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You can borrow five approachable ideas from the 2025 Real Simple Home: faux built-ins, curtain fringe, a fabric-covered lampshade, a fabric-wrapped picture frame, and sculptural plywood wall art. The original project descriptions offer inspiration and basic methods, not tested plans or complete installation instructions. Here’s what each involves and what to consider before you begin.
Real Simple’s September 17, 2025 article by Abby Fribush featured two apartments in a New York City high-rise and selected five projects by home-design influencers. The steps below reflect that article’s methods; they are not independently tested construction instructions.
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1. Give cabinets the look of built-ins
Designer Mallory Fletcher used IKEA Besta cabinets as the base for a wall-filling installation. Decorative door molding and a continuous top help create a more finished, built-in appearance.
- Choose enough Besta cabinets to fill the intended wall and position them in place.
- Attach molding to the cabinet doors using heavy-duty double-sided tape, glue, or a nail gun.
- Apply bonding primer, then paint the cabinets and molding.
- Add a top cut to size so it spans the units. The article suggests marble or wood; a wood top could be painted to match.
- Finish with knobs; the example uses brass hardware.
The article does not explain how to fasten the cabinet units to the wall or provide installation or safety guidance. Treat the cabinet arrangement and top as a design concept, and determine the appropriate installation details for your wall, materials, and site before building.
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2. Add fringe to curtains that are too short
Drew Michael Scott of Lone Fox Home used fringe to extend the visual length of curtains.
- Purchase fringe by the yard in a style that suits the curtain.
- Attach it along the curtain’s bottom edge with hot glue.
- Trim the fringe to the desired length.
The article does not specify curtain or fringe materials, glue type, or how the finish holds up to laundering. Check compatibility and care requirements for your fabrics before applying adhesive.
3. Cover a lampshade with fabric
Valeria Jacobs’s method uses about a yard of fabric and hot glue to cover an existing shade with pleats.
- Cut fabric taller than the shade so it can wrap slightly over both rims.
- Form pleats around the top rim, securing each pleat with a small dot of hot glue.
- Repeat around the bottom rim.
- Cover the raw edges at the top and bottom with narrow strips of fabric.
The project description does not provide electrical or fire-safety guidance. It also does not specify shade or fabric types, so it should not be taken as confirmation that a particular combination is suitable for use near a lamp.
4. Wrap a picture frame and mat in fabric
Scott’s frame makeover combines spray adhesive on the front with hot glue around the sides and back.
- Start with an inexpensive frame and cut fabric large enough to cover its front, sides, and back.
- Use spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the frame’s front.
- Secure the fabric around the sides and back with hot glue, tucking the corners as you would when wrapping a present.
- Wrap the mat in the same way and trim away excess fabric.
- Reassemble the frame.
The article does not give fabric measurements or adhesive application details; plan the cuts around your particular frame and mat.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.5. Make sculptural plywood wall art
Scott’s brutalist-inspired artwork uses plywood, half-circle knobs, wood glue, and stain.
- Arrange the half-circle knobs on a plywood board in the desired pattern.
- Glue the pieces down with wood glue.
- Apply stain to the board and allow it to dry.
Real Simple described this project as under $100 in its 2025 article. That is the article’s cost claim, not a current price estimate; it does not provide a full bill of materials or a detailed cost breakdown. The article says the materials can be found at craft or home-improvement stores.
What the five projects have in common
- Hot glue appears in the curtain, lampshade, and frame projects, and is one suggested option for attaching molding to the cabinets.
- The frame project specifies spray adhesive for its front; the wall art specifies wood glue.
- IKEA Besta is the only named product system. The other project materials are described by category rather than by brand.
- The article supplies basic project concepts, not tested plans, complete shopping lists, current prices, or detailed installation and safety instructions.
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