Got the itch to make some changes around the home? Before you head out shopping or hit on the online stores, why not find out what could be done with what you’ve got? All it takes is a little bit of inspiration to realize your area with eyes. Let these 15 ideas spark your imagination and inspire you to view your own space anew.
Kerrisdale Design Inc
1. Frame illustrations from a book or magazine. Art magazines and vintage books are excellent resources of frameworthy illustrations — just cut out pages neatly and pop them in to any blank framework you have lying around. Once I framed a whole set of ’70s surfing photos from a feature in The Surfer’s Journal (a specially artsy surfing mag) to get a cool retro take on the shore theme. Look through your stacks with a fresh eye; you never know what you might find.
Shoshana Gosselin
2. Repurpose fabric remnants like artwork. Should you do any sewing or crafting, then I am willing to bet you’ve got some pretty fabric pieces on your stash, just waiting for the ideal home. Stretch a bigger piece over a blank canvas, cut a piece to fit in an embroidery hoop or put a small swatch in a framework.
3. Use vases to display jewelry. Instead of hiding additional vases in a cabinet (which is likely overcrowded as it is), place them to work displaying your favorite necklaces and bracelets beneath your dresser. So easy!
For People design
4. Use your throws in a brand new way. Instead of always folding them at the foot of their bed or over the arm of a seat, consider using your throws to modify the appearance of your furniture with a little bit of strategic folding and tucking. Try wrapping the loose pillow of your couch with a throw, or lay a toss folded in thirds throughout the back and chair of an armchair, as shown here.
Lauren Leonard Interiors
5. Replace accent furniture from room to room. Small furniture (side stools, tables, slipper seats) is easy to move, and a simple swap may totally change the feel of a room. Try a side table in the living area in the entryway and a narrow entrance table behind the sofa. Put an upholstered seat in the mudroom, in which it’ll feel additional luxurious, and deliver an outdoor café seat into the dining area to get a flea market–chic vibe.
Caitlin Wilson Design
6. Revamp old jars as fun storage. Have a very small bit of paint left over from another job? You will want just a dab to deliver colour to an range of jar lids. Use open-top jam jars to hold pens or paintbrushes, and bigger jars for keeping anything from switches to laundry detergent. Gluing small plastic critters to the lids is the perfect finishing touch if you will be utilizing them in a kid’s room. (Just remember to keep jars onto a high shelf until your kid is old enough to manage glass)
Carol Vaughan-Davis
7. Color code your bookshelves. Bookshelves looking a bit boring? Spend a winter afternoon rearranging your tomes from the color of their spines as opposed to the contents to get a change. Bonus: It will give you an excuse to peruse all of your favorite old books!
Holly Marder
8. Switch a crate onto its side to hold novels. A classic wooden cage is perfect for keeping books neat and clean. Crates look fabulously pastoral in their, but if you would like to spice up one, consider lining the trunk in a pretty patterned gift wrapping.
Tim Barber Ltd Architecture
9. Hang artwork in your shelves. A favorite of decorators, this simple trick can make a room feel more complicated in an instant. A small painting allows you to still get the books around it.
Kate Riley – Centsational Girl
10. Style your open shelving. In case you’ve got glass-front cupboards or spacious shelving in the kitchen, then consider it a styling chance to not be squandered. Have a look at your shelves as they are now, placing purpose aside for just a minute. Can you spy any clashing colours or patterns? Remove the initial, then step back and look again.
Can you see a theme emerging one of what’s left? White and silver, for instance, or blue and white will do the job well. Search your other cupboards and storage places for items you use that fit the colour scheme, and work them in.
tumbleweed and dandelion.com
11. Set the silver on display. Whether or not you’ve silver, most of us have something we consider “too great” for regular use. I say use what you have and revel in it. If you’re worried about breakage (small children in the home?) , at least consider placing some of your favorite pieces on display where you can enjoy looking at them daily. Float a blossom in a teacup from the sink or gather fruit onto a pretty cake plate onto the counter tops.
Lisa Nieschlag “Liz & Jewels”
12. Reuse glass jars to get blossoms. Embellish small glass jars with colorful washi tape to make an immediate collection of bud vases. Line up three, five or more down the center of your dining table for an easy, casual centerpiece.
Sandvold Blanda Architecture + Interiors LLC
13. Paper a wall in old maps. Make your own background by decoupaging maps directly onto a freshly cleaned wall. Use maps of your area or nautical maps, or mix and match maps out of places you’ve traveled to.
Holly Marder
14. Fill out an unused framework with fabric-wrapped cork. Cobble together a pinboard with whatever supplies you have lying around: A roster of burlap, fabric scraps or an old tablecloth may be used to cover your own board. No cork at hand? It may not last as long, but in a pinch you can even use foam-core board (like the kind used to exhibit science endeavors).
Jennifer Grey Interiors Design & Color Specialist
15. Remove a door and make a hideaway office. Even a very small closet could be changed into a workspace. Replacing the door with a curtain can help the nook feel more inviting and also give you a little more distance — and you’ll still be able to shut off the room.