‘George’ the freestanding drawer!

Last year, I acquired some lovely old furniture from a lady, after meeting her brother one day on a train to Aberdeen… (You can read the full story here!) One of the pieces she very kindly gave to me was this vintage chest of drawers. It was really beautiful piece and had been extremely well loved, but some panels were missing, others were falling off, the beading was chipped and broken and the drawers were very stiff and heavy.

I made the decision to use the chest of drawers in a new way, and create things from its different elements. I had already made a big ‘Z’ for Ziggy out of three of the drawers for my workshop wall, but just recently I had the idea to make a piece of furniture out of one of the remaining drawers.

I love mid-century furniture legs, so I ordered a reclaimed set, then got to work sanding, drilling, screwing, 

cleaning, priming and painting… and in the end, I got this! 

I was struggling to think of a name for this piece, but Fiona helped me when we were installing the Pop-up Shop. A Wham! record I own (…guilty pleasure!) soon became the soundtrack to all our hard work, so Fiona wanted to dedicate a piece George Michael. So meet George, the freestanding display shelf! 

Ziggy Sawdust and the Concrete Wardrobe!

Today is the day that Ziggy became 'Maker of the Month' at the Concrete Wardrobe on Broughton Street, Edinburgh!

I first met James and Fiona from Concrete Wardrobe at The Fruitmarket Gallery's DesignMarket back in July last year... and plans for me to exhibit as a 'Maker of the Month' have been brewing since then!

Concrete Wardrobe is a wonderful little shop dedicated to showcasing local design-led craft and is known as the go-to place for finding something extra special. Having the opportunity to showcase my work here is a real privilege!

Here are a few images of my exhibit in the shop and all items shown are for sale!

There will be a meet and greet event tomorrow (Saturday 2nd March) from 12-2pm, so pop along if you are free! My exhibit will run until the end of the month, so there is plenty of time to make it along if you can't make it tomorrow, but would still like to browse!

Concrete Wardrobe

50 A Broughton Street

Edinburgh

EH1 3SA

Opening times:

Monday- Friday 11am- 7pm

Sunday 12pm- 5pm

♥

Fun at the Funk Fair!

Oh what a lovely day I had on Saturday at Funk Fair in Edinburgh!


It was so nice to get out and about, showcasing what I've been creating + chatting to lovely people!


Here's my little stall:

Ziggy Sawdust at the Funk Fair 12/5/12

Along with my furniture, I was selling redesigned Brick-a-Brack + some colourful Record Clocks.

Watch this space- I'm already planning my future creations!!

Memo Boards

After posting the door-come-blackboard idea yesterday, I got thinking about memo boards. There are so many ways to DIY and they really can become ever changing works of art!


I love this idea of turning an old metal tray into a magnetic memo board from Sparkle Power as a guest blogger on Sherry Turley's Oh So Lovely blog. A lick of paint, some patterned paper and a plate stand turns a rather non-descript platter into a lovely feature! Here is the how-to.

image found here.

Now for a more minimal approach... Funkytime has used an window frame minus the glass. By attatching string and using pegs to display photographs, Funkytime's Sibylle shows us just how simple it is to create something new for your home. I'm keen to try this but I think I'll be going a bit bolder with colour!

image found here.

And back to yellow, we have a painted antique frame from Ashely Ann at Under the Sycamore with chicken-wire inserted to give more space to attach your photographs and notes. Ashley Ann has also made her own customised clips using the illustrations on memory cards. This adds to the fun feeling of the memo board and ensures it will never look bare! She gives a full how-to here.

image found here.

It actually seems as though Ashley Ann has making memo boards out of chicken wire down to a tee! I have just come across this image of her bedroom:

image found here

Yet another headboard inspired post from me but I could not resist! Headboard, memo board, wall art all rolled into one. It is a bold idea but an amazing one at that! Find more images and the how-to here. 

Ashley Ann has put the chicken wire over the whole wall but I would be inclined to keep it to just the headboard... but maybe thats just me chickening out! 

(Sorry, that was a terrible pun... must be time for my bed!)

Door to Door

There is a place in Glasgow called Glasgow Architectural Salvage which is an Aladdin's cave of rescued furniture and fixings. When I went along I was in awe of the rows of old wooden doors which were stacked up against the wall. I told myself I'd come back for some one day, but I wasn't sure what I would do with them...

Then I found proof that doors can be incredibly multi-talented! 

A door can be a blackboard!

Here, Mandy Lynne has transformed a shabby door into a blackboard for her children's home-school room. This idea could also work well in a kitchen as a memo board... or in a cafe... or anywhere for that matter!

image found here.

Or a door could be a headboard!

A few posts ago I showed ideas for making a bench from a headboard and now we are almost going full circle and looking at how doors can be headboards! I like the idea of having a home full of furniture with a topsy-turvy function!

image found here.

This idea came from Martha Stewart and the how-to can be found here.

ehow have a great set of step-by-step instructions for another door to headboard project here, if you feel you need a more in depth guide.


Or how about a door as a garden table?
It's difficult to see from this picture but this garden table is made by Re-Nest from an old door and two saw horses for support.
... Maybe I could sprinkle a little sawdust and transform this idea into a Ziggy creation!

image found here.

Or could a door become a swing?!

This swing isn't actually made from a door but I think it would be quite amazing if it was! Indoor or outdoors it would make a fabulous feature. The how-to for this swing was found at Vtwonen, but it would be fun to mix it up a little!

image found here.

Well, with all this food for thought I think I can justify another trip to Glasgow Architectural Salvage to get my mitts on a few dusty old doors!

That's Armoire!

It's my last post from Venice and I've got lots of ideas for getting creative with cabinets!

Martha Stewart, domestic queen, you never fail to inspire me! Here she puts two different cabinets, striped back and painted the same, on top of each other to create a DIY armoire. 

image found here

And here's a lovely tutorial from Fresh Home Idea. It's a step-by-step guide with handy tips to keep us all on track! Have a look at the 'before' picture too... to me the diy effort gives the cabinet even more vintage charm!

image found here.

Now, if you're feeling handy, this might be the project for you! With a full on set of instructions, Ana White guides you every step of the way and literally shows you how to make a corner cabinet from scratch! I'm really keen on this idea... maybe add some patterned wallpaper and vintage door knobs into the mix?

image found here.

Then there is Miss Mustard Seed at Mustard Seed Interiors who has taken a new approach all together and painted the whole wardrobe with black-board paint... a lovely idea for storage to double up as a memo-board in a cafe, for example.

                    

image found here.

And, just for good measure, I've thrown in this image...  The colours, pattern, shapes are all just garishly brilliant!

 

image found here.

I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night if this was the decor in my bedroom, but I think it would be fun in a dinning room or something. Bold can be quite brilliant!