Ikea Hack DIY Beverage Cart From a Dresser Tutorial

I'm excited to share a recent DIY project I completed in conjunction with a live presentation I gave at the Novi Boat Show Harborside Market this weekend. Lakeside living and entertaining go hand in hand, so I decided to share a tutorial on how to turn a budget friendly dresser into a chic beverage cart with a little nautical flavor. 

Take a look..

Before

After

You already know I love a good Ikea hack. DIY projects involving Ikea furniture can be quick and simple, as well as dramatic and that's just what I was going for. I started this project by purchasing an unfinished, unassembled, Tarva Dresser.

Prior to assembling the dresser, I painted all sides of each piece of wood with cabinet, door and trim paint by Dutch Boy. It has primer built in and adhered beautifully to the unfinished Tarva wood offering a durable, one coat finish. The color I used was "Cooled Graphite".

Once the paint dried, I assembled dresser per the instructions. When it came time to install the drawers, I omitted step where I was supposed to put the top two drawers. This left room for my bar serving area. 

I screwed a stemware rack underneath the top of the dresser. 

To give the piece a finished look, I added a piece of wood to create an apron across the top. This helped to disguise the white wire glass rack.

Using a piece of MDF cut to size and painted out in gray, I created a shelf above the drawer. Thin strips of poplar screwed into the sides of the dresser act as support brackets for the shelf to rest on. I filled in the holes left from the uninstalled drawers with plastic wood filler. 

Once the wood filler cured, I was able to give the areas a light sanding and touch them up with paint as needed. Then, it was time for the fun part,  accessorizing! This is where I gave this piece some personality and style.

Swapping out the basic wood knobs with these unique compass knobs from Hobby Lobby instantly provided lakeside living flair.

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Wine corks made great vase fillers and these lanterns looks so cute on the top. 

These fantastic hooks featuring rope detail attached to the sides of the bar cart offer a spot to hang attractive towels and bar accessories...

The rest of the styling was done simply by stocking the cart with basic necessities.

The shelf is perfect for wine storage and the top of the piece provides a nice serving area. Cheese and crackers, anyone?

 The three bottom drawers provide a lot of storage space for entertaining supplies which could make throwing your next party a breeze. 

After the presentation, it was so much fun to give this piece away to one lucky recipient at the show! If I'm being honest, it was a little hard to let go of it, but this will be a great project to do again this summer. 

There are so many ways this piece could be customized to complement your decor. How cute would it be to add pretty wall paper to the back of the shelf and/or inside the drawers? The possibilities are endless! I'll be back in a few days to show you the second DIY project I presented to the crowd at the boat show! You didn't think I could stop at just one, did you?  For now, back to the design studio!

We currently have openings for new Online Design Projects (E-Design). If you're interested in getting started on a room makeover in your home, please click here to make your reservation.

Boys Room Makeover Reveal With Dutch Boy Paint

This post is sponsored by Dutch Boy Paints. 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Dutch Boy. The opinions and text are all mine.

Today, I'm sharing a quick, but dramatic room makeover that I tackled last weekend. With a little creativity, a spare weekend, some #DIY spirit and #DutchBoyPaint, I was able to give my son a new space that is unique, on-trend, organized, and most importantly, one to call his own. My two boys have been sharing a room since they were babies. Since my daughter recently went off to college, we decided to play musical rooms and give the boys each their own space. Here's a couple of pics of their shared room from over the years...

Before

Before

I loved the red, white and blue "stars and stripes" theme, but now that my kids are teenagers, it's time for a change. We started by moving my youngest son out of this space and into my daughters old room. Then, I started a makeover on the room for my oldest son. After many years of two boys living in there, it was in need of a fresh paint job.  It was already a really nice shade of navy blue. I gave the stripes a light sanding, filled in the damaged areas of the walls and gave the room a fresh coat of navy blue. To get a similar look, you can use Dutch Boy Ocean Depth (337-7DB). 

This gave us a nice, blank canvas to work from. I took this opportunity to give him a chance to have a say in the new color scheme and design. He selected a colors that complemented his favorite college sports team. Using his favorite sweatshirt and hat as inspiration we came up with a gray, black, white and navy palette. 

Then, it was time to narrow down the perfect shades.

