Picking right up from yesterday’s cardboard inspirations, here is a new idea in repurposing otherwise wasted materials.
You’ve probably seen a trend in expensive 3D wall panels and 3D wallpaper. This is free. All you need to do is ask your local grocer to take their fruit trays off their hands. I just got a box and tried it out in our living room. You can hang them with the rounded side out or the ribbed side out.
These trays generally come in beige and purple. I am thinking of spray painting them red and covering an entire wall in the bedroom for a striking effect. I’ll let you know how it goes. Best part is…if I’m over it one day, it only cost me the price of spray paint.
What’s your two cents? Would you do this? Don’t care? Hate it? Love it? For an alternative, cheap wallpaper look, there’s always newspaper. Also check out this DIY cardboard chair.
Read the full article »
We are wrapping up My DIY Week with this room divider and slate side table. For other My DIY’s that did not make the post this week, just click on the “My DIY” Section on the right side of your browser.
This standing light is made of stainless steel, wood and fabric. It provides a soothing glow to the living space and in this case also hides an unsightly wall heater. It can also function as a room divider or an accent wall behind a couch or free standing. Although it is over sized, the light is lightweight and thus easy to reposition within the desired space.
Click image to enlarge
Read the full article »
I take on any chance to bring the outdoors in. I love having natural elements inside the home that help connect with the outside, natural world. The inspiration for this slate table came from the fusion of that love of the natural world and sleek, modern design.
The table consists of two slabs of gray slate, round metal legs, and pebble rocks. Sometimes I turn a light on inside the crevice between the two levels of slate. That makes for a fun detail and brings attention to a low visual punctum.
This table is easy to care for and looks great slightly oiled. I look forward to playing around with this table in other colors and other types of natural stone.
Read the full article »
When we lost some of our armoire storage space to a new computer tower and two giant monitors for our film editing needs, we splurged for this IKEA shelving unit. Right. It was a cheap, quick fix. I spent some time looking for boxes to fit inside that I could be happy with and ultimately I decided to create my own solution to this organizational problem.
I picked up some sturdy card-board boxes, cut them and reshaped them such that they would be the necessary height and depth. I wanted my boxes to be fun to look at, so before stretching the fabric onto the boxes, I cut a design out of white felt and both glued and stitched it onto the brown fabric. I then covered the boxes in brown fabric by using spray adhesive and a glue gun. I had some leather samples which I must admit I fished out of the dumpster of an upholstery business which was going out of business. What can I say…perfectly good leather should not go to waste. Those leather samples, which sat in my coat closet for two years, finally came in handy when I needed something fun and rich for my box handles. Viola! A little card-board, a little handy work, a little dumpster diving and I have my boxes. I have been using them for about a year now and they have held up great!
Read the full article »
Following this week’s My DIY topic, here is an easy and cheap creaton. This is a wall sculpture I put together for my friends using sticks and wire twisty ties. What I have done before is glue in fabric pieces into some of the triangulated spaces. That makes for a fun effect as well. The orange deer head was also my contribution to their Santa Monica home.
I would like to point out that unless all of your books are white (as they tend to be in modern furniture magazines), color coding your books helps bring a sense of organization to a potentially cluttered book shelf. For someone with a good visual memory, color organization also helps spot the book you are looking for.
Read the full article »
What once was a Chinese lantern is now a modern lantern. I shared this DIY creation with Shelterrific after an ongoing discussion about lamp making. You can see the original post and an image of the lamp in its natural habitat here.
Someone mentioned that it reminded them of the Beijing National Stadium designed by Herzog & de Meuron design firm, which is interesting given that it was once a Chinese lantern. Hmm…
It reminds me of this work of Testa and Weiser featured in the Skin and Bones exibit at MOCA. Check out this great dress from the same exhibit. Another parallel? I’m lovin it. These ziggy wine rack and glacier runner from CB2 have a similar motif of intersecting diagonal lines. I think we are onto a motif trend here.
Read the full article »
I have been adoring wood lamps for sometime when I decided to make one myself. I got the thin wood slats from Michael’s, designed the shape, cut the pieces to proper size, stained the bottom slat darker and then put it all together. Hanging it all together is a bit of a challenge. If you set the lamp on a flat surface, the form will intentionally collapse into itself like one of these old picnic cups or this skirt.
I love the amber light that the wood gives off. This lamp is wired with a dimmer, and it changes the look of the lamp beautifully as you dim or increase the light. I look forward to doing some wood bending in the future for my other lamp designs.
Read the full article »
My husband and I made these lights out of pegboard four years ago and my love of pegboard still has not subsided. These were very simple to make and fun to put together. A hand saw, some wood glue and the appropriate wiring and these can be put together in one night. I have contemplated painting them in the past, but have stuck with the original white. I also love the natural brown that pegboard usually comes in.
Here is another way to implement pegboard for a new use in your home. This Design*Sponge example implements bungee cords to display some fun items and magazines. They also provide the step by step for creating this fun wall organization unit.
Read the full article »
Some of you know about my love of fashion and sewing. Here is my contribution to the world of modern fashion design. It is an apron dress. There is something nostalgic and appealing about aprons. Given the modern love of mid-Century modern furniture and home decor, this is sort of a modern take on the good old apron. The apron dress goes beyond the function of an apron, which was to cover up an outfit, to where the apron becomes the outfit. Modern women wear many different hats and I would say many different aprons. This apron dress can go from the home to the play date, to the office.
Read the full article »
I got on the greeting-card-making wagon a few years ago when my husband’s mom set me up with some great card-stock and various card making nick knacks. My latest card making venture involves card-stock and my sewing machine.
I love the look and feel of thread on paper and sometimes I like to stitch without thread such that I end up creating some fun patterns with the needle holes. Here are a few of my most recent creations. One of these days I will start printing some fun stuff inside the card, but for now these cards remain blank and thus – versatile fulfilling my many gifting and greeting needs. Click image to enlarge
Read the full article »
Picking right up from yesterday’s cardboard inspirations, here is a new idea in repurposing otherwise wasted materials.
