Upcycling Project: Wooden Rummoli Board

I grew up playing lots of card and board games and it breaks my heart that my kids don’t share the same love of games. Games not only provide an awesome time to connect with family and friends, but can also develop both social and academic skills (depending on the nature of the game). I’m pretty sure I learned my math facts playing crib with my dad! I can’t say that Rummoli involves much strategy or mathematical skill, but it is fun and one of the few games my kids really enjoy.

I recently bought a cheap Rummoli game from the Thrift Store, complete with a bag of pennies (so I actually made money on the purchase). The kids really enjoyed playing, but we were taping the edges down so that the plastic mat would lie flat while we played. The game is one of those classics that I played as a kid. I looked into buying a “nicer” version of the game for Christmas, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. In the end, I decided to make my own. I wouldn’t do this for just any game, but figured that it’s such a classic that it may with stand the test of time and be used for generations to come and would therefore be worth the effort.

I picked-up a “lazy-susan” from the thrift store for a couple of bucks and then found this table on Kijiji for $15. Just realized I never took a before shot of the lazy-susan. It was basically three circular pieces of wood (of varying sizes) that were sandwiched together with the appropriate hardware to make it spin. The small circle on the top had a recessed circle in the middle and some small circles around the outer edge. Here is a shot of the table I purchased for the project.

table

Steps:

I decided to leave the table assembled until the very end. This kept it at a nice height and stable during the transformation process. The first thing I did was sand the table top and edges.
With Tim’s help, we carefully divided the circle into 8 sections and then traced out where the circles would be cut for the “pots” to drop down into the board.
Here are the penciled off sections. This was probably the hardest part.
Tim used an attachment on his drill to cut the holes for me. I then sanded the edges of the circles to create a smooth finish. (The pots I bought had a small lip on the top edge, so the circles had to be large enough to fit the base of the pot, but small enough for the lip to sit on the edge of the wood.)
I then sanded off the pencil lines, leaving only a few guide marks for taping.
I taped off the sections in preparation for staining. I decided that I wanted to divide the sections by using two tones of stain, so I taped off every other section. (Be sure to score the edge of the tape that will be receiving the stain to avoid bleeding.)
I applied two coats of the darker stain to the taped off sections.
Once the stain was dry, I removed the tape and carefully applied tape over the dry stain, so that I could apply the lighter stain to those sections that were not previously done.
I also sanded and stained the original top section from the lazy-susan.
Once the stain was all dry and the tape removed, I began the process of preparing the text/graphics for the game. At first I wasn’t sure how to pull this off, but ended up finding a program called Art Text 2 that allowed me to create text in a curved shape. The lite version was a free download. Yay! Although I can’t say that the shape of the curve matched that of my game board exactly, it was close enough. I was also able to find symbols for the “suits” within the program, so this was super easy to do. Once I created the text/graphic, I simply exported each title to my desk top and then used exactly the same template for each title, by simply changing the word/suit in the text box. Once all of the titles were exported, I dragged them into a Pages document.
To transfer the titles to the board, I used the freezer paper transfer method. I had never done this before, but it was super easy to do. I followed the tutorial on Little Bit Funky with the only change I made being that I used spray adhesive to instead of a glue stick. In a nut shell, you basically adhere freezer paper to cardstock (waxy side up) and then trim the freezer paper to fit exactly. You place the prepared paper in your printer (mine prints on the bottom of paper, so I placed mine in the tray with freezer paper facing down). You then print your document using best quality and choosing the layout option that automatically flips the image horizontally creating a mirror image.
The ink basically sits on top of the waxy paper and thus is super easy to smudge. I had to cut-out each title so that I could ensure that the curve was properly placed along the outer edge of my game board in each section. So for me to complete my project, I had to make three pages of freezer paper/cardstock.
Once you have your title/graphic cut-out, carefully place it in the exact place/position you want to transfer it. YOU CAN NOT MOVE IT ONCE IT HAS TOUCHED THE SURFACE, so be very carefully when doing this step. Once you set it in place, firmly press and hold the image in place while scoring the image with the edge of a spoon. Ensure you rub every section evenly. I checked the transfer by peeking under a corner while firmly holding the image in place. If it needed a bit more pressure to the image I simply replaced it and continued to score it with the spoon. This was super fast and easy to do, you just can’t move it or it will smudge. When you are finished pick it straight up to avoid smudging.
I let my images sit for a few hours because I didn’t want to take the chance of smudging them at all. I then applied a thin layer of spray clear coat. Once the spray layer was dry, I applied two coats of urethane with a sponge brush. I’m not sure, but I think the spray urethane is important because the sponge would probably smudge the ink.
Once the table top game board was completely done, we removed the screws holding it to the base and Tim assembled the lazy-susan. Basically we took the bottom and top from the original and replaced the larger middle circle with our new game board.

