Ideas For Decorating With Leftover Wallpaper

After my last visit to the Home Depot I came home with two beautiful wallpaper samples. Actually I wasn't even looking for wallpaper, I'm not really a fan, I'm way to lazy to put it on and I would be even lazier to eventually remove it. But as I was looking for new paint for my second bathroom, I spotted some beautiful wallpaper rolls in the corner of my eye. There were so many new and beautiful  designs to choose from. Finally I decided to ask a salesperson for a sample from some of them. It should be enough for a little decorating project, I thought of a lamp shade for the base I already have. I also did some research on the Internet for other ways to use wallpaper samples or leftovers. So many intelligent, surprising and beautiful ideas crossed my way that I decided to share them with you. Here are some of them:

Isn't it obvious why I chose the pictures above with loads of pink? No? Look at the calendar...

For more new, lovely, surprising, inexpensive and DIY-doable ideas please continue looking after the jump (click on 'Read more'):

Ideas For Decorating With Leftover Wallpaper

Chandelier recycled and saved from garbage

I found some other pictures of a DIY that I'm very  proud of. So here it goes: almost 2 years ago, my coworker Melissa, wonderful young girl btw, gave me the old brass chandelier that her mother was about to toss in the garbage. She remembered that I mentioned  how much I would love to have a chandelier for my bedroom so she brought it to me for free, just like that! I love that girl! It was somewhat stained with white paint, several  "candle holders" were partly broken and some of the christals were missing. I wasn't quite ready for a DIY action at that moment but I was very happy to have it. Can you believe that I was finaly so lazy that I bought a little chandelier from the store for my bedroom? I'm so ashamed, but if it can be an excuse - it didn't really cost that much. Talking about karma! It wasn't meant to be my chandelier. Then my daughter moved in another apartment and she needed a ceiling lamp for her bedroom. What was she supposed to do? Poor thing, she had one of this "breast with nipple"-like ceiling mount lamps already fixed in her bedroom. So I took pity on her and offered to restore the chandelier that I was saving for my bedroom. The result is simply breathtaking, for me anyway. See how it looks in front of her charcoal gray wall:

I used some silver spray paint, didn't even bother to prime it, we found some nice fake bling-bling in the dollar store to replace the missing christals - you can barely tell the difference. I was somewhat worried about the solution for the broken "candle holder" parts but my daughter wanted me to let them uncovered and to just spray paint them. So I did it her way and guess what? It looks just lovely, it adds a little surprising industrial touch to it.

BTW, it looks a bit yellowish in the picture but it's really silver painted. We were so busy that day that I completely forgot to take the  before pictures. Here is what it looked like approximately before the upcycling:

Chandelier recycled and saved from garbage

Recycled glas jars finished

My digital camera is taking a rest in a bag of rice since the 'swimming in the cup of coffee' accident. Battery and memory card sleep as well in it. I was told that rice could absorb the humidity and my camera might work again after all. We'll see...I'll wait till this afternoon to try it.
Since I already downloaded some photos from it before the accident  I'm able to give you a follow up on the blackboard spray paint project. This is the finished project with labels:

I was looking for this paint since I saw it on Sonia's post and I found it finally in a hardware store for 5,99$. Not so bad... I already had four big nice glass jars that I saved for a project initially meant to make a DIY version of the lovely Ikea 'Burken' jars:

Finally, I decided to combine both ideas and to make the jars as planed: silver spray paint the lids with addition of the blackboard spray labels. In the beginning of the project I wanted to prove (to myself?) how smart I am and I tried to treat the four jars at the same time with spray paint. As I started to elaborate the tactic to do so, I realised that I was on the way to fail miserably and to loose a great amount of time without getting neat results. What can I say, I couldn't hide it from you, I hope to spare you the embarrassment if the same idea should cross your mind.

 If you have an impression that I was a bit impatient, you're absolutely right. In the end, I got a nice result with masking tape. Didn't care to cover it all but it was not so difficult to handle. If there are some spills you can just wish them of with a sponge or cloth right away. Even if you not see it while it's still wet, don't worry, you can scrape it off using a knife or a cutter. Even if I like the result very much I still would like to add something on the lid for the more realistic 'Burken' effect. What could I use? Any ideas out there?

Recycled glas jars finished

Lovely November morning (for DIY post)

As I was preparing  my coffee this morning I couldn't help but wonder: is it possible to have such a long beautiful autumn, sunny and temperate even in November?  So I grabbed my camera and took a picture of my kitchen window bathing in the morning sun, with African violets still blooming.

