Ikea Hack - Hemnes

I love a good Ikea hack. 

It allows me to shop inexpensively and create a gorgeous, high-end look for right around $100 bucks. Many of the hacks I create, I do because I know the specific style of furniture is a fad and will not be a timeless investment...in steps Ikea.

So, if you haven't seen the flooding amounts of light-colored dressers with the circle ring pull hardware on Pinterest, you must not follow any bedroom accounts...I can't seem to get away from them.

Examples of bedside tables and dressers:

Source - unknown

Erin Gates Design // Michael J. Lee Photography | Pale Powder - Farrow & Ball

Source

Suzanne Kasler-designed bedroom. Photo by Pieter Estersohn. Featured in Architectural Digest.

 Above are four of my favorite bedside tables in four very similar, yet very different rooms. I like the idea of using a chest (if you have the space) for a bedside table. Originally, I had your classic, very small bedside tables and they just didn't cut it. I needed more storage. (I like clothes, okay?)

I shopped and shopped and searched and searched for a dresser like the ones in the photos and found that this high-end trend I loved also came with a high price tag.

Starting from top left to right:

Bungalow side table / Beverly Dresser / Summer Hill Nightstand / Hemnes Dresser

One day as I was walking through Ikea and I spotted the Hemnes 3-drawer dresser in a bedroom they staged. It was sturdy, a beautiful shade of white and had amble storage space. I measured them, knowing what size I needed, and they were going to fit like a glove! I purchased two on the spot.

The next step was finding hardware. I currently have lots of antique gold finished in my home. I'm a sucker for gold and brass. Growing up southern, it's everywhere in antique homes. Frankly I don't remember seeing much silver at all other than a tea set or a good mint julep cup. 

My home has quite a few antiques. For a while it was starting to feel a little stuffy. You know those homes you go into that look absolutely breath-taking but you feel like if you sit down on anything or you're going to ruin it? I never want my home to feel like that. 

When I started designing my home, I would tour Mrs. Howard's showroom in Atlanta - among many others. She has a great way of mixing timeless, feminine decor with modern, fun accents. As soon as you'd walk into a room you'd know it was pricey, but you couldn't help but want to plop down on the sofa and sit for a while. That was my inspiration. Classic style with a comfortable ambience. 

Since then, Phoebe Howard has become my FAVORITE designer of all time. You may have seen a few of her books as popular coffee table reads in nice home stores:

My first book purchase from her small collection was The Joy of Decorating. In that book, I read about how she keeps her rooms from having that 'stuffy' feeling. The trick is to start with a few classic anchor pieces - this could be a great Governor's desk or a thick wood armoire (etc.), add in a few trends - like a cool coffee table, a sexy lamp or some fun throw pillows, and then style it with other pieces that have personal meaning yet still fit the room. Sounds simple enough, right?

Well I'll say she didn't get where she is today from being a simple designer. Interior design takes serious talent and a lot of work - mainly finding the right pieces to use! The internet and home stores have SOOOO much to choose from, you could spend days or even weeks looking for one great piece or accent. In which case I'll save you the time and do some of the looking for you. ;)

So, after scouring a few hardware sites, these are the ones I liked the most for this hack:

Zig-zag from top left to bottom right:

Silver ring / Gold ring plain / Sunburst gold ring / Plated gold ring / Vintage gold ring

If you loved the Beverly dresser from the photo list above (with the extra pizzaz for $1,800) you can recreate that look as well. 

If you are brand new to the Ikea hack world, allow me to introduce you to a company called O'verlays.

The two photos above are both custom fit for the Ikea Hemnes 3 dresser drawer, and are my two favorites for this hack. They have tons of overlays for a number of different projects and make the DIYer's job much easier....could you imagine trying to make those wood frames yourself? I'll pass.

For my hack, I wanted to keep my bedside tables pretty simple because I have a lot going on already with my fabric choices. If your bedding is fairly simple, jazz up your hack with an overlay! I've also seen other bloggers use fabric and nailhead trim for theirs which is amazingly creative and beautiful. 

To make my bedside dressers, you'll need to purchase two of the three drawer hemnes dressers, and twelve hardware pieces in satin nickel. Follow the assembly instructions by IKEA and skip the section at the end about installing the black handles. Take a screwdriver or a drill and on the front of the dresser, hold your hardware and on the inside of the dresser screw in the screws the hardware company provided to you. Repeat this step until each drawer has two pulls.

You're done!

Pretty easy hack, huh? And can you believe the same dresser is going for $700-$1,800??? You just saved yourself about a thousand bucks...now what can you decorate with that extra cash?

If you'd like to see more of my bedroom and get details on the pieces, let me know in the comments below!

