Archive for Room Decorations
Faux-Casso: The Harlequin Fleur-de-Lis Painting, Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsLast fall, I took a ten day trip to Italy that more or less changed my life. But one of the things I came back with – besides an expanded waistline from all the food – was a deep love of the Fleur-de-Lis, which is the emblem of the city of Florence. When I started thinking about decorating the master bedroom in the new apartment (yes, six months after I moved in because that’s how I roll), I wanted to make a painting that incorporated the symbol in some way.
The Fleur-de-Lis
So I started Googling Fleur-de-Lis paintings and came across a surprising number that used the symbol against a checkered harlequin background. I fell in love with the combo because it would a perfect compliment to our new bedspread, which as you might recall, looks like this:
After the jump, part one of how I am making the painting to match!
Hanging Frames – Light Enough to Hang Anywhere
Posted by: | CommentsPosted by Erin…
Earlier this year I moved into a new apartment where my bedroom is in a second floor loft space, overlooking the family room. Due to a combination of my claustrophobia and sheer laziness, we decided to hang a curtain to separate the rooms instead of having one of Manhattan’s famous prefab walls built – the same walls that turn every two-bedroom Upper East Side apartment into a convertible three-bedroom. I’m a sound sleeper, so not having a wall doesn’t bother me at all. ..except for the fact that it makes hanging things on the walls nearly impossible. My very handy, sweet boyfriend hung the curtains from the ceiling for me, but warned me that rods definitely couldn’t support that much weight. With a lack of wall space, I found that I had very little surface area to hang picture frames, vintage posters, or the decorative hooks that I used for my faux pearls and grandmother’s purses. After thinking about this situation for a short while, I found the perfect solution to combat the photo problem and help give my room more personality.
I love the look of picture frames that hang in a row, like these from Target, but knew that they would be way too heavy. Eyeing some Grosgrain ribbon, I was determined to recreate the look of the frames, minus the weight. Checking out my finished project, I think I did a good job!
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Must Try: Olioboard
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Olioboard will help me build a room around this bedspread from Target.
As I work to set up my new apartment (yes, it’s been five months and we’re no where NEAR up and running) it’s been almost impossible for me to figure out the pieces I want, the color scheme I eventually want to achieve, and so on.
A lot of our crafty friends use “mood boards” as a way to find the look they want for a room. But the arranging and configuring is just too much for me. I’m simply too lazy to online shop and then worry about how to arrange the screengrabs in a way that helps me “see” the room. I’ve actually thought to myself, “That’s one too many steps. And now So You Think You Can Dance is on.” And then I give up.
But!
Then I stumbled upon Olioboard, which is a automatic mood board creator. Now, I can just hunt for the pieces I’m interested in and it has all the necessary tools to easily arrange them into a vision. Amazing! Someone has actually invented the very tool that addresses – and fixes – my shortcomings as a design freak.
I recently got this beautiful and ultra comfy comforter from Target, and have a dresser from Ikea to pair it with and now with Olioboard, I can figure out what lamps and other accessories also look good – all from the comfort of my couch! I mean, can you even? I’ll try to post the finished board soon.
DIY Dry Erase Board
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File under: why the heck didn’t I think of this?
Check out this super-simple, uber-pretty how-to on making your own dry erase board.
I’ll say it again – why the heck did I not think of this sooner?
Thanks to How About Orange for the link.
Picture Frame Jewelry Holder
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Picture frames hold jewelry and act as decoration at the same time. Genius!
Browsing around the Internets as I’m prone to do from time to time, I came across this ingenious way to store – and if it’s nice enough – showcase jewerly.
I have several jewelry trees, which either through laziness or my own inability to work them properly, only serve to hold my jewelry out of sight in a tangled knot.
What I love about this is that it’s virtually impossible for your pieces to become entangled in one another AND you add a little extra pizazz to a room.
We’re currently planning to paint one wall of our guest bedroom in black chalkboard paint – couldn’t you just see these slightly distressed white frames and the jewelry give a whole lot of pop to the space? I can. Oh yes…I can.
DIY Crepe Paper Flowers
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I mean, can you EVEN?
I just about died from happiness yesterday when finding this amazing project on The Bride’s Cafe – DIY crepe paper flowers. (The site too, by the by, is amazing and also worth your obsession.)
Now you can have all the fun and frills of fresh flowers, without the annoyances like water and maintenance. Genius! Find the tutorial here. You won’t be sorry. I can’t wait to try it for myself this weekend.
Get it Poppin’
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Pop Art for Kids
Every so often, I find myself on West Broadway in SoHo, strolling past the various art galleries and thinking to myself, “They’re selling that for how much?”
I’m not very snobby — or even knowledgeable! — when it comes to art, but when I see what major galleries are selling for obscene amounts of cash, it just hurts my soul. I don’t profess to understand the intrinsic value of the pieces I see, but I do often think, I can make that! So over the weekend, I tried to put my money where my mouth is.
Make Your Own Linens
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Image courtesy of CentsationalGirl.com
I’m afraid this goes into the “Only If I Become a Millionaire Who Doesn’t Have to Work” file, bu I absolutely loved this link from Centsational Girl about making your own linens using a hand-carved block technique.
As previously mentioned, I hate buying anything I feel I can make myself – especially when it comes to decor. (Remember this painting post?) And not that I can make anything this gorgeous (I mean, I can’t compete with native, skilled, local artisans), but I’d sure like to try! Perhaps, though, using a less complicated technique like embroidering or using a fabric pen to create something on a simple linen (like a bath towel or a throw pillow).
Anyone else out there make their own textiles? Curious what techniques you might use!
How to Make Place Mats from Shelf Liner
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Turn all this extra shelf liner into cute place mats.
Yesterday, Erin and I were laughing over the fact that we are super cheap. It’s rare that either of us buy anything pretty because we’re always convinced we can make it ourselves. Place mats have always been one of those things for me. Who has $40 or more to throw away on a piece of fabric that goes under your plate? Not me!
But that was before I had my Oprah A-ha Moment (TM) at a bridal shower this weekend. What should be beneath each person’s table setting (at a very cute restaurant called Surf Taco by the by) but place mats made of the very same shelf-lining material I had picked up at Bed Bath and Beyond last week for the utensil drawers? Holla!
The restaurant manager let me take one home and then it was off to the races.
Recycling the Recycling
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Image compliments of Craftzine.com.
Paper Mache Easter Eggs
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Centsational Girl's Paper Mache Eggs. Amazing!
The lovely Leslie of The DIY Diaries recently introduced us to the crafty and amazing Centsational Girl. If you haven’t already discovered her, mosey on over – you’ll like what you see.
We especially loved her post today on creating these pretty little paper mache easter eggs, using nothing more than regular eggs, tissue paper and a bit of glue. The total cost of supplies was less than $3! I just love how this looks so much like Spring. (If only the weather outside would start looking like it, too, we’d be all set.) It would also be really cute paired with this Peeps Wreath that ReadyMade posted last week for Easter
Have you seen any other cute spring decorations? Or working on any yourself? If so, please share in the comments!
