Design For Mirabel 2014

I was delighted to attend the first Design For Mirabel charity exhibition this weekend where 10 industry leading Australian designers styled a room full of donated treasures. Everything in sight was for sale at fabulous prices including a Smeg fridge & Hay marble tray (Arent & Pyke), Johnathon Adler homewares (Brett Mickan), brass sea urchins (Brendan Wong) and gorgeous coral (Coote & Co) and best of all the proceeds went straight to the Mirabel Foundation!... can't wait for next year :)

Arent & Pyke

Feast Watson Re-love Project Final Reveal!

With bunting hung and punch bowls filled it's now finally time to reveal my contribution to Feast Watson's 2014 Re-Love Project!

First a super quick recap. In May myself and 7 fellow designers were charged with the task of re-loving an unwanted piece of furniture using Feast Watson products. On July 24th these items will be auctioned on eBay with the proceeds going to Salvos Stores. Feast Watson are also covering the shipping costs within Australia!

I love shopping, upcycling and selling goodies on eBay so every part of this project has been fabulous fun.

As we know I started with this old pallet table and tripod...

 a few weeks later, armed with an electric sander and Feast Watson products, I re-loved the pair into this...

This project involved three separate but simple DIYs using three Feast Watson products and a dash of Dulux. You can create these looks using any coffee table or flat timber surface, wood based lamp and drum shade.

Table Re-Love 
Chevron patterned table

You will need

Feast Watson Liming White Stain and Varnish (Gloss) 

Feast Watson Liming White Stain and Varnish in Danish Dust (satin)

Feast Watson Clear Varnish

Dulux Metalshield Enamel in Black (satin)

Brushes 

Painters Tape

Sand Paper

Ruler

1. Start by preparing your frame and table top for painting by sanding all surfaces. 

2.  In order to paint your table frame you will need to block out and protect the table top. To do this simply tape around your table top with painters tape.  

3. Using Dulux Metalshield in Black (satin finish) paint your frame then leave to dry over night before adding a second coat and leave to completely dry for 1-2 days. 

4. To create the patterned table top start by lime washing the timber using FW Liming White Stain and Varnish (gloss). You will need to do at least 3-5 coats depending on the colour of your timber and the effect you want to achieve. For this project I used 5 coats spaced out by no less then 3 hours each time. (if using FW Liming White you may only need to do 1-2 coats). 

5. When your lime wash is set and at the level of opacity you desire it's time to gently sand the top to increase the milky weathered look. I needed to do this as my timber was quite warm. This seemed to calm down the red tones and enhance the lime wash.

6. To create the chevron patterned top we firstly need to tape and block out the pattern. You can do this by eye or by measuring and taping at precise points. The easiest place to start in order to create this pattern is to make a large crisscross across the table by taping from one corner to the other on both sides of the table top. (if you are measuring the taping points measure the length and width of the table and find the center point. Lightly mark this point and then crisscross the tape meeting at this point. Once this is done you are then basically creating two evenly spaced graduating triangles within each of the four blank triangular spaces you have just created). I used 2" painters tape with 2" gaps between each triangle. I found it was best to tape each section with triangles directly underneath one another almost as if you are taping a parquetry style flooring pattern. Then once you have blocked out each section with taped triangles remove every other triangle starting with the first (please make sure to leave the large cross cross taped firmly in place).   

7. Apply FW Liming White Stain and Varnish Danish Dust (satin) to the blank spaces on the table top. I used two coats with 3-4 hours gap between coats.

8. When the Lime wash has dried carefully peel back the painters tape (don't worry if some of the stain comes away with the tape it adds to the character)

9. For a rustic look you could sand the top. I chose to leave it as is and finished with a coat of FW Clear Varnish Gloss. Using a small painters brush apply the varnish in long even strokes in the same direction. It's best to do this in a dust and bug free environment to ensure nothing sticks to the varnish during the drying process. Leave to dry for 24 hours. Please note this step will lessen the milky lime wash white finish slightly.

Tripod Re-love
Lamp Base

You will need
Feast Watson Liming White Stain and Varnish in Danish Dust (satin)
Dulux Metalshield Enamel Black (satin)
Timber Tripod
Painters Tape
Sand Paper

1.Start by sanding the entire tripod base.


