DIY Furniture-Knock Off Wood

Posted March 2, 2010 by erin under Tutorial

I’ve been following this blog for a while and just LOVE it!  It’s put together by Ana and called Knock Off Wood.  She takes things she sees in stores like Pottery Barn, West Elm, Land of Nod, and other stores, and makes the plans and a shopping list of supplies so you can make your own pieces for WAY less!  Here are some examples of her plans and finished project!  Be sure to go over and check out her awesome site!

This hutch as seen in Canadian House and Home was the inspiration for the plans for the hutch below!

This is what the finished piece will look like, go here to see the full list of instructions, supplies and everything else you need to get started!

These are some of my favorite shelves from Pottery Barn Kids, but at a hefty price tag of $900, not always affordable!

Ana shares the plans and finished shelves with us…and the best part is that she spent only $60!  She’s a genius!!

Worried about not being able to build these pieces?  Check out her newly created Flickr Gallery to see what people just like you have been building with her plans!  I can’t wait to get back into a house so I have a garage to build some new furniture in!

Enjoy!

Tags: DIY, furniture, Tutorial

Ruffle Cork Board

Posted October 27, 2009 by deb under DIY, Tutorial

This is a new little project that I recently completed.  I hope you like it.  I wanted to dress up my ordinary looking cork board. It started out looking like this. I spray painted it white and added some ruffles, and this was the end result.

I’m so pleased and I really, really love it. It dresses up my office and is a great inspiration board now.  And the best thing about my new ruffle cork board?  It was easy, schmeasy to make.  Let me show you how.

1. I started with some about a 1/2 yard of light flannel fabric.  I cut the fabric into 1.5″-2″ squares.
2. I pinched the fabric in the middle of the square and hand sewed it as best as I could to keep it’s figure.
3. On the same thread, I kept stringing the fabric squares.  Once I had about 3-4 on the thread, I would start bunching them and sewing them together and trying to make each one look like a little flower ruffle.
4. About 10-12 squares later, I had a little flower ruffle.  It took 10 little flowers to cover the top of my board.  I glued them on the board with a hot glue gun.

Viola!  A new little piece in my office.  So what do you think?  I myself love ruffles and they are easy accents to just about anything.   Can’t you just see these little flower ruffles on a pillow, or even a shirt?

Tags: cork board, Fun, office, Ruffles

Tutorial: Modern Accent Pillow

Posted September 2, 2009 by erin under Tutorial

I’ve been envisioning this project for a while and finally had a chance to make it!  I wanted another accent pillow and wanted to use a reverse applique technique with a little hand stitching detail.  Here’s how it turned out!

You can make one too if you want.  It was super easy to do!

What you’ll need:

1/2 yard solid fabric for front cut into an 18″ square (Or I used a dinner napkin)

1/2 yard fabric for back cut into an 18″ square

1/4 yard patterned fabric for reverse applique

1 skein coordinating embroidery floss

needle, scissors, freezer paper

1. Cut out circle from freezer paper in the size you’d like your applique to be.  These are 4 1/2″ in diameter.  Iron onto your fabric where you’d like the cutouts to be.  (I’d also keep your pattern about 2 1/2″ from either side as the sides of the pillow will shrink a little bit when it’s stuffed and we don’t want your applique on the side.)
2. Trim around your freezer paper pattern to cut out the circles from the main piece.  Pin your fabric underneath and line up how you’d like it to show.  Hand stitch a running stitch around the applique circles to hold the fabric in place.
3. Place your finished pillow front, and back of pillow together with the right sides facing each other.  Stitch around the edge using 1/4″ seams and don’t forget to leave a 4″ opening along the bottom to turn and stuff.
4. Stuff with my favorite stuffing: Cluster Stuff from Wal-Mart.  One bag of this will stuff 3-4 pillows!  (Don’t forget to clip the edges before your turn right side out to stuff.)  After you’ve got it all stuffed, hand stitch the bottom closed and place in your favorite spot.

