Minimal Desk with Chalk Board Wall

Bright Wood Minimal Office

minimal bright white office

Dark, Minimal Office with window seat

Rustic, simple wood office with high ceilings

Very white office with big chalkboard

Industrial rustic office, simple wood desk with iron legs

Awesome attic office space with bonsai tree

Dark wood desk with everything else white

Clean office with mixes of copper and brown tones

Here are eight DIY’s that are elegant, yet not overdone.  You know, when you’re browsing Pinterest for DIY projects and you see those super tacky DIY’s that make you laugh?  Well, there aren’t any of those in this bunch, so check them out!

DIY Planters using Pavers

DIY Rustic / Weathered Headboard for Bed

Add Airstone Around Old Tub for a New Look

DIY closet organizer from pipes and pine shelves

DIY Farmhouse Floor with Plywood

Starry String Lights – Amber Lights on Copper Wire – Restoration Hardware

Power Strip Hidden in Nightstand

DIY Farmhouse Bench – Great for around the fire!

Some would try to paint the fan without taking it apart and cleaning and painting each individual piece, but not me, I pay attention to detail.  If we’re going to paint a vintage fan I feel like it should be done right.  By right I mean, no overspray on the fan blade, shaft, or the other working parts.  You could tape off certain parts, but it would probably end up taking a lot longer with poor results.  To accomplish the look I was going after I thought it was completely necessary to disassemble this fan.  I did run into some road-bumps along the way, which is expected when working with an old piece like this, which I will explain as I go through the DIY fan restoration steps.

I gladly took the fan restoration project on with enthusiasm, a few cans of spray paint, pliers, screwdrivers, allen wrenches, Worcester sauce (to clean the brass), tooth brush (to scrub the metal), paper towels, and some household cleaner.  Lately I’ve been into classic looking furniture, fans, lamps, and decorations, so I wanted this fan to have that classic look.  I thought a shiny black base and cage would be a great choice along with gold accents including the oscillating switch, side piece, fan blade, and fan shaft to achieve this classic look.

The first thing I did was take off the fan cover by removing a screw towards the back of the fan.  The cover slid right off to reveal the motor and brackets holding it in.  Before I got into cleaning the inside I figured it wold be best to remove the fan cage.  I pried the cage off with a screwdriver, cleaned it, and set it aside.  Throughout this whole project I cleaned every part and every particle of dust with paper towels and antibacterial cleaner so just assume that every step requires cleaning and scrubbing.

I removed the fan blade by squeezing an Allan wrench between the blades.  I couldn’t use the wrench horizontally to get the leverage needed, so I used it vertically and used pliers to grab on and twist while holding the motor housing.  It finally came loose and I tediously unscrewed it by hand from there.

Removing the fan blade from an old fan isn’t easy!  It was stuck on there for so many years that I thought I was going to have to leave it on, obviously ruining my ideas for restoring it to perfection.  I grabbed on with locking pliers (not sure the real name) and wiggled the blade while holding the motor shaft.  It took A LOT of force, so be careful when removing it not to cut your arm on the blade or something else.

Next I had to remove the entire motor for two reasons.  First, I wanted to paint the shaft gold, the same color as the fan blade, without getting paint all over the black motor body.  There was also a metal lever hanging down from the back that I wanted gold. I knew you would see the sloppiness through the fan vents, so I strayed away from the shortcut.   Secondly, this fan was so old that it had all kinds of dust and grime stuck to the vents, which you could also smell.

When it came to cleaning the grungy brass I thought I was going to have to wait and buy some brass cleaner, but I figured there must be something out there on Google that had an idea on how to clean brass without brass cleaner.  I quickly found a few options for cleaning brass without actual cleaner. The easy brass cleaner alternative was worcestershire sauce.  Apparently it works very well at cleaning brass because it’s very acidic.  I grabbed an old toothbrush and scrubbed it a few times until it was fairly clean.  It worked very well!

I was trying to think of a way to exclude the brass from getting spray painted and I thought about using blue painters tape as a template.  I put the tape over the brass, then traced the outline following the groove with a ball point pen.  After it was traced I went over it with a razor blade leaving a perfect cover.  I have to admit, it worked a lot better than I imagined.

The wiring was all one color and I didn’t want to mix up the connections when I put it back together so I put a piece of blue tape on one side to prevent confusion when rewiring.

Next i removed the knob and bolt that allowed the fan to adjust vertically.  This way I could paint the knob and the entire joint.

Now that i had the parts separated I could paint the gold pieces (fan blade, motor shaft, oscillating lever, vertical knob) and the black pieces (fan cage, entire base, cover) without any over spray.  It took several coats of paint using one and a half cans of black and a quarter of a can or less of gold. The cage was a little difficult to paint since there were so many spots to catch, so I used quick bursts of spray in every direction.

I carefully put everything back together; it was tough because the weight of the upper portion and motor were very difficult to hold in place while bolting down, but I finally got it all together without pulling my hair out.  The gold was a little darker than I expected, I was looking for a bright almost brass gold, but I think it still looks great.  I can picture this fan on a modern industrial desk, in a classic styled room, or in an office.

Please pin on Pinterest or Share this post if you like my fan 🙂

To be honest, for the two years I’ve had my iPhone 4 I haven’t covered it, which completely shocks my mother because she knows I’ve broken more phones than imaginable.  My girlfriend on the other hand cracked her iPhone 4 screen twice.  I figured I’d buy a screen and fix it myself after her second mishap.  It wasn’t that hard.  You just need to keep the screws in order and place them on a flat surface in the same placement they came off in.  Here are some tips before you get started.

• Grab a digitizer (lcd screen for your iphone)
  from Amazon for under $30.  Be sure it’s the right one for your phone. Iphone screens are different for Verizon and AT&T phones so double check!
• Set aside an hour of your time
  It can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on how good you are at handling tiny screws and instructions
• Find a flat surface with good lighting
  Did I hint that there are close-to microscopic screws?  Find a flat well lit surface or you WILL lose something.
• Keep track of screw pattern
  When you take a screw off of your phone, place it on your table in the same pattern you took it off with the piece next to it so you remember where they go without looking at the tutorial for an hour.
• Your Warranty will be void
  Your phone warranty will be void after you complete this, so be sure you aren’t worried about that before you start.  Just my opinion, but if you’re already out of warranty than I wouldn’t worry too much about it!
• This is a guide to help you
  I do not hold responsibility for anything that you may mess up.  In my opinion, this is  fairly straight forward operation, just a lot of little screws!

DIY Mason Jar Speakers

[Sarah Pease Mason Jar Speakers] DIY Instructions: [David A. Mellis]

 DIY Wood-Grain Laptop Cover

[Fine & Feathered]

Lightercycle DIY

[techeblog]

DIY PVC Clock

[instructables]

DIY Altoids solar phone charger

[instructables]

Fork & Spoon Phone Stand

[DIY Gadgets]

DIY Transparent Iphone Cover

[uwants] – source is not in english, however this cover is accomplished by using paint thinner to remove paint from the covers.  Disassemble, remove paint, reassemble!

DIY Floppy USB Drive

[Charles Mangin]

DIY Wooden External Hard Drive

[lifehacker]