When people mention timber, we often think of the outdoors. After all, we use them to decorate our gardens, from plant beds and planters to garden steps, to even the pathway as well as furniture for our garden. However, did you know that these sturdy pieces of wood can also be used indoors?
Timber sleepers are a great addition to your home, providing your interior with a touch of charm, character, and natural balance. For example, having wood furniture in a modernised home adds a touch of nature to the interior, right? The rustic effect that the timber provides to your interior makes you feel refreshed and still in touch with nature.
The functionality and style that sleeper timber furniture adds to your home interior make it an appealing design to many homeowners. If you’re one of them, here are five nifty ways you can use sleeper timbers for your home.
Plant pots
There’s no doubt that houseplants are a great way to decorate your home. Plants provide your home with greenery, enough to refresh your eyes and mind. It’s also proven that houseplants have a positive effect on our health, reducing stress levels and improving the air quality at home. Houseplants can become a great way to spend time with your kids and family, too!
However, growing indoor plants will require plant pots, which can cost you a lot as they grow bigger! You can save on expensive plant pots by using timber sleepers. It’s the same as using sleepers for your garden’s plant beds, the number of sleepers you use depends on the plants you have indoors. Just remember to use a waterproof membrane to line the inside of your sleeper before filling it with soil to prevent any water leakage!
Mirror frames
If you have little space at home, using a mirror will create the illusion of a bigger space. But what would look better if the mirrors had beautiful frames to it?
Generally, frameless mirrors are less expensive than those with frames. You can use timber sleepers to add style and life to these mirrors. Not only that but because of a sleeper’s length, it won’t be hard for you to find the right dimensions for your mirror!
Shelves
A growing family will need more storage spaces to place their stuff. Using sleepers as shelves can be an inexpensive way to create more storage space for your home.
Despite their bulky appearance, timber sleepers are ideal for shelves. These pieces of timber make sturdy sleeper shelves, allowing you to place items from books to toys to even your precious collection of CDs and vinyl records.
Also, you can adjust the size of your sleeper shelves to the dimensions of your space. You can cut timber sleepers as big or small as you want, making it fit to your home!
Kitchen island
Whether it’s a kitchen island or an indoor bar, using sleeper timbers in your kitchen is a budget-friendly way to upgrade your kitchen.
Kitchen islands made of sleeper timbers add a natural look and feel to your kitchen and also fit in perfectly with a wide range of kitchen styles. Not only that, using sleeper timbers for your kitchen island will cost a lot more than using typical materials such as marble.
DIY-ing your kitchen island with sleeper timbers can be a great family project, and you can use complementary accessories and lighting to add your personal touch to your kitchen island!
Wine rack
Who doesn’t love wine? And the experience makes it better when you get your wine from a great wine rack! It feels a bit fancier, right?
Creating a wine rack with sleeper timber is a great DIY project. It adds a bespoke touch as well as a personality to your home. Sleeper timber wine racks can also be great personalised gifts for friends during special occasions!
There’s no limit to creating a sleeper wine rack— whether you cut holes in the sleeper or attach pegs to the timber, the design possibilities are endless!
Upgrade your home today
Over the years, homeowners have noticed the possibility of using sleeper timbers for their homes. It’s not only for outdoors and gardens anymore, rather, it can also perfectly fit indoors! You can use sleeper timber to create a wide variety of accessories and furniture for your home— it’s not only limited to what we’ve mentioned here! You can trust a sleeper timber’s sturdiness to create functional furniture and add a unique and bespoke touch to your home.
Ever since I saw the James Turrell show at the Guggenheim in New York last Fall, I’ve had lighting on the brain. Turrell’s masterful shaping of light has made me look at the possibilities of art and design in a whole new way. Wowed by his light installations, I started looking into alternative lighting for the home.
James Turrell reminds me that light can be 3-dimensional, so I’ve found some amazing Turrell-inspired lighting below.
Thanks to updated designs, we no longer need to settle for generic Christmas lights. I previously posted about the Restoration Hardware fab-orific light garland in my Double Duty Holiday Décor Guide, but bulb string lights are also a fave of mine. I’m sure you’ve seen these pop up a lot lately, from restaurants to outdoor events to rooftop terraces, the bulb string lights add vintage romance instantly. It’s like Paris in a box (of lights).
PartyLights.com Bulb String Lights, $25-35
The dioder LED light set from Ikea offers the most versatility when it comes to designing with light. Position these color-changing light strips virtually anywhere – under the bed, above cabinets, under a desk, behind a tv, for a futuristic look.
Dioder LED Light Set, $40
Designed by Peter Bristol, the Corner Light is the perfect embodiment of multi-dimensional lighting. Although a pricier alternative, it’s such a minimalist statement piece that you won’t need much else to complete a room.
Peter Bristol Corner Light, $550
Sconces are often overlooked when it comes to lighting, yet there are a boatload of sconce light designs just waiting to be noticed. I like this Caged Edison Sconce. Screw in a different light style whenever you feel like it for a whole new look.
