Design Idea: Incorporating Pastels

Dare I say I am having a little love affair with pastel colors lately? Maybe because it has been miserably cold and dreary and the hint of soft happy colors make me think of spring.

 

And before I continue on, let's just make it clear that I am, in no way, referring to the dusty rose and light blue prevalent in the 1980s. Just saying. Because my Mom was horrified when I confessed my recent obsession.

I'm thinking more of this...


Source

Zero Budget Home Tour

Hey friends! Remember last week when I shared my tips for Decorating on a Zero Budget? It looks like I'm not the only on who was trying to change up my winter home without making a financial commitment. Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments!
 

Today, I'm sharing a more in depth tour of some of the spaces in my home and how I reused and repurposed holiday decorations and décor that I already had on hand.

 

In our entry, I cleared everything out of my IKEA hutch and replaced it with antique and vintage books stacked backwards (I wanted to keep a neutral color palette) and just a few pieces of pottery from my stash. My Book Page Christmas Wreath had been hanging on the ladder in our dining room in December. (I guess I like hanging wreathes in weird places). I topped the cabinet with a wood box and one stick. By the way, that stick was from my Gold Star Tree that was on my coffee table at Christmas. The faux fur pillow on the settee was previously in my living room and the Oriental rug had been in my upstairs hall.

Blogger Stylin' Home Tour: Christmas

 Welcome to my Christmas Home Tour, friends! I have been primping, arranging and decorating and some (ahem, my family) might say obsessively, but I just wanted everything to look festive for your visit, so come on in! And, if you just stopped by from Sarah M. Dorsey Designs, she is amazing, right?

 

 

Our entry has a bright, open and decidedly vintage feel, thanks in part to my gold stenciled wall and two-toned painted dresser. I placed my new flocked tree (oh, how I love it and have coveted them forever) into an owl vase that was a gift from a friend. I didn't think this tree needed much so I simply decorated it in aqua, green and blue vintage ornaments.

 

 

 

Budget Christmas Decorating

If you're like me and you love to decorate (and redecorate) then you always have this tiny, annoying, little thing called a budget looming over you. Right?

This is especially true around the Christmas season when there is so much to do and so many other expenses. Yet, I always want to create fresh and new holiday displays around my home. What am I to do! Well, I have created a little system filled with tips to decorate beautifully on a Christmas budget.

First, use older holiday items in a new way. For example, I have an extensive collection of vintage ornaments (all found for free or just a couple of dollars a box at tag sales) that, some years, completely decorate my tree. This year, I have used them differently, piled in a vintage bowl in my entry. It gives them a totally new and unexpected look!

Living Room Updates & Additions

The decorating never really end does it?

I recently mentioned that we got new shelving at IKEA (here) and since that time I have pretty much arranged and rearranged. I swear to you if I ask my family one more time if the shelves look cluttered they are going to smack me. I'm not kidding. It has become a joke around here.  It's just that I really despise clutter and I want to ensure that my new shelves in now way project the image of being cluttered and overdone. I know, I know, a good part of the time I even annoy myself.

  

 

Simply Fall {October Mantel}

Good evening everyone! I have certainly gotten myself on a bizarre (for me) blogging schedule. I think it's a combo of being swamped with painting work, my husband's work schedule (lots of vacation days lately) and taking care of one super sick almost twelve year old (mystery solved today with a pneumonia diagnosis).

 

 

Autumn Hutch with a Painted Gourd

So, some changes are taking place in my entry area (including some new furniture), which caused my black hutch to be displaced. It spent the better part of last week in my office (or what my lovingly Mom refers to as the dumping ground - and I totally need some sort of plan for that room because she is right and it needs to stop).

 

 

After dragging the hutch around my home, I finally settled on this wall in my living room. I've loved having a little end table here, but the wall was calling for something additional.

 



Our Revamped Entry...

Do you ever go to change one thing in your house and it snowballs into this major, never-ending ordeal?

I so did that this weekend. 

Frugal, Seasonal, Natural {Decorating}

The main living areas in my home are decorated for autumn and I wanted to talk a little bit about my thrifty strategy to be able to afford decorating seasonally.

Interesting Containers

I aways find that plants, twigs, pine cones and the like look special and intentional when they are presented in an interesting and unusual container.  The contents can be easily changed out for each season allowing you to create many different looks throughout the year. 

Over the weekend I went to one of my favorite resale shops in a nearby college town and purchased two unique items for my home.  One was this basket for $4. I can already imagine how it will flow seasonally throughout our home, inside and out.

Dramatic Dining Room Hutch Transformation

I've been working on my dining room for a couple of months now and I'm finally seeing it all come together.  My plans for the room changed from my original thoughts that I wrote about here, but I am so in love with the space and all the elements that have been included.

 

One reason that things didn't go as planned was because we couldn't sell our large hutch.  We called every consignment store, estate buyer and listed it on craigslist, but there was just no interest. 

 

My husband originally wanted to use just the bottom piece in the room and store the large upper portion in the garage. 

 

I lived with it like this for awhile, but the scale of the furniture was all wrong in the room and it killed me to have the top of the hutch rotting away in our old garage.  Eventually, I convinced my husband to let me paint the piece and remove the doors for open shelving and I am so happy he agreed because this is what I came up with.

 

 

Holy Chair Makeover!

Earlier in the summer I went to a tag sale at a local Catholic school that was closing. You can read all about it here. One of my finds that day was a really cushy and comfy chair that had previously been part of the dining set at the rectory.

 

It had mid tone brown wood and red velvet fabric all of which was not really my style, or in great condition, but I loved the lines.  I'm so sorry I don't have a before picture of this project.  I always try to add one because it just adds to the impact of the makeover and shows how you can transform an old worn item into something modern and beautiful.  However, my oldest accidentally deleted my before shot. So frustrating.

 

Anyway, I painted the chair a light silver gray and gave it a good coat of wax to protect it.  I actually did not do any distressing, which is unusual for me, but I really just liked the look of the solid colored wood with the busy fabric. 

 



 

Things I'm Loving this Week

Here are some things I am absolutely loving this week:


Owl Print (This Be Brave art print from Kelli Murray is too cute.)

Source

The Versatile Bench

I had wanted to add some extra seating to the dining room to be used when we have guests.  The most natural place to add in a seat was with the secretary that I refinished here.  However, because I plan on mostly keeping the secretary open, I didn't want to go with a traditional chair.