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So, you're sick of hearing about the economy. Yeah, us too. Even though our financial outlook remains grim, on the home front all it takes is a little creativity to give your space a boom-worthy spruce up.
From pot holders to coffee filters, everyday objects can be used in uncommon ways to bring some personality to your walls. Some may consider it a matter of desperate times calling for desperate measures -- but we like to think of it as a really unique (and chic!) recycling program.
Save a landfill; reuse your Styrofoam. Tired of baking and looking for a new use for those bundt pans? Try this idea on for size. Photos: DIY Maven and Flickr, hownowdesign
Used (and cleaned) fruit and veggie trays can be repurposed into 3-D art. Use same-colored push pins to connect them to the wall in a modular display.
It's a piece of cake
Displays can be functional too -- if you're an avid baker, why not collect an assortment of pretty bundt pans and display them along your kitchen wall as this creative homeowner did?
Now you know what to do with all those gifts from Aunt Gertrude; and for a fresh and fun take on wall decor look up. Photos: Fine Little Day and DIY Ideas
So you love to crochet -- but what to do with that pile of potholders you've amassed? No, your friends don't want them. Instead show off your craftsmanship in a pretty display on your kitchen wall. When friends see your gallery of work, they'll be begging for some of their own.
Coming up rosettes
Get excited about your local home center again. Ordinary ceiling rosettes make a fresh, modern display when covered in colorful paint. Here, varied shapes and sizes are unified by shades of yellow.
Clear that collection of gallery from your desk drawer and put them to good use. Tea for two-hundred? Not a problem with this cute display. Photos: Flickr, Citrushearts and Ffffound
We all have it: A pile of old gallery gathering dust in a storage closet or spare drawer. In our digital age, scrapbooking seems almost retro, so what do you do with your favorite snapshots? A heart-shaped display of Polaroids is a simple way to show off the memories you love most.
Tea party
Head to any thrift shop and you'll likely encounter a selection of mismatched mugs and teacups. As individuals, they're adorable, but what are you supposed to do with a collection of random drinkware? Display the little beauties as the ceramic pieces of art that they are -- and have plenty of options when guests ask for a cup of coffee.
No need for that Costco-sized box of coffee filters? Here's an idea to put them to good use. And at right, this display idea gives "a place to throw your hat" a whole new meaning. Photos: The Haystack Needle and Apartment Therapy
Create an ethereal art display out of coffee filters. That's right -- those flimsy paper cups that pile up in landfills can be put to use as home decor. Simply tack them to the wall in a flowing pattern using pretty colored tacks; cut some to smaller size for variation.
Hang up your hat
Sometimes the best items to show off are hiding just out of sight. Ransack your closet -- or your dad's old hat collection -- and grab a similar-toned assortment of chapeaus to put on display. We especially love this ingenious idea applied for an entryway.
Want more creative wall ideas?
- Inspiration: Decorating with Plates on the Wall
- Sand on the Walls: The Prettiest Wallpaper Ever
- Wall Art Ideas to Make You Smile
Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)
It's cute for about 2 seconds! Now picture trying to clean all that crap on the walls! NO THANKS! It's just more work for me.
Replyanything that can be recycled i recycle so my styro trays go into the recycle bin and get taken away every week...an unusual shape may find its way onto my wall to be used as a message board or something...i also have a collection of vintage potholders but they are usually in a drawer and as far as the coffee cups i also have many but they stay in the cabinet to keep them dust free..i thought the bundt pans could be used to plant flowers in because i dont bake much anymore :-))
ReplyBeing an "Antique" dealer, this is a terrible way to display these items. What a turn off. You need a new display person or persons.
ReplyI can't see displaying junk on my fine walls. Whoever wrote this article needs to fine a new job because they sure don't have any idea about classic decor.
ReplyHats aren't bad, in the way and space they are displayed here - and I like the heart shaped pictures, providing they are in some type of sleeve, etc., so the corners won't turn up and they fade.
Replyi don't know about the rest of you people out here, but I really love these ideas. you just have to the your mind be open to new and fresh ideas!
ReplyWhole lotta uptight Snobitches reading these articles.
ReplyMy wife has been collecting Dunkin Donut coffee cups for years! Salvation army, Goodwill stores, yard sales.....now she , we think has them all! and they are hanging on ouf kitchen wall, with some other DD stuff on a shelf over it! I was fun to do, cheap, and we think it looks great!
ReplyWelcome to the redneck trailer park decorating site...
ReplyNothing like chincing up a million dollar room with 5 cent items. No thanks.
Replyi already hang strange items on my wall...i find hubcaps, take em home, wash em up and hang them. the potholder, cups and cake pan idea was pretty good, not really for art or decorative purposes but more for storage. a good deal of people already stick photographs to their walls in various designs, so that's not anything new. the hat idea...well lets just say it looks like a giant black, grey and tan turd hanging there. to each his own though.
Replynothing new here - has been done for at least 5 centuries
Replythe polariod pictures would be ok if they weren't in a heart shape.
Replybut the rest are just icky.
Any and all wall space in my house is occupied by bookcases full of yes, you guessed it, BOOKS. Books for reading.
ReplyI had to laugh, because I've used old "bundt" and other baking pans -- shaped like seashells, flowers, swirls, and fish -- for fifteen years, as decorative elements on my kitchen walls! (For people wondering about the cost, I bought one every other year for the last twenty years, so the expense was spread out over a long period of time.
ReplyI've also had old dishes (a la Martha Stewart ideas) as wall decor in my kitchen. And, as long as we're talking design, I've also found that using old labels from orange crates and other fruit companies, makes great frame-able art for the kitchen or dining room.