What better way to bring warmth and history to your bedroom than with a reclaimed DIY wood headboard? Whether you use pallets (be sure to first read my post on potential toxicities in pallets, though!), ancient redwood, or the discarded wood siding of your neighbor’s farmhouse, the result of using salvaged wood is always original. Just add a regular mattress or an Ergoflex memory foam mattress, and you’ll be ready for sweet dreams!

A Formal Feeling Comes saw her neighbor discarding their wood siding and thought it would be the perfect material to create a unique headboard – and she was right!   While the original one she created was rectangular, she jigsawed her way into stylish lines and a special headboard for her mattress.

From old fence boards comes a gorgeous, character filled headboard by House Tweaking.  This is certainly the ultimate love bed!

Playing with the size of this headboard creates a dramatic piece made of salvaged wood, by laure at home.  I really like how the headboard frames the mattress generously.

This DIY pallet headboard from Stylizmo has garnered quite a bit of blogging attention, and certainly for good reason.  I love the muted colors and how easy of a DIY this is.  It leaves you with lots of extra money to splurge on a good mattress!

Yes, this is like inviting an entire tree to live in your bedroom, but why not?  As a DIY, this project would be quite a stretch, but I know my modern husband would love this creating by Hudson Furniture to be our bedroom set.

From ancient redwood trees comes this awe-inspiring headboard by Urban Hardwoods that showcases the true, raw beauty of nature.  I’ve seen a few of these headboards here on Maui and love how every nook and cranny of Mother Nature is left intact.  I’ve actually seen pieces of wood like this at a ReStore for $50 – $100…no kidding!  Just mount the headboard, and you’ve got a jaw dropping DIY headboard.

Valentine’s Day completely transforms with a little one to love, wherein romantic love blossoms into an exponential, cosmic love.  When we spent yesterday at a beach on the North Shore, we serendipitously found three heart-shaped broken coral pieces, almost a present from Mother Nature for Valentine’s Day!  I arranged our symbolic family on our son’s nature table (the result is a bit wabi sabi, I think) … and who would have known that three found coral pieces could be such an inspirational replacement for traditional red roses?

My son, who has been practicing pushing buttons for a few days, also took his very first picture, as seen above!  I think it captured the closeness and intimacy of love much more than my photos did — not bad for a boy who just turned one!

May your Valentine’s Day be filled with inspiration and love, from the people and earth around you!

While catching up on my DudeCraft reading, I stumbled upon Sean Woolsey‘s work, and his recent lamp logs really intrigued me.  I love the wild feel of these lamps and how each neck is shaped based upon the unique base.  The reclaimed wood wall in his studio (which serves as this photo’s backdrop) is wonderfully rustic and wabi sabi too.

The last place I expected to see Wabi Sabi decor was our hotel in Arizona.  Lo and behold, however, at the Boulders Waldorf in Scottsdale, I was surprised by the beautiful ambiance of the “casita” where we stayed.  The unfinished wooden beams and floors juxtaposed against nature linen fabrics and raw silk pillows were very Wabi Sabi in aura.

I especially liked how the wood beams and ceiling were set against the fan, whose streamlined design was beautifully accentuated with its natural wood grain.

Each morning, we enjoyed breakfast on the deck, which featured salvaged tree trunks for tables and chairs set atop untreated planks.   Who knew Wabi Sabi could live so peacefully amongst high-falutin designs?

Wabi Sabi celebrates the “mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials,” as eloquently explained by Soetsu Yanagi. To me, this bathroom from Notebook Magazine is an idyllic example of Wabi Sabi, with its aged wooden floors and the prevalence of weathered natural elements.

The best part about Wabi Sabi is that it does not involve high-brow design that has four zeros attached to the price tag.  Instead, some of the items you already cherish in your home could be quantified as Wabi Sabi, as are natural materials that are available through the hand of Mother Nature.

Happy Friday friends!  I wish you all a wonderful upcoming weekend — perhaps filled with Wabi Sabi inspiration and finds!

What happens when you combine the lifestyle philosophy of wabi sabi with art aficionados and a beautiful spring day?   You enjoy the pleasures of a wabi sabi picnic, of course!

