Creative Light Switch Plates

Why should anything in your home be basic?

If you created an accent wall you should make sure that the rest of your wall is cohesive and blends in together.

One would think that a light switch is such a small element on a wall and it isn't as visible, you are absolutely mistaken! We are actually in contact with our light switches almost every single day. As a matter of fact, it takes a lot of beating from us - on, off, on, off, on, off.

They are just as valuable as any part of our homes so make sure they are also decorated properly to show your personality.

I made sure that my light switch cover plate matches my accent wall.

First I spray painted the light switch cover with a color that matches exactly the paint that I used for my wall. There are many variations of each color so just make sure you check how close the color is to your choice of color on your accent wall.

I added my decorative pearl stickers when the switch plate was dry

I used Mod Podge to seal the paint and pearl stickers for long lasting durability. It dries clear and fairly quickly.

And there you have it.

I have a newly decorated accent light switch cover plate.

PSA - Make sure that you spray paint the screws that you will use for the light switch plate as well just so everything is the same color.

Black Accent Wall

If you want to make a statement in your home, a deep & dramatic black accent wall will never fail you. Ever!

First of all what is an accent wall. An accent wall is a single wall in a room that is a different color than the rest of the room. You can either use a paint or wallpaper to highlight this wall. It is also known as a featured wall which is a great way to experiment on a bold color.

Darker walls that would otherwise make a room feel smaller will make a room feel bigger when you use them on an accent wall.

This is the wall that I chose to experiment on. It's not too wide and real easy to change back to a basic white wall if it turns out bad. So far I've only used some floral murals on it as shown on the photo below. But that got so boring real quick so I decided to go bold and paint it black.

So I removed all the stickers/murals and sanded the wall to make sure everything is smooth before I start doing this project.

And I didn't want to just paint it black and hang frames on this accent wall. I wanted to put up my collection of fashion books instead of them just sitting on my shelves so I searched for long narrow shelves. And as always, I'd rather upcycle so I searched online for used ones and found someone selling 4 of them that are the exact measurement I was looking for on Craigslist just for $30! Not only am I saving money, I'm also saving the environment.

I used a liquid sander deglosser instead of manually sanding. This saves a lot of time and not messy at all. As soon as the shelves were dry, I painted it the same color as I'm painting the wall. I gave the shelves 2-3 coats of paint.

Then I lined them up and measured them to be in the center of the wall, horizontally & vertically taking into consideration the length and size of my books and accessories I will be putting on the shelves.

After putting painter's tape on the ceiling and the sides of the wall that I want to keep white, I started painting. I painted the wall 2-3 coats of black paint.

Then the fun part, decorating and accessorizing. A few of the decors were made by me. I will make sure to link those below later.

And the finished product!!!

Tire Ottoman

Now that your fire escape is a lot less industrial looking and a bit more chicer, let's add an upcycled tire to the mix.

Link to how to dress up your fire escape here below

https://www.reimagining-spaces.com/post/dressing-up-your-fire-escape 

I didn't want to put anything that would get in the way should one need the fire escape for its real purpose (God forbid), so I decided to put something that's low and flat but useful when I sit and meditate or bring my laptop out and get some work done.

I kept passing by this vulcanizing store aka tire repair shop each and every morning. They have all these busted tires that are just in front of the store so one day I asked what exactly they do with them. I learned that although some get repurposed, a lot of them end up in landfills. That's when I got the idea of upcycling one with the leftover artificial grass I have. At least it's one less tire to go to the landfills. So just like any normal (???) person I asked for one & rolled it back home.

First I cleaned it with a dish detergent. I wanted to make sure that the tire is super clean before I bring it up to my place.

Then I took a piece of wood that came from a drawer that I pulled apart for my daughter's bedroom. I measured the inside of the tire on the wood and cut it with a miter saw. Make sure that you give allowance when you cut the wood, I did 2 inches on mine. This prevents it from falling inside. Then I used an electric tape to secure it on top of the tire.

Then I pulled my leftover artificial grass, measured it around the tire and glued it all over. Make sure that you cover the whole tire so when you put it on the fire escape, it would look like it's part of the whole thing.

And here is the finished product!