 Dutch Boy Paints recently came out with their 2019 #ColorTrends Forecast. It offers three palettes that made it easy to select a gorgeous,  on-trend feature color to bring this new space to life. I immediately fell in love with Cooled Graphite from the Studio Palette. Selecting paint colors can sometimes be a little daunting, but the three palettes curated and released with the Dutch Boy Color of The Year can take the guesswork out of choosing a great shade.

I knew Cooled Graphite (436-6DB) was going to be perfect. It's a deep, cool gray that is eye-catching and dramatic. I loved it so much that I decided to use it on the main focal point of the new design...built in bookcases surrounding the bed.

To offer attractive storage and display for my sons trophies, medals, photos and memorabilia, I decided to forgo a traditional headboard and create a built in bookcase unit around the bed instead. Since time was of the essence in this makeover, I went with off-the-shelf bookcases from Ikea instead of building custom bookcases from scratch.

This is where paint became a very important factor in the design. After the bookcases were assembled, I began to customize them to give them a unique, high-end look. By painting the backs of the unit with my feature color, Cooled Graphite (436-6DB), they were quickly transformed. 

As part of this collaboration, I was provided the paint and supplies to complete this project. Dutch Boy Paints recommended that I use their Cabinet, Door and Trim paint on my bookcases. I was really impressed with not only the quality of the paint, but the paint "can" itself. It made the whole process simple, quick and mess-free. The container with a built in handle makes it so easy to open, close, pour and store the paint when you are done. No tools needed to pry the top of a can open, just twist off the lid and pour. The spout allows you to pour the paint right into your tray without the need to clean up messy drips down the side of a can. 

These features were especially great for someone like me who didn't have a lot of time to complete this makeover. The ease of use and absence of a big mess helped to keep this project on pace. 

 The Cooled Graphite accent color created a rich and dramatic backdrop that made the bookcases come alive. I immediately loved the way the deep gray looked with the white finish on the outside of the bookcases. The contrast was crisp and fresh. 

Once the bookcases were dry, I brought in all of the other design elements and the room quickly came together. 

Here it is...

Adding woven storage baskets to a few of the shelves offer attractive storage and brought in a lot of visual texture to the design. I love the way these warm, dark baskets look against the Cooled Graphite paint color. 

Lending a nod to theme of the space and the trophy display surrounding the bed, this framed quote art was a perfect focal point in the center of the feature wall.  

To take the customization of the bookcases a step further, I added these cool clip lights to each end unit. They offer dramatic accent lighting by illuminating the display. 

Using the Cooled Graphite color as my guide, I selected drapery and bedding in the same tone. These elements pulled the new look together. 

Tip:

A couple of tips that I would like to share...when painting a space a dark color, you can avoid drawing attention to unattractive air return vents by painting them the same color as the wall. Here is a great example of how doing so makes the vent almost disappear. 

Tip:

Another tip I'd like to share, is if you have tall items that you would like to display, leaving a couple of the shelves out of your bookcase unit will provide enough height for items like these tall trophies. 

Styling the new bookcase was my favorite part of this makeover. It was fun to see how the gray backdrop provided contrast to his special things, making them stand out. 

Dutch Boy Paints offer their paint colors in several different types and finishes. You can pretty much customize anything to bring your own twist on a space. For instance, this hat rack makes a really cool shelf for his TV and doubles as display space for medals. The hat rack came from Ikea and is available in several colors, but if you wanted to customize it and tie it in with another piece of furniture in the room, a quick paint job can do the trick. 

The bar below the hat rack is perfect for hanging clothes out the night before a big event. Hats and bags can hang from the hooks below as needed and medals look really cool hanging from the knobs along the bottom.

This makeover is a great example of how a little creativity, a little time, some DIY spirit and paint can help you create a unique space easily. By altering this off the shelf bookcase unit with paint I was able to bring personality to it and make it a key feature in the design.

Dutch Boy Paints are available at Menards. 

I received product and compensation to in order to facilitate this collaboration with Dutch Boy Paints. However, my opinions are completely honest and all my own. 

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me share this makeover with you. 

Back to the Design Studio! 

We currently have openings for new Online Design Projects (E-Design). If you're interested in getting started on a room makeover in your home, please click here to make your reservation.

For more information on Dutch Boy Paints you can follow them on facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or here at their brand website. 

Giveaway And My Coastal Bedroom Reveal With Property Brothers' Casaza

I love having a giveaway at Christmas. And, this is a good one!!

