Dulux Metalclad Paint Review

When I started to modify my sister's old shelves into night tables, I knew I wanted to paint it with white lacquer paint (something I've never used before).

I stepped into Dulux Paint for the first time to see what they had and after discussing my plans with the saleswoman she recommended this paint:

I got a quart for $25. This isn't lacquer paint (their lacquer paint only came in a gallon and it was $68!) but she recommended it because of it's high gloss finish. 

And did it deliver?

Check!

 

However I did have a few problems with this paint.

Posting Images Of Your Kids- Yay or Nay?

This is an issue I've been thinking a lot about lately.

I had pictures of my nephew with the back to school frame that I made for him but at the last minute I deleted them from the post.

The first time I posted a picture of my nephews, I blocked their faces because my sister and BIL didn't want their faces on the internet.

Life Designed

A couple weeks ago I asked my other sister and BIL if I could post a picture of their daughter on the bench I had repainted. They were fine with it, so I did. However I just recently took the picture down.

DIY: Make The First Day Of School Memorable!

My eldest nephew is starting kindergarten and I can't help but feel bittersweet about it.

Life Designed

It's a huge milestone if you think about it. His life will never be the same. Gone are carefree days. From now on, school will be a major part of his life. Yes, I'm being a bit dramatic. It's just kindergarten afterall. I suppose I'm projecting my own icky feelings about school onto him. Haha. He's actually very excited!
I asked him if we should have a back to school (or in his case, first day of school) party and strangely he said no. Still, I wanted to do something for him so I made this first day of school frame to capture this time in his life.

Pinterest...At Last

I know I'm wayyyyy behind but I've finally created a Life Designed Pinterest account!

Thanks to my Apartment Therapy feature, my DIY Industrial Bart Cart is all over Pinterest! However, I received a comment from a reader (Hi Amy!) that she had to follow a trail of bread crumbs to finally find my blog.

She suggested I add a "Pin It" button to my photos. I'm definitely going to look into that.

Since my computer died a few weeks ago, I don't have access to Photoshop. And I can't afford to buy a new computer right now so as soon as I get my school laptop, which comes with PS, I'll start watermarking my photos. This is a really good idea and I think all DIY bloggers should do this! Why didn't I do this earlier??!

My Pinterest account features my DIY projects but I also have several boards- all design/decor/DIY related.

When my hard drive died, I lost a lot of inspirational images that I had been collecting so Pinterest is a really great way to organize and keep images without fear of losing them- unless the internet crashes and dies one day. To be honest, I'm a little scared at how dependent we've become on technology!

Anyways, here's a sampling of my boards if you're interested!

DIY Inspiration:

Life Designed Pinterest

Click (beautiful photographs):

Life Designed Pinterest

Spaces:

Life Designed Pinterest

Design (similar to Spaces but not just interior design- industrial design, graphic design- anything and everything design related):

Life Designed Pinterest

Furniture/Lighting/Accessories:

Life Designed Pinterest

Places (gorgeous images of places I would love to visit- if only in my dreams):

Life Designed Pinterest

Architecture:

Life Designed Pinterest

Do you have a Pinterest account? If so, leave a link in the comments so I can follow you!

Give An Old Shelf New Life!

Now that my sister and brother in law are moving their bedroom upstairs, they need smaller bedside tables or wall shelves that act as bedside tables.

Something like this wall mounted shelf would be great! 

CB2

But not $179 great...

Bar Cart: Up Close + Personal

I've been getting a lot of love in regards to the industrial bar cart I designed + made for my friend. (Thanks all!)


Life Designed DIY Industrial Bar Cart

When I brought it over to my friend's house, my cousin who happens to be married to her sister, took a series of detailed pictures of the cart using his SLR. Gotta love SLRs...

X Marks The Spot: DIY Patterned Bench

A little while ago I saw this sad little bench sitting on my sister's deck. 


Life Designed

Apparently my BIL inherited it from the previous home owner. He didn't want to throw it away but didn't know what to do with it so it just lived in a corner on the deck. 

DIY Industrial TV Console

When it came time to shop for a TV console for my friend's new home, there were so many beautiful options- from mid century credenzas to sleek and modern tv units. However the prices were not in our favour...
So of course we decided to make one!
Since we are not furniture makers, we went with a simple design that matched the bar cart I made for her.
Initially I wanted to used stacked plywood for the shelves but at 6 feet long and with the weight of their massive TV, we didn't want to risk sagging or bowing that would probably occur over time.
Stacked plywood? Probably doesn't sound appealing right? But it is!

Flicker

I love the look of this. The layers provide a beautiful detail.

$16 Burlap Sack Art

Life Designed

A couple weeks ago I introduced my friend to good old Lee Valley.  This store is my second favourite place to shop/peruse (Home Depot being #1 of course!).

HD is great for your typical materials but when I need something special, I can usually find it at Lee Valley- such as brass ring pulls for one of my Ikea Rast hacks and glass shelf supports for my thrift store trolley/bar cart restoration. It doesn't hurt that their prices are really affordable. 

Thrift Store Gold Trolley/Bar Cart

Look at this $10 gem I found at the thrift shop last week. I absolutely love it's retro vibe!

Life Designed

I was happy to find it in decent condition- it just needed a little bit of TLC.

My First (+ Only Time) Stripping

Last summer I helped my brother-in-law refinish his deck.

Man. I had no idea how physically demanding it would be! My body ached for days after.

Their deck is two levels and a fairly good size- maybe just under 300 square feet.

Life Designed

And it was in pretty bad shape.

$5 Side Table Makeover

Last week I was in Coquitlam getting my favourite cream cheese icing cupcakes from a bakery when I noticed a thrift shop a couple stores down. You know me, I couldn't resist!

As I approached the store, I saw this pretty little table sitting out front:

Life Designed

The price tag said $15 so I went inside and asked if she would take $10 for it. No go. 

$15 is not a bad price but before I could think about it any further, my friend got an urgent phone call and we had to rush off. I made a split second decision to leave it. A few days later, I found myself still thinking about it. 


Isn't that a shopping rule? If you walk away and find yourself still thinking about it, that means you should go and get it? I know I read that somewhere!
But I think you're supposed to wait weeks or even months. In my case a few days was long enough!

So a week later, I was in the neighbourhood and decided to go back and see if it was still there.  If so, then surely it was meant to be! 

Sure enough there it was! And even better?

Quick Tin Cup Makeover

I was at a thrift store the other day picking up some more terrarium jars (big surprise!) when I came across this lil' guy:

Life Designed

No it's not sterling silver. Darn. But I've been looking for a cute flower vase like this for a while, so for now- silver or not, this is perfect.

Faking It: DIY Mid Century Dresser

A couple days ago, I posted this grey and white dresser makeover:

Life Designed

In that post, I promised I would have #1 hardware solution and #2 another dresser reveal. So here we go! 

Lightning McQueen Makeover

I shared earlier this week that my sister lives in an old home that's in "rough shape". If you didn't believe me, well take a look at this:

Life Designed

This is the basement AKA bedroom where all 5 of them slept in up until a few nights ago. 

And yes those are OSB walls and unpainted GWB. Like I had said, they thought their stay here would be temporary.