A Creative Lifestyle Blog By Zoe-Lee Skelton

The Room 4 Interior’s Blogger Desk Challenge

Anyone who has ever lived with me will know that I am both a hoarder and messy. Probably the worst combination. Being a hoarder breeds messiness but my magpie ways are a bit of a hangover from my art student days. I’ve got a little bit tidier as I’ve got older and got into a “grown up” relationship but I know I’m still messy by most people’s standards – especially my boyfriend’s who I’m eternally grateful to for putting up with me.

So when Room 4 Interiors, who sell stylish furniture solutions, got in touch with me and asked if I would like to take part in a Blogger desk challenge,  I thought, perfect. My desk could do with  a makeover and a good tidy as it’s constantly messy. It drives me mad. Plus, I thought I could combine some of the ideas I had from my Bedroom Storage Makeover upcycling competition.

The challenge

Here are the guidelines from Room 4 Interiors Desk Challenge:

“We would like to challenge bloggers and writers to a desk makeover. With just £20 could you find creative, stylish and modern ways to transform their desk? The possibilities are endless and we would like to see what you can do….take a picture of your desk before and after, post it onto your blog telling your readers what you did, how you did it and how much it came up too with a link to Room 4 Interiors as the challenger. Remember to share your before & after pic onto Twitter with hashtag #Room4DeskChallenge”.

Storing my cotton reels neatly is a really big problem I have right now. I use cotton often for my projects and so I decided to upcycle an object into a cotton reel holder.

As the challenge states, I need to share a before and after picture. This is my desk. Before I created the cotton reel holder. I can’t believe I’m sharing this picture, I’m so embarrassed at the state it’s in:

DESK BEFORE

My work space doubles up as many things: a make shift photography studio, hence the lights and the white paper, a place to make my RagnBow bow ties as well a holding space for any other projects I have going on. It’s needs organising!

Here’s how I made my cotton reel holder.

Step One: Source a Plank of Wood

I scavenged an old oak draw at a local junk shop and took the front panel off from the back box. It was heading for the fire so I saved it’s life 🙂

oak draw before

Step Two: Deer Stencil and Spray Paint

The oak panel is real solid piece of wood and I like the grain but I wanted to add some stencil detail to bring it back to life.

deer head stencil detail

Step Three: Add Nails to Hold the Cotton Reels

In between the Deers I plotted out where I wanted the nails to go to hold the cotton reels. nails for cotton reel holder

finished nails

Step four: Draw Handles

I wanted to keep some elements of the draw so I reattached some cute cat draw handles. I will use these to hang ribbons and other pieces of equipment from.

draw handles

Step five: Add the Cotton Reels and Voila, the Finished Product

Here’s what the upcycled draw looks like finished and in situ:

in situ draw

close up cotton reels finished draw

How much did it cost?

Here’s a breakdown of the costs:

  • Draw front: free
  • Draw handles: £7.99 including postage
  • Deer stencil: £7.59 including postage
  • Nails: £2.90 for 50

Total: £18.48

I’m just under budget but it would have probably been over budget if I had used a new oak draw to upcycle.

What do you think of my make? Have you ever upcycled anything to save space and help declutter?

*Room 4 Interiors gave me £20 as a budget for this project.

Interior Design Ideas for the Lounge

When I moved in with my boyfriend just over two years ago he told me he would soon be redecorating the lounge. Well, three years later, we’re still stuck with the same tired looking sofas and worn carpet. The room is cosy, but very dark, which can be somewhat depressing in the winter, especially because we get minimal light through the window anyway.  So I’ve decided to start gathering some inspiration in an attempt to get the project going before winter rolls around again.

I have so many creative ideas rattling around my brain as to what I could do with the space and I know I could spruce the place up at a low cost. I plan to scavenge bits and pieces from skips and recycle existing furniture.

The theme: rustic

I’m going for a rustic theme in a way that brings the outdoors in, with some splashes of colour.  I’d like to incorporate animal elements into the  design too, potentially using a woodland creature theme wallpaper.

