Giving an IKEA Ribba picture ledge a faux marble update

Hands up who’s tired of me faux marbling things? I’m afraid today I’m sharing a few pictures and the process of the latest unfortunate piece to be overcome by my mediocre marbling skills.

Going back quite a while, perhaps even before Cora was born, someone left a 6ft long IKEA Ribba picture ledge in our communal underground garage ‘free to a good home‘ refuse area. I used [albeit smaller] Ribba ledge’s in my brothers office update a few years ago and I really enjoyed how useful they are for styling [and restyling] a space without having to put a dozen holes in a wall. I brought the new to me ledge up to our apartment and there it sat, in the corner of our bedroom, for a very long time.

Someone had painted the picture ledge in a dark grey wall paint [ie – a paint in no way suitable for furniture], so I found it quite satisfying scraping off all the paint with an old library card. Once the picture ledge was clean, I painted it in four coats of white furniture paint. I knew for along time that I wouldn’t keep it as it’s original black as it was too close to the colour of our bedroom walls. I wanted the ledge to stand out from the wall and I figured, seeing as I faux marbled our bedside tables, I might as well see if I could do the same to the picture ledge. Matchy can sometimes be good [while also not being too matchy].

I used the same technique that I used when painting our bedside tables [see my tutorial here!] but in smaller amounts. The truth is that I didn’t have time to give it the same amount of detail as our bedside tables since I wanted it done during one of Cora’s naps. There’s nothing that will make you paint faster than the threat of a hungry baby. 
I honestly didn’t know how it would turn out, but I’m really pleased with it. It doesn’t look like much now until I style it out a bit. It looks quite boring for, but it’s already done so much for the wall in our bedroom that is so awkward to hang things on. Not too bad for a free project! 

Felt ball bunting from Creative Tuesday

Shortly after Cora was born, a long time internet friend of mine Janine* of Made for Me Studio sent Cora the most adorable felt ball bunting all the way from New Zealand. It was made by Janine’s talented friend Lesley of Creative Tuesday, who makes a range of sweet decor for nurseries and children’s rooms. Sweet features from prints to mobiles to wall decals and of course, felt bunting … 

When we first got Janine’s sweet gift, I tried hanging the felt ball bunting in a few places across Cora’s bedroom, but as there’s only one wall to hang it on which is already quite full, it didn’t stand out as much as I would like. I took my time and thought about where else the bunting would look best. I then realised the best [and now most obvious] place was to hang it on the mahogany mirror in our hallway. It’s the centre of our apartment and so many times a day we hold Cora at the mirror and have fun giggling, making funny faces or waving to each other. Cora really loves the bunting and often grabs it, but it’s so long that we’re able to rescue it safely from her tiny grip fairly easily and with no damage done. 

What I love the most about our Cora’s new bunting is it’s decor that can be easily moved around our apartment and when we eventually move, it will be something we can hang anywhere. Plus, it brings some fun and whimsy to the rest of our apartment so all the cute isn’t just in Cora’s room.

Thank you again, Janine. It is the sweetest xx



*Janine and I have been internet friends since 2011. One of my earliest memories of Janine’s kindness was when I got two wisdom teeth pulled and  we shared messages as I recovered. Over the years we talked about so many things and across all the changes that happened in those 6 [!!!] years. Janine even offered for Robert and I to stay with her and her husband Mike [must not forget their fur baby Smooch] when we were thinking of going to New Zealand for our honeymoon [we unfortunately didn’t end up as flights that long scare me, but it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go]. 

My five favourite secondhand pieces

For me, there’s something so exciting about finding just the right piece in a secondhand shop vs. looking in a catalogue or branded store. Maybe it’s because you’re finding one-of-a-kind pieces? Or because you have to work so much harder to find something. Or, I find, sometimes secondhand pieces have so much more character. 

There are a handful of secondhand pieces we own that every time I look at I think to myself, I’m so glad I found you // brought you home // loved you like a James Blunt song. So on this lazy and very sunny Friday, I thought I’d share the pieces I’m eternally glad I found …

1. BAR CART, €10 from Debra Ireland charity shop
It wasn’t even for sale the day I went into Debra Ireland charity shop and asked about our bar cart. I love our bar cart. I’m not a particularly outgoing person when it comes to people I don’t know or potentially awkward situations, so asking about buying our bar cart was a big deal at the time. Nowadays I think to myself, what would be worse? Doing something and it being a little awkward for 5 minutes, or not doing that thing and regretting it forever? I’m going for the former more and more these days. If you’d like, you can see my original bar cart blog post here
.2. MOZART BUST, €15 from Second Abbey 
He wears a less these days as I find I don’t wear necklaces very often anymore, but my Mozart bust is still one of my favourite pieces in our bedroom. Mozart was also my very first Instagram! If you’d like to see what Mozart looked like before and his little story, check it out here.

3. STOKKE SLEEPI CRIB, €200 on adverts.ie
I know going by the price we paid, it doesn’t seem like we got a good deal. But considering these cribs cost 4-figures brand new, can transform and last for 10+ years and is just straight up a beautiful crib, it was an investment we were happy to make. If you’d like to know more, you can read about our Stokke crib’s longevity here

p.s. Cora knows a good deal when she sees it.

4. BEDSIDE TABLES, €16 for the pair on adverts.ie
They were such cheap and rickety bedside tables, but when I took the drawers apart to repaint them, I found they had been put together wrong. A few coats of paint, some faux marble painting on the top and some new handles, I still love our bedside tables. And the paint has held up perfectly even since. You can see their transformation here

5. CURIO CABINET, €20 from Mac’s Warehouse 
My curio cabinet was gifted to me by my parents for my 30th birthdayafter they asked and I hinted towards what I’d like. I love my cabinet, but … I’ve never really filled it. Welp + guilt. I’ve tried styling a few things in it, but nothing looks right. I think only a collection of one type of thing will work. I have a healthy collection of feathers and I’d love to display them, but I don’t know how. Tape them up? Put them in little jars? I’m really useless and get stuck with the silliest design problems.