Today, we have two very cool DIY fiber arts ideas, both via Curbly. If you want to add some personalized flair to your home, consider these!

First up is this duvet cover featuring doodles. It’s a bit labor intensive, but the end result is very cool. You’ll need whatever drawings you’ve doodled. After photographing the drawings, the creator of this duvet cover traced them on to fabric. You’d probably want to buy a solid-colored duvet for this. Lots of work, but you end up with a duvet cover that no one else in the world has.

The second DIY idea is also a great way to reuse old clothing. Using old pairs of jeans, cut into whatever pattern you like, you can make some fun wall art. Just sew on to a fabric back and voila! Jeans and art on your wall.

What do you think of these ideas? What’s the coolest DIY fiber arts project you’ve ever done?

Most people love to pick out colors, fabrics and finishes when remodeling, but I love the first step: space planning. When done right, it can produce a finished room that feels larger and performs more efficiently.

–Natalie Myers, interior designer

Writing for Houzz.com, Myers walks us through the key steps to make sure you’re using your home’s space effectively — no matter the amount or arrangement. Her process will help you find the best arrangement for your lifestyle (after all, that’s what matters), and though she uses wide-open floor plans to illustrate her points, she says “these tips will work for any space-planning challenge, big or small.”

Here are Myer’s steps, quickly. Be sure to read her full piece for the details.

What are your space needs? How much space do you have, and what do you need the space to do? When creating a dining space within a kitchen, for example, make sure to leave room for diners to sit and pull out chairs.

What are your space relationships? Once you’ve figured out what you need from your space, you can start to arrange those spaces in relation to each other. Comfortable seating nearby a children’s play space, for example.

What are the existing conditions? Take into account things you can’t change easily or that affect which spaces go where: locations of doors, electrical outlets, architectural columns, and so on.

Don’t let paths of travel be an afterthought. We’re guessing she’s pointing this out because she often sees this rule violated.

That’s just a sampling of the advice Myers shares in her article for Houzz.com. Any other tips or tricks you’ve learned about effectively using space?

[photo by Richard Shugar AIA, LEED AP, via Houzz.com]

Here’s a new thing that can be recycled and re-purposed: stuffed animals! Tree Hugger tells the story of an artist, Augustina Woodgate, and her rugs made out of the “skins” of stuffed animals.

To make the rugs, she removes the animals’ heads and the stuffing from the bodies and uses the skins, together with other stuffed animals’ skins, to create a rug that looks almost like no other rug you’ve seen before. Its trippy look could work well in a family or living room (we’re picturing it in a mid-century home) or even a child’s room.

What do you think? Weirdest rug material ever or ingenious use of old materials to create usable art?

Photos courtesy of Tree Hugger.

Here’s a cool idea for creating sleeping space in a small space: a bed in a cube (via Apartment Therapy).

In places like studio apartments or basements that are expected to function as both rec room and guest room, sleeping privacy can be hard to find. There’s always the option of the sofa bed, but those aren’t known for their comfort, plus they must be made up and put away daily. And some people don’t like a regular bed in the middle of the room. After all, who wants people deciding to sit on your bed pillows?

This solution, from French Company Du Cote de Chez Vous, offers a very fun solution for limited space. What do you think?

Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

If you are looking for uniuqe furniture or housewares, Etsy is the place to go! This marketplace allows independent artisans and designers to sell their wares online. Here are some gorgeous furnishings we found…

Imagine crowding around this rustically beautiful table for Thanksgiving dinner! We love how the wood has kept the natural characteristics of the tree.

Walnut Natural Edge Wood Slab from jeffharden.

This vintage restored piece looks like something off of a 1930s movie set.

Antoinette Chair from ShopEla.

Who wouldn’t want to sleep in this quirky yet  gorgeous bed?!

Dingle Canopy Bed from Delia Furniture.

The curviness of this bench makes it very cool.

Check out Etsy.com for more great finds!

Everyone has certain beliefs about decorating that they’ve heard over and over again and internalized as the truth. Sometimes though, it is good to look at things you thought weren’t the “right” way to decorate.

House Beautiful shared quite a few well-kept decorating secrets. Here are a few of our favorites. Make sure to check out the rest of the post here!

