Thursday, June 2, 2011

Simple Inspiration

Some of my favorite projects start with a simple inspiration.  For example, during my latest excursion to IKEA I knew I wanted some type of playful storage for my daughter's new art area.  I didn't know exactly what I was looking for but I was hoping to find something out of the ordinary to hold all her art supplies.  (She is 16 months, so right now her art supplies consist of washable crayons that are mostly used for eating and drawing on walls, but we are working on the paper concept.  And I just ordered some finger paints but that is definitely a backyard activity!) 

As I walked around IKEA with my project in mind I thought about expanding the use of metal in the room.  I used it here for these planters and it really worked well in this indoor / outdoor space.  This meant the usual plastic kids storage was not going to work.  So I wandered into the kitchen section and jackpot, I found exactly what I was looking for!


Perfect, right!  After a little bit of difficulty (I am power tool challenged) I mounted this bar on the side on the fireplace at Bean height, hung the baskets and now we are ready to create!


She can easily grab her crayons and there is plenty of room for paint brushes, pens and other supplies once she is old enough to use them.


IKEA was out of the hooks that went with this set.  But my Stepmom found them and they are in the mail. So the silver ones that don't really fit are only temporary.  They don't look that bad, but they aren't as secure as the ones that are meant to go with the set.  This set also comes with baskets and other fun things you can hang from it.  There are a few different finishes and looks if you like the idea but want a different look.  And because it is IKEA it was cheap.  I don't remember the exact price but it was under $30 for all the pieces. 

So the morale of the story is take your inspiration outside the box and you may come up with something great!