home: made [ outdoor rug ] 

home: made [ outdoor rug ] 

With creating beautiful outdoor living areas as important as indoor living, now, there is a drive towards great ranges of outdoor living furniture, accessories and soft furnishings to use. But why not try a DIY to keep the budget down?

Rugs make a huge difference to styling and outdoor rugs that are waterproof and hard wearing are growing in popularity. 

We love this easy DIY tutorial from AnnsGardenPath.Blogspot using the humble garden hose as it’s base component. Simple and very effective this tutorial is step by step in guiding you to create your own. Use different colours and length to personalise the look and size. 


http://annsgardenpath.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/hose-rug.html?m=1  

home: made [ framing ]

home: made [ framing ]

Double sided frames have been more popular than ever recently. The apeal being you have more options to what to frame, creating more than just a picture. The majority if times you are likely to frame a photo or print, but consider other options to bring interest and fun to a shelf or wall.

Flowers: Pressed flowers and leaves bring delicate shape and colour to a picture. If you like greens and nature this is a lovely way to bring the outdoors in. This is also great as you can change the pieces seasonally and add new colours.

Feathers: In the same way as pressing flowers, feathers bring pattern and colour and using these natural pieces mixed with photos and drawings you can curate a personalised picture wall.

Fabric: Cut out your favourite fabrics and place in a uniform fashion or randomly. Again this is a way to bring pattern and colour to a wall or shelf in an interesting way. Moroccan / bohemian prints are a cool option right now. 

Cutouts: Use magazine or book cutouts of your favourite images. Pop icons, typograpy or drawings for example. Layer up different smaller images in a larger frame. This quirky type of collage looks great in smaller spaces like a hallway or bathroom.

Typography: Rather than placing anything in the frame why not consider making your own mark with a pen. Use a Sharpie to write a phrase or slogan and place against a white wall for an instant monochrome feel.

The options are endless, have fun putting together different looks and designs. And remember, it’s so easy to change everytime the urge takes you.

For more styling ideas head to apartmenttherapy.com and blog.decoratorsnotebook.co.uk 

For our pick of frames check out Rockettstgeorge.co.ukSkandivis.co.uk and Oliverbonas.com

home: made [ furniture legs ] 

home: made [ furniture legs ] 

It’s the simplest idea but incredibly effective. Adding new legs to a piece of new (or old) furniture can alter the whole design, era, feel of the piece. It’s a great way to update a set of drawers, chair, unit or shelving but also to make it suit the style or look of a room. Legs can reinvent a unit. 

Find simple floor based IKEA units or old legless vintage sideboards or chests of drawers and give them a better design with the right set of legs, whether they are short and stubby, tapered, midcentury, industrial or traditional mounded wood – for not much money you may just transform a piece of furniture you thought wasn’t suitable. 

Of course additionally you can spray, paint, strip or cover a piece too but it’s the initial legs addition that makes a huge impact. 

Try Buzzfeed or Pinterest for ideas and then head to PrettyPegs , Ebay or Amazon for legs. 

Great variety of choice from PrettyPegs

home: made [ pom poms ]

home: made [ pom poms ]

Pom poms have made a bit of a comeback recently, whether it’s fringing on cushions, throws and light shades. Or large pom poms covering the whole item. 

Today we share some great tutorials showing you the techniques for making pom poms and the best ways to attach them to your desired cushion or throw [ Of course, you can always buy ready made pom poms to cut the job in half ]. Have fun with it, mix colours up for a kids bedroom or perhaps something more subtle for a grown up living room. The options are endless.

[ Pom pom trim available from eBay and Amazon ]

Cushions:

Abeautifulmess.com

Andralovesfashion.blogspot.co.uk 

Makingitinthemountains.com 

Throws:

Littleinspiration.com

Almostmakesperfect.com

Homedit.com

home: made [ copper candle holder ]

home: made [ copper candle holder ] 

Fancy something alternative to do on Valentine’s Day? Even better when it involves creating your own piece of on-trend homeware!

Learn new skills with the super London Craft Club this Valentine’s with their Copper Candelabra Workshop. For £59 get all your materials, expert tuition and a glass of wine. 


Tickets for this event available HERE Hurry, limited spaces available! 

home: made [ books ]

home: made [ books ]

Often we have great ideas but don’t always know how to translate them into our homes. Whether it’s home decor ideas, colour options, diy projects or just the need for general inspiration, there is a book to help.

We have picked some of our favourites including basic diy techniques, the best ways of using plants in the home and a paint colour guide.

Clockwise from top left:

Make a house your home [ £20 ]

Design bloggers at home [ £8 ]

Reinventing Ikea [ £15.99 ]

Hygge [ £12.99 ]

In the mood for colour [ £19.99 ]

Bring the outside in [ £9.99 ]

How to decorate [ £30 ]

Collins complete DIY manual [ £24 ]

House of plants [ £20 ]

home: made [ hanging plant shelf ] 

home: made [ hanging plant shelf ] 

We found another lovely short and easy project from the clever folks at A Beautiful Mess. 

With the popularity of hanging plants, and macrame holders, we thought this hanging plant shelf would be another great make. 

You only need a staple gun, thin rope/string and some kind of wooden plate – a circle of wood cut at a local wood store, a top of a stool, a wooden plate or even a chopping board.

This simple tutorial from A Beautiful Mess will guide you through this easy project. The hanging shelf would make a great gift, would work well hung in a pair or trio (at different levels) and if you are adept at macrame – it could be combined! 

home: made [ appliqué cushion ]

home: made [ appliqué cushion ]

We have all seen appliqué used on soft furnishings but quite often we see examples using florals or animals which can tend to look dated. To bring the appliqué technique up to date how about using typography. Personalise a cushion with an initial or make a statement with a slogan or phrase.

appliqué : ornamental needlework in which pieces of fabric are sewn or stuck on to a larger piece to form a picture or pattern.

We have found some tutorials to get you inspired, giving step by step guidance on creating your perfect appliqué cushion.

instructables.com

wholefully.com 

polkadotbride.com

handmadecanberra.com

home: made [ curtain tie backs ] 

home: made [ curtain tie backs ] 

We love this modern, clean design for curtain tie backs spotted on an online interiors group via Pinterest. With the use of the raw wood beads it’s a very Scandinavian look but the beads could be stained, sprayed, painted or patterned to suit your interior look. 

A simple easy project which will need;  strong cord/string or wire for threading beads, wooden beads (available from many outlets including Hobbycraft and eBay, paint, spray or varnish (unless you want to keep the beauty of the natural wood, pliers, and hooks for the wall. 

Thread the wooden beads onto the string or wire to the create a chosen length. The length will depend on how tight you want your curtains to sit back against the wall (smaller the length, the tighter the curtain will bunch up). Create a loop on each end of the wire/string to be able to simply loop onto your wall mounted hooks. Think about ensuring the wall hooks sit well against or match the beads well. 

This would work well for heavy weight curtains or billowing thin voile curtains too. 

home: made [ floating shelves ]

home: made [ floating shelves ]

Shelving can bring so much to a room, giving extra dimension and interest to a plain wall. With so many options it’s sometimes hard to pick something that will work. A style we love is the floating box shelf, created simply from four pieces of wood. This style can be adapted in many shapes including hexagon or house designs. You can adapt the shelving to your needs whether it’s shallow shelves for ornaments or deeper ones for books and plants.

We have found some great tutorials to get you inspired.

Easydiy.co.za

Abeautifulmess.com

Homedit.com

Remodelaholic.com