File Under “D” for “Done”

I Did-It-Myself! The filing cabinet is finally done! It took me 4 hours and 4 cans of spray paint, plus gold leafing, but it looks great! And is functional! So… how did my filing cabinet go from this….

To THIS?

I did some shit, that's how. Read on if you wish me to elaborate...

1. I bought and transported the filing cabinet home from a Thrift Shop (best $15 I’ve spent in a while).
2. I ignored it for a few weeks. (You can skip this step, but it’s pretty much central to my process).
3. I got out my DIY dream team (they don’t pay me to advertise for them, but maybe they should). Simple Green gets permanent marker off metal (but not plastic..) which is great because the combination for the safe was written on the door. (A terrible security feature, but useful since it was traveling the thrift circuit). Goo Gone (which is pretty much just orange oil) gets the stickers off. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers didn’t really come into play here, but I love them anyway. And a box cutter – honestly, the most useful, dangerous tool in my arsenal.

4. While I do like the Chargers (go bolts!) I do not "really, really, REALLY love golf", so the stickers were liars and had to go. Neither really fit into my design scheme, anyway. This is where the Goo Gone and box cutter come into play.

5. Ok, so, after I upgraded security by removing the combination to the safe and got the stickers off, I pulled out the drawers, shelves, and doors (except for the safe door which, sensibly, cannot be removed). Now when I say “I” removed these things, in this particular case I mean the hubs removed them as he shook his head at my protests that they “weren’t made to come out”. Then I (really me, this time) sanded the whole thing. Mostly to get the rust off, but there was a lot of paint happening too.
   
   Also, after disassembling, we found this nifty little thing stuffed in the back. No idea what it is, but I like it. 

6. I washed it with dish soap (I used Palmolive, but I’m pretty sure any kind will work) and water and dried it off with paper towels.
7. Then, I put down my canvas drop-cloth, because spray paint is messy, people.
8. Next, I masked over all the bits I didn’t want to spray paint. Specifically, the combination lock and the key hole, because that would cause some problems, but also the card holders on the front that really WEREN’T made to come out (sometimes I know these things).

9. At this point, I got my graffiti on. Or more, my careful application of spray paint. Black for the body, metallic for the drawers and door. I used Rust-o-leum because it’s basically the only spray paint I trust. You can use any kind you want, but when painting metal things, I just feel better when “rust” is in the name (as in won’t rust, rather than containing rust). Anyway, I used Pro-Enamel in Glossy Black and Hammered Metal Finish in Copper.
   
   Here’s a note, I bought a lightish-metal-color texture paint for the drawers/doors that looked ok, but I wasn’t sure about, since it was called Oatmeal and in my experience, oatmeal is not actually a metal. If you have this sort of feeling when buying something, listen to it. Because textured shiny beige is not pretty. And I had to go buy some copper. So if you feel that something seems kind of nonsensical—it probably is. That’s the take-home message here. Also, that oatmeal is non-metallic, and makes great cookies, but bad paint.
10. What was I doing? Oh yeah, so, I waited 15 minutes in between sides to paint the gloss black so I could turn the thing, but let it dry on the one unpainted side (the bottom) and at no point did a painted side get set on the drop cloth because it almost certainly would have f**ked that shit up.

11. Then, I waited overnight for it to dry. I’m pretty good at waiting (see my waiting room).
12. I waited another day to do this next step, because that's my thing, but you could do this on the same day if you're impatient(efficient/busy) like that. The handles on this thing were FIL-THY. Gross. So I grabbed the Simple Green and cleaned them.

13. Once they were clean and dry, I took my Krylon Gilding Pen and a dry small, stiff paint brush and painted and dry-brushed them gold (the dry brushing removes a lot of the paint and gives them a brushed nickel look- what I initially wanted for the doors, but c'est la vie). Anyway, give 'em a few minutes to dry and then put those bad boys back where they belong! (On the cabinet...)
14. And now…. Ta-Da!!!!!

And there you go!

The D.I.Y. Waiting Room

Not-so-surprising factoid of the day about yours truly: I love DIY projects. At least, I think I do. So far, I've completed the mural and stained and assembled an Ikea hutch (I'm counting it because of the "staining" step.) But here's the thing: I'm kind of lazy. Well-intentioned, but lazy. This is why my apartment is STILL renter's "what-are-you-hiding-under-that-semi-gloss" off-white. So... for all my anxiously awaited "projects".... I have a waiting room. Sometimes we call it a porch.

Below, for your viewing pleasure, I've captured our waiting room in all of it's leaf-strewn glory. (I didn't sweep for you because I didn't have advance notice that you were stopping by. That's how it works at casa de Weber).

Project #10 in the waiting room: the filing cabinet.
(Yes I'm starting with #10. Don't judge me.)



Here's kind of an inspiration board on what I'd like to do to said cabinet. I was going for a black-and-red lacquer look, but I'm kind of loving the bronze on the top right. What do you think?

Next up is a cluster of projects waiting patiently (does that make them "patients"?).



Project #1: Flower box planter? It was going to be a shelf, but I got over the idea before it went very far at all. At the moment it has been deputized as chief dirt receptacle. But down below I've posted what it might look like in a future space. If I ever stop being the Charles Manson of the plant world.

Project #2: Refinish table and paint seats of chairs turquoise. Or different colors. I need to make a decision before acting on this one. ADD is no joke, kids. Oh, look a butterfly!