Recently, I announced that I was hand selected to be one of the featured Designers on the Property Brothers new design platform, Casaza. Since then, I've been busy working with Casaza on some fun collaborations. Today, I get to share one of the spaces I curated for them, A Coastal-Inspired Bedroom!  AND... In addition to revealing this design today, I'm giving you a chance to win the Area Rug I featured in this room!!!!

Here's a look at my Coastal Chic Bedroom...

The rug was one of the first items I selected for this design. Over on Casaza you can read more about this room, my thoughts while designing it and best of all, enter to win the Antiqua Rug!!! 

Please Click Here To Enter!

We'll be drawing the winner on Friday 12/21/18, so please enter ASAP!!

*No purchase necessary to win. Open to residents of all 50 states and those of age to participate. Limit to one entry per person. Winner will be announced Friday at 12pm EST. By entering to win, you will automatically receive 15% off your first Casaza order!

Holiday Home Tour 2018

 Hi everyone! Today, my home is number 31 on The Holiday Housewalk, an inspiring, week-long, online tour of Christmas homes presented by Jennifer Rizzo.

If you are visiting from Inspired By Charm, thank you for stopping by and continuing the tour with me! I have to admit it is a little humbling to be the house after Michael's. Every year I look forward to his Christmas decor, he sets the bar pretty high for the rest of us. This year his Christmas at Bayberry House is my favorite Christmas Tour so far! If you did not stop by as part of the tour, please be sure to hop on here and then go back to the beginning to see some absolutely beautiful homes, all dressed for the holidays from all parts of the country.

Welcome to my home!

If this is your first time here, let me introduce myself.  My name is Sarah Macklem, I'm a professional Home Stylist from Detroit, Michigan.  This blog is where I share my daily design adventures along with DIY tutorials, entertaining ideas, exciting room makeovers and more. I operate my busy online interior design studio and often share my professional design work here on the blog. In addition to being the title of this blog, "The Yellow Cape Cod" is my home where I live with my husband, our three children, Murphie the dog, and Biggie the Bunny. 

Every year, I start our Christmas decorating on the front porch. One of the things that drew me to this home when we originally bought it was the trim around the front door. I decided to highlight that this year with a simple, but festive fruit and evergreen arrangement. When I was little, my mom used to decorate over our door using oranges, nutmeg, red apples and pineapple. I put a spin on my moms project and went with a simple, monochromatic look. I chose green apples, pine cones, eucalyptus and evergreens. 

A tutorial on this project is coming to the blog soon!

In order to let the apple arrangement get all of the attention, I kept the rest of our porch decor simple. I purchased two beautiful evergreen pots to place in my black urns from a local Charity. To give them a custom look I switched out the red bows for black and white to match the door swag. To provide a welcoming touch, I layered a wool rug under our door mat. 

Now that I've shown you around the front porch, come inside. I'll start by sharing the Christmas decor I've added to our formal dining room...

While I'm showing you around, I'd like to share my thought process behind this years' decor theme. I began decorating with three main priorities: 

Keep it Simple and Livable,  Use What I Already Have, and Start Early.

I'd like to give you a tour of our home while explaining how I accomplished these goals. 

As a Blogger and Interior Designer, this time of year is the busiest time for my business. It also happens to be the busiest time for my family. Especially this year! Keeping the decor simple and easy felt like a great way to enjoy the process and keep it stress-free. Making sure it was livable meant not going over the top and crowding our living spaces with too many decorations.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE over the top Christmas decor and will probably go back to it next year, but for this season, simple works best for us. 

One way I am keeping the decor in the dining room livable is by creating a simple table scape for our holiday meals. I created a festive centerpiece by adding tree clippings and pine cones to grocery store flowers. Throughout the season, as I shop for groceries, I can swap out the flowers as needed and keep the greenery and pine cones in place. This creates an impressive look that is easy to maintain for weeks. 

The dining room is officially ready for guests and family dinners. 

Come along with me into the living room. Murphie is in there wearing his not-so-favorite cable knit Christmas cardigan...

The second item on my priority list this year, trying not to purchase anything new, was pretty simple to accomplish. As a blogger who has been decorating my home for Holiday Home Tours now for 10 years I've accumulated a lot of pretty holiday decorations. (Yikes, has it really been 10 years of blogging...yes it has!)  I challenged myself to create a fresh, new, holiday look while using the things that I already had, and love.

