A Closer Look - Picture Frame Headboard DIY

Good morning Small Space Dwellers! Thank you for all the love on the Single Girl Bachelor Apartment Project. I am overjoyed by your response. I figured we could take a closer look at one of the projects I worked on. Come along the journey with me as I go through my process of creating the simple picture frame headboard.

Step 1 - Choosing the Frame

My favourite thrift shop tends to get last season's displays from various reputable retail stores around the city, so it is always a delight to go there and scour through the second hand goodies when new shipments come in. Great quality items for a fraction of the cost. 

They have this amazing collection of display frames from the Gap and American Apparel so it was just a matter of choosing the frame that would work best in Ashley's bedroom. Here are some of the options I was working with.

  

My Choice:

I decided to go with this frame because of the dimensions. Just one of these frames on it's side is about the width of a queen sized bed, so it would work perfectly without any further tweaking.

Step 2 - Choosing the Fabric

The colour scheme that Ashely was keen on was a collection of greys, purples, and browns, so I wanted to work with a fabric that had interest but worked well with the colour scheme. One thing I also had to take into consideration was how the fabric was going to work with the bedding. 

My Choice:

I decided to go with the scripted 'Britten Nummer' fabric because it added a sense of whimsy to the bedroom area with out competing with the bedding. It also did a great job of drawing the eye into the space.

Step 3 - Putting it Together

Once the choices were made putting the headboard together was a simple. I started by distressing the frame a bit just to give it a little something extra. Then I lined up the fabric in the frame adjusting it to make sure that the script was straight. I cut off the extra and staples the fabric to the back of the picture frame insert. You may also want to add a bit of glue (from a hot glue gun) to secure the fabric as well. 

Putting the headboard up was as simple as hanging a frame. You want to make sure you secure the frame well because REMEMBER this is acting as a headboard. You don't want it moving around on you in certain bed rocking situations. ;)

Voilà - Picture Frame Headboard

Happy DIYing Small Space Dwellers! Have a great weekend!

XOXO

Single Girl Bachelor Apartment

You may remember, a few months ago (and through various mention in posts for the past 3 months), when I started this project. "The Single Girl Bachelor": When Ashley, the single girl, contacted me to do her bachelor apartment, I was more that ecstatic to work with her especially after hearing the horrific trials she had been through. Newly migrated to the city, Ashley first found herself living in a basement apartment a little bit smaller than this one. A few months after living in the space, she realized that her respiratory health had decreased tremendously. Something seemed to be in the air. After sometime away from her apartment she was welcomed home with the sight of mold that had grown on ALL her belongings. Her bed, sofa, cloths, shoes... I mean EVERYTHING. My space is my sanctuary, so I cannot even begin to imagine the feeling of coming home to that horror.

So moving into this new rental, Ashley was starting with nothing and a suffocatingly T-I-G-H-T budget to furnish her new space. I knew it would be tough, a definite thrift store and craigslist/kijiji project, but I was up for the challenge. My goal at the end of it was to have Ashley overjoyed with warmth every time she open the door to her place. Maybe in some small way it would help to relieve the pain of her first city rental experience.

The Before

I wasn't kidding when I said that she was starting from scratch with nothing. With the help of my favourite thrift shops and months of scouring the net, here is the reveal of the "Single Girl Bachelor Apartment"; decorating from scratch on a shoe thread budget. 

The Reveal

Small Space, Big ART

I've been working on a design for a new small space I am working on and have been going back and forth on what I can do to add impact. After looking around my own small space for inspiration the answer was right in front of me, taking up space on my feature wall. Art! Not just any art though... LARGE scale, gives-you-no-choice-but-to-look type art.

I love the effect massive art has in a small space. It works just like a wallpapered or a painted accent wall; it draws you in. I haven't decided on the type of art I will be using yet but I do know that it is one of the tricks I will be using to make my client's small space feel like home in a grand way!

Happy Monday Small Space Dwellers!

It's Friday! So Let's Tell Secrets...

*shrieks of excitement* It's Friday! I'm not sure if it's the fact that New Years Day interrupted the week and landed on a Tuesday or if it is the first Friday of the new year but I'm excited that this is the last day of the week! Hence my dancing friends to the left :)  

In the spirit of the day I figured that a little secret telling was in order. A few months ago House Beautiful shared 101 Decorating Secrets from design experts such as Myra Hoefer and Christopher Peacock. 

All timbits of wisdom and trick of the designer trade. Here, I share my favourites. Feel free to share your own timbits of goodness. After all, what's life without a little secret telling *wink*. Have an awesome first Friday of the year and an even better weekend!

Sending love and merry dancing,