DIY Decor

DIY Ideas for Knobs

Refurbishing and updating old furniture is very popular these days. I am always on the lookout for a great thrift store or habitat find! Many times you will find an old piece of furniture you love, but some or all the knobs and handles are missing. I thought it would be fun to find different and unique ideas for DIY knobs. You never know when you might need some inspiration.

The knobs below are ones I particularly like, but there are soooo many more ideas out there!

Have you ever used an unconventional item for knobs or handles on furniture? I would love to hear.

Use old toys for handles.

Paint different style knobs all one color for a united look.

Paint a wood knob and glue small buttons to it.

Use old faucets.

Antique key.

Old door plates and knobs.

Wrap thin rope or twine around a store-bought handle.

Beautiful crochet knob cover.

Old spoons.

Yard sticks or rulers.

An old padlock! Love this.

By Laurie|June 17th, 2013|DIY Decor|2 Comments

Pottery Barn Knock-Off Wall Art

Update:Apartment Therapy featured this wall art on their website.

I love Pottery Barn. I don’t always love the prices. While flipping through the recent catalog I saw this rustic wood wall art. A whooping $399.00! Knowing I have a pile of scrap wood in the garage, I just about did the happy dance at the project I knew I was going to tackle. I love power tools. I love wood!

I bought a 2x 4 foot piece of plywood, a few extra pieces of wood, a couple of sample size paint jars, and some tacks. It only cost around $40.00! Everything else I had… a lot of wood pieces, glue and leftover paint. Most of the wood I used is considered “craft” wood. It comes in short lengths and is thinner than regular wood. I did combine it with “regular” wood though. It gives the piece some dimension.

My Pottery Barn Knock-off version.

Pottery Barn $399.00. Laurie $40.00!

The design was not planned. I cut each piece as I went along. HINT: When you have the layout you want, take a picture of it. Just in case you mess up the design later on while you are painting the wood pieces. You don’t want to spend HOURS and HOURS trying to put the thing back together, only to remember you DO have a picture you could have looked at. By that point, bad words may have been said, drinks may have been drunk, and your family may be afraid to be in the same room as you. Just saying it could happen.

The next step was paint.

I applied the paint with a cut up old t-shirt. That way I could rub the paint on like a stain allowing the wood grain to show through.

Each piece was glued down to a 2 x 4 sheet of plywood board with Tite Bond Wood Glue. Blue tape is always handy for extra support.

The Vodka is for weight, not for drinking. At least not in that moment anyway. After all the pieces were glued down, I distressed each piece with sand paper to lighten the paint colors and to give it a worn out look.

I found these tacks at Lowes.

I lightly sanded the tack heads so they looked distress as well.

I’m not sure where I’m going to hang it yet. I may add some trim around the edges. This was a FUN project. Although I used a power saw to cut the pieces, it can be done with a simple miter box.

This Pottery Barn knock-off project was a great way to use up most of the scrap pieces of wood I had accumulated. And my garage is a little bit cleaner now! :)

Pottery Barn Knock-Off Wall Art

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By Laurie|May 31st, 2013|DIY (you can do it!), DIY Decor|18 Comments

DIY Burlap Table Runner

Burlap table runners can be expensive. I’ve seen them at Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs between $40 -$70. Ouch.

While I was at an antique store last week, I picked up a roll of burlap that was 20 inches wide. It cost all of $15.00. And it was a big roll. Not too shabby!

My kitchen table has been around for a while. I still love it, but it would be lovely if the top was refinished. Since I don’t quite have the nerve to do that yet, a burlap table runner seemed like a pretty way to cover it up.

This is a simple project. You can make it as complicated as you want, depending what design or element you want to add to it. I chose to make flowers with cording because… I don’t know why. Just popped into my head.

This runner was 20 inch wide when I purchased it. I cut it to 18 inches wide.

The edge was straight stitched about 3/4 inch from each side. The stitch allows the runner to fray, but with control. I didn’t want it to fray to pieces. I did go back with clear thread and zigzagged around the entire runner for extra fraying security. My advice is to use the zigzag right from the beginning.

Pull the loose burlap threads to fray the edges.

To make the flower petals, I used Bonnie Craft Cord 4mm. (I picked it up at Hobby Lobby) Cut the cord to the size you want the petal, make a loop, then stitch the ends together, sewing back and forth several times. Use a zigzag stitch to sew the cord to the burlap.

I found it easier to pin and sew each petal one at a time. At first I pinned all five petals to the burlap, but the pins and the cord got in the way when I was trying to turn the fabric while sewing the petal loops.