Another studio project...

Ok, so I totally ripped this idea off Heather's blog, but who hasn't? I've already come across a few other blogs with similar postings. She is just such a cool and inspirational chick that you just want to absorb her coolness by association.

So, remember my Easter post where I mentioned that my father-in-law came down for the weekend and helped me with a studio project? This is IT! He did all of the carpentry work... like cutting & sanding & drilling holes and I did the painting and some minor distressing and then he installed it for me and I decorated it. :)

Interested to see how it all came together? If you're not, then don't read on, cuz I'm about to share it all!

We started out with some unfinished wood pieces we purchased at our local home improvement store. One 7" x 48" board that my FIL cut in half to make two 24" x 7" boards. Three wooden brackets. And a 3/8" round dowel.


After prepping all pieces (cutting, sanding, drilling a hole slightly bigger than the dowel onto all 3 brackets), I proceeded to paint. And yes, I had to do it on my kitchen counter because it was below FREEZING outside and the garage was way too cold to work in. I covered my kitchen island with some painters' dropcloth and painted away...


I applied two coats of paint. I used a Dutch Boy color called Mandarin Orange -- I wanted a Satin finish but after the kid at the store screwed up my paint mixing 3 times (ARGH!) and then embarrassingly announced to me that he was now out of Satin and I would have to use Semi-Gloss or switch to another brand, I opted for the former. I then let the pieces dry overnight. It looked OK, but it was a bit too shiny for my liking so I sanded the pieces slightly afterwards to tone down the glare.


My FIL installed it all on Monday morning before heading back to Chicago, and... VOILA! I now have a place to store all my ribbons and a pretty little shelf to hold my button jars and display pretty things. :)