Curbly Original
Make These: Rorschach Ink Blot Pillows

by M.E. Gray

Make these: DIY Rorschach test pillows

Are you familiar with the Rorschach Test? It's the psychological exam where you look at ink blots and say what you see. Depending on how you interpret the ink, you receive a different diagnosis of your psyche. Now, I'm not a psychiatrist by any means, but I do know a DIY opportunity when I see one. Whether or not you interpret the shapes as a bear, or as the face of your mother, throw a little color in there and we've got ourselves a project. These ink blot pillows are easy enough for anyone to make, and each result is different!      

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Shopping Guide: 25 Large Area Rugs You Can Afford on a Budget

by Faith Provencher
Shopping Guide: 25 Affordable Large Area Rugs You'll Actually Like
Source: Amazon

Attractive, large area rugs can be hard to find... and even more difficult to find at an affordable price. Often, the two do not come hand in hand. They do exist, you just have to do a little searching. But lucky for you, we've done all the detective work for you... today we're sharing 25 cheap large area rugs that you'll actually want to put in your home.        

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Curbly Original
How To: Make a Body Pillow Cover That's Actually Cute

by M.E. Gray

How to make a body pillow cover

Do you use a body pillow? I can't sleep without one. I used to be able to, but over the years my joints have started to require that extra support as I snooze. While my wife fortunately doesn't mind me cuddling something else all night long, I am miffed at the lack of options when it comes to shopping for a body pillow cover. Because of this, I've always made my own. Usually I just make them from an old sheet, but decided to make a fancier one for this newest body pillow I bought (body pillows are on back-to-school sale right now, just FYI!). If you can sew a straight line on a sewing machine, then you can make a body pillow cover of your own.           

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68 Apartment Decorating Ideas and Organization Tips for Renters

by M.E. Gray
Apartment Decorating Ideas and Organization Tips for Renters
Source: Apartment Therapy; Photo Credit: Sophie Timothy

Renting your home has some perks (no mortgage, no maintenance costs, no headaches), but there are downsides: apartment decorating can be a challenge, and limited storage space makes it hard to stay organized.             

Many apartments are too small or don't offer much storage. Maybe the landlord won't let you paint or put nail holes in the wall. And rental properties are usually...

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IKEA Hack: Transform a Basic Cabinet into a Gorgeous Nightstand with a Geometric Design

Norse Interiors
Norse Interiors IKEA custom fittings
This post was contributed by Norse Interiors

Everybody loves IKEA, right? The simplicity of the designs, plus the sense of accomplishment from putting furniture together yourself... this combo makes IKEA a standard go-to when shopping for the home. There are lots of ways to hack IKEA furniture - however, would you like to customize these basic designs to set you apart from the thousands of other people that have the same piece? Turns out, it's a pretty easy transformation to make. Today we're taking a look at how easy it is to upgrade your IKEA furniture, thanks to Norse Interiors' system. You can style up a wide variety of IKEA furniture using prefab cabinet designs and knobs. Everybody will be asking, “Where did you get that?"            

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The Wabi-Sabi Home: Learn to Embrace Imperfection and Authenticity

by M.E. Gray

Wabi-sabi home

I used to own this cup and saucer set. It was white with a yellow border - I found it at the thrift store. The handle of the cup was comfortable, and the saucer large. I loved it. I loved it in a way that it seemed to make my coffee taste better in the morning. One day, my yellow cup met a fate that many ceramic dishes face. It was dropped, and the cup cracked. The vessel was still usable after its accident, after a bit of gluing. But it never looked the same again. A piece of the ceramic was missing, a chunk gone. I still held onto it, because I loved this cup, and life happens, you know? This is, roughly, the definition of wabi-sabi.              

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Curbly Original
How to Furnish Your Walls at the Thrift Store

by M.E. Gray

Gallery wall made from thrifted items!

I have a hard time spending a lot of money on wall art. I feel horrible saying that. I got my Bachelor's degree in art, so I - of all people - totally understand the effort and talent that's required to create good art. Honestly, I'm just cheap. While I might occasionally splurge for a print or photo I really love, my home is hardly a museum. I can't afford to fill my walls top to bottom with one-of-a-kind art pieces. So yeah, I might be cheap, but I'm pretty dang thrifty, too! Whether it's sprucing up some existing wall art, or creating my own with found items, I can fill a wall for under $40. The best place to find forgotten and dirt-cheap wall decor is your local second-hand store (think Goodwill, Savers, Salvation Army, etc.). I set out to create a cheap gallery wall using only things I found at the thrift store, and here's how it worked out.          

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How to Build a Cozy Radiator Cat Bed

by M.E. Gray

From the new book, "DIY Projects for Cats & Dogs." A tutorial on how to make a radiator cat bed.

If you're a cat owner, you know two things about kitties: #1, They like heights, and #2, they like warmth. I can always count on finding my own cat in a handful of different places around my apartment, including either right up against the radiator, or high up on my bedroom dresser. If your feline is anything like mine, she'd flip over a DIY radiator cat bed like this one.      

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Curbly Original
IKEA Hack: The Tarva Nightstand Gets Naked

by M.E. Gray

IKEA Hack Nightstand Edition - A Tarva nightstand with cutout handles

One of the easiest ways to change up a piece of furniture is to switch out the hardware - but what happens when the hardware is abandoned completely? When my wife found this nightstand during a recent trip to IKEA, she immediately drew inspiration from a different piece of furniture in our house - our hardware-less credenza. Could we replicate the cutout drawer handle on her new nightstand? Turns out, we could! Trading a little extra work for the extra cost of new hardware, here's how this IKEA nightstand hack worked out.                     

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