Apartment Projects

Let's not fool ourselves...unless you are in New York City where it is the norm, apartments suck. They are bland, white, asbestos ridden and bleak, no matter how often the gardener leaf-blows at 7 am or they replace the 80's linoleum with 21st century linoleum. It's up to the creative of minds to make it feel like home, and we usually don't have a lot of money to do it in. This month I decided to create a new wine bar and fancy looking tub bench seat like those awesome teak ones they sell in Sky Mall.

First up was the bench seat...I love taking baths, but hate looking at the gross corner mildew that nothing seems to get rid of, short of calling up the property manager and not being able to shower for several days while the caulking cures. My philosophy? Just hide it! I thought by creating a cool bench seat I could make the boring white tub/white fake tiles a little more interesting and spa like, so we picked up a batch of 1x1 (4ft long) redwood planks from Home Depot, and with some wood screws and water-proof stain we were done! It some how came out a little crooked (using the wrong edge as a spacer) but we're gonna shave off the edges with a chop saw, problem solved.

TO PINTEREST PEEPS: Sorry I do not have a step by step on this, it was very simple cuts using a chop saw and then short wood screws. It's very simple measuring from edge to edge of the tub, using a spacer to get the right slats between the boards, then using the leftovers as the 'grounders' underneath holding it all together. I highly recommend using a very water proof stain or polyurethane, as the normal outdoor deck stain tends to run off with the water hitting it constantly. Still way better than those pricey teak ones online!

Nice 'spa' wooden bench seat for only a few bucks!

Looked even nicer in my Mom's bathroom! (Build Location)

Second project was getting rid of my old rickety metal and glass wine bar that I always precariously run into in the middle of the night, jangling the glasses and scaring the crap out of me. Plus it took up what seemed to be an out-of-the-way corner near the kitchen but it just wasn't working out. Since I already had a nice free buffet hutch, I decided to purchase a $40 wall unit from Amazon and do some cute wine inspired decorations...but nothing overtly cheesy.

All I needed was a table runner, and a plate stand for the cool "Zinfandel" trivet my mom got me, and I already had the cool glass decanter and kept my favorite wine corks inside as a display. The rest I saved for my wall/table art.

Then I got to work on making my wine cork art, so I productively spent my work hours hunting for a blank wine bottle graphic and added in the text/color myself using Photoshop. I really wanted "In Wine We Trust" vs. the typical "In Wine, Truth", but "In Vino Nos Confidimus" didn't really fit in the graphic. Then I printed it out and taped it inside an existing picture frame I had without the glass, then glued my horde of wine corks onto the edges as a frame. Insta-art, to showcase  my unhealthy relationship/obsession with wine. It's currently propped up on the table after drying, but it can be used as a tray or hang on the wall like a picture, I haven't decided.