This was the top section of the original lazy-susan.

There wasn’t space to add the poker hands, so I made little cards for each player.

The finished board turned out great! The graphics aren’t super bold against the stain, but I really wanted more of a vintage look, so I’m really happy with the result. The lazy-susan works great, so you can spin the board to ante or claim your winnings. We let the kids open this gift on Christmas Eve and enjoyed a fun evening of Rummoli!

Banquette Face-Lift

BEFORE: At some point, the left corner got stained and we camouflaged it with a butterfly (not really done by choice, but rather necessity).

AFTER: Banquette with new black and white geometric fabric.

Eden had this old banquette in her room as a craft/homework table. It was a great space for her and her friends to put on nail polish and do crafts, but had really taken a beating over the years. When we did her bedroom make-over, she wanted to replace it with something more comfy, so we decided to swap the futon that sat in the landing outside the kids’ rooms with the banquette. The space is rarely used, so it didn’t really make a difference to the rest of the family, but it was in serious need of a fresh coat of paint and some new upholstery on the cushions. (The BEFORE shot doesn’t really capture how run down it was looking as it’s an old picture. I had taken some pictures before and during the project, but we’ve had computer problems this fall and some how the pictures got lost in the process.)

I was actually pretty excited to do this job because it was long overdue and not a difficult one to get off the To Do list. We inherited this with a previous home we bought and I am pretty sure it was handmade by someone, so I can’t say the finishing details are anything to brag about. When we first moved it into Eden’s room 7 years ago, Tim added beadboard to the front base and it really gave it more of a finished look. I had originally put white vinyl on the seats as opposed to fabric. Although white may not have been the best colour choice, it matched her room nicely and was wipeable (is that even a word??).

For the updated version, I simply prepped the surface by filling holes/nicks, sanding, priming and painting. It was white on white, so it didn’t require much work. The back panels were screwed on and the bench seats just sit on the base with wood slats to keep them from moving. This also gives us plenty of storage inside the benches which is a nice bonus. The re-upholstery took no more than an hour and a half. I basically used a screw driver to remove the staples that secured the vinyl. (I left the numerous other layers of fabric on and just added the new material over top.) Four of the pieces were simple rectangles, so they were super easy to cover. The fifth piece is more of an L shape with an angled edge in the corner. Although a bit trickier, it still wasn’t very hard to do. I used the old vinyl pieces as a template to cut the new pieces out. The new fabric has a geometric pattern, so I had to be carefull and ensure that the pattern was sitting “square” on the each of the pieces I was covering. The final step was to secure the fabric on with a staple gun. I then screwed the backboards in place and replaced the bench seats.

The finished bench looks great, but of course, the table now looks a bit worse for ware. I might eventually paint the table top to freshed in up. I think plain black would look sharp. When we owned our restaurant, we painted our counters and table tops to match the decor. Of course we also added several coats of urethane for durability, but they stood up to the restaurant wear and tear with no problem, so painting would be a good option.

It has been a super busy fall with back to school and the kids heavy into sports, but it feels so great to get a project done.

Teen Room Project #8: City Scape Table Lamp

city scape lamp I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be cool to make for Eden’s room. We had an old lamp at home that had a silver base and wasn’t too dated. I figured the lamp itself would fit with the decor, but in order to pull this off, I needed to find a “drum shade” (one that has the same diameter at both the top and bottom without tapering). Strangely it was hard to find one. I finally found a brand new one on Kijiji for $5. It didn’t fit well, but I simply flipped it upside down and glued a rubber washer to the bottom edge. This slipped over the light bulb socket and the rubber made for a tighter fit, so the shade didn’t wobble. Once the bulb was screwed in, it was pretty much secured in place despite it not being a custom fit.

