If the Gatsby's had IKEA

IKEA dinner plates paired with gorgeous paisley patterned quarter plates..all the way from Pakistan. Metallic gold napkins and silver rings. 

#ikeaplacemats

#wmf

#goldcuttleryonwishlist

Geomatric Float

Easiest DIY Painted Pillow in the history of ever.

The pictures will do the talking.

The inverted colors seem to work well too:)

1. Plain White Pillow Case    2.Tape   3.Follow the instructions on your fabric Paint. Done!

Ikea Hack: Fornbro Table

Are you ready kids?

Ay ay captain!

Who else has a coral crush from under the sea?

Lame.

Continue.

On the scale of frugality this little upgrade wins.

We got this small table free with the purchase of our coffee table from someone in a hurry to get rid of stuff.

The paint came in an offer at Aldi. Super cheap.

If I may, here's a tip on how to work/DIY with trendy colors without sabotaging your budget.

Whenever there is a color trend going on I can not resist jumping on the bandwagon. 

Instead of  changing the entire scheme of my house or wardrobe around that fad which will probably only last for a couple of months what I do is I add tiny bits. 

A cushion or a frame or any such small replaceaple item. I would never go on and paint my enire wall or buy a couch just for the sake of getting on-trend.

What Not To DO: Take crappy pictures from phone camera, rearrange furniture before the picture that now shows carpet marks.

It Matters If Your'e Black And White

Excuse the twisted title of the post. To compensate there you go lets listen to Michael Jackson himself :D

I am totally hinged to this color duo. Totally.

I am wearing B&W, my new place mats are B&W, My last three projects were all in the same +/- space.

Its been around for a while but the fever just caught me.

I showed you the two chairs I picked up from our neighbor's 'zu verschenken' pile. They had a good solid skeleton.

I was pleased to see that Ikea's new limited collection of chairs in pastel colors have a similar structure.

I've never painted furniture except for the one sideboard which was done totally without proper supplies.

Here's the Before and After. 

The fabric was also Ikea, leftover from my book shelf.

Here's a snippet of what my mommy had to say:

  Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

Mapping The Mid Century

Here's a quick little peak at my recent updo.

The mc table is an ebay find. I absolutely love antique globes and maps..sadly I own none..and have no place in my current rental to display anything of the sort.

I had this classroom map which I bought at the supermarket a couple of years ago intended for a DIY.

To stick it on top of the table I used glue spray.

I wanted the dipped look for the legs so I took the shortcut and used yarn instead of paint.

Pretty simple.

Apologies for the crappy photos

Oh Deer! I Tried Painting.

You know one of those moments when you secretly hope and wish to be a person of better tastes. You try stuff that's new to you and you pretend you're a natural at it. It could be acquiring a new sport, a new company of friends, a new genre of literature, a new accent maybe..yaaa knowww! :D

 Well here's what I did last weekend. I got my self a larger than life canvas..ehem..paint brushes..charcoal pencils..all set to draw the most intimidating antlers resting on the head of a deer staring boldly into your headlights.

My inspiration was this stunning project I found here.

It started off pretty well.

I went free hand with the sketch.

Until..it had eyes of its own.

I drew a cross between Paris Hilton's chihuahua and Bambi.

Not being satisfied..I went ahead and smothered the charcoal with acrylic paint. Not a good combination I learnt.

By this time my son had crossed his speed limits and was in his pre bedtime hyperactivity zone. So I left my piece of refined statement art as it is.

I was stressed about it not turning out as good as I had trusted myself.

Geometric Himmeli

I recently added fabric to my bookshelf from the house of Scandinavian furniture: The good old Ikea!

My current crush is this modern version of Scandinavian art: The Himmeli ornaments. 

Mandi from Vintage Revivals made it seem all so easyyy. I followed her super elaborate tutorial and made only  a basic shape of himmeli to add a color pop to my décor.

Cocktail straws, wire and spray paint..

Its a cinch.

DIY Celestial Decor with Toothpicks

This little project took no time at all. I was cringing to have some gold décor around my home.

The Styrofoam ball cost just 55 cents..toothpicks were already on hand.

To start I went around the circumference of the ball poking toothpicks in.

For the next row I inserted the toothpicks in an order that each went in the middle of two toothpicks  above.

I spray painted it gold  and the spikey porcupine now lives on my new upstyled Billy.

Ikea Hack: Billy Bookcase

There's a whole website out there full of exhibits of creative, reverse engineered and heady ideas to hack those mass produced Lacks, Billys and Malms. So much fun!

I needed a bookcase/updated living room/ cheap bill.

