DIY Furniture

I'm going to take on furniture today, because they are so important in a home.
And sometimes it's hard to spot what will look good, what's worth saving, and what will be a lot of work.
It all depends on what you are willing to, and trust yourself to do, because everyone can reupholster a chair, giving enough time and the right tutorial.

And most importantly the will to do it.

First of all, don't look as the furniture as a whole, if you like a piece of it then you can use that in a more practical way, like this desk, you may not need a desk but this nightstand is one so cute, with minimum work.
See the blog on Sugarbeecrafts.

 Reupholstering a chair can often be hard work, but look how beautiful, elegant and different it can look with a little piece of fabric, but maybe a little bit more of patience.

You can see the tutorial on how she does it on centsationalgirl.

And it's often seeing the possibilities in the detail, if it has some custom detail, some fascinating lines or even if it's just box shaped, if you can picture it fitting in your room with another color, it's almost a must.
It's really amazing how much difference just white paint can make, and painting wooden furniture white is really trending right now, and sandpapering the edges to make the furniture look old is also a neat trick, but note that it looks better on dark wood, or painting dark texture before the white on top.

This is a huge difference on this rather plain looking sideboard, but the wood sometimes adds to much texture that sometimes it's better to tone it down and make it simple. and for the ones that aren't afraid of color could also have some fun with the details on the middle doors, or get handles in fun bright color.

Sometimes the wood can be the splash of color, mixing different wood types is a good way to reuse old materials, and it gives a lot of personality and has different texture on each wood type, just watch out for splinters and sandpaper everything down good, specially when you're handling old wood.

And don't be afraid of something different, in color choice, method or style, you can with the right attitude give almost any furniture the right personality for your home. This is a painted glass table top, and you can see how to do this on designsponge

Now let your personalities shine and turn this 

Into this.
What an amazing transformation, just by paint!
see tutorial on momentswiththemontanos

Have fun repainting old furniture and giving them new life !

cement transformed

Hello ! And I'm sorry that I've been slacking, it's been crazy at work and inspiration hasn't been at it's best.
But I'll make up for it right now, I'll show you some youtube videos that I'm super excited about.
Firstly, there's a guy who's faking a stone wall and tree planks affect from cement.
This means that you can do this in your livingroom, bedroom, wherever you want different texture, and maybe make it a little bit more romantic.

Now, when I saw this I thought that he must have made these stencils by hand, and I still don't know if he did.
But I found this school/shop called Decorative Concrete Training, and they had this beauty.
Their website is terrible if you press "home", but in the link you can see the stencils they offer with many different textures.

So you can make your own, not exactly the same, but still very nice, maybe even better, depending on the project.

At betterpaths.com are more stamps you can buy online, there are some tree stamps there I like a lot.
And on that note I want to show you this video.

This is a great way to give your door some character, even some of your character, because no one makes things the same way twice by hand, plus you can't really see the difference between a real grain and a fake one.

 I think this lamp from Brigg looks gorgeous.
(and they also tell you how to do this!)

These concrete coasters would look even better with some stamps on them, or paint them, for those who are good with a paint brush.
see more about these coasters here.

 

And here's a site and a project I'll leave you with, I want to make this when I'll need a countertop.
With a wood grain in it and a glass top on it.
It's a plan.

And since this blog now is about tree, I found this on my facebook wall while making this blog, this is an artist here in Iceland that makes these wonderful paintings, and she just posted this, trying new things and painting her artwork on tree drumbs, Her art is called Helma ART and you can see pictures of her work.
Wonderful stuff.

decorative accessories

This blog will be a little bit of an inspiration for the little accessories you can add to your home, I'll try to have it every style, I for example love raw accessories, like these cement office equipments.

It's named Solid Desk Accessories designed and hand-cast at Magnus Pettersen Studio 

The only thing I have a problem with here is there it seems to raw, there's always suppose to a little color, or else it seems boring and without any personality.

Woodcut Maps is amazing, they make a map of NY for example, made by wood, I love it.

You can choose the place you want to have on the picture.

This board has a personality, there's a great tutorial here.

Here's another great one from design sponge, This fish scale pendant lamp is amazing, click here to see the beautiful transformation.

I love it when old decorative frames are painted the same color, they match without matching, it mixes this personal factor with the raw basic minimalism.

Another great use of doilies.

What a great way to mix frames and plants together, the 3d affect is beautiful. I'd love to experiment with other kinds of flowers to match the wallpaper like these do, I think it looks amazing.

Again, the 3d affect is so crucial, it makes this beautiful and easy DIY project bring the colors of the wall and the naturistic forms mix with the plants.

personalize is the key to romance

How easy ? 

These red lips would add a really nice and elegant flavor to a livingroom, diningroom or even the bedroom.

This would also be so romantic over the bed, it's also extremely easy, see the how to here, it's not in english, but the pictures show it really well.

You can of course make this in any size, so I'd make a big headboard with a word like "love" or something that means a lot to the people who sleep in the bed, maybe your names ?