• Don’t be afraid of the dark: A dark paint color can add depth to a small room and make it feel bigger. Not to mention, dark walls can often be quite cozy.
• Wallpaper isn’t just for walls: House Beautiful suggests wallpapering sliding closet doors to give them a new look. Don’t forget about the inside of your closets too! A pop of wallpaper that can be seen as the door opens adds a lot of visual interest.
• Speaking of closets…there isn’t anything worse than feeling around in a dark closet for your clothing. Put a light in there and stretch beyond the usual bare bulb on a string.
• Go green: With plants, that is! A nice, large plant in a room adds a sense of the outdoors.

Display Inspiration: Art in the Bathroom
Apartment Therapy
Prettify your potty with these ideas from Apartment Therapy.

5 Things To Consider When Buying A New Mattress
Charles and Hudson
“Here’s a few tips we picked up during the shopping and purchase process, and I thought I’d share them with you so that you, too, can enjoy a blissful night’s sleep and wake up with the energy to tackle your list of DIY projects.”

Engine Table 
Design Milk
“Currently on display at Decoratum Gallery in London, the Cylinder Radial Engine Table is made from a US Army Boeing-Stearman PT-13 engine acquired from the Canadian Museum of Flight, Langley, British Columbia. Constructed between 1936 and 1938, the innovative piece features a simple clear glass top so you can see through to the complex engine workings below.”

Two Ways to Reinvent a Serving Tray
Shelter Pop
Watch this video about reinventing or creating a serving tray!

DIY: Gemstone Cabinet Knobs
Casa Sugar
“Two decorating secrets in updating a kitchen on a dime are to change the color of the walls with a fresh coat of paint, and swap out dated cabinet knobs with new ones. In my kitchen, you don’t have to do the tedious task of unscrewing each knob to give them a fresh look. Upcycle your old knobs with a colorful collection of geodes, sea glass, or minerals and ultrapowerful glue.”

Often times, the hardest part of a successful remodeling or redesign project is knowing where to start. A blank slate — “If we could do anything with this room, what would we do?” — is daunting.

In this video, a case study of a living room interior design project from Lou Manfredini’s HouseSmartsTV, the designer talks through her process — and notes that the process started with her clients asking to incorporate an Asian influence. That tidbid helped inform the design approach, setting the tone for the room without becoming too obvious or overbearing.

Watch the video for more tips ideas on how to best tackle your own interior design project, and of course, you can find more videos from HouseSmartsTV on YouTube.

Everyone has their own personal style, but let’s face it — some people just have a knack for decorating. To give the rest of us an idea of things to avoid, House Beautiful (via MSN Real Estate) has some tips. Here are a few of our favorites. Check out the rest at MSN!

• Overzealous Decorative Painting: Color is great, but be judicious. Remember that you’re not living in a beautiful photograph — this is actually your home. Once the newness of that apple green accent wall wears off, will you really want to look at it every day?
• Furniture Pushed Up Against the Walls: Do you really want to strain to converse with someone who is sitting on a chair huddled against the wall on the other side of the room? MLuxe recommends creating conversation spaces instead.
• A Single Light Source: Unless your room is incredibly small, you’ll need more than one lamp. A single overhead light can be harsh. For activities like reading, you’ll want to have smaller, concentrated lights.

The bathroom is probably the only room in the house that you absolutely can’t get along without. In addition to its practical uses, it has also become a sanctuary and haven from the busy world and some people prefer it to be as spa-like as possible.

For those reasons, the bathroom has a tendency to be one of the top items on a homeowner’s remodeling wish list. CalFinder has covered some ideas for when you want a bathroom upgrade but are short on cash. Here are a few of their ideas we especially like, and you can check out the rest of the post here.

• Try a quick fix: Maybe a coat of sky-blue paint on your white walls will give it that serene feeling you’ve been craving. And if it doesn’t? Then you can always look at more spendy ways to reach your goal.
• Leave some jobs to the pros: Plumbers know plumbing and electricians know electricity. Do you really want to deal with an exploding toilet because your knowledge of pipes is rudimentary? No matter how cheap your bathroom remodel is, save some money to hire experts for certain parts of the job.
• Reface the cabinets you already have–far less expensive than getting them entirely replaced!