apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Coffee filter wall -- NOT

Blue Velvet Sofa -- HOT

Looks nice in the photo, but I'm guessing it's another story in person...

This is a great example of how repetition of a single object can work REALLY well when someone has a good eye.

I think it's lovely! I'd like to see a little more color - perhaps dye the papers softly, or have a background wall color... Noticed that her uses tacks alone in some places to add detail and variety. Very creative.

From this distance it looks cute but I'd love to see close-ups.

Looks nice and fun from a distance. Up close I'm not sure it doesn't just look like coffee filters..?

it looks like a cool art installation. I'm not sure how this would translate in a more traditional house.

Not. Once it gets dusty, forget about it. Ugh.

Cute for temporary decor (holiday, party, etc). I can't imagine it would hold up for more than a week without looking shoddy.

I really like it, but my first thought is it looks like the wall has some sort of virus.

I like it, but would like a close-up photo.

Hard to say, and even harder to pull off...

I like this installation because Danny made it look as if a branch of Plum Blossoms was on the wall...
...but I think mere mortals would have a very difficult time making it look like anything but coffee filters stuck to the wall.

Scroll to the last picture on the page:

http://www.bernicesteinbaumgallery.com/artists/salvest/images.html

I saw this a few years ago in person and never forgot it - it really looked amazing. (Plus, the coffee filters actually were used to make coffee.)

looks great in the photo, (or in an anthro catalog), but I don't think it would hold up in person.

What's next? Maxi pad wall art? At least those are self-adhesive.

Agree with those who think it looks good in the pic but wonder what it actually looks like in person.

I think it's beautiful and I think everyone who says it looks like coffee filters would be singing a different tune if they hadn't been told as they looked at the picture that was what they were. The fact that the filters were manipulated artisticly and made into different shapes and sizes keeps it from looking like an actual filter. Really, what's a coffee filter but another medium for art? Maybe we should be opening our minds a little more.

It's a nice concept. Very "Top Design Challenge." But I don't think I would ever implement it into my own space.

I am afraid I think it looks like there is some kind of fungus growing on the wall.

This looks like Lark in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. Love that bakery and that wall. It's appropriate for this application, I think, since it's a bakery and coffee shop. I'm not sure I'd put it in my own home.

Maybe if you modgepodge the filters first, then they would hold up their shape and be easier to dust... I like the idea a lot.

It sounds so wrong, but looks so right.

But I also wonder how good it looks in person...

How long would it last? How long do you want it up? What do you do when you need a filter to make coffee?

By the way, at the risk of stepping into it again, I think it is silly. What's next? Katsup and Mustard packets?

...Because I'd love guests to say, "Oh, wow... look what you did with coffee filters..."

Ugh!

as somebody said above......Looks nice in the photo, but I'm guessing it's another story in person...

Nope, not for me. It looks rather pretty in this picture, but can you imagine how junky and bad it would be in a room that wasn't perfectly curated and tidy?

Hmm looking at the picture before reading the post I was thinking "wow what's that!". I think it looks great but i have to agree with those of you who think it wouldnt look so awesome in person. Perhaps I'll try just one later...

It's very clear to me that you guys have hired Hildy from Trading Spaces. I can't stop laughing.

I think it would be pretty over a bed or desk, maybe not a main focus when you walk in your house

Maybe you could do a version of this with those snowflake cut outs we used to do in elementary school.

hmm i'm thinking for a more ecclectic look on this you could tack them up with thumb tacs that have buttons glued on them.

i love this as an idea. i think it's beautiful from afar.

and i love the idea from Cambra about gluing buttons to the pushpins.

it all depends on what kind of decor you have in your house. i think if the "flowers" were cut out of a wallpaper or a fabric and then painted with a clear medium so they could be molded and then easily dusted once up which is a big problem with the white paper/coffee filters.

but i think this is wonderful.

Why? I think you might as well just paint the wall, if you've got time to fiddle around with coffee filters.

I read this post and instantly thought of this one that you had a while ago...

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/look/look-plates-on-display-at-anthropologie-062120

Thanks for inspiring my latest blog post! It's here...

http://www.examiner.com/x-3706-Philadelphia-Arts-and-Crafts-Examiner~y2009m3d31-Whats-on-your-walls

I think it looks cool...and don't you hate those mornings when you realized you used the last coffee filter yesterday? Just pluck one off the wall for your caff hit. What's not to like?

They look like cupcake thingies to me LOL. I sorta like, but too high for my taste. I'm of the philosophy that art should be brought down very low, no matter how high the ceilings.

Doesn't look like coffee filters to me! It's the whole grouping of them - turns it in to artwork. Thumbs up from me!

I really like this. It looks like flower blossoms! I bet it would look good up close; coffee filters have a wonderful texture to them. I think this adds so much more than paint or even a wall hanging.

Disagree on the couch, though. It's horrible :(

From afar, this looks really pretty but I'd prefer not to know it is comprised of coffee filters. It feels like a let down.

Cute idea and it actually looks nice. Agree with most others though, the picture may sell it more than the in-person experience.
If I was going to do this, I would soak most of these in different strength tea's to give the filter paper a more organic look.

I like it a lot -- nice concept for an art installation, a bit tongue in cheek, beautifully grouped, easy to remove and substitute with something new. (Something like this isn't meant to last forever -- but neither are posters.)

Yeah, the fungal-ness of it all is kind of making my stomach turn a bit.

It needs a PAAS easter egg pink wall behind it.

Perhaps, some peeps - or were those hidden along with the bong?

this installation looks a bit flat...I've seen tea-stained (or coffee stained, for that matter) coffee filters stacked en masse that looked like the underside of mushrooms or large peony blossoms--quite beautiful, lots of texture

The dust is definitely a big issue, though.

creatureconmforts did a little diy on making a coffee filter garland that has a more romantic/european feel
http://creaturecomforts.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/01/diy-coffee-filter-garlands.html

They may be tiny little tacks but that still looks like a lot of holes... would be a pain to clean and take down. I have to agree it might work at like a coffee shop but seems kinda tacky in someone's house. Might be cute with some fun paper though, and I think it's a great idea as someone posted before to use mod podge so they hold their shape..

It kind of reminds me of something Anthropologies would do. Extremely cute and creative... but yeah, like everyone else is saying, temporary art. I like the idea of a coffee/tea stained garland like someone mentioned though.

tifacola,

Finally, a kindred spirit with regard to the height of wall art. I agree completely--the filters need to relate to the couch, not the entire space of the wall. In so many posts I get distracted by the high-hanging art...it drives me crazy!

this is Lark Cupcake Shop in Silverlake and they're actually paper doilies, not coffee filters! See the original flickr pic here!

They are actually paper doilies not coffee filters. You can see it up close on flickr. This is reposted, so you can follow the original link to her flickr set. Too lazy to refind it right now.

While it is always a great idea to be creative and resourceful, making free art from mundane objects, I've got to say...whether these are doilies or coffee filters, I am not impressed! This looks like a child's art project.