Fresh off of a Decorate This, Not That book tour, I was itching to make some design tweaks to my petite, master bedroom even though it had been styled for the book.  Some may call it a compulsion to add, edit and redo a finished space, but for me design is a vital form of therapy. You get into a meditative state working with your hands, and it calms the mind. With every tweak, cost is always a consideration, and whether or not I can incorporate materials already on hand.  Luckily, there is a surplus of burlap on my fabric shelf.  Be sure and check out more burlap DIY projects here.

In the book, Decorate This, Not That, lampshades in the bedroom were originally covered with pretty, yellow gift wrapping paper.  But, I recently bought sisal-burlap trim for a bargain at a local Tuesday Morning store and decided to redo the shades in burlap to match. Tuesday Morning has become a surprisingly good source for trim, tassels and better craft supplies.

How To:

Lay the burlap out on a flat surface. Roll the lampshade over the fabric and with a pencil, mark along the top and bottom of the shade until you make a full rotation around. Cut out burlap leaving a little extra salvage at the top and bottom. You will trim the excess later.

Cover the front of the lampshade with a light layer of spray adhesive. Next, drape the burlap over the adhesive, smoothing out wrinkles as you go. The adhesive is pretty forgiving. You will have time to reposition the fabric if need be. Once the fabric covers the entire front of shade, fold under the raw edge of the side seam and use a dap of fabric glue to keep it secure.

Trim all of the raw edges of the fabric along the top and bottom of the shade. Glue the burlap fringe to the bottom of the shade (about  1/2″ above the bottom edge) and finish off the top with a narrow burlap ribbon. The trim will hide any of the uneven raw edges of the burlap and will keep it from fraying.

Nutshell Tip: Use wooden clothespins to hold trim in place while the glue dries.

Decorate a Petite Home With Personal Touches

One of the top, small-space design tips that I stand by time after time is to layer a petite home with personal mementos that extend beyond family photos. Maximizing a space-deprived home is not only about square inches but how to make those inches matter.

I was trying to organize a gallery wall in the guest room, but I was having trouble gathering the right mix of images and art. I began to ask myself what moments and places make me smile, and the many walks across the Brooklyn Bridge to and from my old apartment in Cobble Hill came to mind.

Bring in a Bit of History

Rather than framing art photos of the bridge, I liked this print that celebrates the year 1883; 14 years after the Brooklyn Bridge was completed when P.T. Barnum (Mr. Circus himself) proved to the world that this architectural wonder was safe enough to allow 21 elephants and seven camels to walk across it with great fanfare.

TIP

Look out for a built-in, wide mat border, which gives this image a sense of importance. Here is a delightful children’s book called Twenty-One Elephants, which tells the story of the exciting elephant bridge walk. You could even frame a copy of the book cover for your wall.

I always like to support any independent design entrepreneur who is trying to help us small-space dwellers live smarter and happier in our tiny digs.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Eng, the inventor of the Bed Shelfie, a sturdy, chic, affordable and portable mini-nightstand that easily clips onto a bed frame. It’s compact and made from sustainable materials like bamboo. I only wish I had thought of it first!

Here is a bit of the interview with Chris that may inspire you to live better with less:

1. What art or creative background do you have? Are you full time Bed Shelfie, or did you keep your day job?

I went to the University of Southern California to pursue entrepreneurship – you could say the intersection of design and business to meet the world’s needs. Most of my technical creative experience comes from Master Planning Disney Theme Park which took on a heavy Guest Experience focus to inform immersive, transformative experiences.

Working at Disney Imagineering was a childhood dream (literally) and the more I better understood Walt’s underlying message behind the parks, the more I realized he wanted us to understand we all (already) have the courage to pursue our deepest dreams and aspirations – mine being entrepreneurship. That said, I left Disney after seven years to take on projects like the BedShelfie, full time.

2. What life event/needs inspired you to create the Bed Shelfie?

The BedShelfie was inspired by the magic of living with less. Some combination of constantly moving around for work and reading “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” inspired me to free myself of his clunky furniture starting with where I started and finished my day – the bedroom.

From working at Disney, I knew the best design accomplished multiple goals. To replace the nightstand the solution had to be equal parts beautiful, sturdy, easy to use and eco-friendly.

My first ‘aha’ moment came when studying the incredible strength and versatility of the time-tested clamp mechanism. The design question, at hand, became finding a way to translate the strength of something that was traditionally metal, into something both beautiful and eco-friendly.

3. How difficult is it to go from concept, to engineering and construction of prototypes to marketing it?

I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed that’s missing from the innovation process, is what is typically thought of as the “last step” – marketing.

