An apartment that is an ever-changing design lab

If you study the residential work of Allan Greenberg – all those colonnaded front porches, Palladian windows and formally landscaped lots with stables and grand driveways – a theme emerges. You would expect to find the architect himself living in equally classical surroundings, perhaps in Virginia horse country or among the hedge-fund set in Connecticut.

And yet, the man whom The New York Times once called a “master of literal classicism” lives in the kind of newly built, generic apartment tower that unimaginative developers have been filling Manhattan’s skyline with in recent years. He shares a one-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath, 1,000-square-foot space with his wife, Judith Seligson, an abstract painter.

“Frank Lloyd Wright was always living in environments he designed himself because it was a sales tool,” Greenberg, 75, said. “I don’t feel the need to do that. I like to have city streets and dirty air around me.”

While his job as an architect is to fulfill his clients’ dreams, he said, his own domestic dreams do not involve the baronial country life that so many of his houses suggest.

“I like to live in a very toned-down milieu,” he said. “I don’t want to collect 18th-century furniture or whatever. My idea of paradise is a house or an apartment in which you live with art around you.”

To that end, the couple bought the nondescript apartment eight years ago, for $1.6-million (U.S.), drawn to its windows on three sides, its head-on view of the mouth of the Queensboro Bridge and the opportunity, as the first occupants, to customize the standard builder’s unit. They have treated the space as an art gallery and a design laboratory.

“When we moved in, it was Allan’s playpen,” Seligson, 63, said. “It has evolved in different ways.”

Greenberg cited as an example a pantry closet in the open kitchen-living area.

“These were four really bland steel doors,” he said. They have since been painted in a vibrant pattern that Seligson designed in collaboration with her husband.

A voracious reader, Greenberg also built bookshelves into the breakfast bar and added a small table to orient his breakfast view away from the appliances.

Where there are no windows, the walls and other surfaces are covered with Seligson’s paintings. A load-bearing concrete column in a corner of the living area has been dressed up with one of her text artworks. A custom curved bookcase in the bedroom is filled with smaller works.

Some of the changes they have made are almost imperceptible, like the wooden hardware on a closet door or the recessed lighting above the bed, while others are dramatic.

Greenberg’s daughter, Ruth Frances Greenberg, a ceramist, created a tile mosaic of roses, birds and trellises that covers the walls and ceiling of the half-bathroom; the floor is made of glass tiles imprinted with a photograph of grass.

“You feel like you’re in an English garden,” Allan Greenberg said.

Occasionally, an experiment goes awry, as when he had the bedroom walls and closet painted in a green checkerboard. He was inspired, he said, by a French designer who used marble squares to decorate a wall. “I wondered what that design would look like with paint,” he said. “But it’s too much.”

But even when an experiment fails, the couple agreed, it is part of the joy of living in a home that serves as an ever-changing design lab.

“I want a space which is going to allow me to do the things I love the most,” Greenberg said.

“Which is being an architect, reading and writing about architecture and looking at art.”

In fact, in the half-bath, Greenberg said, he is thinking about getting rid of the tile and “putting down AstroTurf.”

Seligson laughed, and said, “Please tie his hands behind his back.”

The Brass Revival in Home Decor

"At some point, people looked at yellowish metals and thought they were too mums-y and traditional," said interior designer Cliff Fong, a co-owner of Galerie Half in Los Angeles. "The '80s was an era of stainless steel and gelled hair. Everything was hard and slick." Homeowners embraced the clean look and easy upkeep of silvery stainless steel appliances and nickel hardware, and they clung tight. Meanwhile, technology was increasingly influencing design trends. As Apple's computers morphed from creamy beige to pale aluminum, silver tones became firmly associated with high performance and revolutionary thinking. Yet, along the way, these icy, futuristic finishes became so ubiquitous that, for some, they began to look cheap and dated. These days, a silver iPhone can seem almost quaint.

