New at IKEA!

Have you seen the new IKEA line called Sinnerlig?

It was a collaboration with British designer Ilse Crawford and it's super beautiful. Gorgeous, organic glass and stoneware, baskets and pretty textiles, as well as a couple of great furniture pieces.

My very favorite piece (which apparently is only available in stores right now) is this steel, acacia wood daybed. Isn't that jute webbing amazing? It's like all the best things about midcentury design in one beautiful (and super affordable) piece.

I'm so inspired by the jute webbing. I have this old bench that I got on the cheap at a thrift store and it's still sitting in storage because the caning is ripped on the seat. I bet I could do something cool here with this webbing idea!

PS There are a couple of new rugs in the 2016 line that aren't a part of the Sinnerlig line, but they're still really great! 

They're all between 5x8' and 8x10' which is already a pretty great size, but if you need a bigger size, why not try this idea?

images from IKEA and Instagrammers: 1  //  2  //  3  //  4  //  5  

DIY Cerused Oak Secretary

The fall issue of Domino is on news stands now and my latest story is right after cover girl Mindy Kaling's (adorable!) office feature.

I was SO excited to get to share my transformation of this old tiger oak secretary. Remember this old thing?

I had been debating whether or not to change the finish for a while, but after seeing this beautiful cerused side table on 1st Dibs, I knew I could achieve a similar finish with a little research and some elbow grease.

I read about a million different articles about cerusing and liming oak furniture. It turns out that people have been doing basically the same steps for hundreds and hundreds of years! It's not too hard to do and requires absolutely zero artistic ability. You'll just need a piece of oak furniture - it has to be oak. And the more prominent the grain, the better.

The first step is to strip the wood of any stains or varnish. I used a gel stripper and a brass-bristled brush to gently scrub the wood in the direction of the grain. See how the soft brass bristles pull out the little bits of old dark stain from the grain?

If you've done it right, the grain marks will be open and clean and ready to fill with wax.

If you want the wood to be a natural finish, you can go ahead and skip this next step, but if you want the wood stained at all, you'll need to use an aniline dye in lieu of a traditional stain that you can get at the hardware store. Dye will beautifully stain the wood without filling any of the grain. You can buy almost any color of dye online. I used the indigo shade for this project.

I just followed the instructions on the dye container and mixed a few teaspoons of the powder with some denatured alcohol before brushing it on the secretary.

It only takes a coat or two of the dye mixture to get a nice, deep color.

As the stain starts to dry on the wood, it gets lighter and sort of chalky. But the color deepens again when you seal it. I don't have a photo of this step but it's important to seal it with shellac before adding the liming wax. I like Zinsser's shellac because it dries quickly and isn't too thick.

After the shellac dries, the dyed wood will be a dark navy indigo color, and you'll be ready for liming wax. This wax is my favorite.

The actual liming step is super easy - you just wipe the wax on with a soft cloth and then buff off the extra that's sitting on top. You only want the white liming wax to be in the grain and none on top.

This is why it's important to shellac the wood before using the cerusing wax. The wax won't want to stay on the surface of the sealed wood as much, but it will be happy to hang out in the grain. Check out that beautiful pattern!

I really love how this project turned out. I think cerusing is such a fun way to show off the natural wood grain of vintage/antique oak pieces!

And the indigo stain is such a unique look too. I think color stains are perfect for this type of application. The secretary is such a fun statement piece now, sitting up in our landing by the girls rooms.

Don't forget to check out the spread in the new Domino! xo

DIY Faux Marble

I love it when readers share their home projects with me! Recently Yael emailed me a link to her post on faux marbling. I loved how she used resin as a top layer - I felt like that really made the countertop look like stone!

We needed a new top for the vintage credenza for Ali's house and this faux marble idea seemed like the perfect, super inexpensive solution!

I removed the old, beat up top and had a piece of 3/4" MDF cut to the same size and painted it with white zinsser primer.

Then I collected my supplies based on Yael's tutorial and this post from Gorgeous Shiny Things.

sea sponge  //  artist's brushes  //  mixing containers and paint stirrers  //  feathering brush  //

  feather  //  clear latex glaze  //  resin

You'll only need two paint colors for this project: black and white. You can mix in little bits of blue or brown to cool or warm up the gray if you want. Use the containers to mix up small batches of different shades of gray. You could just do this on a paper plate if you wanted and if you're doing a small surface like mine.

Next you'll want to cut your sea sponge down to a small piece and sponge on really loose veins. It's a good idea to reference a couple of photos of marble on google images to help you understanding what real marble looks like. Something I noticed is that veins branch off from each other and usually don't ever cross paths or create an X. 

You just sort of get into a rhythm of sponging on different colors and tones of the gray mixture and then feather the edges with your big soft brush.

Then you use an artist's brush to drag in solid veins. I learned the the veins should be less curvy and more jagged. It's also best to pull and twist the brush toward you. Also, don't forget to continue the vein down over the edge.

After a while of playing with it, a marble-like pattern will (hopefully!) start to emerge. It's a good idea to leave it and come back to it a few times, but don't overwork the paint either. I probably should have stopped a little earlier, but I still like the end result.

The real secret is using a coat of resin on top of the faux marble painting. 

Like with any epoxy, you just mix the two bottles together and then spread quickly before the epoxy hardens.

You can use a plastic spatula to spread the epoxy, but I just used a paint stirrer. I used an entire quart here.

After a few hours, the resin will be dry to the touch and fully cured within two days. It's a really cool product!

I love how this one turned out. I think the resin really takes the look to the next level. 

It's not perfectly perfect (I think it gets better with some practice), but you just can't beat the price of a little paint on a scrap piece of MDF! :)

If you have a project you would like to share on LGN, please email me a link! I would love to see your work! And thanks again to Yael! xo