Wooden slats, nails and a little imagination are enough to ensure an incredible decoration that can bring out the colours of these more elaborate and expensive pieces of furniture and creations.
If you are a decorating enthusiast and a little bit do-it-yourselfer, we can make authentic works of art for the exterior and interior of your house or apartment or for one of the rooms of your company.
Apple crates, as the name suggests, have always been used to hold and transport vegetables and fruit of all kinds.
Currently, most fruit boxes are made of plastic and even wood, but mainly of low quality or very thin wood, most of them even for single use.
The apple crates that interest us and are more valuable for use in our homes are those made of consistent wood, with a color and appearance that indicates that it is an object that we could classify as Vintage or rustic, even in these , the nails show areas of rust and the stamps of the original marks stained in the wood have lost some of their color and make it difficult to read, yes, these are the ones, we want these apple crates!
If we enter into the decoration of our living room or dining room, perhaps using wooden apple crates for a dining table or chairs, even for the sofa would be too risky and would affect both the durability of the furniture and the effectiveness of our “Invention”, but … Why don’t we make an occasional piece of furniture like a chest of drawers or a chest of drawers (without drawers) or a television cabinet with these boxes?
They allow us to get an extra space inside each apple box to place books, decorations, paintings, personal objects … and also if we place them well hung on the wall, we will get a rigid and stable vertical surface where to place the TV, music, houseplants and a long etcetera.
We can even use wooden apple boxes to literally “wallpaper” an entire wall from top to bottom, with this we will obtain a totally personalized style since you decide how to place the boxes leaving the appropriate spaces between them as you wish to place your decoration and to make the space even more personalized by leaving wall areas visible, we will be able to give our house a very pleasant rustic style.
The apple crate can be a perfect auxiliary board or a center if you join several, they wheels a place it at the bottom to allow you to move the board easily and even a glass at the top, in a simple way to get a very low expense table.these crates also allow you to place them on the walls to get improvised shelves of very good taste, you can also join several or place them randomly.
In the bedroom they can also be used as a bedside table or as an occasional piece of furniture, it is a question of giving imagination.
Terraces, gardens, balconies or porches can be an excellent place to enjoy our decoration with apple crates, we will get beautiful planters and shelves to hang the most original plants, but we must not forget that for outdoor spaces, we must Be careful, special outdoor lacquers or prepared paints can be the perfect ally to enjoy for years to come our personalized decoration with wooden apple crates .
We also have many more models , with ink, with wheels or simply as an original wooden box in different sizes so you can use it as you wish, you can see them all on the following link .
If you want your cash register to be always different, you can give it a personalized touch with the many paints and lacquers you can find in specialized stores.
Let your imagination run wild and decorate your style with less than you think.
And if you decide, don’t hesitate to send us pictures of your creations, we love to share your art with our followers.
Let’s go over a few ideas that you might like, make a note of them:
Making shelves out of wooden boxes is a classic in the DIY world. And that’s because few objects have given more of themselves and with such good results. Shelves made from boxes, whether recycled or new, have such charm that they can revitalize a boring corner in an instant. And if you don’t believe me, take a look at one of the 5 ideas we have for you today.
The fact is that you already have your boxes ready, ready to decorate and turn them into shelves with wooden boxes hanging on the wall.
All you have to do is decide what use you are going to give it and in which room of the house you are going to install it. If you need ideas for inspiration, we show you 5 ways to use wooden boxes to make shelves.
Shelves with wooden crates as kitchen furniture
This idea seemed very original to me and, moreover, it is surprising how easy it is to realize. The idea is to replace the kitchen’s high units with a few wooden boxes of different shapes and sizes painted in white and light blue to match the rest of the kitchen furniture.
In this case, new wooden boxes were used, conveniently painted inside and outside with two coats of acrylic paint. In this way, you can give wings to your creativity and vary the effects or even create new ones. Paint the boxes only on the outside and leave the wooden interiors, for example, or change the colours that suit you best.
When hanging them on the wall, you can place the boxes horizontally or vertically, interspersed but occupying a strip of the wall, with no protrusions too far on either side.
Interspersed and arranged in a tower
This is a very original way to compose shelves with wooden boxes. This may be because the shape of the boxes differs greatly from one another (some are even shaped like a house), or because they are painted in different colours inside or outside.
Either way, the resulting library will look great in any space. What’s more, since it’s a matter of assembling boxes and holding them with screws, you can compose the shelf according to the space you need to cover, the desired height and the shape you prefer.
A great way to recycle wooden boxes, whether they come from old fruit boxes or anything else, is to form these beautiful displays as wall shelves with them. In this case, they have been set up in the dining room to show off the porcelain .
