Case Study: Unit A

Today -as I was reviewing floor plans for an upcoming project- I thought; if only I had the opportunity to show what I would do with this space.

So I decided: I am going to use one of the suites as a case study. I will do with it what i want . . .

Over the next few posts I am going to transform a standard suite at a high end building into something spectacular.

Hopefully. . . .  that is. And since no one follows this blog, if i fail, whose the wiser?  answer: no one.

I'm excited.

CONDO FLOOR PLAN MODIFICATION

Toronto Ontario
Developer: Tridel
Project: Islington Terrace

Plints are not my friend

I love Plinths. I think they are great. One on each side of almost anything always makes a great frame.

So I decided I wanted 2 Plinths to go on either side of this book case I had.

So first I tried to make a simplified column. . . which didn't work:


Attempt 1: covering wood and cardboard
in drywall mud. I wanted it to look like
those plaster covered tables that are so trendy right now
. . . did not look like that at all.

So I also have $0 left at this point to spend on furniture so I thought PAPER. I had just seen a post by a friend about making blinds with folded paper. So I thought I could give it a tailored upholstered look but with paper, I love crisply pressed box pleats, so off I went again:


Attempt 2: Paper folded into box pleats

So yah it looks like box pleats but no, not crisply pressed or tailored . . just wavy and messy. Not really happy with it. . . . .


Final attempt: Again with paper but this time I made lots of pleats.

I think the 3rd Attempt came out best. I love the idea of using paper as a material in your home. It has a great textural quality. Obviously only a temporary solution until I can afford some real Plinths. Or better yet a great piece of furniture to replace both Plinths and the bookcase.

The end result:


They do a great job of hiding the cords for the wall sconces.

An overall shot of the wall: I think Ideally the sconces should have been centered on the wall with a wider china hutch between. But not a bad start.

Arm Chair Conundrum

I have this vision of the perfect arm chair: its comfortable, its cozy. . . but also compact. There are also 2 of them ( of course), they are amazingly cheap, and fit in my car.

They don't exist.

This weekend I trekked all over this city.

These are what we had at the beginning of the weekend, 2 ikea arm chairs:

Our current arm chairs

So I began my search, I went to a furniture liquidation place. . . no luck. Lots of chairs, no matching pairs, none without obvious fabric damage.

So I went to a used furniture store, and found these down-filled rolled arm chairs: The fabric was this horrible shiny white that was so dirty, but it was down filled, solid constuction. They where $20 each and furniture was 50% off. DONE, I thought, I've seen a few people paint fabric chairs, I can do that:

 

 

Well they did not fit in the car. And I guess also, (realistically) they would have been a little large for the space.

 

But that was ok because I found these 2 arm chairs at Crate and Barrel that where 2 days away from being marked down 90% aka each of them would have been $210, I was so excited!

 

Like, soooo excited.

 

Well I called this morning when they opened (on the day they would have been 90%). GONE; someone snatched them up at 80%  . . . an obviously wiser person than me.

 

But that's ok because at the same used furniture store I also found this down filled settee. Too bad pink isn't my thing, but I could paint them just like I was going to do with the white chairs right!?

 

 Well I have the settee, its sitting in my living room: Solid wood construction, down filled, the quality of the fabric is amazing. . . just no though, it doesn't work, it looks completely out of place.

 

Its not 2 arm chairs.  . . and It doesn't fit in: Its too high,  the lines are too formal, the seat is too shallow.

 

Its an amazing deal and an even more amazing find. . . but not the right one.  . . .

 

So now I have a settee and no where to put it, and still no arm chairs. . . .

 

ITS SUCH A CONUNDRUM!

 





20 photo frames

My boyfriend found an amazing book of animal prints. We decided to create a framed collection and put them over the sofa.

I found some super cheap frames from ikea. Even at $3 each they still came out to around $100. I got some really nice paper with some texture on them to mount the photos too. I ditched the glass acrylic sheet at the front of the frame: The texture of the paper and prints was way better without them.

The benefit of using these inexpensive frames was that they where very, very light. So I was able to use this tac I found when buying the paper, no nails, no hammering. And I will be able to adjust them as needed. I tested the frames to see how well they where secured to the wall. . they seem really strong. Time will tell. . . . if they all start falling off my wall I will let you know.

I taped some paper to the wall to make sure
I had the composition right

Getting the frames ready

Playing around with who I wanted
beside each other. . .

Them all up on the wall, still need to make some minor
adjustments

Close up. I love these photos so much.

This has got to be my favorite project in the apartment so far. I think it looks fantastic!

wrapping a coffee table in vinyl paper

We had a huge lack coffee table that was the perfect size. But the finish was scratched and bubbled. So I decided to try and wrap it in wall paper.


I found this crazy cool vinyl paper from homedepot. My inspiration was this bar area wrapped in a similar paper on fromtherightbank.  I love this effect!


I think she started a bit of a trend bc it was also on the houseandhome blog:

My paper is from the same company but the colour is black:




The photos:


before





from the top

took lots of tape to keep the paper
in place when drying

all wrapped and put back together.



The glue on the back wasn't very strong. I think it would have been alot easier to use a spray adhesive. . . I think I am going to be re-gluing the legs. The paste was really meant for wall application . . . not furniture. But I am so happy with the results! 

dining room -nook- inspiration and results

Our tiny little 'eating area' was way to small for a table of any dignity. So instead I decided to try and extend out the kitchen and create a multipurpose work area.

My inspiration for this small space was:






The nook looked like this:


before.

Progress being made:

mid way

I was able to reuse the brackets and shelves from my old place. My original ideas was to use Ikea kitchen cabinets and then trim them out. But I realized it would be way easier (and less expensive) to modify one of ikeas large bedroom dressers. I picked up the 8 drawer Hemnes - which just fit -  cut down the legs a bit and added baseboard. I decided that it was all a little too white and grey with the light shelves and dresser so I decided to paint the back wall a dark accent which I had already lying around.