So, and now back to work! I wanted to share with you an idea for reusing, or recycling, an unusual object. For quite some time now, i had in my shed an old utensil basket from my old dishwasher. It was in good shape and I stored some little things in it. Then, last weekend, as I was cooking in my all but practical and ergonomic kitchen, I reached for the olive oil bottle so clumsily that several bottles with oils, vinegars and sauces started moving very quickly, and in the same time, in the direction of my head. I must have used some cool move at that moment because somehow I managed, after wrestling with diverse bottles for several seconds, to save them from falling. On my head. I was furious at my kitchen even if it was entirely MY FAULT. And here is why: when we bought our fist home over 4 years ago, I didn't like the existing kitchen at all. Not one bit. But we bought the house because it had some nice features for our two teenagers and that was very important at the time. And even if I dreamed all my life of having a nice kitchen and hoped to get it with our first house, I said to myself: OK, calm  down, you can function in it for a while, see what is wrong with it and renovate later. And I did it. Except renovating, that part isn't done yet, I'm still in the dreaming phase because of  'peanuts'. And you should know: I really love cooking for my family, love making them happy when the smell of their favorite meal starts to spread from the kitchen and they come running to see when it'll be ready. Back to reality, there is not one day that I don't hate my kitchen, it is so small and very badly organized space wise. And the list goes on, it's very long, believe me. I'll save it for another post dedicated to my kitchen. See?! There is no stopping me when I start talking kitchen. Anyway, back to my DIY. Having survived the accident with my oil bottles, I started to think of a rapid solution for them. What you don't know: all these bottles were placed in the cupboard over my old integrated oven. And no, there was no other solution for them at the time. Last week, as I was finalizing some prewinter rearranging in my shed with my DH, I saw my old dishwasher basket and the light went on! Back in the house, I put my bottles in it - perfect! So I took some very simple loop screws and fixed it on the inside of the cabinet door beneath my stove without having to change it a bit. And without using any tools. Ta-da!!! Look at this smart, simple, free, practical, ecological, green solution:

This basket has a grip in the middle, very practical for cooking outside in the summer. Just grab and go, everything is ready. Here are some more pictures:

Lovely November morning (for DIY post)

Blackboard spray paint labels DIY

Curiosity is my middle name, really. I love learning new things, that's why I love navigating the Blogger Sea: there are so many talented people out there! Just yesterday I stumbled upon Sonja's blog and  found the idea for my next craft project. She used blackboard spray paint to transform her tins and jars - simple and stunning! She was nice to allow me to present her work on my blog. Here is the picture of her storage cans with rewritable blackboard labels:

Lovely, isn't it? I can imagine it would look very nice on the glass jars also. Sonia had another idea for the glass jars:

 

 One thing is sure: I have to find this blackboard spray paint subito-presto, I have some very nice glass jars waiting behind my back...

You can find the instructions when you click on pictures, or find those and many other nice projects on her blog at craft-werk.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Blackboard spray paint labels DIY

Purple inspiration for my bedroom

Last weekend I found this recycled glass vase on liquidation table for 3$ only without knowing it's going to provoke an avalanche of ideas:

When we moved to our house four years ago we decided to paint the walls in our bedroom green. It was exciting for someone who newer painted walls in color before (me!) but soon I was very limited in decorating possibilities. So I decided to repaint the walls in a more neutral color this time in order to have always the choice of details and to be able to create different atmosphere rapidly following seasons and mood changes (the latter is starting to get rather embarrassing lately ;-)  So when I saw this picture I knew I found a perfect color inspiration for my bedroom for this winter:

The shine of satin gives me the impression of glamour and luxury and the best of all is that you don't have to be rich to obtain this effect. You can go with fabrics, little paint and some details in purple / aubergine / plum / magenta. That way it won't cost you a fortune (remember: recession design?) and you can still change it rapidly when you had enough of it. And I say you should always look at your place before you go buying like crazy and you might be able to find something usable. Here is what i found in my place:

This is a fabric I bought two years ago without knowing what I'll do with it (happens to me more often then necessary). There are approximately 2,5 meter (approx. 8 feet) of it - difficult to say because of the smock effect and stretchiness. I could double it with a nice and cosy fabric and make a throw.

This little vintage dress waits to be used for a pillow cover and this will be it's occasion to rise.

I can also imagine being able to find some nice lamps to repaint and recover also and to paint my two cheaper than cheap commodes in nice rich glossy purple. And I crave a chandelier for my bedroom for quite some time now. I saw one little, modern and cute at Canadian Tire:

It's name is Opulence (how suitable!) and it's 50% of on sale right now, can you imagine? Just 49,99$! Sold to madame in a purple dress!

By the way, there is a nice article over at my beloved Apartment Therapy site about decorating with purple. Take a look.

Purple inspiration for my bedroom