DIY Inspiration: I bet YOU could make THAT!

Happy Tuesday!

Hope you don’t mind another inspiration post.  I know in the past Tuesdays have been themed “Tackle It Tuesday” but there hasn’t been much decorating or household management tackling going on with me lately.  Instead, I’ve been working on a new super secret business project… I can’t tell you what it is YET… but I can tell you that it’s very WONDERFUL and MARVELOUS!  LOL!

Anyway, to semi-encourage YOU to keep up with Tackle It Tuesday, I thought I’d share a little DIY inspiration.  I’ve told you many times that I believe in keeping my eyes open to find inspiration EVERYWHERE.  Lately, I’ve found a slew of inspiration in viewing artist portfolios, especially the portfolios of set stylists and interior photographers.  In fact, I started keeping a bookmark folder dedicated to photos which inspired potential DIY projects and today I decided to share some of those photos with you along with my thoughts on how you’d achieve the DIY version.

Fun Floating  Shelves

Floating Shelf - from the portfolio of Scott Horne (scotthorne.com)

Isn’t this floating shelf from prop stylist Scott Horne’s portfolio so very cute?  I have a feeling it is anchored to the wall with hidden brackets, but you could get a similar look with an Ikea shelving and some chain you can purchase at Home Depot or Lowe’s (this link is just an example of what I mean, if you go in to one of the stores, they have different styles of chain on big rolls that they can cut to length for you – I used to use them to make purse handles back in my crafty sewing days!).  Add a can or two of spray paint and you could personalize this look to match any part of your home’s decor.

Thrifty Extra Storage

Drawer Table (via BHG.com)

I saw this a few months ago while flipping through a gallery on the Better Homes and Gardens website and thought it would be an easy and clever storage solution.  I’m betting you could find some old drawers to use for free, just by haunting craigslist or freecycle for a give away old chest of drawers.  You might find old furniture feet at a salvage yard or you can, once again, visit your local Lowe’s or Home Depot (or Ikea, if you want something more modern and have one nearby).  Pick up some paint and new drawer handles if you want and then it’s as simple as adding the feet to the drawer you plan on using for the base and painting to your taste.  Depending on what you pick and how thrifty you are, this could easily fall into the “$20 or less” project category!

Fill the walls with art for less

Wall of Frames from the portfolio of Jen Everett (jeneverett.com)

When I first saw this page from stylist Jen Everett’s portfolio, I immediately fell in love with the wall of frames.  A visit to your local Salvation Army or Goodwill could easily net you a variety of inexpensive frames (or framed art… just pop out the art and tuck away for future craft projects).  Spray paint the frames white to get the look in this picture or be adventurous and play with color (I’m envisioning a wall of bright turquoise frames against a silver-grey background for my home).

When I pulled this photo up to prepare for today’s post, I saw the scrabble board and was inspired with another thrifty art idea… how about collecting old scrabble boards from the thrift store and creating a 3-dimensional piece of wall art?  You could glue a funny phrase or create a poem or just make random words and hang the whole thing on the wall.  You could even hang an “in session” scrabble game by adding velcro or tacky repositionable tape to the back of the letters.   Or you could make a triptych by hanging 3 boards side by side and including a message or phrase that only makes sense if the boards are viewed as a whole. Could be a cute look for a family or play room.

Interesting Side Tables

Interesting Side Tables from Scott Horne's portfolia (scotthorne.com)

I’ll end with another two for one picture.  Originally, I saw the ottoman/coffee table made from square cushions and thought, gosh, that’s EXACTLY what I need for our house!  There’s a couple of options available for execution.  If you’re a handy seamstress (hmmm… why isn’t there a male version of that word?!?!), you can grab some fabric and foam from your local fabric store and create your own cushions.  The base would be a piece of plywood (cut to spec by Home Depot if you aren’t THAT handy– I’m not, so don’t feel bad!) with rolling feet attached (also available at Home Depot or Lowes).  If you aren’t big on sewing, you could probably score some discounted cushions at your local T.J.Maxx or Marshalls (or Ross, if you have one.  Go there first, they have a smaller selection but the best prices!).

