The Interior DIYer
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Gettin’ figgy with it

It’s funny how trends* can burrow into our thoughts and over time alter what we like. For years I’ve spied big and beautiful fiddle leaf fig plants [or are they trees?! #Clueless] in some of my favourite roomscapes. In the beginning I didn’t think much of them. But then they started to grow on me. Like a little bit something tropical in your living room. I hesitated for so long to buy one because I’ve heard they’re tricky. And actually, because I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a fiddle leaf fig in real life. I may not have been looking particularly hard because this week I spied loads of them in our local hardware store.

I’ve heard fiddle leaf figs can be a bit high maintenance. Therefore, it was only natural that someone with such a fantastic record for murdering plants would buy one! In all seriousness, I’m determined to keep this guy alive. So far I’ve read that one cup of water per week is a good starting point and polishing the leaves with coconut oil is a must (?). Do they like direct sunlight? Do they hate hot / cold rooms? Should I prune it? Re-pot it? Rotate the pot? Can they thrive in dark corners? [ie – our entire apartment]. If you have any fig tips at all that you wouldn’t mind sharing, I would be hugely appreciative. At the very least I think I’ll need to set an alarm on my phone for when to water it … 

Standing at just 1ft tall and take pride of place on our dining room table already, he’s just a widdle fiddle.

*Can plants be trendy? That doesn’t sound right. I don’t see them as something that should be treated as a trend, but you know what I mean. 

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#DublinDesignNight

This evening, thanks to Image Interiors & Living and Yelp, Dublin had its first ever #DublinDesignNight. A wide range of design shops across Dublin had special access for the Design Night pass holders. From screen printing to floral arranging to cocktails and delicious grub, it was a bustling evening of exciting trips back and forth across Dublin. 

I had only an hour to see as much as I could, so it was a bit of a design-drive-by. First up, I stopped into The Garden to make a little widdle terrarium. I ran into Rincy and Nathalie while I was waiting in line and then [finally!] met Hilda outside on the steps. You couldn’t swing a cat without running into someone you knew! [please don’t swing cats]. 

A photo posted by Alex C – The Interior DIYer (@interiordiyer) on Sep 30, 2015 at 2:30pm PDT

After our terrarium workshop, I popped into Designist, then looped back to Industry and the Irish Design Shop before heading into Article for Clover Rua‘s screen printing session.

Before I cycled home I dropped into Find for a good snoop around, then hopped on my bike, precariously balancing all of the things as I went, and made my way home [good news – my succulent survived the after-dark bicycle ride down Thomas Street with its characters]. 
While I was in Article I couldn’t resist one of their copper and blush pink candle sticks that I had spied on their Instagram a couple of weeks ago [plus my OTT comment]. At long last, I have a use for my copper atomizer! Welcome home, little succulent. I hope you don’t die. 
So in short, #DublinDesignNight was such a wonderful night, to be jumping from place to place with like-minded design enthusiasts and nerds alike, and I cannot wait for the next one. 
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New second hand stool

Last weekend Robert and I wandered around Mac’s Salvage Warehouse to quench our my thirst for vintage markets in lieu of the no longer Merchant’s Market. I was originally on the lookout for an old wooden ladder with some character for our living room [for blanket and throw purposes]. Unfortunately they didn’t have any ladders, but Robert did happen upon a behemoth stack of bar stools. Originally, I had my eye on some dark red stools, but Robert insisted there were some ‘lovely green ones‘ [vom]. See, gentlemen, he didn’t use the correct annotation. He should have said there were some ‘fabulous viridian coloured stools‘. I was sold. 

We settled on this stool as it had the least ware on the legs and zero visible ware on the upholstery. There was a minuscule issue with the fabric as the pattern had red, blue, yellow and pink details. “Not to worry,” I said. “I’ll just fix that with a Sharpie when we get home“. And fix it I did.

Not the most professional of fixer-uppers, but more times than I’d like to admit I’ve used a Sharpie on a project or two. Or seven. I use them to touch up loads of things [nicks on black picture frames etc], so I simply used my black Sharpie to colour in the colourful dots. 

TIP – if you decide to do this, make sure you don’t use the seat / fabric for at least half an hour after colouring it in, otherwise the ink may transfer. 

Something I am a bit stumped on is what to do with the wood legs. I quite like the dark finish that’s on them. It needs to be touched up in places, so I’m thinking of getting a varnish to fix the little scratches. But what do you think – would you just repaint the legs something entirely different? I was thinking black, but I like the colour of the wood too much. At the moment the wood doesn’t match anything in our apartment [other than our desk], but I keep reminding myself that we won’t be renting this apartment forever. I guess I’m still waiting to inherit that Victorian full of mahogany finishes. 

But for the moment, our new stool has been thoroughly approved by Juniper and Toshi. They take turns sitting, clawing and sleeping on it.

UPDATE: I painted the legs black! I was hoping to do it in high gloss black, but changed my mind at the last minute and chose mid sheen. I think it looks so much better. Except now I have my eye on updating my imitation Eames chair legs too. It’s a slippery slope, I know. But still … Can you imagine it with black legs?! Swoon!