I'm not doing a full review today but more an overview of each one to give you a flavour of the book and hopefully you will want to check them out some more!
But before I get started I just want to thank CICO Books for sending the books to me. I'm not being paid by CICO Books to talk about the books but I do use affiliate links on my blog so there are affiliate links in this blog post.
Right, shall we get started?
1. Furniture Hacks And Other Creative Updates For A Unique And Stylish Home - Hester Van Overbeek.
Furniture Hacks by Hester Van Overbeek
is filled with some lovely ideas ranging from just adding a lick of paint to spruce up a tired looking piece to construction projects that will need power tools. I was lucky enough to go to Hester's book launch party at West Elms where we got to make the plate wall clocks projects from her book. It was great fun to do.When we first moved into our new house I was like, we are so going to upcycle all the furniture, picked up from junk yards and car boots, obviously, no IKEA, and bespoke the heck out of our décor. A year later on and we have bought new furniture, we are an IKEA haven and the only upcycling we have done so far is painting the kitchen chairs different colours, which look pretty cool by the way!
Yeah, reality hit fast when I realised that time for all the projects in my head was short and that we needed furniture to unpack our moving boxes into STAT. So now I've reassessed and I'm thinking that I'm going to IKEA hack my way to a bespoke décor and so Hester's Furniture Hacks could not have come at a better time for us.
I would say that you would not need much experience to get cracking on many of the projects in this book, so if you are a completely newbie you can get to it immediately. Although it might help for some of the projects for example I would be cleaning my draw fronts then putting a clear top coat of vanish over the Washi Tape decorated draw fronts 'coz that stuff will be peeling off after a few days I can tell you!
Nitty Gritty:
The book is hardback, measures approximately 19.5 cm wide x 24 cm high, recommended retail price £14.99, 144 pages and is split into areas inside and outside of the living space with an overview of tools, materials, techniques and UK sourcing suggestions at the back. Beautiful styling photography and some handy step by step instructions and photography.
Favourite Furniture Hacks Projects:
Some of my favourite projects from the book - the Wooden Bed Surround, the Outdoor Bench, the Bedside Light just to name a few. I will definitely be dipping in and out of this book as we try to make our house a home.
2. Wall Art 35 Fresh And Striking Projects To Decorate Your Walls - Clare Youngs
When I first saw the cover photo for Wall Art by Clare Youngs
I thought it was just going to be all about art you do directly on the wall. But it is more than that, there are a huge range of decorating projects including things to hang and things to add to the wall surface itself. As the tagline says there are 35 ideas and what I really love about this book is that there are ideas for using all sorts of materials from fabric to live decoration with plants. There are both 2D and 3D artwork ideas in this book, which is right up my street as I love tactile 3 dimensional art.Lovely project photography, I would say there are more project close ups than styled in a room type of photos. But it is a balance between being able to see the project and giving an idea of how it looks in a room and probably close-ups are more important for the reader. There are many projects that will be familiar to Papercrafters such as papercutting, stamp making as there are projects that will be familiar to stitchers and artists. I think that is what I like most about this book, it brings together ideas from many disciplines into one dip-in resource. So there is an idea for everyone whatever your preferred craft and if you are a newbie then lots to try out.
Nitty Gritty:
The book is softback, measures approximately 19 cm wide x 23 cm high, recommended retail price £12.99, 144 pages and is split loosely into types of projects and each section has a range of different ideas so it is a little hard to categorise into themes. There is also a short techniques section at the front and some templates for some of the designs at the back and a US and UK suppliers list. Projects are photographed in details and close-ups, with some close-up of an area in the house styled photos. The step by step photographs are done as coloured illustrations.
Favourite Wall Art Projects:
I love the Furry Friends Trophy Heads, I'm thinking I might do a cats head one, the Pretty Patchwork is fun and a great way to use up some of my patterned paper stock! Then there is the Reclaimed Wood Panel and all the directly on the wall work ideas I'm loving too.
3. Paper Pom-Poms And Other Party Decorations - Juliet Carr
Back to my roots with this book and a nod to papercrafters everywhere - lets get our PARTY on because it is Paper Pom-Poms And Other Party Decorations by Juliet Carr.
Banners, Garlands, Bunting are the DIY Party crafters' staple and massively popular in occasional and seasonal home décor. Think Christmas, Hanakkah, New Year, Birthdays, Partys, Halloween, yep all NEED a banner, garland, bunting the lot!There are some amazing things going on with tissue paper in this book and I'm keen to have a go at some of them, I think that many of them would add a lovely feature to many a party décor theme or even as more permanent home décor features, perhaps matched with some wall art (see above). But there are also a couple of projects that I'm not sure would look anything other than screwed up bits of paper in my hands but I'm willing to give it a go!
The book is a great resource if you are into DIY party decorations and would be great for a beginner or someone with more craft experience looking for some inspiration.
The book is softback, measures approximately 31 cm wide x 27.5 cm high, 128 pages, recommended retail price £12.99 and is split into three sections including a Centrepiece and Showstoppers section with giant flowers - love the giant flowers. There is also a materials and tools section and some templates plus a US/ Canada and UK suppliers section. There are lots of project close-up photos, a few styled in a room close-up photos and photo step by steps.
Favourite Paper Pom-Poms Projects:
The large flowers - yeah I mentioned them already! Love them! I adore the Giant Rose and Giant Gerberas. I also want to have a go at the Cupcake Flower lights, very cute. Oh and great to see the Dreidel Bunting. Fab idea!
Three different craft DIY books but all great for any Home Décor enthusiast or the crafter wanting to spread out to big projects for the home. They are all a great curation and showcase for some lovely and handy contemporary décor ideas and each has something for any level of crafting experience. So which one would you pick? Or do you have any of them already and what do you think of them?
Let me know in the comments below.
Kim
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I have always painted my furniture since I was a teen.. I even painted furniture to match a new house even though I only had a month to move. After two decades I painted my plain oak kitchen chairs funky colours with piles of art on them... I still cherish those great pieces!! I bought a conversion desk diaper table from Ikea when my daughter was young, that thing as been painted so many times over her three decades of life. Now two portions of it she uses as side tables...they are painted black with silver knobs and it looks like a little tuxedo! So go for it...with a good primer you can paint anything!! The changes are sooo rewarding too!!
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