Creative DIY Lighting and Lampshades

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Apartment Therapy

There are a lot of great lamps/shades/lights out there these days and many that are fairly inexpensive, but sometimes you just want to modify what you have or create something totally unique. If that's your goal, hopefully you'll find some ideas in this post to spark your creativity.

I love the creativity involved in this lighting transformation by Dwellings by Devore. She transformed these

BEFORE

into these! Wow! For details on how she did it, click here.

AFTER

Kate at Design Sponge created this unique night light out of canvas. Complete tutorial here.

Crafty Nest made these adorable paper lanterns. Tutorial here.

One of the elements that Britt at A Penny Saved used to make this $9 DIY Schoolhouse light fixture was a pot lid! For her tutorial, click here.

Michelle from Cicada Daydream shows you how to make these "lamp sleeves". I think this idea could also be modified to make a sleeve/slipcover for a lamp shade too. Tutorial here.

Pendant lights from ceramic bowls at Country Living. Tutorial here. (photo credit: Dane Holwager)

Michael Penney at Canadian House and Home suggests making a lamp from a unique jar to get the look of this one like Tom Scheerer's. He gives you some ideas for doing it here. (photo William Waldron)

Kate at Design Sponge used felt to make these fun pendant lights. Tutorial here.

I linked to these back in August, but I'm not sure how many people have actually seen them since a lot of you are new to the blog since then. Jill at Forever Cottage created these pretty pendant lights out of baskets! For more on how she did it, click here.

Make a geometric design on your lampshade with a running stitch like this one at marthastewart.com

BHG.com has some fun ideas in their Quick Change Lamps slide show. The lamp shade below was embellished with a dish towel.

You've probably seen those great lampshades that show a pretty pattern when the light is on? Marthastewart.com shows you how to make a lampshade liner to get that same effect here.

BHG.com "Make a Fabric Covered Lampshade"

diyideas.com shows this idea for adding a little bling to your lampshade using a metal link belt. Full details on their site.
Transform a plain lampshade using layers of vellum. Tutorial at marthastewart.com


A large scale DIY chandelier shade from BHG.com. Tutorial here.

I think this button covered lampshade from BHG.com would be cute for a kid's room

And a cute lamp for the nursery from marthastewart.com. Tutorial here.

How to Build A Lamp at howstuffworks.com
Have an awesome day!

Sunny Sunday Inspiration - 3

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Coastal Living Photographer Grey Crawford

I've probably mentioned more than a few times that I'm loving turquoise right now, so today I thought I would share some turquoise inspiration combined with yellow for my Sunny Sunday post.

I love the design of the bedroom in the first photo by designer Jill Johnson, and how she paired the turquoise and yellow with gray!

And Anthropologie uses the same color combo in this lamp shade...

Why not add a little red or orange to the scheme to liven it up like they did in this bedding?

Echo Design™ Jaipur Duvet Cover/Bed Bath & Beyond

Or this cute sunporch designed by Jane Coslick?

And this bedroom transformation from Southern Living. (Photos Robbie Caponetto)

BEFORE

AFTER

I know I already used this photo in my Decorating with Maps post, but it's part of this bedroom transformation so I had to use it again, didn't I? It's my favorite image from the room. :-)

Hope you're having a sunny Sunday!

Creative Decorating with Ballard Designs

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

I received Ballard Designs latest catalog in the mail today and they featured a great idea in the room below. In case you can't read the text, it says "Create a chair rail using ledges and fill it with your favorite art and collectibles. Paint a contrasting color below to accentuate and ground your new architectural detail". I like it! They also mention mixed up dining.

Did you notice that they used the La Poeme rug that we talked about here in the room? (In addition to the original black and brown, it now comes in denim and sage)

If you haven't checked out Ballard's latest catalog, you can view it on-line here. In addition to promoting their products they offer some great decorating advice (including designer Suzanne Kasler's House Beautiful interview along with photos of rooms she designed using Ballard products).

FOR A POST PACKED WITH EASTER IDEAS, CLICK HERE!

