Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

The Yellow 45 sqm Apartment

Even through it uses a lot of black in the color scheme, this compact 45 sqm apartment still feels bright and spacious. Check out the pops of yellow everywhere. From the entryway to the living room, then on to the kitchen, this one color connects the individual spaces, and creates a flow.

This apartment, as any small apartment or small home should, makes heavy use of the walls to save on floor space. Check out the floor to ceiling built in cabinets in the living room and kitchen, the living room wall lamp, the floating wine bar, and the kitchen knife rack. Designed by INT2 Architecture.

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June 4, 2014 in Home Tours

Home Decor Ideas: Using Air Dry Clay

Here is a great selection of air dry clay projects to try out at home. My own next personal experiment will be to make shadow candle holders.

On The Wall

The first DIY project is a good one – a faux deer bust, complete with antlers as seen in picture (1). Heather from Poppy Haus even has step by step directions on how to make the deer head shape, so even someone like me, or kids, could artistically create it.

Green Thumb

The tiny succulent planters in picture (2) were made using polymer clay, but I’m sure air dry modeling clay would work too. Head on over to Transient Expression for the tutorial.

Over at Wit and Whistle Amanda used oven baked clay to create some elegant DIY garden markers (3).

Displaying Travel Moments

One simple DIY project that I did myself, was to use air drying clay to create minimalist photo stands for my travel photos (4). You can find out more about them here: Simple DIY Clay Photo Display Stands.

Get a little homemade art up on your fridge by using stamps on air drying clay to create magnets – just like the ones from Gathering Beauty in the picture (5).

On The Table

Clay can be used to create hanging tags. Arrange them on a branch like in picture (6) and you have a homemade centrepiece.

One of the more popular air dry clay ideas is to make bowls and trays. And by using organic pieces like leafs or branches, you can create elegant stamps. Follow along with the instructions here on Urban Comfort to create the organic inspired trays in picture (7). Or how about using a doily to stamp an intricate detailed design (8) – made by VT Wonen.

Home Barista: Kitchen Coffee Station Ideas and Designs

Group all of your essential coffee making materials, tools, and ingredients to one space, and create your own home kitchen coffee station. You can use side tables, carts, the kitchen counter, a cabinet, or go the built in route.

Side Tables and Carts

A side table is a great way to create a coffee station in the kitchen just like in picture (1), because it is a contained unit. Plus you save cluttering up valuable kitchen countertop space . For added storage space, hang up shelves above your new coffee station. A cart is another way to create a coffee bar in your kitchen. This can be great if you host parties and want to roll out all the fixings to make a great cup of coffee (2).

How about using a corner in the kitchen or dining room? What a great space saving way of adding a coffee station. Picture (3) shows a corner shelving unit being used as a well organized coffee station. For more ideas on how to add storage to the corners of your room, have a look at my post here: Corner Shelving Ideas: Creative Ways of Adding Corner Shelves.

On the Counter

You can create a coffee station on the kitchen counter, but it might not be the best place because the countertop is usually a busy space when preparing and cooking food and should be kept clutter free. Some ways to help with this is to use a tray to group items together to create a more clutter free and clean looking space – just like in picture (4). Another way to free up a counter is to fit a railing, rack or shelf above your coffee brew station – like the shelf in picture (5)

Built in Designs

There are a few ways to create a built in coffee station. The first way is to use a cabinet and place the coffee machine, roaster, materials, and ingredients in there. The good thing about this idea, is that you can close it when it is not in use, creating a more minimalist kitchen. You’ll want to put a pull out counter in the cabinet, just like the one in picture (6). This will make it easier to see what you are doing, and easier to prepare the coffee. Or you could use a coffee station cabinet that opens up onto a countertop.

Another built in idea is to have a little nook carved out of your built in kitchen cabinets – just like in picture (7). You’ll want to have lights fitted to the top of this nook, or use a lamp.

And the mother of all coffee stations is a built in coffee machine – seen in picture (8). The pull out draw is great for putting down cups while preparing the coffee.

Rustic Living

Storage and Other Fixings

Some things you might want to include in your home coffee bar include:

A tray to carry the drinks to another room
A cookie jar
Napkins
A sugar bowl
A plant to decorate the space
Coffee shop inspired or rustic art piece
A lamp if you need extra lighting
How about creating a coffee station and command centre combo. A command centre is a place in the house where you keep all your to do lists, mail, and calendars. Have a look at my mood board post here for ideas: Ideas for Setting up a Family Command Center in the Kitchen.

Some efficient and space saving storage ideas include:

A wall railing to hang up mugs with hooks
Shelves above the coffee station to save counter space for storing items, and to save the need for a large table/counter
As mentioned above, use a tray to group together items for your coffee station. This helps create a clutter free space
An organiser rack to keep items grouped
Look for well designed, good looking storage pieces. Such as glass jars or porcelain canisters. If these are left out on display they will add to the decor of your kitchen.

1 Home Coffee Machine: $118 (#1 Best Seller on Amazon)

2 Vintage Mug: $12 ModCloth | 3 Monogram Mug: $8 Anthropologie

4 Napkins: $32 Anthropologie | 5 Canisters: $39 Amazon

6 Jars: $46 Amazon | 7 Dutch Copper Canisters: $78 Amazon

Making Use of the Corners in a Room: Decor and Design Ideas

Have you ever looked at the corners of your room and thought something could be done with the space there. Here are some ideas that can make use of those corners.

Simple Corner Ideas: Gallery and Mirrors

A simple way of doing up a corner is to create a corner gallery wall. Hang up graphics, photographs, and quotes, all framed and of different sizes to create a feature piece in the room. A Beautiful Mess shows how they created their corner gallery wall here, seen in picture (1).

Another simple decor idea is to place a floor mirror in the corner (2). This is especially great if you have a small room, as the mirror will bounce light around and add depth making the space feel larger.

Relaxing Nooks

A corner is a great place to create a relaxing nook. Being surrounded by walls makes the space feel secluded and intimate. Some nook ideas include: a dining nook in the kitchen, a reading nook in the living room (3) or bedroom (with a comfy chair or a bean bag), or a cozy kids corner for them play and draw.

You can make use of a corner space in a living room by using a corner sectional couch (4).

Storage and Shelving

With the right furniture pieces, you can turn a corner into a storage area. For corner shelving ideas have a look at my mood board post here: Corner Shelving Ideas: Creative Ways of Adding Corner Shelves.

A corner media cabinet can be used in a living room. It is a bit awkward for my taste, maybe it is bad Feng Shui or something. But if space is limited, and you have a small living room then maybe a corner TV unit will help out a lot (5).

For Fun

Your own home bar can be fitted into the corner of your living room, dining room or kitchen. Design options include: a full height built in corner bar, a free standing corner liqueur cabinet, a cart, or use a small corner table just like in picture (6).

For Work

The corner of a room is a great place to put an L shaped desk (7). It fits perfectly into the space and you get two walls to hang things up on. Put up some peg boards on the walls for extra storage options.