Table of contents for Winter 2015 in Do It Yourself

Warm It Up Before temperatures drop and guests arrive, score our top decorating tips for cozying up your home this winter. BHG.com/GetCozy Flea Market Fab Take a look at these must-try makeovers for vintage treasures such as doilies, yardsticks, dishware, and more. BHG.com/OldMadeNew Store More Make furniture work twice as hard with smart storage strategies. Maximize dressers, bookcases, and more with these ideas. BHG.com/SmarterStorage Gifts so Sweet Quick. Cute. Affordable. Our handmade holiday gifts, including these clay jewelry dishes, check all three boxes. BHG.com/HolidayGift…

Hooks are priceless when it comes to conquering clutter. These low-profile GeckoTech Hooks, opposite, are removable and repositionable, and they require no tools thanks to revolutionary microsuction technology. Starting at $5; geckotechhooks.com 1. Frame of mind Here’s an aha moment—a twosided picture frame in a pretty copper finish! And if that’s not enough, the Podium from Umbra features a concrete base that doubles as a storage container. $30; umbra.com 2. Tie one on With an inventive self-locking design, Q-Knot Plus multipurpose ties bundle objects and seal bags. The stretchable ties come in three sizes and colors. $13 for an assortment of 24; ut-wire.com for retailers 3. Narrow it down Though designed with the kitchen in mind, any small space can benefit from the Origami Folding Cart. Offering a convenient…

ROUND ABOUT SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, AND CRAFT A CUTE WREATH THAT SETS THE TONE FOR THE SEASON. 1 Paint both sides of eight sheets of newspaper. After the paint dries, cut petal shapes. Fold and roll petals to create dimension as you glue them to a plastic-foam wreath. 2 Shape a 30-inch piece of 10-gauge wire into a circle. Accordion-fold about 50 1×12-inch felt strips, and thread them onto the wire. Twist wire ends together. 3 Cut a wreath shape from mat board. Embellish makeup powder puffs with tiny beads, buttons, and appliqués before gluing them to the base. 4 Hot-glue wood beads to a flat wood wreath ring. Fill gaps with smaller beads and red felt balls. 5 Cover a plastic-foam wreath with yarn pompoms, felt balls, and…

In the round Humble houseplants form a wondrous wreath, opposite, that will live as happily indoors for the winter near a sunny window as it will outdoors in a shaded spot come spring. Take the wreath to the kitchen sink once a week for a thorough watering. HOW TO MAKE A LIVING WREATH WHAT YOU’LL NEED • 18 polkadot plants (Hypoestes phyllostachya) • Jute liner • 16-inchdiameter living wreath • Potting mix • Preserved moss step 1 Round up materials (a), including 4-inch (or smaller) pots of polka-dot plant varieties in white and pink hues. Water the plants the day before assembling the wreath. Press the liner into the wire wreath form. step 2 Unpot the plants, loosening and removing extra soil and tightly coiled roots (b). Begin fitting plants…

1 Applied art Julia Konya created her dining room’s gallery by elevating a mix of stretched canvases and framed images— including photos of Lilly that, thanks to a phone app, have the look of watercolor paintings. “I used the Waterlogue app and printed the images on regular office paper on our home printer,” she says. 2 Modern bling The dining room’s light fixture comes from Germany, Julia’s homeland. “I bought it years and years ago when this chandelier first got popular. I was originally drawn to the modern linear shape and the traditional crystals,” she says. “I love mixing modern and traditional.” Meet the Konyas! Jarrid and Julia Konya with their children, Lilly, 9, and Noa, 12. Julia blogs about her DIY adventures at cuckoo4design.com. 3 In the vein A…

Play it again This homemade TV stand combines the sturdiness of new furniture with the distressed beauty of a decades-old farmhouse find. To get the look, we created a basic birch plywood box, then fronted it with facing from salvaged planks and doors made from a patchwork of old pallets and discarded porch flooring. To keep things simple, we devised dimensions that allowed the top, bottom, sides, divider, and shelves to be cut from one 4×8-foot piece of ¾-inch-thick birch plywood, and the back from a cheaper ¼-inch piece. When working with salvaged wood, watch for left-behind nails and screws. Accidentally cutting into the old metal could lead to an injury or damaged saw blade. HOW TO BUILD AN ENTERTAINMENT CENTER WHAT YOU’LL NEED • Circular saw or table saw…

