Hello everyone! It's me Anna-Malin from Sweden visiting today with my monthly Handmade Home column for decor8. I'm sorry I missed you in July but I was on vacation - I'm back now though and I want to begin by saying thank you so much for all of the comments on my last post! Unfortunately, the summer seems to have been “raining away” here in Sweden so we haven't been able to use our patio as much as we wanted. That's why I've been focusing again on my interior decorating, the focus of today's post. I hope that it inspires you!

A couple of days ago, I was reading a magazine and my eyes fell on a beautiful cushion cover by DAY Home. I immediately fell in love with the pattern so I decided to translate it into something personal and special that I could use in my home -- but not a cushion as that would be too literal. I wanted my inspiration to take me in a completely new direction so the project would have my personal stamp on it.

Since my favorite color is gray and all shades it, and because I had some leftover paint from recent projects, I decided to make a "mixed media" wall hanging using mostly fabric and paint.

I started by painting pieces of linen in three different shades of grey and then I began to draw the patterns, free hand and with help of some of my Moroccan bowls (tracing their bottoms). Next, I cut the patterns out.

I then laid everything out using masking tape to place the patterns on the painted linen, using masking tape helped me figure out if the design I was creating looked right or not and it also allowed me to step back to see how it worked in the space itself.

Once the pattern looked right to me, I then I glued on the designs I'd cut out, and voilá, it was finished! I didn't iron it because I like how the wrinkles make the piece look less perfect and more tactile.

To make it easy to hang it on the wall, I bought some eyelets, and placed them up in the corners.

To give it more personality, I placed some of the patterns directly on the wall (by using masking tape) which was very easy to do and added a bit more personality to the work. I even added a little peace symbol. :)

I hope that you have enjoyed this creative project today from Sweden. As you can see, this quickly transformed the wall in my dining area.

I'll see you here again in September with another creative post to encourage you to enjoy a home that you make, little by little each day, by hand. --  xo, Anna-Malin Lindgren.

In case you've missed them, here are my other Handmade Home posts on decor8:

• Affordable Branch Pendant DIY
• Home Office Nook Transformation
• Lovely Table Setting Ideas
• One Cabinet, Three Ways
• Creating My Dream Patio

(images: anna-malin lindgren)