enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

currently + currently.

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I really wish I could say the above photos are a before + after of our kitchen chairs. But actually I only have one of the four done. And actually, I only have enough fabric left to do one more. This was one of those projects that I closed my eyes and jumped in without giving it too much thought. The fabric is held in place with paper staples and packing tape. Not my finest hour. But it looks pretty good! And I adore the fabric. It came from good-ness, Leslie's wonderful shop. She is in the middle of moving so what's left is 40% off.

When Paul and I first moved in, I had a million and one decorating plans. I have yet to accomplish 999,996 of them. But I have high hopes for our next place.

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Leave a comment on this post with a fun decorating idea and you will be entered to win a spot in my Get Crafty online workshop. If you have already paid, I will refund your money OR let you pass the free class spot on to a friend or fellow commenter. Winner will be chosen tomorrow at 10am EST.

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79 responses to “currently + currently.”

  1. Jamie H. Avatar
    Jamie H.

    I would looove to win a spot in your workshop! I want to join so badly!!! (But sadly don’t even have $20 to spare at this time. But I’ll cross my fingers.)
    Let’s see…a fun decorating idea…I looove hanging things from my ceiling in the living room/dining room. When I don’t have our ceiling decorated with hanging pirates, skulls, or spaceships from our various adventures (:D), I love adding some color with those paper lanterns. I think they’re so pretty hanging in different colors! A cheap way to add some color to any room! And they usually light up! Even more fun!

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  2. Jesse Avatar
    Jesse

    You can buy plain silver never been used paint cans from the hardware store…I covered them with really funky Hambly papers and then screwed them to the wall in a cool design and used them to store all my scarves!!!

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  3. Panamomma Avatar
    Panamomma

    I like to hang bunting for specific holidays or birthdays. I have plans for a wire or wood hanger that I can clip my children’s artwork or one of my scrapbook pages onto. It has been on my husband’s honey do list since Christmas. Maybe I will get it in time for my anniversary.

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  4. Leslie Westermeier Avatar
    Leslie Westermeier

    Hi Elise,
    I’ve already joined the class and can’t wait to get started! My favorite decorating tip is to use paint… paint makes anything old look new. I especially love the effect of painting ceilings! Most people leave theirs white, but it’s so much more fun to paint it a lighter shade of the walls, or a complete opposite color of the wall to bring your attention up.

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  5. remember moments-krystyn Avatar
    remember moments-krystyn

    I love using those flush mount shelves to display pictures, vases, candles, just about anything. I just love the clean cut look they give.

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  6. Courtney Avatar
    Courtney

    Oh! Oh! I just bought a frame at the local Goodwill and spray painted it black and mounted a magnetic chalkboard in it. It’s hanging in my kitchen and looks fantastic. I love it!!

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  7. Katie Avatar
    Katie

    fresh flowers are my favorite decorating idea 🙂

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  8. Tiffany Avatar
    Tiffany

    I would LOVE to win a spot in your class!! I’ll be back this evening, I have homework + class today..

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  9. leah eggers Avatar
    leah eggers

    That grey fabric is awesome.
    I think lots of green plants against a neutral or otherwise low-key color palette is beautiful. Specifically: terrariums for everyone!

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  10. Katie @ Making This Home Avatar
    Katie @ Making This Home

    Oh cool! Throw my name into the drawing. I think it’s easy for plans to not happen, then we kind of realize that maybe all those plans didn’t matter anyway. Would our houses be better with those million things? Maybe. Would our lives? I’m not sure.
    Katie

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  11. mandie segura Avatar
    mandie segura

    As someone who has lived in a couple of apartments, and cannot always make the changes I would like to make, painting the walls always makes things more interesting, even if you can’t/don’t do much more. I was SO sick of the generic eggshell color of my last apartment, and so was VERY happy to paint our entire living/dining area a dark grey…It’s made a dramatic difference!

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  12. emily kate Avatar
    emily kate

    My fav decorating idea at the moment is wallpaper. We live in a ghetto studio apt. in Harlem and I just had to do something to make it look better. So we did a portion of our living room (hard to explain!) with a really bold print from the easy change Sherwin Williams line. I LOVE it. I will be so sad to take it down when we move this summer.

