I’ve just finished redecorating the room in our house I use for all-things-creative; the walls are whitewashed, the old navy blue carpet ripped up and consigned to a skip, and it feels light, bright and inviting at last. I wanted to paint the ceiling and walls bright white to maximise the light, but as a result they can look a little bare. Last night’s project was therefore a simple paper banner which I can change at will, loosely strung between two wall tacks along a length of ribbon. It adds a vibrant splash of colour but is entirely temporary, and can be reconfigured to create other words when I get bored….
To make this, I decided on my phrase and typed it into a document file, one letter per page. I switched the font randomly each time, and played with the colours. I then simply printed out the sheets and glued each to an A4 sheet of coloured cardstock (I love these tonal papers and use them for most projects, and tend to always have a pack in my drawer)
I then strung a length of ribbon between two tacks I nailed into the wall, and used wooden pegs to attach the sheets. In my usual slapdash style, I didn’t make any measurements and just did this by eye – it looks rough ‘n’ ready and that’s fine by me!
I can see these appearing round the house in due course in various permutations; I can create an ‘enter!’ banner from my existing letters to string over a door, and by adding an ‘H’, ‘L’ and ‘M’ to my collection I can make a ‘Harry’ sign for his bedroom door, a ‘NOEL’ for Christmas, and a ‘Be Mine’ for those romantic moments which manage to occasionally elbow their way into life with a young family. The possibilities are endless.. almost. ’Never Be Ordinary’ seemed an appropriate motto for a family whose various members will frequently go shopping in a cowboy hat and swim goggles (Harry), and hold a Guinness World Record for running the fastest 3-legged marathon whilst tied to your brother (the unlikely-but-true pick-up line used by my future husband soon after our eyes met across a crowded room…). Embrace individuality – and so say all of us!
Lovely idea, I adore font projects. I wonder if you could explain what that interesting wheel on the left is, is it a way to store something? The shelf of utensils looks very useful too. Nicola, http://homemadekids.wordpress.com
Hi Nicola, the shelf rack (and table, and trestles… and most of my worldly possessions in fact) is from IKEA, and I love it; they’re actually little porcelain-like hanging bulbs which slide onto the rack and hold all manner of crucial bits n bobs. The ‘wheel’ is actually a whitewashed willow wreath that I found in our local garden centre for a song and am resting there whilst I work out where to put it and what to do with it! (Though you’ve got me thinking; it could look great with cards or little ornaments clipped to it and placed on a mantlepiece..)
I must always comment because I think your ideas are awesome! How high are your ceilings? Random question, I know, but this American has serious house envy! Claire
Claire, keep commenting, it’s lovely
The ceilings in the original part of our house are almost 4m high; insane. When I wallpapered Harry’s room I ran out halfway through because I’d calculated the width correctly but failed to almost double the required drop length! In this room, they are far more ‘normal’, at around 2.5m – it’s a contemporary annexe that the previous owners added to the main house as an office space. I’ll post some more pics of it soon!
I love this! It’s so sweet and cheerful!
Fresh clean and beautiful!
This is fantastic! I pass all of your ideas to my 13 year-old daughter, and I can already see her running with this one…thanks!