#makedoandstyle

Tweet or Instagram your "make do and style" snaps. Use the #makedoandstyle

"Make do and style" is a collection of reality interior-styling snaps. You can visit last weeks "make do and style" blog posting here. I had so much fun putting it together; it is something that I am really passionate about and plan to make it a regular Thursday session. There really are some fabulous stylists and interior lovers out there who make their homes look great without things being overly perfect or by spending a complete fortune; It is reality styling at its best!

Anyone is welcome to join the "make do and style" fun.... it is simply the act of styling and injecting a little love into your home. It may be a small or large project! Take a picture of it and share via twitter/ instagram using the #makedoandstyle. The focus is more about "styling with love and smidgen of creativity" not necessarily with the price tag!

Make Do and Style

One of my favourite styling philosophies for my home at this particular point in time is to simply "Make Do and Style". I am of the belief, that not everything you own or decorate your house with, need be the most expensive designer item you're able to find. Obviously beautiful designer pieces are lovely savvy additions to any home but they do take time and money to acquire and are not always practical for young families. There are so many ways to achieve a beautiful look for your home hence why I am so very partial to a little design craftiness and simple know how; It can transform your home and add an abundance of style, love and charm!

 The following images capture the essence of "Make Do and Style" so beautifully and it has prompted me to make this a regular Thursday "make do and style" image fest for styling enthusiasts and lovelies who just love to style their homes. "Make do and style" is reality styling at its best. It is so inspiring to see, that more often than not it's the simple details that really give a space wow factor. Would you agree?? For me personally, the simple act of styling my house is deeply connected with making it into a home. I hope these adorable snaps inspire you all!

 RACH xx

Tweet or Instagram you're make do and style snaps using #makedoandstyle  

White wash frame, coral and jar with doily wrap. Styling by Carolyn at Desire Empire

Home Sweet Home. Styling & photography by Lolita. Follow @ Lolvind on Instagram

Jam jar + jute = Simple pleasures. Styling & photography by Jo at Coastal Home Love
  Imperfections are a thing of great beauty, right??

Love the simplicity and vintage style of this outdoor space. Might just have to arm wrestle Jenny at My Pink Door for her vintage plate holder ;-0! Styling & photography by Jenny at My Pink Door

Gorgeous jar styling with Jasmine flowers from the garden. Styling & photography by Rachael at Pretty Pink Peony... you can never have too many jars or flowers right? 

Love the simplicity of this chair with the rustic table and vintage cake tins. Styling and photography by Ali, You can follow @ Alipink on Instagram

Visiting here at the Brambleberry cottage and Natasha in Oz

Refashioned furniture using fabric

This is my latest make do and style moment. 
Tweet or Instagram your fav styling
 snaps too and tag #makedoandstyle.

I really do believe that there are some household items that are bound to eventually leave you and there are some that are just meant to stay. For example, this bedside table had many reasons why it should leave.

• It was old and depending on your fashion taste somewhat out-dated

• It was wood veneer, yes not even solid wood!

• Lastly, it was not overly beautiful or modern

In my opinion, it also had a good few reasons why it should stay...

• It had quite a lovely contemporary line

• I personally quite like late 70's and 80's style furniture

• Furniture made with wood veneer uses less timber than the same piece of furniture made from solid wood, now that's kind of forward thinking, ecofriendly and resourceful right?? 

• It also belonged to Grandpa Honner, whom I never had the pleasure to meet!

• Lastly, I do love a challenge and I knew I could refashion it in some small way so that it would blend more stylishly with our renovated post war Queenslander home.

   

And so I think, that it was written on the wall that this one should stay! Do you think so too?? I remember watching Grand Designs one day, do you watch that show?? I love it! They were presenting a home that had been designed by this fabulously creative pair. I remember seeing fabric covered doorways and architraves... it was truly unique and beautiful to see the way they had stretched fabric over doorways like a stretched canvass artwork. I liked it!

Refashion your furniture using fabric

 Requirements

Cupboard or bedside table

Fabric

Staple Gun

Elmers Glue

Pegs

Method 

Unscrew and remove any knobs from draw

Stretch fabric over front section of draw

Glue and staple stretched fabric ends to bedside table draw edges

Glue edges of fabric underneath draw edge and peg to secure

Ensure fabric is stretched tightly over draw

Staple gun stretched fabric into place

Tightly fold corners in a secure triangle and staple neatly into place. Use a hammer to gently tap staples in so that they sit quite smoothly along edge.