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  13. Kristin Avatar
    Kristin

    I know this one is old, but I did it myself today, so it’s what came up first: take out the shelves in a book shelf, wrap them in gift wrap and put back in. it can change the whole room … so easy to match with whatever you want to match it with, or add color or a favorite pattern. plus if you need a new bookshelf but are a little short on money, this is a great way to make goodwill furniture like new.

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  14. mandy Avatar
    mandy

    One Word: IKEA. Need I say more? Hugs, M

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  15. Courtney Avatar
    Courtney

    I really love trim work. I think it makes a room. I have so many projects I want to do it’s not funny! I’m with ya girl.

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  16. Heather Green Avatar
    Heather Green

    Let me first say that I love your blog, Okay, my favorite decorating idea is to use bookshelves to display sentimental knick knacks and photos for all to see.

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  17. Kathryn Johnson Avatar
    Kathryn Johnson

    Fabric and paint can do wonders for a space! They are great for adding color and inexpensive enough to change whenever inspiration hits.

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  18. Jennifer Brotchie Avatar
    Jennifer Brotchie

    Hi Elise-
    Buy yourself a $20.00 book at the bookstore that contains illustration photos of a favorite subject like exotic plants, leaves, birds, insects, etc (Usually, they are already in the bargain bin section)…carefully tear out a page and place them in a frame. I have old frames and frames that I’ve bought at the Dollar Store that I’ve painted in a cohesive color. One book can give you a beautiful collection to showcase on a wall that will look like you’ve spent a million bucks.

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  19. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    I just made a fun paper banner a la Anthropologie on Rockville Pike. I hung it in our dining room for Easter, but I’ll be hanging it in my craft space permanently after Sunday. It’s cheap and whimsical! Pictures at my blog: http://tinaamato.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-banner.html .

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  20. sarah Avatar
    sarah

    at the moment our whole house is decorated with feathers. we just put a few on a string and placed them on a long stick. it’s done so quick and it looks great. i think they gonna stay there a while after easter.

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  21. Whitney Avatar
    Whitney

    oh i love decorating ideas!
    I think my favorite part of my apartment is my “quote frame” I have a collection of empty frames hanging on one wall. Most of them are small (8×10 or smaller) so I just kinda “float” a picture inside. I tape them to the wall but you could just as easily stick a piece of glass in the frame and fix the picture to that. The point is you can see the wall and the picture through the frame. I think it looks pretty cool and with no glass I can change the picture around as often as I want. Grouped with the smaller frames I have this one really great frame that I actually got from my grandma’s garage with some ugly floral print circa 1972. It was uber nast. I 86-ed the picture and hung it with my other empty frames. Here’s where the real magic happens. I took pictures of words from one of my favorite lyrics right now and arranged them in the frame (again, just taped to the wall). I change the quote out from time to time and It’s always a fun process to find ways to photograph the words. I usually try to ‘match’ the other pictures to the quote of the theme so it’s got a good feeling about it.
    I’m a picture nut and I love quotes/lyrics so this is perfect for me but you could use anything- cool papers, playbills, ticket stubs, greeting cards, whatever.
    This is the current quote to get an idea of what I mean…
    http://twitpic.com/306ek

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  22. Jessica Fulkerson Avatar
    Jessica Fulkerson

    simple, cheap and super chic: succulents in little pots. they are perfect atop a stack of books on the coffee table, on a windowsill, by a pen cup on a desk. and for black thumbs like me, they are relatively impossible to kill.

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  23. Carrie Avatar
    Carrie

    Oh I totally love the fabric!! And who says the chairs have to match??
    My favorite decorating tip is to repurpose items… I have an iron coat rack in my kitchen that I hang pictures and misc items from… And decorative plate hangers holding picture frames and scrapbook pages… And I added a thin shelf to an old picture frame, hung it on the wall, and used it as a place to display some old glass bottles.

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  24. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    My favorite way to change up a room is to paint an accent wall. Throw up a couple gallery shelves with photos and call it a day. I love that I can change the look of a room within a day and not spending much money!

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  25. Little Miss S. Avatar
    Little Miss S.

