before and after by Kate Pruitt 48

before & after: mirror made of rulers + telephone bench


I have a special place in my heart for bulk supplies of any kind; in my mind, you can make something awesome out of anything, as long as you have enough of it. I know that Karen Johnston — the creative talent behind this metal-ruler mirror and many other clever reuse projects — would agree with me. This industrial mirror is actually quite sophisticated, and I love that from afar you can’t really tell what it’s made of. You can check out more of Karen’s mirrors (including the similarly themed and equally fantastic pencil mirror) on her site, Mosaicworks. Great work, Karen! — Kate

Have a Before & After you’d like to share? Shoot me an email with your images right here! (Low res, under 500k per image, please.)

CLICK HERE for Carly’s telephone-bench makeover after the jump!

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I am absolutely in love with telephone benches. Wait, I know I’ve mentioned it — I was gushing over Caitlin’s retro phone bench last September. Well, I’m ready to gush all over again. This awesome telephone bench makeover from Carly has a very different feel than Caitlin’s mega-mod bench, but it’s certainly just as chic. Like Caitlin, Carly made the incredibly wise to decision to go bold with her upholstery pattern, and the result looks fantastic. I’m amazed at how she managed to pack so much drama and style into such a tiny piece, and I would never want to part with it if it were mine. Great job, Carly!

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48 Comments

Caroline

wow! that mirror is beautiful, amazing use of materials, And the chair/ table incredible! thanks for sharing this.

Jordan G

I love both of these, but that ruler mirror is genius! Now she has me thinking what other random materials would be great for something like that…

cheryl oz

The mirror is fantastic. I like how at first glance it just looks like some kind of cool, metal mirror, and then closer you notice it’s rulers.

Rebecca

seriously obsessed with chevron patterns and this fabric is perfect. where can I find it?

kate

the ruler mirror is brilliant. love the pencil mirror too—would be amazing with colored pencils!

grace

hi rebecca!

amazon actually has a huge range of chevron fabrics in tons of colors for a good price:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_seeall_1?rh=k%3Achevron+fabric%2Ci%3Agarden&keywords=chevron+fabric&ie=UTF8&qid=1299770620#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=zig+zag+fabric&rh=n%3A1055398%2Ck%3Azig+zag+fabric

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_seeall_1?rh=k%3Achevron+fabric%2Ci%3Agarden&keywords=chevron+fabric&ie=UTF8&qid=1299770620#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=chevron+fabric&rh=n%3A1055398%2Ck%3Achevron+fabric

grace :)

Kristi

WOW! Both are incredibly sophisticated. I’m am always blown away by how dull, simple items can be completely transformed. That odd bench looks so chic now-it is magazine worthy! Amazing! Now if I only had 100 more of my art rulers lying around…

Christina

Oh man I love telephone benches too! I always wonder where in a home is appropriate to put one of those things though. The only room that comes to mind is the foyer. And I don’t have one of those. :/

Cher@NR

LOVE the telephone bench, and the ruler idea was very creative. It would go well in an industrial space.

Shan

I’d be a little more in love with the mirror if it wasn’t outrageously priced to DIY. As awesome as it is, it’s composed of about 80 metal rulers. If you don’t have any laying around then it’s going to cost you about $500 in rulers alone to create…

sharon

So sad that I sold my telephone bench at my last garage sale…Love the look!

hena tayeb

the mirror looks cool. and a telephone bench which would seem to be an old and obsolete peice of furniture has been transformed into something modern. well done

Karen J

Shan
The hardest part about making ‘hand made’ things is putting a price on the creativity and/or idea. It’s something that I think most artists, designers and artisans struggle with regularly.
That’s all…just something to think about?:)

Thanks again Design*Sponge. You’ve made my day!

Lauren

The ruler mirror made me scream with delight. What a great idea! I love, love, love this!!!

Andrea

OMG – I LOVE LOVE LOVE this mirror! What a great idea and the finished product looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!

Holly

Another *love* for the mirror. And that bold telephone bench is the new inspiration for my porch.

Sue

I love this blog so much because you always have the things I would want to make over in my home if I could find them and space to put them. LOVE the telephone chair/table.

karen

That rulere mirror was a visual happy in so many ways. What a really, really cool idea and twist on the sunburst mirror. I am so wanting to make one myself.

madz

Beautiful use of the mind in both ideas.
I just love us humans when we use our creative powers.

Lisa

I’ve got to have that telephone bench! You don’t need it for the telephone anymore; but what an awesome place to read and drink your coffee!

rachel

omg i love before and afters! lol so crazy how good people are. . .that phone bench is amazeballs! it makes me think i should give up my “takes 20 minutes or less” rule of DIY :) although i have made quite a few surprisingly cool things in such a short amount of time.

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