The Painted Hive Christmas Tree

Is it already a little too late in the season to finally share my Christmas tree?

Truth is, I've actually had it up since the first weekend in December (truly-ruly I have!) though with my 'real' job being in the events industry things can get a tad busy this time of year so sadly my blog's been on patient pause.

I LOVE Christmas time. Whether for reasons of nostalgia or the promise of new beginnings to me there's just something magical about it.

In the evenings when dusk begins to creep around the corner I switch on the tree lights and sit content in the semi-darkness, wrapping gifts as old-fashioned carols hum in my ears (yes, I am truly that dorky - Judy Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and Bing Crosby's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" are two of my favs).

We bought our dodgy faux tree the first year we moved into our house about a week before Christmas on clearance from the local supermarket for $10, so needless to say, it's not the grandest of specimens. This year I used some snowy green garlands to bulk up its central sparseness then smothered it in baubles, silver stars, sparkly snowflakes and pretty lilies to create a glittering 'White Christmas' for our Aussie summer.

And yes, the few pressies currently under it are actually real!

New Living Room Pictures and Free Printables!

Do you 'member I mentioned there had been lots of tissy-ing up going on over at my hive?

Well, something I had been wanting to change for a while were the bird prints in my living room.

(Here's how my living room looked around 18 months ago)

They are cute and I do like them though the proportions were never quite right and it was simply time for something different.

At the moment I'm really into vintage illustrated nature studies; botanical, anatomical, zoological (anything with a 'cal' on the end really!).
For my living room I ended up deciding on botanical fern lithographs, mainly because I think they're cute though also because of their green foliage.

You see, to a fickle girl like me who can't seem to commit to colour, green foliage adds that little punch of life to an otherwise unsaturated room whist maintaining an overall sense of harmonious neutrality.
I always like to include foliage of some kind in all of my spaces.

I switched out the original chunky frames for finer ones I found at a cheap dollar store.
To better fit with the proportions of the new leather sofa I created two rows of four prints (and yes, my 'new' leather sofa is over a year old now!).

(Please forgive the reflections)

I found the fern illustrations on the NYPL Digital Gallery. I edited them a bit using Photoshop then simply printed them off.

(Again, please excuse the reflections)

I really love the way they look though best of all they were virtually free!

I know I'm being stingy by not showing more of the room as a whole though I have made so many changes since getting the leather sofas it's practically a new space! So I'm planning a proper reveal post to showcase the entire makeover soon (promise :-).

If you're interested in using the same fern illustrations as me, for convenience I have included them below.
Just click on an image to open it to full size then simply save it to your computer.

Enhanced Natural Timber Furniture

Before I began my master bedroom revamp I knew I wanted some rustic timber to keep the space warm and grounded however finding the right pieces to 'restore' rather than 'refurb' is easier said than done.

We all know how easy and effective slapping a fresh coat of paint on a piece of furniture can be - not only does it completely transform the feel of an item though it can also hide a myriad of sins. So, when you're planning on paring-back rather than packing-on, a little more care (and/or blind faith!) may be required.
With that in mind I set about sourcing some second-hand timber pieces which would eventually become my bedside tables and finally found these on eBay:

Deco Dresser ($60)

Kauri Pine Cupboard ($50)

Because my bed doesn't sit centrally on the wall I wanted two pieces with mis-matched proportions to play off the asymmetry of the room. I also needed plenty of storage.

Remember my inspiration board:

I knew I was dreaming when I included that apothecary style cabinet (lower right) though thought I could somehow transform my crappy old deco dresser into something with a similar feel so I got to work.

First I removed the mirror and handles then stripped back the old varnish using my secret weapon; commercial grade graffiti remover. Seriously, this stuff is awesome! You just pour a layer on, leave it for five minutes then remove it with some soapy water and steel wool. It's soooo much easier and faster than using a conventional paint stripper.

Okay, so admittedly I get mine from a friend in the industry though I'm sure it's available somewhere for domestic use (sorry I can't help more :-).

I next gave the dresser a light all over sand then stained it dark using a combination of walnut and black. I was careful to get the stain into all the imperfections in the timber to create the look of an aged patina. To finish I sealed it with three coats of danish oil then added some library pulls.

Before

After

The pulls were originally shiny polished brass so I coated them with some old gold Rub 'n' Buff to create a tarnished look. I thought it may not stick given how smooth the surface was though it hasn't budged. For something different rather than label each pull with a numerical digit I used french written numbers (un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit) which I simply printed off my computer onto regular copy paper. I then stained the paper with a diluted coffee mixture to give the labels an aged appearance.

My original plan with the kauri pine cupboard was to keep it as is though the blonde timber looked too unbalanced against the walnut of the dresser so I decided to stain it dark too which was fast and easy because it was already so bone-dry no stripping or sanding was needed. I simply mixed up some walnut and black timber stain then gave it three good coats. There were heaps of gouges and grooves in the soft timber from years of love (and neglect!) so, as with the dresser, I was careful to let the dark stain penetrate all the imperfections to create an aged-looking, time-worn patina.

Before

After

Linking this post with some of these parties.

Library Card Cabinet Upcycle

Whatda you do when you come across something you really love?

Something for your home that you know there is no practical place or use for?

Do you buy it just because?

Just because you might never come across one again? Just because it was a really good price? Just because your mother's sister's second cousin Mavis had one just like it? Just because you could remove that, paint this, add some of these and turn it into an umbrella stand?

Well, a while ago I blogged about this old library card cabinet I bought 'just because'.

It sat in my junk room serving absolutely no purpose for about a year until the arrival of Charlotte saw my junk room (which was the temporary home for many of my 'just because' items) become sole real estate for one beautiful bouncing bambino.