    I love the chairs. When I move to my new place I have plans of changing the look of all my chairs – none of them shoul look the same. Would love to see the 4 of yours with different fabric on each – they could still be matching, but they would fun…

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  26. Carrie K Avatar
    Carrie K

    decorating wise right now im obsessed with retro vintage grey and yellow (golden not lemon)
    i love clusters of frames with a mix of prints and pictures…
    would love to be a part of the workshop 🙂

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  27. Jojo Avatar
    Jojo

    my only decorating tip is that a clean house seems to be a pretty house. for some reason vacuuming makes my house seem more put together.
    my other decorating tip is use your own photos to make artwork. most of the framed pictures we have around our house are photos that we blow up and frame. its cheaper then spending money on art and also is fun to remember the memories that are shown in each photo :).

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  28. Verna G. Avatar
    Verna G.

    Buy/Find some cheap or old frames. Spray paint them if you want them all the same color. Then hang them up together. You can leave the wall inside of the frames alone, paint it, or even place cork board within the frames. Then you can place projects or favorite pictures inside and easily change them out.

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  29. Emily S Avatar
    Emily S

    For decorative wall art:
    -Buy a couple yards of pricey designer fabric (Jonathan Adler, new Trina Turk!) you love but can’t afford to recover a whole couch — and stretch & staple it over 1-3 pieces of art canvas. Voila!

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  30. Heather Brittany Avatar
    Heather Brittany

    I had these nasty old couches willed to me. They were way over stuffed and just uncomfortable. I got slip covers from them from target (a neude cordoroy) and took the back pillows off the the sofas. I then got an array of different patterns and shades of blues and browns (all from Target) and lined the back. These sofas are now great! They’re deep now so you can snuggle up on them but really comfortable and so chic!

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  31. Gillian Avatar
    Gillian

    My current obsession is buying artists canvas and applying some of the awesome new vinyl wall arts to them, and then hanging them in groups on my wall. This way if I move or want to switch up my decor, I can just bring the canvas with me and use it again!
    If i don’t win, i’ll suck it up and pay for the class, but i’d love to win! 🙂

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  32. marta Avatar
    marta

    mmm. i would love to win your workshop. a favorite decorating idea would be to have a large grouping of frames ala pottery barn with black and white photos (classic) or children’s drawings. i love it when frames descend the staircase. when i have a child who can draw and a staircase, this is my plan.
    best to you and your chairs.

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  33. Julie Avatar
    Julie

    My favorite way to decorate: spray paint. I can add fun bright colors to inexpensive items quickly and easily!

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  34. Dinah Avatar
    Dinah

    I have a couple!
    I don’t know if they have already been said but:
    1) collecting used frames from thrift stores (in Canada we have the great Value Village but anything works) and then mounting them on the wall either empty with just the wall colour as a background or with a small item like a feather or a flower on a matte background looks really neat.
    2) I saw this in a book once and I dont know how easy it would be to execute but it looked really neat: Find an image that you would like to have on your wall (e.g. a map)
    and then cut it up into pieces that fit into empty cd cases. Then align all the cd cases on a wall to display your segmented and raised image! Link: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/05/diy_cd_jewel_case_photo_frames.html
    Hope you like ’em.

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  35. shaina Avatar
    shaina

    i would LOVE a spot in your class!!! things are pretty tight right now, so i dont even have an extra $20 to splurge on your class, even though i’d love to!!
    a fun decorating idea: check out tara’s wall of photos with a fun TTV frame added. i want to do something like this sooo bad when we buy a house!
    here’s the link:
    http://tarawhitney.com/justbeblogged/2008/06/opam-may-08-photo-wall-in-living-room-after/

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  36. goshery Avatar
    goshery

    My decorating tip is for Christmas decorating . . . which is the most fun! I like to decorate my front door with garland. I buy a long strand of greenery (from the local Boy Scouts) for decorating. I put a screw-in hook thingy (?) in each corner at the top of the door, then wrap some wire around the garland in the appropriate places. Simple loop the wire over the hook thingy and ta da! A beautiful front door! I’ve also added Christmas lights which makes it even more beautiful.
    OK, enough Christmas talk – let’s celebrate Spring!

