DIY Public Art: Ski Fence

Photographer: Christine S.

You’ve probably seen the DIY Ski benches but this is a first DIY Public Art ski fence spotted in Montana by my friend and awesome photo scout Christine! Luv all the color and am baffled at how someone could get their hands on that many old skis! I think it would make me happy each morning to see this rainbow!

The upside to the DIY Ski fence… no need to repaint! Talk about low maintenance.

Inspiration for repurposing old skis into DIY furniture…

DIY Ski Bench

 

DIY Ski Adirondack chairs

My favorite that would look aaamazing and classic – the repurposed runner sled and snow shoe chair! I want one because it brings back the old school runner sled days – no sled I swear is faster or as much fun as careening down the snow with three people stacked on top hanging on for dear life praying the driver won’t make a turn!!!

DIY Runner Sled Snow Shoe Chair

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Business Bits: Business Billboard Art

 

Business billboard sidewalk chalk art? In case you’re looking for a unique way to promote your bricks and mortar business (or outdoor show booth) that is virtually free – assuming you can draw, use a template or find a great artist friend – check out this inspiration! Dragon sidewalk chart art was at the entrance to an ice cream shop “Treats” and next door happened to be a magic shop “Tricks”.  Maybe you’re a bath shop next to a massage shop? How about island chalk art, bathtub with bubbles and duckies with an arrow to “Rub” and another to “Tub”. The possibilities are endless and Yes as a potential customer this art did get my attention to stop and check it out…didn’t need a trick but did need a treat!

I know you’re thinking this is just and exception and no one really does chalk art for business but big business does…cable channel TBS, Nike, American Medical Association have all used chalk art to promote.

Another bricks and mortar (or show booth) business billboard inspiration is the 101th use for a repurposed picture frame. DIY this picture frame with a mesh backing and add rotating hangers for new and changing merchandise inside!

Creating a business billboard with art? Would luv to see it and share it!

Public Art: Pioneer Square People and Rodents

On a recent trip to Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle, I stumbled on this fab work of public art that really captures the diverse people in this historic area that make it so unique! Luv the stylized look and did you notice the hats? 4 out of 5 people luv their hats – at least from this artist’s perspective! I didn’t see the artist signature on this piece of work so if you know – drop me a note and I’d happily give credit.

Pioneer Square is known for its diversity of everything from people, art galleries, delicious food, great music, to quirky shops, street performers and amazing architecture! One of the first historic areas of Seattle and well worth a visit especially if you can make it to the First Thursday Art Walk. Put Occidental Square on your day trip itinerary which always has unique rotating public art too!

Did I mention Pioneer Square was diverse? Here’s another great public art creation by Kate Tesch. Furry rodent meets iron lollipop is my interpretation but likely not the artist. I luv the painting style which make the rodent actually look cute and evil in a crazy hair short of way. Even luv the background which could have easily been a single boring color but is instead mixed color blocks adding great depth. Would I have it in on my wall? It’d be a great conversation starter if I did!

 

Sometime side streets and alleys have the best surprises for public art!

Related articles

• Pioneer Square Living: Art from Seattle Streets (aptalumni.com)
• Historic Living Pioneer Square: Occidental Park (aptalumni.com)

Public Art: Trompe l’oeil Bakery Window

 

I luv this public art trompe l’oeil bakery window on the outside of a restaurant building! It couldn’t be more perfect with the real tree hanging across the top and the bench just outside where you’d be hanging out waiting for someone to call you in for fresh baked pie!

I’m not usually a fan of trompe l’oeil painting style, especially when I’ve seen them inside homes. Generally, it looks so fake I just can’t even make the mental leap.

Trompe l’oeil style works best when all the elements around the painting work with it to keep up the illusion. Here’s some other great pieces that have all the elements working together to make you a believer in magic (click on the photos to link to their source)!
Tufted velvet wallpaper for a headboard wall

Trompe l’oeil plates on the wall

 

Trompe l’oeil trellis garden

 

Inspired yet!

Business Bits: Quick Design Fixes

Every so often, I’m going to share a few resources that save you time -time that you’d rather spend doing something else whether you’re a blogger, biz owner or just a person with a lot of things to do. This is all part of why I do luv my spare time  – because really, time is the only thing you never get more of and you always have to make choices how to spend your time.

Just in case you’ve been nominated to update the Family Reunion logo, a blogger, marketer or business owner, thought this might come in handy. Handy time-saving solution to avoid those hair ripping moments when you just don’t have the right program, time to watch hours of self-help YouTube tutorial videos or just plain lack of patience!

99Designs (no I’m not affiliated or haven’t been paid by the company) launched a new flat rate service called Swiftly.  Swiftly focuses on quick design fixes…updating a tag line, resizing a photo, changing the file format, switching out backgrounds and all that stuff.

Why does it seem awesome? The flat rate is $15 bucks and jobs are completed in a day. Seems pretty simple and has all the right ingredients for success – speedy turnaround, super cost-effective and easy to request a project which equals time back in my day!  I have high hopes since the approach is what I use in my day job (not a designer but procuring design services). You don’t always need the “platinum” service level with its platinum price for the project that really only needs the “bronze” level of effort and price to get the job done.

Let me know if you’ve tried it out! I’ll be sharing my first try it out projects too.

Related articles:

Fast Company Mark Wilson trys it out

 

Drab to FAB DIY Rolling Cart

Just had to share this Drab to FAB, ugly ducking to beautiful swan DIY repainted teacart! This is the type of teacart you pick up at places like Tuesday Morning, Ross or Marshalls and you can’t be sure it’s real wood…but it has such a great style you just can’t pass it up. And no, this isn’t the teacart you’re likely to pass down through the generations as an antique and this DIY retro party cart isn’t either!

