Pottery Barn Fake Out!

Alright, its time to start blogging the ongoing decorating of the house.

Living in military housing has always been a pain convenience, but I have to say it... these houses have no personality. I could paint, but why? I'm only going to be in this house for 4 years. Paint is expensive on the Italian economy and my time is a price I'm not willing to pay. So I am finding different ways of bringing life to these white rooms. It's not an easy, or cheap, task. I love to drool over websites like Pottery Barn, but let's face it... I can't afford most of their things. I have this trick-- show me a website and I will tell you, without looking at the price, which is the most expensive item.... because thats the one item I like. Why me.

I've found that if I troll Pottery Barn (PB) and really look at their staging in the photos... I can inexpensively copy the same ideas. Take this for example...

I have an obsession with lanterns. Big ones, small ones, metal ones, vintage ones, rusty ones...
you get the idea. Every time I look at PB, I find one I just get giddy over.. then I see the retail price. ughhhhhh..

< These are the PB Mercado lanterns... these retail at up to $94 (for the big one) ON SALE... yikes. Not to mention that there is NO PB in Italy and I would need to also pay for shipping. No, thank you. On top of that, they wanted $16 for a couple of shells!! Insanity! I can do better than that!

I love the nautical theme but I just can't bring myself to spend that much money. So I trolled the local Ikea to see what I could find.

Say "hello" to Borrby... he was only €6,99 ($7.99 in the states). He also comes in black, but I bought silver because I have a black coffee table and I wanted him to stand out.

Lantern (ikea): $10*
Candle (ikea): $2.86*
Rope (NEX): $1.70
Shells: free collected over time
Starfish (eBay): $1 each (2 shown in lantern)
Project Total: $16.56

How do you like them apples, eh PB?

*converted prices from euro rate





Duplicating this look wasn't hard and I can show you how I did it.

What you will need:


Hot glue gun (and glue)
about 2-3 ft of rope, depending on your candle size
scissors
various shells (or rocks)
a candle
a lantern

I don't have a tutorial created for this but I know you're a smart cookie!

At the base of the candle secure the end of the rope with hot glue. Then, wrap the rope around the base of the candle twice, at this point you have creative freedom to wrap it as many times as you want. Secure the other end with hot glue as well, cut off any excess. Then place your candle in the lantern and surround with shells... make sure you look all the way around your lantern. You want it pleasing from all sides. That's it guys and dolls.. super simple and inexpensive!

Try it yourselves. DIY is fun!