IKEA Expedit Turned Kitchen Island (Tutorial)

I know this is not the first Ikea expedit island hack you have seen, but I had to post it.  See originally I was not going for the whole island with seating thing, I was just going buy on expedit to place it on the floor for extra storage, but I couldn’t help myself.  I saw the opportunity for a couple of stools and had to go for it!!!  The best part it was super easy.

Step 1- Put together your expedit (I don’t have to show this step because lucky for me, I was able to find one on Craigslist for $30 bucks already put together)

Step 2- Attach the feet.  I used ball feet purchased at Home Depot and painted them white using Pure White Annie Sloan. So first you just screw these metal leg brackets in.

Then you screw in the feet.

Step 3- Attach the Table Top.  I used an Ikea Vika Furuskog Tabletop, because it is made of wood and is stainable.  Just use long screws to screw it in.  I used 2 1/2 inch wood screws (Note- At this point I was just going to go natural with a sealer so if you decide you want to stain, you may want to switch Steps 3 & 5)

Step 5- Flip it over to see what you’ve got so far.

Step 6- Seal or stain it.  If you want to leave it natural than just seal the top, if you want to stain it, then you can go ahead and do it now, or do it before attaching it to the expedit. I used Miniwax stain in Provincial and sealed it with a dark wax.

Step 7- Decorate

Step 8- Add stools and Enjoy.

xoxo,

mONICa

Side Table Out Of Salvaged Cabinet Doors

It all started with these windows that my dad brought to me.  He had found them on the side of the road in the trash.  There were four of them.

He brought them to me and said, “Can you use these?”  Did he even have to ask?  I was like, “Of course, I’ll find a place for them.”  So, the first one got painted bright yellow and I added hooks and placed it near our front door, which was merely decorative since we never used our front door.

Well, these windows sat in my garage for so long I forgot about them, until we moved a few weeks ago.  During the move one broke so I was down to two windows. Then I realized I needed a side table to hide my wine fridge and I started planning.  Wouldn’t you know that the windows were the perfect width for the sides of the table.  That made me super happy because now I could have a cool table out of salvaged stuff.  So my good friend Dustin and I started plotting our trip to the lumber store and this is what we came up with.

   
We used pine 2x6’s for the top and the shelf and just used finishing nails to tap it in.  Then we  used a super thin plywood for the back to give it some extra stability.  It’s a fun conversational piece in the living room and I”m in love.  Plus since the wine fridge is kind of an eye sore on its own it’s an awesome disguise.
Speaking of disguises, check out the awesome video my friend Dustin made, if you look really hard you will find a cameo of me.  If you get a chance, subscribe to his channel, I’m sure there are a lot more awesome videos to come.

xoxo….
mONICa

Its Been Too Long

Hello all.  You are probably wondering why you haven’t heard from me for a while.  Although I absolutely loved what I was doing, unfortunately my furniture business journey has come to an end.  I know I’m sad too, but I’ve done all my crying and I’m moving forward.  With that being said, the reason for the end of my journey is that I moved into a new place, which unfortunately does not have a garage.  I’m also working on a couple of other things to keep me going financially. 

Now as to the question, will you ever see me again?  The answer to that is an big absolutely.  1.) I have a new place to decorate and 2.) I’ve got some other stuff up my sleeve which may allow me to reenter the business in the future. 

Love you all!

xoxo….

mONICa

This Table Is Just Right

Yes I'm talking about Goldilocks and the 3 bears, because that is exactly what happened with my Dining Tables.  A year and 3 tables later, I think I finally have it just right.  See the first one was too big.

Now that I go back, in the scheme of things is would've been fine closed using no leafs, but then we found out my husband would be working from home and our formal dining room had to double as a home office.  So then we found option #2, complete with two drawers.  I thought it would be perfect to double as a desk and dining table.

Well the concept was good, until I realized that it would be my husband using it as both.  I don't know what possessed me to think that by dinner time the table would be clear of work stuff and that we could actually use it as such.

Well one day while making my usual thrift store runs I found it, and it so happens that the same day I found 2 chairs to match 2 others that had already headed for the for sale pile.