Shrimp Étouffée Recipe

Shrimp Étouffée is in my top ten favorite southern meals! I was born in Louisiana and my mother told me that when she was pregnant with me, all she ate was Cajun food. Roast beef poboys, beignets, and hearty stews. I'm not sure if there's been any research on whether what your momma ate when you were in the womb has any effect on your taste buds, but based on my affinity for Cajun cooking, I'd have to say there must be a correlation. 

I grew up on the coast of Florida, so seafood has a special place in my heart. What's strange is that my mother never really cooked it much growing up, but when we went out to eat I ordered it at almost every meal. 

When I moved to Atlanta, I had a great kitchen. It was huge for a one bedroom apartment in the city. Having that much space to myself to experiment really had a giant influence on the development of my cooking skills. I worked in a bakery in college and knew how to whip up any sweet you asked me to, but cooking was an underdeveloped skill that I was dying to become proficient at.

 One of my best friends who shares my love of cooking decided to take me to the Dekalb Farmer's Market one Sunday afternoon. If you live anywhere near Atlanta and have never been to this spot, I highly recommend you go. I would have included photos of the interior with this post but it's against the rules and there are security guards who watch you.

From cooking-enthusiasts to chefs alike, this place is an ingredient food haven, filled with some of the most rare and bizarre items that you won't find at a Publix near you. The produce section alone is a thing of wonder and delight, where every turn of an aisle has you scratching your head wondering how you'd cook this spiky purple thing...or that long yellow stick...or, what the hell is this?

They also carry rare meats and cheeses. You can find quail eggs, liver, cows tongue, shark....you catch my drift? Now I realize this type of variety doesn't spark everyone's interest as much as it does mine, but regardless - this type of food-creating possibility revolutionized my cooking skills. Almost every paycheck I got went to bizarre ingredients that I would spend the weekend experimenting with. Now I still go back to that market whenever I want to make a great meal on a dime, because along with an amazing selection of food items come a very low price.

The shrimp étouffée recipe below is not outlandish. It is as authentic and delicious as they come. No need to be a fancy chef. No need to go to an exotic market. You can find everything at a grocery near you. I developed this recipe three years ago during my at-home food training and experimental phase. Most similar recipes do not call for sausage, but I've found it adds an extra kick and makes it more hearty. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Ingredients

Start by peeling and deveining your shrimp. Rinse the shrimp thoroughly.

Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over your shrimp and dust the shrimp with cracked pepper. Toss and set aside.

Follow by chopping your vegetables. If you've never worked with okra before, this is what the thickness should look like.

For the remaining vegetables, I used my food processor to give them a fine chop and save time.

Aren't those peppers lovely?

Now it's time for the sauce. Start by browning your butter over medium heat until it becomes a light brown. Then add your flour and whisk them together until the mixture becomes the color of a cappuccino and creates a thick paste.

Once browned, add your chopped veggies and cook them down until translucent.

After cooking the vegetables for 10-15 minutes, add your stock, tomatoes, herbs, lemon and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes and then add your shrimp and cooked sausage for about 5 minutes.

Put about 1/2 cup rice into individual bowls. I formed my rice using a ramekin. 

Fill the bowl with the étouffée and top with parsley, paprika and chives. I served ours with buttered french bread and Chardonnay.

Ohhhh yeaaaaa....

Recipe: 

Orchid Arrangement

Orchids are my absolute favorite flower! Its' not just because they are timeless and effortlessly sophisticated, no. They last for almost 3 months with their blooms (with proper care), they're fairly easy to keep even with no green thumb, and there are so many ways to style them!

There's a cute floral and home store here in Atlanta that is close to my heart. When I got my first apartment here that was tiiiiiiiny, this small shop was my haven and my goal. The arrangements of furniture, the way they made each showroom feel like a garden home, the expensive and sophisticated style and accents...it was an absolute dream. 

One of my favorite things on display was an orchid arrangement. This arrangement wasn't cut flowers. It was a mix of southern ferns, orchids, willow and moss. 

You know, a few years ago I read an excerpt that people keep flowers, plants and animals in their home because in a way - it takes us back to our historic roots of living outdoors and being one with the land. Call me a romantic or someone that's very nostalgic, but I like the thought of that. 

Then sparked my own creation.

This bowl was given to me by my grandmother. It is an antique from France in the 18th Century used to wash hands and face in the morning. 

You may have a bowl or urn that is smaller or has no sentimental value and it will work perfectly. In this particular situation, I wanted to make a grandiose arrangement because we will be having company to our home this weekend.

For the ingredients for this and any arrangement you create, there is a saying you should keep true and dear to your hosting roots. 

Use a spiller, a thriller, and a filler.

