ABCs of Decorating | H
Decorating for holidays may seem like a silly extravagance. But what it actually does is make your family and visitors feel like you went above and beyond to make them feel special. How does it make you feel when you wash your hands at a friend's home and the guest towel you reach for is a beautiful reminder of the current season God has blessed us with?
Think beyond Christmas.
For Valentine's Day:
Put together an easy sweater wreath with your kids.
Add a simple banner to a mirror or large picture in your child's room.
These delicate hearts couldn't be easier to craft.
You can even add super subtle decor for St. Patrick's Day. {See what I did there? Four leaf clover wreath, green hydrangeas.}
Celebrate Easter with inconspicuous figurines sprinkled in your everyday decor.
Use forced bulbs to add the fresh feeling of spring in a windowsill.
For Easter: Make a centerpiece using a nature inspired nest with faux eggs.
Display tea towels and fabric napkins with simple Easter embroidery.
You can even pick up very inexpensive dinnerware and serving pieces at big box discount stores. {I love these from Target!}
And of course, for fall, I have tons of ideas and past posts.
Use neutrals to lend a sophisticated touch to the usual Halloween decor.
Take a cue from nature and add elements that are appear all over at this time of year.
February Darlings
A few of my favorite things.....
French Bottle Rack | I have been obsessing over these amazing French country staples for months now. I don't know what it is about them. I love that they are a little bit industrial looking, yet still so elegant. They are super functional, but add such an unexpected element. I finally cracked and bought one when they were featured on Antique Farmhouse. It's a very small one and I am positive it's a reproduction. But I thought it would look so pretty on my newly refinished telephone table. Right now we use that area as a hot cocoa/cider station and it would be perfect to hang a few mugs on it.
Vintage French Canister Set | I love to use anything vintage in my kitchen. If something I find is too old and worn for it's original use (such as holding flour or grains), I will repurpose it. Vintage canisters are perfect to hold utensils, napkins or even herbs. The patina on this particular set of tin canisters is just perfect. This set is still available on Etsy.
Method Laundry Detergent in Lavender Cedar | Laundry isn't my favorite thing to do, but it's a necessary chore. Using this fantastic smelling detergent helps. I love Method because of their commitment to use the least amount of chemicals possible. Of course I love the lavender scent and the cedar in it just adds such a refreshing feeling. Currently, I am receiving all of my toiletries from ePantry. I love them not only for the convenience, but because of their commitment to the environment. They only partner with other brands who are equally committed to the environment. That is important to me as well. {If you shop through my link, you will receive $10 off your first order!}
She Reads Truth Lent Devotional | Lent is something has become of great importance to me the past several years. I've gotten to where I appreciate Lent and the anticipation of Easter more so than any other holiday during the year. It's a time for quiet reflection to remember what Jesus did for us and what He gave up. I discovered the She Reads Truth app during the fall and I absolutely love it. It actually was a website first, but using the app is so perfect for me and my crazy life. With each study, they offer a physical book along with beautiful prints and scripture cards to be purchased on their website. I typically don't buy the book, but for Lent, I HAD to. This book is beautiful. Daily, there is a classic hymn featured that corresponds with the scripture and devotional. I know it is only day 2, but I could not love it more. *I just saw that the Lent devotional is sold out. Don't worry, you can still follow along via the website for free or on your iphone or ipad for a small fee!
Potted French Lavender | This is just something simple I am thoroughly enjoying right now. I picked up a French lavender plant at my local grocery store for $12. It smells heavenly, but not overpowering like English lavender. French lavender is a delicate mix of rosemary and traditional English lavender. It is easy to care for and beautiful.
* This post contains affiliate links which I may be compensated in a very small amount for. ** My thoughts on ePantry are 100% my own. I have not been contacted or compensated in any way, shape or form for my opinions.
The ABCs of Decorating | B
The basics are going to be different for every person. For me, it's pretty simple. I guess that's why they are called basic. When you find yourself wanting to change up your home decor or just add any at all, this is where I would start hands down. You don't have to spend a lot of money at all when it comes to the basics. In fact, several of my basic items were purchased at big box discount stores. So, let's get to it, shall we?
1. Window Treatments | These are a must when it comes to home decor. I feel like a room without some sort of dressing on the window just feels naked. Notice I did not specifically say "curtains." Every home is different, every room has it's own vibe. Follow that feeling and add a covering to your window that accentuates the overall ambiance of a room. Of course there are many window coverings to choose from, but that is another post entirely.