Once again, when I pulled the photo up to edit for the post, I had a little lightbulb moment.  See that modern glass side table in the other photo?  Ah, well I’m sure it’s probably a pricey piece from a little known boutique store… but I think you could easily replicate it by getting a large, flat bottom glass vase from your local discount home accessories store.  I’ve seen them at my local Home Goods for around $30.  If you can’t find one large enough in diameter, you could purchase 2 or 3 in varying heights and then cluster them together for a modern take on nesting tables.

Hope you enjoyed my little DIY suggestions.  It’s noon our time and I’m starving, so I’m off to heat up my lunch.

’til next time!

xoxo- Shauntelle

P.S.   Oops, almost forgot that I wanted to tell you to make sure you pop over to see  Melissa @ The Inspired Room today.  She’s having giveaways all day long AND she ’s added a DIY section to her blog that’s chock full of projects to help you add a little budget beauty to your home.  Good luck and happy decorating! 

Building a room around a piece you love…

Yesterday as I was surfing the interwebs, I fell in love with this duvet cover from UrbanOutfitters, remember?  I loved it so much that I spontaneously starting designing a bedroom around it and I promised that I’d share the results:

Urban Outfitters' Wild Poppy Inspired Bedroom

Isn’t my little collage wonderful?!?!  Ok, maybe it’s not so amazing to you guys, but I was tickled pink to find out that Google’s free photo management program, Picasa, could create collages.

When I saw this duvet cover, I immediately envisioned a simple, open and airy bedroom that would be a peaceful retreat.  I know some of you are thinking… HELLO Shauntelle!… there’s all kinds of bold color in this collage of yours!  How can THAT be peaceful?  The thing is, for me, I’m looking for relaxing, but not boring.  I tend to retreat to my bedroom to daydream and a need a space that’s conducive to creating.    Plus, as we’ve seen in several “In the Trenches” interviews in the past, adding pops of color to a basically white (or neutral) background adds just enough interest to keep the room from feeling bland, but the white balances things out to keep the color from being overwhelming.

Since I knew I was starting with a mostly white base (imagine white walls, big windows with light, white linen curtains, plus the mostly white bedding), I decided that the first order of business was to find the right art work to go on the wall.  In this imaginary room of mine, this art work would go right above the bed and would be reflected back at me through the big mirror I’d have hung on the wall directly across from the bed (hey, this is my imaginary room, remember!  I can make sure the walls and windows are in the PERFECT locations to fit my design, unlike real life where you have to work with what ya got!).

Pier 1's Kaleidoscope Wall Art

I was lucky that I found this piece right away on the Pier 1 website.  It was another one of those things I just fell in love with immediately!  I loved that it pulled out the faint red from the duvet and brought in a whole range of other, complementary colors that could then be pulled into the room.

The next thing I looked for was lighting.  I read and write in bed all the time, so I needed to have a lamp right next to the bed.  I actually found a few lamps that I really liked, so I saved them all until I could decide which one would work best with the remainder of the furniture.

I felt really sure that I didn’t want a matchy-matchy kind of room… I’m artsy, ya know, so a room with a matched set of dresser and nightstands wouldn’t have the organic feel that I wanted for this room.  I looked at a variety of night stands before deciding that what I really wanted was a simple, interesting kind of side table.  When I saw this grouping of these tables on the Pottery Barn website, I KNEW they were perfect.  Even though it would be pricey to do this, I would buy all three and group them next to the bed just like they are in the picture.

Pottery Barn ceramic garden stools

 

I like the way they add a sculptural element to the room and the colors are a perfect complement to the art that would be above the bed.  (Ok, I know this isn’t very useful for holding the typical night stand stuff, but my solution is to keep a nice little wicker basket under the bed, perfect for storing whatever books I’m reading, my journal, some pens, and miscellany…)

With the bedside table(s) decided upon, it made it easy for me to decide on a bedside lamp… after all, can’t mar the sculptural effect of the tables by adding a table lamp, can I?

