">HomeOwnerNut

I don’t advocate lawlessness, but a little theft can be a good thing. These floor and wall covering ideas are just too clever and too easily replicable at home not to steal them for yourself. And with a well-stocked supply cabinet at the office, you could also steal all the materials you need and be a real outlaw. Not that you should.

Exhibit 1: Tape

Artist Jim Lambie creates beautiful patterned floors at major museums like the Museum of Modern Art and the Tate out of simple industrial vinyl tape. He starts his Zobop floor installations by outlining the shape of the room in one color of tape, then alternates concentric outlines towards the center using other tape colors. Since he relies on the shape of the room he’s working in and only uses standard tape colors, it doesn’t take any special skills or materials to copy his brilliance.

Exhibit 2: Post-Its

Duncan Wilson and Sirkka Hammer’s Pixelnotes wall covering consists of layers of squares of paper with adhesive backing (read: Post-Its) in different shades that create pixilated patterns when notes are used and removed. While you might need a little OCD to put them up, it’s probably worth it to create a wall covering that’s so completely functional. Of course you may have to stop worrying about getting caught stealing Post-Its from the office and start worrying about your guests stealing the clever ideas you scrawled on your walls.

Exhibit 3: Stickers

Spotted by Apartment Therapy in Lindsey Adelman’s ICFF booth in 2008, simple overlapping gold stickers applied in a cloud-like pattern is another creative office supply solution for walls. Requiring no specific plan or precision, this might be one of the easiest yet most decorative effects you can create.

Exhibit 4: Sharpies

With just $10 worth of Shapies, Charlie Kratzer transformed his boring basement into a full-scale sketch incorporating imagery ranging from the Marx Brothers to Shakespeare. I won’t even do a crossword in pen, so drawing on my walls in permanent marker is out for me, but if you’ve got blank walls, a little confidence, and a high tolerance for marker sniffing, this might be the perfect project.