I was hesitant to get those black and white pillows from Ikea that seem to have snuck their way into every design bloggers home—turns out they’re perfect.

(Source: instagram.com)

My kitchen art progress—postcard art!

To decorate my walls on a budget, I framed a lot of postcards that I have collected over the years. As a hoarder of postcards—at around 60 cents a pop, they’re hard to resist!—I’ve developed quite the collection of 4x6” images. I have bought many postcards with the intention of using them to decorate my space. In college, I simply taped them above my bed in an interesting formation. Now that I am finally decorating my apartment, I am actually framing them, which is exciting! 

Since custom framing is very expensive (it would probably cost a hundred dollars per postcard if I wanted 4” matting), I’ve gone the thrifty route, which turned out even better than expected. On a recent trip to Ikea, I bought at least ten frames of various sizes. The pre-cut matting that comes with Ikea frames is cut for standard photo sizes, not postcards, so I knew I would have to get my own matting. I brought the measurements of my frames and my “art” (in this case, postcards) to Lee’s Art Supply and had custom matting boards cut to fit my frames and art perfectly. The matting was the most expensive part (between $10-16 depending on the size of the frame), but custom matting really gave my art a professional finish. 

In the picture above, I have three of my favorite postcards. I wanted to put the apple art in a large frame so that it would draw the eye to the piece, since I was getting custom matting I was able to get an asymmetrical cut. I am very pleased with the results!

O’verlays are a cool way to upgrade generic-looking Ikea furniture. 

Amazing upcycling project from an old Ikea dining table. 

Not sure if it is new or if I am just discovering it for the first time, but Ikea has a wonderful collection called Stockholm, which looks like a great alternative to legit mid century furniture which often costs a pretty penny. I have to say I love all of these accent tables (though I’ll need to check them out in person). In my last post, my plan featured the Frame Coffee Table with stainless steel—a more modern/industrial piece than the Stockholm variety. I really love the Karstad Sofa with chrome plated legs, and I know I want my apartment to be some sort of healthy mix of mid century/modern-industrial/rustic, but I haven’t figured out the ratio yet.