Sometimes I go shopping because I need something simple for the kitchen, like a pot holder or napkins, and I then I find myself getting frustrated because either everything is totally not what I’m looking for or just plain meh. Like these wooden spoons from IKEA. Borrring zzzzz. Cheap, but snoooozefest. I’ve seen cute wooden spoons in stores before, usually for like a million dollars, or at least more than I’ve been willing to spend on them. I knew I could totally DIY what I had in mind, so I did what any crafty betch would do…
I dug into my collection of Martha Stewart Crafts products and grabbed my gold leaf pen.
This is so basic, you guys. Just tape off the handle and start painting however you want!
I have this problem where I envision something that I want and either it doesn’t exist or the closest thing I can find costs, like, a million dollars and still isn’t exactly what I had my heart set on. I have another little problem where I see something generic in a store and immediately start planning how I could change it to fit my personal style and make it, well, less generic. This happens way more often than you’d think. I’m all “Blahblahblah we can paint it and then cut this off and then maybe screw these together…” My husband stares at me for awhile before voicing his concerns, which I usually just brush off, and reply with a casual “It’ll be fiiiiine.”
And that’s what happened this time. I wanted a cocktail ottoman to use as a table and footrest, in some great color, probably tufted, with a little gold to tie in with the rest of the room. Couldn’t find it. When I saw the surprisingly sturdy VITTSÖ nesting tables at IKEA I instantly knew how I was going to make it happen. I would just need to upholster…and paint…and drill a little. NO BIGGIE. No, seriously, it’s a lot easier than it sounds.
I’m saving the smaller one for later.
Finding the perfect fabric was actually the most annoying part. I went to 4 different fabric stores before I found the perfect green velvet at Deco Home for $80/yard. Totally worth it. It’s durable and lovely and perfect for a project like this. Exactly what I wanted.
ANYWAY, I’ll get down to it.
I put together the frame of the table and sprayed the entire thing with metallic gold spray paint. You can use whichever gold you like.
I sprayed all the hardware and those little glass cushion sticker things gold, too.
I picked up one yard of 2″ thick foam from the craft store and cut it to the size of the table. Using a sharp knife or blade makes it super simple. Just run the blade through a couple of times. You should maybe put cardboard or something down so you don’t slice up your floor.
The larger table in VITTSJÖ nesting tables set has a glass shelf on the top and a wood (MDF) shelf on the bottom, but since this is a hack, I switched them. Why? Because I needed to use the MDF for upholstering and tufting purposes. The glass shelf would be for holding books and cute decorative items while keeping a clean, floaty look.
After that I did some really annoying measuring and marked where I wanted my buttons to go. Ugh. Math is hard.
Then I used the multi-purpose drill bit on my Dremel to make the holes where I’d be pulling my tufting cord through.
I covered the foam and board in batting and my velvet. I pulled the fabric tight enough to round out all of the edges. The corners were tricky because of the metal nub where the top connects to the rest of the table. I just sliced the corner piece of fabric, pulled the fabric back around the piece of leg, and then stabled it securely into place. When I connected the pieces back together I just tucked any raw edges that were showing.
At this point you can leave it how it is or you can get fancy with tufting. I did a shallow tuft since this will be used as a table sometimes and I don’t want my serving trays to lay all wonky and wobbly on top. I also don’t want to be digging crumbs out of deep tufting craters after every shindig.
These regular button covers are fine but if you’re using a thick fabric you might need to put in a little extra effort.
Instead of securing the fabric with the back of the button like you normally would, you might need to sew the fabric closed on the back using a heavy duty thread. I use “outdoor coat” thread. It works perfectly.
Thread a large upholstery needle with the polyester cord.
Find your holes on the bottom side of the board and push your needle through as straight as possible. Pull one end of the cord through to the top.
Use the needle to go through the back of the button and pull the end of the cord through.
Then put the needle back through the hole to bring the cord end back through to the bottom side.
Pull the cord tight and secure with staples. Stapling in multiple directions makes sure it doesn’t slip over time.
We got these DALFRED bar stools from IKEA as sort of a temporary thing. At $40 a pop they were a pretty good option and close enough to what we were looking for at the time. Eventually I got bored with them and they didn’t go with the rest of our room. I didn’t feel like buying new ones though. I had Rust-Oleum gold spray paint left over from my dresser makeover so I whipped that out and decided to jazz them up a little.
Originally I just wanted to give a gold dipped look to the legs but ended up taking them apart to do the seat and inner ring. First, I taped off the amount I wanted to paint on the legs. I used a piece of plastic wrap to block the rest of the leg from getting overspray. You can use more tape if you want to be proper about it.
Quick Tips: 1) Spray in a well ventilated area. 2) If you get spray paint on your hands use veg oil then dish soap to get it off. 3) If you decide to paint your seat, and it’s going to get a lot of use, it’s probably a good idea to spray some sealer on it.
Anywayyyy this is how they turned out:
I did the hardware too. Ooo lala.
Before and after. It was really easy and took no time at all. The total project (for 2) runs under $100!
I feel like I’m never really done with my apartment. It’s forever evolving. When we moved in we mounted our television so we can have the dresser underneath free for lamps, frames, and all that good stuff. Something about it was bugging me though. I felt like the TV was just THERE. Just right there all alone in the middle of the wall taunting me. A big black electronic rectangle. So I went on a search for wall hangings to anchor it. I bought mirrors online but they were too small because the website totally lied. I searched and searched but couldn’t find the right pieces. Everything I found was either the wrong size or dumb or way too expensive. Honestly, a lot of it I felt like I could do myself. So I decided to. I knew I wanted something metallic and long to compete with the TV and add height to the wall. I went to the craft store to get inspired and found that canvas was on sale. So I bought some and headed home to my drawer of paints.
I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do so I hung the canvasses and tried to envision what I wanted. I came up with a simple modern gold design. I used my favorite champagne toned gold from Martha Stewart, because champagne is my favorite, obviously.
My “technique” was simple. I slapped some paint all over the top half of the canvas and then dragged the paint downward. I did about 4 coats to get the coverage and texture I wanted.
I like that the look changes depending on how the light hits them. Sometimes they’re a deeper, warmer gold and sometimes they’re a shimmery, light, silvery gold.
Here’s what they look like hung up next to the TV. Seriously, so much better. The wall looks less dumpy and more complete. The gold ties in with my bar cart and the hardware on the dresser. I like them. They’re staying.
Easy peasy! Now you never have to let your serving and cooking spoons be boring again. Yay!
, a large 
, and some 
left over from my 
Melodrama 