Autumn Decorating

It's always about more than decorating.  It's not simply changing out throw pillows and putting out pumpkins.  I'm creating a feeling, welcoming in change and a new season.  Adding warmth to my home and inviting reflections of harvest, thanksgiving and gratitude.

 

With autumn decor, I think less is more.  I prefer fall foliage, a few well placed pumpkins and one or two larger pieces that change from my every day decor.  My focal shelf that sits in our living room is always my most favorite thing to do up for any season and the deer art felt like a perfect choice.

My favorite pumpkin painted by my amazing mother-in-law almost always sits in the same place every year.

I like a change in the throw pillows on my couch. Sadly, they spend more time under my end tables as to not be ruined by the small humans who live here with me.  But they take lovely pictures until they are put away.

 A few pumpkins and knick-knacks get changed out on my bookshelves.

And I always have my favorite picture out of me and my mom in my kitchen in the fall.  It's the season she feels closest to me, and I love this picture as a reminder of the parts of her that forever live on in me.

I set the table like I'm about to have company, when in real life my placemats and cloth napkins are put away as the table is perpetually covered with syrup, crayons, Lego heads and spilled apple juice.

But it feels cozy if you overlook the chaos and mess that comes with having two small children and loving to decorate for the season.

Earlier this week we arrived home in the evening.  Tommy turned on a lamp in the living room and flopped down on our soft leather recliner.  He sighed a happy sigh and said, "Mom, I love how the house looks in the fall.  When you decorate it like this - it's my favorite way the house feels!"

And then my heart bubbled over with joy.  Because he can feel it too.  Because I love creating beauty in my home.  And because it's fall again.

Deck the shelves!

I know the song says "Deck the halls...," but as I was looking around my living room on Sunday afternoon, it occured to me that I deck out my shelves.  This time of year they are full of Christmasy trinkets and pine branches and berries and angels and well, my halls don't know much of Christmas.  But my shelves.  Oh my shelves are decorated to the max.

 Shelf #1: Dining room

 Shelf #2:  Kitchen

 Shelf #3:  Living room

 Shelf #4: Living room

 Shelf #5:  Living room....still

 Shelf #6:  Last of the living room

Clealry, I'm a shelf-aholic.

This however, sits on the end table by our couches.  In the past, I've hung this on the wall with a collage of other things, but I wanted it to be more of a focal point this year.  It's easy for me to get lost in cards and cookies and presents and Hallmark movies and I forget that all this is about Him.

My halls may be lacking, but my shelves are ready. 

More importantly, so is my tree.  I not only surrendered to the burlap trend, but moreso, I surrendered to burlap chevron printed ribbon for my tree.  I usually take a while to jump on board with trends - especially when it comes to trends for home decor.  (Such as burlap anything and the chevron print on everything - both very popular movements.)  But, I decided to be like everyone else on Pinterest and give in to my burlap and chevron desires. It's more rustic and earthy this year and I really do love how it turned out.

Happy decorating to you too.  May your shelves be full and may the burlap you wrap around the bottom of your tree not get over your clothes.

Happy Fall, Happy Home

I love decorating.  Especially for fall and Christmas.  When October arrives, my home is a whole new level of warm and cozy.  There is a certain feeling that comes after you've carefully placed a few decorative pumpkins around your house in lieu of the regular everyday things.

 

This year, this fall, this October is no exception.

May 2: Educate

Today's prompt:  Educate us on something you know a lot about

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not professional home stager.  But thanks to my HGTV obsessions and maybe a bit of a natural knack for knowing how to make things pretty, it's something I've found out that I have a bit of a talent for. 

Basically, I have a crush on Sabrina Soto and I think she and I should be BFF's.

Also, I just think home staging is super fun.  I'm not sure if that makes me weird, but I'm all about making things pretty.

Though our plans changed and we ended up staying in our house (thanks to the awesome buyers who were gracious enough to let us terminate the contract), our home sold in two days.  I don't think it was solely my home-staging abilities, though I'm sure it helped some. 

Recently, a friend asked me to come over and help her stage her house to put on the market.  We went room by room and I gave her a few tips and ideas for rearranging and what to change in each space.  They even recommended me to their realtor and think I should start a staging business - though I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of undertaking.

All that to say, I thought I would share a few of my home-staging tips today since I seem to somehow know a lot about this.

In no particular order:

Make every room look as big as you can.  Put a lot of thought into how you place your furniture.  Remove pieces or downsize to something smaller if you are working with a smaller space.

