A BFD Reveal: Table Time!

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A month ago a family member asked for a table she could have in her kitchen that a small dishwasher could sit on top of. A dishwasher that has to be easy to move as it’s one of those needs to plug in to the sink jobs and takes up a good part of the kitchen when being in use. The immediate go to was some sort of butcher block type deal with wheels… there are a lot of tables around that you can buy online that fit the bill easily. But will they fit? Will the dishwasher be at the right height? Do we get to build something if we order it online? (decidedly not) So! THE GRAND PLAN.

Very scientific product development.

This is actually how most of our projects start… on a napkin or a small scrap of paper! So it’s off to Lowe’s we go!

  • New table! USE TOOLS!
  • A selection of new and old wood pieces left over from other projects and bought anew
  • Starting to take…. ssssssshape?
  • S frame looking good!
  • And the cedar pieces smell even better. Please no judgement on the garden design, that’s a whole OTHER project for another day…

The shape was borne out of an idea Keith had for a shelf way back when with an S body and then different coloured shelves to offset the woodiness of the frame… First we nailed all the wood pieces together, and added in wood glue between the nails to reinforce and stick them all together properly. (a combination of nails and… No More Nails) This was the most efficient way to be able to take some of the older 2×4 pieces we had in the workshop and turn them into a colourful and functional piece to add a bit of sparkle to kitchen!

Now… What to paint the coloured shelves…

Rust-oleum red gloss automotive enamel spray paint at Lowes.ca
If you knew what a freak for strawberry based decor this person was in the 80’s… There really was no other option as far as colours were concerned! We chose the auto gloss for the even coverage and shine!

Then we picked up some sheets of MDF, and similar to the wood, used nails to hold the pieces together, some more No More Nails on the outside of the boxes to stick them to the S frame and got er done by following up with screws to finish the whole thing off. Sturdy AF.

  • So. Much. Paint.
  • It. Was. Everywhere.
  • But look how nice with the wood!
  • I think this was the point at which we noticed one side of the outside of the box had to be painted too….?

This took approx 3 weekends total (2-4 hours a day depending on task, and we didn’t always work BOTH days of the weekend…) once everything was set and dried, but look at the final product!

  • A little on the right
  • Something from the left
  • Now some of that countertop for good measure…
  • And there she is! The wheels were an addition c/o Amazon and match the boxes quite nicely! ($43/pair)

All in, this cost approx $100 to make (not incl wheels) and provided the un-relaxable Keith with HOURS of activity and personal growth and satisfaction. On to the next project!

bfd

Craigslist Finds: Weekend of July 27, ’19 Edition (Chairs! Chairs! Chairs!)

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I will be the first to admit these posts have not been coming as frequently as I’d like. With summer activities, errands, the normal adult blah blah blah, posting has become harder to get to this year for sure. But something that has also made it difficult is the picking on ye olde list of Craig have NOT been that great. So I’ve actually intended far more entries than I’ve delivered BECAUSE the stuff out there just wasn’t that great. Thankfully, at LONG LAST this weekend had a bumper crop of finds that we could sink out teeth into! Well, me mostly, Keith has been at work on a table so there will be a post coming in that soon enough!

Bentwood Chairs $15 ea! #craigslistfinds #bfdtoronto
MCM Bentwood Chair with Wheels, Armrests – $15

The post says there are like 200 of these, so if you happen to be kitting out a cafe or hipster restaurant, then BOOM! If you just need dining room chairs, that’s less than $100 for 6 chairs!!! At $15 a pop, even if they aren’t all in fab condition, these are still sturdy AF, stylish chairs. And you can do whatever you want to them if the blonde wood isn’t your thing bc at that price? You’re not getting anything near this cool at Walmart.

Bentwood accent chair MCM #craigslistfinds #bfdtoronto
Vintage Mid Century Modern Plydesigns Lounge Chair – $280

This isn’t fantastically inexpensive, but this is still way less than you’d pay for an accent chair of comparable pedigree, and according to the accompanying blurb for this post, this is an actual original vintage piece from 1972! ” Designed by American architect Thomas Lamb for Plydesigns in 1972, this rare and unique chair still boasts the tag and company branding on the seat’s bottom. Made of molded blonde wood and black coloured leather upholstery. Its sleek design does not sacrifice comfort.”  

