IKEA HACK: living room cabinet

As you may know, I’m quite obsessed with Ikea hacks..if you don’t know what this is, it means taking a basic Ikea piece and customising it to make it unique or seem more expensive. 

I’ve been pouring over pinterest images of what people all over the world have been up to and they’re incredible. I’m not very handy or patient so my forays have been quite basic so far..I painted Fred’s dresser white and I sprayed some drawer handles with copper spray..i made some cool pendant lights ibn my bedroom (you’ll see more on that when the bedroom is done)…I’ve got lots of ideas though to give my bathroom a mini makeover and some other bits and bobs..

But my most recent foray into Ikea hacking was to take an ordinary plain kallax shelf unit and give it a bit of a mid century modern update. 

I was inspired by this image…

I already had a beech veneer Kallax in Fred’s room..the plan was to paint it white but then it turned out my mum had a white one so she just swapped with me to save time! 

Then I added cupboard door inserts you can get from Ikea for 9 quid each, got some lovely knobs from anthropologie in the sale and some cool furniture feet from prettypegs…they make them with special attachments specifically so you can update ikea furniture! 

And went from here…

To here….

It wasn’t that cheap I guess…I already had the shelving unit so the price of that doesn’t count..but it was only 20 quid anyways..then the cost of the doors, knobs and feet came to just over £100…so boot cheap but not bad for such a useful piece of furniture!

It’s full of nappies, wipes, Fred’s train set, toys etc..so useful for keeping the living room a grown up haven after Fred’s bedtime..which is a big priority for me. Plus it’s extra surface space to add a plant and a lamp! (I’m really into plants)

And there you have it! I’ve got my first commission from my mum to make her one now..I’ll show you when it’s done. 

Bye! 

Freddie’s Room!

Well Freddie is almost two years old and I’ve finally got his bedroom to a point where I actually I like it! It’s been a long slog really of mismatched furniture, clutter, junk, rank brown carpets. I don’t have any photos cos I didn’t want to take any of such ugliness!

When we bought the house this room had dark brown carpet that had crazy deep marks where the previous owner had almost filled the room with enormous heavy wardrobes. We couldn’t afford to change them straight away so they stayed..but the first weeks of living there we gave it a fresh coat of paint in a sort of yellowy cream. I wanted it to be sunny and bright in there.

We also roped in Dan’s cousin Sarah to paint this rainbow which I love. Dan had asked for a “psychedelic rainbow” which I think he got. 

The furniture in here has changed so much but I think it’s finally right..a big white cot bed, a white and wood blanket box, a white and wood arm chair and an Ikea hemnes dresser which I recently painted white and added a yellow star across the front. I’m so happy with it..compared to the dark brown it was before, it’s made the room a lot lighter.

In Jan we changed the carpets and that instantly lifted the room and made it all seem brighter.
We bought mamas and papas curtains when Fred was small and I really love them…having never bought curtains before I didn’t consider that they were neither lined nor black out..but we just put up a travel gro blind in summer..it’s a bit of a pain but does the job. I keep meaning to buy a black out roller blind to put up behind the curtains but I never seem to get round to it.

The shelves above the dresser used to have lots of storage boxes on them full of muslins, blankets,.nappies etc but they’ve all been moved to my room ready for the little girl’s arrival!
We’ve got colourful Ikea storage boxes on the floor though for Fred’s toys and books..I really want to put up some painted Ikea spice racks..I’ve seen them in kid’s bedroom walls on pinterest, used as book shelves! But I don’t want to put stuff on the walls that would limit how i can arrange the furniture..it’s possible the little girl and Fred will end up sharing for a but depending on whether we can sell up and move before we need to…so maybe in the next house! 

And that’s it! 

It’s not perfect..I’d like to change the knobs on the dresser and the shelves aren’t quite there but that’s life..nothing will ever be perfect! 

Bye! 

Pinterest my house. NOW!

So I’m very much into making over my house at the mo. Am I “nesting” ? Maybe! 

I think there are always bits and bobs you want to change about your house..It’s a never ending cycle. And with Instagram and Pinterest it’s probably heightened cos I can look at very stylised people’s houses, rooms, corners etc and think YEAH I CAN DO THAT. 

The main focus of my attention is my bedroom. When the little girl comes she’ll need to share with us probably till she’s one..Freddie moved into his own room when he was not even quite 6 months, but we only have two bedrooms so she’ll have to bunk with us until we think they’re ready to share or we can move…to a bigger house! (Simpson’s quote).

Anyway, with this in mind I was looking for space saving ideas and thought a bed with lots of storage would be good. Which led to me finding the Ikea brimnes bed. Perfect!

The deep headboard means we don’t need bedside tables which means we could get a king size and still have space for a cot for the little girl!

But it’s not very stylish. Which led to my pinterest search of “ikea brimnes bed hack”. Which led to these inspirations for my bedroom…

Which led to this…

Which led to this…

Which led to this…

I’ve been busily painting mirror frames with Annie Sloan chalk paint and planning how I can restyle my bedroom to a copper/rose/grey theme. I’m going to spray paint things copper, I painted a mirror frame pink. New curtains. It’ll look amazing. 

In the meantime I project managed the painting of our stairs which used to be carpeted in brown carpet..then they were bare..now they’re beautiful and white and Pinterest worthy I reckon after we painted the walls dark dark grey and put in bright yellow light shades…

I can’t get the light shade in but hey ho you’ll just have to watch out for a finished house project post. 

So..in conclusion..love pinterest and wanna spend all my money on new light fittings and fitted wardrobes. Bye!

Kitchen Confidential

I got a new kitchen!

What a bloody saga it was too..I like to always have a saga in my life. I’d only just got over Lara’s Swimming Costume Saga when Lara’s Kitchen Saga began.

The saga is basically that it took 8 days longer than it was meant to..which now feels nothingy and pathetic..during those 8 days though I probably cried hourly, shouted, threatened, ate terrible convenience food, cried some more. I even cried on the phone to Wickes. I also went to Ikea for lunch just to get out of the house.

I mean it’s always fun to go to Ikea…but I waxed 35 quid on baby cushions that look like clouds.

(They’re super cute though)

Anyways..Wickes bunged up the orders and then the workmen were held up and then the workman got a toothache…

Blah blah, it’s the same thing that happens to anyone who ever has work done..I do get that I’m not unique here..

Even so, I felt was that Wickes were the enemy and the workmen were the poor victims…I think I had Stockholm syndrome…

But now it’s basically all done and I LOVE IT.

There are just a few more touches but it’s basically done..now all I need to do is wangle a massive refund from Wickes.

I thought I’d share some before and after shots of our downstairs…

I think you’ll agree I’ve transformed it with my natural flair for paying other people to do DIY for me.