baby steps

i've been busy lately with another hobby of mine--jewelry making.  and i've been broke.  so i haven't been able to put much effort into my home.  i decided today, however, that i'm going to replace my cabinet hardware with bar pulls.  i forgot where i saw it first, but it looked decidedly stylish.  i'd custom-order stuff but it's too expensive...i'm just getting some pulls from the Home Depot.

so the top is the bar pull, and the bottom is the one i was going to choose...which now looks more like it belongs on an office filing cabinet...ugly!   my cabinets are ugly to begin with though.

i remember when i was younger.  my mom used to drag me and my brothers to the Home Depot.  we all hated it...it was so boring.  i'd play hide and seek with them, hiding behind the hanging Persian rugs, the doors, or in the shower displays.  we'd beg my mom to leave.

now i can't get enough of the place.  it started with browing one aisle--paint--and now i've probably bought things from almost every aisle in the place.  caulk, paint, hardware, tools, lumber, plumbing, decor, grout...i never thought i'd be so self-sufficient.  i never thought i'd have such confidence.  but that's what these DIY experiences have given me: confidence.  i believe now that i could do things myself.  and do them well.  the more i do, the more i want to attempt.  i love it.

i'm prepping my shower right now to caulk where the tile meets the painted wall. i've got the paintable caulk...but i just manicured my fingernails.  i'll have to go get some latex gloves tomorrow.  don't want to be dipping my shiny pink nails into isopropyl alcohol without protection.

i've got that little chrome cart in my bathroom right now.  i don't like it, but my bf does.  i think a small wooden bench right there that extends past the length of the toilet into the area beneath the towels would be really cute.  something you could toss your clothes on when you get into the shower, stack a couple of books on, hide toilet paper under.  it'd be very spa-like. 

i've also decided i'm going to create some sort of magnetic structure on the wall of my bathroom underneat the medicine cabinet.  i'm sick of digging through all my crap to find the little metal tools i use so often (nail clippers, tweezers, etc).  so i'm going to put magnets on the wall so i can display the little things.  i was going to get a long strip of magnet like the kind for hanging knives in a kitchen, but i think that'll look ugly.  instead, i'm going to use shiny, superstrong neodymium magnets and attaching them to the wall space in some cool pattern.  i couldn't figure out how to do this, and then it struck me.  i could attach the magnets with glue to something else, like a strip of wood, and then screw the wood into the wall.  this would protect the magnets from being scratched or broken, and it would make their magnetic force just a little bit less intense with a buffer between them and my steel tools.  i could paint the piece of wood pretty colours too.

what else?  i've been thinking of talking to the office people about whether or not i could modify the apartment in ways not condoned by the lease.  because i could make things so much nicer!  like, i'd love to replace the sink and bath hardware, and paint the cabinets.  i'm not sure if i should even ask though, because if they say no, i don't want them on my case.  i've read stories of people successfully doing this, but it was when they had a landlord, and my building it managed by a large company.

i saw this idea on Design on a Dime the other night.  I LOVE IT.  it never would have crossed my mind to spay paint an old chandelier such a funky colour.  i think it turned out great.  i might start shopping for some cheap, outdated light fixture so i can replace the ugly brass chandelier in my apartment.  then again...i've never replaced a light fixture before.  it's really ugly though, and it's less than six feet off the floor, so my bf knocks his head on it sometimes.

the messy looking shelf is part of my jewelry workstation.  i really like the area on the ceiling that sticks out.  if i could only think of something to do with it, i think it could be a nice decorative accent.

here's a project i started a while ago and haven't finished.

it's our cutting board.  i want to make a mosaic on it and place it above the range like a tile backsplash that doubles as a cutting board...but i can't think of how to tile it.  i've never done a mosaic before.  all i've glued onto it are those little decorative pebble so far.   i need to buy one of those plate hangers or something to attach it to the wall.  originally, i was going to use a sheet of Plexiglas for this backsplash, but i figured, why waste the space?  make the display useful too.

and what happens when you don't use wall anchors on your towelbar?

i dont like the towelbar anyway.  it's one of those ugly utilitarian ones.

check out the sexy new stainless flatware i got:

it's "Wave" by Towle.  really fun to use.

i think that's about all for now.

March 25, 2007

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Member since: 03/02/07
About: i'm back in the SF Bay Area, living with my parents who let me modify...

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