Central Space Unit 5

Okay, time for an apartment update!

You may remember the updates to our previous apartment:

Dear GOD, what is that YELLOW!

Oh, so clean! Refinished cabinets? WOW!

Crazy repainting, refinishing amazingness in Every. Single. Room.

We have moved...

...across the courtyard!

The larger corner apartment came available and with less than 700 square feet in our current place, we were tempted.

After doing all of the work on our #11, it was hard to leave. There was a lot of damage in the new unit and we'd need to paint again, but there was a lot more space for us and the pets.


CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Above the window, the wall board is bulging out. Note the yellow. Holy CRAP, the yellow.

The living room wall, after knocking out a bulge in the wall board. More on this below.

One kitchen wall, complete with funky plaster. This is how all of the wallboard bulges looked before, hence our hesitation.

Not only did we need to deal with the weird wavy walls, but we had odd sections of mis-matched paint to touch up. And that ceiling was FILTHY.

As you can see, once we filled. primed and painted, the walls were not only smooth, but the holes were completely indiscernible.

Check out above the window. Also, behind the couch. See anything? No? Yeah, we did that. 

I'll have a few more before/after photos in the next few days. We're still in process with the bathroom and kitchen, but that photo with the red couch? It was taken the day after we moved in. Feel free to gape at our awesomeness.

Special thanks to my AMAZING mother-in-law for her help with the painting.

Cat Bib

I was going to post about changes to our new apartment, but this is far more hilarious. After one too many birds and rats, we decided to try a kitty bib. It's basically a piece of thick fabric attached to the break-away collar. The idea is that the cat can move properly, but not pounce as easily, giving the prey time to escape. We used a scrap of neoprene, but leather or thick vinyl would also have worked.

An internet pattern.

Neoprene and a ruler.

A surprisingly calm cat. 

Iris is okay with this. She didn't seem to pay the bib any attention, and is moving normally throughout the house. We haven't swept the house yet to see if any carnage arrived during the night, but we are ever hopeful.

No more "presents", Iris.

Sweet Stakmore

 Here's a sweet little Stakmore Urn back folding chair that we also found near the dumpster. Man, people, have you never heard of Goodwill? Well, your loss is our beautiful find!

Cute.

Oh! It folds! Wow!

The frame was actually in great condition, just a few loose bolts. The cover...

GROSS.

A little staple removal, pad rinsing, a shellac touch-up, a bit of brocade, et viola:

Beautiful...

...and clever.

We listed this beauty on Craigslist, along with the magazine rack. It will be hard to see her go.

I have a really hard time letting furniture go...

Oh, Watchmaker's Desk. I'm so glad we kept you. <3

Yeah.

Teak Side Table Restoration

We've been working on a lot of projects that I've not blogged. Such is my nature. I have quite the backlog, which I shall now publish, one a day, until I'm caught up.

Here's a cute little magazine table that we found by the dumpster after some tenants moved out.

Obviously, we couldn't leave it in this condition.

Sanding!

Where's the magazine sling?

We were surprised to find the frame was solid wood. The ends of the boards have very thick, quality veneer. This is not a Target special. 

Oh, THERE'S the sling!

Sanded and shellaced.

Finished!

We refinished the top and replaced the magazine sling with another in the same linen.  It's so very cute. Not bad for "garbage". 

Many more posts to follow!