1. Ace of vase Ideal for pens or posies, these 4-inch glass vessels are coated in a stucco and concrete mixture and color-blocked. $40/set of three (navy not pictured); carriageoakcottage.etsy.com 2. Eye opener Crack a cold one with a graphic solid-brass bottle opener. $60; fortstandard.com 3. Multifaceted These silver and gold metallic leather coasters are almost too pretty to rest your drink on. $45/set of four; mollymdesigns.com 4. Time to shine Display on your wall a cheerful greeting cut from brushed stainless steel and backed with yellow acrylic. $125; lisasarah.com 5. Light up A copper shade and a matte black arm give this plug-in wall sconce sleek and modern style. $270; onefortythree.com 6. Hint of shimmer A simple pattern in metallic copper and natural linen makes this 18-inch pillow a…

SHARE YOUR PROJECTS! We want to see them. Follow us on Instagram at @doityourselfmagazine Tag your pics with #diyrightnow when you start—and finish!—a project. #diyrightnow The hardest part of any project, quite simply, is starting it. For me, anyway. Whether it’s due to a shortage of time or perceived lack of know-how, getting myself to haul my tools out of the basement and actually dig in is always the biggest hurdle. In the case of my living room wall, it took five years. For five years, this wall taunted me with its weird 1970s painted paneling (you can’t see it well in the “Before” photo, but trust me, it was there). Then I found a new product that’s affordable, über simple to install, and gorgeous. Timeline Skinnies wood planks are…

24/7 INFORMATION & INSPIRATION Feiss Whether you’re looking to make a bold statement or elevate your space as a whole, we have a myriad of lighting designs, from timeless traditional to incredibly innovative. Achieve your design vision at feiss.com Kichler See Kichler for the decorative lighting, ceiling fans, lamps and mirrors as well as landscape and undercabinet lighting solutions that are made for your life and your style. Get inspired using our online catalogs and galleries. Visit kichler.com to see our complete line. Progress Lighting Progress Lighting offers lighting products that meet a variety of consumer lifestyles. Visit us online and enjoy our award winning literature to select the right fixtures for your next project. Visit progresslighting.com Quoizel Quoizel creates timeless lighting fixtures and home accessories designed with you…

1½ HOURS DEAR HANDY GIRL, A door that won’t latch, a door that sticks: I’ve got them both. How do I fix them? DEAR READER, Weird-fitting doors are an annoying home quirk—but luckily they’re probably an easy fix. Examine the hinges, the strike plate, and the door itself to solve the problem. Start by checking your door’s alignment with a level. If it’s not square, you may need to tighten or loosen the screws that hold the hinges to the frame. For example, if the door butts up against the upper corner, you’ll want to loosen the bottom hinge to straighten it out. If your hinges aren’t holding tightly, swap out the original screws for longer versions. Often when a door gets out of whack, the strike plate— where the…

Meet the Homeowner! With one budget remodel under her belt, Jenna Diermann took things up a notch in her California home. Jenna blogs about her DIY adventures and her travels at jennasuedesign.com. 1 Charm Schooled “The day we got the key we started demo-ing the kitchen,” says Jenna Diermann. Character now runs floor to ceiling in the opened-up space. Jenna and her husband, Brad, installed tongueand-groove planks on the ceiling, then accentuated it with beams made from inexpensive whitewood distressed and stained dark walnut. (See page 49 for more info on how they built them.) To age the wood, Jenna took hammers and chains to the beams. “We laid the wood out on a bunch of blankets and went crazy right there in the dining room,” she says. 2 Filled…

Entry bench No dedicated mudroom? No prob. No entry with contractor-built cubbies? No excuse. On just a few feet of blank wall space, you can carve out a place to park daily essentials: shoes, phone, bags, and mail, opposite. Mix and match basic pieces, like we did, to find the right design for your needs. This entire entry took us about a weekend to assemble and cost far less than calling in a pro. The entry bench is constructed from two unfinished stock cabinets from a home center sandwiched between two cut-to-fit pieces of 3/4-inch medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Bench feet The beauty of natural oak grain draws attention to these turned-wood bun feet. At $18 each, they are an affordable way to add personality to a plain furniture piece (see…

1 Hang time Gift your prettiest photos in gilded style. Paint a flat dowel cut a bit longer than your photo and a small binder clip with one side removed. Secure the photo to a cardboard backing with decoupage medium. Use E6000 to glue the dowel to the image and the painted clip to the back of the cardboard. 2 Secret stash A pretty place to contain essentials gives order to a tote bag or purse. To make, simply hand-stitch two layers of your chosen cotton fabric, sandwiching interfacing to provide stiffness. Attach buttons and a leather cord to secure. For full instructions, see page 111. HOW TO MAKE A PURSE POUCH Secret Stash Trace an 8½×11-inch piece of paper onto a folded piece of quilting-weight cotton fabric (the fold…

