Design Within Reach is currently in the middle of an eBay auction that will raise money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation to fight breast cancer. The lot includes five pieces of iconic furniture design licensed by DWR, all rendered in pink. Designs include the Emeco Heritage Rocker, the Knoll Tulip Stool, Fritz Hansen’s Swan Chair (pictured), the Eames Aluminum Management Chair, and Marcel Breuer’s Knoll Wassily Chair.
When we first moved in to our new place, J and I went through stacks of decorating magazines searching for inspiration. It proved pretty fruitful – a little too fruitful, as we ended up with stacks of pulled-out photos that we’re slowly making our way through. One project from a Better Homes and Gardens special decorating issue was an easy one to start on because we had most of the materials we needed, the space in the house for it, and was something we could do in a day. I say “we” but I pretty much had nothing to do with it short of pulling the picture out of the magazine.
The project was a revamp of an old wooden bookcase. You punch out the back, flip it on its side, add a fresh coat of paint and some legs and you’ve got a new hutch-like display shelf. Here’s how we (and again, by we, I mean he) did it:
We started with an old bookcase we had lying around:
He punched the cardboard backing out of it. You could skip this part, but we wanted the shelf open to show off our wall color.
We picked up some primer at Lowe’s that worked on a number of surfaces and did 2 coats.
After priming, he added casters to each corner to give it some lift and make it easy to move. After we got it all together and in the room, we realized it needed some more casters in the middle to stabilize it, so we’ll be going to back to do that shortly.
Next, he gave it 2 coats of paint – the same color we used in our kitchen – followed by a coat of polyurethane.
The finished product looks pretty good, but we still needs some decorative items to fill the shelves. The middle section is dedicated to records.
From the previous picture, you can see how the middle of the shelf bows without the casters to hold it in place. Some alternatives to the casters recommended in the BHG article were wooden furniture legs or pieces of PVC pipe.
He say’s to get ready for the Secret Mission!
Taken September 24, 2008
That’s my bedroom, obviously.
Or not.
As part of my “History of the Hudson River Valley” class, we get to go to a few places nearby and check out their historical significance. Yesterday we went to the Mills Mansion in Staatsburg, and this is a picture from the house. This bedroom is the only fully restored room in the house (there are more than 70 rooms, so that’s quite an undertaking), and I just love the bright colors.
