Baby, I can't wait...

As you know, I've been plugging away at my ever growing list of home projects... it's ever growing, because I literally can't stop adding to it. We've lived here for almost 5 months, and it looks like we moved in last week. Oh and I'm NOT exaggerating! The mister and I discussed this the other night... 

Nicole: "Well, as soon as I get everything done how I picture it, I can relax"

Mister: "But you keep adding things you want to do to your list"

Nicole: "Well if you help, once they're done, I'll be done!"

Mister: "As soon as you were 'done' with our last place you started changing things"

Nicole: (silent) but thinking guilty as charged

Someone is going to literally have to remove my glue gun, and spray paint the SECOND I say I'm done with 'the list'... actually no, I take that back... I would like to be buried with my glue gun.

Well, with all that being said, here is ANOTHER spray paint project =) I think I just heard the gasps of shock. 

I purchased these lamps at the local Ross a couple years ago (two apartments ago to be exact, and yes I do completely change the decor every time we move.) If you are willing to put in the time, and deal with the complete chaos that is Ross (every Ross that I've ever been to at that) then it's not a bad place to shop, and you can find some great deals. Example: My sister just bought a HUGE mirror, that every where else would have been at least $150, for $39.99! I digress... So, two apartments ago these were perfect. They sat in a box at the last place, and then I had an epiphany the other day!

 

They are perfect height for our bedside lamps. I'm sure everyone can figure out how I pulled off this one, no mystery here. But aren't they 10X better in silver!?!?? 

 

(Please excuse the stains on the night stand-WARNING: Cough syrup and white night stands aren't a great match)

The lamp shades are a whole other story though. I'm obsessed with finding the perfect shades, which of course don't exist, so I've made my own! Tomorrow I'll be showing you a different lamp that was jazzed up a bit, along with a how to for the shade I made for it!

Song of the day: Nu Shooz I can't wait

<3 Nicole

And when it rains on this side of town it touches everything...

I have been a little MIA, but no worries, my blog will not be one of the million single diary entries I have made in my life. Last week was my first of two weeks off from school. It was pure bliss to not have a mile high list of to do's that I seriously had to do then and there (school work). While usually my first week of breaks are spent laying around doing nothing, visiting with non-school friends, etc. last week I was annoyingly productive! Every single day I plugged away at projects, and today was going to be another productive day with a can (or two) of spray paint, and then it rained. Since painting was no longer an option I went to breakfast with my sister and then we hit some vintage shops on Hawthorne. I scored some great "work" clothes from a vendor at House of Vintage who was giving 40% off everything! I also scored some major points with the mister by bringing home a 2000 edition of Playboy with Carmen Electra (who is #1 on his list... you all know what list I'm talking about right?!) on the cover. I'm pretty sure I won myself his handy work on a project I've been nagging him about doing (not just a hat rack my friends!)

Everyday this week I will be posting before and afters of what I've been working on. Stay tuned, some small, some GRANDE!

Song of the day: "When it rains"- Paramore

This is me now...

The time is finally here!!! I’ve decided to start on the road of my passion(s)… DESIGN AND WRITING! Yes I'm yelling them at you, I'm incredibly excited! I’ve tried the whole diary thing more times than I can count, and though I hate sitting at a computer screen for hours on end, seeing "myself" appear onto a pretend piece of paper on my screen  is completely alluring. So here I am... jotting my thoughts and whatever other crazyness goes on in my head, as well as sharing my never ending list of projects and designs that I'm working on. I'm hoping by sharing pieces of myself I can conquer my rat race mind.

Welcome to my crazy life.

I'm slow to the roll on figuring out new computer programs, and with finals next week, jazzing up the blog is going to have to be on the back burner (for now). I couldn't stop thinking about how badly I wanted to start the blog though, so I'm checking it off the list! Currently I am working on a VERY long list of items that I am fixing up for our new apartment. Before we moved I decided I wanted all new "old" stuff. So the hunt has been on. Fortunately I get the biggest kick out of garage sales, antique malls, craigslist, etc. I have had some awesome scores so far, and will be sharing with you before and afters. In addition to my at home projects I am also working with DOUG FIR and RED BULL on a re-design for the green room at Doug Fir. The green room is a place for musicians to prepare for their shows, and then relax/party afterwards. This project has been extremely rewarding so far, and we haven't even started the build out! I can't wait to share pictures of the before, process, and after, it will BLOW YOUR MIND!

Today I want to share with you a quick little project I did last weekend. I found this foot stool at a garage sale for $4. This little lady, as you can see, was in pretty bad shape! But she had a good set of strong legs. No wonder I liked her so much, she's just like me, out of shape, but strong legs that get me where I'm going! So into the honda she went.

 I started out by stripping the nasty (probably 30 year old) vinyl covering off, that yes, smelled like fermaldahide. As you could guess, the padding was in pretty bad shape too. 

Since I save EVERYTHING, I had padding left over from a chair I did a complete re-design on (I took the whole thing apart and sawed off what was previously the arms, added legs etc.)

Then I added some fabric I had purchased months ago, knowing it would be perfect for something. And it was! She's quite a Gem now... or rather a diamond in the rough. 

I'm contemplating painting the legs gold, what do you think?