All posts tagged Interior Design

Office Before & After

Hey guess what. I have an office now, and it is small but baller. Here’s what I’ve done with the place. A few additions still to come including one of these shelves– Option 1 or Option 2– and one of these standing lamps– Option 1 or Option 2. Which ones should I get?!

BEFORE

Barf.

AFTER

Good.


Left: The hanging fabric is a curtain I found in the small discount section of Crate and Barrel for $20. Right: Spray painted a gaudy gold frame that used to hold a print of the Mona Lisa and was hanging in my late grandmother’s house. Covered foam board with cheap gray fabric from Walmart to make a bulletin board.


Happy (and very dusty…) little Buddha paper holders


Vintage globe


Used wire and clothespins to hang pieces of inspiration, along with creepy old photos. Poster by Ben Chlapek.


Bought this floor sample at Crate and Barrel for $30. Amazing. All it needed was a little touching up with green paint in a few spots. Thinking I might add a pillow.


The wall I face when sitting at my desk


Used old spools of thread to fill a vase and add color to a type drawer. Small painting sitting on the filing cabinet by Steven Smith.

Wall•eeeeee!

In the spirit of a new Design Star season starting soon on HGTV and in remembrance of ReadyMade, which folded this past week (moment of silence… *sigh), I decided it was time to exercise my interior design muscles again last night. I recently designed a slew of materials for Nurses’ Week at work including a banner for the hospital. And, thanks to the maintenance dudes, I got to hold onto the banner after it was taken down. Hooray! So, because I’m poor and always looking for inexpensive wall art, I took influence from all the purses made from old billboards running around town and turned my banner into a new art form. The before and after shots:

It’s always refreshing to repurpose things. And this project was particularly fun because it allowed me to transform my own design. I love that something I created is now living a second life. I also love that the colors of the banner blend with the colors in my apartment… making me realize that I use the same color palette perhaps too often, hmm…
Here are few other inexpensive ways I’ve brought character to my walls:

Top: Chalkboard paint background with quote created with Helvetica stencils. Yes, I realize I can’t stencil straight. No, I wasn’t drunk while doing this. Bottom left: Foam board covered with an old world map found at a garage sale. Bottom right: Guitar found at a flea market for 30 bucks (orly? yah srsly! so awesome!). I have yet to learn how to legitimately play it, but, in the meantime, it’s doing a great job looking lovely on my wall.

Top: Screen-printed scarf found at an Indie craft show. Middle: ginormous canvas from Michaels painted with mistint paint from Sherwin-Williams and stenciled with love by the Helvetica clan and my weird sense of humor. Bottom: framed wrapping paper bought on clearance at Borders.