Mono chair pair for $95 #craigslistfinds #bfdtoronto
Canada’s 1st Mono Block Chair by G. Maur | 1971 | A Pair! DM – $95

These come around every year or so, and they truly are a Canadian classic. These are a little beat up with some scuff marks, but would be fab on a patio or front porch instead of traditional outdoor faux wicker blah, or even useful as extra sidechairs for when company comes over. Considering these are 50 years old and part of the permanent collection at the Musee de Beaux Arts… The story (cough *bragging rights*) you get to tell about the provenance of these chairs and their contribution to Canadian furniture design history is worth $100, no?

custom angular chair from Montreal $150 #craigslistfinds #bfdtoronto
Handmade Chair from Montreal $150

This chair just looks effing cool. It’s cool, okay? Perfect for an awkward space beside the fireplace in your living room or a landing in your house that needs something more than a houseplant, this angular low rider is just the ticket! Will also work as clothes chair in bedroom. Or tanning chair in screened in porch? I could go on…

MCM teak lounge chair $150 #craigslistfinds #bfdtoronto
Vintage Teak Lounge Chair – $150

The upholstery leaves something to be desired for sure… But the bones of this are awesome and this is a fine price to pay for an upholstery project for the summer! I would probably try to figure out a way to cover over the existing fabric because that cushion shape might be hard to replicate , but a throw could easily update if you don’t have the patience and the wood is in perfect condition. Good bones, man!!!!!

rocking MCM rocking chair $150 #craigslistfinds #bfdtoronto
Vintage Hoop Rocking Chair – $150

Porch. Fabulousness. Now. Best for houses with kids over the age you still think it’s a good idea to try to stick your head through elastic chair webbing? It looks black but is actually a very dark army green. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Also, have you noticed a large percentage of these chairs are at a magical $150 price point? Must be something in the acquisition air that makes this the winning number…

Normally each piece is a one picture show, but the side shot vs the front shot had to be included because you don’t get the full vibe of these chairs with just one. The upholstery is spot on Art Deco inspired, and given the living room these chairs seem to be in, they don’t exactly seem like they’ve been lovingly used as trampolines by any toddlers recently, so I’d bet they’re both in pretty good nick! A potential reupholstery project for sure, but you could even change just the backs and leave the main seats as is! Gorgeous!

MCM Dining Room Set w 4 chairs $850 #craigslistfinds #bfdtoronto
Canadian mid century modern walnut dining table and chairs – $850

A friend was complaining recently that we hadn’t posted in a while (he was right) as he and his wife are big Craigslist Finds fans who have their current MCM dining set in their house because of us… This steal of a deal reminded me of them! 4 chairs and an extendable dining table at this price and the chairs are PERFECT as is, you won’t even need to recover right away. The table alone is worth $500+, so I doubt this find will last long. This is a STEAL for the investment piece that this set is. A dining room redo in one go!

That’s it for this weekend but we promise we will be back soon with a Keith’s latest table project update!

bfd.

BFD Projects: We Made a Table!

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A friend of our s was getting sick of her dark wood, condo-sized side tables in her bedroom and saw our post of Keith’s (and therefore also OURS) post on these little coaster tables we made and asked if we could make something like the below for her.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxU-nYDpTxg/

While the folks at Humboldt Art Dept made a lovely version of a larger table on their own…

We decided to have 4 small tables attached per table instead… and we were thinking that this would still be able to fit nicely on the nail legs we get from Home Depot (yes those are 12″ nails we used for legs. Which meant using tools and cutting stuff.

Started with 4 x 11.5″ high pieces cut from 6×6″ wood beams from Home Depot
(one 8 ft beam is $30)

And we thought that maybe then we could just add in more nails to better support the structure… but we were wrong. The nails looked dumb and Beetlejuice-esque but without the Harry Belafonte party in the shrimp cocktail. So Keith then thought, what about wood doweling instead (you know, it looks like a curtain rod?) on the exterior of the 4 sides? Also easier to level as opposed to getting it right with like 10 nails. Ew.

