Hope all you east coasters were able to stay warm during the so called “blizzard.” I enjoyed the extra days off building snowmen, making snow angels and even going sledding. Hopefully this is the last of winter and the flowers can start growing now. Ok fine, wishful thinking! Today I am here to share a project I have been DYING to make! This one is strictly for the ladies! I’ve wanted a makeup vanity since forever! When I lived in my apartment there just wasn’t space for it and it wasn’t until we redid the guest room that I noticed the perfect spot to have one. Ladies, you are going to love this! The furniture itself is all from Ikea. The rest of the items needed can be purchased at your local hardware store. To create the storage part of my vanity I purchased two Ikea Alex 5 drawer units and one table top in high gloss white (47×23). After recruiting some help to put the drawers together, I had this. Because of where the bed comes out to I couldn’t center it which is why it is pushed all the way against the wall.

You can imagine how much that urks me but I have some ideas on filling that space to the right. Now the next part is the fun part. Blue And White Bedding Ralph LaurenIt requires a little bit of electrical work but I promise you can totally do it. Nike Baby Shoes SingaporeHere is what you’ll need:Laminate Flooring On Carpet Pad Since the lights are meant to be hardwired we need to convert them to be plug ins. The first thing you need to do is remove the socket part of the extension cord. With your wire cutters you’re just going to snip it right off. Next, using the wire cutters or a wire stripping tool you need to remove some of the plastic coating and expose the wires inside. If you’re using your wire cutter be sure not to cut the wire, just the plastic coating.

On the back of the wall lamp you will notice three wires, black, white, and yellow. You will be using only the black and white wires. The yellow is the ground wire. You can wrap the end of that with electrical tape. Now on your extension cord you will notice that one side (wire) is smooth and one side is rigid. Taking the white wire, you’re going to wrap it around the wire with the rigid side. Once it’s all wrapped, cap it with the wire cap. Next, take the black wire and wrap it around the wire with the smooth side. After this your lights should work once you plug them in! Once you’ve removed the yellow wire you can use some pliers to try to remove the piece of metal that is on the back.  Since you want your wall lamp to sit flush against your wall you’ll want it as flat as possible. Repeat these steps for the second light. Using electrical tape to hold everything down and making your marks you can now screw in your pluggable lights! Just hang the mirror and then place your lights on either side.

I plugged the cords into a power strip and just hit the red button when I want to turn the lights on. To say I am obsessed is an understatement. I’m so happy to finally have a place to organize all my hair and makeup products and tools.The drawer units allow for so much storage it’s crazy!  I’m not even close to being done organizing it all but I don’t mind spending all my time here! Do you love it as much as I do! The best part is how affordable it is. The mirror and lights will cost you less than $80 which is great considering similar mirrors and lights like this one go for $400! If you decide to make one, which you 100% should, I’d love to see it! I’m currently working on a little gallery wall to go above the vanity as well. Stay tune for that!Plain large mirrors / brand new Selling 3 x 75cm x50cm mirrors . This are spare mirrors from IKEA pax wardrobe, happy to see all or individual. And so it began.  My staircase was flat out BORING.  I was planning on creating a picture gallery up the stairs to fill in the blank walls but something just didn't feel right. 

I love me a beautiful gallery wall and had one in my apartment but visually in my mind it felt too cluttered since this space is also part of the dining room. The new plan was to create a large mirror with an aged look for the bottom of the stairs and then just a few pictures and prints going up the stair wall to keep things simple. The mirror was completed and hung yesterday and I am head over heels for this baby.  Yes I could have gone out and bought a mirror, been done with it and had it hanging weeks ago but there is no way I would feel the amazing sense of pride I get right now looking at it knowing I created this with my own two hands. I scoured Craigslist looking for mirrored closet doors that I could take the frames off of and use just the mirror portion for this project, I got that idea from this inspiration picture: via Shanna & Jamie on Pinterest Anyway, finding closet doors was not happening so I turned to my trusty friend, Ikea.  This place never fails...except on a Saturday when everyone is off work and seems to take up residence there. 

I found the Stave mirror for $49.99 and examined it to make sure I could get the frame off before purchasing.  All the glass was held in with was some glue/silicone and staples.  I snatched her up and headed home.  I admit, this part scared me because even though this mirror was incredibly inexpensive for its size, I did not want to break it while taking the frame off. All I can say is to take your time.  I used a razor blade to cut around the back of the frame and separate the glue from the mirror and used a flat head screw driver to bend all the staples back. After sweating and praying that this would all come out in one piece, this is what I had.  I used a bathroom rug to set it on so it would have a soft pad and so it wouldn't slip on the floor. I decided to go with pine boards and individually chose each board to make sure they were super knotty.  You will see how these knots look stained in a little while but let's really get into the steps of bringing this monster to life.

What you will need: -Inside frame: four 1x6 eight ft. pine panel boards -Outside frame: four 1x6 eight ft. boards -Wipe on stain, color of choice -Miter saw (make sure you have one that can cut all the way through the width of the wood #1: Purchase four 8ft 1x6 pine paneling boards.  They have this groove in them that I figured would be perfect to slide my mirror into.  I liked this idea much better than trying to glue the mirror to the wood and hoping it doesn't fall off.  This groove would make sure the mirror stayed secure for all of eternity (sorry I know this is slightly blurry, the next picture should help give you an idea of what it looks like). #2: Break out your amazingly stunning chop saw.  Finally I get to put her into action!  Thank you Uncle John for giving this to me, I will take very good care of it and cut everything in sight! #3: 45 degree angles galore.  That is all the cutting for this project consisted of, I was happy with the ease of measuring for my first woodworking project.

If you don't have a saw yet, let me recommend one with a laser, it helps out in so many ways.  You can be confident you are cutting exactly where you measured.The bottom piece that the mirror sat in was uneven.  A co-worker of mine recommended using my Dremmel sander to sand inside the groove, ummm genius!  So I did exactly that and the mirror fit like a glove.  Thank god because if I have to buy another piece of wood and start over you may have been seeing this Swoon girl on the news..... and not for anything good. #7: All I did here was make sure the fourth side that was not secured yet (remember, you still have to slide the mirror in) still matched up with the two shorter sides.  Thank you all for your advice last week, I took it!  The walnut stain was perfect and looks gorgeous against my rice grain wall. The rag must have been happy with it too because this is what I saw after I opened it up!  Exactly how I felt too friend :) #11: Last step is to hang the mirror.