Pinterest Tile Painting

Welcome, I’m glad you’ve stopped by again.

Autumn has been setting in here in Coventry. The leaves are lining the streets with an array of colours, and the morning frost is reminding us of what is to come. Wherever you are, I hope the weather is good.

This week it’s Pinterest Tile Painting. You’ve probably seen that Mediterranean tiles are on trend. I wanted to buy some for my kitchen, but the tiles that I have were in pretty good condition when I moved in. As you probably know patterned tiles can be quite pricey.

Whilst adding to my Pinterest boards I found this Pin. When I saw it, it was one of those moments when you think to yourself, ‘Why did I not think of this myself?’ It is genius, honestly. Why buy new tiles, when I can just paint over them? All I had to do was buy the paint and a stencil. If you know me, I’m quite indecisive when buying things. It took me a while to buy the stencil, but it was a bargain. 99p from eBay. I also bought some Tile paints, which were £3.99 each. The colour scheme for my kitchen is Saffron yellow, grey and white. As my appliances are grey, I bought yellow, grey paint and a clear lacquer. The lacquer is to seal the paint.

This project is very simple, but I went through a lot of trial and error. Here were the problems I faced:

The paint kept bleeding. Even though I had a stencil, the paint would bleed under the stencil and would not maintain the shape of the pattern. I tried painting with artists paint brushes, by doing strokes. I tried dabbing the paint against the tiles, it didn’t work. I then made my own stencil and applied the paint to the stencil to then transfer it on the tile. This one wasn’t brilliant, it kept the shape but the paint was rather translucent. Which lead to problem number 2.
The paint was translucent. Using the stencil was hard enough already, but to have to paint over and try to put the stencil back in the exact same spot, was going to be tricky. I gave this project a rest for a few weeks whilst trying to wrack my brains on how to make it work.

Weeks later I resolved the problem. I think I was watching an episode of Mr.Kate and she used a sponge to do some painting. So I went to my cleaning cupboard and got a household sponge. I also bought a small sample tub of grey emulsion paint (£1.) I mixed the emulsion paint with the tile paint to thicken it so that it would lose its transparency. After prepping the wall (cleaning the tiles with anti-bacterial and sticking the stencil on,) I dabbed the paint onto the tiles with the sponge. There was less bleeding and less transparency. I was, and I mean it; streaking with joy.

I worked along the bottom row of tiles, painting them alternately, and then did the same to the top row. As mentioned before the plan was to also use yellow paint, which would have been for the middle row but I abandoned this. I would have been too busy.

I tried to paint behind one of the electrical points in my kitchen, and then struggled to get the fixture back in place. This was another abandoned mission. I let the paint dry for a day or two and then painted over with the lacquer so that when regularly wiping the tiles down, it wouldn’t cause the paint to chip or rub off. This week’s project cost me £9.97 (minus the yellow paint.) I don’t know how much I would have spent on Tiles, but this was less expensive.

I hope you like the tiles, let me if you have tried something similar or going to try it. Next time I’ll be showing you my idea’s for my new kitchen. See you soon!

Nik-Cre – ‘Making life-less rooms into living rooms.’

Lebus Furniture Revamp

Welcome back to Nik-Cre. I’m so glad you stopped by again.

This week we’re working with retro antiques, teak wood, sandpaper, turpentine and danish oil. Yes, you may be a little bit confused; but these are the ingredients of my upcycling project.

“It’s nice, but I really want one with legs.” This is the sentence I voiced over and over in my mind as I browsed the thrifts shops of Coventry. I didn’t want a standard Chest of Drawers, the big rectangular block sitting snug against the floor. I wanted one with leg, that would stand up off the floor. Six months later I found my match and for a good price too.

The British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical store are brilliant. If you’re looking for something old or new, affordable, vintage, modern, retro, antique; you name it they have it. £15 was the price of this Teak 5 Drawer Chest, on splay bracket feet. It came in great condition, no cracks or restoration work. All that needed doing was the sanding away of that hideous red varnish. I found the same Chest, with 6 drawers on Harrison Antique Furniture for £250. I’m sure you’ll agree that I found a bargain with this one.

The Chest I purchased is an original antique piece, as you can see from the plaque in the image. I did a little research and Lebus Furniture was set up by Louis Lebus in the 1800’s. His business began in a small shop in Hull, and as it expanded he later moved to London. After Louis Lebas died, his son Harris took over the business. Their pieces are largely recognised as being part of the Arts and Crafts movement. One of the reasons I feel so connected to this piece is because Lebus opened a factory in Tottenham, North London. Tottenham is my birth town, but it is also where I went to church for seven years before returning to Coventry. This is a piece that ties together both of my homes.

Upcycling this was a pretty simple project. I began by sanding the body of the Chest, working with sandpaper on a sanding block to firmly hold the paper in place. You can use a power Sander if you want too, I found mine left circular etching in the wood which I didn’t like. Sand until the wooden surface is smooth and has removed all traces of varnish.

I then took out the drawers and removed the knobs so that I could also sand these down. After sanding, I wiped all the surfaces down with Turpentine, to remove excess dust. If you have White spirit you can use that as well. Initially, I wanted to paint patterns on the Chest like the images you see on Pinterest. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t like it and it would be ruined. A colleague recommended that I oil the Chest down with Teak oil, but I couldn’t find this so I purchased a tin of Danish oil from Wilko. The Danish oil brought out the natural colour of the Teak and helped to restore warmth to the Chest. It also highlights the grain in the wood showing the contrasts of light and dark brown.

As you can see the Chest came with its original Brass circular knobs. I changed these out with white and gold porcelain knobs, I got these on eBay from Knobbles and Bobbles. These new knobs really add a touch of royal elegance to the piece. This Chest lives in my bedroom, I’ve gone for a natural wood theme up there so the Chest matches the blinds, the cork flooring, and a lovely structural beam.

Lebus Sanded

Lebus In Red Varnish

Lebus Revamped

Lebus Revamped Side View

I hope you like how I’ve upcycled this Lebus Chest and brought it back to life. Let me know what you think in the comments, and to receive regular updates please follow me. Join me next time for a gentler project, as I ‘make life- rooms, into living rooms.

Nik-Cre

Welcome

This is the beginning of a new journey, but it will not be the last…

Hi, I’m Nikita.

I’ve been wanting to start a Blog for a while, and here I am. I purchased my first apartment in June 2017, one of my biggest milestones. I thought it would be great to document the journey from bare rooms to my dream living space.

I was born in London, England and spent my most of my childhood there until the age of 18. In 2009, I had a beautiful encounter with the City of Coventry. This is where I studied for 3 years. It took a dear place in my heart, as a home from home. I left Coventry in 2013, after completing my Degree but always felt that I would end up staying in the City for longer than intended.

We all have dreams and aspirations that we keep a mental checklist of, and buying a home was on mine. As I began my career I started saving with this intention in mind. After 4 years of saving the time was right, and I had my eye on Coventry again. The apartment where I live now was the first and only property that I viewed within the City.

To give you a taste of what it looks like, check out the visuals. I look forward to seeing you again on my first project, which will be laying down floors. Join me as I ‘make life-less rooms, into living rooms…’