The Shelf that Style-Slapped Me

Y'all, it's gettin' all DIY Dirrrrrty up in HERE! Uh huh! One of my collections needs a serious real estate upgrade in our salon/office. YES betch, we call the second living room/office our salon-- y'all don't? I mean. My vintage Dansk cast iron candleholders need a new perch-- There's at least 15 in the hoard, prob more. Here's what they look like now, more or less:

That's the LESS shot, b/c what y'all don't see is how they're all kinds of jimmy-jammed together so closely they're pretty much stacked atop one another across the entire length of that 6' long slate ledge. And there's some on an adjacent bookcase. And some tucked inside a drawer. And on the bar cart. Y'all get the point.

I've always been a big believer in making my walls WERK for me-- esp. in a NYC apt, where floorspace is limited and/or there's no furniture to properly display a 15+ collection-- say, a 20' dining table, or 15' wide china cabinet, for instance. Y'all feel me. Initially I was thinking a glass shelf b/c the candleholders are so sculptural, viewing them from below, as well as front view, seemed way cool to me. But that's a logistical nightmare beyond belief b/c y'all did see that part above wherein the words, CAST IRON were typed, yes? That wasn't just me trying to be all 'fancy descriptive writer'...this shiot is HEAVY. Then I thought of a reclaimed wood shelf, like everyone else on planet earth...and I do live in Brooklyn, where it seems to grow. But I can't get on board with that. Pun intended-- comedy GOLD! Same with metal, b/c y'all know, vintage industrial...blah blah...BLART yourselves! What to do? THIS!:

That fine hunk of man is holding a lucite shelf! WHAT?! Also known as plexi-glass or acrylic. This bad boy was found recently at a salvage surplus building materials store called, Big Reuse. And the shiot cost $5!!!!!! Shut the F&*K YOU, I'm not kidding! 8' long by 6.5" wide by 1/4" thick. $FIVE DOLLAS. Let's get another look at that value nonsense:

OK, so, y'all see my glass shelf dreamzzz are totally becoming fulfilled with this piece of plexi-glass perfection, yes? It's not quite as wide as I'd like, but for $5, baby can WERK with it. Now, how to hang it safely and chic-ly? Y'all are gonna have to check back into the 'dazzle a little later for that...trust that there's all kinds of hanging shelf realness that y'all don't want to miss...oh, and happy Friday-- time to rage 'til the break of dawn!

Another day, another Alchemy Eclectic interior...

Y'all are lookin' at a screen grab of one of the shots (by fab photog Kelly Marshall) from another one of my interior projects:

This is a detail pic of a bar, that I made from an old armoire from Salvation Army...

Check back soon for the hawt REVEAL shots of the rest of the space! HOLLA!

Free Shiot Friday!!!

Can someone please grab this free shiot off the street and change YOUR LIFE??:

This cabinet is screaming to get painted in a fun color and then serve yo ass in the kitchen as extra work surface/storage, the dining room as a server/buffet or in the living room as a media console/credenza/ or an entryway table...

Point is: pieces like these are workhorses. They're uber-functional and can look chic too, with some quick paint lovin'...and being free means you can't go wrong no matter what. Free workhorses...that's the kind of horse I like to ride!!! I mean. What a great way to start a weekend! Savor it, y'all!

Ring Ring!

This is happening:

This baby was scored off Craigslist! She's one of two vintage phone booths-- thanks New Jersey!!!-- that are being primarily repurposed as privacy booths in a new open loft office design project i'm doing! I mean, it's like CAKE, right?

I'm painting the interiors, gasp phone-booth-o-philes and eventually we're going to retrofit the light and even wire them with the company's phones! For now, employee peeps will just use their cellphones to make those delicate calls...like, to their drug dealers! AMAZE! Stay tuned for more process shots of wonder! And happy FRIDAY!!!

Grocery Cart Goes Glam!

Y'all, I've had this amazing vintage shopping cart for almost a year:

Such an amazing score!

And honestly, she's just so chic, AS IS, sitting all side table-like in the corner of my salon-- uh huh, I typed salon-- but that's just way too easy for the likes of me. This gal is becoming our new bar cart! Oh shiot, y'all were just style-slapped!!!

I'm going to have glass custom cut for the bottoms of each of the basket levels, so they become usable/level surfaces from which to get my drink on. Bottoms? Basket? This post sure is gettin' good, y'all-- damn! And I'm not even done yet!

Once I add my bar (bottles, ice bucket, maybe some glassware, cocktail napkins, etc) and viola...it's happy hour!!! This is probably one of the easiest repurposing projects I'll ever do...so, naturally it's taken almost a year to get done, but whatev's...it's going to be amazing, so stay tuned to get some hot AFTER reveal action, y'all!