Happy happy hippo

Hi friends!  The case of the un-used spray paint has been re-opened...

This time the targeted item was this cute hippo I purchased at Homegoods ages ago.

Subject: A bright, happy, red hippo

Objective: A more neutral hippo with a "Jonathan Adler"-ish look

Medium of choice: Matte white spray paint found in the ever-abundant garage stash

Cost: $0

Result: A cute matte white hippo that blends better with our decor

What do you think of the hippo makeover?  Have you spray painted anything lately to give it a design face-lift??

Temporary Decorating Ideas for Renters - Making a Rental Property Your Own

via

Oh how those words ring true for those of us who jump from rental home to rental home. While not always an easy task, we gladly meet the challenge of making a rental home our own even though we're merely transient dwellers.

Where we live is our home, regardless of ownership, and it's only natural to want to make it at least look and feel like our own.  Here are some great low-cost rental home decorating ideas that I've collected and now share with you in hopes that you'll be inspired to make your rental an abode you're proud to call home.

How do you feel when you walk into an empty box of a rental like this property from Renters Pages?

via

There's so much potential but where do you start in making this your own?  What sort of temporary fixes can make a space like this feel like home?

I hope the rental ideas below inspire you to make a "rental sweet rental"!

1) Temporary wall treatments

via

I love the idea of finding beautiful sheets of wrapping paper or wallpaper, then placing the paper in large frames and hanging them on the wall.  This serves as a beautiful focal point in any space and is very affordable.  Ikea has some wonderful large frame options.  If your landlord doesn't allow the use of nails, 3M Command Hooks serve as very effective but temporary hangers.

via

Thanks to new wall covering technologies, there are even temporary wallpaper options for renters! The above photo shows a temporary wallpaper by Chasing Paper.  The options and patterns they offer abound.  The temporary wallpapers would be a lovely feature in an entryway, a small powder bath, or covering an accent wall in a larger room.

via

There are some great DIY tips available on many blogs, like Mandi's Vintage Revivals blog (see photo above), which share how to use fabric and fabric starch or corn starch to create a wallpaper-like temporary wall treatment.  The finished product looks amazing, so it's definitely a great option for renters and homeowners alike.

via

A final cost-effective wall treatment idea is to create a stamp with craft foam and cardboard, then use paint to repeat a pattern on a feature wall.  The above anchor motif was created by A Beautiful Mess blog.  The easy DIY instructions can be found here here.

2) Temporary Kitchen Upgrades

via

Can you believe it, y'all?  This is NOT a stainless steel dishwasher!!  You can purchase stainless steel contact paper at many home improvement stores and apply it to the fronts of appliances and even cabinets for a temporary upgrade.  It looks very real and completely updates a space.  Details for applying the contact paper can be found on the Coordinating Yours blog.

via

Just like temporary wallpaper, temporary tiles can be used to temporarily dress up a rental space.  Smart Tiles is a company that has myriad options of temporary peel and stick tiles that can be used for a kitchen or even bathroom vanity backsplash.

via

This DIY rolling shelf system is a fantastic kitchen storage idea for renters.  There is often extra space to the side of a refrigerator, so this utilizes that void as a clever storage solution.  It's the perfect option in a rental home that lacks pantry space.  The instructions for building your own similar storage system can be found on the Classy Clutter blog.

via

I'm especially partial to a blackboard paint kitchen basksplash because that's what we have in our rental home right now.  The photo above shows a great example of using a chalk pen over blackboard paint to create subway tiles for a backsplash.  The tutorial for how to do this (the right way) can be found on the Blooming Hydrangea blog.