See? Tables & doweling! It’s a table leg! It’s a curtain rod! It’s magic!

We weren’t sure once the tables were put together if we needed to add in more colour or take some away… But our friend we were making them for has had about enough of the wood look for the moment…

You can see the painted white and gold tops, but them rest of the tables are naked as the day they were born!

So we painted the rest of the sides with white gloss spraypaint (and some of that leftover gold paint from our stumpy art project) to lighten things up a bit and voila!

  • Side by side.. tables
  • OR upside down?
  • These are brand new 21″ high condo bedroom sized side tables!

Up next! Side tables for dogs! (jk, but at the same time we live in a pretty dog crazy area so….)

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

bfd.

Craigslist Finds: Week of May 25th, 2019 Edition!!!

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Oh haiiii everyone! We are back, and repping Toronto hard after our Eastern Conference win last night with the Toronto Raptors! I had a split second thought that it would be amusing to provide you all a selection of sports focused furniture that YOU TOO can have at home, in your basement… But then I realized how much I hate that kind of tacky crap and would never have it in my house, so why the energy? Not that a sofa featuring my favourite NBA team wouldn’t be a really exciting addition to the furniture collection…. Just… not my collection. Or any collection I’d advise anyone to actually buy! #letsgoraptors #keepitonatshirt #sweatshirtsarenicetoo

That being said, the list of Craig is BUMPIN this weekend with deals, you guys! It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen deals like this, so tuck in! AND get in touch with these owners ASAP if you see things you like because I guarantee these sweet, sweet deals are not gonna stick around for long.

These dining chairs are $75 each and are being offered as a set of 2 or 4. Can’t go wrong with a Thonet bentwood chair, ever!! PLUS you can recover them with 2 different kinds of fabric if you want: one for the seat and the other for the backrest. YASSSS.
Floor Lamp With 3 Bulbs,Red,Adjustable – $40 This would easily cost $150 if you bought it at a vintage boutique downtown, and this classic retro style works in pretty much any room you can put it in! Steal of a deal at $40!!!
Mid-century modern walnut cabinet hutch – $225 This is such a gorgeous piece, and perfect to dress up a dining room, hallway or even a den . Love that MCM detail on the side with the legs. Faboosh! And you’re not going to find anything less expensive buying new, nevermind the quality of this piece vs something at a comparable pricepoint.
MCM Coffee Table – $50 Whoever is getting rid of this, they obviously aren’t interested in getting what it’s worth, so… Their haste is YOUR gain! Comparable pieces form the sixties are selling for 3 times the $50 price tag on a good day, so do not wait and pick this up!! STAT!
$375 for 6 MCM high back chairs These are yet another MCM stealy-deal (are you getting bored of me saying this? I’m kind of bored of saying it, but there were SO many good pieces today this is ONLY some of it) that are teak but with a dark stain. Another potential reupholstery project, we’d actually keep the fabric if possible, it goes SO nicely with the aesthetic

This is our top 5 for the day, but there were so many more we couldn’t keep them all straight! Happy hunting, y’all!

bfd

BFD Reveal: A Bathroom Revamp Project for Bath Time Fun!

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Our friends Sarah and Rob moved further out from the centre of the city a few years ago to get some more space for their little guy and to cut down on commute time for their jobs. The best thing about being in the burbs? You got enough space for your bathroom to be bigger than an urban bedroom AND room for like 5 of them if you want (generalizing of course, but they deffo have at LEAST 3 bathrooms, and room for 2 more so…).

A popular service that we, as BFD provide, is a customized shopping list and room design plan based off of a home visit and collaboration with people looking to redo rooms in their house that just need some guidance and an inspiration springboard to get started. We find people tend to use approx 50-75% of the products we suggest, and if nothing else, you have the measurements of the room broken down for a contractor to use when ordering products, which in the case of bathrooms and tile, can be VERY helpful indeed!