City Scape Lamp Shade:

Materials:

black drum shade
image of a city skyline
pencil
needle/pin or even a cake tester (something pointy)*

Method:

To make the city scape, I found a silhouette image on-line and then copied it and traced it onto my red shade. I was actually doing some trial and error because I did not find a tutorial for making it, just a picture of the finished product. I wasn’t sure if I should put the holes through the recovered shade or just have it shine through the holes of the red. city scape lamp So, I initially traced my picture on red and then poked holes through the red before I covered it in black. (In the end, I had to make the holes through the black as well as the holes weren’t very visible, so don’t do this as it was a waste of time. However, because the red would not be my finished surface, I traced directly onto the fabric. If I had already covered it, this would not have been an option. Instead, I would have cut out the city scape and then taped it to the shade. I would have then used it to create negative space without tracing.)

Once the city skyline is taped in place (in my case it was traced on red shade), begin to poke holes along the entire sky line almost like you are tracing it with pin pokes. I was a little tentative and made the holes quite small at first, but ended up going over them all a second time so that they allowed enough light to pass through. You need to create the skyline with the holes before adding random poke holes throughout the “night sky”. Basically your buildings become negative space and there are no holes in this portion, but you can randomly add holes anywhere above that line. Although I didn’t make an exact line across the top, I generally tried to keep a 3/4″ no poke zone that looks a bit like a top border even though the pokes are still random at the top.

Because mine was red and the colour wouldn’t work for the project, I picked up a few dollars worth of black taffeta at the fabric store. I used spray adhesive I had on hand and simply sprayed the shade lightly and then carefully laid the fabric over it to get even coverage. I folded over the top and bottom edges and then added a little rim of ribbon with my hot glue gun, along the inside edges. The finished ribbon edge sat just under the lip on the top and just above the lip on the bottom. It really isn’t visible from the outside, but gives the edge more of a finished look. The interior is still red, but it works because red is in fact the accent colour in her room.

The finished effect is a bit underwhelming, but I love how it adds to the overall theme in such a subtle way. It really adds to the ambiance of her sitting area.

*When poking the holes, I found that if the tool was tapered, it was easier to poke through and you could get a better hole in the end. I also found that my fingers got sore after a while and that the cake tester with the rounded end on it was easier to push through that the needle.

Teen Room Project #7: Throw Cushion Covers

Eden used to have what I thought was an awesome banquette style table/bench in her room that was perfect for doing her homework, art projects and painting finger nails. However, she was adamant that she did not want it in her room when we did the bedroom transformation. Instead, she wanted a comfy seating area to hang-out in when her girlfriends are over. Originally she wanted to make a pallet type sofa, but in all honesty, it seemed like another big project and not really necessary when we have a futon right outside her door in our landing that virtually goes unused. She agreed that this would be a great alternative and so swapped the banquet and the futon. The second floor of our home has two large bedrooms, a large landing area and a bathroom. This is the kid’s zone and so the swap really made no difference to me.

Although we may someday purchase a new cover for the futon, for now, we just removed the old navy one and replaced it with an older duvet cover. It is a bit larger than it needs to be, but Eden doesn’t even mind the oversized look and the price was right!

To dress it up, I decided to use some of the old cushions from the futon and make some simple new slip covers for them. I had all of the fabric on hand from previous projects and the style I made required no zippers and minimal work.

Throw Cushion Tutorial

Step 1: Cut the Fabric

For these simple slip covers, you simply measure the width of your pillow and add about an inch for seam allowances. Mine were all square, so the width was 14″ plus 1″ for the seam allowance. Ideally, if you are using new fabric and aren’t doing piece work, the length will be equal to 2X the size plus about a 3 to 4 inch overlap depending on the size of the pillow. For mine, The width was 15″ and the total length would have been about 34 “.

Step 2: Finish the seams

Next, you take the short sides of the fabric and finish the seams. I usually do a double fold to give a nice finished look. (This is just an example and I did not actually use this particular piece of fabric. I pinned the seams to give you the idea.)

