Monday, January 31, 2011

My High Heels Are Homeless

It has been a rough couple of days in the Hammers and High Heels DIY world.  Our Spare Room redo hasn't been going as well as we had hoped. We were in the beginning stages of setting up my new dressing room.  Before we took our trip to Home Depot for the supplies we looked back at my inspiration post to get an idea of what we should look for.  We thought these basic metal brackets and boards would do the trick, they had a similar look to the metal and wood shelving I loved from the inspiration photos.  They also were pretty inexpensive (lesson learned; low cost DIY isn't always the best idea).
Once we got the shelves up we both just cringed, even Rocco had a look of horror on his face.  I imagine he was thinking something like, "Mom, you guys can do better than this, nothing in here looks cute but me" - yep I just quoted my dog, uggghhh, it IS a really lame day!

Even though we didn't think it was quite right, I started organizing my shoes on the shelves to see if it made our vision look any better and even put my antique dress form into place. Our concensus... a classic case of the shoe not quite fitting right.

It still looked like crap.  CRAP!  The two main problems were 1- the shelves themselves, they just didn't look nice at all; and 2- the awkward huge space above the top shoe shelf.  So maybe we didn't measure and place them as we should, but we are also thinking that this wall shouldn't have shelves on it anyway.
So, we are starting over with this one.  My heels and everything else are now in this lovely heap on the floor.  We get a huge FAIL on this one.
The good news is we have a new plan, and yes, we hope this one works!  So, thanks for following up with us on our room redo, and if you have any ideas for us please let us know!  Here's to hoping this week and our new plan goes a little better!

14 comments:

  1. Certainly not a fail!! You would never have known that it didnt work if you didnt try it!! I actually kind of like them but maybe just spray them a fun color and paint the brackets white to blend more? Or if you truly don't like them, what if you used the Ikea Expidit bookshelves? They would look super cute on that wall. I would rock a big sunburst mirror up there. They're so trendy right now but fun and cute and would reflect even MORE light than is in that awesome room of yours!! <3

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  2. I agree with Gina- I like them, but perhaps white brackets that blend in with the wall might look better.
    I can't wait to see what your plan b is.

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  3. Yeaaah, not the coolest brackets. I don't think I have seen your inspiration picture but how about these brackets from IKEA
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S89870335

    -Micha

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  4. Oooo Micha, those are cute! Thanks for the new idea, still wondering if we should use a separate shelf unit, or build them in, hmmmm. Thanks for the input so far, guess they really were super ugly :(

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  5. I don't think it looked terrible, but if you're not loving it that's what matters... you're the one who'll be pulling high heels off those shelves every day!!! Can't wait to see what you have in store next!

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  6. Sometimes you have to try it to see if you like it. I am always doing that!

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  7. carla marie, thank you so much for your honesty! it's so hard when you have a vision, and then it flops! i think blogging adds another dimesion, because then instead of having this big reveal, you have to CHRONICLE the fail... which is probably why a lot of people don't do it... so KUDOS to you for your honesty. i wish i had a great design tip to make it all magically better... but i'm sure you'll rework it and figure it out :)

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  8. Bummer. It happens though. You finish putting something up and realize you don't like. You're not alone :)

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  9. i agree with most comments paint the brackets white and dress the shelves up nice trimming on the outside or paint them black or a fun color and a nice old sign up in bare spot would be cool.

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  10. Chris, I love the sign idea! If I could find a vintage store/ boutique sign that would be so perfect! I will be on the lookout :) thanks!

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  11. Ikea has some AWESOME brackets and shelves that are pretty cheap and pretty to look at - also, The Container Store has sales on Elfa shelving every once in awhile (and sometimes that have in-store specials). Good luck! It will all come together soon!

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  12. It's really hard backtracking on diy decisions - especially once money's been spent - so well done!!

    And what gorgeous shoes you have!! My husband always laughs at my shoe collection!!!

    Sarahx

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  13. Oh my gosh you have the best shoes!! I am so jealous. I stopped buying cute shoes because the only ones I wear now are my slippers! I guess I can buy cute slippers instead. Love you blog, you are so talented at designing.

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  14. Just found your blog so I haven't made it far enough in to figure out exactly what you're doing... but I turned a spare room into a dressing room and used the Ikea stolmen system for my shoes!

    http://domesticjenny.blogspot.com/search/label/dressing%20room

    Also what about something like this?!?

    http://www.the-brick-house.com/2009/09/shelving-unit.html

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