Chic Transformation - Ikea Billy Bookcase

Before:

We had thought of throwing our Ikea Billy bookcases (pictured above) in favor of something more solid. While they are practical, easy and cost-efficient, they weren't the most sturdy especially when laden with the fashion and design tomes that I collect.

Instead of just disposing of them, we came up with the idea of using them as shelves for my shoes, bags, magazines and other trinkets. We lined one wall of my closet/study with the bookcases. To give them a new life, my interior designer friend, Paul and I came up with the idea of painting the backs blue to match the drapes and the chaise that I had ordered. However, we were told that it would be difficult to do so because of their glossy finish. We would need to sand them down first.

Since Paul had spent his first day at our apartment taping cardboard to our guest bedroom windows because we didn't have curtains yet at that time, we had the idea of doing the same to the bookshelves. We went to the paper store on Lyndhurst Terrace and bought large sheets of blue cardboard. When we got home, Paul did the measurements and the cutting, and we pasted them onto the back of the shelves with blue tack.

After:

I must say that I like the results. I like the hint of blue peeking from behind the shoes and piles of magazines. It's a nice surprise and such an inexpensive way to breathe new life into something that would otherwise have gone to a dumpster.

What do you think?

P.S. I am not done organizing yet...

Chic Transformation

Before:

We bought these faux Louis XVI stools at a store called I Wanna Go Home in Singapore. We placed them under a mother of pearl console in our apartment's entryway. The legs of the stools are unfinished and the seats were in a rough linen material giving them a sort of French provincial look.

After:

For Hong Kong, I wanted to make them more chic than shabby. I knew I wanted to use velvet and debated between peacock blue and a green that is in between moss and hunter. I also wanted to paint the legs white but decided against that at the last minute.

I like how they look now. I like the plushness of the velvet and the rawness of the unfinished, natural wooden legs. It's amazing what a change in fabric and color can do to old pieces.

Chic Transformation - Roger Vivier

Bruno Frisoni's sketches of shoe designs for the house of Roger Vivier come to life. It's amazing how the finished products are made exactly as per Frisoni's renderings. 

Imagine wearing this gladiator sandal in the Isle of Capri 

or this stiletto Kyte shoe at a summer party in the Hamptons. Oh so chic!