2. Mood Lighting | This is so, SO important. If you were to come to my home right this instant, you'd see I have THREE (3!!!) lamps in our family room alone. We have at least one lamp in every room of our home, even in a bathroom. There are a few times when overhead lighting is important; when you are sewing, cooking, or performing surgery, perhaps. Other than those times when bright, clear light is needed, lamps provide plenty of necessary lighting. You can use several to provide a variety of options for a specific room. Lamps are an accessory in themselves, but when turned on, they provide a whole new level of warmth and coziness. Trust me on this one and try it. You will truly be amazed at the difference lamps make.
3. Rugs | This last basic is going to vary widely depending on the type of flooring you have. Of course if you have wood or tile floors, you will want a large area rug to provide comfort above all else. Rugs anchor a space. They visually hold all of your room together by giving your eye somewhere to settle. They are also wonderful in unexpected places, such as under the table in your kitchen. Not only does it provide a softness to an otherwise sterile place, it is excellent for sound absorption.
So, there are my basics when it comes to home decor. You can find most of these things fairly inexpensively and very easily. What are the basics of your home decor?
The ABCs of Decorating | A
By definition, something that is alluring is very attractive, enticing, fascinating, and charming. My personal explanation of what alluring is, "it draws you in; you feel pulled towards it."
How on earth does this relate to decorating?
Something I repeatedly ask my clients when choosing decor is "Do you love it?" My question is never "Where will you put it?" or "Does this go with your color scheme?" If you find yourself drawn to an item, get it! More times than not, it will fit seamlessly into your home.
Below are some photos of items in my home that were purchased solely because I felt drawn to them.
Since buying these zebra pillows six years ago, I have changed our living room colors from robin's egg blue to cream and flax. When I saw them at Target initially, I fell in love with them, but said to my very dear friend, "they don't go." She reminded me matchy-matchy is boring. She also brought up the most important thing to me, they reminded me of my dad. He passed away in 2005 from melanoma. Zebra print was the official "color" for the melanoma awareness ribbon.
Something else that reminds me of my dad, way more than the pillows, is this quote from Abraham Lincoln. He said, "Live a good life and in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years." My dad was a shining example of that. He lived a good life. He always chose joy.
These silly, beautiful black and cream etched bowls from Anthropologie are my latest purchase of something I love. I was instantly drawn to it while visiting Birmingham several weeks ago. I had no idea what I'd do with one bowl, but I bought it. I LOVED it. I realized how well they go with our white dishes after I got home. So glad I picked up that one, but seriously wish I'd discovered them before they hit the clearance section!
While living in Europe, we had the opportunity to buy some really cool items. I was constantly drawn to the vintage crates, but kept coming back to that naughty question in my head, "What will I do with them?" My sweet husband bought this one for me and it is perfect on top of our bedroom armoire. This crate is from a Belgian mustard company. I love seeing it everyday as it reminds me of our amazing time living abroad.
This lovely sugar bowl is something I was initially drawn to because of the lines. I love the intricate curves of the handles and the delicate blue-grey flowers on it. When I picked it up and looked at the bottom, I saw it was made in the 1800s in Bavaria. Well, that did it for me. I purchased this sugar bowl and it's matching creamer. I had intentions of reselling the sugar bowl and keeping on the creamer. (I have a thing for pitchers and creamers.) I placed the sugar bowl on our mantel just as a holding place. The longer it sat there, the more I fell in love with it.
It now sits opposite an old ironstone creamer I found at a local shop and I love how it all looks together. I'm even keeping an eye out for another sugar bowl or two.
Your home should be a carefully curated collection of items that bring you peace and joy. That is the entire purpose of home decor after all. Decorating a home is personal. Each item is something special to you. It could be the colors of a painting speak to you. Perhaps you find yourself drawn to the shape and lines of a particular chair. Maybe there is an antique pitcher that reminds you of Saturday mornings in your grandmother's kitchen. Whatever the reason, if you love something, it belongs in your home. Choose heart over head in the case of home decor.
September Darlings
I've been working on developing new content for my blog that isn't solely furniture painting and room makeovers. I will absolutely still be including both of these, but I am adding a few things as well. One new feauture will be a monthly selection of my favorite things. These favorites, which I call my "darlings," are things I currently own, use, or have on my wish list. I hope my monthly darlings inspire you.
Hot off the press is Miss Mustard Seed's first look book for her milk paint line. I was ecstatic to find this at my local milk paint vendor. This book feels and reads like a magazine, but it is chock full of milk paint expert tips and tricks. Each color in the line is highlighted in two full spreads. I would seriously buy it for the photos alone. It is highly inspiring.
I have purchased these pumpkins from Paula in the past and I cannot say enough good things about them. Paula is an organic farmer in Montana. (She also grows lavender!) She carefully selects pumpkins that are attractive and look well together. They arrive clean and ready for display. I cannot wait to receive my shipment this year!