Between the rustic beauty of the wood of the boxes and the muted shine of the white and blue porcelain, the whole could not be more decorative.
A tip: if you have several old wooden boxes and each one has a different colour, you can apply a coat of walnut or wood stain. This will give them a very nice dark tint and unify the tone of all the boxes.
In the children’s room
Do you want an idea to decorate the walls of your children’s room? Put small shelves with wooden boxes on the wall and you can kill two birds with a stone: bet on order and liven up the wall.
They don’t have to be very big; that way, you’ll prevent them from putting in too much stuff and ending up deleting it.
Here’s an idea: paint the boxes as you like and line the background with bits of wallpaper you have at home. Adhesive vinyls can also help. Nice, don’t you think?
I present you with a selection of tables made with palettes that we have made to inspire you and dare to create your own for your home, so sit down and write down all the ideas that come up according to your needs. We assure you that it’s great to put it where you put it. Let’s get started!
The first one to show you is this coffee table for the dining room or the garden, it’s a classic. What they have done here is give a touch of varnish to the wood, add some simple wheels to put it where you want and on top of that they put a sheet of glass.
Single double height coffee table on wheels
Double height single coffee table with wheels.
In this coffee table, as you can see, it’s very similar to the previous one, but what they’ve done is they’ve increased the height and they’ve added two more pallets. It’s a good idea because we can also use it for the days when we have dinner on the couch and also in the spaces that are left between the pallets we can use it to store magazines, newspapers, the shelf, whatever you want to have on hand when you are on the couch.
Coffee table with 5 wheels
Coffee table with concrete top with 5 wheels.
Another example of a coffee table is the one we see below, which is also very similar to the first one we saw at the beginning of the message, but in this one they changed the glass for some concrete plates and because of the large amount of weight, they added a few more wheels in the middle to distribute the weight on the table.
Palette coffee table with vintage decoration
Table with palette with vintage elements
What follows is this one that we can classify as a very vintage coffee table, what they did to make the retro look complete with the vintage decoration was, to get a pretty old palette, even something broken by some pieces and also they added two old wheels in the middle to be able to move it.
Cut pallet coffee table
Elongated pallet with space at the bottom to place what you want
In this picture, the roles change somewhat from the typical square table. They cut the pallet in half, they joined the two parts to make a long table and so we cover almost everything on the sofa, it’s a good option for the guests. And finally, to give it a Nordic and more welcoming touch, they have painted it white but no wheels have been added, that is to say that it is fixed in this area.
Cut pallet coffee table with casters
Another long table but with glass above already low.
In this one here, what they’ve done is they’ve cut a table off the top of the pallet, they’ve put the tables a little bit further apart and they’ve left space underneath to be able to put whatever you want. To give the wood more lustre, they gave it a coat of varnish and this time they added four wheels so you can move it whenever you want. And to finish off the accessories, they choose to put a sheet of glass at the top and bottom.
Coffee table with pallet slats
A different table with pallets with slats.
And to finish with the inspiration of the pallet coffee tables, we leave this one to you, of which we were delighted by the fact of using only the tables on the pallets and giving it a different touch on one of them with the turquoise colour and also played by placing them at different heights holding them with four aluminium bars in the corners.
Here we go, let’s start with lots of ideas and inspiration!
Wooden boxes are a trend seen in many magazine and interior design photos. We have seen them decorate thousands of homes. So, if you like this idea and you are wondering how to take advantage of it and introduce it in your interior decoration, I bring you today a lot of inspiration to decorate and furnish it with wooden boxes .
Wall shelves
Wooden boxes to hang on the wall.
For the wall, we can make fantastic shelves out of wooden boxes. As you can see on the picture, they can be painted to taste but I advise you to take care of the colours according to the stay and the goal you want to achieve.
Kitchen shelf with wooden boxes
Dishwasher shelf in the kitchen
Another idea for the wooden boxes is to make a piece of furniture, in the photo it is a practical and accessible china cabinet. Don’t add too much weight because it depends on the wooden boxes but some of them don’t have much resistance. For this you will need guides for the drawers and four wheels in case you want it to be mobile so you can move it when you want and where you want.
And the latest novelty is to stack boxes of fruit in separate spaces. If you have a large space like a living room that you want to give to different environments, try stacking boxes of different sizes and wood, creating a kind of wall. You will gain storage capacity and divide the room in a creative and very original way. To make it even more comfortable, sprinkle the room with clean decorative elements, such as light boxes with letters and complete the atmosphere with a light-coloured hammock.
Personalized magazine rack
Anyway, the wooden crate serves us well.