Use each room for what it was intended to be.  Take your offices out of your kitchens or dining rooms.  Set up bedrooms as bedrooms instead of storage rooms or even playrooms.  A simple guest bedroom will show much better than a room only full of toys.  You can put your children's toys into bins and keep them in closet for showings and put the rest into storage. If you have a large master bedroom like me, create a sitting area or an office space.  (I tore down my craft-making area - so sad).

Don't sweat the garage.  It's a garage.  I don't care what anyone else says - if you're planning on putting your home on the market, you're still living in the space AND you are trying to declutter and stage your home, you will need that garage to store boxes and all the extra stuff you are taking out.  Again, it's a garage.  No one will decide NOT to buy your house because your garage was too full of stuff.

Clear the clutter everywhere.  Less is more.

A fresh coat of paint is always a good idea.  The small white counter that separated our kitchen and living rooms was kind of dingy and gross.  A fresh coat of white paint made it sparkle and look brand new.

Put placemats or a runner and some kind of arrangement on the dining room table.  Even a simple bowl of lemons or fresh flowers will do nicely.  If you're really ambitious, you could even set the table with a set of plates, pretty glasses and decorative napkins.

Empty your refrigerator of magnets, pictures and even your child's fabulous artwork. 

Clean out your cabinets and closets - buyers look in everything! 

Storage is key - even if you have to cram everything in to the cabinets and cupboards and closets that you have - stage them all!  Clear out what you can live without until your home sells.  Keep everything neat and organized so a buyer will be confident that all of their stuff will fit into those storage spaces just as neatly as yours!

Invest in some accessories if you don't have any.  A few candlesticks, large vases, some greenery, some simple artwork or mirrors for the wall, and a few throw pillows go a long way to make things pop and seem more appealing.  And work with what you have.  Repurpose things and move things around.  You have to put your personal preferences aside, and make your home both neutral and inviting.  The right accessories definitely help acheive that.

Get as much off of your kitchen counters as you can.  You want buyers envisioning how easy it will be to prepare dinner and roll out cookie dough and work on science projects on those counters.

Open the blinds and let in all that glorious natural light for showings.

Just say no to brass!  Even if you're home isn't that old, it makes any room look outdated.  If you have any brass fixtures of any kind (the cheap-looking yellow stuff) you can replace it with something new.  Or even better - spray paint it with an updated metallic color like brown, chrome, silver, copper, etc. and you'll save money.  Anything but brass is better! 

Touch up nail holes and paint on the walls.  The cleaner and crisper - the better!

The kitchen is the most important.  If you are going to invest any money on updates of any kind, the kitchen is where you should put that money.

Remove personal pictures on the walls.  Leaving a few things on shelves might be okay, but you don't want buyers looking at your family photos all over the walls of the home they are thinking of buying.  You want them to envision their family in this space.

Don't forget the pantry.  Give it a good cleaning and organizing.

Drawers, under the beds, and large totes or baskets make for great places to hide the things that you need but don't necessarily want out for showings. 

Put all of your bathroom things away.  Don't leave out your toothbrushes and moisturizers and hairspray.  Put those things in a box under the sink and away from immediate view.  Cotton balls or Q-tips in a decorative jar in addition to some greenery or candles and handsoap on top of your bathroom counters, should be all they see. 

Walk in closets - make them feel as big as possible.  Clear out the things you might ordinarily store in there.  Just the clothes, shoes and one or two big pieces on the shelf (like a piece of luggage or a couple of cowboy hats for example) would be all you want to display.  If you don't have walk-in closets, arrange your clothing and shoes as neatly as possible.  Clear out anything that isn't in season and pack away if you are working with an especially smaller closet. 

Curb appeal - spruce up the front of your house.  Fresh mulch, some potted plants or fresh flowers and a neatly mowed yard will work wonders.  If you've lived in your home for a long time you might think about having the home and sidewalks/driveway powerwashed.

And remember - these days, home staging is essential because it has become almost an expectation.  Definitely take the time to clean, declutter and arrange your home so that it is appealing to perspective buyers.  Remember, the goal is to get that house sold so you can get to your new place!

There may be a few things I left out, but there you have it.  Your home-staging expert (wanna-be) has spoken.  Happy staging and happy home-selling!

