Archive for the ‘Nesting’ Category
Saturday, April 28th, 2012
The worst advice we’ve received since beginning work on our home? Do the bedroom last. If we had a do-over, making the bedroom livable would be first on our list. Happily, we’ve made some progress and are now enjoying restful nights with just a few changes. Tip #1: Unless you hate blue, it’s really the best color for rest. We picked Ralph Lauren paint in Indian Sky.
Tip #2: Get a bedside table with lots of storage to keep your clutter and top it with interesting objects you love. We found these danish stereo cabinets at a local vintage shop. Books and lots of other things are hidden away. Lamps: Ikea Jonsbo Gryby and vintage linen shades. Vintage African Kuba cloth in Crate & Barrel frame. Vintage wall paper in ikea Ribba frame.
Tip #3: Buy crisp all-cotton bedding in a sturdy low thread count. They hold up to hot washings so you suffer less during allergy season. Get three sets. One set on the bed, one set in the linen chest, one set in the wash means you’ll never have to wait for clean sheets. We found the Thomas O’Brien sheet set and pillow cases in white stripe at Target. The duvet cover is Ikea Benzy in blue plaid. The shams are homemade from a soft Japanese indigo cotton fabric I found online.
Tip #4: Windows should filter light softly and be made from the fabric that’s best for your facing exposure. Our windows face northeast and the unlined homemade linen shades let in just enough of the indirect light, mellowing the room . Tip #5: Arrange a place to sit. I moved this comfy Milo Baughman vintage chair we covered in natural linen canvas upstairs from the living room and threw on an Ikea sheepskin.
Tags: 5 restful tips, bedding, bedroom, blue, handmade, housekeeping, indigo, japanese, linen, makeover, modern rustic, ralph lauren indian sky, rest, shades, sheets, target, thomas o'brien, tips, Wabi Sabi, window
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Sunday, January 29th, 2012
I spotted this Milo Baughman Recliner and knew that even though it had been completely trashed with a little love it could be something special. I found a bolt of Knoll classic wool boucle in the Red Fox color way on Ebay and hooked up with Modern Chair Restoration and couldn’t be more pleased with the transformation. What an absolutely awesome job. The photo above is from the Modern Chair Restoration blog. Head over to the site and take a look for more incredible salvages. I highly recommend working with them for your own project.
Tags: after, baughman, before, century, chair, house, mid, milo, modern, noguchi lamp, recliner, remodel, renovation, restoration, row, slow home, teak, thrifting, upholstery, vintage
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Thursday, June 30th, 2011
Here is a very easy solution for getting all of those unsightly AV boxes and cables out of sight. Screw them to the back of your entertainment/television unit. Our six-foot long credenza is ample space for mounting a digital cable box, modem, router and a power strip. All these devices come equipped with screw hole slots. We plotted out a space plan and simply attached sheet metal screws to the credenza’s back panel leaving about 1/8 inch of each screw free. Then, we used the free edge of the screws to affix the various AV boxes and power strip. We managed the cables by coiling them and using 7″ multi-purpose ties to secure them. If you have precious furniture this is not the best solution for you. Another option– mount plywood on the back of your storage piece to take the screws instead.
Tags: audio visual, AV, box, cable, cord, hide, manage, power, power strip, televison
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Friday, October 29th, 2010
Still plugging away at tidying up the kitchen participating in the Apartment Therapy Kitchen Cure. Make sure to click the link because they posted about our progress again! We painted the walls a light gray–my favorite color of all time, Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist. It freshens the space up considerably. For added storage, counter top/ prep space and room for eating breakfast or snacks we created a kitchen island. It’s an Ikea Varde base cabinet with a butcher block fastened on top. I made the simple linen shade in the window and hand-stitched three Ikea rugs together to make one long rug that runs the length of the kitchen. We installed Ikea Grundtal rails and hooks on the wall above the island to store our pots and and pans. The lids slip in nicely, too. We gained free space in our cupboards for other items like stockpots, dutch ovens, baking pans and the like. Ikea is a great place for kitchen stuff. Great quality for the price. The entire project including fabric and paint was under $100. But, ugh. That floor. Oh, well. It’s time to pick replacement counter tops for the sink area. Hmmm. Leaning toward white quartz.