The ugly duckling teacart start out with this hideous bad…and I mean really bad black paint finish. The shape of the curved shelves underneath, the carved legs and the classic tray top had all the making of “good bones”.

So how do you transform it into the FAB beautiful swan? My two favorite DIY repainting tools, Krylon Espresso Satin spray paint and Antique Gold rubbing wax!

1. Tape off the wheels so you don’t cover them in paint

2. Hand sanding – Yes this did require some hand sanding (100 grit does a quick job) since most of it wasn’t real wood just a very heavy fiberboard. Any machine sanding would have likely damaged it. In case you’re think ugggh hand sanding! It really only took about 20 minutes to get it decently smooth

3. Paint – Just a little over 1 can of spray paint to put on 3ish coats and give it good coverage.

4. Add rubbing wax – After it dried for about a day I added rubbing wax with a cloth. Just a very thin coat rubbed around the top edge to give it a bit of style and keep it looking just a bit aged

Viola! DIY Repainted Teacart is ready for its job of hosting a teaparty for its charming owner (no it’s not at my house).

Check out the transformation photos (you can view as a slideshow by clicking on any photo to start)

Recycled Radiator Furniture

Oh yea! I had to share this awesomeness of a repurposed radiator chair! This is seriously the best use of an old radiator I’ve ever seen. I did try it out and it really needs a cushion or you’ll have some butt lines!  Yep this was at Anthropologie which is why I tend to drop in just for drooling over the cool and unusual.

The radiator chair does have some great design lines and if you thought it was the only use of old radiator parts for lounging here’s another equally cool piece …

Source: inhabitat.com

So stop covering up your old radiators! Search out a design friend who’ll take your radiators (plus and a few others) and whip you up one of these treasures!

P.S. I wouldn’t even be crazy enough to suggest this as a DIY project for the average bear but let me know if you try it!

 

Drab to Fab: Bamboo Chairs

 

Sometimes furniture just needs a little rehab and doesn’t require a lot of time like these awesome bamboo chairs!  These are super comfy on our patio but as you can see on the left – they got pretty drab! The outdoor elements started to take a big toll.  Weathered, dried out and stained from rain -ewww! Yes they are under cover but not completely weather proof.

I’d been dying to try out this Krylon spray stain I saw on my last visit -wierd I know I check out paint. Pretty sure Krylon should hire me (which they haven’t) or I should buy stock since I luv all their stuff! Why am I raving on about this spray spain?

Stain on regular wood works great but stain on bamboo doesn’t  – trust me I tried. Bamboo is such a hard wood it won’t absorb regular liquid stain so this was the perfect project for spray stain!  Here’s the deal with Krylon spray stain – it sticks just like spray paint but looks like stain which is awesome!  Hand painting all the round surfaces of these chairs would pretty much torment me!

The best part about the spray stain is its translucent – yep you still see the grain of the wood through the stain – Luv for adding the little bit of color! I wouldn’t suggest using spray stain on your antiques which would be like slapping a paint brush job on your car – just not the right tool for the job.

Here’s a great look at how weathered they looked before and how fab the bamboo looked after…

And most importanly how did it look on the patio garden? I know you were thinking the pillow colors were just too much but it picks up all the great colors in my succulents and their pots!  Still debating changing out the cushion fabric but that will be for another day…it requires sewing a zipper so I have to psych myself up.

 

Public Art: Look High and Low

Sometimes you just don’t know where you’ll find public art and the story behind it! Wall murals or manhole covers are pretty easy to spot, but sometimes you have to look high and low to see unexpected public art! This makes it a pretty fun scavenger hunt since you don’t know what your hunting for if you’ll actually find anything at all!

Found this interesting tie guy, that’s at least what I call him, up high on a fence post in the Santa Barbara Funk Zone.

A block later, I found the same looking tie guy on the sidewalk

 

Here’s my completely made up titles for the random public art of tie guy:

• Can’t bear to look…I’m wearing a freakin’ tie! No one wears ties!
• X and O….please I need a kiss and a hug right there and there
• Luvin’ the new tic- tac- toe lab coat!

Yea maybe I’m luving public art too much and this was just a random act of line drawing…no story and no plan to make it art.  That’s ok I’ll take art where ever it’s found just because it makes life a little more interesting!

“The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”
~Pablo Picasso

Enjoy your spare time wandering across random art!

 

DIY: Tables in the Air

 

 

 

Who couldn’t use a little more floor space and a unique piece of furniture? A walk through Anthropologie always get my wheels turning on doing things a little different. I luv this idea of a DIY table in the air and suspended for a night stand! 

Ok I haven’t officially tried my own yet, but it’s on my list and would luv to hear if you have! The DIY plan for the suspended table looks pretty simple. Piece of cut plywood stained or painted. Drilled holes for the rope and knotted on the underside. Depending on the weight you’re planning to hang J-hooks, like something used for heavy planters would do the job screwed into the ceiling for a night stand. Anchoring the hooks for sure is required! 

I can tell you I luv sitting in rope swing seats table side that we found at a restaurant in Belize. If I could rig up hanging swing seats for my patio table I definitely would! I think swinging things just make you feel like a big kid and who doesn’t want that carefree feeling again!

How about a suspended table! Luv this idea

source: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com

Maybe a great living room suspended coffee table is the piece of your dreams!

Photo by Patrick McMullen

Have a small space and need the dining area to do double and triple duty?  Luv this suspended dining table that can move between low floor height for a Japanese dinner, dining chair height and then just completely reeled up to the ceiling to use the entire floor space below…genius!

Source: newpublicdomain.com

Enjoy figuring out how to make your furniture hang in the air! Shoot over a pic if you’ve tried a suspended table and any tips. I’ll be sure to share and credit back to ya!