DIY: On Fixing Up Chipped Veneer

A few weeks ago I found a desk at Goodwill that was in not-so-great shape. The veneer on the table top was badly chipped and what was still there had pretty intense water rings and discoloration. The table base though, which is what really caught my eye in the first place, was in pretty decent shape, so I decided to buy the desk and cross my fingers that I could salvage the top.

I took a closer look at the veneer when I got the desk home and quickly realized the only real choice I had was to remove the worst of the veneer and paint the top.

To make the surface as smooth and even as possible, I whipped up a couple batches of Bondo that I applied in thin coats.

Bondo feels a little hardcore the first time you work with it (so, you know, maybe don't try Bondo-ing an entire staircase like I did). It's like epoxy in that you have to mix in a hardening cream and that you have only a few short minutes to apply the mixture before it starts to harden (also it has a very... distinctive smell). But, truly, it's not that scary once you have a batch or two under your belt - and it repairs and seals like nothing out there.

Bondo's finish is so smooth, unlike wood filler, and so strong, unlike plaster or putty. It sands beautifully so it's not that hard to just get a rough coat down and then sand away the extra until you have a smooth surface. Just remember it's easier to sand down the Bondo than to try and apply a perfectly-perfect surface with a spatula in the first place.

I Bondo-ed over the center seam (since the table didn't come with a leaf) and around all the rough spots, waited a good 30 minutes or an hour before sanding and then wiped everything down. There were a few places I missed the first go-round, so I made one more quick batch of Bondo and did some touch ups before painting the top.

I just used my trusty standby of Rustoleum's pre-mixed enamel line. I wanted a creamy white this time so I made my own color - about half of their white with half of their Almond color. It's so easy to get a pretty finish brushing on oil-based paints when most of the surface is horizontal. The paint spreads and smooths out so beautifully. I put on a pretty thick coat on the table top and applied two or three lighter coats on the vertical edges, to help avoid drips.

Oil-based paint takes a long time to dry, but the hard-wearing (and water-repellent!), extra beautiful finish is worth all the effort to me. 

The wood base is still in "vintage condition" but it cleaned up pretty well with a quick wipe down of Restor-A-Finish on a rag and that was pretty much it! It's so fun to have a new, super unique desk in my studio for almost no money!

Lemon Mint Water and My Soma Carafe

I've been trying to drink a lot more water during this pregnancy so when Soma reached out about letting me try one of their gorgeous, modern water-filtering carafes, I jumped at the chance. I've been so nauseated my entire pregnancy that any funny taste in my water just about sets me over the edge (I guess I should just feel lucky that my other pregnancies have been really easy, right?). The idea of super-filtered, super clean water that didn't come from a plastic bottle sounded amazing to me.

A few things I appreciated right away about my Soma: The filter works fast (unlike other water filter systems I've used in the past). Soma's bio-degradable filters are made from coconut shells and plant resin, so I never have any of those black charcoal flakes floating around in my water. Also, the beautiful shatter-resistant glass carafe keeps the water ice-cold, and looks gorgeous in my fridge and on my dinner table.

Soma delivers a new filter to your door every 60 days, so you never have to remember to buy a new one. The filter has been third-party tested to reduce chlorine, lead, selenium and arsenic in water. It tastes amazingly crisp and clean. I LOVE this water on its own, but I'm working on kicking a diet soda habit, so sometimes I feel like drinking something with a little flavor added.

Recently I've been making citrus mint ice cubes that make it easy to choose water over soda. The ice cubes are so simple to make and I love that I'm not cutting into a new lemon every time I want a little juice in my water. I use a hand-held juicer to juice a few lemons or limes and then add one mint leaf per cube.

Lately I've been throwing in a little bit of fresh peach nectar too before pouring in my filtered water. It's SO good.

I'm so in love with my Soma carafe and how I feel when I'm drinking more water - it's making the days of diet soda seem like a distant memory! ;) And here's some good news: the first 50 readers to use the code LGN15 will receive $15 off their first Soma order! I'm going to grab one or two more for holiday gifts.

Thank you to Soma for sponsoring this post!

My Favorite Brass Lighting

When it came time to choose a light for our music room, I turned right to Pinterest for some inspiration. I wanted something brass, but brighter and bigger than a sputnik. This image from Domaine had the *perfect* fixture.

