Home and Garden

Ideas For DIY

Book Review and Giveaway: Woodland Style

by

You’ll find this fabulous fern kitchen backsplash is featured in the delicious book, Woodland Style: Ideas and Projects for Bringing Foraged and Found Elements Into Your Home. It is chock full of fabulous ideas for your home using responsibly collected bits of nature. It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment in the middle of the city, or in a rustic cabin on the side of a mountain, your home can be accented with touches of the great outdoors.

Artist and author Marlene Hurley Marshall shares numerous projects using pine cones, tree bark, acorns, twigs, moss, and river rocks, and shows you how to turn them into everything from a miniature terrarium to functional pieces of furniture. This bark vase is a prime example of how she brings the lusciousness of the outdoors onto your patio or inside to your living room table.

Photographer Sabine Vollmer von Falken captures the combination of nature’s beauty and Marlene’s creative talent and turns them into pure eye candy. The photographs in this book are breathtaking and show us projects as simple as an acorn wreath and as unusual as a moss covered garden table.

Marlene also shares the work of other artists and sculptures. Sharing images and stories of fairy-tale fortresses made from twisted twigs and branches and the awesomeness of tree sculpting, where a tree is formed as it grows into a work of art.

After perusing this book, I challenge you to look at nature in the same light as you did previously. Let Marlene introduce you to the beauty of outdoors in your home.

The Giveaway

I’m jealous. I don’t want to give this book away, I want to keep it all to myself! 🙂 But alas, one of you lucky, lucky Craft Gossip readers will win this. I’m green with envy and think I’ll have to buy this book for myself.

To qualify to win this lovely book, you must:

1) Have a U.S. shipping address (even if you live elsewhere, we must be able to ship to the United States)

2) Leave a comment below stating what type of project you have made or would like to make using nature

You may earn additional entries by doing the following (if you already do one or all of these, just state that in the comments):

EACH one of these counts as 1 additional entry, but you must leave a SEPARATE comment for each one

1) become a fan on Facebook
2) Follow Craft Gossip on Twitter
3) Become a Craft Gossip newsletter subscriber
4) display one of our buttons on your blog sidebar and link it to either the CG homepage (http://craftgossip.com/) or the CG H&G channel (http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/) – you can get a button here

The giveaway runs through August 31st at midnight CST. Winners will be chosen at random through Random.org

I couldn’t resist. Here’s one more piece of eye candy for you. Naturally dyed wool…

GOOD LUCK!

Comments

  1. Hi,
    I truly ENJOY this website and share it with as many people as I can… I’ve recently been INSPIRED to create a “botanical wall” in my sunroom… I had basic ideas in mind, but this site continues to give me even more. I have no idea what I’ll end up with, but I’m fairly certain that it will be FANTASTIC, thanks to all of the ideas here.
    THANK YOU for all that you do and share!
    Kim

  3. I have made christmas ornament wreaths from mini pinecones, twig frames, pine candle rings, dried queen anne’s lace “snowflakes”and framed botanicals. I need inspiration!

  5. What a fabulous and lovely book! I could draw a lot of inspiration from it. I have a leaf casting that I made from my Elephant Ear
    Plant that I use to water the wildlife in our
    yard. Many thanks, Cindi

  9. I made a fairy house out of sticks and old wood for my grand daughter. She still asks if the fairies have returned to their house.
    This book looks great!

  10. In grade school we all collected twigs &/or branches & placed the end into a empty wooden sewing spool that we painted. We then cut small rectangles out of colored tissue paper & gathered them into little flowers & glued them onto the branches-very pretty! I have never forgotten this or the extraordinary art teacher I had!

  14. hi, i think the majority of our home and yard are decorated inspired by nature. From arbors and wreaths made from items found outside … our home reflects the area(s) we have lived. While living in hawaii we collected sea glass and shells, in wa state large pine cones, in new england items impressed with ferns, queen annes lace etc. It puts us at ease and reminds us of the varied places beauty we have enjoyed.

