Saturday, July 17, 2010

The loft: bits and pieces

We are almost finished with the loft ... finally! It probably would have been done sooner if we didn't start working on the backyard at the same time but I lack the ability to just focus on one thing at a time. I just have to finish making a few throw pillows and then it will be all done. In the meantime I thought I'd show a few bits and pieces of the room.

When I posted about the loft previously I think I mentioned that were planning on making some bookcases to store our books, photo albums, etc. We started with some MDF and pine trim (and a helper dog) ...

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And after some trial and error we got to this point:

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I always check the 'oops' paint section at hardware stores and scored a gallon of grey paint for $4 - we thought it would be perfect for the bookcases. We already had primer and polyurethane from other projects.

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Not bad for 2 novices huh?!

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Total cost for 2 bookcases was $60. There's no way we could have bought them for that price - not even from Ikea!

See that globe on the bookcase? I got it at Goodwill for $9.99! Josh mentioned that he wanted one but every one we saw was a bit pricey so we gave up on that idea ... until one day I stopped by Goodwill on the way home from work and saw that lovely globe. Its a bit rickety, but hey, you cant beat the price!

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On the other end of the bookcases are 2 lions supporting our Pearl Jam vinyl collection. I bought a dresser off Craigslist a couple of months ago and the seller was throwing out the lions. I don't blame her because they were pretty hideous. I asked her if I could have them and she happily gave them to me - she probably thought I was a bit odd for wanting them.

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A few coats of white spray paint later and they are fabulous! They're probably not every one's cup of tea but I really love them.

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Not to mention they came in handy when we realized the records were too tall for the shelves (oops) and had to stand on top.

The last thing we needed to figure out was CD storage. Josh's CDs are all in binders but I still have mine in the cases so they needed a place to live. We found the CD racks at Ikea. I was completely lost about how to store them and I've never seen a CD wall rack that didn't scream "college dorm" but when we saw these dark gray, metal guys I didn't instantly hate them. Then I saw the price tag: $6.99 ... sold! Four came home with us. They fit perfectly in the little nook the half wall makes and I actually like the way they look on the wall.

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I still have to touch up where I got paint all over the baseboard but I absolutely cant stand painting baseboard above carpet so I'm going to put that off as long as possible.

I had this great idea that we should have a chalk board in the loft. Josh agreed so off we went to Home Depot for supplies. I thought the chalk board should be 4 feet wide by 6 feet tall. Josh laughed in my face. After I picked up a piece of plywood 2 feet wide by 4 feet high I realized he was right - I have no idea why I thought we needed such a monstrous chalkboard.

We started with these supplies:

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(2 ft x 4 ft piece of plywood, trim, chalkboard paint)

And now we have this lovely, non-ridiculously sized chalk board:

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(please excuse my terrible handwriting)

I found the quote on a blog somewhere and it describes us perfectly :-)

So that's what we have going on in the loft. Now I just have to get my lazy butt over to my sewing machine so I can finish the throw pillows!

4 comments:

Terry said...

Everything looks FAB!!!!!! The shelves are amazing and I love the Lions. What furniture are you putting in there? What art work is on the walls?
Now, help me with suggestions for paint color for my laundry room. I was thinking of a pale yellow-something very bright and cheery.
Can't wait to see the finished photos of the loft.

Terry said...

Oh, I forgot to mention how cute Zeke looks in the photos!!!!!!

Terry said...

Oohh....I also forgot....I love the blackboard quote. It truly is perfect for you and Josh.

Brandon and Becca said...

I am seriously impressed with your craftiness, and your thriftiness! I think we will be referencing your blog to get ideas when we finally get into our house and get to decorate.