Step 3: Fold and Pin

Lay the big rectangle down flat with right side facing up. Place a pin at the center point and then fold over one of the finished side seams so that it’s laying down the middle of the fabric. Take the other finished seam and drag it over so that it lays onto of the first one that has been placed at the center point. (Remove the pin.) You want to measure and lay it down once the folded cover is the desired width. So, the last piece will now be overlapping the first fold. Remeasure to be sure that the folded cover is the desired size of the finished cover.

Fold the first end in and lay it down in the middle of the fabric.

Drag the other end over to overlap first side and stop when the folded square/rectangle equals desired size.

Step 4: Sew

Sew along the top and bottom of the cushion cover. Turn right side out and ensure corners are pushed out. Insert the pillow through the overlapped portion. This will sit at the back of the finished cushion.

*Of course, I didn’t have new fabric, I was using scraps I had on hand, so I had to do some piece work. It was basically the same concept, but I used “less appealing” fabric on the back where the overlap is and my decor fabric on the front. Of course, instead of a fold along the sides, mine has a seam. You just have to allow that little extra for the side seam. Here are the shots of the ones I made.

This just shows the two finished seams on the black pieces that will make the overlapped enclosure on the finished cushion.

The swirly fabric will be the finished front. I laid one side of the black down with the finished seam down the middle.

You can see the overlap here.

I placed the second piece of black down so it overlapped the first.

You can see how sloppy the black is b/c I’m just going to cut it off. I sewed all the way around b/c I had to do piece work.

Finished back view

Finished front view. (Clearly I hadn’t pushed the corners out very well.)

Floor Pillow:

Eden also had a large throw pillow that needed to be recovered to match her new decor. For this one, I simple removed the previous cover from the pillow and used it as a template for cutting out the new fabric. I actually used an old shower curtain that was in excellent shape. It is a bit silky feeling and I thought it would be great because it wouldn’t collect lint on it in the same way the previous fleece one did. I even removed the zipper from the old one and re-used it in the new cover. This cost nothing, but gave the pillow a fresh new look for her cozy little “den”.

The floor pillow cover was made from upcycling an old shower curtain.

Here’s a shot of the finished floor pillow with a cushion. The cushion fabric was left over from the Roman Blinds.

Bolster Pillows:

Finally, I took the old bolster covers and used them as a template to make a long tube like cover for back of the futon. This simply meant finishing the end seams and then sewing a long tube. Instead of the hassle of trying to make a nice fitting end, we just used ribbon to tie the ends. Simple to do and helps dress up the old futon a little. I’m not sure I “love” the ribbon, but I had it on hand and it will do until I find something I like better. These covers were also made from an old shower curtain. Eden doesn’t like a lot of pattern, but I was able to add a bit of interest with the varying sheens and textures of the cushion fabrics. I like the waffle fabric on the bolsters a lot. bolster

How much did all these new cushions cost? Not a dime. I was able to re-use/repurpose what I had on hand without being out-of-pocket at all. It is still looking a little sparse and we’ll definitely have to kick it up a notch, but its a good starting point. Now I can look for fabrics or pre-made covers that will coordinate well with what she already has. I’d really like to bring more colour and pattern in, but Eden and I don’t always see eye to eye and ultimately ….it is her space!

Teen Room Project #6: Cityscape Mural

This mural was relatively simple, I didn’t do any pencil drawings at all, but rather went along the wall placing blue painter’s tape at random heights to get a varied height for the buildings I would later create. I basically just “guesstimated” the width of the finished buildings. We then stood back and adjusted the pieces of tape to make sure it didn’t look like “stairs” or too planned. Once we were happy with the random look of the building heights, we used a level to ensure that all of our vertical and horizontal lines were perfectly straight. I used the edge of the level as a guide to place my tape strips. Once the general shape of the buildings was complete (plain rectangles), I went back and began to add a bit more variability with roof styles, inconsistent widths and the odd white window. Eden really wanted to keep the look mostly “silhouette like”, so the addition of the windows was sparse. This suited me fine because I really wasn’t sure how the tape would peel up from under the 3 coats of paint. In the end, it peeled off really easily and I was left feeling like a few more windows would have been easy to do and perhaps have added to the finished look of the cityscape.

