Friday Five

Hey! I hope that you had a great week! Here's a few things that have caught my eye recently!

*Contains affiliate links

Have you seen the campaign collection from The Land of Nod? Amazing!!

The other day Mandi from Vintage Revivals posted about the Grr-ripper push block and I was instantly intrigued! It's an advanced push stick that helps make cutting wood on the table saw, router, etc. easier, safer, and more precise. The table saw always makes me nervous since your hand gets close to the blade (David did nip his finger the other week .. so I would say $59 is a good investment) Check out Mandi's post and incredible stacked plywood bench tutorial here

I've been thinking a lot about window treatments recently! Check out my pinterest board, here

Please pin from the original source here Thanks!

via

I'm loving this relaxing bedroom from the DIY Playbook. The subtle shades of gray, mixed with white and a pop of color and texture are perfect! 

Please pin from the original source, here Thanks! 

via

Looking for a new coffee table? This one might be it! At $249, it's affordable even without a sale! West Elm is having pop up sales this weekend, so you might be able to grab a deal if it goes on sale! 

Hope you have a great weekend!! :)

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Fabric Panel Wall Feature | Tutorial

Today I'm sharing how to create a fabric panel wall! It makes a big impact with little effort and it can be renter friendly too!

Materials:

3 Yards of fabric
6x9 drop cloth
1/4" x 3/4" wood molding (two 7' sections)
Spray adhesive
Iron
Fabric scissors
Permanent fabric glue
Tape measure
Staple gun with 1/4" staples
Drill and screws (or 3M command strips)

My panel measures, 84" wide x 54" high, I used 3 yards of fabric (42" width) 2 yards across and 1.5 yards up. Referencing one of my favorite prints, I drew the pattern in Photoshop, and got it printed through Spoonflower.

First, you want to iron your fabric (with steam) to remove any creases. Try to iron it where you'll be working on the entire piece, moving it will create wrinkles and you'll have to iron again. *Cut the top and bottom flush and leave the selvedge edge on the sides to wrap around the back. Iron the selvedge edge up, even with where the print starts.

Next, measure your fabric and make your cuts. 

To stiffen up the fabric, I purchased a drop cloth (6x9 for $10). I was originally going to use interfacing and iron it on the back, but I couldn't get it to stick well and it was wrinkly .. 

Again, iron it well with steam to get all wrinkles out. I did this in the garage, directly on the concrete, which absorbed water .. I had to place a scrap piece of wood under and spot iron some spots so that they would dry .. so I'd recommend placing something under it if possible. 

To attach the fabric to the drop cloth, start away from the edge and plan to trim the excess drop cloth (since it's very tricky to get it perfectly straight). Enlist an extra set of hands to hold it up, (I started at the top) work in small sections smoothing it from the center of the fabric, remove all as you go. If you get wrinkles, lift it up and re smooth. *Don't attach the outer selvedge to the drop cloth. 

To get the width, I needed to join two two widths of fabric. For the center seam, leave one center seam raw. On the other center seam, fold it under about .25" and overlap it. Iron it lightly without seam. Prior to moving it, let it dry for about 30 minutes. 

On the top and bottom, cut off the excess drop cloth even with the fabric.

For the edges, with the outer selvedge edge ironed up (to use as a guide), carefully trim the excess drop cloth on the side.

Flip it over, using permanent fabric glue, glue the outer edge on the back of the drop cloth.

Attach the top and bottom trim to the panel to hang it. Using 1/4" staples, fold the top edge of the fabric over and staple from the back. Repeat on the bottom.

Attach it to the wall, measure and confirm that it's level. We used small screws since we can put small holes in our rental walls (two on the top and two on the bottom) If you'd prefer not to put holes in your wall, use command strips at the top and let it hang loose at the bottom. It won't be as tight, but as long as it's pretty heavy, it should hang fine.

And that's it!

Total time spent was a few hours and about $50. So, not too bad!!

I hope you'll give it a try :)

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Blogger Stylin' Home Tour | Our TN Living Room

I'm so happy to be participating in the Blogger Stylin' Home Tour blog hop! Today I'm sharing my favorite room in our Tennessee rental (honestly, it's the only one finished in TN!) But I really do LOVE it because it's bright, happy and full of pattern. If you're stopping over from Beneath my Heart, welcome!! So glad that you're here!

Come on in! 

Entering through the kitchen, there's a sofa table, x base ottomans, and yellow lamps. The sofa table base is from Holly & Martin. The other week, I found a few pieces of marble on Craigslist, one piece was the exact width and just 4" short (it's like it was meant to be!!), so I swapped out the top and just added two strips of painted wood on the ends. It looks like it was always like that! 

The aluminum M was found at a local vintage shop.

Love the yellow lamps paired with the coral ottomans!

We recently added a fabric panel behind the T.V. Referencing one of my favorite prints, I drew the pattern in Photoshop, and got it printed through Spoonflower.

