DIY: Ikea Rast Hack

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week. A week off from work (and blogging) was just what I needed. I plan to recap part of our trip south to Charlotte later this week if work doesn't get too crazy. We had a great trip! But until then, let's get back to house projects.

I shared our master bedroom as it currently stands two weeks ago. And since I promised to be back with more details regarding our nightstands, here we go.

When we originally bought our bedroom set years ago, I just couldn't justify buying the matching nightstands. For one, they wouldn't fit in our condo at the time. But also, they would have rung in at more than $250 each. No thank you.

So we made do in our tiny bedroom. But in our new home, using a TV table just wasn't ideal. Time to grow up. And with a laundry list of purchases to make, spending $$ on nightstands still wasn't a priority. So I knew early on that heading to Ikea for nightstands was the best solution for us. Why not? 

So here's what we did:

What you need:

• Wood conditioner
• Wood stain - we used Miniwax in Honey (new, still not on their website...)
• Polyurethane
• Paintable/stainable wood filler
• Oil based primer
• Paint color/finish of your choice (We used the trim paint from our master bath reno - white in a satin finish)
• Stain brush - wood conditioner and stain
• Foam brush - poly
• Paint brush - oil based primer
• Small foam roller - finish off the drawers with a smooth finish
• Sand paper - fine, superfine
• Steel wool
• Tack cloth
• Cloth rag
• Paint thinner - you'll want to keep some on hand with a separate cloth rag in case you get any stain on your hands, which is inevitable. Also use this to clean the brushes.

*Make sure you have a well ventilated area to  work with stain and oil-based primer. The fumes are insanely strong. I can't stress this enough. 

For the shell:

• Sand, sand, sand the unfinished wood. Then wipe down with tack cloth.
• Cover in wood conditioner and let sit for at least 15 minutes
• Once the wood conditioner has set in, coat with your first layer of stain of choice. Let the stain soak in for at least 15 minutes. The longer you let it sit, the more it will soak in to the wood.
• Wipe off the excess stain with a cloth rag (we used an old shirt of J's).
• Let this sit for a couple hours and fully dry. I believe the Miniwax stain says 4-6 hours on the back of the can.
• Once dry and ready for another coat, sand with steel wool (steel wool is much finer than sandpaper and will not leave any scratch marks that could show up in the staining process)
• Add another coat and follow steps 3-6 again. 
• Add as many coats as needed until you reach your desired color. We were happy with 2 coats of stain.
• Once dry and sanded with steel wool, it's time to poly the wood. This will give it a really nice shine. The poly takes a whole lot longer to dry. Like 8 hours...so get a coat on at the end of day 1 if you can and let it sit overnight.
• Sand with steel wool once dry
• Add a second coat of poly and let dry. We stopped here.

Drawer Fronts:

• If you are changing the location of the drawer knobs, fill the pre-drilled holes with paintable/stainable wood filler. Let dry (15 mins).
• Sand the drawer fronts down until smooth. Wipe with tack cloth.
• Prime the drawers with an oil based primer to ensure that no yellowing bleeds through from the wood.
• This should dry quickly, within 15 mins. So sand again, and prime again. 
• Lightly sand again and apply your first coat of paint.
• Once dry lightly sand once more and apply your final coat of paint.
• Add your hardware of choice. We went with these.

Make sure to stain the insides of the nightstand shell. I can't stress this enough. We didn't think about this, threw the drawers in to see how everything looked, and immediately saw the raw, unstained wood staring back at us. Thankfully this is a quick fix, but I'd advise staining all the way back to the shelf ledges. 

And the final product: 

What do you think?

I can't believe we waited so long to get these nightstands finished. If you can dedicate a full day and a half to them (with plenty of drying time to get other things done) these nightstands are very DIY-able. We love them!

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

Master Bedroom Reveal

I've shared a few pictures of our bedroom already, I know. But mostly to showcase the carpentry finish work we've had to do. And remind myself of how far we've come....

It cracks me up to look back at the befores. At the time, I was a wide-eyed, ambitious, new home owner. But now I totally understand why some people, our parents, thought we were a bit crazy. If I'm being honest though, it really wasn't as bad of a process as it might look. We never felt too overwhelmed. Maybe we just got used to spending our weekends working on our home? I don't know. But if I had to do it again, I would. 

