DIY Project Series: Light Switch Cover Make-Over

Feeling crafty? Want to get a little dirty and produce something you can be proud to say your own two hands made? I am a home decor/DIY blog reading fool these days - and there are so many cool ideas floating out in the blogging world and I  have tried a few projects that are sure to satisfy the Martha in us all - without breaking the bank OR requiring too much skill.  So here begins a mini-series of posts on these projects to show you how easy they are and in hopes that they will inspire you as well.

First up - Decoupage Light Switch Plates - most of us have the standard white switch plate covers and sure they are fine they do the job of covering all the wires and allowing us to turn on and off the lights. BUT how cool would it be to have covers that go with the design of your home? Or that are just so cool they will make you happy every time you look at them?

I found this tutorial here from a fun blog that I frequent called The Jones Design Company she also has some fun tutorials on fabric or paper flowers check out more of them here.

So carefully following the tutorial this is what I made..

And I put them all over my apartment - I just love the detail they add to the space!  I used scrapbook paper from Michael's that was on clearance for $0.29 a sheet! And I only used about 2 sheets for everything. So it was a super cheap make-over.

This is a really easy project that anyone can do - and you can cover them in anything - old newspaper or book pages? Old music sheets? Comic books pages? And if you compare these with expensive covers that you buy in the store you are really saving a bundle and making them just for you - you could even change them up every couple of months! Why not? Aside from the large array of cool designs of scrapbooking paper that you can find at the craft stores here are some other cover ideas that might inspire you as you choose how to make your own!

   Mustache Covers!  

Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" 

Remember the days of actual CD's and CD album covers? Why not dig up your old CD's and use the covers  as switch plate art?

Photos 

Fabric

So I hope this inspired you to switch up your switch plates! Send me pictures if you decide to tackle this I would love to see them! And stay tuned for another fun project to come in the next post.

Painted Doors - Why not?

Whether you live in an apartment, a house, a studio, a duplex, a mansion, a castle -whatever it may be - it is safe to assume that you have doors in your home. Bathroom doors, closet doors, bedroom doors and of course a front door!! They could be wood, metal, glass, sliding, folding the possibilities are endless. Now since we all have doors, who out there actually takes notice of these staples in our everyday life? Do you consider your doors a design element? Why not? We all have them and we look at them everyday so why not spruce them up a bit and have them pop, give them a voice in your home? Chances are your doors are white, or wood and they were there when you moved in so you feel you are stuck with them - well you may be stuck with the actual door if you don't want to get into a costly remodel of buying new doors,(or you rent) so here is how I brought new life to the doors in my apartment without taking off any hinges.

So these are the beauty's that live throughout my apartment. As you can see they broke the bank (thus I had no problem experimenting with them since they are an easy $25 replacement!). I have 4 closet doors throughout the living room/hallway and the door to the bathroom and the door to the bedroom and of course the backside of the front door. So I decided an easy fix to spruce them up is paint!! And I wanted a bold color, I considered black as done here below.

via houzz

Black is def. bold! And it just looks so sleek and clean. But I wasn't sure if I wanted to be that bold. But then I considered a fun color would really pop! I decided to pull a color from the fabric of my curtains which is this here.

Fabric.com

My first thought was the turquoise blue! How fun would that be? Something super colorful like these here.

via Houzz

via Houzz

But then I pulled back from the turquoise because I wasn't so sure it would work in the entire house - the bathroom? and then right next to the bedroom which both have different color schemes. So then I settled on the grey and decided to take it to a deep grey (for a little drama). This is the color I choose

Valspar - Almost Charcoal

And this is how it turned out!! What do you think?

I just love the richness of the color and amazingly it made those cheap doors from Lowe's look like they cost much more! Now I didn't paint the door into the bedroom I am still torn on that one - because I have a pink and brown color scheme going on there - remember this so I am not sure how it will look on the inside. But that being said is it OK to leave just one door not painted?

Ideally the doors should be uniform throughout the space, but of course, once in a while it's OK to break the rules. So is this one of those times? And if so what do I do with the lonely white door? Do I leave it as is? What I would absolutely love at the entrance of my bedroom are french doors like these....

How romantic and fabulous are those? But alas - there would need to be some construction to make this happen and I am not so sure I can DIY that. But maybe just one door?? Or check out these other wild designs for doors - as you can see - the possibilities are endless ;)

via Houzz

Via Houzz

Via Houzz

via Houzz

via Flor.com

via Pepperdesignblog.com

What do your doors look like? What can you do to spruce them up?