Insert a small hole in fabric and screw knob back into place

Style as per your taste

 

Today's "antique sugar tin- garage sale find" looks lovely on it too

I do believe this spare room project is finished now although needless to say the spare room still has a way to go. Thankyou for popping in! 

Rachael xx 

Visiting here, if you would like to check out some other great projects.

  

DIY- Cabinet Knob Decorations

Source: artisanti.com via Rachael on Pinterest

Fancy Door/ Cabinet Knobs are gorgeous yet can be quite expensive accessories to add to a cabinet or home project, especially when you are working within a specific budget. It is a shame because these added details, albeit small, can complete a look quite fabulously! Don't you think?? With this challenge in mind, I thought I would do a quick, DIY- Hand printed, knob decoration tutorial that can be done on any wooden knob for a door or cabinet.

Requirements 

Wooden Door Knob

Stanley Knife

Design

Paint

Dry sponge roller

My $3 wooden cabinet knob

Method:

Sponge/ spray paint over knob in chosen colour. Set aside to dry!

All over white wash

You will also need a design...maybe you could draw your own, use a picture or a free clip art/ downloadable. Cut carefully around your chosen image. For this project I wanted to use a simple design therefore chose an anchor. Love, love, love a coastal theme!

Stanley knife around your chosen image

This is actually my favorite part! Using a Stanley knife cut carefully around you're design. Practice really makes perfect and a seamless design is what your aiming for.

Use a Dry Sponge Roller
Use a dry sponge roller and a thick acrylic/ house paint. I do say thick because your chosen paint should have no added thinners or water. The thicker your paint is the better your hand printed design will be; you will be able to achieve quite a sharp image! Aim for the following;

• A thick paint, 
• Dry roller, 
• Firm Hands 

Do have a little practice printing your design with your sponge roller and stencil before you attempt your final hand print on your door/ cabinet knob. Do be sturdy and do not move your stencil until it is complete.

When dry, paint a clear lacquer/ gloss over your door knob and hooray your project is now complete.

 Offcourse, I do have plans for some decorated door knobs for all of the bedroom doors coming off our hallway, I just need to decide on a suitable design! Yes, I will reveal one day soon! Rach x 
Visiting here at the DIY Showoff Parade and Scandi Coast Home linky parties.

A DIY Chevron Wall Hanging

DIY- Painted Chevron Wall Hanging

One very boring white wall is absolutely necessary for this project

 a white wash and some jute fabric 

some very pretty paints

and maybe some masking tape and a ruler

A space to dry and three sunny days later

Lastly a smidgen of styling to finish

Enjoy, Rach xx

A DIY Dandelion Table Decoration

 DIY DANDELION TABLE DECORATION 

As far as good styling goes, I do not think you can fail when you simply follow nature at its loveliest; I am quite partial to natural themes and tones and believe that nature is definitely one of the best interior styling guides available. Do you have any favourite styling tricks up your sleeve that you like to follow? Or do you prefer to just wing it and play around with mixing and matching your ideas? I am quite the fan of that too!

 

Requirements:

Find an interesting shaped branch that will balance on a table

1 x ball of wool in your chosen shade 

1 x Twine ball in natural light shade
I chose to use natural coloured tones such as white or snow

Method: 

Make Pom poms using both wool and twine, roughly about 4cm in diameter. A simple pom pom direction guide can be found here. They do not necessarily need to be massive pom poms, as you can see mine vary in size and more specifically in thickness. I chose to mix wool and twine for a more imperfect and highly textured look.

Using your twine, attach your pom poms to branches
You can also trim any branches/ twigs from your decoration that are not needed.

Time Required:

Allow 2hrs to complete this project however the time required may vary depending on your chosen pom pom size.

Dandelion/ Pom pom making
This has to be my favorite part to making a pom pom. I love the round beautiful shape the layers of wool make and how super spongy and textured it is.

Snipping the Pom pom

Attach Dandelions/ Pom Poms to your branch with twine

Nature Inspired themes are great

I think I like this Dandelion decoration best in our office space...a lil outdoorsy inspiration for me to enjoy