Brass, however, evokes the pre-digital era of hand-wrought craftsmanship. "In a traditional setting, nothing authenticates a room like brass," said Atlanta-based designer Stan Topol, who particularly likes brass sabots on the feet of chairs. "It is the hallmark of a quality piece of furniture." In more minimalist design schemes, brass adds romance. "There's a history to brass that can feel unbelievably classic, like an old French hotel," Michael S. Smith, a Los Angeles designer, observed.

Ms. Kirar sees brass as an essential component of what is being called organic modernism, a more textured, luxurious look that is rooted in natural materials such as leather, stone and wood. "It is not as cold and austere as the minimalist aesthetic that emerged in the 1980s," she said. Low-slung white enameled media units need not apply.

Unless it is lacquered, brass tarnishes, and most designers are just fine with that. "The fresh take on brass is to use it un-lacquered," said Mr. Berman. "Let the metal age and turn gorgeous tones of bronze, brown and olive green with a dull luster that is soft and velvety." Mr. Dixon likes to use brass in hardware and pieces that can be touched, which speeds up the tarnishing process. "Boomers are embracing the softer and more mottled qualities of brass," added Mr. Berman, "not polished or lacquered, but aging gracefully like the generation buying it."

As the home-furnishings market gets brassier, designers are finding other applications for the metal. Manhattan architect Matthew Bremer recently upgraded a standard stainless steel elevator to brushed brass for a 160-year-old townhouse. "This is not the shiny polished brass of past decades that appeared showy and fake," he explained. "It's contemporary but has the authentic beauty of an orchestra instrument that shows its wear from hours of practice."

Increasingly, manufacturers of bathroom fixtures are offering warm metal finishes again (see sidebar below), and many designers are specifying shower door frames in brass instead of nickel. Even in the kitchen, where copper pots and sinks are status symbols, brass, which is naturally germicidal and antimicrobial, is making inroads. Los Angeles custom homebuilder John Finton, author of the 2013 book "California Luxury Living" (Images Publishing), recently completed a kitchen inspired by a black-lacquer and brass La Cornue range. And Kelly Wearstler installed a 1/8 -inch-thick brass countertop with an integrated sink basin in the glossy turquoise kitchen of her client Cameron Diaz's Manhattan apartment.

"I can't see brass appliances being very far away," declared Mr. Dixon, who built a brass bar that can seat more than a dozen for chef Jamie Oliver's London steakhouse, Barbecoa. "We've clad existing refrigerators in sheet brass and they look like Donald Judd sculptures."

Christmas Lights Go Pro

At Christmas time, Shirley Pepys often sits across the street from her home in Newport Beach, Calif., and covertly listens to the oooohhs and aaaahhs of delighted passersby.

Ms. Pepys, a retired business owner, has been decking her home with boughs of holly—and much more—for the past 20 years. With each year, the décor has become more elaborate. Her display now features twinkling lights, illuminated snow, a family of faux penguins and a four-minute light show coordinated to "Carol of the Bells." Everything is custom built. But not by Ms. Pepys. For the past two years, she has enlisted Dillon Wells, an audiovisual professional, and his family to put together the full display, paying under $15,000 for the whole shebang.

More Americans are forgoing the difficult and sometimes risky endeavor of installing their own holiday lights, asking professionals to take their place on the ladder. National chain Christmas Decor, which has 40,000 clients across the U.S., says it has seen sales increase 11% every year for the past four years.

This shift means that holiday displays can get even more extravagant and elaborate. Many installers say they have worked on décor that cost as much as $80,000. Prices are typically based on the number of lights and the size of job.

Vance Brand, a Christmas-light specialist in Salt Lake City who works with 1,500 clients in Utah and Colorado, offers his customers 10 shades of white LED Christmas lights. With schematics planned out using computer models, the bulbs dance and twinkle, often to coordinated music. Mr. Brand, who says his business has grown 22% a year since 2008, installs and takes down the lights after the season is over. He says he has even rappelled over a cliff to hang strands on one precariously situated holiday enthusiast's home.



A self-described perfectionist who draws inspiration from nearby Disneyland, Mr. Wells says he was determined to interpret Ms. Pepys's vision into an extraordinary reality, rather than the do-it-yourselfers' version with exposed cords and hardware. It was a challenge, he says, to ensure that her home looked as great during the day, when many visit, as it does at night. But as he watched the lights display run for the first time a few days after Thanksgiving, he says it was his "Walt moment."