Let's start with our base, here. My orchids are from an orchid green house 45 minutes north of Atlanta. Sure, it's a trek but for the cost and the quality, I look forward to paying homage once every 3 months or so. This place is amazing! They have exotic birds only found in rainforests, orchids for rows on rows and exotic plant species you've never seen or heard of. Rather than just a simple visit to pick up great-looking and well-priced orchids, I feel like a 5th grader again on a field trip to learn and see new things that this world has to offer and open my horizons.

Speaking of opening new horizons, why don't we show this fern our plans for dividing and meeting new friends on the other side of the pot.

For this arrangement, I used a bright-green moss, a maidenhare fern, a potato vine, and three white phalaenopsis orchids - one with a double spike (two stocks with flowers).

Now here's a question I often get - 'How do I choose my orchid?'

Many people are tempted to get the orchids fully bloomed because they are beautiful and full of large blossoms. Don't be one of these people. While I agree there should be a few fully bloomed flowers on your orchid, you want to choose an orchid that still has a few buds waiting to bloom. Why? Your arrangement will last much, much longer.

Once the flowers are fully bloomed, you'll have about one month, if not less, until the gorgeous white petals become brown rotting memories of all the hard work and money you put into creating this gorgeous arrangement. Take it from me, if you get a plant that still has buds waiting for their debut, your arrangement can last you months.

My preference with making these is to start with your base - orchids, and then add your thriller - fern, follow by adding your spiller - vine, and finish with your filler - moss.

Don't feel distressed or irritated if your orchids topple over in the process. It's just going to happen. Grab 'em and pop them back into position while filling. The soil and filler will help them to stay in place towards the end.

Quick tip - orchids don't typically need as much water as other houseplants. Especially the ones I'm using in my arrangement. To keep them from being over-watered and dying, I keep them in their original plastic casing and add everything else around it to cover the pots.

This can be messy. I used some foam board to cover my table, but a simple drop cloth or some plastic will do. I also decided to add some succulents to add interest and depth to my piece. Have fun with it!

Lastly, I purchased some mood moss to cover up any soil and tops of the orchids with plastic showing to make the entire arrangement look flawless!

Breathtaking, am I right?

Let me know how yours goes!

Ikea Hack - VITTSJÖ

I love a good IKEA hack! To me, it's a fun challenge to take a high-end design and use your creative juices to recreate the same look for a fraction of the cost. I'm a girl who likes to shop, so I try to be as savvy as I can to stretch my pocketbook! 

My inspiration:

How chic and gorgeous is this etagere? I love all the books of artwork, the fresh cut blooms and of course the use of white and gold as the over-arching theme. I looked and looked for etageres online and throughout garage sales, antique stores and estate sales, but started to quickly realize that my hope of grabbing a high-end etagere on a dime was going to be hopeless....until I spotted a similar frame at IKEA.

1. Bianca Etagere / 2. Maison Bookcase  / 3. Silvia Etagere / 4. VITTSJO

For this particular project, I wanted a tall and skinny etagere so I could frame my desk with one on each side. Eventually I plan on getting a larger one when I move into a full home office, but for now I have my office in my bedroom so the small ones will do.

After all the high price tags, I was relieved to see that I could get away with this look for just about a hundred bucks.

 ....ahhhh the sigh of sweet relief.

My next step, after purchasing my frames, was to find a great-looking gold spray paint. Something that wouldn't look cheesy or too metallic.

I recommend using either the Krylon Foil Metallic Spray or the Krylon Gold Decorator Spray.

DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!!!

I laid these pieces down on drop cloth and painted them on each side and then put it together. 

BAD IDEA. 

Learn from my mistake! Build your piece and then paint it. I had paint pooling around the sides and it created bubbles in the paint once it was dried...it was a nightmare. I ended up having to wait for it to dry, sand it down and paint it again once it was put together. It still turned out great, but my quick and fun DIY project slowly turned into an all weekend long task.

The piece I purchased had faux wood in a dark glaze and I really liked it! I made sure I just sprayed the metal and left the wood pieces the way that they were to add some contrast.

(new photo)

The next step was to decorate it while still making it functional for me. I work from home so I needed it to hold items I use everyday (like my printer) but still feel put together to inspire me.

(old photo)

A few of my favorite books. :) 

(old photo)

My amazing Yeti microphone for webinars and voice overs. I'm seriously obsessed with this thing. The Louvre book was a birthday gift and I love it! It's got amazing art in it and makes me feel like I'm touring the gallery as I flip each page.

Mark Rothko is among my favorite artists so I HAD to snag a book filled with his life's work. I have a thing for modern art.

I got the "Dream Big" print from Office Depot if you can believe it! They've started carrying more and more female office supplies. This one is from See Jane Work.

(now)

(old office)

And there you have it folks! Here's my small home office. It's quaint but extremely functional.

(new office)

More IKEA hacks to come that I can't wait to share with you all.