WHAT YOU’LL NEED • Drop cloth or trash bags • Large canvas • Acrylic paint in several neutrals and colors (We used beige, gray, taupe, white, blue, and aqua.) • Medium-size paintbrushes with mediumsoft bristles • Artist palette • Clear acrylic gel medium (We used Artist's Loft Gloss Super Heavy Gel.) • Painting knife Different strokes Muted hues, acrylic gel medium, and a 36x48-inch canvas team up for a showstopping piece that fills the awkward space above a sofa. Drizzle and dab neutral paints across a canvas (a). Use a paintbrush to spread the paint in free-form and X-shape movements one color at a time, starting with the darkest neutral (b). Overlap is fine, but too much mixing will muddy the colors. Let dry. Brush blue and aqua paints on…

Bottoms up Turn glass bottles into functional works of art. The premium Kinkajou bottle cutting kit includes a bottle cutter, separation rings, sandpaper, a finishing tool, stencils, and glass paint to transform boring bottles into vases, candleholders, and more. $75; bottlecutting.com 1. Sustain-a-bin Made from cardboard and printed with low-VOC vegetable and water-base inks, Mio recycled containers are an environmentally responsible way to organize your desktop. $3 for a set of two pencil cups; mioculture.com 2. Picture This Relive your favorite memories of 2015 with this custom tear-away Instagram calendar, printed on thick matte paper. Link your Instagram account and choose photos manually for each day or have them randomly distributed throughout. $40 for 365 prints; socialprintstudio.com 3. Leg Up Put safety first with this podium ladder. An extra-large platform…

1 Beam Me Up Faux-wood beams made from polyurethane are lightweight. Simply slide the beam over a furring strip attached to the ceiling, and screw it in. Starting at $78 for a 6-foot 3×3-inch beam available in 20 finishes; fauxwoodbeams.com 2. Budget Builder When blogger Jenna Diermann wants to build furniture, she turns to the plans on Ana White’s website. Get 34 furniture projects in White’s book, The Handbuilt Home. Each can be made using basic tools and lumber. $23; ana-white.com 3 City View Showcase your favorite locale with Jenna’s cityscapes artwork. Choose from over 150 cities, or request a custom piece. Sized from 810 to 3040 inches, on heavyweight paper or canvas. $18–$177; jeannasuedesign.com 4. Make the Cut Quickly and precisely cut planks or boards with the Ryobi 15-amp,…

What is woodburning? Woodburning, also known as pyrography, is all about keeping a light, gliding touch as you move a hot penlike tool over wood furniture or home decor to achieve custom designs. Unfinished and soft woods, like pine or aspen, burn easiest. If embellishing finished wood, such as this thrift-store table, sand it before you begin to remove the existing finish. Be patient, go slowly, and practice on different wood types. Soon you’ll have a new hobby to burn up your time during those long winter months. For more info on this table, see page 73. 1 Keep it sweet If your freehand lettering skills are shaky, use woodburning letter tips to create words that look professional. Mark the center of a canister lid with a pencil, then measure…

1 Floor plan This tiled entry opens to the living room with no spot for daily essentials. Instead of welcoming guests directly into the living room, build a multipurpose divider to create a sense of separateness while loading up on function. Visit lowes.com/lci-modularroomdivider for full project plans, plus a how-to video and ideas for customization. 2 In the zone Because it is modular, this divider can be configured as an entry unit, a TV cabinet, display shelves (with optional drawer inserts), and a standalone bench. Talk about versatile! You can build it yourself for less than $300. 3 Color cues Soft blues and greens in the bench cushion and wood tones in the unit’s base and drawers introduce a cohesive color palette for the entry and adjacent spaces, ensuring visual…

Find clickable links to all these sources in the digital edition of this issue. BHGSpecials.zinio.com [P] Paint Color Because of the magazine printing process, paint colors depicted on our pages might vary slightly from manufacturers’ colors. Use paint color names or numbers, when provided, as a starting point. To get a color as it appears in the magazine, take the page to a paint retailer for matching. [T] To the Trade Contact a design professional to find more information about this product or service. EDITOR’S LETTER PAGE 7 Wood panels Timeline in Distressed Gray—The Home Depot; homedepot.com (product line varies). TRY IT: STATE OF THE ART PAGES 8–13 Pages 8– Sofa Atwood in Urban Tweed Ink—Gus Modern; gusmodern.com.Coffee table, area rug Martha Stewart Living—HomeGoods; 800/614-4663; homegoods.com (product line varies). Floor…