Curbly Original
How To Make Mid-Century Modern House Numbers

by Chris Gardner

Here's a great tutorial on making your own modern house numbers, inspired by the clean lines of mid-century design. 

modern house numbers diy project
Make these mid-century modern house numbers

The architect Richard Neutra is one of modernism's iconic artists. He's best known for his integration of both his residential and commercial buildings into their landscape, and for his care in matching his work with the lifestyles of his clients, rather than imposing his own...

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How to: Give a Secondhand Chair a Golden Glam Makeover

by Chris Gardner

How to: Give a Secondhand Chair a Golden Glam Makeover
This Curbly guest post is written by Dale Mackey

This weekend my friend Steph and I made this chair together. Well, to be completely accurate, we took an old chair and turned it into this vision in white and gold. Inspired by a chair I’d seen at Anthropolgie, we took a free swivel chair I’d been given by my sweetheart’s parents and transformed into a modern glam masterpiece in about four hours for exactly $4.71.    

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How to: Give a Wine Bottle a Custom Typographic Makeover

by Chris Gardner

How to: Give a Wine Bottle a Custom Typographic Makeover

At this point in my relationship, we're sorta past making a big deal for Valentine's Day. As I look back, we never really did much, but these days, it's simply a reminder that we're a pretty great fit for each other, and that every day feels special. I'm grateful that I don't have show up with gems and jewelry, but can we'll likely just stay in, make a thoughtful dinner together and treat ourselves...perhaps with a bottle of champagne.

Of course, as a crafter, I can't just leave things alone, and it's precisely because there are no expectations that I wanna do something a little extra. So, this year, I'm customizing our celebration bottle with a special message in type.

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How to: Make Sparkly, Glittery Animal Christmas Ornaments

by Chris Gardner

How to: Make Sparkly, Glittery Animal Christmas Ornaments

The inspiration for this easy holiday project came to me in a dream. I know, I know...that sounds like an elaborate and somewhat ridiculous setup for a blog post, but it's true, in this case. Sparing you the details, I'll just share the effect- in which I woke up a few days ago, and immediately felt compelled to Google "sparkly OR glitter platypus ornament". No results. Surprised?

At some point that day, I decided I couldn't bear to live...

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How to: Make Modern Perforated Tabletop Christmas Trees

by Chris Gardner

How to: Make Modern Perforated Tabletop Christmas Trees

It's not surprising that I spend quite a bit of time at the craft store. As a full-time craft, design, and art blogger, I've grown quite familiar with my looped route of hardware store/craft store/art supply shop/other craft store/supermarket...in that order.

So, it's always a pleasant surprise when I find some new material or media I've never seen before, and to think of all kinds of cool stuff to do with it. This holiday season, it...

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How to: Make a Contemporary, Glittery Holiday Tree Centerpiece

by Chris Gardner

How to: Make a Contemporary, Glittery Holiday Tree Centerpiece

Truth be told, I've never actually owned, made, or utilized a dining table "centerpiece." See, I'm lucky enough to have any dining area at all in my urban apartment, in which I barely manage to fit a small table big enough for four. Once the table is set, filled with glasses, place mats, and the like, there's no room for extra decor. I would need an actual dining room, with an actual dining table.

But, this holiday season, I decided to make one anyway. Small space concerns be darned, my table deserves to be as decked as my halls. (I don't have a hallway either...) And since I've decided to embrace the glitter, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to get sparkly. 

This project took less than ten minutes of work, and cost me well under $10.00 in materials. That's a lot of glittery cheer for the effort, in my book.  So, there's no reason not to make one yourself!

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How to: Make a DIY Modern, Minimalist Nutcracker

by Chris Gardner

How to: Make a DIY Modern, Minimalist Nutcracker

I feel sorta bad for the nutcracker as an object... I mean, people like to eat nuts during other, non-holiday times of the year, right? But then, some German Romantic fantasy writer decided it made a pretty good gift from a crazy, creepy uncle, and then good old Pyotr Ilyich thought that adventure made a mostly awesome subject for a ballet, and now, any glimpse of those wide-jawed wooden soldiers simply screams, "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!"

