Mad hatter: Hats galore

Tags

bedroom, closet, hat display, hat storage, wardrobe, washi tape

Just another tweak to my bedroom. As you all know, I share a room with my 2 sisters and everything is a tight squeeze. Our wardrobe solution was to install IKEA wall cabinets and a clothes rail (actually a 4-bar towel rail) below it as our additional “walk-in wardrobe”. While the cabinets do provide essential storage, they do look  boring (in my words: meh), so I decided to spice them up a little.

With the help of some adhesive hooks, decorative tape from Daiso (washi tape) and a pair of scissors,

my cabinets are now a functional and beautiful hat display. 

Yea, we sisters like our hats and there are a few more caps/hats hidden behind the doors. What was a shortcoming has become a focal point of beauty, with a little thought and action. What do you think?

Before and after: scalloped bookcase

Tags

arranging, bookshelves, organising, painting wooden shelves, vignette

Remember my furniture painting spree from before? Well, I “inherited” an old bookcase that has so much potential: solid wood with scalloped edging. However, it was old and the backing had started to peel off.

Dad stripped off the peeling bits and reattached the backing (with lots of tiny nails) and I sanded, primed and painted it, in the same way I did for the wooden shelves.

Doesn’t it look so refreshed with a shiny new coat of paint?

Well, there is how it looks like in action: doing its job holding up most of my books. Yes, I do double-layer – I place the older/ not so interesting books/ books that I intend to give away behind the books that I like more or just plain newer.

The trick to arranging bookshelves to be interesting (and also maximising its usage) is to not just places them in rows but to stack them as well. By breaking up the vertical lines with horizontal stacks, it breaks up the monotony and creates visual interest. Of course, scattering a collection of Garfield plushies is like scattering fairy dust – it just makes everything better.

Well, I guess it is pretty obvious from the contents of my bookcase what my major is, isn’t it?

Every handy(wo)man needs a Tool Bag

Tags

moving, packing, powertools, screwdriver, tool bag, unpacking

Yesterday’s post is about the overnight bag and today is about the tool bag. One needs some essential tools when it comes to moving and unpacking.

However, before I go on, it has come to my attention that I have been overgeneralising. My moving situation is probably totally different from yours. You may only have 2 suitcases to move, or 3 entire households. I have 6 people’s belongings accumulated over 8 years in a house that is triple the size of our new place and only 5 people packing because the brother is studying overseas. Some amount of hoarding behaviour is inevitable when space is plentiful. Yes, decluttering is of utmost importance.

If you swap out the power tool for a manual screwdriver, you can keep it all in your pocket

Things I found myself looking for again and again during the move:

1. Marker (to label the boxes)
2. Pencil (for non-permanent marking, such as on walls)
3. Scissors/Cutter (to remove the packing wrap; very handy to have on your person)
4. Measuring Tape (this one is ALWAYS being called for)
5. Screwdriver (you never know when you need to remove or attach a door)
6. Cordless drill/screwdriver (when manual is just too tiring)
7. Packing Tape/Masking Tape (for patching up boxes, defining spaces)

Oh yes, don’t do what I did and leave them out to be buried somewhere. Keep them accessible and easily at hand.

Another very practical thing to have is extension plugs.

DIY: breathe new life (colour) into old earrings

Tags

colours make me happy, earrings, nail polish

What’s better than lots of earrings? Lots of colourful earrings! I got bored with all my cheap silvery earrings and so I hit upon the idea of jazzing them up with nail polish.

This is a really quick 5 min project (drying time not included).

My chandelier earrings’ beads/plastic crystals have faded with time (and probably exposure to sunlight) and I decided to liven them up with some pretty aquamarine shimmer. Now they have the appearance of capiz or seashells.

After testing out, I discovered that cheap nail polishes are best for this. Watery/translucent, shimmer/ duochrome nail polish works best on rhinestones. Creme nail polish can pass off as enamel color, if applied opaquely/ thickly.

Here are the polishes and the earrings makeovers:

with Sally Hansen Blizzard Blue

with Sally Hansen Blizzard Blue and The Face Shop GR503

with Sally Hansen Blizzard Blue, Purple Potion, Purple Pizzazz and Milani Paint The Town Red

with Daiso Winmax Nail Sparks B2

Daiso nail polishes are good to use for this project: they are cheap and add a good sparkle.

The best part? You can always start over again. Just soak the entire earring in nail polish remover to turn it back into its silvery former state or use a cotton bud to clean off any mistakes.

Have fun with your spare nail polish and old earrings!

Priming and painting wooden shelves

Tags

nippon paint, painting drawers, painting wooden shelves

I’ve been priming and painting all the wooden shelves a nice clean modern white.

Part of my preparation for the move is refinish all the furniture we are bringing over. Although we are planning to save as many of the existing furniture as possible (with the space constraints), most of the furniture is pretty sad looking. Thus, my brilliant (and back-breaking) plan to give them a makeover.

First, you lightly sand the wooden surfaces you want to paint. This happens to be my least favourite part so I usually just give it a very quick sanding, unless there are irregularities on the wood. I also fill any weird gouges with wood filler at this point and sand it down.

Salvaged wooden drawers: One lightly sanded and the other primed and ready for painting.

Then, I prime it with Nippon Paint Aqua Primer Sealant Undercoat. (This can be used for both wood and metal). Just one coat of primer is enough. I like the Aqualac series because it doesn’t really stink (low VOCs). I didn’t smell a thing unless I put my nose real close to the primer or paint. Let it dry.

 

Next is the painting. I used Aqua Bodelac in Lilac Swish which looks like white to me. I didn’t get the white because the sales guy told me that white tends to turn yellow and I wanted my shelves to remain white, not yellow. Lilac Swish looks white enough for me, with a bluish or greenish tint depending on the light. I usually paint two coats and then go over those areas that don’t look good for a third time.

look at my hard work

I kind of like the physical exertion; it contrasts with the sedentary routine of office work. Painting is relaxing for the mind. The repetitive motions allows the body work while the mind is free to think.