Sit and Spin

I thought that I was going to really hate not having a washer and dryer in my apartment. I've always had growing up like most people in Louisiana as well as in my own house, and there were two of each in the apartment I lived in in NYC. Those were the best. Like -there were options for every type of fabric, you could set the humidity level for softness, and you even had the option to collate, staple, and fold. You get the point.

Similar to most apartments in NYC, washers and dryers in unit is a rarity and I was not looking forward to spending an hour and a half at some random/stabby laundromat. Then I discovered how ridiculously cheap it was to have it washed, dried, and folded for you. Like...$10 for a load of laundry. I'd happily pay double that just so I didn't have to move clothes from the washer to the dryer (I HATE doing that!) not to mention folding. SO, this is where I go. The Sit and Spin in Castro is so, so great and the name is kind of everything to me. Right?!

Happy Tuesday!

Paper Lanterns

We've all seen them growing up. You remember - in your "girlfriend's" room in the corner hanging from the ceiling. The walls are probably a lime green with hot pink accessories here and there with one big white paper lantern. No? Well, here's a fun way to use the same concept, but with an updated and mature twist. There are so many options that it all depends on the concept you're going for. For example:

Outside Wedding Reception:
- all white
- strung romantically from trees (preferably oak)
- different lengths and sizes

Clothing Store (with a modern feel)
- all white
- same size, hung at the same height, and all the same width apart
- keep it contemporary, clean, and crisp
- ex: very clean line of lanterns to anchor a table display of jeans

Graduation Party
- depending on the formality, you could use different sizes and hang from different heights, etc
- use school colors!

Fiesta!
- multicolored
- different, vibrant colors, heights, sizes, etc

There are some similar examples here!
(Thank you, Michael, for the pictures!)

Vanity (Arles and Cream)

 

This was one of my very first Annie Sloan project for a client. Obviously I'm in love.

I created a custom color mixing A.S.'s Arles and Cream to produce a more buttery yellow. I wish I had better/more pictures to show the inside of the drawers which I completed in A.S.'s Provence. It. Was. Everything.

Lissa's Kitchen Set - Work in Progress

Happy Monday! Is it Friday yet?

So here, you can see that I blogged about this earlier; this is just a progress post. This is (obviously) a picture of the chairs that I'm working on that will go with the table and bench. I think that they're coming out beautifully. I used 3 coats of Annie Sloan's Old White to completely cover the chairs that were originally just a natural light wood. Afterward, I went over the chairs and sanded them pretty heavily, allowing a fair amount of the natural wood to show through. Because I wanted them to stay white, I didn't use any of the dark wax to seal - only the clear. Finally, I used a polycrylic to completely seal the chairs. I don't always to this, but since chairs get more abuse than an end table or dresser, I figured it could use the extra protection.

The finished product will be posted about later this week. Make sure to keep reading!

PS - please excuse my attire. I DO have short on, but they're those obnoxiously (bordering on offensively) short running shorts. I had just finished running the lakes before coming over.

French Inspired Dresser

So what do you think?! This is a dresser that I've recently refinished using Annie Sloan's paints and waxes. For this piece, I used Louis Blue and Pure white to get a French antique inspired look. (The before pictures are obviously the ones at the bottom lol) I love it!

This item is for sale, and you can see it in person at The Foyer (corner of Perkins and Acadian). Remember, if you're interested in having a piece of furniture refinished by The Mended Nest, please email us for a quote at themendednest@gmail.com!

Wine Bottle Cover - Repurpose

Have you need these before? They're like slip covers for your wine (often times monogrammed) and are PERFECT if you're serving cheap wine at a fancy party. It's also great to hold a bottle of red that you've started, but haven't quite finished. It's much better than looking at just the bottle sitting on your counter.

Since I actually don't really know what it means to "have left over wine", I wasn't using my slip cover as often as I should. However, I loved the shrimp on it, so I wanted to think of I way I could display it at all times...without it just holding an empty bottle of wine. Then it hit me. I just slipped my bottle of olive oil in there and now keep it on the counter at all times. It's an exact perfect fit, and I think it looks great. Perfect!

