A friend of mine lives in London. Lindsey had one of those fairytale happenings of going on a study abroad to London, making a connection with a handsome local, and then married him! She now has three kids, and has a very cute blog named Urban Mums, where she documents cool finds in the city. You should check it out. DIY projects and I have an interesting relationship. I really love the idea of them, but I rarely actually do them. Part of it is because I need a friend to do them with. Isn't everything so much more fun when you have a partner in crime? Also, if I can't get it done in one sitting... then there is a chance it wont ever get done. This is part of the reason I'm so drawn to this cute DIY paper crane mobile Lindsey posted on Urban Mums, from this site. You could totally do this in one sitting with a very pleasing end product. Who knows, It also might be the fact that I grew up in Japan to why I'm drawn to anything involving oragami paper cranes. Hop on over the Strawberry Chic to get the details on how she put together this cute mobile for her baby's nursery!
-Megan
'Design Therapy' is a great segment where we highlight fun DIY's (both small and large scale!) as well as well organized spaces. Anything that breathes new life into an object or area of your home we find therapeutic! If you have a DIY project or well functioning/organized space in your home, we'd love to feature it! Simply click the button below!
Are you guys familiar with the site Natty by Design? I found out about this gem from a friend of mine who lives here in Santa Monica. She told me she just bought a campaign dresser from this site and thought I'd be interested. I checked it out and oh man she was right, and was I jealous! Okay, and I still am a little jealous. So here's the story. The woman behind Natty by Design knows a thing or two about refinishing/painting furniture. And when I say a thing or two... I really mean she knows everything about it. Not too long ago she posted this, with a bunch of beautiful vintage furniture she found, bought, and is in the process of selling. You tell her which you want, redone in what color, and she does it for you. And does an amazing job. My friend saw the post and quickly snagged the campaign dresser. Here is what it looked like before -
Totally good looking, right?
And this is how it was spruced up - How great does the navy look? I love it and am sure it looks great in her boys bedroom. The paint color is Benjamin Moore's 'old navy'. Click here to read the post on this dresser from Natty by Design, and also be sure to check out all her 'popular posts' on the side bar... she's transformed some pieces to look so super cool.
-Megan
'Design Therapy' is a great segment where we highlight fun DIY's (both small and large scale!) as well as well organized spaces. Anything that breathes new life into an object or area of your home we find therapeutic! If you have a DIY project or well functioning/organized space in your home, we'd love to feature it! Simply click the button below!
I'm so excited about today's Design Therapy segment. I found this awesome DIY laundry room makeover on Pinterest and was immediately so impressed. 'View Along the Way' is a cute site you should definitely check out.
Kelly and her husband DIY'ed the heck out of this room. And all for only 157 dollars! Here are the images to get you as impressed as I am -
Before.
The state the room was in when they bought the house. Middle.
The quick fix of painting the walls and getting rid of the popcorn ceiling. Are you ready for this?... After.
The grand DIY makeover. Doesn't it look fantastic? There are a lot of reasons why I'm drawn to this space - 1. It is fresh (white/lighter color) and interesting (patterns). 2. Speaking of patterns, I love the mix of the simple wide stripe on the floor, with the more elaborate soft (yet still a bit graphic) stencil on the wall. They balance well and help to make the room seem larger. 3. I love organizational things. Seriously, The Container Store and I are bff's. So clearly I love the visual effect of the beautiful methods to keep her frequently used things organized. 4. The light fixture. It's totally awesome. And her husband made it, which makes it even more amazing. 5. Wicker. For many years I underestimated wicker. But it can instantly bring warmth and texture to a space, which is definitely the case for this room with the various baskets. I'm very impressed. Maybe this seems dream-like to me since I share one washer and dryer with my other apartment neighbors. And maybe its also because I too have laminate floors that always look dirty (okay, maybe they are most of the time... but even when we clean them they look bad). So to think that with some creativity, great inexpensive finds, and DIY magic a room like this can be created with such a low cost is sounding pretty awesome to me! So what do you guys think? What would you want to have in your dream laundry room? ps- Click here for the link to Kelly's step by step on that awesome stencil wall. -Megan
'Design Therapy' is a great segment where we highlight fun DIY's (both small and large scale!) as well as well organized spaces. Anything that breathes new life into an object or area of your home we find therapeutic! If you have a DIY project or well functioning/organized space in your home, we'd love to feature it! Simply click the button below!