I kept our everyday mantle styling in place (sconces, artwork, mirror and finials) and embellished it with greenery, bows and stockings. We've had these antler stocking holders (Ballard Designs) for a few years now and I love the way their white silhouettes pop against our black mantle. 

To lend a nod to the black, white, and green mantle, I styled our coffee table with a yummy candle, a stack of books and my little black and gray church (an old thrift store find).

A few years ago, I picked up these fun gold and white polka dot stockings on clearance from Potterybarn. To give them a custom look, I added a black and white bow and a German Glitter monogram ornament to each one. 

Back to my list of priorities...the third one... starting early...this is a tricky one. In order to get our decorating done in time for this tour each year, I usually start right brainstorming right after Halloween. Finding inspiration and getting in the spirit of Christmas when it's not quite time yet is sometimes a little challenging. This year, I started thinking about what direction I wanted to take and felt a little stuck at first. I was packing away the Halloween decorations and trying to wrap my brain around Christmas and come up with a new, exciting decor theme... when it hit me. 

One of our most exciting family milestones occurred this year. My daughter, Hannah, graduated and started attending college at Michigan State University. What better way to wrap up the year, than to celebrate her accomplishment by using her school colors in our Christmas decor? Welcoming her home for the holidays with a Sparty Green and White theme was all the inspiration I needed to get started.  

Most of the main decor items that I've accumulated over the years are neutral. By switching out the colored balls, babbles and ribbons, I was able to create a fresh new look. This is where I did have to make a few new purchases, the green Christmas balls are new, but were very economical.

Our Advent bags always make an appearance somewhere, this year I put them on the oversized fresh tree that we cut down as a family the weekend after Thanksgiving. 

If there is one Christmas decor item that is always on our list it's a fresh cut tree. We just started this tradition a few years ago by request of our youngest son. Visiting the local tree farm, Nicklas Tree Farm in Metamora, to cut down a tree is now one of our families favorite days of the year. 

We had so much fun this year,  I think we got a little carried away with the size. While we were out on our tree hunt, we spotted our perfect tree right away. We continued to look, just to make sure, but we kept coming back to our gorgeous, tall, full, perfectly shaped Black Spruce. Once we got it home and in the house was when we realized just how full it really was. :)

This Grizzwold moment inspired this vignette I created in the powder room...

Thanks to Etsy you can find just about any favorite movie quote in the form of a printable. Stick it in a cute frame and you have Christmas art for just a few bucks. 

Another tradition in our home is one that not all of us agree on. The forcing of paper white bulbs. The scent to me says Christmas, but to some other occupants of our home, it says something else. Not everyone in our house is a fan of the smell of paper white blooms, but they sure are pretty in front of the my DIY chalkboard art. You may remember a few years ago I hand wrote the lyrics to O' Holy Night on an old mirror that I painted with chalkboard paint. 

And no Christmas would be complete without the decorating of the chandelier in our breakfast nook. This year, I'm forgoing a centerpiece and fancy table scape on this table to leave a little extra breathing room (and more room for food). I've noticed how having less holiday decor has allowed the things I did do to become more important. The chandy is getting all the attention this year, and I'm not mad about it. 

In the end, I'm pretty happy to report that for the most part, I stuck to my three priorities. I may still add to our holiday decor as the season continues, but for now, I'm enjoying what I've done so far. It feels good to know that I didn't spend a lot and that I was able to give our home a different look this year using the things I've used for many years now. 

What I'm really excited about is how scaling back the amount of Christmas decor this year has brought a sense of calmness and serenity to our home. There's enough magic to create a festive atmosphere, while leaving space for entertaining and everyday life. With the exception of our fresh cut tree, which it absolutely huge and takes up half the living room. I wouldn't change that, however, because, it's a beaut. And, because it's something we all decided on together and decorated as a family. 

Thank you for stopping by today. 

I loved having you here and hope you come back next week. I be sharing some quick and easy Holiday Decor DIY Tutorials as well as a few exciting room makeover reveals!

Now, it's time to continue the Holiday Housewalk over at Town and Country Living.  She has an amazing Christmas decor aesthetic. Her home is truly magical!

To go back to the beginning of the tour, please click here.

Thank you, Jen Rizzo, for inviting me to join the Holiday Housewalk 2018!

Back to the Design Studio! 

We currently have openings for new Online Design Projects (E-Design). If you're interested in getting started on a room makeover in your home, please click here to make your reservation.