You have a shipment of magazines and you don’t know where to keep them? Here’s the solution: if you have a wide aisle, you can organize a very decorative magazine rack with stacked boxes painted in colour. Three models have been put together here, and to create a more relaxed effect, the boxes have been arranged in alternating colours.
Storage cabinet
To have all the toys for our little ones.
In the picture the wheels have been added to make the wooden crate more practical and fun if you want your children to get into the routine of picking up their toys. Also, label the boxes so that at a glance they know where everything is. Besides being a practical idea, it’s also very decorative. Wooden boxes are upgradeable and make an original storage unit.
Wooden box for dividing a room
Original non ?
This library has three advantages: it is very efficient, it is used to separate and furnish environments and, in addition, you can adapt it to your needs. Here, a total of 16 boxes were used and were combined in two finishes, natural and painted white, for a more casual effect. The wooden boxes are brand new.
An extra seat
Single footstools
If you live near a greengrocer or a market, you will see them every day always on the ground or stacked in a corner. When the day of the sale ends, they almost always end up in the dumpster. Well, don’t be ashamed to go, because without spending money, we can use these boxes to make furniture or decorate our house.
What do you think of the idea of decorating with fruit tins? Without forgetting the main function of fruit tins. In addition to using them as a decorative element, take advantage of them to store objects. You can use them to stack binders, store kitchen gadgets or simply apply their original function and store fruit or vegetables in them. In 1001 boxes you will find smooth fruit boxes without any inscriptions, but also boxes with a name, sealed or simulating a brand. Use the texture provided by these vintage effect boxes to decorate your classic shelves with a modern touch.
Japan, Mediterranean, Morocco, Mexico and Scandinavia. Loaded with nuances and modern reinterpretations, they nourish the languages that go into the furniture, objects and decoration of the home.
Villa Cardo
This is the name of this beautiful holiday home located in the Apulia region. Designed by the architect Andrew Trotter, its structure is inspired by the architecture of southern Italy and is a haven of peace and tranquillity between cacti and olive trees. There is no better example to speak of a purely Mediterranean architecture.
Japan
It’s unthinkable to learn Japanese style all at once. In fact, the “gratuitous violence” of a stroke is unthinkable in the spaces that symbolize it: the temperate and refined tea pavilions, with their eaves like large parasols. The red lacquers of Japanese interiors are a preamble to the shadows, the velvety layer of the dark environment in which they live. The style is in the reflections of the lacquers: deep pools of light shining through the darkness. It is in the taste of the dull, in the valuables (hidden, instead of exposed) carried by the caress of long use.
Mediterranean
Only this “chair of memory” has remained of this Mediterranean, wrote the poet and publisher Carlos Barral, who spent summers between his boat and his house (white, with blue stripes), in a fishing village on the Costa Brava. Is there only the memory of the Mediterranean, or does it still exist, beyond its tourist fetish? Memories of a way of living the air and the sea unlike any other. That Sorolla caught in its light and shadows striped on the sand. Sorolla’s umbrellas sum up the affability of a lost Mediterranean. But the small houses piled on the cliffs persist, of an absolute white that does not blind him: wake up. From the Phoenician red of the pots to the fig tree on the whitewashed patio, the Mediterranean lasts as an essential idea.
Morocco
Drunk with mint tea, dazzled by the light of Tangier and dazed by the aromas of the market (a stone’s throw from the terrace, where he watched beautiful clothes go by and draw), the French painter Delacroix filled his notebooks. Sketches and paintings that discovered an intramural universe, with arcades, patios and gardens, canopies and trellises, bronze utensils and that fascinating intertwined and multicoloured geometry of tapestries, carpets, tiles, crockery. Colours as bright as fruit, exposed to sparkling light or layered in purple tones.
Mexico
How many artists from half the world have been attracted to the Mexican culture that laughs at skulls (like the skeleton dances recorded by José Guadalupe Posada) and bathes in the colours of the sun. But it was Luis Barragán who brought this “wheel of fire” (as an Englishman said), which is the popular Mexican heritage to most modern architecture. “Look,” he said, “at the color of our sweets, the beauty of a rooster…”. He led them to his solid and transparent plans, the glass tinting a yellow corridor, the dark pink on a bare concrete block. Like a colossus, he pours an ancient culture into pure containers, a modernity that feeds on emotion and contains it. Meanwhile, in the blue house of the painter Frida Kahlo, the passionate Mexican woman bristling with surrealism.