When I went to New York recently and visited the Guggenheim Museum, I got the museum's booklet and couldn't throw it away. It has the Shining Back print on it by Sam Francis. It's so pretty. Remember how I did a post on if you prefer reading from actual books or kindles? I typically prefer reading from my kindle, but on occasion I get a book from the library or loaned from a friend so I jump back into normal book territory. When I was recently reading I needed a bookmark, so I used a cute thank you card I received in the mail. Then I realized I had other things, like my Guggenheim booklet, that would also make fantastic bookmarks. So I got to work!
I picked out the paper I wanted to use. I got the cute thank you card (since I didn't want to double up the paper, I only used the side with no writing on the opposite side), the Guggenheim booklet, and a stack of art from my 4 year old (I used the one on the top of the pile).
Then I trimmed them down in different sections, each strip being one I think would look good as a bookmark. I had favorite parts of each item, so I worked around that, but I kept in mind color and balance in each strip so multiple bookmarks could be made. I picked my favorite from each one, and laminated them using no heat sheets I got in a pack from Target. Then I just trimmed them down! Here are my finished new bookmarks. Some of the edges were a little sharp so I touched them up with scissors on the corner to dull them a bit. If you are planning to give someone a book this holiday season, wouldn't it be a nice touch to add a homemade bookmark with the book? The Sam Francis print is my favorite. I love how big the bookmark is. And ps- isn't this book below great? Look at the color variation around each page. I picked up these books at a flea market in Paris.
Do you have any pretty paper you're hanging on to? Are you a book reader instead of a kindle reader? If so, maybe you could make yourself a cute bookmark! There are definitely different methods you could use, and you could also add fun touches by punching a hole in the top and stringing some cute ribbon or fabric through. I loved being able to use what I had on hand, giving my pretty paper a 2nd life!
-Megan
ps- I'm actually heading back to New York in a couple weeks (I fly there on my birthday actually) and would love recommendations from you awesome people on your favorite things to do and see!
'Design Therapy' is a great segment where we highlight fun DIY's (both small and large scale!) as well as well organized spaces. Anything that breathes new life into an object or area of your home we find therapeutic! If you have a DIY project or well functioning/organized space in your home, we'd love to feature it! Simply click the button below!
I'm really excited for our Design Therapy post today. A friend of mine named Danielle has an awesome website called Pinned by Dani, where she scours through Pinterest to find everything cool and noteworthy, tries them out herself, and lets her readers know how it turns out. After visiting her site I saw a post she did about a bookshelf DIY and knew it would be great for our readers here at 2nd and Strand. So here is her experience, in her words, of making her $15 bookshelf into something beautiful - Colby and I finally moved into our new apartment on Saturday and we couldn’t be more excited about it. It’s so nice to have our own place again, and our new kitchen is SO much better than our last one. I hardly know what to do with all the new cupboard, counter, and pantry space I have! I bought a plain old bookshelf for $15 about a month ago and have been aching to paint it ever since. However, I decided to wait until we had a place of our own to give it its makeover! So, yesterday I labored on labor day. This being my first real painting project, I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of time…and I will say, it took longer than I thought it would. However, it was SO worth it. I love the end result!! It’s amazing what a little paint can do to a piece of furniture! I have pinterest to thank for my color inspiration. Not only have I seen countless cute bookshelves on pinterest with the back wall its own bright color, the peach color I chose came from a pin as well! If you haven’t seen this pin yet , check it out. It’s 18 go-with-anything, paint-whatever, put-anywhere hues for any room from Martha Stewart—a source I trust. I painted my bookshelf a traditional “Country White” and I decided on Martha Stewart’s “Punch” (#7 on her list) for the color of the back wall. Here are the tools you will need for a bookshelf (or any type of furniture) makeover:- Paints (the white I used was primer & paint in one, so I only needed to buy the paint for the body color and the paint for the back wall)
- Sandpaper (I found this to be the cheapest route to take…the liquid sandpaper I’ve seen all over pinterest is about $30 more expensive than buying regular sandpaper)
- An electric sander (borrow one from a neighbor if you don’t have one…it makes the sanding process SO much easier and faster)
- Paint rollers (I used the small ones and they worked great)
- Paint trays
- Paintbrush for corners
- Frog tape (if you’re using more than one color)
- Newspaper or plastic to work on
The process:- First, lay down your plastic/newspaper.
- Next, sand your furniture. You don’t have to sand it a ton…just rough it up and get any previous colors or lacquers off.
3. Remove all loose shelves/doors. *If you can remove the back wall of your bookshelf, it will make your life A LOT easier. Mine was impossible to remove without damaging it so I had to paint it the hard way.
