The Latest: Feb 13, 2013

For years IKEA’s EXPEDIT has been a ubiquitous storage solution for homes everywhere. But recently the Swedish furnishing giant’s VITTSJÖ has been showing up more and more on my design radar. It doesn’t scream IKEA, and you’d never guess the system starts as low as under $50. The black metal and glass shelving system has a nice industrial quality on its own, but it seems to really shine when it’s given a bright coat of paint.

Tori was on the hunt for a new bed for her youngest daughter — her older daughter had a cool, unique bed, and she wanted to find something just as awesome for the younger one. So she found this plain headboard on Craigslist and gave it a playful new spin.A little paint, some stenciling, and some clever upholstering gave this headboard a totally new look! Now her daughter has a great colorful new bed, customized by her own mom.Thanks, Tori!

I purchased this 1960’s folding card table and chairs from an estate sale for $20. The table top and seats were covered in avocado vinyl that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since its last party, 40 years ago. The way the table is constructed, the center of the table top is level with the outer rim, therefore I couldn’t substitute tile or mosaic for the vinyl because it wouldn’t be level. The best solution I found was laminating fabric.