Scores of people come to view Ms. Pepys's home on Balboa Island, an area known for all-out decorations. Old and young have their pictures taken in front of her display and many return year after year. One man, standing next to a plush penguin, even asked his girlfriend to marry him, Ms. Pepys says.

For Ms. Pepys, these moments make the effort and the price tag worth it. "The amount of people it brings joy to people," she says, "it's worth the whole thing."

This year, she upped the ante and incorporated a vintage look into the theme to celebrate her home's centennial. There are 17 different floodlights and spotlights. The strings of lights, reminiscent of those along the nearby boardwalks, can be controlled individually and had to be ordered from Hong Kong.

The magic of Christmas lights remains rooted in holiday nostalgia, says Chuck Smith of Light-O-Rama, a South Glens Falls, N.Y.-based company that produces the software that syncs lights and music for displays. "It all boils down to that thing almost everybody remembers from when they were a kid," says Mr. Smith. "Everybody would jump in the car and drive around looking at Christmas lights. There's always one house that's decorated more than anyone else. A lot of people think back and decide they want to be that house."

COUNTY: Holiday decor at six homes featured during Dec. 11 Christmas Walk for charity

Ever wish you could get a close look at the Christmas trees and other decorations you see through your neighbors' windows? There's no longer a need to admire a few Macomb County homes from afar, thanks to an upcoming event.

The Macomb Charitable Foundation's first Christmas Walk will feature six private homes within Shelby, Macomb, Ray and Washington townships on Dec. 11, from 3 to 10 p.m. Tour-goers will have the opportunity to explore the homes and admire their beautifully decorated Christmas decorations.

"At their homes you will experience the grandeur and warmth of Christmas. From the opulent to the quaint, each home offers warmth and charm," said Shelly Penzien, president of the Macomb Charitable Foundation. Penzien's Washington Township home will be featured in the walk.

Tickets cost $50 per person and may be purchased by calling Tracy Kowalski at 586-242-0509.

The goal of the Macomb Charitable Foundation is to alleviate the suffering of Macomb County children and their families by providing financial assistance for items like food, clothing, personal care items, rent and utility bills, vehicle repair, education assistance and more. The foundation also provides spiritual and personal mentoring.

Homeowners agreed to feature their decor for this charity event, with all proceeds going toward foundation. Some have decorated for weeks in preparation for the walk, including Macomb Township resident Sherry Brodowsky, who has put up three trees, each with a different theme.

"There are also a few small trees that are nestled in the decorations. The fireplace mantel and staircase have lots of greenery, twinkling lights and glittery ornaments. This year I have put a few more decorations up because of the Christmas Walk," Brodowsky said, adding that she's excited to offer decorating tips to those who are interested.

"I want people to enjoy the visit and also get a few decorating ideas that they can incorporate in their own home this year. I look forward to sharing my decorating how-to's with others during the walk," she said.

At another home, a Christmas tree is adorned with traditional German decorations, while yet another house features a Victorian theme. Penzien's trees are covered with wind-up toys and reminders of her daughter's September wedding.

Participants drive to each home. The houses are located between 22 Mile and 27 Mile roads, and between Shelby and Broughton roads. The ticket lists each home in proximity to each other. Guests may follow the route that is most convenient for them. Refreshments will be served along the way.

The Brass Revival in Home Decor

In contemporary design, all that glitters is no longer silver. Nor is it nickel, chrome or mirror-polished stainless steel, the similarly cool metal tones that have outsold other finishes on everything from faucets to furniture for decades. Brass, last in vogue in the '70s, has been moving in from the margins, showing up on a pendant light here, a table leg there—exuding a certain cocky, outsider glamour. In recent years, it's started to make silver tones look, all too accurately, commonplace. And now, no metal is shining more compellingly: Brass is conclusively back.