Scandinavia
“Scandinavian style is a wooden bowl filled with milk.” With this intimate metaphor, a Swedish designer was referring to the combination of wood with white lacquer: remember the tea trolley Alvar Aalto designed in birch wood, ceramic and lacquered wheels. A conceptual extension of the bowl full of milk: the function and simplicity of household objects. The serene beauty of Nordic interiors, which the Danish painter Hammershoi has brought to a mysterious perfection: the thick white wooden doors and windows, the grey floor, the light from the forest. Sometimes add a bowl, a chair, a table, a piano. The vacuum of space creates the depth that the Scandinavian genius attributed to the human habitat, furnished with little, useful and beautiful. In the picture, interior of the Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen.
The world we perceive, naturally or virtually, has become both unlimited and closed. The images that represent it have multiplied with a frenzy that stimulates us and at the same time makes us dizzy. Globalization is winning praise and also doubts or, at least, antidotes that seek answers at the root. Journeys to the essences of each culture, rescuing the seeds that germinated long ago, but which continue to bear beautiful fruit for modern art and architecture. Seeds that are still there, like the Greek goddess of grain, ready to renew the cycle. Drink again in a Scandinavian wooden bowl, enter the polychrome house of Luis Barragán or a white and blue Mediterranean patio, aspire to the saffron of Morocco, admire the Japanese red sealing wax. Tradition, seen with frank eyes, will never lose its validity.
Get to know firsthand the designs and furniture that will catch everyone’s eye and how technology will become a discreet and familiar presence.
The designer Gianni Versace said that black was the quintessence of simplicity and elegance. An opinion shared by other colleagues in the profession, such as Karl Lagerfeld or Donna Karan. Black is a colour that is as popular in fashion as it is in decoration. That’s why we celebrate the commitment to spaces as sophisticated as the image. Black gives the kitchen a different flavour.
The decoration
Learn or relearn how to decorate your home in black and dark tones.
Zaha Hadid’s shadow is long, or rather sinuous. Therefore, although the architect has left, his work remains. And not only in the form of buildings, but transferred to furniture that decorates and embellishes houses with their rounded forms. Furniture that makes rooms softer and makes a nod to the architect who changed everything and left too soon.
Sinuous shapes
Techno furniture is naturally integrated into the home with impeccable design and with the aim of making our lives easier. Refrigerators that inform us of products that are about to expire or recommend the best time to replace ingredients.
Shades with a strong personality such as orange or passion red enter the house of 2020 without any complexes. Walls, sofas, vase cushions … are dyed in bright colours to welcome spring. Stimulating, they coexist with more classic options such as beige, which will also play a leading role in the coming months, replacing the ubiquitous white.
Bright colours
It is a very hard wood that is also very flexible. This is why bamboo has become one of the most accepted ecological materials by designers and interior architects. Gadgets, cases for mobile devices, bicycles … the list of objects that can be designed with bamboo is endless.
The Year of Bamboo
The applications of the Classic Blue are many and varied. The colour 2020 according to Pantone, stains the spaces of the house giving them serenity and elegance. The bathroom, transformed into a new living room, is one of the spaces where the blue of the year feels most comfortable, but it also colours other rooms such as bedrooms and the kitchen. The beauty of the ocean’s colour is undeniable and will reign not only in the spring, but in every season of the year.
Blue Planet
This decorative element in relief, born in ancient Egypt and which triumphed at the Palace of Versailles, returns with force to enhance and give personality to the walls of our house. Mouldings are also applied to the walls and ceilings, giving them a flattering texture.
The emotional bond we have with a handcrafted object is not comparable to the one we establish with an industrially manufactured product. A handcrafted piece can decorate the domestic landscape throughout life, passing from generation to generation without losing its modernity. This is what the classics have. Competitions such as the potter’s, carpenter’s or cabinet maker’s trade make it visible again, recovering the magic that only craftsmanship possesses.
Modern Handicrafts
The spring print par excellence comes in a larger format than ever before. Roses, poppies and petunias fall on the spaces of homes, large and extravagant. The shapes and colours of the garden at the house of architect Luis Barragán in Mexico City are a rich source of inspiration.
Botanical Garden
Natural materials such as wicker or rattan are desirable, especially in spring. They endow the spaces with personality, while being environmentally friendly. A rattan rug or a wicker lamp elegantly decorates the interior and exterior of the house.
Durable Design
Technology enters our domestic space, but not as a one-time guest, but as another member of the family. It enters, yes, in a subtle way, conveniently camouflaged in a lamp (lamps that are, at the same time, wi-fi speakers) or a bedside table (tables that charge the battery of your mobile phone without cables). In the photo, wireless speakers from Bang & Olufsen .
The technology is subtle
“The most important premise in trying to try an interpretation of Cuban reality and life is to live it, because only then can you begin to understand something, even if you will never understand everything,” explains Cuban writer Leonardo Padura from his homeland. The passions and contradictions of this island converge in a trend that this year will make houses more beautiful and lively.