My family and I started using essential oils in January and we have been so pleased with the results they achieve. I feel good about using natural remedies for my children. Thieves blend is awesome because it smells like autumn. But the best part is the immune boosting properties it has. We have been diffusing this daily in our home lately.
4. Anthropologie Black Etched Bowls
Sadly, there is no link for these gorgeous bowls. I stumbled upon one at the Anthro in Birmingham last month and I snagged it. I asked if there were any more in store, but there were not. I've since acquired two more thanks to eBay, but I am on the lookout for more. I love the intricate black and white detailing on the outside and the subtle blue ombre on the inside. Our dishes are white and I love the contrast these bowls add to our kitchen.
This is one of those things that is simply on my wish list. I have read excellent reviews of Tourance throws and I am dying to try one out for myself. This oversize gray throw is discontinued, but I have seen it on One King's Lane from time to time. A cozy throw is a definite must as the cooler weather approaches!
6. L'oreal Gel Lacque in "Elegance is Innate"
You can find this awesome nail polish at any big box store. I picked mine up at Target. I absolutely love this system. Not only does it last for nearly two weeks (and that is with my painting, sanding, staining, etc), it goes on easily and dries super quickly. That is a must for me. This blue is a sophisticated navy perfect for fall. I can't get enough.
Halloween Decorating
September is FINALLY here. Yes, it's one thousand degrees here in Florida, but I am bringing in all the things of fall as soon as I can possibly manage. I have already loaded up on things for my shoppe at Old Time Antiques. If you are in the area, make sure you stop by. There are many talented people in this collective. You will not be disappointed!
Today I am going to share some ideas about Halloween decor. I know Halloween is not necessarily something you'd think of decorating your house for, unless of course you are going for the haunted house on the block. But I'd like to show you that it can be fun AND chic.
My main goal when decorating for holidays and seasons is to seamlessly fit special occasion items among my everyday decor. For instance, I use a lot of neutrals and European inspired decor in most of my home. So, when shopping for seasonal accents, I search out pieces that have the same tone.
This wooden owl box is a lovely example. It is all neutrals and has the German script on the top. This is one of my favorite finds for Halloween!
The metal jack-o-lantern is also neutral colored and the pine cones add a touch of nature. The black and white chevron tray mirrors many of the black and white elements in my own home.
This adorable Halloween subway art also mimics many of my everyday accent pieces.
The pieces I chose for Halloween decor fit nicely with my collection of white and black antique books.
Hopefully, I have shown you Halloween decor can be pretty, easy and fun. It doesn't have to be scary or cheesy (although there is certainly nothing wrong with that either!). If you have any questions about decorating for the seasons, please feel free to contact me. Remember, I also offer holiday decorating options!
Room Refresh | Better flow in the dining room.
Thanks for joining me again for the before and afters of my first room refresh. Today I will be sharing the changes we made in the dining room. I think the dining room ended up being my favorite of the four spaces we converted. My client loved most everything about her dining room except for the flow of the space.
Because the room is long and a bit narrow, her husband felt angling the hutch in the corner was the best use of space. In fact, it ended up having the opposite effect.
She and I moved the hutch straight against the right wall with the help of these awesome furniture sliders. She was pleasantly surprised with the result. {I hope her husband will be as well!!}
Another tip to create more space is to remove the end chairs from the dining room table. You can store them away until you need them or you can add some lovely pillows and use them as accents in your room.
My client chose the latter and I am so happy she did. I think the result is quite stunning.
Next, we had only minor changes to make in the dining room. The first thing I thought would improve the feel was to move the Venetian figurines a bit lower and closer to the mirror.
This gorgeous painting is special to my client. Previously, it was centered on one of the long walls and felt lost. We moved it to a smaller wall on the side of the window and I feel it gets the deserved attention in this space.
Do you see the cute little Queen Anne table under this painting? It was one of a pair that was acquired by my client's husband prior to their living together. My client felt they were a bit outdated. If you have similar tables and have the same sentiments, a super simple fix is to remove the glass tops. Voila! Easy.
Another common challenge for my clients is window treatments. I would suggest to you to think a bit outside of the box when it comes to this. My client felt her only option was to leave the window as is. I sent her pictures of various treatments for arched windows and she chose this elegant swag.
The voile curtain is held in place with the most lovely tiebacks. I simply gave my client the ideas. She purchased exactly what she wanted and installed it herself. In fact, the longer I worked with her, the more confident and independent she became in transforming her home into a haven.
