Proper Hunt: July 2011

coral - Friday, July 29, 2011

I'm Obsessed With Skirted Tables

Domesticate at Spoonflower Yes, one more obsession of mine to add to the list. But this one is a practical obsession, I swear! As you ...

sale - Wednesday, July 27, 2011

30% Off Sale at Shop Proper Hunt

Out with the old, in with the new! I've just added a bunch of new items from my 2nd Trunk Show to my Etsy shop , and to make way for i...

- Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Shop Proper Hunt's 2nd Trunk Show

A few weeks ago, I hosted the 2 nd SPH Trunk Show (you can see the 1 st one here ) and I just had to show you some of the goodies that...

Etsy - Monday, July 25, 2011

New at Shop Proper Hunt! Vera Neumann Silk Scarf Pillows!

I've got to make this quick, but just wanted to let you all know that the Vintage Vera Neumann silk scarves that I turned into pillows ...

- Friday, July 22, 2011

Attention Please!

buffalo winter It is finally happening. After working on so many design projects for myself and for others, I've decided that it'...

Finally! I have finished styling and photographing the Greek Key Dresser for you all to see! What do you guys think?? It's not exactly in the location I had intended it for, but we found a new purpose and location for it, so it all worked out in the end.

My intentions for this dresser were met with major failure. Let me explain. The minute we had placed it where the foyer table was, it was pretty obvious it wasn't going to work there. Even though I took care to measure the dresser in the entryway, somehow it stuck out too much and was too short (in width) to replace the foyer table. Turns out that there was an empty wall on our first floor that needed to be filled, so we figured: why not turn the dresser into a mini bar? So, now we have a piece that serves as a bar in our first floor and something really exciting to look at the minute you walk into our house.

Nerd Alert: When Steve and I were trying to figure out what the best approach would be for sizing the Greek key in a way that is visually pleasing, Steve recalled that he had read something about a mathematical concept called the Fibonacci sequence that related back to nature, math, and the arts. It's too much to explain in detail here, but basically Steve suggested that we use the "golden ratio" - which can be derived from the Fibonacci sequence - as our guide to sizing the pieces of the Greek key in relation to one another.

As you can see from the drawing below, each piece within the spiral pattern of the Greek key is approximately 1.6 times the size of the next smallest piece (the golden ratio is 1.618033....and goes on). We used this approach for measuring out the pieces in the top and bottom sections of the dresser and then simply doubled the lengths of each piece for the middle section.

Proper Hunt Greek Key Dresser Bar Measurements

And it worked! The result is quite visually pleasing I think. Then I topped the dresser off with a vintage white & yellow bamboo lamp (a steal from Goodwill at $14!) and some other vintage accessories from consignment shops and thrift stores. The overall style was to be functional yet glam and full of interest. How'd I do?

{All Photos by yours truly}

bar - Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Our Greek Key Dresser Turned Mini-Bar

Finally! I have finished styling and photographing the Greek Key Dresser for you all to see! What do you guys think?? It's not exactl...

Thanks to Steve for cutting 30+ wood pieces to make these Greek keys!
Sooooo, I decided to create my own Ikea Greek Key Dresser! I'm sure you guys have seen those DIY projects floating around the web that involve taking Ikea furniture and turning it into something custom-made. Well, I was so blown away by Bri and Jaimee's take on adding some glamour to an Ikea dresser that I had to do my own version of it too.

I've been wanting to get a new entry table/dresser and thought that this DIY project would be perfect for our entryway. It's not much of an entryway, but I want to make a big impact (in a modern way) the minute you walk in, since the rest of the room is pretty traditional.

Current entry table - it was originally a maple wood stain, but I got bored with it and painted it "Bergamot" by Martha Stewart. It looks great, but doesn't really work with the rest of the room. Hence, this post.

Here are Bri and Jaimee's versions:

Bri's version which takes an older version of the Malm dresser and turns it into something really chic and modern. I absolutely love how she styled it!

Jaimee's couture version of the current Malm 6-drawer dresser.

Here is my work-in-progress:

The Malm 3-drawer dresser that I'm using to create my own Greek Key piece. I was hoping to find one on Craigslist on the cheap cheap (and have it already built), but no such luck. But at $69.99, it was such a good deal brand new that I just sucked it up and spent 2 hours building it myself (with no help from Steve), isn't that amazing?!

The tools for creating the Greek key wood pieces. I tried my hand at cutting a piece of wood and it took me about 10 minutes to make 1 cut. It was absolutely exhausting and just goes to show that I have no upper body strength. At this point I begged Steve to help me out with this project.

A close-up of Steve's handy work. Amazing that he made those really small pieces with that miter box/saw kit.

And...here are the beautiful Greek keys that Steve cut, all glued and painted.
I'm waiting for the second coat of paint to dry before gluing it onto the dresser. Helpful tip: I stuck push pins on the backside so that the paint doesn't stick to the plastic tarp. I'm purposely not painting the backside since it's getting glued to the dresser and won't be visible.

I promise, the minute the dresser is done I will post pictures of it. And I do have some interesting information on how I decided to shape the Greek keys, but more on that later! Promise!

diy - Monday, July 11, 2011