Tags: apartment therapy kitchen cure, balboa mist, grundtal rail, ikea kitchen products, pot rack, varde base cabinet
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Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
The Apartment Therapy Kitchen Cure is going well. That’s our space featured above! Since we have a super small kitchen, using the wall all the way up to the ceiling has been life changing. the Ikea shelving is part of the Grundtal series and you can hang stuff from hooks that fit directly to the shelving’s rails. It’s great to have the utensils and dry goods within easy reach of the stove. The metal tins hold onions, garlic and shallots. I haven’t gotten around to making little labels for the holders as of yet. The entire re-do cost under $60. =) We have hit a few snags. William does not want to pull up the vinyl and sand the floor. =( I have to get a professional. He did agree to put in a new counter top. Ugh how I hate the existing laminate counters. Also, I measured the cabinet drawers for bamboo utensil boxes but neglected to subtract space for the rounded screws that secure the drawer fronts. So, I’m off to find flat heads. Stay tuned for some tips while we tackle organizing the pantry/broom closet and selecting a contractor, or at the very least, a highly functioning crackhead.
Tags: apartment therapy, black kitchen, hanging utensils, ikea grundtal, kitchen cure, kitchen storage, open shelving
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Sunday, October 24th, 2010
I joined the Apartment Therapy Kitchen Cure to help us stay motivated as we plug away at our mini kitchen redo. We’ve been using the same dull knives for too long. William put up a magnetic strip, an Ikea Grundtal and we upgraded to a few essential pieces of cutlery. The Victorinox swiss army kitchen knives have neat rosewood handles and were very inexpensive. The paring knife, sankotu, chef’s knife and bread knife all came from Mad Cow Cutlery. Google ‘em. There prices were about twenty-five percent lower then any I’d found online. They usually ship to restaurants and service is professional, prompt and friendly. Their staff gave me a few pointers on keeping our new knives sharp:
Clean your knives immediately after each use and wipe dry
Do not let the knives soak in water, ever
Use a wooden cutting board, always
sharpen your knives at the first hint of dullness, and then regularly
An electric sharpener is okay
Overall the Victorinox knives have been excellent. Not too heavy, not too light, good sturdy blades and handles. Speaking of the handles, I’ve oiled them with a bit of butcher’s block conditioner–beeswax and food grade mineral oil.
Tags: apartment therapy kitchen cure, how to care for kitchen knives, mad cow cutlery, Victorinox rosewood knives
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Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
I rethought the cushions on the living room sofa and arm chair. Since our bums were hurting I decided to give the pretty cushions over to the bertioa side chairs in the dining room. Great idea!!! The large cushions cover the seat area well and the small cushions are the perfect height for the chair backs. The orange suits the dining room better, I think. As the first three photos show (they were taken in the evening) the orange picks up on the wood tones in the floor, table and bookcase nicely.
Tags: before and after, bertoia chair, california modern, dining room, lauren saunders pillows
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Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
Click the pic fora closer look. We relax by reading and listening to music. Little Maxwell is developing an appreciation for Ahmad Jamal and Stanley Turrentine thanks to my record collection. My husband likes Pandora, but most of the time we listen to old grooves on his “vintage” components. I wanted to keep the set looking old- school without resorting to a rack. For just a few bucks we added wooden lp cubes and stained them black. They store our records and electronics. I fashion a pair of prints out of some Sandersons wall paper from the 60′s and slipped them into Ikea frames. The prints take the focus away from huge speakers and mimic the shape of the tweeters and the woofers. Neat trick!
Tags: diy art prints, hiding stereo componenets, ikea frames, lp cubes, old-school, storing records, vintage stereo, vinyl records
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Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
We’ll really, it could happen to me. I’ve entered our home in CB2′s The Selby Is In Your Place contest . If you haven’t visited CB2 or Todd Selby’s fantastic website “The Selby”, now is a good time. If you have enjoyed reading Besting Nesting, please, please go to CB2 , a spin off of Crate and Barrel that sells great furnishings and accessories at affordable prices, to vote for our entry. Todd Selby is a photographer and illustrator. and his site, The Selby features shots he snapped of the homes of artists/creative types. See his posts at theselby.com. The contest winner will have their home photographed by Todd and win a CB2 shopping spree.
Tags: cb2, selby in your place contest, the selby, todd selby
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