3) Miscellaneous Around-the-House Updates

via

Does your rental have an unsightly light fixture that you'd love to cover?  Well if you have a semi-flush mount light fixture, here's a fantastic idea...use a drum shade to cover the existing fixture. Details on how to do this can be found on The Blissful Bee blog.  Keep in mind, some landlords allow you to actually change lighting as long as you reinstall the original fixture before you move out.  We've done this in our rental, and it's made a HUGE difference.

via

No mudroom, no problem!  Here's a great way to create a visually attractive and highly useful spot for shoes, umbrella, and coat storage near an entry or in a laundry room.  Use a boot tray, wooden crate or large baking pan for shoes, an umbrella stand or large vase or pitcher for umbrellas, and decorative hooks hung on the wall.  An addition of a small floating shelf would be a prime spot to drop keys and mail.

via

Window treatments that don't require any installation of hardware are a fantastic option for renters. The above no-sew faux Roman shade treatment featured on the Southern in the City blog is a brilliant concept.   The use of multiple tension rods, fabric, and iron-on hem tape allows for a high-end look without an expensive price tag.  There's no way to tell those aren't expensive Roman shades!

Well friends, those were just a few of my favorite ways to help make a rental your own.  What other ideas have you used to fix up your rental space to make it feel just a little more like home?  Do share!

A Little Roadside Rescue Turned Kid-size Game Table

I found this guy on the side of the road.  He was looking a little sad, lonely, and roughed-up so I thought we'd bring him home and show him a good time.

I love tables with collapsable sides because they're great for tight spaces and for serving multiple purposes. This one is the perfect "kid height" so I knew we could use it for something.  It took me a day or two to figure out what I'd do with it - I knew that at a minimum I had to refinish the table surface because the finish was really beat up.

So, I sanded just the table surface down because I wasn't convinced I wanted another entirely painted piece of furniture especially with all the color I have going on in our house.

Then I wandered over to my paint stash...and surprise surprise...the chalkboard paint - in all it's glory -called my name once more.  So, I painted the sanded table surface and here's what we got!

Is the rest of the table's finish in perfect condition?  Nope, but the matte black and stained wood contrast is looking pretty good to me, so I think we'll keep it this way for a while.

Now it serves as the perfect little game/craft table in our living room book nook.

And, of course you can use chalk to write on it.  How's that for multipurpose action?

Once crazy woke up from her nap she made it more her own...

For $0 it's not too shabby, huh?  Here's to the shameless roadside pickers like myself.  One man's trash can be another man's treasure...if you add a little chalkboard paint.

Ikea Play Kitchen and Table/Chairs Upcycle

A sweet friend of mine did an amazing up-cycle of two basic Ikea pieces for her daughter's first birthday.  So, I simply had to ask her if I could share them with you!  Here they are:

First, she took the basic Ikea DUKTIG Mini-kitchen and transformed it into a colorful and unique custom kitchen with some paint and fabric.

Then she decked out an Ikea LATT Children's Table and Chairs to create the perfect dining set to match the ever-so-cute kitchen.

Aren't they adorable?  They're inspiring me to do some sort of up-cycle project this spring.  Well done Cristina!!

Have Sticker Will Travel

The other day while browsing the aisles of our local craft store, I came upon a HUGE travel-themed scrapbook sticker that was on mega sale and couldn't resist.  The sticker - a clear puffy heart with colorful cut-outs representing European countries - was simply perfect to represent our travels this year. 

Typically, I don't recommend working backwards with design (i.e. finding a small detail/accessory and determining how to incorporate an entire design around it) but in this case I simply had to figure out a way to display this sticker. Here's what I ended up with:

I grabbed a square frame (also on clearance at the same store), a piece of white card stock, scissors, and a thin Sharpie...

Traced a small pencil line around where the paper would fit into the frame, so I'd have a guide for my lettering...and then wrote all the countries we'd be visiting this year.

I erased the pencil line, placed it in the frame, and voila!  A cute little way to remember all the international places we were traveling to in 2014.

I put the frame in our little girl's room since the colors were perfect for in there.  It's a fun reminder of the trips we have to look forward to this year and after we've gone on the trips, it will serve as a memento to remind us of our travels.