Enter..Billy Bookcase

Some Fabric

I had seen similar stuff on pinterest. You can use wallpaper, wrapping paper, paint or fabric.

 I used an electric tacker to staple the fabric on the board.

 Note of caution; if you use a thick fabric like I used the board backing for this model will NOT slide into the slit provided.

Mr. had to add nails on the edges and mid section to set the back.

Oh and I only realized while I was working, that my top matches the fabric!

I love it.

Thrifty Finds

As much as I love the smell of fresh coffee and croissants waffting through the shopping centres there is only one other feeling that matches that pleasure...scoring thrifty stuff that you know will make your soul happy!

apartmenttherapy

Look what set my heart aflutter on my recent hunts:

A pair of solid brass vintage birds that if I had bought from the most expensive retail design houses in Munich I would have had to amputate my limb maybe.

I have also scored a mid century angular table from ebay..its only flaw being the formaica top..but I still love it.

I had been eying these animal bookends for some time now..the hitch..I didn't think of my son's dinosaurs to be appropriate enough to try :p so one fine day I was in this discount store we have and found these mammoths at a measly price of just 2.99 Euros for the pair!

 Reason for reduction: Torn box..well I was gonna do that anyway!

Next up, only today when I came back home after picking my son up my neighbours had some stuff out on the curb with a label saying ' Please take it ' Yes please!

I picked up two chairs that match my newly found table.

I have intentions of painting them if weather permits. I kept on telling myself that I dont need them..I dont have an inch of extra space left for new additions of furniture; albeit, I knew if I hadn't I'd be regretting it for long..we don't get those sort of sales around here in Munich too often.

Two Tone Pomander

Pink is my newfangled obsession lately. (I know Pantone's color of year 2013 and its not Pink! ) I can't pin point exactly if its the color or the floral prints and objects that I tend to like more thee days. Well for one, I got some pink flowers from Ikea..the only pink bit in my décor.

 To reflect that in other corners..I made a pink and white crepe paper pomander for my living room.

I rolled up strips of crepe paper with random twists and turns into flowers. Then hot glued them onto a Styrofoam ball. It required a whole lot of crepe paper..only two rows of roses consumed an entire rolled sheet of paper. I was out of pink soon, hence the two tone idea was born. I thought it would be ok to color-block it.

I placed it on an old candle holder.

Just the right amount of pinkness added :)

Chintz: My sip of Inspiration

Today's post isn't a DIY project. Its more of a mini research on my current interest in patterns and designs. It all started with a  present from my mother which I recieved last Sunday.

Its a charming set of tea cups with a Chintz floral patterrn. I was interested in finding out more about this classic design. When I opened the box, my husband's first reaction was " ah old english styled cups " the sort of nationality we quickly fraternize things in...like if you see bamboos, you think China, if you see damask you think Islamic art/ damuscus...that kind of link up.

'Chuck out the chintz', exhorted Ikea, the well-known Swedish furniture retailer, a few years back in a needling advertising campaign. They wanted to persuade us to abandon old-fashioned floral Patterns in favour of cool, modern Scandinavian style. And for a while, they succeeded. But it's not easy to get the British to abandon something they've loved for 350 years.

Hugh St Clair

In Pakistan, a leading clothing brand Khaadi has launched an entire collection for Spring 2013 using the Chintz theme. (P.S momsie was in a generous mood and sent a Khaadi suit too!)

I always thought that these florals that are various variations of the chintz originate from the British...not knowing that it actually was develeped right where I come from! The Sub-Continent!

"When we think of chintz we generally think of English country-house interiors: rooms full of large-scale, colourful roses and wildflowers printed on the glazed cotton first manufactured in Victorian times. But chintz is much older than that and actually not British at all. The word chintz was originally used by the East India Company and is a corruption of the north Indian 'chint', a word meaning to sprinkle or spray. "

Enter: wikipedia.

 Chinz designs are mostly European patterns loosely derived from the style of Indian designs themselves reflecting, via Mughal art, decorative traditions in Islamic art such as the arabesque. 

Chintz was originally a woodblock printed, painted or stained calico produced in India from 1600 to 1800 and popular for bed covers,quilts and draperies. Around 1600, Portuguese and Dutch traders were bringing examples of Indian chintz into Europe. 

During the late 17th century, French and English mills grew concerned, as they could not make chintz. In 1686 the French declared a ban on all chintz imports. In 1720 England's Parliament enacted a law that forbade "the Use and Warings in Apparel of imported chintz, and also its use or Wear in or about any Bed, Chair, Cushion or other Household furniture".

Image: Google Images

Originally invented in India, chintz became an interior design staple in 17th and 18th century English country houses. Now it’s back, says Hugh St Clair

Google Images