Old Lamp / New Look

A couple of weeks ago on Instagram I shared a clip of a recent lamp makeover. It is one of three styles I’ve done in the past few months.

Here are three secondhand lamps, all changed slightly. Sometimes it can be switching a lamp harp (about $5 at a hardware store) a lamp shade or for others paint was used as well.

Homemade Chalk Paint + Baking Soda

This lamp was the perfect size and shape but I didn’t like the flower on it. I added a couple of coats of homemade chalk paint, mixed with a bit baking soda to add texture. I don’t love the baking soda ( I know this has been popular online for awhile) but I found it rubs off easily. Maybe I used too much and should have put a top coat on.

This is the room where the lamp is going. Below is how the table originally looked, first brown and in an earlier coat of blue paint.

Wicker Lamps

These lamps were in excellent shape and all I did was switched to matching drum shades and did a white wash

Oversized Ceramic Lamps

This oversized ceramic lamp is my favourite. I loved the size, texture and colour of the base but not the way the shades sat up so high and the set wasn’t matching in height.

I wanted to keep the cost low and easily find the shades so I used ones from Home Depot and then changed the harp so the shade would sit lower.

These are in our bedroom on oversized nightstands.

My favourite projects are the ones that use creativity to reimagine something that already exists.

Studio

In an effort to reuse as much as possible I am now offering pillow covers made of boiled wool and soon linen.

The way that a coat of paint can change a room, so can switching pillow covers. These are made to work with existing cushion covers already in the home.

I have standard sizes available and can do custom as well. These materials pictures are all 100% linen and are available. More to come soon.

Advertisement

Spring Florals

I started Shibang Designs as a way to create functional pieces of art, in the form of purses and accessories, each embellished with my signature wool felt applique style. After working small scale for several years, I am now shifting my focus on my textile technique by creating large scale pieces. These large textile art pieces and cushion covers are part of the new line that I will be showing next week at the Toronto One of a Kind Spring Show.

These are some process photos and pieces that I have been working on lately.

For anyone in the Toronto area who is planning to come to the show I have a few tickets that I’m giving away from my Facebook page this weekend.

Staining a Sofa Table with Steel Wool & Vinegar

During the winter months it can be hard to work on furniture projects that require chemicals and make big messes if you don’t have a heated workspace. I was determined to make a new sofa table and decided to build it right in the living room.

I’ve had my eye on this plan by Rogue Engineer and I adjusted the dimensions to fit our couch by making the table lower and narrower. Getting the wood cut at the hardware store and using the Kreg Jig (which makes pocket holes for easy and secure joints) made it come together quickly. I am a total beginner but thanks to the great plans available by talented people it is so easy.

After building the table this is what it looked like unfinished. I decided not to add the x braces in the original plan because I liked the simplicity of it like this.

Since it’s too cold to do a wood stain in the garage and I didn’t want to leave it unfinished until spring I did a steel wool and vinegar stain. It’s not an exact science and from my experience there is not a lot of control in the colour. Each board takes the treatment differently and I’ve even had some cedar turn black. To make the mixture just put steel wool and vinegar in a lidded container and wait a couple of days. Then brush it on the wood.

The photo above shows the contrast of the wood that has the vinegar and steel wool and the bottom part doesn’t. 

I learned the hard way that if you miss spots and try to go back after and fill them in it doesn’t work too well.

These pine boards took the vinegar pretty well but the board used for the legs was different than the rest of the table so I did a dry brush whitewash with leftover house paint. I went pretty conservative with the white dry brush because I plan to do a proper treatment in the spring with some stain over it. If you’re hesitant to use wood stains or don’t have the proper space to work then the vinegar can work if you plan to do washes of paint over top.

Doing a dry brush treatment or doing a light wash of paint over top of the wood is the way to control the finished look and conceal flaws.

This is a detail of the finished product and it’s already being put to use as a prop for photographing my spring pillow collection.

New Neutrals

As I find myself drawn to neutral home decor I have begun introducing cushions in that style. Here are a few that will be coming up on my new website at the end of the month. These have metallic branches in bronze, gold and nickel for some subtle shimmer too.

Of course colour also has a place in neutral decor and I’ll still be using colour in my new pieces.

More process and photos that don’t make it to the blog can be found on my Instagram account @shibangdesigns.

Wool Pillows

Lately all of my posts have been focused on furniture and painting so getting back to working with textiles feels good. This pillow is made with white wool fabric with my hand dyed wool applique on top.

While I love neutral decor just adding a bit of colour can change the feel of the room and that’s where textiles are perfect for accessorizing.

 

 

IDS West

After almost a month in Europe on a honeymoon I’m back in the studio and getting ready for IDSwest coming up this weekend. I’ll be in the Studio North area showcasing wall art and pillows. Here’s a look in the studio at what I’ve been doing before it all comes together in a couple days.