Or, perhaps, I feel bad for most actual nutcrackers...cause they're, well, kinda tacky. I mean, I know there are really quality, beautiful, carved wooden ones, especially the handcrafted ones from the German forrest tradition. But the ones sold nowadays in discount stores are low-quality, poorly sanded and hastily glued pieces of mass-produced junk.

Which means they're perfect, inexpensive opportunity for a modern, minimalist makeover. Like this:   

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A Glitter-y Vintage School Desk Makeover

by Bruno Bornsztein

Schooldesk makeover, before

Against all my expectations, my daughter Ayla is a princess-loving, pink-obssessed, necklace-wearing girly girl. She's two, and yet she often demands wardrobe changes several times per day. Honestly, I don't know how this happened; I always kind of thought I end up with a tomboy, but no, her favorite games are 'jewly' (jewelry) and and dressing up her 'babies.'

It's cool, though. I can adapt. And here's proof: this fall I was driving by an...

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IKEA Table Gets a Natural Modern Makeover

by Alicia Lacy

This month, Krylon is sponsoring a series of thrifty, creative DIY projects:

Over the last month, we've been giving some love to our favorite room in the house ... our porch. Earlier this month we spruced up our porch coffee tables and a rocking chair. Then we kept the momentum going and re-did some candle-holders. This week's project was both functional and fun, and we were thrilled with the results. 

IKEA table makeover - before

In the summer, we spend a lot of time on...

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Simple Spray Paint Porch Makeover: Part 2

by Alicia Lacy

This month, Krylon is sponsoring a series of thrifty, creative DIY projects:

Candle-holders, before spray-painting

Last week we told you about the happy marriage between Krylon spray paint and our front porch (specifically our tables and chairs). Still basking in a newlywed glow, we decided to bring a little color to the lighting on our the porch.

Our half-made-over porch

Because we don't have a power outlet on the porch, we use a lot of candles. In our initial search for candle holders that were the...

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How To: Make Super Easy, Super Quick Low-Cost Graphic Art

by Chris Gardner

How To: Make Super Easy, Super Quick Low-Cost Graphic Art

Artwork. For my money, it's the number one way to add personality to a room. Sure, a $25 can of paint can make a big impact, but I'll take a white room with loads of art over boldly painted walls any day.

But, of course, you can't just go to the artwork store and scan the aisles until you find just the right piece of scale and color that matches your decor. Real art takes time to create, and fetches appropriately not-cheap prices, and...

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Our Simple Spray Paint Porch Makeover (Part 1)

by Alicia Lacy

This month, Krylon is sponsoring a series of thrifty, creative DIY projects:

Our porch, (long) before the makeover
I often say our porch is my favorite room in the house. It was horrendous when we moved in; floors covered in green artificial turf, holey screens heavily framed in rotting wood, paint chipping, and floor slanting. (It's still slanted, "for drainage.") The above photo was taken in the winter, making the porch even more drab, but it certainly gives you an idea of our...

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Reveal: Worn-Out Tricycle Makeover!

by Alicia Lacy

This month, Krylon is sponsoring a series of thrifty, creative DIY projects:

Reveal: Worn-Out Tricycle Makeover!

In Friday's post, I told you all about the process we used to transform a tragically trashy tricycle from the garage-sale "freebie" pile into a custom ride for our toddler.

Using three cans of Krylon Dual spray paint (in white, purple, and watermelon), some custom decals we created using a Silhouette cutting machine, and a new set of wheels, we made a one-of-a-kind...

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Worn Out Radio Flyer Tricycle Gets an Adorable Custom Makeover

by Alicia Lacy

Last summer, my mother-in-law came across a Radio Flyer tricycle at a garage sale. It was in the "Free" section and she nabbed it, thinking that if it were cleaned up a bit, our daughter Ayla might like to give it a pedal. It sat in her garage for a year until we came upon it a few weeks ago.

Ayla's radio flyer tricycle makeover: before we started the project.
A Radio Flyer tricycle makeover in the making.

This radio flyer tricycle needed some lovin'

It was in a sorry state; discolored, wonky steering, rusty spots, old tires and old cheese...

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