Have you ever made anything for your listing?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

Over the years of knowing many of you, I have noticed we have quite a creative group of people here in the CC. Many of you have great flare with the paint brush creating artworks for your walls, some of you have constructed your own furniture, knit beautiful blankets and some of you have even built the whole house. 🙂

These personal touches can really make your listing feel like a home.

Have you ever created anything for yours and do they ever become a talking point with your guests?

It would be great to hear your experiences.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Helen427]

 @Ava0 Dud your gran teach you?

[Ava30]

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@Helen427 wrote:

 @Ava0 Dud your gran teach you?

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Yep, she did and Mom as well. 

[Lizzie]

Aw, I love traditions that pass down in families. These look great @Ava30. Have you taught any one else how to make these yet?

[Ava30]

@Lizzie, my youngest child (29) is showing an interest now. I just taught a class for Beginners at a local community center. That was interesting. 

[Susan653]

So lovely to see everyone's creativity and skills. 🙂

There's a great second-hand treasures store in my neck of the woods where I buy whatever strikes my fancy for the apartment (haven't paid more than $1 for a picture frame in years!) As far as furniture is concerned, only the most desperately in need of TLC--and therefore cheapest--will do for my needs. Between that store and craigslist, I've rehabbed at least a half dozen pieces and counting. I also knitted the covers for the throw pillows in the living room (don't have photos, but they're kinda cute) and have found ways to spruce up trouble spots with thrown-together solutions (see below). 

I have to say, though, that the most appreciated creative endeavor is my older son's paintings from when he was very much younger. He's now 13 and still making beautiful art, but in the apartment, I have six watercolors he made between ages six and eight and so many people have commented on how much they loved them. 🙂 I agree that this kind of touch reminds guests in a nice way that this isn't a hotel, but a home (or, in this case, an in-law apartment attached to our home) and encourages them to respect the space accordingly.

Refinished & painted the table & did chair seats w/collage of vintage Mystic images. (chairs are from my grandma's. :)) Also knitted the whale table runner.This one wants to be sideways for some reason. Another second-hand find that became a fun painting & stenciling project. I've since "stolen" them for MY living room & replaced with other nightstands I repainted, heh.Made that thing on the wall from driftwood and shells collected from one of our local beaches. It's titled "An Act of Desperation" since it's only purpose is to cover some ginormous anchor holes my ex made in the walls when he installed bookshelves in there. He took the bookshelves and left me with the holes. A metaphor for our marriage?"An Act of Desperation, Part II" The woodstove I inherited from my parents turned out to be so old as not to meet EPA standards in our state, so I had to get rid of it. Can't afford to replace it and I had to put SOMETHING there. Probably shouldn't have featured this, it's so embarrassingly easy to do--but it looks REALLY COOL lit up and it was so ridiculously inexpensive to put together. I'm all about the cheap.

[Lizzie]

I know what you mean @Susan653, I knew we were a creative bunch here and it's so nice to see what everyone has been creating. 🙂 

I really like you candle holder, sometimes the most inexpensive ideas are the best and it works very nicely with your colour scheme. 

I love that you have such a keen eye for finding a bargin and then renovate the pieces, is there anything in particular you always look out for?

[Susan653]

@Lizzie, thanks! The candle/luminary thing is easily done with cinderblocks from your local hardware/Home Depot-type store and electric candles (I ordered some very nice wax ones online and the remote that came with them has different time settings, which is cool.) I'm not ashamed to say that I conscripted my children to build the cinderblocks into practice configurations in the store so I had a design plan before lugging those suckers home! I wanted it to look like a tree shape when lit. 🙂

Please ignore stovepipe looming behind; has since been removed!

I tend to look out for second-hand furniture that could use cosmetic work but not repairs--I stink with hammer, nails, and glue, but am good with sanding and painting. I also like to buy old wooden picture frames that I'll paint and use to display the kids' artwork or interesting ephemera. I have a map of the 1939 World's Fair from The New Yorker bought on ebay for a few bucks (I'm a native New Yorker and love that stuff). Anyway, I plan to have it professionally framed in an art-deco bubble glass frame also picked up for a song. Would much rather bring new life to old stuff than just buy new stuff.

Since we live up the street from the river and just a couple miles from the ocean and the Long Island Sound, there's plenty of driftwood to be found and it's useful for so many things. Here's a driftwood plank I whitewashed and did up (had to make my own stencil for this one):

Once again covering anchor holes!

Driftwood's also super-handy for displaying my son's paintings (as bragged about in my original post;)):

[John1929]

Love your artwork

[Donna240]

Ikea Chest of drawers converted to bathroom vanityBathroom vanity

[Donna240]

I made my bathroom vanity and sink from an Ikea 9 drawer dresser. It had great storage space and even though I would have to lose one drawer to put the sink in place, it was my best option for extra storage. The bathroom was small and a regular vanity would have been too deep for the space so I had to improvise. The original drawer fronts were made of lime green plastic, so I covered them with Japanese rice paper and epoxyed the fronts to make them waterproof. The chest was made of particle board with a thin wood veneer, so I used boat resin on the veneer to make it a bit thicker and waterproof.

[Rhonda95]

I made all the curtains in our listing. I actually made them from Doona covers so they would match the doona covers on the beds

[Sarah977]

There's almost nothing in the guest quarters, or any of the rest of the house, that I didn't do myself. Laid every floor, shower, and countertop tile, painted every wall, made all the curtains, the pillowcases, the duvet cover. Wooden chair found by the side of the road, painted up, with custom-made cushion. Blanket and rug bought from local craftspeople, handmade. Towel bars, window frames and decorative security bars custom-made by local welder. Little nested bedside tables are hand-carved teak from Indonesia. Art done by friends or my kids. 

Many guest comments, the best being-"I've been so inspired-you make me want to make me build my own little house." This from someone who's been contentedly nomadic for years.

[Linda1213]

Love to see everyones efforts! We call our place Coconut  Casita... and in that vein, everything has a tropical, laued back vibe. Made bathroom vanity out of an old bamboo desk. Painted an asian cabinet a bright tropical green. Painted a door in blackboard paint that has lots of Airbnb tips and a beachy saying. Made the bed by covering an old headboard in a rug. Favorite.... while i didn’t make it, i refurbished a retired broken surfboard and hung it on the wall....We get comments on all of it 🙂

[Robin4]

@Lizzie @Linda1213 @Rhonda95 @Donna240 @Sarah977

I make everything I can for my listing. The bed headboard and base I made from scratch and I also made the bedside tables. They were actually wood chairs which I cut the back off, covered the seat and made a plinth to build them up to the right height and serve as a base. And I of course antiqued them like I have everything else in this property to give it a bit of uniqueness!!

I put the ceiling in, the cupboards, the bathroom.....everything that has happened here I did from scratch. I make everything that happens on this property and that gives me a feeling of self worth....a feeling of usefulness that many people my age tend to loose.

I would far rather make it than go out and buy it!  It might not be as good as Huma's....but every bit of it is me!

Cheers......Rob

[Lawrene0]

We did build the treehouse from scratch (and scrap...), @Lizzie, and I knitted or wove most of the blankets for it and the slippers we provide, also out of odds and ends. Harry made the bedframe and table in the guestroom which is our other listing. The kitschiest thing I have knitted for the listing is this throw pillow for the guestroom. I put it in the photos to keep away any prospective guests looking for taste and style. 😉