Overstock Caged Edison Sconce, $90
Neon signs are the perfect choice for 3-dimensional décor, they provide a unique source of light while doubling as wall art. Search “neon sign” on ebay to see a hearty selection of affordable neon delights, or get one custom made.
eBay Neon Signs, from $20
For the commitment-phobe, fake it with this color changing dvd. Just hit play to transform your TV into a James Turrell light installation.
Recently, my roommate and I scored a free TV outside of the Housing Works thrift store near our place. Of course, it’s an enormous, junky, box of a thing. Housing Works didn’t even feel like dealing with it. But, hey, it’s a functioning television and we’re college students, right? For us, it was the high-light of the week. Since the day the two of us laboriously lugged the set up our three flights (OK, alright, a lovely gentleman and his dear tween son helped us out), it has been sitting on the floor of our living room. Sad. Alone. Banished to sit on the corner like a problem child punished in day care. Being opposed to the soulless look of many media stands or “entertainment centers” out there, I’ve started to brainstorm for some creative ways to prop up my brand spankin’ new, really old TV. Join me on my brave quest to get my pathetic television off my dusty, wood floor.
Let’s take “TV Stand” literally… I’m warming up to the idea I had of placing my newish television atop an enormous, inoperative, vintage television when I saw this one on Ebay for only $60! I could leave the vintage tv ‘as is,’ or I could get crafty, painting it a bright color or playing with prints to display on the screen, as a frame.
I also love a western-chic vibe. How better to achieve this look than with a barrel? I think, if I could find m’self the perfect ol’ barrel, I would paint it with a glossy, vibrant color that matches my interior. Picture a very modern acidic green or even a silver to revamp the antique piece.
antique barrel – moonstruckcottage, $80
They may be a bit overdone, but I don’t care… I’m a sucker for a suitcase. I love the dreamy touch that stacked vintage suitcases give to a place. A perfect tv stand substitute. Though they might have me turning to the travel channel every hour of the day. Online, I’ve found cases for $25 and $24.95, and if you want to cut to the chase and buy a ‘suitcase table’ – see below – it’ll only cost you $90 on Etsy!
stacked suitcase table – from hunter dear’s etsy shop, $90
Really liking this little ladder. I see tv and film-themed coffee table books filling the four steps…
davis accent ladder – world market, $89.99
I hope I’ve inspired some of you to think outside of the box when it comes to displaying your tube! Would love to hear your favorites, or your own alternatives for the dreaded TV stand…
You don’t have to be OCD to love the organizational high of labeling everything in sight. And there’s something still so charming about the label makers manufactured back in the 70’s and 80’s, before digital budged its way in. Such old-school labellers are so textural, so boldly colored, so painfully retro. Score one of your own on Ebay (Exhibit A) and start labeling all kind of things besides just cupboards, files, etc.
Wine Glass Markers: Even those wine glass bangles start to look alike after a few. Labeling party guests’ glasses with their own name leaves little guessing work.
Tiny Door Labels: Dress the doors in your home with colorful—albeit elfin-sized—labels. This helps guests differentiate between a bathroom door and a closet door without helping them too much.
Last-Minute Greeting Cards: Label makers are especially great for whipping up a birthday or get-well card in a jiffy. Simply type out the subject (i.e. “Sorry you broke your leg, you big klutz!”), stick it on the front of a blank card, scribble a heartfelt line or two within and voila.
Book Labels: Never let book borrowers doubt for one second who that book belongs to by plastering your labeled name inside each cover. Pseudonyms are fun too.
This week my “score” was basically handed to me. It had been left in the apartment I was renting by the previous tenant and was just begging for some DIY. It is the perfect size for the space we are in and I was drawn to the detail of the table (and you can’t beat free). I kicked around a couple different ideas and in the end I went with a fresh paint job to brighten up the whole room!
Table in original state
I kind of love the idea of painting the entire table set the same color. Painting the table, bench and chair the same color the same great shade of green does such a great job of brightening up that space and giving a fairly rustic dining set a little edge.
Farm Table seen on Remodelista
Painting the table with a lace pattern is something I’ve always wanted to do and never had the chance. I decided against doing it on a dining table due to the current state of the table top as well as the wear and tear it will get currently being our only table in that room! This DIY is super simple and I will definitely be tucking this idea for future end tables etc.
Lace painted table at A Beautiful Mess
If the wood on this table were a little better I could have done a nice sand and stain to keep it simple. It would have need a LOT more sanding then I would have felt comfortable doing indoors. With the type of legs the table has, sanding and staining evenly would have been really difficult and I imagine I wouldn’t have been as thrilled with my final result. This is a good DIY for those looking to keep it simple.
Wood staining DIY at familyhandyman.com
I am obsessed with the table now that it has a bright, BRIGHT turquoise paint job, with metallic bronze details no less. After throwing a bright pink linen table runner on it for protection I loved it even more, which is kind of weird. I love how it injects some color into the living room/kitchen area and it has since given me a ton of inspiration for ways to build around it!