I had used a local lighting company, Lucent Lightshop, to make new brass sconces for our fireplace (so the Gossip Girl sconces could move to the guest bath).

They did such a great job on the sconces, I reached out to them about recreating the inspiration light in dimensions that would work for our music room. Lucent totally, totally nailed it.

There's something so exciting about having something made just for you displayed in your home! It's perfect in the space and I love the brass against the new wall color!

Have you seen any lighting lately that takes your breath away? I'm obsessed with this floor lamp!

DIY Folding Screen from Bifold Doors

I've always loved a good folding screen! They are super useful and versatile for large homes and tiny apartments alike. And the best part is they are a cinch to make yourself using inexpensive hardware store bifold doors! 

I got these flat masonite doors at Home Depot for $40, which was cheap enough, but looking back I probably should have checked Habit ReStore before buying new. They sell a ton of closet doors just like these for just a couple bucks usually.

The masonite was pre-primed, so we rolled on a good coat of my forever-favorite Safety Red enamel paint as a first step.

We rolled on the backs first and then all the edges. We left the fronts white for the floral fabric application.

I had yards and yards of this pretty Brunschwig and Fils floral that was the perfect candidate for the decorative fronts of the screens. I should have taken a photo of the full width of the uncut fabric, but it's basically a thick wall of florals in the center of the pattern, with lots of black negative space on the edges. Since each door panel is only 15" wide, we were able to make the most of the black space (which felt a little more modern to me) and then create a new pattern with placement of the fabric repeats.

I wanted the fabric to look almost wallpapered, so we cut two sets of each pattern repeat, so there would be two sets of two matching doors.

The fabric decoupaged chair project worked out so well that I was quick to pull out the Mod Podge again on this project.

I brushed on an even, thick coat on the unpainted side of the doors, about two feet at a time.

I used the black edge as my guide and smoothed out the fabric as I went. It's really important to get out all the air bubbles before the Mod Podge dries.

Once the fabric had dried a bit, I cleaned up the edges with an X-acto knife, just like with the chair project.

Then we brushed on a top coat of Mod Podge, to even out and seal the fabric, especially around the edges.

After the top coat had dried, we flipped the doors over and screwed in new brass hinges. Each pair got three hinges installed on the backs, just like this, with the spine of the hinge facing down:

And then the two pairs were connected with three hinges installed inside the inner lip of the doors, so that the doors would zig and zag and fold correctly. Again, the hinge spine was facing down here.

Isn't the brass so pretty against the glossy red of the door backs?

And the pop of red peeking out from behind the black floral is so striking!

It's hard to tell in these photos, but the top coat of Mod Podge made for a really dreamy, matte wash over the pattern. It is SO pretty.

I really love the folding screen application, but I'm also thinking this would be a great way to dress up boring old bifold doors for a closet space! It's a really cheap way to get a wallpaper look in a room without the cost, hassle and commitment.

Have you seen any other folding screen projects around lately? I'm looking around my house thinking of all the places that could use one. They're so easy to make and so pretty! :)

DIY: Flokati-Topped Piano Stool

I've always loved the look of a smaller stool rather than a big bench in front of a piano. We keep all of our piano music in the tiger chest in the library, so we didn't really need a bench for storage purposes. I found this antique adjustable height stool on Craigslist for about $40. The size was perfect, it just needed a paint job to better work in our music room.

I wanted a creamy white color to pop against the black of our piano, so I picked up a can of Rustoleum's Heirloom White spray paint, which is a great warm white. We taped off the crystal feet first and I love how the color turned out.

The seat top was a little worse for the wear though and the new paint job seemed to only highlight the imperfections, so I grabbed a little flokati rug from IKEA, trimmed it down a bit and upholstered the seat top with my trusty staple gun.  It was a quick two-minute job! My favorite type of DIY! :)

I love the tone on tone colors of the stool and the sheepskin together, and the new texture was a welcome addition to the space I think. Plus the sheepskin bumped up the stool's comfort factor by a lot without ruining the height-adjustable factor.

Have you seen any cool upholstery projects lately using these flokati rugs? Here's a round up of some of my favorite projects and images - I think a sheepskin is gorgeous in just about any room! I am working on some changes to the studio right now and there is a little footstool in the space that is begging for a fluffy new top.  :)