DIY Room Decor Ideas

Separar areas con countertop

DIY Loft Room Divider and Wardrobe

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AT:LA reader Alex is the proud new occupant of a downtown Los Angeles loft. But although he liked the open space living, he was in need of some privacy and hidden storage for his bedroom. Check out the impressive IKEA hacked room divider and wardrobe he made using seven 8'x2' IKEA Numerar pre-cut counter tops in black brown for $10.00 a piece below...

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A couple "before" photos

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I found 7, 8ftx2ft Numerar pre-cut counter tops in black brown for $10.00 a piece. I stood 6 of them on
end and created a room divider and a wardrobe slot on the other. With the last one I added chrome legs and created a desk/sofa table.

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Lastly, I found some black/brown shelves in the as-is section and created a door for my wardrobe by connecting them longways and inserting aluminum strips at the seams.

I am really pleased with how everything has turned out so far (still need to finish the wardrobe and hang the door with barn door hardware) and wanted to share the project with you guys.

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I'm also including a pic of the work in progress main wall that I just painted with chalkboard paint.

Everything is looking great Alex. We're sure to be bugging you for a House Tour when you're all ready and done with your new home. Thanks for sharing!

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Paneles Japoneses para cubrir closet

Before & After: Hiding the Great Wall of Clothes

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click thumbnails for larger pics

Lack of closet space is an issue we must all confront at some point. Our apartment's previous tenants dealt with the bedroom's tiny closet by installing IKEA Stolmen shelves floor to ceiling across one entire wall and then graciously left them to us when they moved out. We were happy to inherit them and even happier to use them, however, having to stare at all of our clothes all the time was not so nice...

So, back to Ikea we went to find a simple solution to hide our Stolmen wardrobe. Wes had used a tension wire and fabric curtain combo in a previous apartment to hide an exposed closet, but it was much narrower and not as tall. Our 11.5' wardrobe wall also has a window in the middle which we did not want to block out. We decided on thetriple-rail Kvartal system with Anno Sanela flat panel curtains (in beige) to allow varied levels of access to our closet without losing any light.

The installation was actually very simple but did require 2 people. Also, the panel curtains are incredibly simple to measure and trim to the desired length with a regular X-acto knife. They were a bit squeaky so we greased the rail using bike grease on a Q-tip and now they slide with ease, without the noise. You'll notice there's a paint line behind the curtains because we painted after installing everything. We simply taped a line using a level and now it looks like we have a white built-in closet in our deep blue room.

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Lampara de exterior con luces navideñas

Create a DIY outdoor pendant with flower baskets and string lights.

CORTINAS PARA LA COCHERA

DIY OUTDOOR CANOPY CURTAINS

Outdoor canopy tent curtains are not only

beautiful, they serve much needed shade from the sun.

I found an inexpensive solution to our outdoor curtain needs...

Our deck can get very hot in the summer.  The angle of 

the sun makes it hard to sit under the canopy many times.

We needed curtains that could be drawn across to block the sun 

or be tied back for a cozy feel. 

Canopy curtains are quite expensive and if your canopy

wasn't fitted with curtain rods, 

it makes hanging curtains very difficult.

After searching around for a while 

I settled on a set of curtains from Ikea. 

They are light weight, cotton, and best of all inexpensive. 

The curtains come in a pack of 2 panels and for this project

 I needed 2 packages. 

I am not going all the way around my canopy because

 2 sides of mine are against my house.

These are the Ikea curtains I used...

And these are the simple shower curtain rings I used to attach them to the canopy braces.

The top of these curtains not only have a rod pocket, it has

straps on the back you can thread the rod through. 

I used these straps to hang the curtains.

They worked perfectly holding each ring onto the bar.

The shower curtain rings can be clipped or unclipped as necessary to move the curtain along the rod.

The curtains look beautiful tied around 

the corners of the canopy and can be moved across to

block the sun or protection from a light rain.

At night the lights go on and it's a great place to hang out.

This is an easy and inexpensive solution that looks great!

Esferas gigantes de luz para el jardin

Pared de diamantes con duct tape

No Paint Diamond Wall

AUGUST 14, 2012 FILED UNDER: MAKE THIS, WALLS

I made one last tweak to our bedroom. The diamond wall…

I promise this is the last time I’ll show you this photo..at least for a long time because it doesn’t look quite like this anymore.

After two and one half hours and about $25 worth of duct tape we have a sassy walled room.

I wish I could say I had this grand idea to put tape on my walls from the beginning but what happened was more of a dare. Scotch Colors and Patterns Duct Tape challenged me to create a project and I tried four different ideas (a chair? a lampshade? planters? a vine?) until I was happy with the results.  I LOVED this challenge it goes right with my whole Lovely Limitations Theory–limit what I can use, and I’ll be more creative (as long as I have time to think about it).