1. Pencil Holder, $75, jaysonhome.com 2. Ilse Brass Box, $275 each, georgjensen.com 3. Auböck Bookend, $585 for two, shop.cooperhewitt.org 4. Candleholder, $248 for set of three, dwellstudio.com 5. 48-ounce Hammer, $60, globalindustrial.com 6. Origami Bowl, $199 for set of three, akmdcollection.com 7. Stelton EM 77 Vacuum Jug, $149, huset-shop.com 8. Whisk, $8, crateandbarrel.com 9. Vase, $495, kellywearstler.com 10. Josef Hoffmann Candle Holder/Vase, $280, neuegalerie.org 11. Brass Gala Box, $198 each, jonathanadler.com 12. Hex and Block Paperweights, $95 each, daniel-emma.com 13. Icosahedron Paperweight, $148, michelevarian.com

Though copper and bronze, its pricier cousins, are also looking newly desirable, brass—a poor-man's-gold alloy of copper and zinc typically relegated to plumbing, tubas and Olde English doorknockers—has gained the strongest following. Leading designers from Jonathan Adler to Michael S. Smith, Kelly Wearstler to Celerie Kemble, all offer products in brass: burnished chairs, glowing desks, honeyed chandeliers, lamps, barware, desk accessories and more. Brass is also entering the mainstream, prominently featured in catalogs from such retailers as Crate & Barrel and Restoration Hardware. Relatively affordable, this ancient metal is nevertheless speaking to a 21st-century desire for luxury, timelessness and artisanship.

In a sure sign of its ascendance, the warm metal look is also popping up in electronics, where silvery shades generally go unchallenged: The white version of Lady Gaga's Heartbeats ear buds for Beats by Dr. Dre is distinguished by brass-toned studs, and demand for Apple's new gold iPhone 5s, whose plating could pass for brushed brass, has been so relentless that at least one website has emerged to help track its availability. Even car-makers are starting to see past silver (the most popular auto color for years,until it was topped by white in 2011); automotive paint manufacturer BASF has begun to develop several shades of gold for the Chinese market, and industry forecasters are predicting that the brassy and bronzy shades of '70s cars are ripe for revival in America.
Interactive: Top Brass


Metal finishes are signifiers, said Mr. Adler, who currently offers more than 200 brass products, including a 60-pound sculptural peacock table. "Silver tones are cool, high-tech, Calvin Klein simplicity," he said. "Brass equals warmth, English clubbiness, Moroccan craft and Italian mid-century fantasy." In other words, brass has a more colorful past.

The new brass age arguably began nearly a decade ago with designer Tom Dixon. A Brit with fond memories of growing up in North Africa with the region's polished brass cookware, he began to experiment with the metal to enhance lighting designs. "It's human nature to get bored," he explained of his decision to use a warmer material. "Brass felt like a more human alternative to hygienic and cold stainless steel kitchens, chrome cars and aluminum electronics." Launched in 2006, his Beat series, a collection of vessel-shaped pendant lights made in India from blackened brass with polished hammered interiors, has sold in the tens of thousands and become iconic—primitive yet decidedly modern.
Finish Lines

Home-made decor to order: 3-D printers come home

Looking for that perfect light for your home office? A new chair or coffee table? You might try making it yourself, at home, with just the click of a button.


Three-D printing, a novelty once reserved for science fiction, is going mainstream thanks to cheaper, more accessible technology.

The printers, which now cost as little as $300, use lasers to blast out layer upon layer of plastic or other materials, forming 3-D objects.

And if you don’t have the time, money or inclination to invest in a 3-D printer of your own, there are hundreds of websites selling lights, coasters, sculptures, furniture and even wallpaper crafted by 3-D printers.

New York-based Shapeways, for example, allows users to make, buy or sell three-dimensional designs. Products include a delicate, twig-like egg cup for $8 and a lamp that looks like a nuclear mushroom cloud for $1,389.

“We are consistently amazed by the incredible uses our customers find for these materials,” says Alex English, owner of the 3-D printing plastics retailer ProtoParadigm.

Just some of the decor items you can buy or build with 3-D printing:

Lighting

Among the most popular and dramatic 3-D products for the home are lights, whether ceiling pendants, table lamps or floor lamps.

