Plain, white pillows ---> Three ideas!

Hey guys! I've got a good three-fer for today - three ideas for one product! Tis' the season for quick and easy design swaps to get your homes ready for the holidays up ahead. I don't know about you, but I've been swooning over the hundreds of decorative pillows overwhelming Pinterest, Etsy, and my inbox of emails from West Elm, Pottery Barn, Anthropoligie Home, and the like. There are so many. So, so many. One could easily drop several hundred dollars on seasonal pillows alone!

A few months ago I swooped into IKEA for a quick stop and grabbed a few plain white GURLI pillows while I was there. I didn't quite know what I was going to do with them, but at $4/pillow, I figured something good would come from them. After an in-n-out trip to JoAnns, I had just what I needed, (for an additional $4 as all items were on sale), to dress up my plain white pillows!

IDEA 1: Block printing

Block printing is one of my favorite techniques. There are so many creative ways to use block printing - curtains, tea towels, (which I gave as Christmas gifts one year), chair cushions, aprons, stationary, napkins, lampshades, (which I did on our old bedside lamps), and as we'll see today, pillows! You can use any number of objects as your shape and then you just need a bottle of fabric paint.

For my first white pillow, I used a green pepper, cut straight across about two inches from the top. Squirt some fabric paint onto your paper plate or paint tray, stick the cut end of the pepper into the paint, and stamp it right onto the fabric! 

When I was finished with the block printed pattern, I felt like my pillow needed a little something more.  I dabbed my finger into some red fabric paint and made a few dots in the center of each stamp. Now it looks like flowers!

IDEA 2: Leather Cord

This next idea was inspired by a pillow I saw at Target by Nate Berkus, (the 'Decorative Braided Pillow', now discontinued). I bought the leather cord from JoAnns, (on sale for around $1), and then measured and cut the pieces I'd need for my design. I layed the two criss-crosses side by side and stitched the ends. That's all!

IDEA 3: Leather fringe

This last idea almost went in a different direction using chunky pom-pom trim instead. But, when I saw this camel leather fringe on sale at JoAnns, I couldn't resist and changed course right away! A simple, trimmed-out pillow is a great anchor to a long couch full of various patterns and textures. I used fabric glue for this idea and it has held up beautifully, but of course if you have a sewing machine that would work as well. I glued along the outer edge of the pillow, carefully lined up the leather fringe, and pressed down. Then I snipped off the end hanging over the edge of the pillow cover and started on the next side. 

Here they are all together - three identical pillows dressed up three different ways! For $4/pillow and $4 total for supplies, I now have three new custom pillows for a total of $16! This was an easy project to tackle in a single afternoon while my little ones napped. Estimated project time: 60 min!

Thank you for stopping by! 

"You gotta keep em' separated"

Deepest apologies for the outdated Offspring reference in the title. Today we're discussing room separation and I couldn't get that song, (which is etched into most of my memories from middle school), out of my head. Yesterday we took a trip down to our basement where I shared some new built-in shelves  and we're going to stay down there again today! Our L-shaped basement is our go-to place for family time, (see a full tour of this room on our Spaces page). But, it's also where our guest room is! We are so grateful to have a little place for guests to stay, but I wanted to make the spot feel a little more private since it's technically out in the open. 

To create a bit of separation I hung 4 sheer white panels of IKEA TERESIA curtains using two DIGNITET curtain wires attached to the wall.

As seen on IKEA's site:

TERESIA curtains

DIGNITET curtain wire and anchor

These were really simple to hang once I understood the instructions, which were par for IKEA. I mean, with IKEA instruction manuals, the whole righty-tighty, lefty-loosey rule goes right out the window. Basic instincts mean nothing, am I right?! All in all, I am so pleased with this solution for a bit of division in our basement. It's not intrusive but rather adds to the aesthetic when you're down there looking from one room to another. And when guests have stayed we've already heard how nice it's been to draw the curtains closed for bedtime!

