My son just graduated kindergarten and it was time (long overdue, in fact) to update his bedroom and give him a big-boy room. His room had been the same since he was a baby and the light blue just wasn't cutting it anymore. See below (this picture is in preparation for painting, so I had already removed the propeller from the wall which attached to the front of the painted airplane--in case you were wondering).

When he went to grandma and grandpa's for summer camp I decided to re-do his room. He said he wanted an 'army' room. If you don't have kids, let me tell you something about 6-year-olds. They change their mind as often as they change their clothes (multiple times per day). And they may not always know what they are talking about (like the time he asked for an 'army' haircut and when the guy gave him a buzz cut he was so mortified he insisted on wearing hats for 6 months). So...I knew I needed to make something neutral enough to update on a regular basis just by changing accessories. I gathered some samples online and found a really cool shelving system designed in 1932 by Egon Eiermann. Looked simple enough. Just because I've never built any piece of furniture or shelving before in my life shouldn't stop me. How hard can it be?

I drew up some plans based on his room dimensions and started contacting metal fabricators to create the vertical poles. I really wanted stainless steel poles, and I could have them drill the holes for me, and make the pins that hold the shelves on. Which means all I really had to do was the wood shelves. Now that's my kind of project. I figured I would be done in no time.

Well apparently my dinky little project was not a top priority for them, because it took them a few days to get back to me (cmon guys, don't you just have this stuff lying around the shop?). Oh, and it was going to be about $400. Add the cost of the wood shelves and stain on top of that and I'm looking at $500-600. I love my son, but he's not getting a $600 shelving system (particularly since I'm building it myself). Time for Plan B. Went to Home Depot and found some fence poles in galvanized for $9 each. Perhaps I could have them cut and drilled, and then spray paint them. Except they won't cut them or drill them. Grrrrr. Time for Plan C. I used wood dowels and spray painted them silver. It's not what I really wanted but it actually came out ok. Here's a couple of pics of the work in progress, as I was staining the shelves and spray painting the dowels. Note that we used (borrowed) a drill press to do the holes in the dowels because it is critical that the holes are at a 90 degree angle to the dowel, otherwise the pin that holds the shelf won't be straight and your shelf won't be straight.

And here's the final product. The shelves are 1x10" pine and the desk is 24" deep, stained a Bombay Mahogany. The poles are standard closet rod dowels (1.375" diameter), spray painted silver. And the pins which hold the shelves are .25" aluminum rod (found at Dixieline) cut into 6" pieces. The legs which hold the desk are from Ikea, at a whopping $3.50 each. I'm so glad this project is over. I forgot how long it takes to stain wood. What a pain. But my son loved it (which is great, because I half expected him to come home and say 'aww mom, I didn't want an army room anymore'.

How it all started: I couldn't stand looking at the ugly light in my foyer. But, as usual, my tastes in decor ($$$) exceed my current budget (¢). After doing some shopping and realizing the only lights I truly liked were going to cost a few hundred to over a thousand dollars (like the exquisite brass moroccan pendants from www.sainttropezboutique.us), I knew I was going to have to come up with a temporary solution. In my research, I came across these beautiful tiered pendants. Unfortunately, they were also a few hundred dollars (and not quite the right style for my house to warrant that price).

But I figured I might be able to make one (certainly easier than trying to hammer out my own brass moroccan-style pendant). So I scoured the stores for a simple drum shade in different sizes. What seemed like it would be a very simple task, became very difficult. I'm just asking for a cylinder, people! (in 6, 12 and 18 inches, and absolutely no taper). Then I looked into buying the supplies and making my own. A little more time-consuming than I wanted--considering I like immediate gratification and this is just a temporary solution (until I become rich). Enter Ikea (swiss polska music in the background). Cheap. Mass-produced. But modern in aesthetic. I'll take the 'modern aesthetic' part, and try to disguise the 'cheap' and 'mass-produced' parts. Check out these lobbo shades. Even better, check out the prices. I'll take two small, one medium, and one large please.

SUPPLIES:

2 Ikea Lobbo Shades, 6" diameter = $6

1 Ikea Lobbo Shade, 12" diameter = $5

1 Ikea Lobbo Shade, 14" diamter = $6

1 yard Ikea Fabric = $8

1 pendant light kit (Home Depot) = $12

small chain link (Home Depot) = $1.50

Glue gun, scissors, needle-nose pliers

TOTAL: about $40

Here's the catch. You can't really change the circumference of the shades. Because it's just a strip of plastic-y material with hooked edges that you have to snap together and holes that the spoked metal frame pokes out of and you have to assemble it yourself....who thinks up this stuff?! It's stupid and brilliant at the same time. At least you can adjust the height of each cylinder. Just cut off some of the bottom of each cylinder. So adjust your design accordingly. Decide how you want the tiers to overlap. Here's where you need to think ahead. If you're going to have 4 tiers like I did, make sure your tiers don't overlap too much (or you'll just be limiting how much light gets through the multiple layers), but enough to not show gaps. If your tiers are close together in diameter (like the 12" and 14"), you can get away with about a 2" overlap. If your tiers are further apart in diameter (like the 6" and 12") you may want more like a 4" overlap. I cut off a little bit at a time, and used soup cans/boxes/whatever to prop the shades up around each other so I could see how the finished product would look. You'll also want to plan where you want your light bulb to sit within the tiers.

Next you'll want to cover the shades in your fabric. I just used cheap Ikea fabric because I needed to get this done quickly. Next time I would use nicer fabric like the raw silk in the inspiration picture (and probably nicer drum shades with standard frame hardware, and a nicer pendant kit that had a diffuser. oh crap now I'm up to over $150). I cut the fabric an inch taller and wider than the shade, then glued it in place. The Ikea shades require the frame spokes to poke through the shade and little hardware piece screws on and holds it in place. Which is why I picked a patterned fabric so you don't really notice the hardware, but I guess you could paint them to match your fabric so they blend in. I'm far too lazy for that. I guess it just depends on how deep your OCD runs.

Finally, you've got get your tiers to stay in place. I used small linked chain from Home Depot, they sell it by the foot or the yard. Here's where the stupid spoke frame actually comes in handy. Slide one chain link of a strand onto each spoke before you put the spoke through the shade and screw on the fastener. Then just cut each length to the same number of links and use it to attach each tier to each other. Is any of this making any sense? Maybe I should just show you a picture.

And here's the finished product. I think I'm making it sound more complicated than it really is. It's about a half day project (a whole day if you include the time to shop at Ikea). Not bad for $40.