Belgium’s MGX by Materialise, a pioneer in 3-D printing, is known for museum-quality, futuristic designs. Among the most popular is the Bloom table lamp (about $2,600), a flower-bud-inspired design with joints that you can expand or collapse to release or contain light, says marketing manager Katrien Vandenplas.

Shapeways offers dozens of lamps created by some of the site’s more than 11,000 “shop owners,” or designers. The honeycomb-inspired Veroni lampshade, for instance, costs as little as $15 and comes in a variety of colors and materials ranging from the standard plastic to raw metal and steel.

Wall hangings

Statement pieces for your walls run the gamut in the 3-D printing world.

Shapeways’ ethereal “Whales” ($48) lends modern sophistication with its airy rendition of two swimming whales crafted from white plastic. They almost seem to spring off the wall. Florida-based Proton 3D Studio offers a little kitsch with a pop art-type plastic pi symbol ($21) and the word “geek” crafted in orange plastic script lettering ($24).

Sweden’s Kredema Design has one of the more “off the wall” home-decor products: a three-dimensional wallpaper that rolls out away from the wall to form shelves, magazine holders and even lampshades. Made from sheets of acrylic and wallpaper, the “Off the Wall” collection is available by special order only.

Accessories

From picture frames to vases and even planters, you can design or find just about anything home-related using 3-D printing technology.

Shapeways recently added glazed ceramic to its list of materials, making it possible to craft personalized plates, mugs, salt and pepper shakers, and other items for the table.

Blogger and tech consultant Michael Sitver designed personalized coasters in about 90 minutes using a 3-D CAD software called Autodesk Inventor. He printed them up at Shapeways’ website.

“This is a great project for beginners,” says Sitver, of Weston, Conn., “because designing it doesn’t take too much work, but it helps beginners get acquainted with the tools involved and the process.”

He calls his new coasters a “wonderful conversation piece.”

Furniture

It might sound like a tall order, but it’s possible to craft tables, chairs and other furnishings with 3-D printers as well.

They’re not cheap though, at least not yet.

A day bed crafted from white nylon plastic will run you nearly $20,000 on Shapeways, while MGX by Materialise offers several chairs, stools and tables that look more like works of art than something to sit on. They also run into the thousands.

But there’s a lot that’s still possible with this burgeoning technology, especially as it gets cheaper and more accessible.

“When kids are exposed to this technology, they don’t even blink an eye when something is printed,” Vandenplas says. “When they are older, 3-D printing will fit into their lives much like the Internet and smartphones fit into our lives today.”

COUNTY: Holiday decor at six homes featured during Dec. 11 Christmas Walk for charity

Ever wish you could get a close look at the Christmas trees and other decorations you see through your neighbors' windows? There's no longer a need to admire a few Macomb County homes from afar, thanks to an upcoming event.

The Macomb Charitable Foundation's first Christmas Walk will feature six private homes within Shelby, Macomb, Ray and Washington townships on Dec. 11, from 3 to 10 p.m. Tour-goers will have the opportunity to explore the homes and admire their beautifully decorated Christmas decorations.

"At their homes you will experience the grandeur and warmth of Christmas. From the opulent to the quaint, each home offers warmth and charm," said Shelly Penzien, president of the Macomb Charitable Foundation. Penzien's Washington Township home will be featured in the walk.

Tickets cost $50 per person and may be purchased by calling Tracy Kowalski at  586-242-0509 .

The goal of the Macomb Charitable Foundation is to alleviate the suffering of Macomb County children and their families by providing financial assistance for items like food, clothing, personal care items, rent and utility bills, vehicle repair, education assistance and more. The foundation also provides spiritual and personal mentoring.

Homeowners agreed to feature their decor for this charity event, with all proceeds going toward foundation. Some have decorated for weeks in preparation for the walk, including Macomb Township resident Sherry Brodowsky, who has put up three trees, each with a different theme.

"There are also a few small trees that are nestled in the decorations. The fireplace mantel and staircase have lots of greenery, twinkling lights and glittery ornaments. This year I have put a few more decorations up because of the Christmas Walk," Brodowsky said, adding that she's excited to offer decorating tips to those who are interested.

