Bonus Room Reveal!

Finally, I'm ready to show you my Bonus Room. A year ago, this room was a blah dumping ground. 

It sort of stressed me out every time I was in this room. I wanted it to be functional, but also to be elegant, inviting, peaceful, and beautiful. (Not too much to ask, right?) So, one project at I time, I worked towards that goal.

Probably the most massive undertaking was planking the ceiling and making faux beams, which you can read about here.

Another time consuming project was making these built in bookshelves with cabinets at the bottom. You can read about that adventure working with the slanted ceiling here. 

On the opposite side of the room, I made this faux fireplace to hold and hide electronics. You can read about that here.

I added some doors to this IKEA cubby shelf to help hide clutter that couldn't be easily stored in a basket. See how I added a mirror- like touch here.

The chair by the window used to be a waiting room chair, which I reimagined (I have one more in my garage that I'm working on to match). See the transformation here.

I made this Murphy bed to keep our guest mattress at hand, but out of sight. To see how I fashioned a platform large enough to hold a double size mattress, go here.

I love my Harry Potter map project. To see where I got the fabric, go here. 

The piano bench was also a makeover project that used to be a coffee table, which I blogged about here.

I really feel like I achieved my goal. This room is now one of my favorites in the house. I come up here to read, but end up just staring at how pretty the room is.

Thanks for stopping by!  

Linking to BWT 4, Link Party Palooza, Remodelaholic November Link Party, Inspire Me Monday 85, The Scoop 196, 292 Inspire Me Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Link Party, Sew Crafty Angel 94, Wow Us Wednesday, Inspired By You Link Party, Best DIY Project of 2015  

DIY Hanging Wall File

 

About 4 years ago I made a giant hanging file folder out of cardboard and fabric. Guess, what? It's still holding together.

 
I needed something similar, but smaller in my living room to hold magazines and books. I took some pieces of cardboard that already had creases in them and put them to good use.

I drew a line 2" from the bottom to be the bottom of the pocket

Using a yard stick, I scored the line with a box cutter and then used the ruler to help fold on the line.

 I did the same to create a crease vertically and then mark some tabs to go into the back piece.

I cut the card board with strong scissors and then taped the bottom of the sides to the bottom of the pocket.

Pocket measurements:
9.75" tall, but my other is 7.75" tall - The folders are a little taller on this new version because I decided not to cut the top of the cardboard and leave it as it was. The taller version hides what's inside, which could be a pro or a con
13" wide
sides are 3" at top and 2" at bottom

 I used spray adhesive to attach the cardboard to the fabric on the main surface and then used hot glue to secure the fold over parts on the back.
 

Once I spaced where the pockets would go, I used a box cutter and scissors to make slits big enough for the tabs to go through. Then I tapes the sides down with packing tape (duct tape would probably be a better choice, though.)

I hot glued on these label holders from Hobby Lobby - they're considered paper embellishments, so they are included in the 50% sale occasionally.

I attached it to the wall using nails in all four corners.

Linking to: Show and Share 283, Merry Monday 74,Wake Up Wednesday 90, FDTR 188,Wow Us Wednesday 243,Dream Create Inspire 18,

DIY Doors for IKEA Expedit Cubby Shelf

I have this wonderful IKEA Expedit Shelf Unit, which is fabulous for storage, but a bit of an eyesore with all of my junk on it.

I love the look of the Knipsa baskets, but there are 20 cubbys. That would really add up! And there are some things that I need stored here that just won't work in a basket. I decided to create a pattern by adding doors to every other cubby and use baskets in between.

First, I cut 10 doors. I often peruse the "as is" section at IKEA to pick up super cheap shelves to use on other projects. A while ago I stocked up on some square shelves that were $0.50 each! They were a little larger than the openings on the shelf and I wanted the doors to be inset in the cubby squares, so I cut the bottoms and left hand sides on the table saw so they were 13" x 13".

To attach them to the shelf, I used these:
CONCEALED EURO CABINET HINGES FULL HALF INSET OVERLAY FACE FRAME FRAMELESS   
They were $1 a piece on eBay as opposed to the $6.50 they are at Lowes!



