The Alterna-trellis

So you know those garden pictures, the ones we all love to ogle, with gorgeous trailing vines held aloft by some design-perfect trellis? In all my luxurious spare time, I've been keeping myself busy thinking of ways to get that look for less. Try this one on for size: After weeping at the garden center over wrought-iron trellises in the $250 range (we would need at least two to cover up our bad view), I spotted the Manger headboard at trusty old IKEA.

Reminiscent of an iron gate, it has curlicues galore (I don’t even mind those little flowers hidden in there), is made of powder-coated steel and measures an expansive 66½ inches wide by 74 inches high. And it didn’t pain me to fork over the skimpy price of $79.99 to take it home. I think I'll mess around with some paint and age it a bit, just to take the smarmy gloss off. (And yes, I suspect it will rust anyway, eventually. Fine by me.) We're planting morning glories and moonflowers, which will more than cover it and the ugly roof behind it.

I'll post "after" pics when the vines are up. Meanwhile, here's another good "trellis" idea, from Martha Stewart: lengths of copper gutter hung from chains & filled with trailing plants.

Just think of the patina in a few years. Love it. The whole thing panders to my love of the "living wall" trend. And my roof deck project. More on that later ...

Not just for the three-car

Here's the thing: I have a little bookshelf obsession going. (One of a small stable of carefully tended obsessions that, frankly, rule my life.) So it's no surpise I had to stop & gawk at this, from a designsponge Sneak Peek. (See all of it here.)

But this is the part that really makes my cheapskate's heart beat faster: these are standard issue, big box hardware store shelves. The kind that most people put in garages. Their industrial look, coupled with clean-lined Midcentury furniture ... tres bon, no?

We could do this. Think about it.
*More bookshelves? Gotta go to I Suwanee (where I first spotted this pic) for her Bookshelf of the Day collection.