Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

DIY Chalkboard Globe: Anthropologie Soapstone Knock Off

So I’ve been using chalkboard paint for the first time. The first project I wanted to do was to recreate the look and feel of a soapstone globe I saw on Anthropologie that cost $368. It would be great to have something so solid and raw sitting on the desk, but for my cheaper alternative I decided to use a normal globe I found at a book shop.

Materials used: Plastic globe, black acrylic paint, chalkboard paint, brushes and chalk – not much really.

1. Step one was to paint the entire globe black including the blue stand. I wanted to have a basecoat to paint the chalkboard paint onto.

2. After painting 2 coats of black acrylic, and 2 coats of chalkboard paint – I then conditioned the globe. This is done by crushing up some chalk and wiping it all over. This is when I tried to create the soapstone texture, by wiping the chalk dust horizontally around the globe.

3. Since it was sitting on my desk, I ended up using it as a basic weekly to-do calendar 🙂

March 1, 2013 in DIY, Home Office, Made By HtA

THE IKEA BILLY Chalkboard Sign DIY Hack

The Quote: “Eat well, Live simply, Laugh often” – perfect for the kitchen countertop. I’ve been wanting to create a simple chalkboard, and thought that using an IKEA BILLY extension door would make a great frame.

Materials used: IKEA BILLY OLSBO extension glass door (plus the hinges that come with it), white spray paint (had it lying around), masking tape, chalkboard paint, piece of wood to use as the stand, wood stain and finisher.

1. The first thing I did was to mask the frame, back and front, before spray painting the glass. The spray paint sticks onto the glass well allowing for the chalkboard paint to be applied. I tried using acrylic paint instead of spray paint but that didn’t work. There are glass primers – but I wanted to use what I had around the house.

2. Painted on 2 coats of chalkboard paint.

3. To create the stand I used one of the hinges that came with the BILLY door and a piece of wood. The wood was stained twice to try and match the BILLY color and left overnight to dry. New holes had to be drilled into the frame of the BILLY door as the hinge needed to be fitted upside down. A hole was drilled into the stained piece of wood for the screw to fit into.

4. Did some sketches of what I wanted written out and the font style: “Eat well, Live Simply, Laugh often.”

5. And there it is, a hand lettered DIY chalkboard sign using an IKEA BILLY door.

March 1, 2013 in DIY, Made By HtA

Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects

There are so many different wall painting techniques that you’ll never have to settle for a one colored wall again. Using a combination of paint and glazes you can create a range of different textures, from linen to marble. The main tools used for these techniques are quite basic: paint roller, painters tape, painting combs, sponges, brushes, even steel wool – depending on the style and texture you want. Here are some ideas on how you can paint your walls and the basic tools you’ll need.

Fabric: Linen is a great texture to have painted on a wall, just like the walls in pictures (1) & (2). Ways to create this effect include dragging a dry brush over wet paint. You can even have multiple colors by having a base paint, say yellow, let it dry and then paint over it with red – while that is still wet drag a dry brush over it. This creates grooves that show the yellow paint underneath (3).

Frottage: This is a cool and creative looking texture (4) (5). What you need here is a lint free rag. Either paint the wall then sponge the wet paint with a rag, or dip the rag in paint and apply it to the wall (6) (this is called ragging).

Silk & Weaves: Steel wool can be used to create a silk effect (7) while brushes and combs create a weave texture (8).

Marble and Faux Stone Effects: There are a few ways to create a stone like texture. There is sponging (9), using a cloth (10), or using a paint brush. Colorwashing is another way – this is when you use a combination of diluted paint hues to create a stone like effect.

Faux Bois (Fake Wood): Yup, you can even create a wooden looking wall with paint (11) – just by using a painting comb and a wood grain brush.

Decorative Wall Painting Ideas: Other decorative wall painting techniques include creating stripes using painter’s tape (12) or a stripe comb – and stenciling (13).

Looking Up: All of these ideas don’t just have to stay on the walls. Check out the ceiling in picture (14).

For a great guide on how to do most of these faux painting techniques for your home, have a look at this step by step guide by Martha Stewart here.

Martha Stewart has a complete kit that can get you going with most of these painting techniques and ideas – which can be found here. Some of the individual tools, like the linen brush, can be found on Amazon here. But most of these paint designs won’t need much more than some simple household items (sponge, rag). 1/2/3/4/5/6/7 & 8/9/10/11/12/13/14

February 27, 2013 in Decor

Design Notes on Kitchen Wallpaper Ideas

Here are some notes on ideas and designs when it comes to using wallpaper in a kitchen.

Overall Look: Wallpaper is great for instantly decorating a kitchen. But one thing to remember is that it can make it a bit harder to create an overall design scheme. Whereas white painted walls create a blank canvas allowing for different colored cabinets, accessories, decor pieces, and flooring styles (Attractive and Easy to Maintain Kitchen Flooring Options). With wallpapers you’ll have to be careful that colors and designs don’t clash with other features in the kitchen (Beautiful Wall Decor Ideas for a Kitchen).

2 Forms of Designs: There are two main choices when it comes to wallpaper styles. There are plain textured designs which are timeless as seen in picture (1). Then there are more decorative stenciled and pattered designs as seen in pictures (2) (3) and (4). Another option is to use an embossed tile patterned wallpaper (some of which can be painted over) (5).

Kitchen Wallpaper Ideas to Create a Focal Point: Have all the walls painted a neutral color and then have a section of the wall wallpapered to create a focal point in the kitchen – just like in picture (6). Another way of doing this is to use wallpaper borders that span across above the countertops or up near the ceiling (7) (8).

Looking Up: Check out the wallpapered ceilings in pictures (9) (10), pretty awesome.

Textured Alternative: Don’t forget there is the great alternative of textured painting. If you didn’t want to paint a wall a single color because you thought it might look a bit flat and dull, you can use different techniques to create textured effects. For example – using a sponge can create a marble look while a brush can create a linen texture (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects).

Color Ideas: Don’t forget that all the main features in the kitchen from the floors, cabinets, the island, and furniture along with the walls make up the entire color palette of the room (11). To so see how to incorporate the wall colors and wallpaper with the rest of the kitchen, have a look at our post here: A Palette Guide for Kitchen Color Schemes: Decor and Paint Ideas. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11