(You can see the nursery makeover here if you missed it)

So, with our shortage of storage space made even shorter it was finally time to let some things go, starting with my card drawer cabinet.

Before selling it though I decided a mini makeover was in order.

Rather than paint over the character-filled timber I simply gave it a good all over clean and oil (just with furniture polish) to retain and enhance the original patina.

I also attached some solid metal castor wheels (as I had always originally intended). Along with the advantage of mobility the wheels also add enough height to give the cabinet perfect proportions for a coffee or deep side table.

I could only find silver steel castors which looked too modern paired with the old cabinet so I tinted them black to resemble cast iron.
Here's a little trick; rather than use spray paint (which easily chips off smooth metal) I coloured the wheels with a black permanent marker!

It sounds time-consuming though it was actually really quick and so far has held up great. Whilst I imagine it will likely fade a little over time where the wheels roll it will probably look nicely worn rather than just plain chipped.

So, mini refresh complete, I re-arranged my living room a bit to plonk the cabinet beside my leather couch to take some photos for the eBay listing and....

....I'm kinda loving it!

Luke even made the rare comment that he also liked it!

Did I say we have a shortage of storage space and it was time to let some things go? Well, maybe not this...for now anyway.

Hmmm, perhaps I should stop buying stuff 'just because'.

Linking up here.

DIY Transfer Decal Tutorial

Sure, there are a heap of different embellishing methods out there though did you know you can make your own custom, professional-looking, easy to use decals at home with no expensive outlays, time-consuming crafting or specialty equipment?

All you need is some waterslide decal paper and a printer (plus a cute design of course!).

Okay, that may have just sounded like a bad infomercial though I promise no-one is paying me to sprook the praises of this product. I just really like it.

However if you are in the waterslide decal industry donations won't be frowned upon - just kidding of course :-)

Anyhoo, let's get started....

For my graphic I'm using some simple numbers I just designed in Word though you could get fancy with Photoshop, find a graphic on-line or scan something in.
I got my decal paper here from eBay. Make sure you get the clear paper and either inkjet or laser to suit your printer.

Yes, those are my ugly kitchen tiles you can see beneath the plates. I will get around to making over my kitchen one day!

I really love the professional finish, ease and graphic flexibility of this method. Anything you can design you can use to embellish and this method works on all kinds of materials (glass, timber, metal etc.) so you can think big. You can even design (or purchase) over-sized digital graphics then print them in sections to create large scale images for big surfaces such as table tops.
The possibilities are almost unlimited.

I know this isn't an earth shattering technique though I've rarely seen it used so just thought I'd share.

Linking up here.

*UPDATE*
You can easily find the decal paper on eBay.
Just do a search for "waterslide paper" or "decal paper".
Make sure you get the clear paper if you want a transparent background and either the inkjet or laser printer compatible one to suit your needs.

Distressed White Cabinet

Remember this little guy from my bedroom reveal?

Before

After

I reckon this early 1900's cabinet was originally some kind of kitchen dry store or food safe though I picked it up for $60 off eBay knowing it would be a perfect new house for all my shoes (oh, and some of Luke's too I spose - if I really have to share. Nah, actually I think he probably has more than me!).

This was the simplest of makeovers. I really wanted to retain the chippy, shabby appeal of the finish and although it might look fine as is in the before pic it was actually kinda dirty and cruddy so all I did to enhance its charm was give it a thorough once-over with the palm sander. Easy! I didn't even bother sealing it.

To finish I simply attached a couple of new el-cheapo tear drop handles from the hardware store.

The adorning vignette features my gift wrap wall art, a giant gal 'K' and rectangular box from Provincial Home Living, terracotta potted rosemary plants, my DIY stick topiary (complete with real moss I pinched from the garden) and thrifted rustic bird cage and silver bust.

The Industrial Dining Room Light

Thanks for all the comments about my little dining room makeover.
I got a lot of questions about the light fixture so thought I'd post about it sooner rather than later.

I'd been inactively looking to replace both the original fixtures in my conjoined living-dining room since we moved in.

BEFORE

Yep, that was them. Except they were originally green and bright gold so not long after we moved in I painted them antique bronze mainly just so I didn't have to think "Aussie, Aussies, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi" every time I looked at them.

I knew I wanted something industrial-ish to replace them with though it took me five years to actually do it because....
One; finding stylish and affordable pendants here in Oz isn't easy.
Two; I needed two fixtures. A single pendant above the dining table would have been easy enough though I had to consider the aesthetic of having two within around three meters of one another.
Three; Our ceilings aren't high. And whilst having a low-hung pendant above a dining table is no problem I needed it to match the height of the pendant over the living area otherwise it just woulda looked plain bad. Long story short, it needed certain proportions.
Four; Last Monday I had a photographer at my house to take pics for a potential future magazine feature so that kinda motivated me!

Luckily, the magazine shoot just happened to coincided with the release of a new stylish and affordable lighting range from Recollections.

I'm sure many of my fellow Aussies feel the same quiet longing for the seemingly endless array of affordable stylish homewares available overseas, particularly in the USA, so I was wrapt when I came across this new collection. Finally, a slice for us (albeit small though a slice none-the-less!).

I got two of the Grantham pendants (usually $99 each) for $160 for both as they currently have 30% off your second pendant. I also sold both my old light fittings for $60 so if you take that off the price for the new ones I technically got them for $100 which is just $50 a piece!

Hubby Luke installed them for me and I'm really pleased with how they look.
And, new light aside, I've made other changes in the living area so will share them too when I get around to it :-)

PS If my house does happen to turn up on the pages of a magazine sometime I'll let you know once I've picked myself up off the floor!