Tag Archives: decorative plates

8.8.2014

DIY Friday Vol. 4

by Katie

Hey everybody, and welcome to the fourth installment of our DIY Friday series!  One Friday a month we do a roundup of DIY projects from around the web that we’re dying to try.  You can check out previous DIY Friday posts, as well as some of our own DIY ventures, here.  Now for this month’s inspiration!

From Katie:

This month I’ve got lamps on the brain, and there are a couple tutorials I’m itching to try.   These pendant lamps using plastic bottles and concrete look amazing!  Would they be crazy heavy?  Would the concentrated beam of light make you feel like you were being interrogated?  Who knows!  It’s an experiment I’m willing to try.  The full tutorial can be found over on BRIT + CO.

Concrete-3-4Options

Another inexpensive and appealing light project is this string globe chandelier found here.  It looks straightforward (as all DIY projects do until I’m actually doing them), and I’m envisioning it on a slightly smaller scale and made with black string.

String light_keepsonringing

String light_keepsonringing2

From Mera:

Katie’s got me all aflutter about decorative plates lately, so I’ve been looking for a fun DIY.  I love the looks of these: creepy-crawly + granny is a straight path to my heart (if only they were usable!).

A few years ago my mom gave me her MASSIVE fabric collection, and since then I’ve made quite a few additions of my own. I have some real treasures, but it’s all piled inartfully in a closet, and I’d like to display some of the prettier pieces in the craft/play room (stay tuned for more on the future of this room on Monday!). I’ve been looking for an old wooden ladder like this for a while now:

You’d think there’d be one on every corner with a free sign, but no, at least not in this town.  Time to DIY it, and really, how hard could it be (she says blithely).  These look like good instructions:

From The Design Confidential, and available here.

From The Design Confidential, and available here.

How about you?  Any DIY projects you’re planning to tackle?  Thanks for joining us and have a great weekend everyone!

7.2.2014

Heading for Home Plate

by Katie

Hi everyone, it’s Katie again!  Next week we’ll be back to our regular schedule of each doing one post a week and a collaborative post on Friday, but for this week you not only get a double dose of me, you also get this terrible and punny post title (please forgive me).

I’ve gotta say that I am loving the new color in the dining room.  I’ve spent the last couple of days watching the way the light moves across the blue with an avidity lately reserved for Season 2 of ‘Orange is the New Black.’  Here’s a picture I snapped late in the evening when the walls were deep and inky:

I recently got the nun decanter (is that a thing) at a thrift store for a couple of dollars. Good score!

I recently got the nun decanter (is that a thing?) at a thrift store for a couple of dollars. Good score!

I’ve always loved the way art looks against dark walls, and long before I painted this room I was daydreaming about what I might hang in there.  Now that I can see the color I’m less interested in the large-scale art and murals I was coveting before–I don’t want to cover up the pretty blue.  So what am I thinking about?  Well here’s a phrase I never thought I’d utter in reference to my own home: decorative plates.

Does that conjure up for you – as it did for me – images of gilt-edged commemorative plates sold on QVC and in ‘Parade’ magazine?  Porcelain souvenirs emblazoned with Mt Rushmore, or the Grand Canyon or Golden Gate Bridge?  Plates painted with the rosy and smiling (or dour, depending)  faces of British Royals?  Well I wouldn’t say no (in fact I’d give an emphatic yes) to a Wills and Kate plate, but the decorative plates I have in mind for my dining room are decidedly more modern, and here are some of my favorite options:

The glaze on these plates is unreal.  I love the colors and think they would look gorgeous on the deep blue walls.  I also love the loose way they have arranged them here.

Pastel glazed plates on wall

Found on toast.co.uk

I am also crazy about these plates – the monochromatic palette and the simple drawings are so charming – and I like the irregular shapes and raw edges.  I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to DIY something in this same vein (maybe with paper mache?).

I’ve been admiring the combination of paintings on traditional chinaware for a while.  I love how cheeky these are.

Via

Via

I particularly like the arrangements of the plates in these next three images–there is something very modern about the way all of these collections are displayed.

 

Finally, these colorful baskets are also a beautiful option and would add a welcome punch of color and pattern.  I like the mix of sizes and designs.

For now I’m happy just enjoying the blue walls as-is, but down the road it will be fun to experiment with bringing other elements into the room.  What do you think?  Would you (or do you) hang plates as decoration in your own home?  Which of these options is your favorite?