This DIYer Made the Coolest Boho Bookends for Only $1.75 , and They Look Straight Out of a CB2 Catalog
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to acknowledge certain facts of life: Sunscreen is essential, you should never grocery shop on an empty stomach, and furniture and decor can be deceptively expensive. In decorating my own apartment, it never ceases to amaze me how much certain rugs, bedding, and even pillow covers (yes, just the covers!) cost.
That’s why I’m always on the hunt for budget-friendly yet still beautiful decor DIYs, and I recently hit the easy-meets-affordable jackpot with a new TikTok discovery. User @tysoncurates shared a tutorial for crafting a luxe-looking set of bookends from just three inexpensive materials: tile, a hammer, and Kwik Seal adhesive caulk. Oh, and the main component, the tile, cost just $1.75!
In the video, the DIYer notes she found a travertine tile (now trending!) for less than $2 at an estate sale, which initially inspired her bookend project. From there, she actually took a hammer to the slab — covered in a protective towel — and smashed it into separate, asymmetric pieces. “No perfectionism allowed,” the content creator wrote on the TikTok post. “You have to make do with the shapes that are put in front of you.”
These shapes then formed the foundation of the bookends. Creator @tysoncurates assembled two larger travertine rectangles to build the bases, then attached a smaller block to each as a makeshift stand using Kwik Seal adhesive along the edges. The result? A pair of one-of-a-kind, sculptural accessories that could pass as a high-end modern home store purchase for a substantial fraction of the cost. She even had enough tile left over to also create a matching organic-looking tray, as seen at the end of the above video. Seeing as CB2 has featured travertine extensively in their collections, this isn’t bad for $1.75. Not bad at all.
While you probably won’t have the exact same secondhand shopping luck, you can still shop your local hardware or tile stores to source affordable travertine to nail this simple, natural stone style. The Home Depot, for instance, sells a handful of sizes and finishes, including a six-inch by 12-inch piece for $9.99. In need of Kwik Seal? They’ve got that, too, with a $4.68 tube that puts this total DIY budget at $14.67 (assuming you have a hammer at home). Sure, it’s slightly more expensive than the original, but still a huge steal compared to store-bought replicas. There are zero decor limitations here, too. Feel free to experiment with travertine coasters and shelves, or even try and paint on your own original designs.