  18. I have always loved using found objects. When I was a child in New York the leaves, pine cones and acorns were my favorite. Now on Miami Beach, shells, sand and many other found items from the beach find their way in the decor of my cottage. The print of the fern is ingenious and I want to include it, too. I would love this book so I can get more ideas for fun things to make. Thanks for your wonderful newsletter that I find each morning when I get up. Keep up the good work, Laura

  19. I love using rocks and plant imprints in cement when I am making stepping stones for the garden and yard area. I have also used branches to make hangers for some of my stitched bell pulls.

  20. I’ve loved incorporating nature in to my home for years…..possibly even before it was “cool”! My husband still lovingly teases me about the year I decided to use small birch trees cut down from our yard as curtain rods. Unfortunately, the cat decided to fine tune his acrobatic skills by continually walking the length of the tree/curtain rod and quickly shredded any curtain that I put up!

  21. This looks like a great book and I am sure it would inspire me. I love picking “roadside abundia” (flowers and weeds in the ditches by my house) and making fresh and dried arangements.

  22. I love nature. In summer I’m always in my backyard. I work with herbs: lavender, rosemary, thym… I would love winning this book. thank you.

  23. As a kid, I used to make those little solar cards where you take leaves and put them on a piece of paper in the sunlight, and then an image develops. I would love to try something more sophisticated!

  24. this book looks like so much fun! i’ve been trying to pull off a bit of cottage garden theme and not quite getting enough of the outside in. the bark vase is just what i need to make this one tablescape work and this book looks like just what I need for help with the rest. i’d certainly love to win, thanks for the opportunity.

  25. I have made many pictures and cards with pressed flowers and leaves from around my property. Also wreaths made from hickory nut hulls and acorns.

  30. I love having nature in my house. I have plants every where. I love fern prints and have some printed on canvas paper. This book would give me so many other great ideas to bring the outside inside!

  31. I would love to have this book for inspiration! I’m constantly bringing nature home – I’ve been doing a lot of dyeing wool with plant materials, and this summer I built an arbor for our hops vines from logs that washed up during high water along the creek opposite our house. My family gets involved, too – we can’t go out in the woods without bringing home a special rock.

  34. I can’t bear to walk through the woods without gathering something of natures wonderful gifts. I collect pine cones (which I havenðt done anything with) and lots of plants which I either dry or put in oil and then use them in soaps and creams. My largest gathering involved large logs that I wanted to make into a bench.
    The book looks very interesting.

  35. The Boy and I recently made a mobile using his “nature collection” which included feathers, pinecones, and acorns.

  39. Nature inspires all my decorating and color choices. When my son was younger we made a bunch of stepping stones with leaves and other items in them and when the leaves are removed it looks like a fossil. Good memories.

  40. Wow, I love it! Definitely want to try that backsplash. Thanks for the opportunity to win. I’m a newsletter subscriber.

  41. My daughter is always making things with nature. She loves to use rocks to make little figures and flowers to decorate.

  44. I already have the book but wanted share anyway…This book is an amazingly crafted guide through some of the most spectacular “natural wonders” fostered by a true artist. Marlene Marshall so gracefully encourages all of her readers to truly look closely just outside their door – there is art to be had! The other artists and their works included in the book just compound the inspiration that art is not just created – it is sometime wrestled with, dug up, turned over and “ruined” by the elements. Each one of the projects encouraged by this author offers everyone a chance to feel the excitement that working with natural components brings. Rather than feeling like we can tame nature, she urges us to join in its wild dance!

  46. I have made pounded flower pictures. They turned out rather neat. Took me awhile to get the hang of it but I started to get rather good at pansies.

  49. I would love this book, I make and teach classes on leaf castings using leaves from my gardens. A very popular class!

Trackbacks

Have you read?