I’ve split the project into three core areas; wallpaper, furniture and furnishings and I’ve created three separate mood boards showcasing my ideas.  Perhaps I’ll provide some inspiration for any decorating projects you’re doing at the moment.

Wallpaper ideas

Optimized-Wallpaper moodboard

I’d like to paper one of the lounge walls and keep the three other walls a neutral colour. I’m happy to spend the bulk of our budget on wallpaper because I want something that’s unique and not available from somewhere like Homebase or B&Q because I think the designs lack originality. It’s important to me that if you’re going to use wallpaper in a room it needs to be exciting to look at, like it describes some form of narrative so you never get bored of seeing it. That’s why I’ve decided to go for bright, bold animal themed prints.

If you’ve seen something you like, here’s where you can get it.

From left to right:

  1. Harvest Hair Wallpaper from £60 per roll from Fabrics&Papers
  2. Night owl wallpaper by Arthouse £18.98 per roll from Wallpaper Direct
  3. Exotic birds on branches wallpaper  – out of stock but the link to the listing is on my Pinterest board
  4. Flights of fancy in cream by House of Hackney, £148 per roll available from Wallpaper Direct
  5. Insect wallpaper in orange by Vivienne Westwood, £70.00 per roll from Occa-Home
  6. Owls and twigs wallpaper by Wallpaper Republic Laurie Forehand, £135 per roll, from beat.
  7. Woodland owls in green by Fine Decor, £8.99 per roll from Wallpaper Central 
  8. Tropical birds by Cole & Son, £72 per roll from Designer Wallpapers

Furnishings

Optimized-Furnishings mod board final

Furnishings describes carpets, curtains, shelves and ornaments. I’d like to use rugs and cushions to add colour and animal motifs throughout the room. Some of the items featured are no longer available but I’ve tried to include links where possible.

From left to right:

  1. Terrarium – featured in The Telegraph’s article about enclosed gardens designed by Ken Marten 
  2. Bulb cage pendents by BenclifDesigns – unfortunately this has been sold but there are similar items in Ben’s Etsy store.
  3. Lumber wood recycled into wooden flooring – from my pinterest board
  4. Feathers blank cards by MilesOfLight. These are £7.82 for 6.
  5. Lace inside embroidery hoops – easy make you can do yourself!
  6. Animal pillow cases from Garnet Hill – no longer available but there are plenty of other designs to chose from.
  7. Vintage rug source: http://blinkblink-blinkblink.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/polster.html
  8. Inside look at someone’s log cabin, source: https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/helt-enkelt-11489665/uterum-1022446427/

Furniture

Optimized-furniture

For the furniture, I’m keen to use natural materials like solid wood as well as reclaimed objects like crates for shelving. Here’s where I’ve taken my inspiration, from left to right:

  1. A living room outdoors source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/bohemian-homes-youd-love-to-chill-out-in?sub=2303673_1249547#.sipAjWKGD
  2. Reappropriated crates – you can get these from any grocers source: http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/31-days-loving-live-day-14-versatile-pieces
  3. Aspen sofa source: http://imgbuddy.com/rustic-sofa.asp
  4. Woven textile blankets source: http://www.rotikapdamakan.blogspot.co.uk/
  5. Logs – I like the surface pattern of these
  6. Checked armchair by David Seyfried
  7. Wooden cube shelves – make these yourself with reclaimed wood
  8. Leftover wood coffee table by Lara Donatoni Matana
  9. Tree branches for coat hangers source: http://designspiration.net/image/88300159086/

There’s still a lot more for me to do. And a you can see, many of my ideas embody free materials that need to be upcycled so the project will be quite involved. Luckily my other half is a gifted carpenter so I’m sure he’ll be able to turn something out quite quickly.

If you would like to keep up to date with my new lounge project or if you like some of my ideas, you can follow my New Lounge Pinterest Board.