alexxx's Profile

I made this too and it turned out great! I tweaked it a bit to attach it to a cheap pine Ikea bed frame that I'm going to paint to match the fabric.

Anyway, for people in Los Angeles (especially on the east side), I've got a few tips to save money and time. Basically, go to the Fashion District downtown! I got my foam at some small store by Michael Levine's for $20. The same amount of foam at Joanne fabric (no coupon) was over $100 (I returned it). There are also a bazillion fabric stores around there, many of them specializing in upholstery fabric.

As for the buttons: I bought some of the aluminum DIY buttons and took them to an upholsterer as recommended above. Specifically, I took them to Pepe's (next to Sunset Bazaar on Sunset). He looked at my aluminum buttons, said they wouldn't hold the fabric and made me buttons with steel (?-- something more sturdy) and only charged me 50 cents per button (cheaper than the aluminum buttons with no fabric on them)! It took him a few days and he was a little hard to track down, but totally worth it.

Finally, with regard to doing the actual tufting. After trying to find the hole that I'd drilled on the second pass (hope you know what I mean) for about 20 minutes, I was ready to take a hostage. Then I thought of something [that I considered] brilliant--I took my level (which has a nice groove in it to rest the upholstery needle in) and made sure everything was level and guided the needle through the hole on the first pass. Came out the other side, added the button, repositioned my level, and fed the needle through again. I would say I had instant success with 11 of my 14 buttons. The other three I had to play around with a little more, but each never took more than two minutes! Also, something I didn't think about the first time: make sure to double, triple, or quadruple up on the upholstery thread. In other words, thread the needle with several pieces of thread at once (or one really long one looped through several times).

Hope this helps!

It goes both ways. My living room and bedroom windows are at sidewalk level and I have overheard a couple breaking up outside my window. I also overhear a lot of phone conversations (embarrassing ones) a lot.

MVH: Benjamin Moore (and probably others) mix paint based on Pantone number. I can't vouch for the accuracy--I had one color done and it was terrible, but I was also looking at the color originally on a computer monitor (not the actual Pantone cards) and it was a little tiny square, so that was all probably my fault.

I've never used these, but I've used some of the hand soap ones and, if you don't have any hot water, that stuff is impossible to get off of your hands. The cold water just makes it gum up. Gross.

Tyke, please please please what is the name of the green paint you used in the bedroom? This is exactly the shade I've been looking for!!!

i am SO in need of this prize!

My boyfriend's place was/is a dump. Think borderline hoarder. But I didn't/don't care because HE is charming and wonderful.