"I want people to enjoy the visit and also get a few decorating ideas that they can incorporate in their own home this year. I look forward to sharing my decorating how-to's with others during the walk," she said.

At another home, a Christmas tree is adorned with traditional German decorations, while yet another house features a Victorian theme. Penzien's trees are covered with wind-up toys and reminders of her daughter's September wedding.

Participants drive to each home. The houses are located between 22 Mile and 27 Mile roads, and between Shelby and Broughton roads. The ticket lists each home in proximity to each other. Guests may follow the route that is most convenient for them. Refreshments will be served along the way. Continued...

Spice up your home with orange decor

Editor's note: Welcome to CNN's Open House, an interactive, online tour of iReporters' houses that showcases incredible decor. Space by space, we'll feature beautiful design moments and learn from decorators' experience.

(CNN) -- It wasn't so long ago that orange fell off the home decor color wheel. After a decade of being associated with popular appliance colors like "avocado green" and "harvest gold" (ah, the '70s), orange became outdated and was quietly dropped from the roster.

But, as Mark Woodman, the president of the Color Marketing Group points out, a color as bold as orange is never gone for good. (He should know. The Color Marketing Group forecasts the colors major industries, manufacturers and services will use one to three years in advance.)

In recent home decor trends such as "modern global" and the Chinoiserie revival, orange has been a key player in shades of pumpkin, cinnabar, terra cotta, vermillion and coral.

"The beauty of orange is its energetic appeal in almost all of its values," Woodman said. Especially in its brighter spectrum, orange is considered fun, upbeat and unique, he said.

But even as colors come and go in popular use (orange is already beginning to cycle down in popularity, with cooler blues taking the forefront in design and color news), orange always comes to mind as the weather cools down.

"Fall decorating will often take its clues from the natural world," Woodman said. "As leaves change color, we are introduced to a collection of reds, browns, golds and, of course, oranges. Of them all, the orange seems most to be the last vestige of summer joy. So it becomes a bridge color, hovering between the golds and browns with a hint of the past season marrying the coming season."

Perhaps it won't be so easy to let go of our orange decor as fabric and furniture trends continue to evolve, Woodman said.

While orange is the natural complement to the brand new blues soon to be seen in the home furnishing aisles of major retailers, the real future of the hue, Woodman said, is metallic: Think "copper."

"It is poised to be the metal to embrace in coming years and will keep orange alive," he said.

"In the end, orange has been embraced by so many that we won't want to see it go," Woodman said. "It may step back for a bit and become more subtle, but we will always want its bit of fun and energy."

Want to add orange to your home's color palette? Here are anecdotes and advice from this week's Open House contributors:

Take inexpensive risks
Don't miss out on the conversation we're having at CNN Schools of Thought. Follow us on Twitter @CNNschools or on CNN Living on Facebook for the latest stories and to share your perspective.

"If you're afraid to use color in your home, choose an inexpensive way to add color like pillows or bedding. These things can be replaced (more) easily and effortlessly than, say, an expensive orange couch or chair. Using neutral elements like gray curtains and white walls gives a bold color a resting place so that the room isn't too overwhelming. It also keeps the look fresh." -- Holly Modica, Old Lyme, Connecticut

Less is more

"Pair orange with cooler colors, and use it more as an accent to add a small dose. It also works well with metals: copper, gold and brass. With black or darker colors, orange can be a bit too 'heavy.' " -- Emily Clark, Charlotte, North Carolina

Mix it up

"My husband loves bright orange, not the muted fall orange, because bright orange is represented in his school colors. I fell in love with the color, too, and wanted it somewhere else in our home. I love the combo of pink, gold and orange, and that's what inspired me to paint the little box under our coffee table in that color combination. It is eye catching to say the least. While it's not for everyone, I have to say that I love it." -- Julie Konya

Upcycle Your Home Décor

There is a lot of buzz in the air about upcycling. Upcycling lends a jazzy new twist to the “reuse” part of reuse, reduce, and recycle. From turning old maps into wallpaper or window shades to creating funky furniture from shipping pallets, I’ve found plenty of creative and resourceful upcycling ideas on the Web. It seems that no matter the “junk” material I have on hand, there is a craft that can make use of the refuse to create a functional, fabulous addition to my home. Here are some of my favorite upcycling projects that nearly anyone can attempt. Try them out, and make your home all the greener with some eclectic flair.