In taking concept to reality, I’ve had many personal breakthroughs around the importance of integrating marketing throughout the ideation and design process. Discovering who you’re serving and then engaging that audience to turn your hypotheses about their needs into facts about their needs, strengthened and informed every step of the development process from design specs, to material choices, to packaging, to brainstorming future improvement.

4. How many prototypes did you go through before you knew this was it?

We iterated through 4 prototypes until we locked into something that achieved both the initial design objectives of aesthetics, load bearing requirements, overall weight and cost feasibility from a manufacturing standpoint to ensure the product was ultimately affordable.

5. Who do you see as your target consumer?

The target consumer is someone who wants a minimalist approach to furniture to free up space in a smaller home. Think, a millennial who is design savvy but doesn’t want to invest in clunky furniture that would weigh them down from moving because they don’t expect to stay in one spot of the world too long.

6. Was it important that you keep the materials sustainable and the product affordable?

Building a sustainable future is our highest priority and I’m in love with how much bamboo forwards that conversation. If there was a super food of building material, bamboo would be it. The strength, character and renewable characteristics of bamboo is what enabled this idea to move forward.

Product affordability was also absolutely part of the conversation the entire time, given this is a nightstand replacement.

7. What is the Bed Shelfie manifesto? What are the core beliefs behind the product?

The BedShelfie manifesto is simple, to forward the magic of minimalism (the counterintuitive notion that less is more) while creating a future with a sustainable approach we can be proud of now.

Given population growth is something we can expect to reduce the size of our homes globally, the BedShelfie and the products I want to create help us rise up to that challenge.

Check out Chris’ Kickstarter video and find out how to put your name on the pre-order list.

Spring has sprung, and it’s time to get the petite guest room organized. For most small-space dwellers, a spare room adopts multiple personalities by necessity. This room needs to be a cozy retreat for out-of-town guests, while it stores an extensive fabric and paper collection. Throw an array of tools and art supplies into the mix, and the bedroom starts to look like a storage locker.

Embrace Open Storage Solutions

Closet and under bed storage is already filled to capacity so some  tools, like large levels and even a handsaw, have to be displayed out in the open.  Keeping tools hanging on the sides a metal file cabinet was a quick and handy solution; now the challenge was how to make this look good.

Chalkboard Paint Keeps Tools Organized

Taking a style cue from Julia Child and her genius peg board pot and kitchen organizer, I painted the sides of my file cabinet with chalkboard paint. Chalkboard paint and I go back a long way, starting at the front door of my New York City apartment. It is not a novel design idea, but it never fails to become a focal point. Instead of going with utilitarian black,  I kept things light with Martha Stewart’s chalkboard paint in gray–taupe. Try creating a stylish border with scallop painter’s tape. Finally, my hanging tools are displayed more like a collection than clutter.

Tip

Organize craft tool drawers for less with Dollar Tree glass canisters. White chalkboard pens keep canisters labeled so nails, upholstery tacks and staples stay corralled and easy to find.

Pillow Love

My very first décor love has always been with pillows. From DIY ink-jet pillows you print onto silk to felt appliqué pillows with a cheeky attitude, you’ll find one that suits your decor or mood.  Pillows are one of the first things I learned how to sew, and they are the finishing touches I rely on to pull the entire look of a room together. And in a small boxy space, pillows impart a sense of depth and softness to a compact boudoir.

Raffia Revival

I was struggling with a blue and white theme for my master bedroom. I had collected pillowcases, shams, sheets, a quilt and duvet cover from various off-price sources, but one feature pillow was missing from the mix to anchor the entire ragtag collection. Recently, West Elm featured a raffia embroidered pillow in their catalog that caught my eye. Raffia makes me nostalgic for my mother’s raffia-adorned handbag that I thought was oh, so chic growing up. The West Elm pillow was the wrong shape and definitely  the wrong price point, but I have my DIY ways…

West Elm

Raffia Flowers 101

Use your 40% off coupon from Michaels and buy a plastic loom kit, which will help you make perfect raffia flowers in several sizes. Raffia comes in basic colors, and I chose black.

The loom comes with an easy how-to sheet, but this flower loom tutorial video was very helpful. For the overall design, I drew a floral and vine pattern freehand on a piece of paper and used a light box to trace the pattern onto the linen. If you don’t have a light box, no worries. Go old school and tape the pattern onto a sunlit window and tape the fabric over the paper and trace.

Experiment and try layering a smaller raffia flower on top of a larger one. Glue to attach flowers together. Next, with an embroidery needle, handstitch the outline of the flowers. Glue or sew the woven raffia flowers to the front of the linen and voilà. You have a custom pillow no one else has. Onward to more small space decorating. More ideas coming your way!