Pintrest!

After a lovely christmas holiday, I have got back into the swing of researching ideas by creating a Pintrest account. 


It is so easy to use and it's a great tool for keeping track of all your online discoveries! If you haven't already got one, I highly recommend creating an account but be warned... it's addictive! I've only been a member for a few hours and I already have 4 pin boards and 42 pins! 

my Pintrests :)

Come and have a look at what's got me thinking here.

Getting into the Christmas spirit...

Here's a bit of cheesy (but brilliant!) Ziggy-themed festive cheer!






Oh, I am so happy it's Christmas time again!!

Initial idea

Needing christmas gift inspiration? What about trying out Spearmint Baby's idea and make a button monogram for someone special?

image found here.

A full tutorial can be found here but you could tailor the design and the buttons that you use to suit the person that you make it for... Lovely stuff!

Memo Boards

After posting the door-come-blackboard idea yesterday, I got thinking about memo boards. There are so many ways to DIY and they really can become ever changing works of art!


I love this idea of turning an old metal tray into a magnetic memo board from Sparkle Power as a guest blogger on Sherry Turley's Oh So Lovely blog. A lick of paint, some patterned paper and a plate stand turns a rather non-descript platter into a lovely feature! Here is the how-to.

image found here.

Now for a more minimal approach... Funkytime has used an window frame minus the glass. By attatching string and using pegs to display photographs, Funkytime's Sibylle shows us just how simple it is to create something new for your home. I'm keen to try this but I think I'll be going a bit bolder with colour!

image found here.

And back to yellow, we have a painted antique frame from Ashely Ann at Under the Sycamore with chicken-wire inserted to give more space to attach your photographs and notes. Ashley Ann has also made her own customised clips using the illustrations on memory cards. This adds to the fun feeling of the memo board and ensures it will never look bare! She gives a full how-to here.

image found here.

It actually seems as though Ashley Ann has making memo boards out of chicken wire down to a tee! I have just come across this image of her bedroom:

image found here

Yet another headboard inspired post from me but I could not resist! Headboard, memo board, wall art all rolled into one. It is a bold idea but an amazing one at that! Find more images and the how-to here. 

Ashley Ann has put the chicken wire over the whole wall but I would be inclined to keep it to just the headboard... but maybe thats just me chickening out! 

(Sorry, that was a terrible pun... must be time for my bed!)

Door to Door

There is a place in Glasgow called Glasgow Architectural Salvage which is an Aladdin's cave of rescued furniture and fixings. When I went along I was in awe of the rows of old wooden doors which were stacked up against the wall. I told myself I'd come back for some one day, but I wasn't sure what I would do with them...

Then I found proof that doors can be incredibly multi-talented! 

A door can be a blackboard!

Here, Mandy Lynne has transformed a shabby door into a blackboard for her children's home-school room. This idea could also work well in a kitchen as a memo board... or in a cafe... or anywhere for that matter!

image found here.

Or a door could be a headboard!

A few posts ago I showed ideas for making a bench from a headboard and now we are almost going full circle and looking at how doors can be headboards! I like the idea of having a home full of furniture with a topsy-turvy function!

image found here.

This idea came from Martha Stewart and the how-to can be found here.

ehow have a great set of step-by-step instructions for another door to headboard project here, if you feel you need a more in depth guide.


Or how about a door as a garden table?
It's difficult to see from this picture but this garden table is made by Re-Nest from an old door and two saw horses for support.
... Maybe I could sprinkle a little sawdust and transform this idea into a Ziggy creation!

image found here.

Or could a door become a swing?!

This swing isn't actually made from a door but I think it would be quite amazing if it was! Indoor or outdoors it would make a fabulous feature. The how-to for this swing was found at Vtwonen, but it would be fun to mix it up a little!

image found here.

Well, with all this food for thought I think I can justify another trip to Glasgow Architectural Salvage to get my mitts on a few dusty old doors!

That's Armoire!

It's my last post from Venice and I've got lots of ideas for getting creative with cabinets!

Martha Stewart, domestic queen, you never fail to inspire me! Here she puts two different cabinets, striped back and painted the same, on top of each other to create a DIY armoire. 

image found here

And here's a lovely tutorial from Fresh Home Idea. It's a step-by-step guide with handy tips to keep us all on track! Have a look at the 'before' picture too... to me the diy effort gives the cabinet even more vintage charm!

image found here.

Now, if you're feeling handy, this might be the project for you! With a full on set of instructions, Ana White guides you every step of the way and literally shows you how to make a corner cabinet from scratch! I'm really keen on this idea... maybe add some patterned wallpaper and vintage door knobs into the mix?

image found here.

Then there is Miss Mustard Seed at Mustard Seed Interiors who has taken a new approach all together and painted the whole wardrobe with black-board paint... a lovely idea for storage to double up as a memo-board in a cafe, for example.

                    

image found here.

And, just for good measure, I've thrown in this image...  The colours, pattern, shapes are all just garishly brilliant!

 

image found here.

I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night if this was the decor in my bedroom, but I think it would be fun in a dinning room or something. Bold can be quite brilliant!

Headboard benches

There seems to be hundreds of tutorials and ideas on how to repurpose an old headboard into a bench, but as they are all so different, I'm quite keen on the idea myself!

The great thing about 'how-to' tutorials is that they give you a basic structure and help with the technical aspects of the build, but there is so much scope for you to do it your way. Take this idea as an example- a bench from a headboard sounds like there would be a one-rule-for-all kind of system but, as headboards come in all shapes and sizes, your starting point will be unique and so there is no reason your whole project can't be!

This one is from Mallie + Posh- a clean and delicate structure with fun to be had in choosing fabrics for all the cushions! Interior designer Mallorie Jones has posted a simple set of instructions which are great as guideline. Find them here. 

image found here.

Moving on to The Lettered Cottage for a more in-depth tutorial!

Kevin at The Lettered Cottage has posted a step-by-step account of how he made a rather robust structure for the bench. There is even a little video showing how it was done. Find it all here.

image found here.

 And now for a slightly bolder approach- a lilac garden bench from Pretty Handy Girl. This blog also has a really helpful 'how-to' and pays great attention to detail. Find it here.

image found here.

And just one more link before you are able to construct one of these blindfolded! eHow Home have another list of instructions for construction here. Sadly they don't have any images but I suppose that will allow you to use your imagination!

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an interesting, abandoned headboard now! Watch this space...