Home Office Storage

If you're anything like me, your mail piles up for a week, you leave stuff all over the place, and "organization" is something you heard about SOMEwhere...I think some movie, right? Hopefully you have someone like Beau who is there to put everything in it's place and come up with creative solutions for all the clutter.

Because of our work with designing invites, stationary, etc, we have so much stuff on the topic: paper sample books, inspiration pieces, magazines, and examples from our work to show clients. To keep all of this straight, Beau bought this cool hanging organizer that is perfect for holding/displaying everything. I love it for a few reasons. 1) Everything is easy to see b/c it's open baskets. 2) The long, vertical shape if perfect for the awkward wall space between two windows 3) It's easy to pull off the wall if I ever need to take it somewhere.

To make it more unique and DIYish, Beau made little tags and using The Mended Nest Font, printed out the different sections' names: Paper Samples, Inspiration, Invitations, and Miscellaneous. Then he attached them to the organizer using wire. Simple. Easy. Cheap.

This Little Piggy...

Sponges and steel wool are necessary evils. Typically I see them thrown haphazardly around the sink, but why?! Using a fun container of some sort adds a little character to your kitchen, and you'd be surprised how many people notice mine. This was actually a gift from one of my aunts as a joke, but I fell in love with it. This little piggy is the perfect size for holding a sponge or two and some steel wool.

You could also try something like this in a bathroom. Obviously, you'd be replacing sponges with soaps, but it's perfect. (For some reason, I feel like this would be perfect for a restaurant (cough cough) bathroom. I mean really, when and where can you NOT use a cute, fun bowl/container? Rhetorical question - no need to write sarcastic answers!

DIY - Annie Sloan (Mixing and Distressing)

Alrighty. These pictures were taken of a vanity I finished for a super sweet girl from Mandeville, LA. When it came to me, it was solid brown, and while still beautiful, it was just a little sad. We discussed different options for finishing techniques and this is what we came up with:

Color:
She knew she wanted something in the yellow family, so we mainly looked at Arles and Cream. She decided she wanted something more on the Cream side, but was interested in something a little more buttery in color. By adding 2 parts cream to one part Arles, I created this custom color (above) which was exactly what she was looking for. The paint was SO EASY to mix. I thought I was going to have to bring it to a hardware store to have them mix it up, but it was much simpler than that. I just poured the paints in one container and used the top of a brush to mix them together. It only took about one minute to get it perfect.

Distress:
This part is totally optional, and in fact I've done many pieces where no distressing was involved at all. It just depends on the look you're going for. However, for this piece we decided on a more antiqued finish. After the paint was dry (but BEFORE applying the waxes) I lightly went over some of the edges and corners with a spongy sandpaper block. Try not to go crazy. Often times, less is more when it comes to distressing.

Wax:
There are a million and one ways to apply wax, so I'm just going to stick to what I did for this particular piece. As I often do, I started by applying a thin coat of the clear way with an old T-shirt. Then, using a brush I applied the dark wax fairly heavily making sure that the bristles get into the nooks and crannies. Lastly, I used the same T-Shirt, scooped a little of the clear wax, and wiped off a generous amount of the dark wax that I applied. The allows the original color to come through while still leaving the dark wax in some areas - especially in the nooks and crannies. Note: Do this process area by area. Don't try to do the steps to the whole piece of furniture at once!

Toilet Talk

We've all been there, and I'm literally not sure if there is a worse situation. You're somewhere other than your own house and "the feeling" comes over you and you have no choice but to use the restroom. Not #1 (do you know what I'm saying?). After it's too late, you realize there's no toilet paper. THE WORST. Que panic, sweating, and all kinds of...creative solutions.

Please don't let this happen to your guests! Here's what I recommend: find a cute container and leave a few rolls out (in plain view). I'm not talking about throwing one or two on the back of the toilet. There are easy ways to make it look a little nicer than that! This is what we do (above). That way - if they're in that "situation" they'll be good to go!