In the theme of Tuesday’s post, I’ve been thinking of other ways to up-cycle for the home. Here are 5 cool ideas to recycle pallets. You can find them all over the place, from freecycle, skips, working warehouses, even sometimes the edge of the road (although be careful if you are that hardy!)
1. Why not use palettes instead of a futon base for your bedroom. To add to the rustic look, tie in muted colours and even use an old fruit crate as your bedside table. {via chic deco}
2. Hang a palette on the wall, and you have a nifty plate rack. {via tumblr}
3. Create a garden planter, this is ideal for a balcony garden! {via Craft}
4. A slick of paint and some nails, plus a little bit of imagination transforms old bits of junk wood into a contemporary kitchen island unit. This will save lots of pennies that you can spend on cool chairs and fun lighting pendants to complete the look. {via Apartment Theraypy}
5. For a commercial space, you could commission Most Architecture, a Dutch architectural practice, to design a recycled interior for your office.
If this is all too much hassle, and you want the look but are not DIY friendly (although to be honest, these are really easy except no. 5), then Made.com does a fun coffee table made under the same principle.
I know you are all extremely creative and fun, what would you make or have as a palette feature?
1. Eclectic Anthology 2. Aria 3. Andrew Martin 4. Pinch
I obviously have chest of drawers on the brain. A few weeks ago I mentioned a chest of drawers DIY project, so following on from that, I have selected these as my current top 4 chest of drawers – in fact no. 4 from Pinch has been a firm favourite for years, I have used this ‘Armoire’ on many occasions and it is always well received! I love adding a touch of humour to a room, and this is so easily achievable with a cheeky piece of furniture.
Which is your favourite?
The influence of Africa can be seen throughout the world. The apartment below is actually in Manhattan, but it has a distinctly urban African vibe. Very cool, no?
{via Lonny Sept-Oct ’11}
{via Pinterest}
Console tables are notoriously tricky to make interesting. It’s all about the accessories that frame them. If you are looking for some inspiration for a quirky or unusual way to address this problem, you could always create a montage of plates as seen above. An interesting subject, the layout of the plates and the plain white table lamp and accessories bring together a nice little story. The neutral palette of the wall colour helps to keep it grown up. It’s interesting that here they have the wall sconce located above the plates, traditionally wall sconces would be at eye level and to either side of the central artwork.
What would you like to display above your console table?
I’m not one much for Halloween (all those sticky fingers on walls…a designer’s real nightmare!), however there is something darkly alluring about faded glamour.
{via Coco&Kelly}
This room is just glorious. Distressed walls, gilded lighting, double height ceilings and antique furniture create an old world glamour, which I can just imagine dressed up with candelabras and pewter jugs of wine for a fantastic dinner party.
Welcome to the Design Emporium.
It’s been exciting times here at The Design Emporium with the imminent launch, and I’m so thrilled to be bringing our passion to you. Welcome to our new blog, I do hope that you’ll love it as much as I do and please feel free to comment – I am always interested in what thrills you and stokes the fires for your design passion!
So we’ll kick off with a witty quote that was displayed at the entrance to this year’s Decorex trade show, by Mark Twain.
“20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
This couldn’t be more true for all areas of our lives, but none more so than for your home. I feel that your home is a place that should not be restricted by what you think you should buy for pure functionality’s sake; it should reflect your personality, the way you live your life, your passions and your ultimate dreams. We only have this one life, so when that perfect item finds you oh so unexpectedly, savour the warmth of the glow of finding it, and feel the rush of expectation of the potential happiness it will bring to you and its surroundings.
One of my favourite finds from Decorex is this gorgeous custom display coffee table, in a gilt finish, by Hatfields. The butterfly display is from one of their client’s own collections, but I love this idea of displaying something that is meaningful or precious to you.
What would you choose to display?
Are you looking for something specific for your home that you can't find?
Tamaryn is delighted to offer her specialist sourcing service. No enquiry or item is too big or too small, so get in touch to see if she can help.