I wanted to come up with a project that looked good enough for people to actually want to do, was easy, and that the duct tape was a short cut, not whatever the opposite of short cut is (long cut?).

I also wish I could say that I was patient to a fault but that role in our family is played by my husband.  And this project requires about an hour of steadfast patience.  This man has a lifetime supply.  I pretty much laid on the bed and talked incessantly while he worked.

But, I did let him take breaks.

I had this idea lingering in my head for a few years.  I’ve watched people on blogs tape off stripes in a room so they could paint.  It seemed painstakingly slow (remember, I have no patience for projects). And one project I remember the tape was nearly the same color as the paint and part of me thought it was sad that they couldn’t just leave the tape up and not paint.  Dear Scotch Colors and Patterns Duct Tape, please consider creating 6 and 12 inch wide rolls of tape in a matte finish so I can finally have stripes on my walls.

We only did the main wall in the room.  I’m usually not a fan of accent or “show off walls” but it works in here.

Supplies?

• 3-4 rolls of Scotch Colors and Patterns Duct Tape (I’m partial to the white–it’s a phase, but they have pink and turquoise plaid and paisley and everything in between).
• X acto knife
• measuring tape
• laser level or plumb line (we made our own with a string and something heavy tied to it)
• patience

Before we started I made a mock-up of how big I wanted the diamonds to be.  Diamonds look their best when they are twice as high as they are wide.  I figured a 30 inch tall diamond would be nice so, from the top center of the wall I made a mark on the wall (mark 1) measured down 30 inches and made a mark (mark 2).  Then I measured down 15 inches into the center of  where the diamond would be (halfway) and then 7.5 inches over to the right (mark 3) and 7.5 inches over to the left (mark 4). I was left with 4 marks on the wall that marked the points of the diamond.

I slapped some tape up just to get a feel for the size and yep, I liked it so I took it down and used those marks as our starting point.  From there, we measured and marked 15 inches over and 30 inches up across the entire wall.  And by “we” I mean my husband.

It took a few hours (but that includes a quick run to the store to get more tape) and the results were stunning.  Here’s a little 3 minute video that documents most of the process.

NestingPlace DiamondWall

dulceros

The other day, I was sharing some craft ideas at a women's event, and while I was setting up for the event, I figured out how I could make a dollar store version of the large apothecary jars that are so popular in the big decorator catalogs. Previously, I've shared how to dollarstorecraft out of small lidded jars from the dollar store, but how can you make a large version if no larger lidded jars are sold at the dollar store? Simple, make your own lid!

I found a large apothecary jar at Ross Dress for Less for $13, which is a smokin' deal. But I made these large apothecary jars for a little less than $6 (not counting the E-6000 glue, which I had on hand). This apothecary jar is roughly the same size as Pottery Barn's medium Apothecary Jar which retails for $49.

You can use apothecary jars to hold just about anything! Place them in your bathroom to hold useful items like cotton swabs, extra soap, or washcloths. Use them around your home to hold decorative items (as shown here, Christmas ornaments and vase filler). Check this post at Living With Lindsay for more great ideas: Ten Fantastic Fillers for Apothecary Ja livingwithlindsay

.

Project Estimate:

• Large vase, $1
• Large glass candlestick, $1
• Small glass bowl, 3 for $1
• Small cut glass drawer pulls, 2 for $6.77 (at W-M)
• E-6000 glue, on hand

Total: $5.71

The secret to this project was a 3-pack of small glass bowls I found in the kitchen section at the dollar store. These glass bowls fit perfectly as lids on the top of the large glass vase from the dollar store. I just added a glass knob, and the apothecary jar lid was complete! I got the glass drawer pulls from the big blue store for about $6.77, or about $3.39 each. With some shopping around (at thrift or building thrift stores, garage sales, antique shops, etc.) , you might find a better deal on these knobs. I just wanted to get my project done as quick as I could so I could share it!

To Make:

1. Remove all price tags (I use Goo-Gone. Drip a bit of it on the tag, let it sit for a few minutes, and peel right off with no work). Clean all components with a damp paper towel and a bit of water, if needed. Let dry.

2. Glue large candlestick to vase with E-6000 glue.

3. Glue glass knob to bottom of small glass bowl with E-6000 glue.

4. Let everything dry and cure for 24 hours.

Depending on the fit of your lid on your vase, you might want to make another modification to the bowl. If the lid doesn't fit perfectly on your vase, put a small line of hot glue around the rim of the lid and let it dry. The dry glue will help correct the fit of the lid on the vase.