CONNIE OLIVER
Around the House
I’m always on the lookout for unusual décor ideas and garden centres are just one place where a decorating solution may be found.
URNS AND BIRD BATHS
Decorative urns that are meant to hold an outdoor plant can be used to create unique occasional tables. The concrete or plaster finish is rough and textural which will give the table base character. You’d have to purchase (or have made) a circular glass tabletop that would sit on the urn. Ensure that the base is heavy enough to hold the glass and that the glass is tabletop grade with smooth, rounded edges. Some bird baths may be used in the same fashion to create a taller table which might be suitable as a small breakfast table in a sunroom or kitchen. I can see tables like these in a foyer or even as nightstands in the bedroom depending upon their height. For safety sake you might have to adhere the glass to the base to ensure it is secure. You may opt to leave the glass out altogether and use wood or other product for a tabletop. Be creative!
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Garden columns, which are usually made out of a lighter product, can stand alone in the home as a decorative feature. Shorter columns (three to five feet) might hold sculptural artwork or again, two shorter ones can be topped with glass and used as a coffee table.
LIGHTING
The obelisks found at a garden centre can be fashioned into distinctive floor lamps. Simply wrap the obelisk in a heavy, decorative paper (like handmade paper which has texture) or fabric leaving an opening at the top for heat to escape. Set a small accent lamp with a low-wattage bulb inside the obelisk on the floor. The light from the small lamp will make the entire obelisk glow creating lovely mood lighting. Be sure that the bulb of the lamp is well away from the paper/fabric and that there is a sufficient opening for the heat to escape.
An obelisk may also stand alone as a decorative element in a corner of the room or at the top of a stairway. You might enhance it by winding silk vines or beads through it. In the kitchen, a wire obelisk can hold small pots or utensils by hanging them with “S” hooks.
Wooden trellises can be used to create anything from a headboard to wall art. A plain interior slab door can be made into something special simply by adhering a decorative wooden trellis to it and painting the entire project in one colour. Wire or wooden trellises can be fashioned into unique headboards or suspended from the ceiling as a decorative element or even as a pot rack. A plain, square wooden trellis can be fashioned into a shoji screen by attaching two or three panels using hinges and covering the panels with rice paper. The screen can be used to divide a space, as a headboard or to hide a corner computer work area.
WILLOW AND BAMBOO
Willow fencing can be used as headboards or simply as decorative elements. A tall bunch of willow sprigs set in a simple vase gives the room height and texture and supports that casual, earthy bedroom décor. Willow or bamboo fencing can be used to create a Tiki-style bar in a rec room. It can also be used for a privacy screen on a balcony.
There are so many creative ways to enhance your décor and you don’t always have to shop at the usual stores. Look at other options when you’re out and about. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination and creativity allow.