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  37. Mel Avatar
    Mel

    Right now I love empty pasta jars with candles in the window, they are beautiful lit up, especially in the middle of a cloudy day. Yesterday I added a cup full of easter grass and I have a kitchen window I can’t stop loving!

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  38. Deborah Avatar
    Deborah

    I’d say wallpaper, there’s so many fantastic designs out there – and it covers a multitude of sins, when it comes to not so perfect walls 🙂

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  39. Rachel Dallaire Avatar
    Rachel Dallaire

    My tip is not a great one. 🙂 Use the colors/designs you love (when you’re somewhere you can paint). So many people paint according to reselling the house in the future. Make it what you want it while you’re there. You can always repaint when reselling later. Use what you love.

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  40. Celina Avatar
    Celina

    One of my friends took several empty picture frames of all sizes (without the glass)and hung them on a wall. Inside each frame she mounted a large binder clip, and she clips her kids’ current artwork in the frames. This way it is easy to switch out the artwork often and easily. You could do this with photos, srapbook paper, and holiday decorations too.

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  41. Jaclyn Avatar
    Jaclyn

    Remember that colour is important and no matter how creative you get, how messy you get, how many times you re-do something … things can always be changed and updated. Don’t be afraid to be daring because if you don’t like it, change it! Be inspired. Be creative. Be you. Cheers xo

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  42. jen geigley Avatar
    jen geigley

    FUN! i love home re-do projects.
    my latest obsession is Spoonflower – http://www.spoonflower.com/ – where you can print your own custom fabric. totally innovative and so useful. you could totally do something fun and use it for your wedding, too!
    (and just like everyone else, YES, i’d love a spot in your class!)

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  43. Nadia Avatar
    Nadia

    I love words! and I love paint! I picked a quote I liked and stamped it right on the wall. it looks fab. down the hallway I decided to stamp all the family words as a border – mom, dad, sister, brother etc. as it houses all of our family photos. I love it! people always comment that they wish they were brave enough to do it. it’s just paint for pete’s sake! I have yet to cover my kitchen chairs (grin). ciao!

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  44. Kristin T Avatar
    Kristin T

    Ombre!
    I want to paint a wall with that effect!
    ~Kristin

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  45. Stephanie W. Avatar
    Stephanie W.

    i spent last weekend painting an old carpenter’s chest. I hope to put a glass top on it and use it as a coffee table + hidden storage.

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  46. Katy Avatar
    Katy

    Love the pattern on your covered chair … I see a theme running through with the grey!
    We are just about to decorate our living room … we have the wall paper on order and are just going to use it on one wall, behind our fire place … to make it a feature wall. I’m looking forward to it being done, I think it’ll make a big difference.

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  47. Vanessa Avatar
    Vanessa

    i would like to give a big shout out to the little old lady (i assume she was little cos arent they all, in my head at least) who lived in my apartment before i did. She painted the walls the strangest colors and i have really grown fond of them. My living room is an apricot tropical peachy color and thusly has forced me to just go with it cos there was no way i was painting! So i guess thats my best tip. Paint things weird colors or move somewhere where its already done : )

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  48. Amanda Susan Avatar
    Amanda Susan

    I don’t really have a decorating tip because I just tend to have piles all over the place. One of my favorite things in my house though are blown up pictures of my parents and I in Europe. It’s better than buying a generic picture.

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  49. Sarah H. Avatar
    Sarah H.

    It must be spring, because I have been in a decorating frenzy this last week!
    One thing I am definitely doing is clearing out a lot of space, looking at the blank slate and deciding how I can re-purpose/re-invent with stuff I already own. I am really liking the idea of random sized sewing hoops with cool fabric stretched across them. Also reorganizing books by color. Sometimes less is more! It just feels so good to see things in a new light.

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  50. bree Avatar
    bree

    I love the chairs….were slowly redecorating our house…theres some pics on my blog of some before and afters…..slowly but surely were getting there. My biggest decorating feat is making one painting for every room. I want our house to have my personal touch…my art. So far I have finished 2 rooms and I love them!!! Good luck on your decorating endeavors!!!

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