moroccan breakfast nook.

When my girlfriend Kristen moved into her charming Spanish bungalow style apartment, there were little quirky things we thought were charming.  One of these weird gems was a small nook with open shelves, dividing a little work-space from the walk-in closet area (which we quickly named furniture purgatory).  "Cute," we thought.  "We can come up with some cool way to use this."

We came up with nothing.

After months and months, it still remained an awkward see-through shelving area, where you could see all our random workout shit and extra furniture from the living area.  To make matters worse, it stood opposite a "desk space" created where a closet probably used to be.  The desk was too high with a chair underneath, so it morphed into a place to pile bills and to put the cat food.

See photos below.  Embarrassing, but accurate.

"Let's make it a little breakfast nook," said Kristen one morning.  I paused.

"This is why I love you.  Because you are a genius."

So, I bought cheap curtains from TJ Maxx.  Bright yellow ones.  2 styles.  2 pairs of simple through-the-rod hemmed style, 2 pairs grommet style.  "Ah ha," I thought.  I could just use some tension shower rods to hang them from.

So I bought 3 tension rods in the shower aisle from Home Depot (otherwise known as Lesbian Mecca).

I put two shower rods on each side, just high enough so the 84" hemmed drapes brushed the floor when I hung them. 

Then for the "tent" part, I layed 2 panels out as if I were going to sew them together, grommet to grommet.  I did the same with the next 2 panels.  Then I used the remaining tension rod as the "sewing needle", weaving it in and out through the grommets. 

I carefully hung the rod and put the draped fabric over the existing rods.

I added a few finishing touches to our corner, inlcuding a pendant lamp from MyHabit, hung with a zip-tie:

An abstract drawing I composed in art school five years ago...

Some mid-century walnut salt & pepper shakers.

Below see where I found all the components to this nuggety little moroccan nook.

Peweter crocheted poufs, CB2- $89.95.

Square walnut 1960's coffee table, Pasadena City College Flea Market- $40.00.

Mid-century salt & pepper shakers, Pasadena City College Flea Market- $15.00.

Abstract print- my own.

Silver frame- Habitat for Humanity store- $10.00.

Canary yellow drapes, TJ Maxx- $14.99 a pair.

Tension shower rods, Home Depot- $8.99 each.

Industrial gold pendant light, MyHabit.com- $89.99.



making an old-ass shower look new.

I moved into this charming brick 1920's apartment above the shops in East Hollywood about 2 years ago.  The owner re-did the floors and restored the original hardwood... "My own little gem!", I like to think of it as.

Everything was workable.  The old cupboards, the ugly drapes-- it could all be fixed to fierceness.  The one thing I couldn't figure out is how to re-work the bathroom, but moreso the nasty tile situation in the bath/shower.

Back in the day when they grouted it, they chose a sandy color in between the bright white tiles.  Over the years, it has turned into quite the less-than-chic dusty mustard hue. 

No matter how much I cleaned it, my shower never felt clean.

"Re-grout!" I thought.  "Let's regrout the shower."  So, I began one of the messier projects I've done and went apreshit with bright white grout.  It seemed like a genius idea.

However, re-grouting is only useful if the existing grout is not flush with the tile.  If I thought it through prior to going apeshit, I may have realized this.

Alas.

I came up with one of the best and easiest ways to make old tile grout look brand new. 

Paint it.

This sounds like a horrible idea, but it's a fun, messy project that's actually really easy.  Use your fingers, and massage the paint into the grout.  If you get paint on the tile, it's fine, as just like grout it will wipe off with some spray and a cloth.

Check out the BEFORE and AFTER.



BEFORE



AFTER



AFTER

AFTER