Decorating & Design
DIY Projects
Most Recent
DIY Projects
Design Hack: Plywood Plank Flooring
Wide plank flooring is a hot look, and luckily it’s possible to fake it with inexpensive plywood planks (a sheet of plywood can yield 12 planks of “hardwood”), glued to a wood subfloor. Have a sheet of plywood cut into 8″-wide planks, and then halve them to make 12 8″-wide planks:…
DIY Projects
DIY: Mini Display Bowls
Interiors Director Meg Crossley creates mini display bowls using cotton rope and colorful thread.
DIY Projects
Design Hack: Baseboard Molding Boost
Skip the cost of extra-deep baseboards (and the labor to install them) with a clever paint fake out. Space a bevelled base cap about 1″ or 2″ above your existing quarter round and base and then paint the wall space between to get the appearance of a single tall baseboard.
DIY Projects
Easy DIY: Tasseled Bench
Elaborate trim is an easy way to add a flourish to a plain upholstered bench. Choose trim in the same colors as the bench’s fabric. While details like tassels and embroidery might look over-the-top on another piece, the linen and brown palette here keeps the look toned-down. Attach the trim…
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…
Decorating Advice
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…