Accessorizing on the Cheap

We are getting ready to add built-ins in our office so I've kept my eyes out for options to accessorize them. 

I found these (ugly) canisters at Salvation Army a few weeks ago for 99 cents each. I really liked the shape and since they are wood, I knew I could easily do something with them. 

This was a pretty easy project. I removed the handles from the canisters, and lightly sanded everything. I knew I wanted yellow and white chevron stripes so instead of using paint, I decided to try decoupage. To prep the surface, I primed and painted the edges of the canisters and lids since I knew the paper wouldn't cover every inch. After finding printable chevron paper online, I printed it and cut the paper to fit on each side of the canisters and lids. I used Mod Podge to glue the paper onto the surface of the boxes. Then I put two coats of Mod Podge over the paper, closely following the directions on the bottle and waiting 15 minutes between coats. Finally, instead of using the old wooden handles/knobs, I installed glass knobs to the lids. 

I love how they turned out!

Striped Stairs and more...

Our back door entry and stairs going into our basement were pretty dingy and depressing. We had old paint, dark moldings, and paneling on the walls; and ugly flooring on the stairs.

So, we did a face-lift to brighten things up and make our entryway more appealing. I saw many pins on Pinterest of stripes on stairs and was very inspired. So, after removing the paneling, repairing the drywall, removing the linoleum flooring on the stairs, and painting the walls, we conquered the stripes. We love how they turned out!

I also found this black (partial) light fixture (below on the left) at a flea market for only $8. My husband combined it with the light fixture pictured below (right) to make it complete. 

 Last, I painted the fixture gloss turquoise. I love how it turned out.

For the walls, I took this old coat hanger and repainted it. See the end result in the picture below.

Over the stairs, I pulled together a bunch of miscellaneous frames and mirrors and painted them to coordinate with the light fixture. I also made the paper wall medallions I saw on Better Homes & Gardens website.

Last, I painted the door with this quatrefoil template I found online. First, I taped off a rectangle on the door to paint the orange. Then, I used the template I found online to make a stencil. When I was ready to trace the image on the door, I used a paint marker to trace the image. Then I went over the traced image with a small detail brush a couple times. It's another fun detail I really like.