The completion of this weekend's project marks an end to the evolution of our downstairs space. It has been a slow process that at times had little direction but I knew we could make it a space with purpose and personality. I shared with Dan my vision of some sort of storage/seating unit and how I thought it could pull the hanging vases and our our new display frame together to be a functionally cozy place.
Here are a few pictures that inspired me as I started searching for ideas to make our own-
When I showed Dan, he was convinced that we could somehow create a version of my inspiration from two unused and unfinished wine racks that had been collecting dust (and cat hair) in our garage. I originally thought it was a long shot but figured it would be a fun project to take on and kept my fingers crossed that it would be the answer I had been looking for.
The first step was to cut out a section in the bottom of the taller rack to make room for a storage basket-
Dan is becoming a wiz with our numerous saws and used our handy jig saw to quickly remove a few rungs that would provide some of the storage I was looking for. After they were cut, he secured them with a piece of particle board that was also just hanging around in the garage. (This project has been Dan's argument for the reason he throws nothing away...you never know when we may need it!) I had also just been given an old basket from my go to trash-to-treasure helper Karen Schneeberger that I thought would be a perfect fit after a coat of spray paint...
Once the larger wine rack went through its minor facelift we were ready to get painting. I had been stewing over colors for about a week when I suddenly decided on what I wanted- a burnt orange. We knew the most efficient way to get these pieces painted was going to be spray paint; there were far too many small areas and sides to attempt to cover the entire surface with a paintbrush. So we set out for our first purchase of this DIY project to grab a few cans of spray paint.
Dan had come up with a great idea to stain the tops of the wine racks instead of painting them so we taped those off first then got to spraying. After a quick priming, I was excited to get the color on but the first spray of orange that I did sent me into serious doubt. Orange? What was I thinking? It looked like neon Auburn Tiger orange, not the warm burnt orange color I had envisioned and that the spray paint cap had led me to believe. Dan took the can from me and confidently finished the job. I watched hoping the stain and the dim, indoor lighting would work a miracle on this potential disaster.
When the paint was dry, we stained the tops. Another hour of drying and we were ready to move these pieces inside and see what we had to work with. Once they were in place and properly accessorized with colored glass bottles, keepsake wines and other trinkets, I was in love! It was exactly what I wanted and the color really was perfect- I've learned I need to work on trusting my gut, so far it hasn't led me astray.
The only part left unfinished is a small cushion I plan to make to fit on the top of the smaller rack where a wire basket is currently holding its place. That will give us the seating portion of our storage/seating unit and our space will be COMPLETE (finally)!
Here is how our space started, what it looked like in transition, and the (almost) final product-
View coming down the stairs
View coming in from garage door
Front and center
Picture perfect! And price perfect, too- spending Christmas lottery ticket money on our spray paint and using stain and materials we already had on hand made this project virtually free!