The only problem with buying them on eBay is they don't come with any instructions to help you measure for attachment. This info can easily be googled, though :)
 

 

These hinges required me to drill holes in the door which showed through on the front a little, but I decided to cover the marks with an overlay design. I started by marking 1/2" from the edge.

Then I used some 1/4" poplar craft wood that's 1 1/2" wide. I was originally going to use giant paint sticks, but my store was out of them. I just kept marking, cutting, and using the wood width as a guide till I got a design I liked.

Then I sanded the edges and primed and painted the pieces.

I decided to use some mylar (affiliate link) in the background to create a "mirror" look. I had some leftover from a nightstand that I re-fabed. (You can read about that here.)

At this point I needed one more coat of paint, but since I was nailing the pieces on, I decided I would first attach the pieces to the door, fill the nail holes, and then add another coat.

Nail holes.

I filled the holes with some white spackling, sanded, and painted!

I decided to add these oval mason jar wooden labels (affiliate link) to the baskets. I spray painted them white and added some vinyl words. I used long brads to fasten them to the baskets.

It really cleans up the look of the room. 

Linking to: Link Party Palooza,That DIY Party, Something to Talk About Link Party 32, Merry Monday 69,Inspiration Monday 830,Show and Share 270, The Scoop 186, 283 Inspire me Tuesday, Inspire Me Monday 75, Tutorials and Tips 224, Be Inspired 176, FDTR 182, Wow Us Wednesday 237, Wake Up Wednesday 84, Dream Create Inspire, artsy-Fartsy Link Party, YTT 47, Creativity Unleashed, Remodelaholic September Link Party, Remodelaholic Ikea Hack Party,      

DIY Harry Potter Map Canvas

I've been looking for something large to cover some wall space in my Bonus Room, preferably a map. Since most of our books are in this room, I thought a literary map might be fun, but those can get pricey. Then I discovered a site called Spoonflower. It's a company that prints fabric. You can create your own design, upload an image, or select a design from the marketplace. You even select what type of fabric it's printed on. In the marketplace, I found some Harry Potter Map fabric!  I decided to make a wooden frame and wrap the fabric around it to look like a canvas.

One yard will give you two full maps, so I can either sell the second one or give it as a gift. I got basic cotton ultra and selected "yards (42" width)" under size and amount.

Here it is once I got it in the mail. As you can see, if I cut the two maps apart, there's not a whole lot of room left for wrapping it around a frame.

I decided to make my frame 16" x 39" so the image would be centered with enough room on the bottom to fold it over. This also allowed a tiny bit of room to stretch the fabric, so I could get a nice tight look. I used two 6' 1x2s and cut them together, so my sides would be exactly the same length.

I used 1/2" staples on the corners on the back of the frame.

I put the fabric through the dryer to help loosed the creases from being folded in the mail. Then I ironed it. Laying the image face down, I centered the frame as best as I could. I started with the bottom where I didn't have much extra fabric to wrap over. I did three staples on the bottom.

Then, pulling the fabric so it was pretty taut, I did three staples on the top.

Then I did the same thing with three staples on both sides. It was starting to look nice and tight in the middle!

I kept working my way out to the corners. Two staples on bottom, followed by two staples on the top, followed by two staples on the right, and then two on the left. It also helped to pull the fabric looking at the design on the sides to help keep it in a straight line.

Once I got to the corners, I tucked the bottom into the side and then folded the side under and over.

Then I trimmed some of the excess fabric along the wood.

And voila!

The detail on the map is really beautiful

It only took me about 20-30 minutes altogether to complete.

I love how it makes a large impact with the width, but it's not too tall, so it fits nicely on my short Bonus Room walls.

With shipping, the fabric ends up being $20.50. That's only $10.25 a map. Then with the cost of 1x2s and staples, it ends up being around $15 for one map!

Linking to: YTTS #41, Artsy Fartsy Link Party, Remodelaholic July Link Party, Link Party Palooza, That DIY Party, Show and Share 271, Merry Monday 64, Something to Talk About 27, Inspiration Monday 726, Inspire Me Monday 70, 278 Inspire Me Tuesday,The Scoop 181, Tutorials and Tips 219, Be Inspired 171, FDTR 178, Wow Us Wednesday, Wake Up Wednesday, Dream Create Inspire,