When a project goes from good to "yeah!"

I let my Fira unit sit for a few days following last weekend's completion and kept having a feeling that I wasn't quite done with it. This is where I had left off:

I was happy with the overall look of the découpage that I had done, but I kept wanting something additional to be done to the top of the unit. The trouble was that I didn't want to actually do anything about it for a few days.

I left it on my work table, just in case...

Then came Wednesday, when work began in the basement of my home. I couldn't really go anywhere during the couple of days that the plumbers were here. Finally, on Thursday, inspiration returned. I think the overall look is more balanced now that I've added details to the top of the unit, and I like it even more!

The 2-hour...euh, no... 2-year project.

Just over two years ago, I came across this Ikea Fira unit at Value Village and though I wasn't sure exactly how I would use it in my craft room, I bought it and planned to modify it. It was one of my spring break projects.

I painted it with a $1.00 mistinted paint from Home Depot.

I découpaged the drawer fronts (one of the first projects I ever did with Mod Podge).

I découpaged the top of the unit.

And then I put the unit to work.

It was so much fun, that I was ecstatic to find another unit, two weeks later, on Kijiji.

I painted it.

And it sat on my shelf for two years, containing glue, fancy scissors, etc. Looking rather forlorn.

Until now.

I FINALLY added some interest to the drawers. I did 5 coats of Mod Podge in a matte finish.

Two years later, here it is!

It's unfortunate that the Fira is no longer sold at Ikea. It became the Moppe, and then got dropped from Canadian Ikea stores. I'm happy with the two that I have, especially now that they are colourful additions to my office/craft space.

Room to Create: Part 1

My office/craft room always seems to need help. When I first moved into my house, this room had dark red walls. A couple of years later, I picked a bright green (Seedling by Benjamin Moore). I still enjoy the colour because it's fresh and energizing for me.  

Fast-forward a couple of years, and I undertook a bookshelf-painting adventure when I decided that all of my bookshelves (two previously owned and two thrift-store acquisitions) needed to be painted the same colour. Grey (Fashion Gray by Behr) was the colour that won the contest against white. The bookshelves have fared well over the last four years.

(These photos are from two years ago). 

This summer, one of my objectives was to increase the organization in this room. I moved the futon up from the basement to accommodate the renter who moved in last summer, so this became a guest room/craft room/office. It was alright, but the office chair was restricted and I started to become convinced that I needed a different layout.

Once the basement renovations are complete (hopefully next month???) I would be able to move the futon back downstairs, but I kind of like having a soft surface in this room, other than the carpet. :)

Oh yeah, the basement is being renovated thanks to the lovely sewage backup that happened a few months ago. Talk about a learning experience on several levels...

Last week, I got some ideas from a conversation with my friend Heidi about additional storage above the tallest of the bookshelves. I was looking at Ikea's Billy height extension, but I didn't like the price at $35 because I would have wanted two of them. The bookshelf in my craft room isn't a Billy, but the dimensions would have worked, along with some hardware to stabilize the units.

Lowe's saved the day! I got 2 Closetmaid stackable organizers for $38 plus tax. I finally put them together on Sunday and things went from this:

to this:

I was going to paint the stackable organizers grey, to match the bookshelves, but I ran out of steam. I like the extra storage space enough not to worry about the colour for the moment. I'll describe what I changed with the three other bookshelves in a while. I'm on the hunt for more fabric today!