Here's what caught my eye in the sticker for each of the countries we'll visit:
France - Eiffel Tower
Germany - Stein
Belgium - We'll pretend the pretzel is a waffle :)
Netherlands - Tulip, Windmill
Ireland - Four Leaf Clover
Spain - Red Bull, Soccer Ball

England (Telephone Booth, Big Ben, Red Bus) and Italy (Vespa, Leaning Tower of Pisa) are also represented in the sticker but since we've traveled there in the past, I figured it was legit for them to be displayed too.

Ever find something that spoke to you in a craft store?  What did you create with it?

Paper Flag Garland

This week I've been getting ready to host a baby shower for my sweet friend, Melissa.  I was able to check one item off the shower prep to-do list today - a Paper Flag Garland that will provide some color for the shower and then look pretty darn cute in the nursery too!

This project is quite easy, doesn't take too much time, and can be made in all sorts of fun shapes (think circles, triangles, rectangles, etc.)!  Here's how to do it...

Materials:
Paper or card stock in a variety of colors/patterns
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Thread
Sewing Machine

Instructions:
1. To prepare your paper for a garland with little flag shapes, cut your paper into 3"x3" squares.  If you use scrapbook paper (as I did here), simply measure out the paper into 16 squares.  Use a ruler and pencil to mark lines on the paper, then cut them out.

2. Fold each square into a triangle along the diagonal.

(if you use a thicker card stock, cut the triangle instead of folding the triangle from the square)

3. Snip off one corner about an inch in from the point...

4. Then the other corner about an inch in from the other point.

5. Use this flag as a guide to cut the others - much easier than eye-balling each one.

6. Repeat until you have stacks of little flag shapes in all your colors/patterns.

7. At this point, you can lay them out in a specific pattern (or you can wing it and not stick to a pattern...either looks cute).

8. Now sew them together along the top flat edge, leaving about a 1/4" clearance from the edge.  I left about a 1/4" to 1/2" between each flag.

There you have it!  In no time you'll have an adorable handmade paper flag banner to hang and enjoy.

If you like this paper flag garland, be sure to check out our triangle confetti garlands {here} and {here}.  And, if you'd like your own custom garland, I'd be happy to make one for you.  Email me at inspiredwhims@gmail.com for more info.  Have a happy week!

An Ikea Bird Mobile Fix-Up: A DIY Fail Turned Win

Ever walk through a store while shopping to decorate a particular room, have something catch your eye, and say to yourself, "I just need to tweak that a tiny bit and it would be perfect for the space..."?

Well, that exact thing happened to me and my friend when we stumbled upon this cute KLADSAM mobile at Ikea.

We thought it would be perfect for the "Fly Away with Me" nursery we were shopping for....that is, if the bird was a different color.  Frankly, any color other than florescent yellow would have been a win since our room design concept was so colorful and bright (see inspiration board below).

I quickly told my friend to buy the mobile since it was only $10, and convinced her that we could easily use some Rub 'N Buff that I had on hand at home to make the bird a glamorous metallic gold.

Seemed easy enough, right?  I mean, I've successfully used Rub 'N Buff on everything...until now.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

At this point, I'm thinking - gee, I'm glad I only have to cough up $10 to cover the cost of this miserable attempt at color-coating an acid yellow bird.

Lesson learned, Rub 'N Buff does not work on ALL surfaces...just 99.9% of surfaces I've encountered.   

Thankfully, a little scrapbook paper and Mod Podge picked up where the Rub 'N Buff left off.  And now, we're here...a much happier and promising place.

Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

Thankfully, I think we got somewhere good on the second attempt.

Second lesson learned, never give up on a DIY fail.  There's usually a solution out there, no matter how much you've messed something up.

Just keep polishing and the project will likely eventually shine!  Now getting your usually photo-shy kid to move out of your photo frame when you're in a rush to get project photos taken and head out the door...that's another story.  At least she's cute!  I mean who doesn't wish they could still dress like that??

(The nursery reveal will be soon hopefully!)