Internet Inspirations II

With the hard, cold winter comes lots of nasty sickness.  Around here it's really slowed down what I've been able to get done lately.  Until I can finish up a few projects to share, I thought I'd share a few fun, beautiful and clever ideas I've seen around the internet recently.

(apartment therapy)

I love this foyer entrance. It's very small, yet they made the most of this space.  The small, demi-lune shelf is mounted on the wall to not take up precious floor space.  It provides a quick place to drop the keys and the mirror visually opens up the tight space. 

(shannon berrey)

While I love all the colors and patterns in this child's room, it's the darling pillows that caught my eye.  Wouldn't it be fun to have your daughters faces on her pillows (or your daughter and her friends?)  With all the computer programs and such out there, you wouldn't necessarily have to hire an artist.  Sooo cute! And did you see those monogram shades? LOVE!

(via apartment therapy)

I just love to look and dream about this one.  If I had a blank wall in my kitchen, I'd do this china cabinet in a heartbeat!!!  What a statement piece and it gives the kitchen such a custom look.  See those kitchen cabinets in the corner of the picture?  They look to be really standard cabinets, probably painted over.  Instead of new cabinets, they probably splurged their budget on those gorgeous marble(?) countertops and repainted a china cabinet.   Love it!!!

(full house)

Need a statement piece that's fun?  This gal took a quality camera and photographed a dollar bill (first circling "in God we trust" with a red marker first.)  She then had it enlarged as big as she could through a photo shop.   Do you ever look closely at our bills?  They're actually quite lovely works of art.  Enlarging them just accentuates them.  Fun idea!

(hgtv)

Okay, so gallery walls are really big right now.  So are flat screens.  Why not marry the two and hide the black hole inside a gallery display?  Why should that tv monstrousity dominate your room?  Find a nice buffet table to set below to ground the space (and hide any electronics.)  Much better, huh?

(graham and green)

Wouldn't this be gorgeous in a nursery or young child's room?  You could buy it for almost $500 or you could sooooo make this!  I've seen such cute and realistic birds at Hobby Lobby for next to nothing. I'd either strip down an old lampshade to it's metal frame or grab some mesh wiring at Home Depot and make one around a standard light kit.  Anyone want to try it with me? :)

(Holly Mathis)
While this chair makeover is just stunning, it's the Ballerina-style ties on the cushions that are brilliant!  I'd love to make a chair like this for my daughter's desk in her bedroom.  Oh, garage sale season, can't you get here any faster?!

(Ingle Nook Decor)

Another darling idea for a girl's room!  Silhouette's are still hot right now and you could easily replicate this look. Cut your headboard shape out of MDF or plywood, prime and paint (this gal used chalkboard paint so she could write on it as well) and then apply a silhouette of your child (there are tons of tutorials of how to do a photo silhouette on your computer-no art skills necessary! Believe me, I've even done it!) Hey, Julianna- I could soo see this for your girls, huh?

(Traditional Home)
What I love about this room is the ceiling.  We often need color in our rooms but are afraid to do the whole room.  Why not just do the ceiling?  It's a cheap fix and adds interest without the cost of adding architectural interest.  I'd take those oversized framed maps on the wall, too!

(via Cote de Texas)
I've never liked mirrored closets until I saw these.  What I love is the use of antiqued mirror panels.  It really lessons the harshness of pure mirror and creates instead a vintage, architectural feel to the room.  You still get to visually enlarge the space, but with style!  While buying antiqued mirror would cost a small fortune, you can do it yourself!  I've seen quite a few tutorials of how to do it. I would love to try this sometime.

(young house love)
Do you see that tall, floor length mirror?  Expensive?  NO!  These creative people used a discarded mirrored door and framed it out with wood from a old, weathered pallet. This left it very stable and sturdy. People are getting rid of both of these for FREE all the time on craigslist! Save your money on an expensive mirror and make one of these.  I just love the vintage feel of it.

(sit relax read)

I love this homework desk built by this clever couple.  They wanted to create a place for their kids to do homework other than the kitchen table.  They reused old cabinets and beefed them up with molding and shelves.  They built the table from scratch.  It looks so good, yet really takes up very little space.  I've seen people do something similar by literally cutting a table in half like below:

(hello lovely inc)

(bhg)
I thought this idea was a very clever way to work a tv into a room that is very open and doesn't have enough wall space to waste on a tv.  It still allows traffic flow and keeps it open, yet defines the sitting area from the dining. I wish I could see what the other side is like; perhaps you could hang a lovely piece of artwork or maybe I would widen it a touch for a narrow bookshelf on that side.  Great idea and wouldn't be too hard to build yourself.


I hope you were as inspired by these as I was.  Everytime I look at these I get all geared up to make every single on of these.... Have fun!