the books themselves.  It was very library-like, wall-to-wall with spined books (three Billy's worth!).  I donated a ton of my books a few months ago to clear up space.  I still want books on display, but I also want my growing collection of objects and art mixed in.  The problem is, my bookcases are black-brown so darker items tend to look lost on the shelves.  Time for that to change.  I don't want to go to the trouble of painting all the shelves so I was thinking of either covering the backing with a light coloured wallpaper or fabric, or just simply painting the backing.  Right now I'm leaning more towards painting because as much as I love a good print, I'm worried that wallpaper/fabric will be too busy and steal the focus away from what is displayed on the shelves.  And besides, I have some leftover white paint that I need to use up so it would save me time and money from having to source and buy wallpaper or fabric. 

Here's a graphic bookcase that I love, found on Houzz.com: 

Contemporary Family Room by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators Martha O'Hara Interiors

And here's a beautifully styled and painted bookcase that DIY and decor blogger Kate, a.k.a. "Centsational Girl" did to her Billy bookcases: 

Kate even has an excellent DIY tutorial on making them look built-in that you can read here.  


And then of course I see something like these all-black bookcases and I think...why paint them at all???  These ones seen here were featured in the November 2011 issue of House & Home (found on the H&H blog) and they look great dark.  Maybe all I need to do is add some crown moulding to the top of mine and choose books, art and decorative items that will display nicely against the dark shelves.  

Ah, decisions, decisions.  Stay tuned to see what I end up doing!  

Nightstand Mini-Makeover

Sometimes all it takes is a small change to make a big impact.  Case in point: changing drawer hardware.  New nightstands are not in the budget for me right now but I was getting a little tired of the two I currently have in my bedroom, so I bought these vintage-vibe glass drawer pulls, installed each one in under a minute and...voila!  Instant glam!  I would still like to replace these nightstands in future, but for now the addition of new drawer pulls give this furniture a little bit more interest.  

Before & After

Drawers of drawer hardware at Chatelet (where I purchased my new glass drawer pulls from for $4.50 each

Anthropologie

has tons of really great hardware and is reasonably priced.  Styles range from vintage-inspired to modern, classic to whimsical.  Here's a selection of the ones I'm crushing on:

Black, white and gold - so classy, so elegant

How cute is this owl?!!

This Coral Branch drawer knob would be perfect in a beach house.

The colourful florals in this knob would punch up an otherwise plain dresser.

I can see this Timepiece knob used on a jewellery box or other small scale item.

Lamp DIY Project

I finished my lamp project - it's now got a fresh coat of silver paint and I replaced the tapered shade with a drum shade and re-covered it in houndstooth fabric.  Here it is!  

Here is the before picture, for comparison: 

I found it surprisingly easy to adhere the fabric to the shade using spray adhesive.  This was such an easy DIY project that I think I'll update some other lamps around my house!