Three-Day Weekend DIY

I understand that I may be the last person to embrace this trend, but I've been eyeing chalkboards in the kitchen on some of my favorite design blogs for months. (Maybe years?) This weekend, I finally put the finishing touches on my own DIY-version of chalkboards in the kitchen. I found this great contact paper on Amazon.com. (And I followed this reviewer's amazing advice for "curing" the contact paper before using it as a chalkboard. Her method is fool-proof!)

This project couldn't have been any easier -- after measuring the cabinets and cutting the contact paper to size, I carefully applied the contact paper to the cabinets, smoothing out any bubbles as I went along. And that was it! It took ten minutes (fifteen, tops), and I'm really pleased with the results!

DIY: IKEA Frosta Stool

Today I thought I'd share pictures of a DIY project I tackled this weekend: adding black and white stripes to an IKEA Frosta stool. This was a very easy project, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out:

First, I traced the top of the Frosta stool on a sheet of white contact paper and used blue painter's tape to mark the stripes:

Then I painted the "exposed" areas of the contact paper with black acrylic paint:

This is what the stool looked like before I placed the striped contact paper on top:

And this is what it looks like now: (!)

P.S. Please excuse the inconsistent quality of these pictures. I snapped these with my camera phone!

A Fully Stocked Bar @ Home

I know I'm not the first to do this (I could be the last), but I'm in the process of setting up my very own home bar. I think it was re-watching all 3 seasons of Mad Men that finally convinced me to do it. (P.S. Is anyone else having trouble waiting until July 25 for season 4??).

I have limited room in my 1 bedroom Manhattan apartment for a complete home bar, but I think that I can set up my very own "mini" home bar with an under-the cabinet wine glass rack (which I already have), an under-the-cabinet wine bottle rack (which I am in the process of acquiring) and this shelf from cb2, which I bought (and my mom installed -- thanks, mom!) last summer. I'll store bottles and a few bar accessories on the shelf.

I've been scouring the web for inspiration images for a home bar. Apartment Therapy recently featured this round-up of home bars, which is full good ideas. Here are a few more:

via decor pad (using IKEA Expedit shelves)

via apartment therapy

via restoration hardware

via pottery barn

via martha stewart