That's not to say we aren't pumped that it's done! Please, sitting on the couch Sunday, enjoying a cup of coffee, and catching Elf on TV...ya, that was awesome. And had yet to happen in the 5+ months since we moved. 

You might recognize these pictures from my old gallery wall in our condo (here). I love having these in our bedroom now. The curtains were an amazing deal from Kirklands, bamboo shades from Home Depot (I am a huge fan of the cordless ones).

We keep it simple with linens. White comforter, white knit blanket, white sheets. Sometimes I get crazy and put dark greys sheets on the bed. But white is easy. The coral pillows are covers I made a couple years ago & the purple pillow is a Homegoods find, also years ago. Repurposing items from our condo is the best! The throw at the end of the bed you may recognize from this post. It is so so soft. 

A post for another day (soon) but we finished the Ikea Rast night stands finally. Woo hoo! And those lamps are from Homegoods. I scrolled back up in this post to see if there was anything I missed. Of course there was....the huge mirror we have is also a purchase from....take a guess. Homegoods ftw. The berber rug with the mirror is from Building 19, the runner rug in the hall is from Target, and the shag rug under our bed is another Homegoods find. Can you tell we've had some luck in there? ha. No, they have no idea who I am. I wish.

Anyways, how'd we do with our to-do list?

• Install floors - Installed Bruce solid hardwood planks in Oak - Saddle
• Paint walls - Alpaca by Sherwin Williams
• Paint ceilings - standard white ceiling paint from HomeDepot
• Add baseboard molding, window trim - In process done!
• Add door jam, trim, bi-fold doors to J's closet - carpentry work done, now on the lookout for the perfect door done!
• Add trim, pocket door to my closet done!
• Buy/refinish nightstands - Ikea Rast nightstands ftw. done!
• Mount TV done!
• Add relaxed roman shades - example Went with bamboo shades instead, done!
• Hang artwork, photos photos hung, but looking for something to hang above our bed still

This summer, I was getting mani/pedi's with my sister-in-law, prepping for weddings we both had. I remember saying how I couldn't wait to just feel settled. And we both agreed it probably wouldn't happen for a while. 

Well, it's happened! Hosting our housewarming party this past weekend really solidified how much work we've done and how little there's left (in terms of big projects). We'll be spending the rest of this year relaxing and enjoying our home. No mas projects! for now...

What do you think?

I'm in no rush really, but I'd love to add some artwork above our bed. I'm also trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our room - by the mirror. Eventually I will probably put a nice chair over there but who knows. Any suggestions? 

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

Guest Bedroom Reveal

I'm back! Not 100% refreshed just yet but getting there. It was one hell of a week over here. All leading up to a housewarming party in our new home this past Saturday. I couldn't be happier with everything we accomplished leading up to the event, or how many great family and friends came over. 

Now that they've had a chance to take a peak at our progress, I'm excited to share more of it on the blog. First up, our guest bedroom. Remember where we started? It's hard to believe it these days!

By July when I shared our to-do list, the guest room was looking a little better...

And, today.

The guestroom got finished last week, finally! It felt so strange, and so great(!), to walk by our guestroom and see furniture in there. 

• Install finished floors - Installed Bruce solid hardwood planks in Oak - Saddle
• Paint walls - Westhighland White by Sherwin Williams
• Paint trim - standard white trim paint from Lowes
• Paint ceiling - standard white ceiling paint from HomeDepot
• Add an area rug - very, very happy with this one
• Add window treatments of some sort
• Add a bedframe, night stands, bureau inherited from family
• Add a ceiling fan installed last Friday
• Hang artwork and a mirror Artwork - Michaels / Mirror - family
• Create a closet space, currently not even a hanging rod

Doing pretty good with the to-do list if I do say so myself. As mentioned above, all of the furniture was inherited from family, my grandparent's house to be specific. We are incredibly grateful for this.

Since the bed frame was from the 1950's, or earlier, its box spring was ancient. But without it, there were no support slats across the bed frame. Post for another day, but we spent a night cutting new slats to fit the bed frame. I am in love with this spool bed.

The artwork in this room is so simple and I love it. These were clearance posters at Michaels, $3 each. As I scanned the aisles of poster size frames, nothing caught my eye. They were way too bulky for the space. Until I stumbled upon these $2.50 poster hangers. They're nothing special really, but also perfect. You know what they're similar to? Those plastic clips you'd slide over a book report back in the day. Nice and light weight. 

