Pepper Design Blog

The Painted Patterned Door Project

Before: your average ho-hum plain wooden door. After: a modern, spruced-up entryway with a subtle touch of glam.

Inspired by this amazing wardrobe makeover, Leah Moss of Apartment Therapy created her own diy trellis door with a bit of painters tape and a quart of paint.

She used 3/4 inch painters tape to create the overlapping trellis pattern (which is a series of squares stacked on their corners) and then painted the door in Benjamin Moore’s Barely Teal mixed with their self-priming Aura line.

If you’re interested in contrasting colors, try painting the entire door prior to taping with another color/priming blend.

Cool idea, right? Here are three more, starting with two closet makeovers and one front door that’s sure to grab a bit of attention. All images from Apartment Therapy.

I especially love the idea of taking lackluster sliding closet doors and giving them a quick update. Painting isn’t the only option, what about wallpapering or covering in corkboard squares?

DIY Tutorial: Turning a Coffee Table into an Ottoman

The living room redecorating project is slowly coming along… and this week I had the chance to finish one of my big diy refashions. Using one of my favorite fabrics I turned a vintage coffee table into a tufted ottoman.

Here’s a quick recap of the inspiration board for the room (to see the before photos and painting project, check out this post):

I love the soft colors and the cozy-yet-modern feel each of these rooms exude (for image credits, check out this link). To bring that same warmth and coziness to our new living room, I wanted to introduce strong textiles to play up favorite colors and add pattern to the space. A big, soft ottoman fit the bill.

And so the search began… my mission was to find a coffee table that would allow for the finished ottoman to meet the following requirements (images from DecorPad):

*Storage space for coffee table books, photo albums and the like
*Tufting along the top of the cushion
*Unique/vintage-y legs
*And most importantly, the length had to be shorter than the max width of my fabric (most fabric bolts are somewhere around 54″ and it sure was tough to meet this criteria)

I searched and searched and searched… and found the perfect coffee table in the most unlikely of places! While at a friend’s house, I happened to notice an in-the-process-of-refinishing table sitting out on the patio. Would they mind if I took a stab at making it over? When they said yes I was beyond thrilled.

It’s a beautiful vintage table that’s made of solid wood and is incredibly sturdy – the craftsmanship definitely dates it back a few decades.

Here are my step-by-step directions just in case you decide to tackle something similar in the future. I used this very helpful guide from Little Green Notebook as my start but modified and built on to it as I went.

*********************************************************************************************

{Coffee Table to Ottoman Refashion}

a
Materials:
*Older coffee table
*Sanding paper and power sander
*Drill
*Staple gun
*Brown paint (I like a foam brush for the crevices)
*Sealant (bristle, everyday painting brush for a clean finish)
*2″ foam/cushion material
*Quilt batting
*Strong thread and needle
*Upholstery fabric (my table required a 36×54″ cutting – or just one yard of fabric)
*Lining (optional): additional fabric, spray glue

{Step 1} My ‘before’ piece had plenty of varnish and sealant on it and needed a thorough sanding to rough up the surface enough to hold paint. I used a power sander for the majority of this step but broke out the individual sanding sheets to really get around the details. I don’t have a picture of how sanded the table was before moving on, but really spend time here and you won’t regret it.

{Step 2} I chose to use a dark brown paint on the base of the table (remember that the top will get fabric and so no need to paint here) instead of staining the piece again – but that’s always an option. I applied two coats of paint and one layer of sealant, letting each layer dry completely between applications. I tested each of these products (they were leftovers from the garage, actually) before beginning to be sure that the look was what I was aiming for.

I hate to chop up this post… but it’s so darn big! In an effort to keep the home page loading quickly and from really dragging on… follow the jump to find detailed directions for adding cushion, batting, tufted buttons, fabric and upholstering it all together with nothing more than a staple gun.

I do hope you come check it out! Read more »

Updating an Older Bathroom: The End Result!

If you had a chance to check in yesterday, you got a sneak peek at all of the projects going on here to modernize an old Spanish bath that hasn’t seen many updates for quite a bit of time (I’m guessing that the previous owners did a bit of updating in the realm of handicap bars, mirrors and lowering the built in vanity in the 80s, but other than that the architecture, original basketweave flooring and old fixtures are pure 1930s).

Here’s a reminder of what the bathroom looked like just before we moved in:

I love the older features of the room and we’ve done our best to maintain the integrity of the original architecture throughout the house. The arch over the tub is one of my favorites.

Our updates included bringing down that giant old mirror and replacing with two smaller vanity-style versions, patching and painting the lathe & plaster walls, updating the window shade, making our own fabric shower curtain and adding a few new accessories.

And here’s the recently updated space:

The photo’s at a bit of an odd angle as the counter tops really don’t jut out to the right. What do you think?

The shower curtain is my favorite part of the project! Just a bit of a modern pattern will update any space. We used an inexpensive Ikea white rod and while I bought a liner to keep the fabric from getting wet, this bathtub shower space doesn’t serve as the primary shower (there’s a built in shower nook hiding behind that door handle in the above pictures) so I’m not worried about it getting too wet.

If you do have plans to make your own curtain, Ikea sells a simple clear liner for around $2 that could easily be sewn to the back of your fabric (as the reverse side) or hung on in the inside of the shower.

A few new accessories… including:

*garage sale candles (nothing says ‘relaxing’ like a bubble bath and plenty of twinkling lights)
*apothecary jars from Michaels (40% off coupons can go a long way… did you know you can print them any time online, including their ’20% off an entire purchase’ coupons?)
*baskets from the Container Store
*a neat plate on sale from Pier 1 (picked it up ages ago)
*vases from West Elm’s 20%-off-all-vases sale
*shells from ebay (used for a wedding shower from a couple of years ago when I bought them by the dozen – beautiful!)
*my favorite soap container from Home Goods
*bamboo shade from Lowes
*espresso picture framed (Aaron Brothers) mirrors (Lowes)
*shower curtain and rod from Ikea

The entire Before & After project (since I shopped my house and kept purchases to a minimum) came in at just under $100.

We’re hoping to overhaul this bathroom in the fall, so hardware, light fixtures, coil heater (does anyone else have one of those?) and annoying handicap bars had to stay. But I’m enjoying all of the updates!