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Is this a Find or an Easy DIY? Concealed Cabinet

Jan 20, 2010

I've talked about recessed medicine cabinets before, but here's a new twist. iinovators sells recessed medicine cabinets with picture frames for doors. Looks just like a picture hanging on the wall until you open the hinged frame to reveal the storage shelves behind.

PHOTOS: concealedcabinet.com

I could see this being useful in a bathroom where you prefer to have a simple framed mirror above the sink for aesthetic reasons, but still want some organized storage for small items. It would work in a kitchen for spices, in a nursery for all that baby paraphernalia, or any place you want to conceal small valuables.

The units start at $300, but I think you could DIY this concept for around $40.

1. Pick up a flush-mount recessed medicine cabinet like this one. Except don't buy it new, because most of that price is in the mirror, which you will remove or cover. Find one at a salvage yard. Condition doesn't matter as long as the inside is in reasonably good shape.
2. Buy a frame that is slightly larger than the mirror/door frame. Often the cheapest picture frames are the ones you find at discount stores with prints already in them.
3. Insert your chosen artwork and mount the frame to the mirror using several 3M Picture Hanging Strips. Using the strips instead of glue will allow you to remove the frame and change the art later.
4. Mount the cabinet following the instructions here.

What do you think? How would you use this concealed storage? —Diane

TAGS: easy diy how to install recessed medicine cabinet concealed storage picture frame cabinet bathroom storage theft protection

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Look for (much!) Less: Lisa's Stone Cairn Lamp

Jan 18, 2010

Last summer, I designed an eDecor Plan for Brian and Lisa's library. (Check it out here.) They live near the Lake Michigan shore and wanted a room designed to reflect that. I put together a plan inspired by their historic home and their love of the beach. Lake Michigan tumbles some of the most beautiful beach stones, so I included this Stone Cairn Lamp from VivaTerra on their Inspiration Board.

Photo: VivaTerra

The lamp was going for $279, beyond Lisa's budget, but she loved the look of it in the room design plan. (More below on why I included this item in her plan.) So she got creative and took advantage of some free and cheap resources to make her own stone cairn lamp. Here's her handcrafted version:

Photo: Lisa Confer

Here's how Lisa did it for $25.

Lamp making kit, Home Depot: $9
Diamond-tipped drill bit, Menards: $6
Hammer drill, borrowed: $0
Lamp shade, Target: $10
Stones, Point Betsie (Lake Michigan beach): $0

TOTAL : $25
(and according to Lisa, a few smashed fingers offset by self-satisfied pride)

Lisa says the best thing about making this lamp is that every time her son Jackson walks past it, he says, "Mom, that is so cool!" Jackson, I couldn't agree more. —Diane

(Incidentally, the Stone Cairn Lamp is no longer available but Vivaterra's Balanced Stone Lamp is similar, for $298.)

How Inspired Room Design's eDecor Plans work in real life…

This is a perfect example of a client using my eDecor Plan as creative inspiration and putting her own stamp on the room while saving money in the process. And it's exactly why I prefer not to adhere to a strict budget limit with eDecor Plans. I can provide a vision and present ideal solutions so that clients can work toward achieving the ideal look rather than settling for just what they can afford right now. It's a long-term plan for a space you'll love for years to come.

In addition, when I design a plan, I understand the client's "budget style" and their ability and desire to do work themselves. I knew Brian and Lisa were handy with the power tools and good at adapting ideas to their own space.

The best rooms are assembled over time, and my room design plans allow clients to take their time and implement the design gradually. With conventional interior decorating, the designer would have a deadline and therefore go out and buy the expensive lamp (and then mark it up 10-20%) in order to complete the room on time. If you're willing to put forth a little effort and implement the design yourself, you can still have a professionally designed room, for a lot less money. Interested in learning more? Email me.

TAGS: stone cairn lamp rock lighting beach vivaterra look for less cheap chic edecor edecorating e-decorating

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Apartment Therapy picked up my blog post!

Jan 16, 2010

I was delighted yesterday to discover that Apartment Therapy had covered Tim & Lisa's creative and resourceful bathroom reno via my blog. Check it out and be inspired by their amazing results on a very low budget. —Diane

TAGS: apartment therapy bathroom renovation before after diy budget

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Coolest Fabric Selector Tool!

Jan 15, 2010

{Short & Sweet Friday}

I'm pretty good about keeping my possessions in check. I try to enforce a one-in/one-out policy in my closet. So why can't I seem to curtail my fabric obsession? I think it's because of the potential that fabric holds. Each piece is worth a good hour of daydreaming what it might become.