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6 Steps to Bleed Resistant Taping:

The key to any taping is always the dry brush sealing of the edge. Never skip this step or you will get bleeding and it is the fasted way to take the “Wow!” out of your project. Always remember:

Tape
Seal with a relatively dry brush using the SAME colour of paint as your background. For example, I was painting a black cityscape against a white wall, so I used the exact same white as that used on the wall and sealed the edge of the tape so that no black paint could bleed through onto my white wall.
Let the paint dry completely and look it over to ensure you’ve seal the entire edge along your tape.
Paint with the desired colour.
Let dry completely.
Carefully remove the tape.

Teen Room Project #5: Roman Blinds

DIY Roman Blinds There are many on-line tutorials for making Roman Blinds. I’ve made them several times before so I just followed the same basic instructions I’ve always used. I don’t remember the original source, as I have 5 photocopied pages that are about 15 years old. The blinds are relatively easy to make, but time-consuming. You don’t need to be a great sewer to pull these off. I’m not going to give a full tutorial here, but this is basically what you need and how you do it.

Roman Blinds:

Materials Needed:

decor fabric cut to size of window opening + 2″ in width and about 3″ in length for seam allowances (if you want the same pattern/fabric facing outside, you will need to double that)
thread
drapery lining cut to size of opening (I’ve skipped the lining in the past and have been disappointed with the result – if the shade is only for decoration, it probably doesn’t matter as much)
drapery rings (little white plastic rings – number depends on the size of the finished blind – number of vertical rows X number of horizontal rows)
a mounting board 1″ X 2″ X width of opening
screw eyes (to go on mounting board)
shade cord (enough for each vertical row of rings plus the length along the top of the board, so that they all come out one side)
weight rod for bottom ~ You can use anything for this (dowelling, drapery rod, etc.) It just gives the blind stability and helps it to hang nicely.
staple gun
velcro (width of blind)
optional: light weight horizontal rods of some sort – dowelling, drapery rods, etc. (I ended up using the extra long wood skewers from the Dollar store. I’m hoping they’ll be durable enough as there really is no pressure on them, they are just meant to help the finished shade fall/fold more evenly. I’ve never done this before, so we’ll see.)
hooks for blind cord (cleats)

What to Do:

Prepare your mounting board by cutting it to size and painting it, if necessary. Staple gun the velcro strip along the top edge. Add screw eyes along the bottom, placing them above where each of your vertical rows will sit.
This is one of the old blinds, but you can see the mounting board with the velcro and screw eyes.
Cut the decor fabric making sure to allow for seam allowances. Measure and press folds for seams.
Decor fabric cut to size with extra fabric for seam allowances.

(You can decide if you want to mount the shade inside the window frame or have it sit outside the frame and extend over the edge of the window: measure according to how you want to mount them.) You will need to fold over a wider pocket (don’t sew the sides) at the bottom, so that you can slip in a weight rod.
Cut the lining to the size of the finished shade.
Lay the lining inside the folds of the seams and pin in place.
Lay lining inside and pin in place.
Measure out and mark the spots where the rings will need to go. (Vertical rows will sit 1″ from each of the outside edges and the number of additional vertical rows depends on your width – space them about 8″ to 12″ apart). The horizontal rows should start just above the rod pocket at the bottom of the shade (about 2″ – measure carefully as you don’t want uneven horizontal rows) and then spaced 5″ to 8″ apart from the bottom up. ( My blinds are 17″ wide so I have three vertical rows and my horizontal rows are 7″ apart.) Measure carefully and mark the exact spot for each ring with an X.
I hand stitched all of the rings on. This is easy, but time consuming….a great job to do while watching a movie.
Once the rings were secured, I slid the skewers in and laid them along each horizontal row. I then ran my machine along each side to create a pocket for them. (I didn’t care what the back of my blinds looked like because Eden’s room is on the second floor and faces the back lane, so I used black thread for the entire project. You’ll notice my sewing isn’t even that straight – I just wanted them done and didn’t really care because the black on black really doesn’t show up.)
I then sewed along the top, sides and bottoms to finish the seams and sew in the rods. (Remember to leave an open pocket for the weight rod at the bottom.)
Slide in the weight rod.
Slide weight rod in the open pocket along the bottom of the finished blind.
Sew a velcro strip to the top of the blind on the back.
Wow…that’s some bad sewing…so obvious against the white.
Mount your prepared board.
Carefully pre-cut your cord. You will need enough length to travel from the bottom ring (where you will tie it) up the vertical row to the top, through the screw eye on the mounting board and then across the mounting board and through each screw eye along the board until all have been pulled through the screw eye on the far right of the board and secured together in one knot that will not pull through.) This sounds complicated, but basically all of the cords travel vertically up their row and then across the top until each of them meet outside the screw eye on the far right where they are knotted.
This is another shot of the old blinds, but it shows how the cord is laced up the vertical rows and along the top. You can see how they are knotted together on the left (right when hung).
You will want to add cleats so the blind cords can be secured when the blinds are pulled up. I usually mount these about half way up the window frame on the right hand-side.