Slipcovered Coffee Tables

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Have you ever considered slipcovering your coffee table? Like, when you want a fresh look or different color but you don't want to paint the table and you don't want to make it into an ottoman? I think it's something worth considering, especially for a different seasonal look (like white canvas or a fun colorful fabric in your favorite pattern for spring/summer or a warm textural fabric for fall/winter). I'm not sure what is under the slipcover in the sunporch above by designer Kathryn Chaplow, a table or an ottoman, but it was actually the original inspiration photo that I saved for this post a while back because I thought it was a good visual of what a slipcovered coffee table COULD look like.

If you're looking for a DIY slipcover tutorial for a similar look, Design Sponge recently did a post with a slipcover tutorial for the ottoman below (by Brett Bara) I'm sure it would be easy to modify this for a coffee table and it would look cute on a little side table as well.

I also thought the pieces in these two images from myhomeideas.com could just as easily be tables as ottomans.

Photo Matthew Gilson

Photo Erica Georges Dines

If you like your skirts a little shorter, you'll want to check out this coffee table slipcover at Bibbidi Bobbidi Beautiful. She gives you a complete tutorial here.

This obviously isn't a coffee table, but I thought it was fun the way this homeowner added some pizazz to her kitchen table, while keeping it functional, with a laminated tablecloth tailored like a slipcover (myhomeideas.com Photo Tria Giovan)

Hope you're all having a great week so far!

$25 Gift Card Giveaway WINNER!

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Pier 1

Happy Monday!

The winner of the $25 Gift Card Giveaway is Kerri and Derrick from Crazy in a Nutshell! Congratulations!

They mentioned they might spend their prize at Pier 1, Michael's or Lowe's so hopefully they'll let us know what they end up doing. It would be fun to see what they buy! Kerri and Derrick, please e-mail your contact information to me so I can get the gift card out to you.

Image below is from Michael's (see how to make this and other Easter crafts HERE)

Have a great day...

Easter & Spring Decorating & Entertaining Ideas/Inspiration/Recipes

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Add a simple spring touch to your candles

or your placemats (Martha Stewart Tutorial here.)


I'm so excited that today is the first day of Spring! You wouldn't know it by our temperatures today, but at least the sun is shining.

Because I'm in the spring mood, and because Easter is coming up quickly, I thought I would do a post with some Easter/Spring ideas and inspiration just in case you're looking for some.

10 Easter Crafts to Brighten Any Home from Readers Digest (craft projects created by Jennifer Sbranti)

9 Unique Easter Egg Decorating Ideas from Readers Digest (photos: Meaghan Mountford)

Spring/Easter basket from Southern Living

Make a Spring nest centerpiece or try one of the other ideas at Country Living's Spring Centerpieces and Table Decorations (photo: Simon Bevan)

Bright and Crafty Easter Eggs from hostessblog.com

Fun Easter Crafts from Country Living (photo: Frances Janisch)

Easter Paper Crafts from Good Housekeeping (photo: Michael Partenio)

Cute Easter/Spring bags from Parents.com? Click HERE for tutorial (photo: Sarah Kehoe)

15 Easy Easter Crafts from Woman's Day (Photo: © Len Lagrua)

Easter Dinner Made Easy at Woman's Day

Easter Dinner Recipes from Country Living

8 Egg Shaped Easter Treats from Woman's Day (Photo: © Quentin Bacon)

Sweet Chick and Bunny Treats from Woman's Day (Photo: © Anastassios Mentis)

Easter Entertaining: 4 Brunch Menus at Woman's Day (Photo: © Mark Thomas)

A nest of sweets for your tablescape from Southern Living (photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas)

or a Robin's egg placecard also from Southern Living (photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; styling: Buffy Hargett)
Tablescape idea from Family Circle (photo: Allison Miksch)

I love this idea for printing your menu on the napkins. The one shown below is actually for Mother's Day, but you could use it for any special celebration, including Easter or a brunch to celebrate the arrival of Spring. Some extra work that you probably wouldn't want to go through for every occasion, but wouldn't it be fun to try it just once? Instructions at Country Living. (photo credit: Miki Duisterhof)

Country Living tablescape (photo: Laura Moss)
Elegant Easter: Flower Arrangements and Centerpieces at Good Housekeeping (photo: Michael Partenio)

Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Easter Centerpiece

A simple tablescape from Martha Stewart


Happy weekend - Happy Spring! :-)