4. Next, use your roller to apply primer if you are using it.
5. Apply first layer of base paint to main body of unit and all shelves/doors that have been removed.
6. Once dry, apply a second coat. If the color still looks streaky, apply a third coat.
7. Let new coat dry and then add frog tape to the edges lining the back wall to allow for clean lines (if you were able to remove your back wall, skip this step and simply paint the back wall separately).
8. Place some aluminum foil on the shelves to catch any drips or splatters.
9. Paint the back wall.
10. Let dry and apply a second coat. I used a paintbrush for the corners, and the small roller for the rest of the wall.
11. Let second coat dry, remove frog tape, and fix little blemishes with a cue-tip.
12. Let sit for a few hours so paint is totally set, then decorate!
I’m a little obsessed with this new addition to our home. It’s nice to have a place to showcase some of the cool old books I got from my grandma’s house too
The mason jar on the top shelf and tissue paper flowers inside it are DIY crafts as well. As are the C&D bookends that I got for $2.00 from hobby lobby and spray painted bronze. With hindsight, I would have used a different color cause they get lost with the peach background, but I guess it’s not too late to repaint them! Ah…the beauty of DIY crafts!
If you have your own bland furniture that needs a redo, don’t get rid of it—paint it yourself! The possibilities are endless! I have a feeling that me and thrift stores/garage sales are gonna get along great!
p.s. see that blue mail holder hanging next to the bookshelf in my kitchen? That’s a thrift store find that I painted too! It was a boring dark brown before with lots of scratches, and now it’s one of my favorite parts of my kitchen! I’m also loving the EAT letters I spray painted and put up on my wall, but that’s a story for another post Stay tuned.
Thanks for sharing your makeover tutorial Dani! Isn't that a great DIY? The bookshelf is a great addition into her home. White is a classic color, and a smart choice for Danielle since it broadens her kitchen area since it ties nicely into all her appliances (which helps tie the living room and kitchen together). The bookshelf is nicely balanced, which Dani created by using books and decorative items. The fun pop of peach for the background, along with all the other colors and shapes creates interest and makes it a great focal point in the room. Great job Dani!
-Megan
'Design Therapy' is a great segment where we highlight fun DIY's (both small and large scale!) as well as well organized spaces. Anything that breathes new life into an object or area of your home we find therapeutic! If you have a DIY project or well functioning/organized space in your home, we'd love to feature it! Simply click the button below!
We've talked about wood paneling on 2nd and Strand before, here. On today's Design Therapy we get to see inside a readers home to see how she implemented wood paneling in her family room. Reader Natalie sent in some great before and after shots of her room. Not only did she and her husband add some great color to the walls, but the plate rail her husband installed is truly inspiring. The picture below was taken during their paint color picking debate. Picking a paint color is a true challenge, for anybody. I'm happy to see that Natalie did all the necessary leg work to make a great choice! This is a great family as it already had crown molding, good light, nice furniture, and plenty of seating. But Natalie knew she could do more with the space. I really like the improvements she and her husband, Nick, made. Impressive right? My two favorite parts are the contrast between the white wainscoting and the dark armoire and sofa, and the addition of the plate rail. I think the decorative molding makes the room feel bigger and really draws your eye up the wall. What a great place to display artwork and other meaningful accessories. I also really like how the white space allowed them to go darker on the wall paint, but that the whole room feels bigger and brighter in the process.
Thanks for sharing your Design Therapy with us Natalie! It looks fantastic and with such classic choices it will look fantastic for a long time!
-Andrea We'd love to feature your home on 2nd and Strand. Click on the button below to send us info on how you've improved your space.
You might remember me going on and on about chalk boards here. When my daughter's preschool teacher (she does a Montessori program) told me that writing on vertical surfaces was great practice for budding writers I was sold. I talked to my husband about all my different chalkboard ideas; we could paint entire walls, maybe a closet, etc. He was more hesitant. Then one day I was opening the basement door for the 100th time that day and had an epiphany. I should use chalkboard paint on the door panels! So I painted the panels with chalkboard paint and the kids were SO happy! They left little notes for guests, messages for their Dad, my one year old practiced scribbling, I mean drawing. I was pretty happy. But I knew it needed more. I wanted to frame out the panels, but I also really wanted to call more attention to the vintage doorknob; easily the prettiest thing on the door. I decided on metallic paint for the space between the panel and the door. We also really needed new hardware. As a lot of you probably already know, these old doors and frames rarely ever close tight. A few owners back they put in a hook and eye to keep the door closed. This didn't stop my children as one of them pulled so hard on the door the hook completely popped out. I really wanted to fix this safety concern once and for all. I spackled the old holes and sanded and painted them, already a major improvement. Here I'm using a blowdry to speed up the drying process on the spackle. I bought a brass window sash lock that I wanted to attach on the vertical door frame. But the new brass just stood out too much from the 70 year old brass. Luckily I have a crazy hoard of spray paint and added a light dusting of bronze to the hardware. In order to get the heads of the screws I poked them through a paper bag before I sprayed them. Major improvement right? I spent less than $7.00 on this project and got it all done during a handful of kid afternoon naps. Considering how many times a day I use this door the cost per use is going to be approximately $.0000001 :).