Disclaimer: If this sounds confusing, don’t follow my plan. I would suggest googling DIY Roman Blinds or Shades and finding a tutorial that suits your needs better. There are even some tutorials that show how to use old aluminum mini blinds as a “skeleton” for making your Roman Shades. Some show how to create them without sewing and others give excellent step by step visuals. I love the finished look of Roman Shades and as mentioned I believe anyone can do them, but you will need to find a tutorial that makes sense for you. Here is a video that seems very good although she makes hers a bit different from mine.

You know how I love to reuse/repurpose and these blinds are no exception. I hung onto some old Romans that I’d made years ago and was able to cut the mounting boards down to fit, reuse the velcro, drapery lining, cord and rings. I really only had to purchase my fabric and rods for this project, so the total was less than $20 for all three blinds. It made sense to reuse the materials from the old blinds and felt good to toss the meager remains once they’d been dismantled.

You might think that making your own blinds isn’t worth the trouble, but for me it is. It is truly an inexpensive way to get a custom look and fit. Living in a heritage home often means that the window sizes are anything but standard. It is difficult to find blinds of any sort that fit and whenever you go “custom” you are looking at mega bucks. With the DIY Romans, you are able to pick the perfect fabric and style for the space and make them custom to your window. I love the clean, contemporary look and the design on the fabric is a perfect fit for Eden’s new room. Roman Blinds

Teen Room Project #4: Floor Lamp Upcycle

Taped and ready to paint.

Original blue lamp.

Freshly painted black floor lamp. Ready for Eden’s new room.

The black lamp will look great in Eden’s new room.

A total decor change can mean lots of expense. To keep costs down, I try to be innovative and figure out ways to repurpose, reuse and upcycle items that we already own. Such was the case with this super simple upcycle project. We had bought this floor lamp for Eden in a bright blue to match her previous room decor. It seemed unfortunate that it would no longer work in her new space. The solution was simple…..a few coats of spray paint.

Floor Lamp Upcycle:

Tape off all of the areas that you do not want to be painted. For this project that meant the inside of the lamp shade, the flexible silver portion of the pole and the cord. I simply taped the end of the cord near the lamp pole and then bagged the remaining cord and taped it to the silver portion that I had already taped off.
Find a well ventilated area that is protected from spray off. (I used my hanging wardrobe paint tent in the basement.)
Spray 2 to 3 thin coats of paint to avoid runs. (Let it dry between coats.)

The original blue worked well in her “old” room, but didn’t fit with the new colour scheme. This was a super simple and inexpensive fix ~ especially since I already had the black spray paint on hand.

The Magic of Spray Paint:

Spray paint is one of the staples that I like to keep on hand. This lamp is simply an example of how you can take something you already have on hand (or an item that you pick-up from a garage sale or thrift store for a couple of bucks) and transform it into a piece that really works for you. My challenge for you is to look beyond the present condition or colour of an item and begin to look at the “bones”…..the size, the structure, the etching/carvings. Very often the ugliest pieces can be totally transformed with the simple shake of a can and press of a button. I have given so many items new life with a simple coat of spray paint!

Before and after picture frame.

Counter top samples spray painted with chalkboard paint make great tags.

Spray painted tin can turned pencil cup.

Avery labels can be spray painted with chalkboard paint.

Spice jar lids.

The frame of this screen was given a whole new look with a coat of paint and new fabric.

An antique heat grate was painted and converted into a mail slot in the kitchen.

An old wooden spoon rack is now a necklace holder.

