Friday, May 04, 2007

Paper Shelves

If there's one thing that really bothers me about living in a rental property, it's the fact that I don't have freedom with my walls. I'd love to make a feature wall with some gorgeous wallpaper, or be able to hang big pictures from Proper Hooks, or install shelves and things like that. Instead we've resorted to using 3M hooks for everything. I'm not sure what I'd do without them!

Anyway, the point of the story is that Pete's lovely mum Heather found me a bunch of wooden block type in an antique store in Queenscliffe - yay! I've been on the hunt for any sort of wooden/metal type for ages, and she's been keeping an eye out for me. I thought they'd look lovely on a series of little shelves on our wall, but we can't do that. So, here's my solution, and I think it looks ok:


How cute is that "," block!


A corner of my office.


Construction: they're each cut out from an A4 piece of paper (with a template printed on it) and stuck to the wall using long 3M adhesive strips - the extra ones that come with the hooks.

If anybody has any better suggestions for construction/materials/sticking to wall i'd love to hear them!

Meanwhile I can't believe the amount of publicity I've received in the blogosphere of late.
Craft, Print & Pattern, Etsy... it's crazy! I'm feeling so much better about what I do for a living now. Patterns and fabric is still only a small component but it's something friends and family actually find interesting, and I love the fact that I can make something that other people can turn into wonderful things. On that note, I am collecting photos of things that people have made with the fabric and will turn it into a blog post, so feel free to email me pics if you like and i'll link to your shop :)

27 comments:

meetmeatmikes said...

Hellooo! Just wanted to say I have been lurking about your blog and really enjoy reading all about your fabric fun! Your things are just lovely!

xx mikes

Anonymous said...

love the blocks, look fantastic all grouped together...they'd made funky book-ends too :) just found your mention on the Moo blog http://www.moo.com/blog/2007/05/03/crafty-eh/
Good stuff :)

sheetal patel said...

we have the same problem at our place---the walls are sooooo white and boring!!

Unknown said...

That's a great idea for making shelves! How heavy are the blocks (how much do you think the shelves can hold)? Could you post the template that you used? Besides the wallpaper and the hooks, the other thing that really bothers me about rented (or dorm) walls is how it's so flat. This would be a really neat way of getting around that.

Also, what is the artwork that you have hanging up? It looks like some sort of cutout?

Steve Caddy said...

That's really damn cool. :)

So, mum knows where to find oldschool type hey? Hmmmmm *scratches chin*

Anonymous said...

congratulations for all this press about your work ! it worths it !

lupinbunny said...

how are cardboard shelves and adhesive strips strong enough to hold up wooden blocks? how heavy are the blocks? do the adhesive strips *ever* take paint off the walls? *sees a whole new vista of interior decorating opening before her eyes*

i'm a bit tetchy about all your publicity because now it's going to be harder for me to get my hands on some of that cranes/ trees series that's in the pipeline.

Melissa said...

Those shelves are so clever! I can't wait to move in November because I'm going to paint and wallpaper my butt off. I own my place now, but it's a loft, and the walls are 18ft high. There's no way I'm taking that on!

Annie said...

super damn cool! just found your blog & etsy shop- will be a devoted lurker :)

Anonymous said...

Those are brilliant! I just moved and I have been trying to figure out how to display some things on the walls without putting bolts into the studs. Thanks!

Anna Hezel said...

Those shelves are really wonderful. There is an antique store near me with a huge cart of old print type at all times, selling for a dollar a piece, so I have amassed a collection.

Cherry said...

THAT IS SO COOL!!! I will be trying it this weekend. What about using that really thin craft metal? That'd be a cool look too. Awesome.

Lisa said...

I saw your coverage on Print & Pattern - you deserve it. A huge congratulations!

Anonymous said...

hi, not entirely on the subject, I just wish to know what serif font are you using on your site. I'm a newbie designer whos trying to get aquainted with fonts. Would appreciate the info. BTw, i just installed similar looking shelves but made of wood and nailed to the wall. I just love those floating type of shelves. I can send you pictures of them, if you like.

shula said...

Pure genius.

I just bang holes in and blow my bond to high heaven.

Those blocks are insane!

Jake said...

You could easily increase the rigidity of the shelf by adding a concertina of paper to the inside.

Great idea by the way.

Lara said...

Hi Anonymous - sorry for the slow reply! The serif font used on my site is plain old Georgia I think - it's the default that comes with this blog :)

Lara said...

Hi Katherine,

The artwork cutout is actually the inverse of a hanging mobile I bought! It came as a flat piece of veneer and you pop out the pieces of the mobile where the gaps now are. You can get the mobile from here:

http://store.shop-friend-sf.com/igebird.html

:)

Christopher said...

These are such a fantastic idea!I'm curious about the measurements,any chance of you posting a template?And what kind of paper did you use?Was it especially sturdy or thick?
Im also pleased to find another Melbourne artist on here!

Corina said...

Hi
Aaaagh- yep renting and decorating, they don't always go together. I'm currently in home number30 something (lost track) and now I do just tend to bung nails in the wall and think "bondschmond" -my children will only have kiddy rooms for such a short while and I NEED to put stuff up for them esp as we can't paint. But IF I was looking for a designery way to do a wall treatment I'd be looking at those removeable/reusablevinyl wall stickers that are now available....eg BLIK (I like the paisley). Another idea is to limit the number of holes in the wall by doing one really long narrow shelf or hanging system the full length of the wall.
BTW Love your fabric!

fischbowl said...

I just wanted to leave a quick post in response to your desire to be able to wallpaper a wall...I'm also a renter and I just wanted to share my strategy for "wallpapering" my apartment. I take a strip of wallpaper and mount it on heavy-weight cardboard. I can then mount this on my wall with a few small nails. I then buy some molding from the hardware store, paint it a coordinating color and create a "frame" for my wallpaper. This method creates an effect somewhere between wallpaper and art! :)

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