(For this Pillow I used fabric from the City Blooms Collection from Benartex)

Tags: accent, DIY, pillow, Tutorial

Shopping in Your Jammies by guest designer Christopher Lowell

Posted September 1, 2009 by deb under Tutorial

We are so excited to have Christopher Lowell back on Fresh Nest sharing more fun tips with us.  Today he is talking about shopping online and how to do it right and safely.

You can find Christopher most recently on Work That Room – where he takes a person/family’s design dilemma and breaks down the solution step by step for us.  He has amazing design problem solving skills and I’m always amazed at what he can do!  Just look at some of the before and afters from the show here.   Amazing, huh?

By Christopher Lowell

It used to be that shopping for the home required a full, dedicated day. Fighting crowds, wasting gas and getting into emotional overload.  —All while trying to make critical decisions on the spot and under pressure and if you’ve got kids in tow, forgetaboutit.

Today, because of the Internet, you can now shop in your jammies, with your mouse instead of your Mapquest.  The Internet gives you time to compare and investigate, from the comfort of your own home.  Recently for my show, Work That Room on the Fine Living Network, we did a segment on this with a focus on window treatments. Custom looking drapery used to be overly expensive especially in rooms with multiple windows. But online, with the middle retailer out of the way, you actually can get amazing custom quality for almost designer cost, made specifically for your windows.  First, when shopping via the net, always use a credit card in a secure and protected provider like PayPal.  If everything goes south, it’s the credit card company (especially AMEX) that will do the fighting for you.  If you pay by check or debit card, the money’s gone, and it’s all up to you to get it back.

Next, with anything that involves fabric, it needs to be touched, and examined for real before you place your final order. Ask for a swatch to be sent.  Often photos do not represent true color values and every computer screen is calibrated differently. So if your mail order catalog doesn’t offer fabric swatches for free, then move on.  Don’t be afraid to ask for as many as you think you need.  If the swatch is too small for you to visualize, take it to a fabric shop and match it with something similar and bigger to get the effect.  An online store like Joann Fabrics & Crafts will also allow you to purchase a yard of fabric and return it if it doesn’t suit your style.  There should be a representative on the phone who works directly for the catalog company.

Smith and Noble Window Coverings has great customer service and their selection is vast. On special orders, some guy across seas won’t cut it no matter how informed the person might be.  So ask if whom you’re talking to is on the premise.  If your order is late or wrong, you have a representative that can walk you or your late order through the process.  Finally, read all that annoying fine print.  If the really important stuff is buried there, then the company’s hiding something.  But if things like return policies and financial terms are actually spelled out in full view as part of the normal type, that usually means the company actually has nothing to hide and are proud of their service procedure.   If you’re still nervous, ask for customer references.  Many good catalog companies will give you email addresses for you to talk candidly with other customers.  Start with one room.  If all goes well, you’re good to go!  You can do it!

For more about Christopher log on to christopherlowell.com and follow him on twitter at twitter.com/clowell.

Tags: Christopher Lowell, online, shopping

Downloadable Space Planner

Posted August 26, 2009 by erin under Tutorial

Today I’ve got a treat for you!  We’ve created a free space plan download so that you can design and rearrange your own space.  It’s simple to do and can even be reused!

You’ll need Acrobat Reader to open and print it.

Instructions:

Print all sheets on white cardstock and laminate the grid sheet.  After you’ve laminated it you’re ready to go.  Cut out the furniture pieces, doors, and windows that you need.

Use a dry erase marker to outline your room, remember that each square is 6″ so each 1 foot piece of wall will take up 2 squares, got it?  When you need to do another room, just erase and layout your next space!  Yea! What do you think?  Will you use it?  Let us know if there’s any pieces that you’ve just got to have and we’ll see about adding in another add-on download.

Tags: DIY, download, floorplan