Interior Design Trend 2014

We've all done it. Bitterly regretted those Charity shop/boot sale finds that we didn't buy. A few months ago I spotted a sweet little chest of drawers at the boot sale that must have come from an old haberdashers shop. It had age, a wonderful patina that the best furniture fakers wouldn't be able to copy and it was so dinky, it would have been the perfect size for cotton reels. Lots of them.

I ummed. Where would it fit? I aahed. What would my husband say?
I walked away.

I went back again. Still there. Still not sure...
I left it again.

I walked by one more time. And a lady was buying it. Not just buying it but buying it with loud excitement and joy.

And that's when I knew I wanted it. I kicked myself all the way home. What's the point of getting up when it's dark and getting myself there first if my brain isn't switched on enough to make the right decision? Once home I looked on ebay and that broke my heart even more. I could've had it for £20 and they can sell for over £100 on ebay.

More recently, I found this.

A little Ikea moppe chest. Nothing special. But only a few quid.

But if you dye the wood walnut, turn the drawers around, wax it, add funky industrial card holder handles you might get something like this:

Oh, it's not a patch on the one I missed, but looking on the bright side, I can fit more in it!

So you see, an Ikea hack can go some way to exorcising the ghost of the one that got away.

Proper stylin'! Oh yeah.

Credit where credit is due. I didn't invent this. I saw it here first on The Painted Hive so thanks to Kristine for sharing. She has a lovely blog. She also has a free printable with her tutorial for vintage style cards to fit inside your card holders.
There's a whole subculture of Ikea hackers out there pimping Ikea furniture with some incredible results.

I used Rustins wood dye in Walnut (2 coats), Liberon beeswax, and handles from this guy on ebay asking him if he could swap the screws for shorter ones which he kindly did. (NB they are still too long and poke through the back of the drawers but I can live with that so long as they match!)

[It hasn't escaped me that it looks like something I would bring home with the intention of painting it!]

Linking with The Rosegarden in Malevik
and Funky Junk Interiors SNS
and Carters Cottage

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I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. It was just the three of us here, very quiet as no family are close by. My daughter had a huge amount of presents and her favourites were the fairies from Santa so I feel very pleased with myself. I don't mind Santa taking the credit!

The dining room couldn't stay pretty for long. The table got stripped of its cloths and pushed back to the wall on Boxing Day and I have been dragging things in from the shed to glue, paint and sand. The Christmas tunes have been replaced by Redd Kross and I have had a lovely time.

What with the dining room (my painting space) being piled high with the hall and living room furniture for weeks I haven't been able to do much apart from the crate which took up no space. I've really been dying to get stuck in...

the first thing I painted was this...

... a sort of window framey mirror I bought here back in August. Throughout the festive season I've been thinking it would look great painted up with a wreath or ice skates dangling down the front. Well, better late than never I've done it.

I used milk paint from Homestead House in Canada because I wanted a really chippy vintage feel as if it was a real old window frame. I sugar soaped the frame but didn't sand.