Cuban inspiration
The lamps occupy a central place, with models so large that they have the same dimensions as a chair. Designers transfer all their creativity to these pieces, making them undisputed queens. Large lamps, like the one in the photo, but also small models with which to create magical corners bathed in soft light that create a warm atmosphere. In the picture, Jaime Hayon’s ceiling lights.
Wood is a noble material that allows all styles of furniture, which is why it still has its place in our homes. However, a piece of wood furniture is not necessarily a piece of quality furniture, and disappointment can be rude when we have paid dearly for a piece of wood that does not live up to our expectations! Be careful: as with any purchase, you will need to check the quality of the product. Here are some tips for a successful purchase of wooden furniture!
The different stages of wood processing
Knowing the basics of wood processing allows you to understand the steps that have an impact on the quality of the wood and therefore the total cost after processing . To put it simply, here are the 3 main phases:
Sawing
Once the tree trunks arrive at the mill, the handlers proceed with debarking and sawing. The whole process is fully automated. The types of sawing vary according to certain criteria such as the species of wood and the desired thickness of the slices.
Drying
These slices are then subjected to pre-drying and drying. Immediately after sawing, the wood is transported to a space dedicated to this purpose. The wood can be air-dried in the traditional way or artificially in a drying shed.
The finishes
Finally, the sliced and dried wood is subjected to a final transformation: the finish. The wood can then be sanded, brushed, varnished, oiled, waxed, stained… according to the customer’s request. This step consists in removing the water contained in the wood fibres. It will prevent any swelling or deformation of the material. This phase is very important because it will ensure that the wood will not “work”!
Buying wooden furniture: what you need to check out
The type of wood Depending on the piece of furniture you wish to purchase, not all types of wood will be appropriate. Be aware that oak, walnut, birch, teak (among others!) are woods that, once dried, are very hard and therefore perfect for furniture that is very exposed to blows and scratches. On the contrary, pine and fir are soft woods that are very shock-resistant. A pine desk or table will therefore be damaged more quickly! You can drive a nail into it and leave a trace…
The wood is divided into different families called “species”. Clear wood species, exterior wood species, red wood species, all species are available in logs, blocks or planks for solid wood or sliced for veneer.
Differentiate between species and know how to recognize a quality wood according to its aspect, its heart and its density.
It is the physical and mechanical properties that make it possible to distinguish between several species. Visual appearance, smell, feel, hardness and density – all the senses are involved!
Visual appearance
There is a wide variety of wood colours ranging from light wood species to brown and red boist tones. Within the same family, the colouring differs according to certain criteria (geographical location, place in the tree, richness of the soil). Not to mention the age of the wood, which also has a direct impact on the colour.
Veining and grain are two other elements that help to differentiate. The grain corresponds to the patterns formed on the surface of the wood. The orientation of the grain is different depending on the cut of the wood. Finally, the grain, in other words its roughness, is also a determining factor.
The smell
Sometimes it is enough to recognize the essence. In the case of pine, for example, the resin emanates a particular scent, specific to this wood. Conversely, species used in the food sector do not give off any odour.
Touch
Less obvious than sight, touch nevertheless helps to discern the different essences. In contact with the hand, certain surfaces are “greasy”, “porous”, “fluffy” or “tasty”.
Hardness and density
Each wood has a particular hardness distributed according to three criteria: soft, medium-hard and hard. Density is the final differentiating factor. It varies enormously depending on the type of wood.
La structure du meuble en bois
Ce n’est pas une très bonne idée d’acheter un meuble pas cher mais complètement bancal… Autant prendre une pièce de mobilier convenablement construite, donc solide qui vous suivra pendant des années et résistera avec brio aux affres du temps ! Pour cela vérifiez-en la construction, et bannissez par exemple tout assemblage fait avec de simples agrafes. Prenez le temps de contrôler la stabilité au sol, les glissement des tiroirs, les fermetures des portes qui ne doivent ni forcer ni être trop lâches.
La finition du meuble en bois
Ponçage, teinture et finition sont les 3 dernières étapes d’un meuble bien terminé. Si le ponçage a été mal fait, la teinture sera forcément mal appliquée et le résultat final ne sera pas joli. Vérifiez-donc correctement les plateaux, les angles et les côtés latéraux de vos meubles : vous ne devriez déceler ni taches, ni grains de poussières ni bulles, ni coulures. Sachez également qu’un meuble de qualité est un meuble entièrement fini ! Aussi le dos et le dessous devraient être également poncés et teintés (ou cirés).