Another view of how it's attached to the wall. The wire line has remained nice and tight, (despite the kids swinging the curtains back and forth daily).

Let's take a little peek around, shall we?

Fun tip: Turn a large, unused bookcase over on it's side and use it as a sideboard! A tension rod hangs a curtain to hide our unattractive extra office supplies and devices, and the vertical 'cubbies' on either end stash off-season pillows.

And if you wanted to get really technical here, that 'curtain' is actually a pair of standard pillowcases! I loved the cross pattern that echos the Swiss Cross rug I made for the sofa area on the other side of the room.

With the curtains in place, I was able to create a small sitting area at the foot of the bed with some family pieces - a rocking chair from my husbands side and an original painting by my grandmother.

One last curtain call!

This particular project really satisfied my wish to create a cozier, more peaceful spot for visitors. What are some other ideas you've seen to create room division in one large space?

Thank you all so much for stopping by! (and our guest room has been added to our Spaces page along with a handful of other fun rooms to tour!)

Heavy duty toy-shelves (hung in drywall!)

Hi All! Fall is happening in Northern Virginia! The air just smells delicious. Even with a 30 degree temperature drop to the 30s this past weekend, my favorite part was sitting around a fire pit, snuggling under blankets, and roasting s'mores with my family. This season is short but oh, so sweet.

Today I'm excited to share that we've got brand new toy-shelves! We were previously using the IKEA TROFAST toy storage system. It ended up not being the most practical toy storage for our family. The stacked bins made it really hard to see what toys were where and as a result I felt like the kids weren't enjoying playing with their toys as much as they should. Then it hit me - if the toys were out in the open, perhaps they'd be played with more!

Before, with the IKEA TROFAST storage system

Now, with custom made, open shelves

After running the idea by my husband Matt, and getting one thumb up, I was ready to begin! I measured the wall space where I wanted to build shelves, and went out to buy a couple 1" x 12" shelves, (which I cut to 60" myself at home), and brackets. I stained the shelves in Hickory wood stain and then got to work with hanging!

Matt was kind enough to help me with this project so I could take pictures of some of the steps. Since we don't have studs in the particular section of wall we used, I think this is a good opportunity to address how to hang heavy shelves without using studs, (well, I did have one stud...get it...)!

 Measure and mark with a pencil where you want your brackets to hang, then mark the holes where your anchors and screws will go.

Make sure you use a level several times to make sure your brackets are lined up straight.

These drywall toggle anchors are not jokin' around and are what you want to use when hanging anything substantial into drywall.

Check em' out!

No electric drill needed for this project! Just a regular screw driver gets the toggle anchors securely into the wall.

Screw them into the wall until they are flush with the surface.

Once your toggle anchors are in, place the bracket over the anchors and screw the screws into the anchors.

Again, a screwdriver is all you need for this job, no electric drill needed!

Then lay your boards on top of the brackets and use shorter screws to attach the boards to the brackets, (from underneath, as seen in the picture).

All done!

Those toggle drywall anchors are what dreams are made of - no more worrying about studs or tossing projects out just because the studs aren't lined up where you need them! These babies hold up to 100 lbs each! Not too shabby.

To round up some of the smaller toys I found some old metal containers at the Old Lucketts Store, (rt 15 North in Leesburg, VA). 

Looking at these shelves, you would never know we have a daughter, too... But, this new 'system' of keeping everything out in the open has been a home run for us! The kids have been playing so well and creatively together - something I thoroughly enjoy watching or being a part of myself!

And if I have any work to do, I get to sit right there with them in our little built in office!

View as you come down the basement stairs. So grateful for this space to play and kick back!

(If interested, I've added the rest of our basement onto the Spaces page, seen in the menu bar!) 

I know not everyone is looking for toy storage solutions, but hopefully this post is useful to anyone needing to hang shelves into stud-less drywall! I was pretty excited about this discovery - it's like a whole new world opened up!

Thank you all so much for stopping by!