The Center for Outdoor Centmporary Art hosted a wabi sabi picnic to celebrate life, nature and imperfect beauty.  The imprompty wabi sabi tableaux was created by the hand of many artists and participants who each contributed a small treasures that represented waib sabi to them.

Doesn’t this weekend seem like the perfect time to enjoy a wabi sabi picnic?  It could be such a lovely potluck of design and beauty!

P.S.  If you have a moment, kindly meander over to Tea for Joy, a lovely British design blog who always inspires me to enjoy a cup of afternoon tea.  Lynne was kind enough to interview me as part of the 2009 Style Resolution Series!

If you ask a Western individual what Wabi Sabi is, her definition will likely describe antique furniture and rusty patinas.   Interestingly, ask a Japanese person the same question, and her answer will focus on emotions, such as the momentary peace of solitude when a shadow is cast against the floor, or those impermanent, quiet moments in the rain as rays of light begin to penetrate the clouds.

This Light Locations room, with its time-aged moody and peeling walls, fleeting yet powerful light, gives the emotion of beautiful impermanence, which is a fundamental element of Wabi Sabi. While it may not qualify under Soetsu Yanagi’s explanation that Wabi Sabi celebrates “the mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials,” it does exude the emotions of fleeting moments that are hard to capture and quantify.

Do you share the search for the peaceful, humble, and fleeting feelings of Wabi Sabi?

Boundless beauty exists in raw nature.  The Wabi Sabi philosophy celebrates driftwood, smooth ocean-tumbled pebbles, and cracks and crevices of time.   The Swedish interpretation of a Wabi Sabi example may not represent the philosophy’s subtle minimalism, but it certainly showcases the gorgeous appeal and perfection of imperfect nature.

How do you incorporate nature into your home?

Amidst all of the uncertainties 2009 holds, I am finding more solace and serenity in the Wabi Sabi philosophy.  The stark contrast of Wabi Sabi against the last decade’s gluttony of HELOCs gone wrong is refreshing, to say the least.  You don’t need the latest high-brow design couch, and you certainly don’t need to revamp your entire home with the trendiest colors.  Instead, the treasures already in your home that symbolize your life, emotions, and personal history are perfect!  In fact, the only elements in your home should be ones that you absolutely love, undoubtly need, or ideally fulfill both prerequisites!

British stylish Tonya Goodwin, whose lovely portfolio has been featured on many design blogs of late, embodies a peaceful Wabi Sabi aesthetic that combines the beauty of raw nature with polished yore.  Her use of materials on this flourished European mantle is unexpected, yet so pleasing to the eye and soul.  Truly, especially in these tumultuous times, don’t you find that less is indeed more?

When I first became acquainted with Wabi Sabi, I felt that my approach to both living and decorating had been beautifully verbalized by centuries of Buddhist and Japanese philosophy.  Wabi Sabi, in its barest bones, believes that beauty exists in imperfection, created through time, impermanence, and nature.  It is embodied in fleeting feelings, perhaps of a mysterious shadow cast against a knitted blanket or petals of a fading rose falling to the hardwood floor.

Translated into decor, Wabi Sabi celebrates the imperfection of aged and vintage goods, especially those created through the handmade process, as well as repurposing.  A beautiful home is not one custom designed and filled with mass-produced merchandise.  Instead, it is one curated through the years, with unique pieces that have emotion, history, meaning, and imperfection.

Every individual has a different understanding of Wabi Sabi, as it is based upon one’s emotions and feelings of what is impermanence and “the perfection of imperfection.”   I am happy to present Wabi Sabi Wednesdays, where I will share weekly imagery that I believe exudes the aura of this philosophy, and as always, I sincerely welcome your thoughts and inspirations!

With a grandfather who was a carpenter with his own workshop in Hong Kong, metaboy’s appreciation of this gorgeous handmade Macau bench is the perfect symbol of the nature of Wabi Sabi style.  The nicks of character, the curves of loving handmade creation, and the chips of time showcase how treasures only grow more beautiful with age.