2. Unscrew the nuts and bolts at the top of the tripod and remove the legs for painting.


3.Using painters table block out the surrounding timber near the hardware and apply 2 coats of Dulux Metal Shield in black leaving 5 hours drying time between coats


4. Using FW Liming White Danish Dust apply 2 coats to the timber base leaving at least 2 hours drying time between each.


5. Once dry lightly sand and scuff the timber to create a rustic look (You may want to tape out the freshly painted metal brackets for this step)


6. When the legs are completely dry reassemble the tripod.


7. The tripod is now ready to be wired by an electrician at your local lighting repair store.

Creating the Lamp Shade

You will need
Feast Watson Liming White Stain and Varnish Danish Dust (satin)

Hot glue
Wood Veneer
Drum lamp shade (I used a thrifted shade for this project)
Ruler
Scissors

The clam shell lampshade was created using thin, flexible, wood veneer off cuts hot glued to an old beige drum shade in even rows. If you have trouble finding wood veneer you could also use sticky bark sheets found at larger art supply stores which can then be tinted with timber stains.

1.  In order to shape your veneer pieces begin by creating a template as a guide. To do this I basically cut a rectangle with a curved half moon edge on one side. My template was approx 2"wide x 3"long.


2. Cut your veneer clams. I used approx 100 veneer cut outs for this project.


3. Choose a few pieces and tint with a coat of Danish Dust. Leave to dry (they may curl initially but will return the their original shape when dry)


4. Apply the veneer pieces in rows by starting at the base of the shade working up. The first step is to decide the length of overhang you would like at the base of the shade. This creates a nice scolloped edge. I chose an overhang of approx 3cm at the base.


5. Given the length of the overhang ie. 3cm apply your first row of clams with this overhang using a hot glue gun and applying a thin line across the top of the veneer piece and half way down each side. As a guide you can measure the length of your clam shells minus your overhang and lightly mark a line across the shade at this point (this will serve as your guide for gluing your first row).


6. At this point measure the remaining uncovered height of the lampshade and divide by 4. At each of these four heights a new row can be glued.

Note: I did a practice run before gluing the veneer using blu tac. Prior to gluing I also laid out 5 rows of the veneer pieces to ensure the colours were mixed and varied before gluing. Consider the front view when choosing your veneer pieces prior to gluing.              

A big thanks to Feast Watson for including me in their Re-love Project for 2014. I have loved every minute of it! My fellow participants have produced jaw dropping transformations with their chosen pieces and I can't wait to see the full reveal on the 24th of July!!

Feast Watson Re-Love Project Update #3!

So I'm thinking a little Re-love Project preview/reveal should take place here soon. Truth be told I'm terrible at keeping secrets and we all want to see how the pallet table and rusty old tripod revamp went - do we not?! So while I set the date for my Feast Watson reveal party here is a little of what I've been up to and a mini peak at the finished product...

xx

The Hall - My Top Ten Typo Homewares Picks

I have been waiting to check out Typo's fun new homewares range, The Hall, and this month marked its launch. Ranging from $7-59 this fab range boasts plates and mugs to throw blankets and wall features and following Interiors Addict feature post I went straight to the site to sort out my wish list!

1. Palms Springs Geo Cushion $24.95 2. Congrats Cards $4.95 3. Textured Bowl $7.95
4. Large Hall Bag $3.00 5. Heart Marquee Light $34.95 6. Large Rope Basket $19.95
7. Budgie Wall Hanging $19.95 8. Cement Pot Plant $14.95 9. Tahiti Tiles Cushion $24.95
10. Light Blue Geo Throw $49.95

xx

DIY Painted Cork Boards

These super simple DIY cork boards were inspired by Real Living Magazine's July cover art... one of my favourite monthly mags!

My mum found these round cork boards at an op shop but I remember seeing a similar DIY in Real Living some time ago using embroidery hoops and Avskild cork mats from Ikea which you can simply trace around and cut into a circle in order to complete this project.

You will need:
Cork Boards
Paint or spray paint in two colours
Stippling sponge to create the polka dot pattern
Masking tape

1.To make the geo painted board simple tape in half and spray or paint one side
2. When that is dry tape a line across the painted side skimming the edge as shown below and then place another piece of tape horizontally about a third of the way up to create a triangle shape then paint with your contrasting colour and that is it!.

For the polka dot board simple take your paint covered stippling brush and stamp your dots around the board.

 xx