22.1.13

Home Improvements


Over the past year, we have made a few home improvements that I haven't had the time to share on the blog. But, today as the bright sun was streaming into our bedroom, I was inspired to show you what my talented and handy hubby has been up to around our apartment.

Our bedroom was desperately in need of a little face-lift after we moved Edwin's crib out and into his own room (at 8 months!) and got rid of an ugly and not very functional dresser (good riddance!). Charles had the idea to find some old school lockers to replace the dresser and turn them into a mini closest with the help of some additional shelving and some hanger bars. We found a set of three lockers at a Salvation Army type store in Montreal and had them delivered the next day. They were in need of some love, so we chose a pretty shade of blue paint (which we were unsure of for a few days after they were painted—but have since come to love), and Charles got down to the business of cleaning, sanding, goo-gone-ing, hacksawing off a huge lock box attached to one end and finally painting them. The result is a charming closet solution that fits just perfectly in the space, and reminds you of your super awkward high school years. Yay!

The next project was to make a headboard for our bed. We wanted something simple and light, and something that was economical and easy to build. For this project Charles bought four pieces of 5/8" x 6" cedar planking, cut them to size, sanded them down to a super soft finish and mounted them to two legs hidden behind the boards on either side of the mattress using screws from behind. We didn't want to affix the headboard to the wall so it's easy to move and there's not the pain of dealing with anchors, unknown behind the wall materials, etc... The total project cost for the headboard was about $60.


Still to do in the bedroom is deciding on a window treatment for our one street-level window. I love the light that comes in, but privacy is a bit of an issue. I like the starkness of forgoing long curtains, but miss the darkness that they provide at night, there's a street light aimed directly at my side of the bed. Any suggestions for modern and clean window coverings?

xo Bess

P.S. You may be wondering what my role in these projects was—directing, and taking care of Edwin of course ;)

5 comments:

  1. I love your simpple yet elegant solutions. How about some sort of indoor shutter solution for the window! They could open flat to the wall so you would have the sun, but would block the light at night. You could even do them in two sections so you would have the option of closing the lower shutters for privacy.

    It's been great to watch Edwin growing. I always remember what my mother said when I had my son, "Enjoy him as much as you can, because you'll turn around and there will be an adult."

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  2. It looks amazing!! Great job you two :) Love the paint colour, too! xo

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  3. What a lovely room! Love the shade you picked for the lockers!


    Most modern window coverings tend to let the light filter in...you could go with basic-basic-basic white roller blinds...the kind at HomeDepot or Rona...you know?...Utilitarian

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  4. We had a similar issue and I bought top down bottom up roman shades. They operate both as regular roman shades, but you can also put the whole shade down at the windowsill, and lift the top of the shade to cover a portion of the bottom of the window, blocking the view of people but letting in light at the top. The shades come with two sets of strings and mount like regular shades. It was a really great option, I was very happy with mine.
    I got ours at The Shade Store in the states. They do ship to Canada for a bit extra, but perhaps someone up there has something similar?

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