Buying antique or second-hand wooden furniture: what you should check out
If you have had a crush on old furniture found at a flea market, and you are thinking of restoring and customizing this furniture, remember to check first of all the construction of this furniture, because the report is the same as for new purchases: it is the structure, solid or not, that you will have to evaluate. Test the stability of the furniture by leaning on it, for chairs check the solidity of the frames. Check if the wood is sound in the hidden parts, underneath, behind, in any drawers…
As long as the structure of your used furniture is viable, anything goes: surface damage, such as scratches and dents in the wood can be repaired. Colours, patinas, stains that are not to your liking can be removed and reworked, if you have time!
Wood grading according to density
The density of the wood has an impact on its robustness and therefore its quality. Each species has a more or less hard density.
How are wood species classified?
As you can see, several parameters come into play in the transformation of wood as soon as it is felled. A good manufacturer must therefore pay particular attention to the processes involved.
The choice of wood is a second factor that will greatly influence the quality of your furniture. The hardness and density of the wood will have an impact on its resistance.
Two measurements are used to evaluate the hardness of a wood: the Monnin hardness (varying between <1.5 and > 9) and the Brinell hardness (which is expressed in N/mm² and varies between 10 N/mm² and > 40 N/mm²).
At the same time, the class of use is another element to be taken into consideration. It is defined according to the nature of the activity and its intensity.
Classification of wood types
I propose the following classification, it will give you an idea of the density of the woods. The species are classified from A to D, from lightest to hardest:
Returning to the essential and betting on simplicity to enrich our interior, is the very basis of minimalism. Often assimilated to a cold and empty decoration, discover that this little-known trend has more than one trick up its sleeve. Appeared in the 60s in response to the consumer society, minimalism persists over time and passes the years without going out of fashion.
This trend has also made a place for itself in the world of interior design thanks to famous architects who have created iconic objects such as the zig-zag chair.
by designer Gerrit Rietveld whose vision of design has helped to popularise minimalism in interior design. Also worth mentioning is the Barcelona armchair, which is a tribute to the marriage of design and craftsmanship, by Mies Van Der Rohe, an icon of the modern movement.
The architect and designer Jean Prouvé is also an influential figure of the minimalist style with, among others, his creation entitled “Standard Chair”, which simply mixes wood and steel and which has managed to find a balance between the beauty of a refined style and the economic demands of mass production.
We can also evoke Scandinavian design, which is evocative of this minimalist trend through the use of natural and classic materials enhanced by the function assigned to them. Many stores now offer furniture and decorative objects at a lower cost to furnish your apartment or house in the minimalist style. However, it is still necessary to know the codes so as not to make any mistakes. Because yes, minimalism requires a certain rigour and a good dose of reflection. Materials, colours, equipment, organisation of spaces, etc.
Controlled sobriety, harmony, aesthetics and practicality
Minimalism requires a keen eye and real perseverance to find the right balance and create a perfect minimalist cocoon. I give you some advice on how to adapt the minimalist decoration in your interior.
Perception of space
In order to get the most out of a minimalist decoration, you should remove all unnecessary or personal elements from the landscape and concentrate on simple and functional furniture. Their sobriety and simplicity will allow you to apprehend your space in a different way and thus detect new concepts in the design of your interior. So let’s sort it out!
The elimination of too much decoration allows you a more playful approach with the positioning and composition of your visual elements that you want to keep. Sorting represents for me the b.a. ba of the minimalist movement and also the first step to take when you want to purify your interior. For how can you organise your home in a minimalist spirit if it is overflowing with furniture or objects? So you take the time you need to throw away or give away what you no longer use by attacking one room after another. Start with the room of your choice by getting rid of obsolete utensils and those you haven’t used for several years (or even never!). Continue room after room, piece after piece, and your interior is already on the path to minimalism …
Allez encore plus loin dans le minimalisme en ne gardant que l’essentiel, c’est-à-dire les objets dont vous avez besoin régulièrement. En se débarrassant du superflu, on gagne du temps, de l’argent, et surtout on allège sa charge mentale !
Creation of a universe with minimalist furniture
A simple and deliberately reduced design helps you to dictate the exact path your eye should take and invites it to decipher the environment. The minimalist style is a way to explore the depth of symbolism. Try to think around objects, observe how they interact with each other to create a story. Decompartmentalize the perception of the senses: colours and shapes must participate in a common vision. Minimalism is not synonymous with emptiness. Don’t give up furnishing your living rooms. By opting for minimalism, you will be able to add more distinctive objects. For example, a straight white dining table with a very clean design can be accompanied by more colourful chairs. In this case, be careful to choose sober colours.
Give priority to quality over quantity.