IKEA KALLAX Room Divider DIY: Create a Cosy Corner With Storage and Style

Open-plan living sounds lovely until your craft supplies, the dining table and someone’s homework all start sharing the same square metre. Sometimes you don’t need another room quite so much as a little separation—a corner that feels like yours, with somewhere to put the things that keep migrating across the house.

An IKEA KALLAX room divider DIY can help create that boundary while giving you useful storage. Those familiar square compartments can hold baskets of yarn, paperwork, books and the everyday bits that don’t need to be on display. Leave some cubes open and you can still enjoy views through the room.

What I like about this approach is that the creative part can be wonderfully manageable. You can personalise the storage boxes, repeat colours from your cushions and add a few handmade touches without rebuilding the shelving.

The key is planning both sides of the divider. A shelf against a wall has one public face. A shelf dividing a room has two, and the back of a jumble of cables is rarely anybody’s decorating goal.

Can You Use IKEA KALLAX as a Room Divider?

Yes. IKEA describes KALLAX as suitable for room-divider use, but it also requires the furniture to be securely anchored. Room-divider styling doesn’t remove that requirement.

Start with the current IKEA KALLAX range and check the instructions for your exact model. Plan its position around a suitable anchoring arrangement before buying accessories.

A position with one end near a wall may suit your layout, but proximity alone doesn’t secure the unit. Ask IKEA or a competent installer how to anchor your chosen model in that orientation. If the intended position cannot accommodate the required anchoring, choose another position or a purpose-built divider.

Decide What Your Divider Needs to Do

Before choosing a size, finish this sentence: “I want to separate…”

Perhaps it’s a craft corner from the lounge, a desk from the dining area or the front door from the main living space. That answer helps you decide how much height and visual screening you need.

A lower arrangement can mark a boundary while keeping the room visually connected. A taller arrangement can screen more of the view, but it also has a greater presence in the room.

KALLAX creates visual separation. It won’t provide the sound isolation of a wall, and open cubes won’t give complete privacy.

What You Need for This KALLAX Divider Project

  • A KALLAX unit suited to your space
  • The assembly instructions and required anchoring equipment
  • Wall fixings appropriate to your wall, selected with suitable advice
  • Compatible inserts, boxes or baskets
  • A tape measure and low-tack floor-marking tape
  • Decorative paper or fabric for personalising removable storage boxes
  • Card, scissors and an adhesive suitable for the box material
  • A few lightweight decorative pieces

You can keep the DIY work focused on the removable storage accessories. That makes it easier to refresh the look later and avoids relying on decorative additions to support the furniture.

How to Plan and Style an IKEA KALLAX Room Divider

Mark Out the Footprint

Use low-tack tape on a suitable floor surface to mark the unit’s width and depth. Check that the tape won’t damage the finish first.

Walk around the outline with the room in normal use. Pull out dining chairs, open nearby doors and imagine carrying a laundry basket past it. Include space for storage boxes to pull out and insert doors to open.

For reference, IKEA’s white 147 × 147cm KALLAX is listed at 39cm deep. Check the actual measurements of the model you choose, especially if adding a compatible underframe.

Check the View From Both Sides

Stand where you usually sit, then walk to the other side. Which parts of the room would you like to screen? Where does daylight enter?

Try positioning closed storage where it interrupts the view of clutter, while keeping other cubes open. You don’t have to fill every compartment for the divider to feel finished.

I’d start with fewer boxes than you think you need. It’s much easier to add another basket than to bring the light back after you’ve built a wall of storage.

Assemble and Anchor Before Decorating

Assemble the unit in an orientation permitted by its instructions and complete the required anchoring before loading it.

Follow the model’s load limits and installation guidance. Keep dense supplies low, distribute contents sensibly and check fastenings as instructed. Baskets of books or craft tools can become heavy surprisingly quickly.

If your divider needs extra height, choose a suitable taller model rather than improvising a stack of units.

Plan Which Side Opens Where

Think about who needs each compartment. Craft supplies should open towards the craft area; household storage might be more useful from the living-room side.

