DIY Home Decor
Since I have been spending every other weekend at the lake home, I have been having a blast making my own decor. Â I forgot how much I love doing crafts and how relaxing it is to listen to music and let the creative juices flow. Â I recently posted about making pillows out of placemats, and I have made several more to match the colors in each room. I didn’t want to spend much money redoing this bedroom, so I opted for handmade decor for a new look!
For the upstairs guest room, I bought a placemat with several colors in it, as I was intending to pull all of the colors for the room out of this one placemat pillow. Â I ended up pulling two colors and didn’t use the placemat at all, but it did help guide me when decorating the room.
The walls are a bright but pale yellow/cream. Â At first I didn’t like the color at all and considered painting it. Â But once I started adding decor, the color is just fine.
Handmade half quilt
Where do I start? Â Since I bought a plain comforter for the bed, I wanted to spice it up a bit with a half quilt. Â I have no experience sewing or quilting, so this was definitely new territory for me. Â I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased a thick fabric (approx. 2 1/2 yards) and some batting. Â I spread the batting out in a single layer, then folded over once and cut out the size I would need for my half quilt. I used a fabric glue around the edges and held them together with clothes pins. Â I am so pleased with the results and it makes the room “pop”.
Pillows from placemats
I made three pillows (one green, one purple, one multi-colored) out of placemats, and also purchased two round pillows at Ross ($7.99 each).
Wall art from scrapbook paper
I have been having a blast with decoupage, and have made several pieces to go in the room. Â I purchased large and small square white canvases from Michael’s, as well as a couple of books with sheets of
scrapbooking paper
I found this
woven basket
Here is a larger canvas (there is one on either side of the bed). Â They could also be used in groupings, if desired.
Picture frames to match
I found some $1.00 wooden frames (just bare wood) at a craft store, and painted them with a bronze color, then I cut more scrapbook paper to size and put in the frames. I chose small green and purple butterflies for these:
I also found a set of small hanging frames – the squares attached by small chains. I painted these the same bronze color, and cut more scrapbook paper to size to fit in the squares:
The finishing touch – flowers
Finally, I purchased a tan and muted purple pot, and found some
artificial flowers
Not only was it fun to create all of my own decor, there is a sense of pride when I walk into the room and know that my handmade decor for a new look turned out beautifully, and it was also very inexpensive!
I am currently working on the other two guest rooms (and the master, but that is a little more difficult), and will share those with you when they are complete as well!
26 Responses
Very cute and oh-so clever! Want to come work on my house next? 🙂
Wouldn’t that be fun? Can we have wine too?
Wow, the room looks amazing! I never though to use scrapbook paper as artwork, great and inexpensive idea!
You did such a great job!! Now come help me feather my nest 😀
Awww thank you!
I think you did an amazing job, and the half quilt…wow! I love what you did, and agree that the wall color is perfect for the room now!
Wow it looks beautiful! I am also doing scrapbook wall art, love the look.
Brilliant!! I have so much scrapbook paper, and some of it is absolutely beautiful. I never thought to use it like that!
Thanks! Now I am hooked on buying the scrap paper books – there are so many pretty designs and color choices. Have fun!
I am most impressed with your quilt! Go you! I have an itch to redecorate my space too, but first I need to clean out some junk! LOL
Thanks! I am so happy with the quilt too. I don’t sew, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out lol, but not too shabby! I want to decorate our current home too, but like you, need to clean a bunch of junk out first!
That is a beautiful room!
It looks great! WTG.
You did a great job. You have the imagination I lack.
LOL I wish I knew how to make those…maybe I’ll have to learn. Thanks for making me laugh 🙂 And thanks for the compliments!
Looks awesome mama! Love that you’re getting your craft on 🙂
Very nice! Calm and soothing colors, and so nicely put together! My guest rooms are a disaster right now. We have a finished attic with a bath and 2 bedrooms, but we re-did the roof and had 2 dormers put in last fall. Since then I have been meaning to go redecorate it. My parents are coming next weekend so maybe my mom can give me some tips 🙂
Jen, it’s so beautiful and so calm and inviting! not too overdone, but not boring. Wow, you are so good at this! I just got a new set from Kohls a few weeks ago, got on clearance AND a % off coupon. found some curtains and then picked out paint this week. it’s the SAME color as you chose! I love your idea for the half quilt…and I don’t sew either so may borrow your trick! I am also going to find out if the Ross pillow in deep plum can be found near here. I have looked EVERYWHERE for this color and cant find. Love the contrast with color and especially the different shapes of pillows. So soothing, and hope to have mine done in a couple weeks. Thanks for sharing your great ideas for the simple and not overpowering artwork too. I will be looking to do this too!
Hmmm…HOW many guest rooms will you have! LOL>>
What a great job…I’m just not sure I have the design eye….have you thought about doing things like this for pay? I would definitely pay you!
WOW- SOO creative! I like your ideas of scrapbook paper and am happy they are inexpensive-decorating can be suuper pricey! I love to do it so now this makes it even better that they are inexpensive!
Beautiful! What a creative idea to make pillows out of placemats!
Great inexpensive ideas. Thanks for sharing.
You are very creative. I love the flowers in your last picture. My mom brought over some flowers that had those artichoke looking flowers and I thought they were a pretty neat addition to the bouquet.
The best part of making your own is when your done you have the exact look you wanted and you didn’t pay an arm and a leg to get it and you can take all the credit 🙂
You did a fantastic job and it’s all your own design~!
Makes me wonder though have you been hanging out with Christopher Lowe lol I think he would be impressed for sure.
We are currently building our new home and I love that I designed the extra touches and have one of a kind windows, kitchen cabinets and doorways and lucky enough to have a man that can build what ever I dream up lol It will be a while before I worry about the final decor of the house but I plan to do my own creations. The kids love doing crafts and lately we have been doing a lot of them. During school vacation we made magnetic message boards for their bedrooms and Tye Dye t-shirts. I think we made over a thousand African beads to use on some crafts we pan to do later.
You are very talented and crafty , keep doing what you love because it shows in your work 🙂
I like the basket turned upside down! Amazing what re purposing things can do!
Thanks! The funny part is my husband goes in that room and makes it perfectly aligned with the nightstand. So I have to go back in and rearrange it lol. He just doesn’t get it 🙂