-Andrea
We certainly have been talking about rugs a lot this week! I know they've been on my mind a lot lately. I have been ignoring/fixating on a problem in our living room for over a month. Every time I'd enter the room I would cringe and think, "If only I were more like my Mom". Because my Mom made sure this never happened in my childhood home. Red kool-aid was outlawed, banished to the yard; along with play-doh and silly putty. I had tried all my usual tricks on this beast of a stain and as a last ditch effort I scheduled an appointment with a green carpet cleaner. They came and cleaned my rug, and it looked pretty good, except for the red kool-aid stain that remained. I had all but resigned myself to the fact that our nicest accessory was marred. Well, my friend Mindy told me not to give up hope. She sent me a link to an article about how to remove kool-aid from white carpet, and this morning I woke up determined to give it a go. In typical Andrea fashion it had to be done right then. So I just used what I had on hand. - Blue Windex, even an off brand. I assumed that because the rug was slightly blue itself this wouldn't be a problem. If I had this to do over again I would use a mixture of water and ammonia in place of the windex.
- The only white towel we have in the house. I pretty sure it will have to be cut up and used as rags from now on.
- An iron; filled with water, on steam setting, and set to the cotton/linen selection.
I started with the least conspicuous spot, and got more aggressive as my confidence in the process grew! I sprayed the spot with the windex and immediately put a single layer of the towel on top and set the iron on top of that. I waited three minutes and lifted up the iron to see that pink from the stain had transferred to the towel. Not only had pink transferred, but so had some brown dye from the rug. I immediately pulled up the towel and looked at the rug. At this point I judged that I couldn't tell that any of the original colors of the rug had lightened, so I kept going. In the picture below you can see pink, blue, and brown colors having transferred to the rug. Pink=kool-aid; Blue=windex; Brown=original rug color. Tips to consider: - Be as precise as possible with the windex, I tried really hard to keep it to the stained area.
- Check to make sure your iron is not too hot while it sits on the stain for those three minutes, I would hate for you to burn your rug!
- I cleared the area of people while I did this project. I didn't want my kids to burn themselves on the iron, but I also didn't want anyone breathing the fumes of the heated windex. I did try to go green :)
- Soak the stain with the solution. The iron should make that sizzling sound.
- I had to repeat this process at least three times per spot. But check out my results!
Beautiful as ever!
-Andrea
**If you'd like to submit an area of your home that you've made work we'd love to highlight your space. Just click on the button below **
We finally thought of a name for our new segment, and we love it! Design Therapy is all about people taking control of their spaces; it's therapy for your house and therapy for your well-being too! This concept has been in the works since we started 2nd and Strand. Megan and I both are drawn to design because we know that good design really improves people's day to day; that a space can uplift and inspire AND function well. So we are thrilled to have a space to directly address this therapeutic element of design. I was reading my friend Emily's blog, something, when I was touched by a sentence she used. "i desperately needed something in my house to change. with no money and no chance of a move, i decided painting some old furniture was the best way for me to go.". And tada! My dear friend felt a lot more in control of her life, she knows that she can improve her situation; she gave herself some Design Therapy. Want to see what she did?  Before This piece was an early purchase in their marriage and it had been with them for awhile; but it needed a face lift and Emily gave her one.  After Emily likes the improvement so much that it has inspired a few more changes in her space. Next she's going to tackle a computer desk and a filing cabinet. She's also picked out a few accessories to go with her newly painted piece. Her Design Therapy worked, and all for under $30. For anyone who has paid for any type of therapy, you know that's a steal :) Congrats Em! It looks great. Thanks for sharing your process with us!
-Andrea **If you'd like to submit an area of your home that you've made work we'd love to highlight your space. Just click on the button below **
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