Decorating Ideas: Mosaic Tile, Cement Sink, and Wall Sconces

I started this blog at a transitional time in my personal life and career, and went inactive with it for over a year to give myself time to adjust to new time commitments and responsibilities. So now I'm back, with new ideas to share... You knew I couldn't stay away forever, right??

First up, is a really neat use of the new woodgrain ceramic tiles that I recently spotted at Mexican restaurant. They used dark wood trim above light woodgrain ceramic tiles with dark woodgrain tiles on the floor, which was both practical and served to tie it all together.

Also, they used glass mosaic tiles in warm colors as a backdrop behind a bright orange cement trough-style sink with dark metal fixtures.

On the walls, they used yellow/orange glass sconces also in dark metal. The sconces are in my opinion what "makes" the look. They provide additional focal points and add a source of warm-colored light. They also toned down the commercial look of the restroom to give it a more "homey" feel.

Here are pictures (top to bottom) of the wall/floor tiles in wood grain, sink and mosaic tile backdrop, and a front view of the vanity/mosaic tile/wall sconces.

Contemporary Bird Feeder

Ever tried to find a contemporary-looking bird feeder? Go to your local hardware store, and you're likely to be faced with utilitarian-looking plastic monstrosities and hippie-inspired glazed pottery numbers - and not much else. Design Within Reach now has the Egg Birdfeeder, a bird feeder for the rest of us. Now we can finally have our bird feeder and design aesthetic too! Its currently being offered on the Design Within Reach website in red and yellow, although I've seen it advertised in blue elsewhere.

Origami Specimen Shadowboxes

I recently stayed at the W hotel in San Francisco, and just loved this art displayed on the wall. It's very simple, but really unique and can be easily customized to your preferences as to color, patterns, etc.

Here's how to do it:

1) Buy several sheets of paper in colors and patterns that matches the room you will display this in, one color for the butterflies and one for the background. I chose the black and white floral below for the butterflies, and a pink pearlized solid color for the background.


2) Buy decorative labels to match or make your own using black card stock, text printed on plain white paper, and a label template (see below).

3) Cut the background paper to size and affix to frame backing using double stick tape or glue.


4) Make three or four origami butterflies, and pin to background using decorative pins (these are included with the frame suggested below). If you are using scrapbooking paper, you will need to cut it into a perfect square before you do this. You can vary the size of the finished butterfly by using larger or smaller squares to start with. Origami paper is already square-shaped and comes in a number of colors and patterns. Click here for a video on how to make origami butterflies.

5) Print label and glue to background or attach using double stick tape. Something that sounds latin works well, like "Flyeous Awayeus."

Here are my suggestions for materials:



Left to Right:
1) Collector's Case, in black. Available at Michael's.
2) Doodlebug Paper 12"x 12" White Flourish
3) Paper Accents Variety Pack 12x12 Pearlized Gems 10 pc
4) Hot Off The Press Paper Pizazz Template Labels

Simplify Decorating with a Decorating Scrapbook

I can't tell you how many times I've either seen something in a store that I liked but wasn't sure if it would match everything else in that room, or bought something only to discover once I got it home that it was the wrong color. The result is always wasted time and money - you either have to go back to get the item if you still want it, or you have to return the item if it doesn't work (this, by the way, is why I often prefer to decorate an entire room from scratch in one marathon effort, rather than add little by little over time).

DIY Network has come to the rescue with its Decorating Scrapbook quick tip. Simply include pieces of fabric, paint chips, and wood finishes (or print out color pictures from your digital camera) for each room and - voila! No second trips to match colors! Read more here.

I can't believe I never thought of this!

Ready to tackle that new decorating project? Here are two promotion codes to Joann Fabrics and Crafts to get you started:

Cheap Wall Art

I recently made four framed art pieces for my home using public-domain images I found on the Internet. Here's how you can do it, too:

1) Choose the frame and mat you will use. I used the RIBBA 5.5" x 5.5" frames with mat from IKEA ($5.99 each). This works best with frames with openings less than one letter sized page in size, so you can print the images at home.

2) Search Google Images for a theme (e.g., "flowers," "buddha, "etc.) - I chose plant line drawings. After clicking on a few of these, I happened upon images from Hortus Eystettensis, which was published by Basilius Besler in 1613. The engravings are excellent, and really create an impressive look when grouped together. Using pre-1900 images is also great because the images are usually no longer covered by copyright.

Since I decided to only use images from this collection, I re-ran my google images search to retrieve only Hortus Eystettensis results. You can see the results here.

3) Choose 4 images, and size them to fit into the frame opening. You can use Irfanview to accomplish this.

4) Print a test sheet on plain paper to make sure you have sized the image to fit your frame opening perfectly.

5) Print the resized images using a color printer on 8.5" x 11" vellum (you can get this at any craft store in the scrapbooking section - I paid $0.99 per page). Since my images needed to be 4.5 inches square to fit the mat opening in my frame, I was able to print two images per page.

6) Cut a piece of white paper to place behind the vellum in the frame, and assemble the frames. You can use single sided tape or double sided tape to keep the images in place if your images are smaller than the frame.

7) Hang them on the wall, stand back, and admire. You can group them together in a square/rectangle, arrange them in a line vertically or horizontally, or split the grouping up on either side of a piece of furniture.

This should take about 1 hour to complete.

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