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The scavengers quick fix

You know when you've been staring at something so long you've forgotten that you were never really satisfied with in the first place?  You just accepted your B-.  I think creative people do it all the time, we can almost always do better.  So I got it in my head that I would rework my record cabinet.  As you can see from the before...the space wasn't filled right over the amp, many of the plants in my container have long since died, leaving only one, records askew and dangling wires.

A few quick changes and I think it`s a lot more successful...slightly straightened out the records, found two storage boxes in my basement from years ago, a borrowed wicker footstool from my parents place and the only new thing was the $11 plant pot to replace the original from the florist.....just need a few more records to fill it in....

Wall Plants

I got this idea in bed.  I wanted to create an simple art piece to hang above a flat screen.  I new it needed to be modern looking but warm.  I remembered a had an old shoe rack sitting in my trunk that reminded me of a super modern Ikea headboard.  I thought this would be cool because you could hang stuff from the slats.

I've seen these cutlery holders used as plant pots, which I thought was a nice way to break it up.  All homes need something living in them, right?  Anyway this is the end result....

I think you could go back and add little shelves poking out the slats, like the headboard that insipred me.  or stick in a few photos... i like the clean lines though.  It's always satisfying when you discover a use for something that was likely to end up in the garbage.

Paint Chip Art

By no means did I invent this idea, I think I first saw versions of it on Apartmenttherapy.com

I like the simplicity and the fact that it's free.  You just need to look sly when selecting multiple paint chips from your local paint shop....try to look indecisive, this helps.

I started with 5 different paint cards with 5 colours on them,  I used about three of each.  I was originally going for rectangles, then cut them all into squares.  its nice because you can be specific about your colour palette.  I used two green cards, one purple, gray and orange.

when you just can't find what you want

I wanted a large front doormat, but these are sometimes hard to find, unless you want industrial style, or are will to shell out over $100 for something more fashionable.  I new I wanted durability, so I couldn't cheat it with an area rug.  I bought 4 door mats from Ikea and tapes them together from the underside.  it took a lot of hunting through stacks of $7 mats to find 4 approximately the same size.

I taped of a boarder with duct tape and protected the middle with taped down garbage bags and spray painted on the boarder.  The boarder also helped to mask that it was originally separate mats.  I like the end result, resilient, simple with a twist of colour....Just want I wanted.

Upholstered headboard...Ikea style...kind of.

I made this upholstered headboard with some As Is wood shelves from Ikea.  I'm sure you could just as easily use particleboard, which was my original idea.  But the shelves were $4 in total, which could not be beat.  I used a twin duvet from Ikea and one of their drapes.    I simply folded the duvet to the side of the wood and stapled the drape fabric over it, hiding the staples on the back.  I attached it to the wall with industrial velcro.  The total cost of this DIY headboard to $45....I think its perfect for the space.