Upcycled Paper Modern Wall Art

Designers Amy Gibson (in Seattle) and Andrea Read (in Missouri) of Colorstory Designs delight in repurposing discarded magazines and other paper products.


Since 2008 they have been creating stylish, one-of-a-kind home decor items as a way of being good to the environment, as well as bringing pleasure to those who enjoy their products.


The ideas are simple, yet trendy, and each would make a statement in a modern setting. It's remarkable how many different art pieces Amy and Andrea have developed that use ordinary strips of glossy magazine pages to great effect.


This layered nautical compass design has a background composed of magazine strips and the dimensional compass is cut from heavy white cardstock.


When Colorstory Designs first launched, Amy and Andrea lived down the street from one another. Each had a full-time day job, so evenings and weekends were reserved for developing their product line.


In the beginning there was lots of collaborating on ideas, but once they settled on a brand and "look", their products quickly began to fall into place. "We've always said that it's convenient that we're best friends first, because we often combined shopping trips with business meetings!"

I think this picture frame has such a pretty color gradation.... and they do a similar, eye-catching framed mirror.


Round, glass magnets are super popular now and with good reason - who can resist handling - ahem - playing with them?


Amy and Andrea created this clever perpetual calendar that makes use of glass magnets. Numbers and letters have been cut from - you guessed it - magazine pages.



Visit Etsy shop Colorstory Designs and follow Amy on Instagram (@colorstorydesigns) Find their products in person at Stoopher and Boots in New York, NY or The Black Schooner in Ocracoke, North Carolina. They are also listed in Sound Trading Co., a cool Seattle online registry of handmade and recycled gifts.