Wait, what were we doing? Oh yeah!

Project #3-ish: is not really my project, but my landlord swears we're getting new windows soon, so yay!

Project #1 future:

But wait, there's more!



Project #6: This is a two-parter. The frame in the front needs to be turned into one of those cool chicken-wire-bulletin-board-thingies (That's the technical term). The frame behind it needs to be gotten rid of. I might take it to the thrift store tomorrow. I got it next to our dumpster, but quickly found I had no real use for it. The only problem is, my neighbor saw that I had it and said "I put that on the side because I KNEW somebody would love that picture." Frankly, the picture was never going to become part of the decor. Ever. But I'm too nice to put it back out by the trash now.

Project #7: I have no idea where to store this shit. It's a folding chair, a styrofoam headstone and a large plastic cauldron. It does not fit in any of my interior storage areas. It used to go in the outdoor storage we had in Northern California.... and now it's on the porch.

Project #6 future:

Hold on, we're not done, there's still more. (Why, yes, it is getting crowded in the waiting room. Thank you for noticing. Please take a number and we will get to you shortly).

Project #8: This is cool. These are going to be wall cubes. I'm going to stain them to match the aforementioned Ikea hutch and rub them down with mineral oil and hang them in the dining room. I'm very happy about this. I may even do it tomorrow.

Project #9: Does anyone know of any plants that need next to no sunlight? I wonder if orchids would thrive here... we have jasmine in the pots and it's slowly dying, despite the constant supply of miracle-gro that is sprinkled on them with water. (Though, to be fair, it isn't called miracle-don't-die). I've tried so hard with these guys. I planted them in wormy soil that I was told they would like. I punched holes in the bottom of their planters so they could drain. I even bought them little jungle-gyms to play on (or, you know, trellises to grow on. Whatever). We water them regularly with miracle-gro. Still, they insist on dying. Actually, I feel like I'm less of the Manson of plants and more like the Kevorkian of the flora kingdom.

Wow, that's a downer. You know what this post needs? A picture of my cat.

I swear he's a cat and not the emperor from Star Wars. (Just don't tell him that).





And there you go!

"Thrifting" in Southern California

I am a native of Southern California. There are many things to love about this place. The sun, the beach, the mexican food (!) the lack of "weather". It's lovely. But there's a dark, insidious underside. Thrifting.

In most of the country, I'm told, one can enter a thrift store and purchase an item for well under what it would cost new. The thrift stores in other parts of the nation, I am led to believe, understand that since they receive items for free, and since they are a charity, and since some of these items are damn beat-up, that they should sell them inexpensively and thus call themselves "Thrift Stores"- stores for the thrifty.

Southern California did not get the memo. Usually, when one enters a thrift store here, if it is indeed inclined to call itself a thrift store and not a "secondhand shop" or "boutique for pre-owned goods", they have one of two pricing issues.
1) They have entirely forgotten what "thrift" means and are now simply selling things at prices about on par with Target.
or
2) A schizophrenic Jekyll-and-Hyde type character is in charge of the pricing and will sell you a brand new lampshade for a quarter but the chipped and marred mirror in the corner will set you back a c-note.

On a recent adventure into one of the larger thrift stores, there was one loveseat (in moderate need of reupholstering) for $40 set next to another loveseat with broken wood carving at the top for $250.

So... while I theoretically like thrifting, in practice, it's often just frustrating.

But today.... oh today! I've been in search of a filing cabinet to replace the two plastic filing boxes I have sitting on top of each other in my living room. (See below for the awesome organization).



Anyway, I'm at the thriftier of the three thrift stores in my immediate area, the one that really "gets" what it's all about and I spot THE filing cabinet. Two filing drawers PLUS a catch-all drawer PLUS a locking cabinet door WITH a safe inside! A safe! And it was $14.99! So I scurry up to the front and immediately put the money down (no haggling on this one) and AS I'm buying it, a regular to the thrift store starts looking at it and they're like "Ohh. Miss Chang wants it" and I'm thinking 'That's too darn bad, it's mine'.... luckily, they're cool and understand that I'm supposed to own this wonder of organization. Miss Chang gives me the evil eye and I shrug, knowing I've won.

The only thing is... how to get it into the car. I drive a moderately old sedan with the kind of back doors that, for some reason, it was deemed should only open up to a 70-degree angle. So... we spent a while trying to get this thing into my car. Eventually, we just gave up and wedged it into the trunk, after I donated a few items that have been sitting in there for.... a bit (5 years?). I'm not quite sure why I felt I needed crutches in my car at all times, but they have been in the trunk since I sprained my ankle back in '07. Anyway, out they went and... are you ready for the magic?

Ta-daaa!

I only had to drive 2 miles with it. Of course, when I got home, my husband was still out so... I found some random neighbors to help me carry to my porch. I then baked them a pie to say thank you, cuz that's how I roll. (Also, I needed to get rid of some strawberries before they withered, but that'll be our little secret.)

Aaanyway. It' now on my porch. With 4 other projects I'm meaning to take on. But you wanna see what I have planned for it? Do ya? You do. This is just inspiration, it will obviously be wider and shorter, but this style (toned down a bit for my personal taste) will go very well in the living room with the lacquered silk fan and the cherry and rice paper room divider (that I use to hide storage boxes. I'll tell you the tale someday.)


And there you go. Have a lovely day!