The Interior DIYer
DIY

DIY Friday – faux marble fireplace

The other day my sister-in-law Jenny sent me a photo of an update she made to the fireplace* in her new house. She updated the tiles surrounding the fireplace with some [of my personal favourite] faux marble contact paper, and what a change it made. She had seen my post on Instagram about updating our dining room table with contact paper and got the idea to pick up a roll of faux marble paper to make a quick and very effective update to her fireplace.

It’s a fantastic transformation and it’s one of my favourite kinds of updates; such a simple idea and a small change, but it makes a huge impact in a space.

So many fireplaces across Ireland come with this very style of tile. I can understand they’re not to everyone’s taste, and this is a perfect example of how to make the most of what you’ve got! It’s such a perfect example of what can be done with contact paper. Thanks again Jenny for sharing your before and after photos! And we can’t wait to see more of your new house!

Should you be interested in seeing more, here is a list of all the projects I’ve worked on involving contact paper to date …

– Contact paper table top
– Contact paper covered diary
– Coffee station update – mini faux marble plinth
– Mini interior sample stash for designing on the go
– Updating [and childproofing] our secondhand dining room table with contact paper
– Contact paper kitchen counters [test run!]

*PLEASE NOTE: Jenny and her family do not use this fireplace. It is strictly for show! Please use your own judgement when using contact paper anywhere near open flames. But I know you’re going to be careful. I just want to state the obvious for obvious reasons.

#DarkRomanticLuxe

Spice filled curio cabinet

If you’ve been following my blog for the past few years you may remember that for my 30th birthday my parents bought me a beautiful vintage curio cabinet. After some time I decided to paint it black and hung it up in the corner of the living room in our Islandbridge Apartment in Dublin, but for a very long time I had no idea what to do with it or what to put in it. I mean like two years passed and it was completely empty. I eventually put some jars in it for the sake of putting something in it, but I was eternally haunted by having such a cute cabinet and no idea what to do with it.

When we emigrated last year and moved into our Lower Town Apartment, there was a space in our kitchen that would be absolutely perfect for my curio cabinet. And almost immediately, I knew I wanted to keep all my spices in it. Don’t tell Robert, but I packed and shipped some of my favourite tiny empty glass jars [yes, completely empty jars. I have a problem] to Canada from Ireland. Once I unpacked everything and got myself organised, I hung up the cabinet in our kitchen and decanted all the spices and herbs we use the most into secret little jars and labelled them with black labels and a gold pen.

As soon as I started arranging the jars, I was embarrassingly ecstatic. I love stuff like that; organizing and sorting and having a little project just for me that essentially makes me feel like a witch in the kitchen.

I’ve been wanting to paint over the brown in our kitchen [this shade of brown was in the hallway and is currently in our entire bedroom], but I keep getting stuck on the idea that a room should be complete before I can take photos of it. Which I know does not make sense. Our kitchen will be a work in progress for the next while, but for the moment, I am loving my tiny curio cabinet in lieu of a perfectly curated dream Pinterest pantry.

#DarkRomanticLuxe

If they’re good enough for Emily Gilmore

Around ten years ago my mom got us a pair of really lovely wine glasses for Christmas [one of them is the large glass in the middle above]. Unfortunately, one broke shortly after that, but ever since I’ve really loved the shape of that one glass that survived.

A few months ago when I was in Value Village I spotted a few of the exact same style glasses. I was standing looking at them when a woman walked by and said, “Oh those aren’t crystal. I’ll show you how to tell if a pair of glasses are crystal …“, and she kindly showed me some tricks to find out if some glasses are better quality than others. She was trying to help find some hidden treasures, but I was left feeling embarrassed for wanting the less-than-fancy glasses so I didn’t buy them. Later I of course wished I had, so now every time I see that style of glasses, I buy them. Crystal or not.

I’ve only found two medium and three small sized glasses since, but I’m determined to collect as many as I can now. I mean, if those glasses are good enough for Emily Gilmore, they’re good enough for me. Collect whatever you want. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. To finish with a quote from Emily Gilmore, that’s complete and utter …

 “Bullshit!”

Emily Gilmore image via here.

Also featured – black dining room hutch – diy dust covers – repainted red rose