As if I didn't have enough trouble resisting, now there's a super-cool online tool that helps you find fabric for sale on Etsy within one of 236 color palettes. Try this! It's amazing, beautiful, clever, and scary all at once. Especially useful for quilters since a lot of the fabric for sale on Etsy is quilting-weight cotton. It's appropriately named, too: morecloth.com

I could also see myself using this as an idea-generator for color schemes as they apply to entire rooms. Thank you, Catherine for creating this useful tool. I think. —Diane

Results from one of my favorite palettes on the page:

Need some help identifying a color palette that's "you"? I can help. Just email me!

TAGS: morecloth.com fabric shop by color palette tool etsy buy material color picker chooser

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Transformed: $20 Danish Modern Chair

Jan 14, 2010

I'm ashamed to admit that this gorgeous chair had been sitting in my bedroom without a cushion for over a year. I got tired of seeing its unsittable likeness buried under piles of laundry, so I finally did it right and made a custom-fitted cushion and slipcover. Now our little sitting area actually has a place to sit. Despite the inspiring nature of this find, a few things caused my procrastination:

• Lack of a really good sale on upholstery foam, which is ridiculously expensive.
• Lack of the perfect fabric (despite my mammoth stash).
• Fear of piping.
• Virgo tendencies that require me to finish one project before beginning the next.

First barrier was removed by (finally) receiving the coveted 50% off Joann's coupon. The second excuse went away when I found several yards of off-white slubby fabric at a church rummage sale. Fear of piping: more on that later. Those other projects? Still unfinished, but this one is crossed off the list!

I'll tell you the story of how I acquired this 1960s beauty, and pass along a simple Ebay tip in the process. There's a handy sort function on Ebay when you want to look for big, heavy things you'd rather not ship— like furniture. Browse the category, then sort by distance. It's a simple but overlooked feature. If you're lucky enough to find something nearby with local pick-up only, most of the bidding competition is out of the game, especially if you aren't in a large city. (Wow, a shopping advantage in Northern Michigan!)

I was doing just that one day when this chair popped up at the top of my list: "Vintage Teak Chair." Local pick-up only, 12 miles away in Honor, Michigan. Honor is known for canoeing. It's known for fishing and deer hunting. But it's most definitely not known for vintage modern furniture. The photos and description were sketchy, but I bid the minimum, $20. The sleek, paper-thin, curved wooden back with its mod-Gothic arches was too much to resist.

I won the auction, and we found ourselves driving to the "outskirts" of Honor to pick up my treasure. It was inside a packed-to-the-gills garage next to a trailer with a circle drive and a whirligig of two little men sawing lumber. The seller came out to find the chair in the clutter. He said he thought there would be more bidders. I shrugged my shoulders. Then he said, "For an extra ten bucks you can have the cushion, too." I glanced at the rumpled 80s upholstery covered in cat hair and decided that day that I'd make a new cushion. And now, I finally I have. —Diane

 Photos above: Diane Kolak.

Upgrade your slipcovers with a handy tool

Initially I was going to keep this cover super-simple and skip the piping (see aforementioned fear). I dreaded the thought of cutting all those bias strips and wrestling with the perfect alignment on the sewing machine. But self-fabric piping really elevates the look, and this chair deserved to look good. I searched online for tips on making piping and found excellent, printable instructions here. The job was made even easier with a piping foot (aka welting foot). It's a special accessory that feeds the piping through the machine, precisely aligning it with the needle. I zipped through the process without picking up the seam ripper!

Photo: April 1930's, A Sewing Shoppe.

What it cost

This is why I love vintage furniture! I now have a unique, beautifully designed, solid wood chair for the same price or less than a new one made from particleboard and plastic.

• 1960s teak Mod-Gothic chair, $20, Ebay
• Danish oil, leftover from previous projects
• Upholstery foam, $17 (50% off), Joann Fabrics
• Electric knife for cutting foam to custom shape, finally found a use for that old thing!
• 4 yards slubby upholstery fabric, $2, rummage sale
• 3 yards piping filler, $3.87, Joann Fabrics
• Piping foot, $10.95, Boyd's Sewing Center
• Thread and vintage metal zipper, from stash

TOTAL: $53.82

What have you transformed? Show off your handiwork by emailing me a photo or two, and I'll share them here on Room for Inspiration. Email me.

 TAGS: vintage midcentury furniture chair ebay tips before after fitted slipcover

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