In the minimalist universe, each element must be used for your decoration, underline a dominant trend and highlight your cocoon. If straight lines take precedence over curves, rounded lines are not to be excluded, on the contrary, they can even be used alongside straight lines. Once again, it’s all a question of balance and harmony. Furniture with clean designs can be combined with timeless, neutral colours such as grey, black, white or taupe.
Choose furniture with storage space. A well-organized and tidy interior will highlight the minimalism of your living room and will give importance to the available space. Don’t try to fill up the free space in your room, on the contrary, tame it. Few pieces of furniture but practical elements, offering adapted storage that will contribute to this refined style.
Choosing a good floor for a minimalist decoration
For the floor, choose for example, Arte flooring with its white marble-look laminate floor tiles or also Pulse vinyl flooring in grey white marble. Hungarian point parquet, Versailles tiles, broken stick parquet or oak parquet strips will also be a suitable choice for a minimalist decoration. The main thing is to naturally associate your floor with the flagship colours of this trend: black, white and grey, while offering a warm side to your living room.
Marble can also give a lot of refinement to your minimalist apartment. Disseminated here and there on a sideboard or decorative object, it can also be used in more pronounced touches, especially for bathroom wall coverings. Good to know: there are many materials that imitate marble and give a perfect illusion, at low cost.
Investing in wood for a minimalist decoration
When we talk about the minimalist style, we often think of ultra cold interiors with modern materials (plexiglass, aluminum, and tutti cuanti) but keep in mind that minimalism is a style that rejects the decorative codes of past eras described as a surplus of decorative elements too dense and too intense, thus undermining the very function of the objects they overload. To perfect these atmospheres, what could be better than investing in wooden furniture and accessories? To warm up your minimalist interior, nothing can replace the warmth of wood. This noble and timeless material has the advantage of matching all decorative styles while bringing a touch of authenticity to an atmosphere that is sometimes extremely refined.
Colour in minimalist decoration
Traditionally, white is the dominant colour in minimalism. Its purity and coldness bring a sense of calming order. This colour also makes it possible to create an interior with a pure style and devoid of the overwhelming effect that an excess of colour can bring. White is very present in the minimalist trend but beware: If you choose this colour as the dominant colour in your interior, it must be immaculate. Beige or off-white will not find its place in this style of decoration. Later on, neutral colours such as grey, beige or black became more popular. If these shades seem too dull to you, don’t hesitate to add notes of colour such as a light blue, a bright yellow or a bright red. Success guaranteed!
Blue is a colour with soothing properties, particularly suitable for a bedroom or living room. Red, on the other hand, is a vivid hue that attracts attention and should therefore be used deliberately. Yellow, on the other hand, has a stimulating effect and is the ideal colour for an office. Used in moderation, yellow also brings a fresh, summery touch to your interior. A red compartment in your library will showcase your favourite books. A grey sideboard with yellow doors will play on contrasts and bring a bright touch to your living room. Adding a blue drawer to your anthracite chest of drawers will completely transform your furniture.
However, not only colour accents can bring a breath of fresh air to your minimalist interior, you can also opt for a combination of plain furniture. Combine, for example, a red coffee table with a grey shelf, a grey sofa and a wall in the same colour. This combination will bring dynamism to your interior. Since decorative objects are already scarce in a room of minimalist inspiration, colours are the perfect solution to soften this style often perceived as austere.
The colours must not overflow one another, they must have a fluid aspect, without very strong contrasts. If we choose a brighter colour, it should only be a light touch in a room where whites or ecru with pure lines predominate. Opt for two colours on the whole. Balance their presence in the room in a geometric way: it is a matter of throwing imaginary lines that generate a certain order and balance. In this way, we will maintain the minimalist order we are looking for.
Brightness the key element of minimalist decoration
The brightness of your room can serve a minimalist style. The idea is to let in as much natural light as possible. Of course, when the sun goes down, artificial light is just as important. To do this, opt for LEDs and spotlights that will serve your decor thanks to their discretion. If these lights are recessed, it’s even better!
The particularity of the minimalist style is strangely expressed in its ability to rely on natural light. While ceiling lights and recessed LEDs are of course permitted, free-standing lamps are avoided, as the minimalist room does not have to be cluttered with a lot of small accessories. In such an atmosphere, therefore, it is preferable to use natural light. Remove the curtains, natural light will diffuse from one space to another. Because here again, here’s a key feature of this style: large spaces without visual borders. The rooms open out onto each other so that you can live together in harmony. So think about opening up the rooms, playing with mirrors and integrating ingenious artificial light points for the evening. We often forget: the ceiling! My advice for your walls also applies to it: clear/white (in all its forms) and satin/gloss to better reflect the sun’s rays. If you have beams, don’t hesitate to paint them too: not only is painted wood very trendy, but the diffusion of light in your interior will be perfect!
