Restoration Hardware

Cassandra from The Life of CK and Nate was over her scratch-and-dent, impossible to keep clean, and downright embarrassing dining room table. She went on a hunt for a new round table and came up with a couple of fabulous options from Restoration Hardware. Of course, that’s fabulous as in fabulous inspiration. Cassandra and her husband borrowed aspects from those lovely tables to design their own totally unique table complete with an octagon tabletop and six angled legs.

Bloggy buddies Jen from Tatertots and Jello and Shelley from House of Smiths were in agreement that they both wanted to add orb chandeliers to their homes… and that they didn’t want to spend hundreds and even thousands on a store-bought fixture. What are creative, resourceful gals to do? Make their own of course! The lovely ladies collaborated on the materials and basic construction but then put their own unique spins on the chandies. Jen created a larger chandelier with a glamorous metallic gold finish. Talk about fabulous!

For Deneen from Dreaming in Color (and the rest of us!), saving $2,000 is always a great way to start a project. Deneen saved some cash by turning a birdcage she already owned into a chandelier that’s reminiscent of a beauty from Restoration Hardware. Deneen went with a “bright and charming” coral color that’s a perfect fit for her revamped living room and says her favorite part of the birdcage-turned-chandelier is “how it illuminates on the wall at night showing texture and pattern.”

Kristy of Kristy Dickerson had been on the hunt for the perfect shelves to hang above the file cabinets in her office. She finally found some at Restoration Hardware she liked, but just adding two shelves and the brackets to her cart drove the total to $800! Yikes! With a trip to Home Depot, Kristy had all the materials she needed to recreate the reclaimed wood and metal shelves. She did an amazing job distressing the boards to give them that old, worn look.

Shawna from Dakota Creek Chic found an antique factory cart at a local antique store and knew she could build her own version of the Restoration Hardware table that was out of her budget at 1000 bucks. Shawna used Ana White’s plans as a rough guide but was fortunate to already have the cart (that happened to have awesome casters) to use as a base. Here’s what Shawna has to say about her third big project: “This was an easy build, taking only one afternoon to finish. It’s so worth it, and I just love how it turned out. Hope you love it too and hope this inspires you to tackle your own DIY project.”