BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: I like having at least one piece in
a living room with closed doors. To hide the mess! Re-purposing
vintage dressers as console tables can be beautiful. Another
budget friendly option is using flat pack cabinets to build furniture
and yes you can put together yourself. With a little creativity you
can create some pretty impressive and functional built-ins with
flat pack Kitchen and bathroom cabinetry. Kitchen uppers are 12”
deep and come standard at 36”, 42” tall, making the perfect height
for console tables. Incorporating a few decorative mouldings to
give them your own style. And there’s always places like Ikea that
specialize in flat pack and offer a selection of furniture options.
Re-space planning your rooms is
another budget friendly idea. If your room is large enough, move
your furniture away from the walls to make a more intimate
grouping, leaving circulation space around it. You could also try
creating several seating groupings within the same room rather
than just the one. Try a set of chairs by the fireplace or in front
of a window, separating them from the main seating area. Try
switching the uses of rooms around, Dining Rooms can be flipped
with Living rooms, or breakfast nooks and offices. You might not
want to be cooking in the bathroom but you can think outside the
box and see what you can try.
ROOM TO BREATHE:
IN WITH THE OLD: Now for those dated pieces in the attic
or basement; a fun way to re-invent old furniture is to refinish it
and it’s not as hard as you think. Chalk paint, not to be confused
with chalk board paint, is a matte paint that creates a velvety hand
painted look with very little to no prep—No sanding and stripping
required! Old dated pieces can take on a whole new life with a
fresh coat of paint and new hardware. Your boring old oak table
and chairs can instantly take on a beachy driftwood wash, or hit
it with white for a vintage shabby chic look. And don’t stop there,
change the fabric on your Dining chair seats for a whole new look!
JENNY RECOMMENDS
• Looking for a local
place for flat pack
cabinets or want to
keep your kitchen
but replace just the
doors? DIY Cabinet
Renew will order
doors in the exact
sizes you need.
• Add some detail to
your furniture projects
with crowns and
mouldings from The
Finishing Store, they
come in both wood
and primed options
so you can stain of
paint them.
• A few great places
• Refresh old tables
to find unique dining
with vintage chalk
chair fabric include
paint to give them
Chintz and Co.,
a new lease on
Design District and
life. A French Touch
local design firms like
(On Oak Bay Ave.)
Ivan Meade who just
carries Annie Sloan
launched his own
Chalk Paint.
fabric collection.
• If you are
searching for
hardware eye
candy, get to
Victoria Specialty
Hardware (now
located on
Boleskine).
• Victoria Lamp
Shade shop is
the perfect place
to order custom
shades to refresh
your lamps.
AH
MORE DESIGN IDEAS
online right now at www.athomevictoria.com
atHOME Victoria