Decorating Fun: Start with IKEA, Finish with Something New

Stunning tricked-out IKEA kitchen cabinets (Apartment Therapy / House Beautiful)

Jay Johnson - When Apartment Therapy and House Beautiful start to include design details that feature modified or "tricked-out" IKEA fixtures and furnishings, then you know you have a serious trend on your hands. Modifying the clean design of IKEA's furniture, cabinetry, and other home goods has become a global pasttime as do-it-yourselfers and home designers make modifications to create custom looks from basic pieces. The kitchen cabinets in the photo above, for instance, never looked like that in the showroom or catalog; they were custom detailed and finished to elevate the look. Saving money on the basics is what IKEA is all about, but elevating and tricking-out the basics to create a one-of-a-kind end result is what interior designers and DIY homeowners are all about.

The Gallant wall storage shelves were tricked out to create a new media console (IKEA Hackers) 

This trend has become so hot that there's even a popular website documenting a wide array of tricked-out projects: IKEA Hackers. Here are a few tricked-out projects that really caught our eye. Click on each photo for more information.

High gloss red tabletops become a backlit headboard (IKEA Hackers)

Regolit lamp covered with paper muffin liners (IKEA Hackers)

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Putting Up and Decorating the White House Christmas Tree

Irwin Weiner ASID - We all look forward to the end-of-the-year holidays because they make our homes more bright, cheery, and festive. We deck the halls, spin the dreidels, and light the Kwanzaa candles with family and loved ones, and our homes never look so magical.

The White House is no exception. In today's featured video, you'll see a time-lapse view of how a Christmas tree is prepared for, brought in, and decorated. It's a huge production!

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Gypsy Interiors: Intimate Portraits of Colorful People and Interiors

Irwin Weiner ASID - We love to show our readers how other people around the world live. You won't just get our take on interior design and decorating in the United States. (How boring would that be in a world alive with color and imagination!) I was delighted to find today's design video, featuring Roma (Gypsy) families from Bucharest, Romania in their homes. Carlo Gianferro's photographs were taken between 2007 and 2008 and they comprise a coffee table book called Gypsy Interiors: Contemporary Roma Portraits. Gianferro took portraits of individuals and small family groupings posing on stairways and in living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms.

The interiors show a strong, in-your face decorating style. The patterns, colors, textures, and layering aren't for the feint of heart. Some of the interiors are extremely modern while others are quite traditional. All the rules of decorating are broken, which I personally love. What's the fun of decorating if you can't color outside of the lines? Above all, the photographs capture a sense of pride; these homeowners are showing off their homes, and their portraits are very intimate and inviting.

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Design Video: Derek Wilson Brings Us Inside His Studio (and His Head)

Irwin Weiner ASID - Belfast, North Ireland has seen more than its share of violence and urban flight. It was devastating for the city's economy and also for its artist residents. The last five years has seen a change, however, and noted ceramicist Derek Wilson has been part of that resurgence.

There has been a boom of sorts - it was so behind other cities - with graduates staying and designers and artists setting up. There's lots of support, and it's nice to be involved in the creative resurgence.

Designs from Mr. Wilson are inspired by the colors, light quality, and industrial heritage of his beloved Belfast. Like all talented ceramics artists, his work is both highly functional and sculptural, making them absolutely ideal additions to home decor.

Watch his video interview below, and click on any of his images for more information.

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