My own, House Proud, is my first, of course! But Marc Atiyolil’s weekly column, which often appears a page or two away from mine, routinely contains a project I’d like to try.
Marc’s focus is on using and reusing stuff we normally throw away or don’t have another use for and making something wonderful out of it. How about a framed capital letter or MOM made out of all of those buttons we all seem to collect for little or no reason? Or perhaps a dollar store glass vase upscaled with a little gold paint and imagination? That’s the kind of thing Marc does and I eat it up like licorice whips. I believe my own interest in this kind of thing really started years ago when I decided to go with a cow theme in my Burlington kitchen (don’t ask!) and removed a light switch cover to cow-it-up. An interest was born and I’m happy to say it got more sophisticated and less barnyard as time went on.
Not long ago I took a brass trophy topper and created a wall hook for my brother. (That blog post is HERE) That’s the kind of thing Marc goes for except his imagination is even more vivid. He takes more mundane things and makes them great. This weekend he takes a simple, disposable soap dispenser and pretties it up so it doesn’t get tossed away. To say I love this stuff is an understatement. If someone would pay me to do it I’d give up radio in the time it takes to say “here’s the latest news”!
If you love it too, here’s Marc’s website, where he answers typical design dilemma questions and offers his unique take on decor: http://marcatiyolil.com/ Happy upscaling!