Homemade Paper

You need plenty of pulp to make your own recycled paper at home, but look no farther than your paper waste bin. Recycled paper pulp can be made from tissues, computer paper, photocopier paper, wrapping paper, brown paper, note paper or envelopes — all used on their own or in combination. First, you’ll make a mold for your paper based on the dimensions you want your finished product to be. The mold requires a metal mesh screen, so you can use an old window screen for this (even more upcycling!), secured by a wooden frame. See paper-maker Marianne Saddington’s mold design here.

Tear the paper into pieces measuring approximately 1 inch square and soak in water overnight. Paper-maker Marianne Saddington offers an example:  ”Tissues can be torn into quite large pieces and soaked for only 30 minutes, while watercolor paper needs to be torn into pieces less than 1 inch square and soaked for two or three days. If you’re in a hurry, pour boiling water over the torn paper and allow it to stand for an hour or two.”

During the soaking period, you can dye your pulp various colors. (Natural dyes are safe and easy to make.) When your paper is soaked, pour the mixture in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds, or just long enough for the fibers to separate. Figure that one load in the blender will make one thin sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper. Add a little water if necessary to reach a workable consistency that allows you to spread a layer of the pulp over your screen mold. Allow the water to drain and then you are ready to start drying in the sun or wind. On a sunny day with strong wind, your paper will dry in around 2 hours.

Make handmade envelopes out of your paper and you’ll really wow your friends.

Recycled Window Coffee Table

If I had dozens of old windows to make use of, I’d build a recycled window greenhouse. But more often, I fall in love with a single window in a frame that I find at a thrift or reuse store. In this case, I still have several options for upcycling. One of the easiest is to make a coffee table. All you’ll need to add are legs and you are good to go. Either use the legs from an existing table that is on its way out anyway, or you can try this oh-so-easy design that uses legs cut from cardboard boxes. They may not last as long as the wooden legs, but you’ll have your table ready in time to impress a date.

Option 2: Make wall art! If you collect sea glass, glass gems, clear beads or other artifacts that are opaque or transparent, you can glue these bobbles to your window in order to produce a faux stained glass effect. Experiment with colors and sizes of your materials. These window “mosaics” make great gifts that can be completed in little time.

Shopping Cart Furniture

It sounds unbelievable — or at least uncomfortable — to make furniture out of an old shopping cart, but it can be done in a modern, tasteful fashion with a little elbow grease. First, find a shopping cart. Many grocery and big-box stores retire shopping carts long before their useful life is complete. Inquire with their customer service to find out when they will cull old shopping carts that may be rusty or have bad wheels (you can paint your cart and you’ll be removing the wheels anyway). Here’s a plan for an outdoor lounge chair.

First, you’ll use a Dremel or hacksaw (or any tool strong enough to cut through steel) to cut your cart into shape. Remove the front wheels and rear wheel brackets. Bend the side panels into place in order to make armrests. You will bend these side pieces around PVC pipe to give it an armrest shape. Take off the handlebars, sand down the rough edges, and voila! You have a wire chair. But is it comfortable? It will be after you throw your handmade pillows on it!

You’ve already got your steel-cutting tools out. Why not make some oil drum furniture? Yes, it can be done.

Satellite Dish Gazebo


Every now and then, I see an old 1980s-style satellite dish hanging out in someone’s yard. It is clear the thing hasn’t been used for years. Are you one of these people? If so, you can upcycle that dish into a lovely grape-arbor gazebo. Flip the dish so that its convex-side-up. This will form the roof of your gazebo. Lance Larson’s gazebo uses warehouse storage-rack legs for the gazebo legs, lifting it about 10 feet off the ground. Larson used three-quarter-inch conduit as braces, cattle panel fencing for the railing, and 1-inch plastic pipe to top off the railing. He painted the whole gazebo black to give it a unified appearance.

