Revival of a Metal Shelf

Hey Revivalists!

Is revivalist a word? I'm going to guess that it is and have no regrets. Today's project has made me giddy with glee because 1) I love free things, especially free furniture, and 2) I love,  repeat: LOVE, making the old new again, and that's exactly what I have done with this old metal shelf I found laying in the street one day. Picture evidence:

It was just standing there on the sidewalk. I checked for moving trucks or other signs that may have led me to believe that it was meant to be picked up soon, but after waiting around for a while I gathered that it was a genuine curb alert so I packed it into my car. This is what it looked like once I dusted it off and displayed it in my house:

It's kind of nice, but it lacked a certain presence. Now, I had recently been flipping through the old CB2 catalogue (as us furniture whores are apt to do) and I had been inspired by the metal shelf in this picture:

Here is a closeup of the shelf in orange. 

Yep. Orange. So as I'm flipping through the CB2 catalogue, wanting everything in it, but not having bags of money to spare, I thought, "Hey, I can probably make a good stand-in for this shelf with the free metal shelf that I already have!" So I went to Home Depot, and got to work. Steps below!

1. Pick a color. I chose to use Rustoleum gloss spray paint because it protects against rust and the gloss finish will add a nice shine to the finished product. 

2. Clean and sand your metal of debris. I used the finest grade sandpaper I could find at Home Depot. The purpose of this is to basically scratch up the surface of your metal (although you're not really scratching it because the sandpaper grade is so very fine) so that you have a nice smooth surface to work with. The primer and the paint will stick nicely to a finely sanded surface and fill out smoothly in the end. 

3. Primer your surface. The purpose of the primer is to create a nice base for your paint. The primer will completely cover the original color of your furniture and make a nice canvas to paint on. It also makes the color of your final paint more vibrant true to it's intended hue. With spray paint, you are basically creating a cloud of paint that will flow in whichever direction the wind blows, including in your air passages SO it's best to work outdoors in a well ventilated area far away from any furniture, plants, homes etc. It's also a good idea to wear a painters mask and goggles as this stuff is toxic. I would also HIGHLY recommend a durable canvas drop cloth, as the cheap plastic ones I used did not hold up against the spiky legs of the metal shelf. 

4. Have patience. Pay close attention to the dry times on the instructions to your primer. This stuff matters. If you are primering your shelf at 3:00 PM and hope to have the whole thing ready by 8:00 PM when your guests arrive, you are delusional. The primer will dry quicker than your final coat of paint, but the whole thing will take 24-48 hours to fully dry and in the meantime it will give off some pretty toxic fumes so it's best to keep it outdoors. 

5. ORANGE you glad you made it this far? Again, once you are done, it could take up to 48 hours to completely dry. 

6. Clear coat. Now, I am not an expert in putting on a protective clear coat. I think the problem I ran into was that I was putting it on too heavy too early after I applied my coat of orange. The result was that the clear coat would puddle up and then crack and peel... NOT the result I wished for my beautiful orange metal shelf. I waited longer for the orange to dry then eased up on the glossy clear coat. 

7. Once it's dry, it's time to lug this thing inside and put stuff on it! I think the shelf now has that presence as pop that I had wished for it. 

Los Angeles Storybook: Volume I

Hey Peeps, 

So I just signed a lease to a new apartment, or duplex rather, in the East Hollywood area. The neighborhood isn't too pretty, but the house itself is a little oasis with a private yard and TWO parking spots... rare for Los Angeles. Anyway, on my drive back to my current residence in Faircrest Heights, I took a drive through Hancock Park, an architecturally rich neighborhood in LA sandwiched between Beverly Hills and Korea Town, then s'mored between Hollywood and Miracle Mile. After drooling over some picturesque vintage apartment buildings, I decided to pull over and take some pictures. 

North Sycamore Avenue, Hancock Park, Los Angeles

What struck me about this building was the tower that looked like... well, Rapunzel's tower. I don't even know the name of this type of tower that sticks out the side of a building. It's not a gable, battlement or parapet. It's more like a turkish minaret but not quite. If anyone knows, enlighten me!


*UPDATE* It's a turret! It was on the tip of my tongue. Thanks, dad, for reminding me. 

North Sycamore Avenue, Hancock Park, Los Angeles

Beautiful, eh? In my travels around LA, I see this type of architecture all the time especially in areas like Beverly Hills adjacent, Hancock Park, and Silverlake. I'm amazed at the fact that people actually used to build stuff like this (you know, with care and craftsmanship...) but then it seems that throughout the 70's and 80's hardly any craft was put into the building of housing establishments. I feel like this particular building is where Cinderella's stepsisters would have lived, or perhaps this is just the Beast's guesthouse. 

What's interesting is this: We're Los Angeles... we're relatively new. There are "fairy tale" buildings in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere that practically could have inspired actual fairy tales or been around when they were written. In Los Angeles, we just have imitations... but I think that's part of what makes LA unique. We are the plaster and plywood fairy tale, or at lease we're striving to be. As for fairy tale fodder, there are more dreams here than could possibly ever come true. I digress...

Le Borghese Apartments, North Sycamore Avenue, Los Angeles

Here is another gem I found on North Sycamore Drive. It's an enclosed apartment building called "Le Borghese". I wish I had more pictures, but being enclosed, it was hard for me to snap a good one of the courtyard. Instead, I'll lead you to this post at iamnotastalker.com where there are many pictures and information about Charles Gault, the architect. 

Keep an eye out for Los Angeles Storybook: Volume II because I'll have a lot more pictures to post of enchanted storybook dwellings in Los Angeles. 

ciao.

Man Crafts: Customizing Match Books

Hey Folks!

So today's project is inspired by my dad who recently presented me with an interesting gift. It's a sort of mango green, vintage ash-tray from the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, France. It holds special interest for him because 1. The Hotel Martinez bears our family name and 2. Apparently, there is a famous photograph of 50's/60's actress Brigitte Bardot taken in front of the Hotel Martinez while she was in Cannes. My dear old dad has begun a small collection of memorabilia from Hotel Martinez and he even gave me an actual room key from the hotel! The stamp on the bottom of the ash tray reads: F.P.P. Villauris, France. 

Anyway... I don't smoke (often) and even if I did, I'm not sure I'd want to be ashing my butts out in this really beautiful piece of history. Since I believe in functionality (you know like ash trays that aren't just meant to be looked at) I'm going to be customizing my very own match books to store inside this beauty! It's easiest project in the world, and fun too!

Supplies Needed: 

• Old magazines with lots of cool pictures
• Match books the from the dollar store
• Scissors
• Glue
• A Pencil

Step by Step:

1. Find a picture that you like in a magazine. I chose several pictures from SWELL which is a surf/skate mag and has a lot of cool pictures of surf prints, beach design and various other interesting images. 

2. Trace your template onto the design which you will end up adhering to your match book.

3. Cut, baby, cut. 

4. Use your glue stick, mod podge or other type of glue to smother the face of your match book. 

5. SECOND TO LAST STEP! I told you it was easy. Simply press your cut-out image onto the glued up match book and let it sit to dry for a few minutes. 

6. Remember I talked about functionality in design? Well since I don't want to use this ash tray for putting out cigarette butts, I'm going to use it to hold my custom made match books. Simply arrange your new set of match books in the ash tray to make 'em look all nice and stuff. If you collect match books from hotels, bars or restaurants, this is also a cool way to display them.

Have fun!