last weekend ac and i scooted up to williamsburg for burgers at dumont burger (yum) and some quick book browsing at spoonbill and sugartown (where i always end up buying a handful of new pancake and franks cards). while looking sifting through a table of incredible penguin books (and drooling over their covers), i looked up and caught a beautiful set of atlas shelves. as my mind starting mentally calculating how long it would take me to save up for a set of the real things i remembered that we had a fantastic diy-version of these shelves waiting to be posted! d*s reader susannah becket was a finalist in this year’s diy contest and was kind enough to send in the full instructions for her budget-friendly atlas-inspired shelving. if you’ve got a wall of books at home like we do, this project will certainly come in handy. click here for the full post, more pictures and instructions or just click “read more” below. thanks to susannah for sharing!

we’re always on the lookout for fun materials we can use in our diy projects. this time we found it right under our noses (actually it was right under our cats’ noses). after giving them a special treat of wet food the other day, we decided to repurpose the empty can into a handy little pincushion. all it took was some poly-fil, a strip of decorative paper, and some leftover linen from our appliqué pillow project. super simple, super cheap, and our cats are already begging us to make another one. click here for the full instructions or just click “read more” below.

have fun!
derek & lauren

today’s second diy project comes from the incredible pool of entries we received this year in the d*s diy contest. based in the netherlands, jane schouten is a phenomenal graphic designer and artist who has a seriously impressive portfolio full of incredible textile-based projects (really, it’s a must, must see). jane’s beautiful doily-bowl was a finalist in the diy contest (full instructions coming next week) but she also sent along a fantastic re-upholstery project that i couldn’t resist sharing.

jane is the proud owner of a vintage pierre paulin oyster chair, but was unhappy with the state of its thread-bare original upholstery. so she decided to customize and personalize its upholstery using decorative cut-outs, crocheted flowers and embroidery. with a large collection of vintage blankets to draw from, jane created a patchwork-style upholstery base, on top of which she added the details mentioned above. while we certainly all at the level of upholstering and embroidery that jane is, after examining her photos for a few days i felt strongly that the essence of this project was something that most clever diy-ers could tackle. if you have some leftover fabric, old blankets or maybe even old shirts, you could create a similar patchwork background to reupholster your favorite seat or stool. so, i hope jane’s project will be as inspiring for you as it was for me (or at least provide some much-needed chair eye-candy). click here for jane’s instructions or just click “read more” below.

with so many fantastic entries from this year’s diy contest, i’m still pouring through them and sharing some of my favorites that didn’t make the finals. this project from jason halstead was a favorite of mine because it combines my two loves- before & after makeovers and diy projects. unhappy with his ‘ugly 50s-era sewing desk’ jason decided to give his lackluster desk a luxe makeover. faux finishing turned his previously tacky cabinetry into a custom-fitted, (faux if you prefer) leather wrapped piece of furniture with ‘top-stitched’ detailing. the result blew me away and thought it would be a great project for those of you out there looking for something a bit more sophisticated and masculine. click here for jason’s full instructions or just click “read more” below. [thanks, jason!]

today’s first diy project (of 4!) belongs to brooklynite maggi pattillo. she created this simple but stunning desk with a few boards from lowes and a whole lot of crafty-ness. her instructions are easy-to-follow and make for a fantastic weekend project if you’re looking to create a custom desk area. click here for maggi’s instructions or just click “read more” below. [thanks, maggi!]

as you might have guessed, our apartment is quickly becoming somewhat of a diy wednesday showroom. it’s been so fun filling our home with our little crafty projects, but one room that we’ve unintentionally neglected has been the kitchen. so we were really excited when we stumbled upon some vintage fabric in the craft bin perfect for making a set of pot holders to brighten up the kitchen. click here for the full post or click “read more” below”

happy crafting!
derek & lauren

i’m still plowing through all of the fantastic projects featured as part of the 2008 d*s diy contest and today we’re sharing one of the more controversial pieces- natasha’s babydoll coat rack. you guys seemed to be divided right down the middle between “that totally creeps me out!” and “that is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen” but overall it was definitely a project that generated a lot of discussion- as well as a few emails from manufacturers wanting to talk to natasha. so who knows, maybe we’ll see these babydoll racks in stores some day soon. until then, if you’d like to know how to build your own, natasha has included her full project instructions below. just click here for the full instructions or click “read more” below. thanks, natasha!