DIY Look Alikes

DIY LALs : Williams-Sonoma Mason Glass Top Desk

Decor Look Alikes | Willams-Sonoma Mason Glass Top Desk

Retails for $1395 - $1595

Here's a great LAL from IKEA

Retails for $149

It needs just a little help to look more like the original.

Presenting the $5 solution for turning a $149 desk into a look alike for a $1595 desk:

You can find this everywhere. Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart etc. You can also order it on Amazon but it's a lot cheaper in the store. Spray paint those tresle legs and it will look like a million bucks.... well, like 1595 bucks at least!

That's all you need! This is my kind of DIY project. Someone try it and send us the pics!

DIY Look Alikes: Pottery Barn Painted Pieced Woodwork

It's been awhile since we featured a DIY look alike, and like many things in my life (read housework) it's important to strike while the iron is hot. So, if I'm feeling a little it, a DIY LAL post it is!

This cool wall art from Pottery Barn has been around for awhile which mean two things. First, it must be a pretty popular item, and two, there has been plenty of time for people to figure out how to make it themselves.

Retails for $399

It sure is prudy, but not $400 worth of purdy!

I've found several blogs with DIY walkthroughs. Google is a wonderful thing! Here are a couple of the best.

First up is this step-by-step pictorial from Thrify Decor Chick

She put her's together using scrap wood and paint that she already had on hand so this was a free DIY and the results, were pretty fantastic.

Head on over to Thrifty Decor Chick for all the details!

Here's another brave soul who took on this DIY knock off. Melissa at This Girl's Life Blog also serves up a great photo tutorial and this time all the materials were store bought especially for her project. The grand total? About 30 bucks!

Her results:

Not bad. Not bad at all!! I especially like how you can use whatever colors you want when you make it yourself.

Before we wrap this us I had to include a link or two for those of us who may not be that keen on DIY. Thank goodness for Etsy! You can often order custom colors and sizes, and still get it at a fraction of the cost of the original.

Check out these Etsy options:

Alley Cat Design St Rustic Wood Wall Sculpture

Retails for $95, custom orders accepted

Attic Joys 1 Reclaimed Wood Wall Art

Retails for $39!

See! There are so many options out there, even for those who don't quite want to do it themselves. No reason to spend $400 on the original, that's for sure!

DIY LALs: Pottery Barn Exeter Jar Pendants

5- Jar Pendant retails for $149

16-Jar Pendant retails for $399

This DIY tutorial has been very popular on Pinterest! The site is in Spanish, but since it is a photo tutorial without many words, it's not a big deal. Imagine how much more you will love your trendy pendant fixture if you made it yourself!

Since you can get mason jars for less than $1 each, Edison light bulbs for $6-$7 each, and cord kits from Ikea for about $5, I figure you can replicate the 5-Jar version for about $65 and the 16-jar version for about $192!

DIY Pottery Barn Metallic Snowflake Tealight Holder and Ornament

Metallic Snowflake Tealight Ornament retails for $24.50, on sale for $19.50

Metallis Snowflake Tealight Holder retails for $39.00, on sale for $29.00

This is an easy look to make yourself. I've seen the glitter snowflake ornaments at many places including Walmart and Target. This example is from the Dollar Tree.

Glitter Snowflake Ornaments, 3 assorted sizes.

You need two of whatever glitter snowflakes you choose. Next you need a tealight holder. You can use a glass tealight holder in the middle, just super glue a snowflake on either side. Here's a good option also from the Dollar Tree:

Glass Tealight Holders, 2 count sets

Finish it off with with some flameless tealights.

Here's Pottery Barn's version:

$6 for a set of 4

The Dollar Tree has a better deal:

Flameless LED Tealights, 3 pack, for just $1

So we've come up with a similar look for just $3.50!

DIY Pottery Barn Kids Art Cables

These Art Clips retail for $39 each, but you can easily make them yourself for much less

Here's how:

Using the Curtain Wire with clips from Ikea ($5.99) you can add a decorative end piece to match your decor, or even find a pretty close copy for the Pottery Barn options.

These star hooks are from Land of Nod and retail for $12.95 and are a similar look to the PBK Star Art Clips. Wooden star cutouts are also readily available from craft stores.