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 nevergrocery shopon an empty stomach, and furniture and decor can bedeceptivelyexpensive. In decorating my own apartment, it never ceases to amaze me how much certain rugs, bedding, and evenpillow covers(yes, just the covers!) cost.

That’s why I’m always on the hunt forbudget-friendly yet still beautiful decor DIYs, and I recently hit the easy-meets-affordable jackpot with anew TikTok discovery. User@tysoncuratesshared a tutorial for crafting aluxe-looking set of bookends从三个便宜的材料:瓷砖,火腿mer, andKwik 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 asubstantialfraction 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 asCB2 has featured travertineextensively in their collections, this isn’t bad for $1.75. Not bad at all.

While you probably won’t have the exact samesecondhand shoppingluck, 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 ahandful of sizes and finishes, including asix-inch by 12-inch piece for $9.99. In need ofKwik Seal? They’ve got that, too, witha $4.68 tubethat 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 arezerodecor limitations here, too. Feel free to experiment with travertine coasters and shelves, or even try and paint on your own original designs.