So, the before:

Oh hello there, bathtub and vinyl flooring… You’ve probably been pretty comfortable up until now but…. GUESS WHAT?
  • YOUR
  • DAYS
  • ARE
  • NUMBERED!
  • Yes, that includes you…
  • Sorry, sink!

And our recommendation (all links in this doc ARE clickable):

And the final product! (it’s 90% done, FYI, but you probably wouldn’t know that unless we told you…)

Ta dah! (this was a closet that cut in from the bedroom beside the bathroom before) WAY more useful now!

Although they were originally going to do subway tile, they elected to use a 2:1 shaped faux ceramic on the wall and a 1:1 (24″x24″) on the floor because the tiles were much bigger, easier to install, and one less thing to have to order/organize (they were both part of the same tile family). YES, that’s not real marble! (the honeycomb on the floor of the shower is, though)

Yup, this is deffo a 1000% improvement from that cream
blech standard bathtub and separated toilet section they had before!!!

After the wall mounted fixture for the bath was ordered, there ended up being a whole bunch of issues around availability and eventually they got the fixture, only to open the box and find it was the wrong one! Long story short they found another one locally and grabbed it! Black bathroom fixtures especially, though very en vogue, are NOT easy to find in Canada in store or online, so if you do happen to come across a set you like a word to the wise: get it right now. Do not wait. (and no, you can’t sub a wall mounted sink fixture for a bath fixture… unless you like watching paint dry, water boil, golf…)

There is MORE where this came from, everyone, as there is also a bathroom in Sarah and Rob’s room that is being renovated presently, AND a front entrance makeover on it’s way too! Stay tuned for more updates. And, if you would like to get in touch with us about some help with a project that you’ve been lacking inspiration for and need some help with, drop us an email anytime!

bfd.

Spark Some Joy: Craigslist Finds 2019 Is Here!!

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We know, it’s been months. We took a hiatus. Plus Christmas. And Netflix.  We totally are taking advantage of the latest fad in home organization by mentioning the Tidying Up phenom that is Marie Kondo. Don’t hold these pieces of furniture up to your face to see if they spark joy as they might crush you or at least some bruises.

Couch + Chair – Brand new! Mint!! – $800

Unless sitting on these is like needles or something that aren’t evident in the photo, why wouldn’t you for $800? Loving the modern silhouette of that couch and matching chairs  =  a reason to get some new throw pillows!!!

A beautiful piece and you can hide your beanie babies in that there hidey shelf on the bottom left!!! So no, you DON’T have to get rid of them just yet because they will increase in value one day and then who will be sorry when they don’t get to retire in Costa Rica on the money from your limited edition rainbow bear proceeds? Ya, thought so.

Mid Century Teak Bar Cabinet – Scandinavian Modern Design – $399

You could easily spend this buying new, and how efficient is it that the top folds out and creates extra drink serving surface area??? Extra space for no extra cost!

LOUIS POULSEN PH 5 PENDANT CEILING LIGHT FIXTURE – $495

Blue West Elm mid century modern chair – $100

The real deal brand new is going to run you north of $1,000, so why don’t you save yourself a bit of cash, tidy this one up and then invite all your friends over to gawk at your very architecturally impressive light fixture? No touching. Just looking. It’s vintage.

If this lovely little number doesn’t spark some joy then you need to get yourself to (Instagram photos of) a beach STAT! This will easily fit in to all the rooms AND it’s already newly reupholstered so you can just pretend it was totally you who did that last weekend in a whim and aren’t you just the craftiest? Flamingo: a classic that’s always on trend. AND THERE’S PIPING!!!!

bfd

 

