Decorating & Design
DIY Projects
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DIY Projects
DIY: Ornate Door Moldings
Assistant design editor Jennifer Koper upgrades bifold doors with foam ceiling medallions and trim.
DIY Projects
DIY: Patterned Dresser
Covering the drawer fronts of a dresser is a chic way to add impact and looks even more dramatic than painting them. Choose a fabric with a large-scale print that runs across all of the drawers for a sophisticated statement. Remove the drawers from the dresser and take off the knobs.
DIY Projects
Easy DIY: Colorful Glass Vases
Inexpensive glass paint in vibrant hues turns simple vessels into pretty vases — especially when displayed against a stained-glass window. Add playful hits of bright color using this simple DIY. 1. Brush paint onto bottle exteriors, using long, even strokes. We stopped at one coat for a translucent effect. 2. For more…
Bedrooms
9 Dorm Room Decorating Hacks
Consider the dorm room as a perfect blank canvas for test-driving a fledgling decor sensibility. It’s pretty democratic since everyone is given the same raw materials, and it can be freeing to convey personality without permanence. Here are quick, inexpensive ways to customize a space and carve out a signature look…
DIY Projects
DIY: Striped Wax Candles
Design editor Lauren Petroff transforms basic white candles into a playful decorating element using wax dye.
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.
Decorating & Design
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.