This lamp you can buy here for 22$, and there is a how to on that page also, so maybe some of you DIY geniuses can make your own versions ?
How romantic to go to sleep under the stars every evening.

This I find adorable, you and your partner, you and your kid, or your kids if you got two, can make a heart together. It's really personal and that's what romance and love are all about.

I think this is romantic, rusty and old, maybe I'm just weird like that, but the bed tray is something I must make. This almost screams perfect.

A moss ringbearer pillow, it doesn't have to be a ringbearer pillow, it can be a decoration in your house, a DIY tutorial here, there are so photos though. I'm sorry about that, put please personalize, it makes everything romantic.

Honeycomb

I've been seeing a lot of DIY projects inspired by honeycombs lately, and since it's summer I'd like to show you my favorites ! 

Honeycomb smocking, it's a really easy tutorial, and it doesn't strain your hands as much as many other smocking tutorials do.
See tutorial here
If you have old curtains you'd like to freshen up, this would be a great solution, maybe a scarf.
I see some great ideas bobbling up in my head. 

Honeycomb shelves. These are precious, and you can make as many connect together as you want, have them randomized across the wall or just have one or two. I you've read my blog at all you'll know how much I love driftwood and pallets, so I'd suggest old wood for the part, just make sure it handles pressure, that it's not to old.
See tutorial here

Now, I know this ottoman tub has been given a new life, and it looks amazing, but as for me, I don't know where to get a tub like this, so I saw this as a great idea to recreate the shelves you see above, if you re-size the shelve tutorial you can make an ottoman out of old wood.
There's not a tutorial for this item, but you can buy it here, it's a little pricey, so if you decide to make this yourself hope you'll e-mail me the results, I'd love to see it, my e-mail is guffaakristins@gmail.com.

That's it for today, I'll be posting blogs at least on mondays and thursdays from now on.
And hopefully more. Like my Facebook page to see updates, I always post there when I post a blog.

make changes with wood

There are a lot of things that you can do with wood, it looks beautiful when it's raw and gets to shine, but it also works great as a texture, painted on or using the lines in wood as inspiration.

Like here, this pallet is used to make a wonderful texture on the picture, I love this idea, print a big picture and cut it down to fit on the pallet, it's different and can work in almost any room, a romantic headboard maybe ?

Now, I see this picture a lot, it's all over the internet, and honestly, it deserves to be, this is a wonderful, romantic and cozy idea. And for a person with medium skills with a hammer, this is a do-able project, I'd use a different wood, I see a romantic a bit darker wood, but not to dark either, I don't think that would look good, but I'd definitely not use this light because I prefer it darker.
Don't do this alone if you aren't good with a hammer, I'd recommend talking to a contractor, because if you're going to raise your floor like this, or dig down depending on the room, is going to be a lot of work, but it's going to be worth it, just look at this room!

Old pallets used as a wall, this is just amazing, I love old wood, it's almost like it has character, like antique furniture do.

Now, tree limb coasters is something that I'm going to do soon, click here to see how it's done and the final outcome, it's amazing and I can't wait to do this myself.

I'll make a new one soon, it's late in Iceland and I'm a little tired.
Adios!

green design

"This tall occasional table has a playful and off-kilter look that perks up any living space. Its uniquely shaped legs feature traditional ornate detail that has been deconstructed and redesigned in a contemporary form. Made from hand-turned ebonized beech wood, the table is created by Ayush Kasliwall"
I love this table and it's on sale on Fab.com!

This bracelet is also 51% off here!
And I recommend that you check DyOh jewelry's album, they have a really simple, but beautiful spiritual themed bracelets too.

Volskar lamps by Blue Nature
So simple, elegant and environmentally friendly.

Log bowls by Loyal Loot are gorgeous, so simple and are made with many different colors to match your liking,
And as you can see, they come in different sizes too.

I am love bound on these armchairs by Di Marzio Design called Missix.

They are so simple, as the designer says "Missix's name comes from its unique heavy-rounded, number six shape. This small armchair looks compact and monolithic together, yet its sinuous and enveloping line shows its minimal nature, enhanced by a light and soft shape. The chair is made of rotational moulded polythene. This fully recyclable material makes Missix a robust, lightweight and handy chair, which is both easy to clean and impact and weather-resistant. Missix is suitable for both residential and contract environments, in both indoor and outdoor areas."

nature design

"Nature" designed by Design Night
Just beautiful, so graceful and they have it in many colors, but they're $375.
Quite pricey but if you make a cool inspirational planter, let me know.
I love pretty planters.

 

BOSKKE Sky Planters

Those give me such ideas, i love the idea of it, and it makes me want to try so many different plants in this.

Like this one two, gracefully easy design.

Leaf inspirational wall decoration.

Nesting bed decoration, love it.

Another beautiful tree inspired bed frame.

 

Natural Wooden Wall by Bleu Nature

I love this idea, i love the texture og wood, and I want this.

Drift wood wall ! that's what I want. ohmy.

Leftover wood can make a beautiful lamp, here are three ideas I love.

French designer Patrick Nadeau designed the nature individuelle from birch plywood.

love this idea too, wood is always a great way to warm up a room.