It’s A New… Bee-DAY… Upping Your Toilet Game With Bidets

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Somewhat of a touchy subject for some, and yes there is going to be a sh&* load of double entendres here given we are talking about the very best of humours.. that of the toilet persuasion, we have recently gifted our upstairs bathroom with a washlet/bidet toilet seat, and could not be happier with the outcome. Complete with oscillating front and back spouts, heated water, deodorizer and adjustable temperature dryer, toilet paper use has decreased significantly, and the first visit of the day to the cold, cold bathroom is slightly less painful now as least our butts are warm. North America is actually pretty.. behind… when it comes to posterior cleanliness and washing properly when finished our number two’s — rather ironic given our reputation as germ-o-phobes. The first exposure to the bidet/toilet combo, as opposed to the stand alone bidet/looks like a short water fountain thingie, was at a friends who had the ultimate in toilets: a Toto. See below. (this is the creme de la creme, not exact representation of initial toilet experience)

Or for… the most of us who can’t so much afford the $3,500 option…

Toto Washlet C100 Toilet Seat Bidet $559.99 from Wayfair.ca

I must have spent 3x as long on the toilet, and I didn’t even need the targeted cleansing option to know I had found a gadget whose eco-friendly and mega-comfortable ethos I could totally buy into. Did you know that the way we currently use toilet is super wasteful, kind of bad for our tender parts and not particularly clean? Ya. And no, wet wipes, which are mostly not flushable even if they say flushable, do not count. There’s loads of research and articles online that discuss how wrong the toilet paper only approach is, and how much easier it could be if we just got over the disposability/flushing the dirt away point of view. We’ve chosen a few faves to highlight here, and the cost doesn’t usually reflect the $5,000 gold standard. You could actually have a system for less than $100.

USPA UB-6035R Warm Water Bidet Toilet Seat, Dual Nozzle, Heated Seat/Air Dry $449.00 from Amazon.ca

Ours cost approx $500, so not something you could necessarily buy on a whim, BUTT a very worthy investment whose cost is easily offset by the sharp decrease in toilet paper usage and cost you will notice once you start using one of these bad boys. Now for some other options at a lower price point – Mind, the fewer bells and whistles, the lower the cost, so if you are good with cold water and some Scandinavian inspired functional minimalism…

Tushy Spa Warm Water Bidet in White and Gold $99 USD from HelloTushy.com (Tushy.com is a COMPLETELY different experience… So pay attention!)

Or a similar but less good looking option under $55…

Or feel free to stop by next time your in the hood to use ours… You can bet your behind you’ll never look… back? Make number two comfort your number one toilet criteria? I could go on…

bfd

Craigslist Finds: Week of September 17th, 2018

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There was so much and not enough to choose from this weekend: people went nuts posting yesterday so it took longer than usual before we even got through everything listed just from the 15th! Here’s our faves in no particular order.

With vinyl sales continuing steadily, care of audiophiles, hipsters and musical purists, why not extend that vintage love to the piece you use to play your records, man?? Yes, there are other players you could get, for far more or less money, but if you have the space and aesthetic inclination, this piece really is the way to go.And it’s less than $500!

If we didn’t have dogs (that we let on the furniture, all the time) this would already be in our living room, legit. A gorgeous piece that is built to last in a timeless style that can fit in to a plethora of decor environments for under $1,000. DO IT.

And this coffee table would actually be totally perfect with the couch above. Can you believe it’s only $150? We like this piece because it’s already kind of dinged and messed up so even you continue to ding or mess it up, that’ll be part of the look instead of a blight on your living room scenery that you will forever notice and never forgive your cousin Dave for causing. Avoid the passive aggressive family get togethers and embrace a table that just gets better with every red wine stain it accumulates!

Cheap and cheerful, we love this for its portable size and versatile lewk. Perfect size for a condo, and perfect price for not breaking the bank!

Even though they aren’t the real thing, at two for $100, you’re still laughing. These Le Corbusier-inspired classics never go out of style, and are an excellent accent for any living room or sitting area!

Yes, we know this style isn’t for everyone. Especially if  this is giving you flashback of your mom’s 1980’s balloon drapes. BUT, that being said, you could easily mix this piece up with some glass nesting tables and a modern chandelier and be the envy of all your ‘contemporary/transitional/beige-style’ friends (zzzzz). THIS. SOFA. IS. EFFIN. FABULOUS.

