How Riveting ||Flip List Item No.3||
As of today, I'm officially down to the last two items of my Furniture Flip Bucket List - with only two months left in the year to complete. Huzzah!
Not sure why I ended up working backwards on this list, but since January 2015, I've crossed off items:
No.6
No.5
No.7
No.4
and now No.3: Rivet Something!
So to recap, a Riv·et (noun) is a short metal pin or bolt beaten or pressed down used for holding together two plates of metal [or other material] together. I got my first rivet gun for Christmas and am ashamed to say I only JUST freed it from it's clam shell packaging for this project. I claimed I was waiting for "the perfect occasion to break it in." But the truth is I was scared.
Now there's really no reason to be intimidated by a rivet gun. In fact, just about the only intimidating thing about this tool is the word gun in the title haha - it's not even a power tool and only costs $10 bucks! But I confess breaking out a new tool I've never used before can make me second guess my skills. But when I finally got an idea on how to use it, I sat down and watched a couple youtube videos to bolster my confidence and was ready to [timidly] roll.
The "worthy project" was an 80's style patio cart I acquired in early October. It was a white powder-coated steel that almost looked like PVC pipe instead of metal. It was tragic.
Plain Jane no?
My first instinct was to go gold using our beloved faux gold finish technique. But when I finished painting it, it felt flat to me. I wanted to add something special to make it feel more... finished.
This is when I realized I already had just the tool for the job: my riveter.
Supplies needed:
Metal bar cart
Leather
Rivet Gun/ Riveter
Pop Rivets
Power Drill (not pictured)
Step 1: drill a pilot hole in the center of the handle.
Step 2: Line up the center of edge of the leather strip on the hole in the metal and drill a matching pilot hole in the leather.
Step 3: Load your rivet gun with a pop rivet (watch this video if you needed help like me) and thread the pop rivet tip through your pilot holes, pressing the tip of the rivet gun up against the cart.
Step 4. Squeeze the handles of your rivet gun until you hear the rivet "pop" (hence the name pop rivet). When you pull the gun away, you should see the flattened tip of the rivet, securely fastening your leather to the metal.
Step 5: using the center rivet as an anchor, wrap the leather around the handle - pulling it tight as you go. I cut my leather long enough to cover the center rivet and end almost at the underside of the handle so the seam will be hidden when I'm finished. Then working from the outside in, repeat steps 1-4 all along the seam until the leather is completely riveted in place.
In retrospect, it would have been easier to do this treatment with wide leather cording and wrap around the handle several times - you would only need a rivet to anchor at the beginning and one to finish at the end. Maybe I'll try that next time ;)
I also added leather cuffs to the feet of the cart to give it a bit more... masculinity. I'm hoping it'll attract a buyer like Marshall's leather cuff did Lily (How I Met Your Mother fans...?).
I love the two tiers of textured glass.
Leather Wrapped Bar Cart
$160
SOLD
And hey friends! We are looking for fellow leather-lovers to share more leather decor crafts on StyleMutt Home. If you have a project to share, tag your pics with #stylemuttsloveleather and let's get this party started!
Reader Design: Amy's Perfect Imperfection
It'sssssssssssssssssssssssss Friday! And I'm particularly excited about sharing today's reader design because of the heart behind this home in Minneapolis, MN: Amy from Modern Chemistry at Home. While emailing back and forth with Amy about sharing her style mutt space on the blog, it became very apparent she's a kindred spirit. Much like us, her desire is to see people encouraged and empowered in their own home decorating. She too believes that creating is a form of worship. But like many forms of worship it can be too easy to get caught up in the beauty of what you're creating instead of why you're creating it. We just love how Amy has made it her mission to embrace her home's imperfections and create a real, raw, and inviting space.
From Amy:
Hello, everybody! My name is Amy, and I really am a style mutt. In fact, my blog (Modern Chemistry at Home) got its name partly because my husband and I have very different tastes and my decorating is something like a chemistry experiment as we merge our styles.
My style perspective has definitely changed over the years. My point of view has developed through having children and learning to think about function just as much as how a space looks.
I’m definitely drawn to spaces that have a mixture of styles. Some of my favorites include Midcentury and Scandinavian Modern, but I also really enjoy children’s spaces and would seriously put pretty much anything from Land of Nod in my living room or bedroom.
I love a cheerful room. Natural light, lots of white, fun patterns, and bright colors speak to me. Clearly, my decorating isn’t too serious!
And a big part of my story as we renovated and decorated our fixer-upper is how God worked in my heart to help me be content and understand that my identity is not in how my home looks. Our home is a place to raise our littles, live life together, and bless others through hospitality. It can be beautiful, but perfection isn’t my goal.
There are quite a few things in our home that I inherited from my grandparents. There is a special joy in decorating with these furnishings.
GASP! I must have this entire vignette - especially those bookends!!!!
One of my favorites is the big dresser in our bedroom. My sister-in-law discovered that it is probably an Empire style dresser. The shape is so lovely!
My favorite DIY might be the white bookshelves a friend helped me build. They flank the fireplace in our living room and I just love them so much. It’s satisfying to make something with your own two hands!
Well done Amy - those bookshelves look like they should've come with the house!
And my favorite room is probably the nursery. Again, I enjoy children’s spaces because they are often so bright and cheerful.
Decorating this room helped me develop my style and gain some confidence. So with this room as a sort of guide for how I wanted the rest of our home to feel, I reworked other spaces in my home that didn’t feel right to me. I made a lot of mistakes the first time around! But the process of trial and error can be really enjoyable—in hindsight, after we get it right. ;)
I just love decorating creatively and it is my heart to help and encourage others to do the same.
Thank you Amy for so sweetly inviting us into your perfectly imperfect home. Follow Amy @modernchemistryathome for more decor goodies and check out her full home tour on her fabulous website!
You want in on this? Submit to #stylemuttspaces for your chance to be featured in a Friday Reader Design. No design experience necessarily you just got to love your space and what to share it ;)
