Living room built-ins on a budget

I've had a design project rattling around in my brain for quite some time now. I'm slowly (very slowly) putting my living room/sitting room/room without a TV together and would really love to include the timeless elegance of built-ins into the décor. At the same time, I don't want to pay the high price for said timeless elegance, which is where my project comes in.


After spending a lot of time on sites like Ikeahacker.com and Ikeafans.com I've come to look at certain bits of Ikea furniture as raw materials, most notably, The Billy Bookcase. The basic Billy start out at a pretty low price and come in a few different colors and finishes, which makes them super versatile and budget-friendly at the same time. This would likely explain why the Billy bookcase turned into Built-ins project seems to be so popular. It also allows for some great personalization with some paint or wallpaper. I've even seen the standard matching shelves swapped out for glass shelves.


With my planned project, I'm thinking about adding some bead board wallpaper and molding to a few standard size Billys, along with some short doors to enclose the bottom shelves. Somewhere down the road, I'd also like to add some jadeite door pulls, to add a bit of antique chic. I have a few other ideas planned, but haven't come to a final conclusion. 



Here are a few Billy bookcase projects that I find inspiring:

 
This is a proper built-in, found at MagChunk http://www.magchunk.com/2009/11/12/more-built-in-bookcases/
 I'm loving the look of the entire room, really.

I can't remember where I found this picture. If anyone recognizes it, please let me know so that I can cite proper credit. I love that simplistic display choices.


 


And a great blog with lots of creative uses for bookcases, Billy included - http://www.simpleeffects.com/blog/?p=362




 

If you're considering a Billy built-ins project, Ikea has a great planner online.Give it a try!

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/rooms_ideas/planner_billy/index.html

 

LACKing Creativity: What to do with a $7.99 side table

Ikea has recently lowered the prices on a few of their items and this Lack table happens to be one of them. It now costs a whopping $7.99! Super cool.

While I don't exactly need a Lack table in its default form, I can't help trying to come up with something to do with it. You may blame Ikea Hacker for that thought.I've considered sticking adding an upholstered top for some quick and easy extra seating, adding some casters, some tile or trying my hand at decoupage.

Still, nothing has truly come together as a valid idea, so of course I turned to the interwebs for inspiration. Here are a couple of interesting finds:

Inspiration board makers revisited

After my initial post about an online inspiration board maker I'd found, I've decided to revisit the topic and expand. No longer in wedding planning mode, I now look at inspiration boards as a great way to plan a party theme, holiday decorating scheme or even to design a room Here are the different boards I've looked at, both online and offline:


Online Inspiration board makers


Polyvore

Great for putting outfits together, but that's primarily it. No home décor or party planning option available. You click and drag articles of clothing/accessories from a pre-populated library to create a fairly freeform board.

Dollarstore diva:Get great serveware pieces on the cheap

The days are ticking away! The pink party is nearly here, so before I reveal any major details I want to take a moment to share some of my fantastic, affordable party gear finds. I'm going with chic yet cheap for my upcoming mocktail party, which means some creativity with the serveware and food is definitely required.

First down the runway in this frugal home entertaining fashion show is this lovely number:

Will I be trying my hand at Asian cuisine? Wonton soup anyone? No, not at all. What I will be doing however, is serving mouthfuls of one of my appies meticulously mounded in the bowl of these darling wonton spoon, which will be nestled in a bowl o crushed ice. Presentation perfection! And the cost? A mere $.59 a piece. Forget any store that specializes in home decor, and departments stores or the like. You can find cheap wonton spoons in Toronto or probably any ethnically diverse city at an Asian grocery store for pennies.

Best Interior Paint EVER!

Like many a Domestinista, I absolutely LOVE decorating and redecorating, (and re redecorating) the rooms in my house. There's nothing like coming up with a brand new color palette, plotting the room organization and filling the space with fabulous bits of furni, tschotskes and other delightful bits.

However, and again like many diva-licious Domestinistas, I'm not so into the toil certain aspects of a redesign can require. Applying interior paint would of course be at the top of my list. I am so not a fan. But what pulls a new room design together more than splashing the walls with a new hue. So hottie hubby and I took ourselves down to the local HoPo , following some lengthy paint chip recon on my part –which he for some reason wanted no part of (who doesn't love staring at rack after rack of similarly colored paint chips?) and selected our interior paint.

Prior to painting, the interior paint in our living room and dining room was a hideous baby poop brown color that the previous homeowners probably got on special, as its hideousness had infected several other rooms as well.

We'd learned from a previous painting adventure that primer was a must have , particularly since I wanted my new interior paint to be a creamy blue green that was much lighter in color. I had also learned from the great kitchen paint of '09 that priming adds another layer of work and I hate it. It messes with my need for instance gratification.

Enter the most fabtastic interior paint ever! CIL Smart is interior paint and primer in one and I LOVE it! It's fantastic, and the only paint I'll ever use from now on. It's thicker than regular paint and apparently very scrubbable; although I can't comment on that aspect just yet.

CIL Smart interior paint helped us take our rooms from that horrible dark brown to a wonderful, creamy pale color in only two coats!

At the cash register, CIL Smart costs about $10 more than CIL's basic interior paint; however, in the end, I think it actually costs less overall. With primer build into the CIL Smart interior paint, you save money on a can or two of primer. You also don't have to buy a second paint tray or tray liner. You don't have to use a second brush/roller or waste water on cleaning a brush/roller before reusing it for your paint. You spend less time painting, which equals less time with the lights on in that room, which equals lower utility cost (ok, I may be reaching there). Lol.

The biggest savings is in effort and time spent painting, which I happen to think is the most important.

So, if you're planning to purchase some interior paint sometime in the near future, maybe give CIL Smart a try. It's very worth it!

http://www.cil.ca/products/brands/cil-smart3.html

Mel Bartholomew - Introducing Square Foot Gardening

So many industrious Domestinistas relish the idea of growing their own vegetables, but simply cannot abide the thought of weekends spent kneeling in dirt under the hot hot sun ...not to mention what that might do to a fresh mani.

That's where Square Foot Gardening comes in. SFG is a a gardening system developed by Mel Bartholomew. Gardens are built in raised 4x4 foot boxes and greatly reduce the time and effort required in traditional row gardening. Have a peek at the video and prepare to be inspired!