West Elm Adjustable Metal Floor Lamp (westelm.com)

 

The next thing I went looking for was the perfect mirror and dresser to situate across from the bed.  Once again, I knew that I didn’t want anything too matchy, but at the same time, the pieces needed to be complimentary.  Because of that, I looked for the dresser first.   I already had a small idea of the look I wanted… inspired  by a piece I’d seen at Pottery Barn:

Pottery Barn Andover Cabinet

I didn’t necessarily want something red, but I definitely wanted a storage piec that looked like I picked it up in a little antique shop or had it shipped home from my exotic travels (hey, this is MY daydream room, right?  Of course I have exotic travels in my daydream life!  )

This was certainly the hardest part of my search.  I looked high and low but most of the pieces I saw were just too modern for what I had in mind.  I was determined to find simple, modern lines with an aged look…

As you can see from the collage, I never did find what I wanted.  I could have settled (and almost DID) but I figure if I’m designing my dream room, I can hold out for the “just right” piece.  That’s a key part to designing a room (or home) that you truly love– being willing to wait to get that right piece at the right price.

Without the dresser, I couldn’t really decide on a mirror, so I went rug shopping instead and immediately KNEW that this soft sheepskin rug would be the perfect thing to add some additional texture and warmth to the room:

West Elm sheep skin rug

 

And there you have it, my vision of a personal bedroom inspired by Urban Outfitter’s Wild Poppy Duvet Cover!  Feel free to let me know what you think… what would you add?  Do you think the three ceramic stools are too outrageous?  You know I love to hear your feedback!

One last note before I go… I am furiously working to find new people to interview for the “In the Trenches” series.  If you have any suggestions, please drop me a line at snhamlett at gmail dot com!

’til next time,

xoxo- Shauntelle

Eye catching: the random bits that have inspired me lately

It’s a grey rainy day here in Atlanta and I’ve been wishing I could take a mini vacation somewhere warm and sunny.  The next best thing to that is escaping virtually via the interwebs,  so I thought I would share with you the things that have been catching my eye lately.

My husband recently introduced me to the work of photographer James Howe and I currently have this photo of his on my desktop:

Photo by James Howe; all rights reserved @ James Howe (http://www.jameshowephotography.com)

I could totally envision a large framed poster of this image over my faux fireplace!  You can see more of his images by visiting his blog where he shares not only images in progress, but details of how he created the image.

While browsing the apartment section of the Urban Outfitters website, I ran across a couple of items that just tickled my fancy.

The first is this cute little jewelry stand made of dollhouse chairs:

Urban Outfitters Dollhouse Chairs Jewelry Stand

At $68.00, it’s a little more than I could justify paying for cuteness, but I think it could potentially make an interesting DIY project.

I also was utterly charmed by this nostalgic little retro clock:

Urban Outfitters Bonox Clock

At $18.00, it’s quite budget friendly and just very adorable!

I also love this Poppy Duvet Cover and would happily buy it if I didn’t think my husband would find it too overwhelmingly girly:

Urban Outfitters Wild Poppy Duvet Cover

 

Shall I tell you how much I really loved this duvet?  I saw it and spontaneously started planning a whole bedroom around it!  (And since I know you’re so VERY curious to know what that bedroom would look like, I promise to share it with you in another post later this week!)

An inspiration post wouldn’t be complete, of course, without a visit to Etsy!  The first thing that caught my eye was this awesome bonsai tree sculpture by S. Maxwell Designs:

Carnelian Copper Wire Bonsai Tree on Stone

I was also smitten with the artist’s handpainted pendants:

Handpainted Bird and Forsythia Blossom

I might have to hint to Santa about this one!

My last bit of inspiration actually comes from the Anthropologie and it doesn’t cost a thing!  I received a note in my email inviting me to preview their new website theanthropologist.net which is, in their words, “a virtual storybook where inspiring content is exposed, emotional connections are made, and the creative process is illuminated.“   It debuts with the work of director Jane Campion, filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman, and Photographer David Eustace.   As someone who is fascinated by the process of creativity, I found the site very inspiring and I think you will as well!

That’s all the inspiration for today!

‘Til next time,

xoxo – Shauntelle