But just in case the floral explosion is too much, this is a great option that afford you the chance to still go to town with the throw pillows. Perfect for a pop of colour, and at not even half the cost of what this piece would normally cost! Would actually go really well with that condo sized coffee table! New living room for less than $400. Not bad for a Sunday shop.

6 chairs AND the table for under $1,000 is an absolute STEAL. This find will not last long, and even if the upholstery isn’t to your taste, these are some of the easiest chairs out there for you to try your hand at some DIY upholstery (though we quite like the stripe/weave combo, tbh). A super find with a design pedigree like this is the reason we spend so much time looking through all this stuff for you: too good to be true exists sometimes, so get er done!

bfd

A Long Overdue Reveal: BFD’s Stairway to Heaven (aka the second floor)

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We’ve had just regular stairs with crappy grey runners we got off the roll at Home Depot for a while, and the whole leek was a little worse for wear, tbh. We put the tread on their originally for our aging dogs who needed the grip to get up the stairs, but as both of them passed last year, and the stairs were already kind of busted looking, we though hey, why not do it like grownups, with some nice looking carpet??? We went to the Carpet Mill at Gerrard Square in Toronto and luckily it was the first and last place we needed to go!

The above carpet was one of our immediate yes let’s do it…. and then the price tag was revealed ($6k+ for two sets of stairs)…. and we needed to reevaluate our options. And the styles we could afford were… fine. But that’s about it. So then we asked, well what about using a giant area rug instead and cutting it to fit?

A lot of the ones we liked were either not available in the number of rugs we would need, or the patterns was too big, meaning when they tried to sew multiple rugs together we would see the seam, which is obvs not stylish. The pile also had to be low enough that the carpet could bend nicely over each stair, so ya, even with our new vista of choice, the choice was somewhat limited.

We settled on the above rug and had to buy 3 of them in order to have enough to cover the main to second and main to basement stairs. From when we placed our order it was about 4-6 weeks for the carpet to be ready to install. And we had some readying to do of our own….

Cause these stairs were seriously busted. Originally the stairs were painted black, as was the railing, but with the new carpet, we decided to freshen things up a bit so the design in the carpet could pop. White paint over errrrrr-thing!!!

Because of scheduling and literally waiting for paint to dry, the coats of paint happened at different intervals across the two floors.

There may have been canine assistance, that luckily we were able to limit to the kitchen.

We also added some paintable wallpaper to the sides of the stairs in the basement as the wall cut in on one side and left uneven exposure. We decided why not put some more pattern on there, cause one’s not enough, and voila.

The under padding. In an artful pile.

The carpet is brought in, cut to measure for both sets of stairs.

img_7127

L’installation care of the folks at Carpet Mill.

Almost done! this is the steps looking down to the basement and washer/dryer.  Artfully placed duvet.

The stairs from the second floor looking down to the main floor. And…

img_7128.jpg

Ta Dah! Overall the project cost around $3,000 and the installation was done in an afternoon. The rug itself required 3 weeks or so to be made, so ideally, you could schedule a project like this in to be completed in a month, depending on the availability of the carpet you choose.

bfd.

Stuff We Love: Our Faves From the Jysk Patio Sale!

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We are as surprised as you are at the treasure trove of finds… There are a handful of Jysks around Toronto, however all of the above can also be delivered. There was actually a few more pieces on this here list that were already gone in the time it took to make this list — apologies for the 2 reproduction Acapulco style chairs that we could not add. They had them in blue and black for $79.99, and they were pretty suh-weet.

Given there are so few options out there for affordable and stylish patio furniture, we simply had to share. And we’d totally be buying if there was ANY room left in our backyard for furniture, but we are already at capacity for chairs with a running total right now at 7 plus a loveseat…  So just in case you needed any more impetus to get outside and enjoy the backyard, and we know it’s hot as balls, so that may indeed be more challenging these hazy lazy days of summer, this stuff will also look great at NIGHT! With a cold booze/iced tea/whatever you drink to keep sane.

Happy Long Weekend!

bfd