The detail in the decoration, minimalist
Minimalism is also “the care given to all the accessories useful in everyday life”. The essential elements of any interior – electrical outlets, door handles, etc. – must be worked on in detail. Here too, the material is of the utmost importance. Rather than white plastic, choose porcelain or bakelite. Another example, “the carpet is not the carpet for the carpet, it is there because it is a place that we will walk on barefoot”.
What about textiles in minimalist decoration?
On the textile side, do not use patterned bed linen. Comfort is much more important than aesthetics. So go for white in a hard-wearing and pleasant fabric. Two cushions in sober colours will dress up your bed just right.
Moins complexe qu’il n’y paraît, le style minimaliste demande toutefois réflexion mais ne doit en aucun cas paraître inaccessible. Philosophie de vie ou simple manière d’agencer son espace intérieur, à vous de vous l’approprier en jouant avec les codes énoncés précédemment. Faites le tri, ne gardez que l’essentiel et composez un univers qui vous ressemble en laissant l’espace respirer. Vous ne vous sentirez que mieux là où l’encombrant – le superflu – n’est plus…
I love palette furniture. In fact, I think I love it for the same reason that I am so intrigued by Anthropology’s showcases – the idea of taking something that no one wants and turning it into something useful and/or beautiful resonates with me. An ostrich made of book pages? Lovely! A giant crown made of old books? Fabulous!
Which brings us to… a reading chair for Burke’s playroom made from a pallet and other materials we had on hand! Yes, please! Yes, please!
Since the assembly of this little gem was a little… mmmm… involved, I’m going to break this tutorial down into several parts. Today, I’m going to give you the information you need on the “chair” platform. In part 2, we’re going to build and attach the sides of the chair.
To do a palette reading yourself, you will need :
-2 wooden pallets
-break into 2 x pieces, cut into six squares.
-3 castors
-sander and sandpaper -
nails
1. Choose your palette. Three tips for this process:
a- Choose the strongest pallet you can find…
b- Find a palette that is a square
c- Try to find one with slats as close as possible.
Sand the pallet with raw wood. Then draw a diagonal line from corner to corner with a pencil.
* Note – The pallet we used had a broken slat. We just used the side without the broken slat for the chair.
2. Cut along this line. We actually used a circular saw to cut along the diagonal line on one side of the pallet, flip the pallet over and cut along the same line on the other side of the pallet.
3. Reinforce your “forward” edge. Use the leftover wood from the side of the pallet you threw away (there is already a piece of wood stuck between the top and bottom layers of the pallet, so use it as it is already the right size) to place an extra piece of reinforcement on each side of the middle board, sandwiched between the top and bottom layers. Nail your reinforcement pieces in place.
4. On the bottom side of your platform, build the three corners with scrap metal squares. These will make your chair sit higher off the ground. Attach the casters to each corner “turn”. Turn around and admire! You are finished with part 1.
Remember, that’s what you do–
For this second part of the chair building, you will need:
-a wooden pallet (if you have already collected two for part 1, this part will use your second pallet)
-two pieces of scrap metal 2 × 4 at least the length of each of your “chair” sides.
-a sander (I used an orbital sander, but any one will do … you could even sand the sand if you were really into manual work)
– saw
circular – edge bar or reciprocating saw (for lifting wooden planks from the pallet)
-the nails
1. Sand all the wooden planks at the top and bottom of the pallet. For me it was eighteen planks of wood. If you have more or less planks, adjust accordingly.
2. Using a circular saw, cut each piece of wood on one side (top or bottom) as close to the edges as possible, detaching it from the side frame.
3. Detach each plank of wood from the pallet. To do this, you can use a wing bar or, if you have a reciprocating saw, loosen the board by pressing one end. Since the board is only attached to the pallet frame in the middle, tilting it back and forth (carefully!) will loosen the nails in the middle that still hold the board in place. Next, place the reciprocating saw blade between the board and the centre panel of the pallet (where it is still attached) and cut the nails that hold the two together.
4. Repeat the whole process on the other side of the pallet. You should now have at least eighteen boards of sanded wood of the same size. If they vary in size, cut them to match.
5. Using nails, fasten the wooden planks to the back of your chair platform, with regular spacing between the slats. Stack the planks on top of each other at the corner. Make sure that the smooth, sanded side of each plank is facing the inside of the chair.
6. For more stability, reinforce the top of the slats with your scrap metal by 2 × 4 along the entire length of the side. Fasten to the boards with nails.
7. You’re ready to paint!
Don’t forget, this is part 2 of a series to make a reading corner using palettes. We do this…
