Every winter, my cat, JFK, who is usually an outdoor cat, gets a little bit crankier . . . well, a lot crankier. When he’s not sleeping directly in front of the heater or scarfing food, he’s begging me for attention. On my last trip to New York, I learned a lot of great tips from…
It hasn’t rained in Oakland for weeks, even months, but that hasn’t stopped me from stockpiling a list of projects for those overcast days ahead, when all I’ll want to do is to curl up on the couch with some good music, a mug of tea and a glue gun. Grace and I both gravitated…
Balsa is one of my all-time favorite materials: It’s cheap and lightweight and easily handles bending, cutting, staining, painting, glueing and pretty much every other technique that comes to mind. It’s also a great resource for creating professional-quality results with few tools, as you can see in this awesome balsa lampshade project from Jamie Samples…
This is the fourth installment of Brittany Watson Jepsen’s summer DIY series. Check out her previous projects here, here and here. I love how simple and minimal these projects are, creating awesome results with only a few materials. Thanks for sharing, Brittany! — Kate For those of us lucky enough to have minimal living space, creative space planning is…
We’re thrilled to announce that D*S veteran and DIY genius Brittany Watson Jepsen will be sharing a short series of DIY projects with us over the summer! I’m particularly partial to this geometric side table, but they are all wonderful — so easy to re-create and perfect for the upcoming season. Trust me, you have…
This project stems from a conversation I had with Grace and Amy on my last visit; they had seen an image of a rolling pin held in place with two simple straps, and thought it could adapt nicely to become a wall scroll for organizing ideas. I managed to score three long branches from a…
Math was never my strongest subject, but lately I’ve felt a strong desire to play around with geometry. Inspired by the awesome tape artwork of artist Alex Menocal, I wanted to focus my geometric experiments on my walls but actually make a piece that is three-dimensional. 3D structures can be tricky to mount on walls,…
I’ve been seeing a lot of slatted wood lately, mostly in large-scale designs like Morgan Satterfield’s lovely front porch screen or this incredible house that popped up on Desire to Inspire yesterday. I’ve never come across slatted wood as wall art, but after seeing this wall map project from Natalie Gluic, I’m thoroughly convinced that…
This project has made me so enamored of old trophies that I may have to devote an entire Treasure Hunting post to them, although I’m not sure I could top this re-purposing idea. When paired with a nicely finished piece of hard wood, the shiny metallic trophies actually look modern and . . . classy? Not…
Fall is by far my favorite time of year. The colors and textures of the materials that come with the season never cease to inspire new project ideas for me, and I find myself returning to those materials again and again. These wooden acorns are a quick no-frills project. They might come in handy for…
we have an abundance of useless sconces in our apartment. they are a pain in the neck to turn on and they provide illumination for about six inches of a small hallway leading to our back door, but the kicker: they’re ugly. in fact, if i hadn’t been walking through my local salvage yard and…
Summer time really gets my travel bug a-jumpin! I am guilty myself, but so many of us long to travel abroad yet don’t take advantage of our very own American continent! This July, my husband Adam and I are hitting the road for a sweet heart’s road trip to explore some of the USA’s beautiful…
i don’t know why, but i have clocks on the brain. i like the idea of having a clock in every room, not because i always want to be aware of the time, but because i find the rhythm of clock movements is quite soothing. if you have the depressing image of me sitting in…
i’m a sucker for beautiful flowers, so i couldn’t resist the chance to share a fun floral how-to this morning. janie medley at the bride’s cafe and jmflora specializes in beautiful wedding flowers, and offered to share a fun how-to that’s perfect for spring (and doesn’t require a wedding). janie knows the way to my…
ikea really does have some amazing finds! while i do love some of their more unique, signature products, my favorites are the very plain, simple accessories; they allow you to customize them in so many ways to fit your own style. they beg for hacking! i’ve had my eye on the skala tray ($14.99) for…
i’ve been on a mission to bring more green things into my home – growing more plants and visiting my local flower shop more often! even though it’s been a trend for a while, i still can’t get enough of science-y stuff (beakers, test tubes, etc.) in the home. so for this simple project, i…
here’s a last minute idea for your gifts- wrapping them or making them! these log slices take mere minutes to complete if you have a saw and drill handy. you could also ask your local lumberyard to cut them for you if you don’t have a saw, because it’s just a few quick slices. you…
these embroidered logs are inspired by the charming lino prints of hugo guinness. i wanted my father’s christmas gift a “portrait-through-objects” (he loves gardening and he always loses his glasses). do not be dissuaded by the power drill; these are super easy to make. they are fast and enjoyable, a good movie time or rainy…
today i’m thrilled to welcome nicole of well worn to the d*s guest blog! this will be our final guest blog stint until the new year so i’m happy to end with nicole’s theme: organization. after the initial break of the holiday, it’s always nice to use that extra time off to clean up and…
i purchased these miniature birdhouses from the craft store about six months ago, because they were so adorable and i knew i would eventually come up with a use for them. voila! a miniature wooden village for my mantel during the holiday season. i already had some lights lying around, so i went and purchased…
