The kitchn is all hopped up on coffee recipes and trivia this month so we want to point out that this brew of the gods isn't just for sipping.
Taking a tip from a former art school instructor (who believed coffee rivaled any watercolor paint out there), we put it to use in a window treatment.
We have a nice big bay window which is great for light but not that great for privacy (being on the garden level). Our solution was to make translucent screens out of vellum paper and balsa wood and coffee.
We spray-painted the balsa black and glued it to edge the vellum to give the flimsy paper structure. Then we brewed an undrinkable dark pot of coffee, and painted onto one side of the vellum, letting the coffee run and pool. After the coffee was completely dry, we hung the screens, using fishing line and eye hooks. The dried coffee, grounds and all, gave the plain vellum a subtle but distinct marble effect.
Painting with coffee is always fun but can be tricky. Some brands dry into rich browns while others can turn a greenish-yellow shade. Try your own coffee/paint experiment and don't forget to send in your photos!
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
uh....what?
view frontiersperson's profile
Interesting idea but... I'm sorry, they just look dirty now.
view spaceagemouse's profile
a fellow art-student always loved the results from using instant coffee.
view katie's profile
Before I knew it was coffee, I didn't necessarily like the screens, but thought they were ok. Then I read about the coffee and now all I see are stains.
view J's profile
horrible.
view plann.b's profile
Sorry, but no! That looks bad - and it looks like coffee too! At first I thought I had spilled coffee on my monitor somehow.
Really, to me it just looks like spilled coffee stains, plus some parts are much darker than others.
view ARC's profile
aw, i think it looks kinda cool. maybe if more coffee was used, it would have made a more compact marbleized pattern, which could help. the spacing of the staining as it is looks a bit accidental because it's too spread out. but i think the concept is cool! i'd like to see what other folks could come up with.
view *heather leaf*'s profile
(oops, sorry for my grammar mistakes)
view *heather leaf*'s profile
yeah. just looks like someone got mad and threw coffee at your window. looks really dirty. not good....
view cmschmidt's profile
Looks NASTY.
view orangejuce's profile
Good idea until the coffee. Would have been pretty with just the vellum.
view Garrett's profile
yeah, sorry! it looks like dried blood and I'm not a horror movie enthusiast.
view Joan Vignocchi's profile
Maybe it looks better in person?
view nankie's profile
How does it smell?
view ARC's profile