Use the following tips to incorporate salvaged and unique discoveries into your next decorating scheme.
Know Thyself
Anna Hoover combines her artistic side with her fishing background to great effect in her studio, where paintings from her father’s early career commingle with marine memorabilia. Ask yourself: What are your ongoing interests or favorite hobbies? A DIY décor theme can be developed from
the answers.
Go Beyond the Big Box Stores
Identify unique places to shop, like the marine supply store, salvage yards or even just a different aisle you don’t usually visit in the hardware store. Check Craigslist and NextDoor as well in order to cast a wide net for sources.
Think Creatively
For every item that intrigues, ask how it might be used in your project and try to think beyond its obvious purpose. Hoover did this by lining her staircase with black marine netting in order to make the ascent safer for children and stay on-point.
Reconsider Standard Materials
Sometimes working within a tight budget can encourage ingenuity. For instance, the team used polycarbonate for the clerestory windows in order to keep costs down. The opacity of the material lets light through, just like glass, while also adding a textural interest to the façade.
Stay Consistent
Repetition of the same materials will help bring everything together. For Hoover’s studio, plywood was used for both the interior ceiling and to clad the underside of the roof overhang, creating continuity. Inside, the staircase is fashioned from hot-rolled steel and the same material was used for a nearby bookcase, rather than wood, to avoid visual clutter.
Washington DIY: Unite the Kitchen with the Rest of the House