That is exactly what I desire to accomplish when working with my clients. My hope is to empower each of them with the tips and suggestions I give. I want to be able to give them the freedom to add pieces to each room as their schedule and their budget permit.
Room Refresh | Adding pretty to the kitchen.
I am going to try my best to not be too wordy with this post. I know pictures do a great job of speaking for themselves. I recently finished working with one of my first clients. She was an absolute dream to work with as she was willing to go along with all of my crazy ideas without question.
As you can see, she had a beautiful, clean, streamlined kitchen already. She just wanted to add some accents to make it feel a bit more homey.
A great feature of this beautiful kitchen is the cabinets with glass inserts. My client loves them, but felt unsure about how to arrange the contents. Luckily, she has the loveliest set of vintage Noritake china that had once belonged to her grandmother. Because it is something important to her that makes her feel joy, I thought it important to put on display. The set of everyday china was perfect to store in the glass front cabinets. I carefully arranged the dishes for her and she was happy with the result.
The one thing I frequently stress is only keeping things around you that you LOVE. I asked my client if she loved the crystal fruit dish on her island. She liked it, but did not love it for display. She kept it to use functionally, but I assigned her the task of finding a fruit bowl she LOVED. She did a phenomenal job. {Side note - I am now trying to find a similar one in cream for my own home!!}
Something else I asked my client to be on the lookout for were accent pieces for her kitchen. We picked out a few great things on our shopping trip together, but once I helped her define her style, she flew with it! Sometimes all you need is just a tiny bit of guidance.
My client loves the sage green color. Lucky for us both, I had a few things in my stash at home that really suited her style and taste. One of these was the super cute rooster pitcher to the right of the stove. That was the only piece in the picture above that I helped her with. She found the adorable tins on the left and the coordinating pig pitcher on the right completely on her own.
One of my favorite things to do in a kitchen is to put dish soap, hand soap and lotion into pretty soap dispensers. I then like to place the dispensers on a pretty dish or tray. The result is one of my favorite features in her kitchen. It's so silly, I know, but grouping things together like she did above has such a big impact! The tray she used is a bread plate she already had on hand. She purchased two coordinating soap dispensers for her hand soap and dish soap and then added a matching candle. The tray serves dual purpose. It contains the like items in a pretty display AND it catches the small drips of soap and water that are bound to occur on a daily basis.
Another one of my favorite kitchen tips is pretty storage for your single use coffee cups. My client really liked this idea as well. We found this gorgeous carved wood box on our trip together. It fits seamlessly with the rest of her kitchen style and it hides a good number of those all important coffee cups.
One final side by side comparison of her awesome kitchen. As you can see, there really wasn't a ton to do in the kitchen. It was fun to add just a few super pretty accent pieces and storage. Join me later this week as I share her living area and dining room!
White Party | Monochromatic Entertaining on the Fly
I had the pleasure of hosting some fellow homeschool moms in my home this week for a night a fellowship. I had planned to do desserts, tea and coffee. When I searched for dessert recipes on Pinterest, I looked for "wintry" desserts. While there were no real winners in the recipe department, I noticed over and over people decorating with white and silver for winter tea gatherings. I was inspired.
While my older two were in piano, I made a quick trip to the grocery store and bought pre-baked sugar cookies, already beautiful white cupcakes, some large pink and white marshmallows, white icing and white crystallized sugar. I searched for the pre-made white meringues, but they were out. I also grabbed two bunches of inexpensive white roses.
Most of my home decor and accessories are already cream colored or white, so that part was easy. I just set all the store baked goodies up on the plates and trays I had. I mixed a little bit of milk and rose water with the vanilla icing and dipped half of the sugar cookies. I neglected to get a picture, but they were pretty. Not sure how they tasted. ;o)
As for those heart shaped marshmallows.... I set the pink ones aside and got to work with the white. This is super easy and super cute. Stick a lollipop stick into the bottom of a jumbo marshmallow. Dip it in water and shake off the excess.
Slowly roll the marshmallow in a bowl with crystallized sugar.
Gently tap off the excess sugar and place in a tall container to let the sugar set. When they are all arranged together, it is a lovely accent piece. I am sure they are quite delicious as well.
Everything I did with the white foods and decor can easily be done with any color of your choice. There is just something so chic about monochromatic decor.
Settled in, but not settling.
As you probably all know by now, our family relocated to Florida last summer.
It was a rocky start. There were many delays and mishaps and problems.
But when it was all said and done, we had gained a beautiful home that is just perfect for us.
Our entire family has enjoyed crafting and creating personal spaces that are just right.
Slowly, I've been making our home feel as if we've lived here forever.
But, there are still so many things I want to do.
I hope you'll join me as I begin to share more about our new place.