Thrift store wooden bowl makes a beautiful fruit bowl with a fresh coat of paint.

Wooden alphabet blocks painted white.

Tacky gold garage sale candle holders were picked up for next to nothing and given a fresh new look with white paint.

If you wish to check out the full posts (with before and after shots) for any of the above projects, you can either browse the DIY and Upcyling section of my blog or do a search on my blog using specific key words.

Teen Room Project #3: Canopy

I think Eden has always had some form of a canopy in her room. For this room, she had her heart set on a simple tulle/white light canopy over her bed. Of course, she had no idea how we were going to pull this together, but a good idea of how she wanted it to look.

We were able to upcycle the former hoop style canopy she previously had and create our own version of the lighted canopy. Although this is mostly finished, it may need more tulle/bulk to get the desired look. We will also need to conceal the cord, but that will have to wait until her new mural is completed. She is happy with it, but I’m not quite sure this will be the finished look ~ once some of the other projects are complete we can assess if the current contraption looks substantial enough. To me it seems a bit small for the space.

Click on a picture to go to full screen and read the captions.

This is the old hoop canopy that used to sit above her bed.

We basically cut the hoop off and then I sewed to simple pockets for the rod to slide into.

Her old curtain rods slid together, so I basically pulled them apart and used half for each end of the canopy.

To suspend the rod I used screw hooks, several strands of fishing line and some plastic hook type things I found in our supplies. The rod rests on the black rod holder and the string slips through the holes. (I don’t know what these are called.)

Teen Room Project 2: Ombré Vanity

Eden’s antique dresser and vanity set were purchased through Kijiji several years ago. I don’t remember what they cost, but I think the set was under $75. They were painted plain white in her previous room and would’ve matched perfectly in the new room as well. However, both pieces looked a bit “tired” and in need of a fresh coat of paint. Eden decided to move the dresser into her walk-in closet and bring the shelf from her closet out into her room ~ a switch-a-roo you might say!

I decided not to paint the dresser (for now), but give the vanity a whole new look. I’ve seen many DIY ombré projects and love the look. I thought this would be perfect for the vanity because the white was very hard for her to keep clean and I felt that it needed some colour against the new plain white walls.

Not a great picture, but this the vanity which was previously re-done and painted white.

The bench had to be updated as well.

I bought a gallon of Benjamin Moore grey paint. It was good quality paint and a really nice light grey. The best part was that it was a mistint and so I picked it up for $15! Can’t beat that! * Always check the mistints ~ you never know what you’ll find and there is such great savings when you find a colour that will work. To create the ombre look, I simply added black paint (that I had on hand) to the grey in varying degrees. You just want to be sure you are making enough to do multiple coats, as needed.

I love the finished look! We picked up a placemat from the dollar store to help preserve the top.

Of course, the stool had to be painted and reupholstered as well. I was so thankful that I had saved this leather seat cushion cover from an old sofa. It was still in good condition and I figured the leather would come in handy some day. (I’m a bit partial to prints, but Eden is not a big fan, so the leather suits her fine and will clean well if she gets make-up on it.) I did get her to agree to a printed fabric for the Roman blinds I will be making for her room ~ can’t wait to add some pattern!

Teen Room Project 1: Shelf

This cheap shelf was purchased at Zeller’s or Walmart years ago. I think it was $15 or $20. It was one of those white melomine units. I upcycled it for Eden’s nursery when I was pregnant. I had added legs to it and it gave the shelf more of a finished look. The legs were in bad shape, so I picked up a package of really nice “chrome” legs from Ikea clearance area for $5.

This is a shot of the back. It was against the wall and was not painted before.

Eden didn’t really like the legs I bought and insisted the shelf sit directly on the floor. Without the legs, it can either stand-up (as is) or lay down horizontally. Updated Shelf

I basically used the old design and taped off the black and white colours that I wanted to keep. I then covered the blue and green with red and grey. (We decided to add grey to the black, white and red colour scheme she’d picked.) I love the new updated look. The coat of grey paint inside really gives it new life!

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Cindy Roy

for home, about home, from home

Category Archives: DIY and Upcycling

Upcycling Project: Wooden Rummoli Board

Steps:

Like this:

Banquette Face-Lift

Like this:

Teen Room Project #8: City Scape Table Lamp