On the bed you might notice two printed pictures. We made a point to print out the disasterous before photos in many of the rooms to showcase the works we've done over the past few months, aka justify our delayed party.

What do you think?

The bed linens are from Homegoods, blanket from Ikea, and my mom made the knit throw. I'd love to add in some color/patterns to the bed next. Any suggestions?

Serena's Bedroom

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We had a great weekend of relaxing over here. It was my first full weekend off in quite sometime so J & I took full advantage of it. We made it to the gym, the condo got a deep cleaning, we stopped at a few open houses, and I enjoyed a wine & chocolate tasting party with girlfriends (details to come!). There was also plenty of puppy snuggles going on...

Sidenote - there's nothing better than good old fashion sweatpants. Yoga pants are cool, but as for comfort? thick sweatpants can't be beat.

On to today's home decor idea -

If you watched Gossip Girl back in the day, there's no way you missed Serena's bedroom at the Waldorf residence. Grasscloth accent wall, sunny yellow, and most rememberable? The butterfly art display.

I remember googling the bedroom after the episode ended and looking into who created the art installment. It was just so unique! Did you know it's made of beer cans? Crazy, right! It also probably cost a bajillion dollars....

 via

I haven't thought anymore about this bedroom since J & I moved in together back in 2009. A butterfly bedroom wasn't exactly in the cards anymore. So I was super excited to stumble upon this amazing little girls room! I hope she knows how cool her mom is for designing this for her!!

photos via

I absolutely love the idea of using grasscloth in our future home and will totally keep this idea in mind if when we have a little girl. The warm color and added texture really appeal to me. Hopefully it won't break the bank to use it though. Any design decisions you'd love to incorporate, even if they're a little on the pricier side?

Bedroom Inspiration

When we first bought our condo, our bedroom was beige. More of a yellowy-beige too. Not.at.all.soothing....

For my bedroom, I'm looking for somewhere to relax and unwind. I want something soft and calm. A place to rest my head and my thoughts. A place to curl up with a good book at times, maybe take a nap. But not somewhere I plan on spending excessive amounts of time in.

When we were looking to purchase a condo in the city, we knew we would be giving up space somewhere. And after checking out an open house for a place with a huge bedroom space and tiny living room, we knew that wasn't for us. We need space to entertain our friends and family. And yes, we need a place to sleep but having excessive square footage in our bedroom was no longer a priority.

So, what do you do when you're working with a small space? For me it was easy, work with lighter colors. I wanted an airy feel. I wanted to be able to walk into my bedroom, take a deep breath, and feel immediately relaxed.

After a year of living with the beige walls, it was time to make some decisions. I'm weird in that, I fear making decisions. Because once they're made, there may be no turning back.

Some of my inspiration for our room:

 via: Pinterest

original source: Simping

via: Pinterest

original source: Restyling Home by Kelly

via: Pinterest

original source: Knight Moves

via: Pinterest

original source: Centsational Girl

How did we do?

I've recently changed the side curtains to white to match the ones behind the bed but I'm not loving it. So I'm not showing you a picture just yet. Something is just off with it, so it's a work in progress. Any suggestions? And like I mentioned before, once a decision is made, it can be hard to change. Currently, our walls are Benjamin Moore Moonshine. And to be honest, I don't love it. I was SO surprised with how light it turned out to be in our room. Yes, I know I said I was going for lighter colors. But I'd like a little more definition between the white baseboards and windowsills than this is currently providing. 

If I was to repaint the room, I think I would use Benjamin Moore's Conventry Gray. It's just that much darker and would make the white linens pop a little more too. But I told J I'd give the BM Moonshine a try. So we'll see what happens!

Things you can't see from this photo that I love about our room because they help define the relaxed space I craved;

• the white shag rug that your feet first hit when getting up in the morning
• the matching mercury glass end table lamps I found at Homegoods that add a touch of elegance to the space
• the oversized floor leaner mirror that reflects the natural light from the windows (and is finished in an espresso stain similar to our headboard)
• the walk in closet that hides all of our hanging clothes, jays dresser, our shoes, etc. Close that door, and close off any clutter you don't want to look at. :)