3 House Style Guidelines to Use Today

Regardless of what size price range you're working with, anyone can have a wonderful house. It's all a issue of taking some of the best house style guidelines and implementing them to your scenario. If you have been looking for choices that will help your house be pop with a certain style surface, than you have to look into the following guidelines that will help you make and set up any type of feelings in your house. You'll be amazed at what you can do with a little bit of internal miracle. Whether you're an knowledgeable designer or not, the following guidelines are worldwide.

Kitchen -Let's first project into your kitchen place, a place where food preparation expertise is the standard. It's here where you will discover significant amounts of traffic and possibilities to implement several different style impacts. If you're looking to update the place, modify out the units first and increase the place that you have. You'll observe that many conventional styles don't allow for highest possible place in the sides and other locations. Change this out and choose your timber, style, and shade smartly. Once you've achieved this update your equipment to coordinate, and feature with new counter tops. You'll discover that these 3 quick components will help dull kitchen place into anywhere where the whole family will want to collect in.

Bathrooms -One of the most ignored locations in the property is the bathing room. This is one of the best locations to get innovative with house style guidelines. Colour the surfaces anything but white-colored, and focus on the furniture that you have. Modify the furniture to something more contemporary, and modify light style so that you have several choices. Add a simple fan and accessories that tie everything together and you'll be the jealousy of all your friends when they visit and observe that the bathing room style has surface.

Living Space -When working with the residing room place, try to make the surfaces a different shade than the conventional "white". White is a good shade for surfaces but you want to go with a new option. Take enough time to look at your furniture, place of your tv, and several other items to tie the place together effectively with a new shade. You'll discover that the paint can really make an element if done right.

The above concepts are just some of the many house style guidelines that you can implement these days. You'll discover that they will allow you to put together a wide range of different concepts in your house without splitting the price range completely. Take small actions and tie things together for a contemporary update to your house's décor.

Simple Internal Design Guidelines for Your Home

The style in which your house seems to be declares a lot about your individualities, that's why the way in which you set up your house decorations are really important in how you carry on. We are available in a fast operating world where we are pelted with what we should put on, eat and set up our houses simply rarely do we have enough a chance to spend thought to the facts that perhaps how we set up our bedrooms only may have an impact on our emotions, creativity, energy and who knows what more. Perhaps, this is enough a chance to hindsight on both - our house and our options for internal design.

There are a couple of straightforward techniques in which you will be able to smarten up your house lifestyle and our house internal design by working on several guidelines that are really crucial:

Concord - each of the bedrooms in our house require retaining a strong experience of balance.

Focusing Factors - Rooms that have a primary centerpiece that draws your attention will flow better. Issues like your excellent art demonstrations, an structural walls item or even statuettes are effective recommendations.

Poise - This is efficiently managed by controlling the rooms' noticeable pressure and slightly scattering it out to the staying segments of the space.

Color - using positive shades may mix efforts around and make a lot of distinction. A candlestick may be used for a amazing result.

Symmetry and Range - Furnishings and knick knacks should be in balance of the size of space. Nothing too big or too small.

Rhythm - Develop the fraud of noticeable activation by movement through agreement of the space in such a way that the looker's eye goes on journeying from factor to factor. This shouldn't be messy with growing out things completely.

Home internal design and developing is an extremely sensitive area of interest as a lot of people think that they actually know what they are performing only the result is rather reverse. Specifics that you already have like candlestick lights and statuettes may be easily re-arranged and put on platforms and sides to make amazing amazing results and as well better mild in places that are regularly ignored due to challenges or whatever.

The right use of mild in the property has the prospective to almost convert any old lounge or research into a energetic and interesting space, only try it and consider.

Experimentation is the keystone and you will not recognize if you do not try out.

If you would like to try out and mime common styles then turn over considering a few non-traditional concepts for house decorations motivation. A few of the most stylish house internal design styles include; asian, arty internal, ancient, traditional, Mediterranean sea, exotic and of course modern internal design.