DIY

Decorating & Design

DIY: Striped Wax Candles

Design editor Lauren Petroff transforms basic white candles into a playful decorating element using wax dye.

Decorating & Design

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:…

Decorating & Design

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.

Decorating & Design

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…

Decorating & Design

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…

Decorating & Design

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…

Decorating & Design

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 & Design

DIY: Personalized Picture Chair

Turn a basic chair into a personalized memento.

Bedrooms

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.

Decorating & Design

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 & Design

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,…

Bathrooms

DIY: Fringe Shower Curtain

Pretty dressmaker details turn a ho-hum shower curtain haute couture in this DIY from senior editor Sally Armstrong.

Bedrooms

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…

Decorating & Design

DIY: Batik Wall Hanging

Learn the ancient wax-resistant technique from assistant design editor Jennifer Koper.