We recently finished a TV stand - a modified Ikea Expedit (we've been planning to do it for a while .. before the Expedit was discontinued! Tutorial on Infarrantly Creative).

Love the size, added durability with plywood and the height of the TV is perfect! It also covers all the outlets (about 4) behind the TV, we just have internet, so one outlet is all we need!

The diving helmet was an ice bucket found at the thrift store. It's the perfect planter for succulents!

When I picked up the marble pieces, the seller was also selling a few other things. I can't believe this mother of pearl inlay table was only $5!

The ceiling fan isn't my favorite, but it will do for our time here! (We're currently building a custom light for our Maryland living room!) 

I hope you enjoyed the tour! Fabric panel wall tutorial tomorrow!!

Sources:

(links are added to items that are still available or tutorials)

Sofa, Ikea Karlstad (cover discontinued)
Blue lattice ottomans, Target
Moroccan Pouf 
X Benches, Target
Rug, Nate Berkus at Target
Faux bamboo cane chair, Craigslist
Console table, Holly & Martin (base only, marble top added)
Pillows: fur pillow, black greek key pillow and Serena & Lily Highland Knots pillow found at TJ Maxx, white pillow purchased at Ikea (stenciled border), Green Greek Key is Trina Turk, Coral pillow with border was a DIY with Michael Miller coral and natural linen border
Yellow lamps
Tassel draperies 
Expedit TV stand

Make sure to stop by Simple Stylings next, you won't want to miss it!!

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Super Glossy Yellow Lamps + TN Living Room Sneak Peek

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so! Today I'm sharing a sneak peek of my Tennessee living room tour for the Blogger Styling Home Tour blog hop (I'm up Wednesday, but to follow from the beginning click here)

Recently, I've been obsessed with two things 1. bright yellow and 2. achieving a super glossy finish. So I decided to try both on a set of lamps recently found at the thrift store for $8 each. 

They had a weird faux brass / pinkish finish.

First a warning .. this was definitely not the easiest shape to achieve a glossy finish, simplicity is best, due to the amount of sanding.

To get started, I sanded it with medium grit synthetic steel wool. Then, I sanded it with a fine grit synthetic steel wool.

Then, I taped off the socket and cord. And placed old paper on the ground and a few extra pieces of wood to lift it off the ground. Make sure the area is dirt and dust free. I blew it off with the spray attachment on our air compressor.

I wiped it off with an old wash cloth (micro fiber would work too).  If you don't have a dust free paint booth, it's best to do a final wipe off where you'll be painting it right before you paint.

Then, I started painting. I used Zinsser Cover Stain since I had that on hand. (I've primarily used this on wood, but figured that it would work on metal too) I think BIN primer would have been a good option as well.

I gave it two light coats, letting it dry in between.

To get a super glossy finish, sanding is a MUST .. a lot of sanding, with small steps between grits using a fine grit to finish (i.e. 60 grit is rough, 600 grit is fine)

This isn't the only way to do it, but a fairly simple method that worked for me (sandpaper gets even finer 3,000 and up)

After the primer, I lightly sanded the entire surface with 320 grit.

This definitely isn't the easiest shape to sand .. something with less facets would have been much faster.

After removing all the primer dust with a cloth, gave it a coat of Liquitex, Cadmium Yellow Light 5. Here's my thoughts on it ..  I loved the wide range of colors, it didn't come out super fast, which helped control the paint and not waste it (I was able to cover both lamps with one can a good bit left over) Also, I wore a respirator .. but what I could smell, smelled like hairspray, so that was nicer than the typical spray paint smell. It didn't come out super smooth .. It sanded ok, but if you're looking for more color options, I'd recommend Montana Gold instead.

I gave it two coats, sanding it with 400 grit in between, once dry. After the last coat of yellow, I sanded it with 600 grit sandpaper.

After removing all the dust, I gave it a few glossy clear coats of Krylon Lacquer. I've used a few clear coats and this is by far my favorite. It doesn't run easily (a common problem with clear coats) and it gives a super glossy finish.

I did a fairly thin coat, constantly moving it in a circular motion, letting it dry a little in between coats (about 15 minutes) It doesn't have to look even on the first coat .. Then I applied more coats until it was evenly glossy. Using a spray paint grip helps give control and even coverage (I have this one) just make sure that the can is secure prior to painting (not all cans fit) ..

My original plan was to wet sand and buff the clear, so it was super glossy, but I was afraid it wouldn't work well since I didn't have a higher grit (around 2,000-3,000) sandpaper. In the end, the lacquer was very glossy, so I don't think it was necessary.

I love the bright saturated color!

They're currently on our Holly & Martin console table behind the sofa - love them paired with the bright coral x benches from Target.

Full reveal of our TN living room on Wednesday!!

p.s. Today I'm at Infarrantly Creative sharing our latest DIY project .. stop by and take a look!

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