Check how each insert looks from behind before committing to the arrangement. Some accessories are designed primarily for access from one side, even though the shelving itself can be viewed from both.

Use a quick paper sketch to map the cubes. Label them “yarn,” “paperwork,” “books” and “open” before spending money on matching boxes.

Easy DIY Fabric Fronts for Storage Boxes

This is the little makeover I’d start with: personalise plain removable boxes with coordinated fabric panels.

Choose rigid boxes with flat fronts. Measure each front and cut a piece of card slightly smaller, leaving handles, seams and folding sections clear.

Wrap the card in fabric, folding the excess neatly behind it. Secure the fabric to the card, then attach the finished panel to the box using an adhesive appropriate for its surface. Test first, particularly on fabric-covered or coated boxes.

Let everything dry before returning the boxes to the shelves. Keep panels clear of pull handles so they don’t get tugged loose every time someone reaches for a charger.

If the back of the box is visible from the other room, coordinate that face too. These panels are decorative; they don’t add strength or change the box’s load capacity.

Five KALLAX Room Divider Ideas to Make It Feel Like Home

A Craft Corner With a Calm Living-Room Side

Keep project boxes and frequently used supplies accessible from your workspace. On the lounge side, repeat a small palette of baskets, books and a few favourite objects.

Our CraftGossip paper-craft storage in KALLAX shelving offers ideas for organising paper, inks and other supplies. Use it for storage inspiration while following current instructions for your own installation.

A Cottage-Style Divider With Floral Fabric

Pair a white unit with soft floral box fronts, woven textures and a little gingham. Pick colours already present in the room so the shelving feels connected to the furniture around it.

A handmade piece in one open cube gives the arrangement personality without turning every shelf into a display.

A Coastal Divider With Rope Baskets

Combine pale finishes, blue fabric and natural textures for a relaxed coastal look.

Our CraftBits DIY rope basket tutorial is a lovely companion project for lightweight storage. Measure the finished basket, including handles, against your shelf opening rather than assuming it will fit.

A Home-Office Divider That Hides Paperwork

Use compatible closed storage to reduce the view of folders and office supplies from the main room. Leave some cubes open for books and a simple display.

Keep cables along a safe, planned route rather than trailing them through the walkway. Put charging equipment where it has appropriate ventilation and easy access.

A Colourful Divider With Personality

Choose patterned box fronts in two or three repeated colours. Add a framed print and one or two handmade objects, then let the repetition do the work.

There’s nothing wrong with cheerful storage. Sometimes the thing that makes you put the yarn away is having a particularly lovely box to put it in.

How to Keep the Project Affordable

Start with a sound unit and a workable installation plan. If buying second-hand, check for missing hardware, damaged joints, swollen panels and signs of previous alterations.

Add storage accessories gradually. Make two matching fabric fronts first, live with them for a few days, then decide whether the room needs more.

Price the whole project, including delivery, suitable fixings, installation help and inserts. A modest shelving price can become a different budget once every cube has acquired a door.

Common KALLAX Room Divider Questions

Can I use it in the middle of a room?

Only where the required anchoring can be achieved appropriately. Don’t assume that a central position is suitable simply because the unit stands upright. Get advice for the exact model and location.

Is this suitable for renters?

It can be, provided you can meet the installation requirements and obtain any necessary permission. Adhesive strips don’t replace the specified furniture restraints.

Can I add legs or castors?

Check compatibility with your exact unit. A compatible IKEA underframe may be an option, but improvised legs or wheels change how the furniture is supported. This project keeps the original structure intact.

How do I get more privacy?

Use compatible closed inserts and opaque boxes where screening matters most. Check the view at seated and standing heights. For complete privacy, a shelving divider alone may not suit the space.

A successful IKEA KALLAX room divider DIY gives each part of a room a clearer purpose. Once the placement, access and anchoring are sorted, you can enjoy choosing the fabrics, baskets and little handmade details. That’s where a familiar cube shelf starts feeling like part of your home.