Decorating & Design
DIY Projects
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DIY Projects
Design Hack: Faux Windowsill
An easy and effective way to create the illusion of a beefed-up window frame is to paint a trompe l-oeil sill. Search online for a style and profile that suits your space, then blow up the image to the appropriate size and print it. Make a stencil by tracing the printout…
DIY Projects
DIY: Wallpaper Art
Many high-end wallpapers can be ordered in painting-size pieces and then mounted under Plexiglas for a straight-from-the-gallery look. This pattern juxtaposes moody oceanic shapes with soft, sunny colors and acts as a dramatic focal point at a fraction of the cost of papering an entire living room. Create the frame…
DIY Projects
Design Hack: Tree Stump Dining Table
Are you the woodsy type? If you have access to a felled birch tree, make like art director Carmen Dunjko and fashion four stumps into legs for an inexpensive, rustic dining table. Carmen used a wooden plank wrapped in artist’s canvas as the top and intended the table to be…
DIY Projects
DIY: Patterned Tile Coffee Table
This porcelain beauty has all the patina of an encaustic tile but stands up to spills and steals the spotlight when featured center stage on a living room coffee table. To make the tiled top, cut a piece of plywood to the size of your tile arrangement, attach the tiles…
DIY Projects
Easy DIY: Feather Lampshade
Transform a plain white lampshade into an objet d’art with light-as-air feathers. Here’s how: Using a basic white paper shade, cut all but the top 1 1⁄2″ or 2″ from the shade, then glue the quills of white craft-store feathers to the inside of the remaining band. Traditionally, feathered accessories are…
Decorating Advice
Design Hack: Bamboo Headboard
A tropical vibe is easy to capture with inexpensive materials. Stylist Jenn Cranston subs a bamboo screen for a headboard in the bedroom of her cottage, and disguised the ugly cords of the pendant lights by wrapping them in raffia for a vacay vibe.
DIY Projects
DIY: Personalized Picture Chair
Turn a basic chair into a personalized memento.
DIY Projects
DIY: Hemp Rug Headboard
A woven hemp rug works beautifully as a headboard, thanks to its organic woven texture that helps create a focal point above a bed. This one’s round shape invites a second look, ensuring that the bed holds its own amid the exotic pieces in this eclectic bedroom. What you’ll need: a rug and nails.
DIY Projects
DIY: Tree Stump Print
Assistant editor Emily Evans turns an abandoned log into a work of art. If you’re like me, you never know when or where you’ll find your next DIY inspiration. Lately I’ve been seeing lots of tree stump relief prints popping up on Pinterest and Etsy. The technique isn’t…
DIY Projects
Easy DIY: Nautical Lampshade
Tired of your table lamps? Update them by recovering the shades in statement wallpaper remnants. Simply apply a layer of wallpaper paste to the existing shade then affix the paper, eliminating wrinkles as you go using a wallpaper smoother and overlapping by about a 1⁄2″ at the seam. Editor’s tip: Striped…
Entryways & Mudrooms
Design Hack: Mudroom Storage
A family-friendly mudroom looks like custom millwork, but it’s actually a quick solution that can be created in a weekend by sandwiching a ready-made bench with two narrow bookcases used as storage cubbies. Back the wall with a primed MDF beadboard panel — topped with hooks — for a finished…
DIY Projects
How To Dress Up Garden Center Flowers
Faced with a sea of red geraniums, sometimes it’s hard to get inspired by big-box floral departments when planting containers. The equivalent of a grocery store bouquet, these garden centers are convenient and budget friendly, but the plants can be an overwhelming mishmash as well as somewhat predictable (does anyone…
DIY Projects
Easy DIY: Orchid Planter
Acting features editor Wendy Jacob shares a simple idea for an indoor garden. Inspired by the orchid arrangements in the Palm Beach home designed by Les Ensembliers in the June 2016 issue of House & Home, I created a lush planter for a window with filtered light, or…
DIY Projects
DIY: Fringe Shower Curtain
Pretty dressmaker details turn a ho-hum shower curtain haute couture in this DIY from senior editor Sally Armstrong.
DIY Projects
DIY: Tapestry Headboard
Twin fabric panels in a colorful botanical pattern feel like tapestries when placed at the head of the bed. They give the soft look of an upholstered headboard without the fuss and are a great way to try out pattern without making the commitment to wallpaper. What you’ll need: a…