That's when I made a quick decision....I decided to get rid of an antique dresser that I had been using as a credenza in the room and use that space to tuck a desk in for my husband in the corner of our dining room, and finally get us a proper table.

And here it is:

 I used Annie Sloan Pure White Chalk Paint for the base of the table and covered it with Minwax Dark Paste Wax.

 I got this great Better Homes and Gardens fabric with a coupon at JoAnns fabric for 50% off.  Fabric for all four chairs cost me around $20bucks.

 The chairs are painted in a custom color mixed by yours truly with leftover paints from other projects.

 I decided to leave the top wood, but stained it in a much darker walnut color.

I'm super happy with the whole project, and the better news is this whole thing cost me around $80 bucks, thanks to the table having a crack in it (adds to the character) that I picked up for only $20, the chairs being $10 bucks each, and the fabric for $20.

Does anyone else out there go through several pieces of furniture a year?

xoxo....

mONICa

Living Room Reveal

Hope you are up for a Bohemian eclectic rendition of my living room.  I'd like to take you back to what my living room used to look like.

This was before I moved in

 and this was Thanksgiving of last year

 This is what it looks now. obviously with new furniture pieces.

Heres the view from my dining room office with the bench I made for 5 bucks.

 I moved my tv to the corner and added this decoupaged cabinet.

 This is the view when you walk into my front door.

 and a little reading corner featuring my simply spray spray painted chair and some of my children's art work.

 The top of the tv cabinet which really was an old hutch was used as a shelf in my entry way.  At the top I added an old leaded glass cabinet door with some extra hooks for coats and hats and painted to match.

 Some extra pillows in a basket are my daughters favorite for napping on the couch.

 Some inexpensive pillows found on clearance at Pier One and Ross ranging from $3.99- $9.99

 More pillows 

 This little corner I have used to put my wine fridge along with a tray for glasses decoupaged to match my chair.

I love the eclecticness and hominess of my living room.  Wish I could paint, but I can't so I used pops of color to give it a fun vibe.

xoxo....

mONICa

Quick and Easy Tray Update

I love how trays are the thing that gives a room a pop of color. What I love even more is that they are super easy to personalize.

Take this tray for example that I picked up at Ross for $7.99

Not that it was an ugly tray, it was just not my style.

I scratched up the surface slightly and primed it with Rustoleum white and threw a coat of warm yellow on it.

I then took some left over fabric from my chair project and modged podged it to the bottom of the tray.

I love how it turned out.

xoxo....

mONICa

5 Dollar Low Sofa Table Out of an Old Chair

After almost living in my house for a year and several furniture arrangement changes, my living room is finally starting to come together.  I should have a reveal post for you early next week.  

I thought it might be fun to share a little sofa table I made yesterday.  I was inspired by this little bench by Color me Lovely to use as a sofa table.

Isn't it cute?  But how would I find an antique storytellers bench and how would it fit in my price range?  So after lucking out on craigslist I started looking on Etsy to see if I could at least find an affordable bench.  Needless to say, they start at around $80 bucks, plus shipping.  So due to my impatience and knowing that there is a possibility I may eventually find one at a yard sale I decided to make one myself.

I wanted it to be super simple, as in takes me 15 minutes to make, so I started thinking of what might be in my garage.  Here is what I came up with...

A chair that I got a long time ago for $2.99 at the thrift store.

It has been left outside for a couple months so the paint just started crackling off and I loved it.

I also had a piece of scrap shelf that I had used for a clients credenza.

So all I needed was a couple of 2x2's to use as the back legs. I was able to pick those up for $2.00.  I could afford that.

So here is my temp to perm sofa table, it was so easy to make.  I just cut the front legs off the chair with my jigsaw, then I screwed the shelf into the legs and viola!!  I stained the top in a dark stain and applied a coat of wax.

I must admit, I would not use it as a bench as it is probably not meant to sit on, but what I love about it is that is the size of a bench with the functionality of a table.  So if you ever see a free broken chair on the road, pick it up, you never know what you can do with the legs.

xoxo....

mONICa