The big nursery reveal

With Todd gone, I'm trying to occupy myself and my mind with other things - otherwise I'll sit and cry all day long.  Seriously.  So, over the weekend I finished the last project in the nursery and it's officially complete.  Now, I just need the things I need - like a baby monitor and a diaper genie and bottles and a clothes hamper.  But the decor part is finished anyway and I couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out.

Maybe it's a bit impractical to do a whole new nursery for the second baby.  But, who ever called me practical anyway?  Probably no one - says my closet full of shoes.

I knew I wanted this nursery to be soft, simple and boyish with touches of bright color and pops of my craftiness.

Welcome to Jacob's nursery!

This is my favorite space.  Todd made the little shelves for me out of some scrap wood we had.  I found the perfect nick-nacks to place on them as well as some fun wall frames that are just waiting for pictures of our little guy.  Everyone asks me about the giant clothespin - I found it at Hobby Lobby - bought it half price of course.

 

The crib was given to us by some friends in a honey oak color.  Todd repainted it white and I love how clean and classic it looks.  I made both the mobile (from Tommy's old one) and the name above his crib - both easy ideas I swiped from Pinterest.  I found the sweet alphabet bedding at JcPenney.

 

 

I found a used changing table online.  Though it was already white, we touched it up anyway.  I love the muted color of the sheer curtains and the banner I made using ribbon and felt.  Another super fast and easy project.

 

And the dresser - yes I wanted it this orange!  It was the big pop of color I was hoping for.  The great thing about paint is that you can paint over it again and again.  I'm almost postive this dresser will not stay orange forever.  I was mostly excited to find the lamp with the clear base.  The base of it comes undone making it easy to fill it with whatever you like.  I chose alphabet blocks and put a touch of trim on the lampshade.  His month by month frame waits for his sweet face too!

I love that it's soft and baby and all boy - it makes me happy just to go stand in there and take it all in.  I'm feeling very pregnant and very ready to have this baby!  My diaper stash and sleepers are waiting for him!

 

His bag is even packed and ready to go. 

We've made room for you and prepared for your arrival with much excitement little one.  We can't wait to meet you!

Projects for baby

A few minutes after the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, my friend and I (who happens to be due with her little girl a day after Jacob) realized that we were finally in the year that our children would be born.  Not only that, but we only have about sixty-ish something days before they arrive.  For some reason, sixty-ish something days sounds a lot closer than two months.

Either way, I realized I officially needed to get into gear for baby number two because time is definitely running out. 

Jacob's nursery is completely different than what I had done for Tommy over three years ago now.  My style and tastes have changed and I wanted to keep his nursery soft, boyish and simple.  I also have a much smaller budget this time around so I'm having to be extra creative with how I'm putting things together.  Thankfully we were given a crib and I found a changing table and dresser for super cheap online and through a garage sale, seeing as we sold Tommy's set early last year.

The walls have been painted and the furniture has been refinished, but now it's time to put the unique touches on his nursery - which is the fun part of course.  Naturally, I've scoured Pinterest for ideas to hack and came up with a fun idea for his name.

I found the wooden rings you use for cross-stitching and bought some fabric squares that coordinated with my bedding to insert into the rings.  I painted the letters of his name white and glued them to the fabric.

I love how it turned out.  It was a simple, easy and cheap project!  And the circles on the wall mimic the circles in the bedding.

I have a couple of other projects in mind - some kind of curtain or window treatment, a gallery wall of words and sayings, and some kind of shelf full of cuteness.  Not sure what I'll come up with, but I definitely need to get on it!

Decked Out

I'm officially decorated for Christmas!  I put the finishing touches on everything this weekend.  Including making my pinterest-inspired ornament vine wreath.

 

I used leftover bulb ornaments that I already had, and deconstructed a vine wreath that I had been given years ago that used to have sunflowers all over it.  There's still some hot glue remnants on it that I couldn't hide, but you can't really tell when you see it.  I might add some more ornaments to it later to make it look fuller, but overall, I'm happy with how it turned out! And it didn't cost me a dime which is the best part!

 My Christmas tree collection!

Little touches of Christmas on top of our entertainment center.

 

Some festive garland and ornaments on the mirror that hangs over the couch.

 

I made the tree art last year using a stick and some ribbon I had - something I found on Pinterest of course.  It's one of my favorite things I've made so far!

 I hung up a few Christmasy things on the wall too.

 

 And a few more things on the shelves.

 

How fun to have FOUR stockings hanging.  Even though Jacob isn't here yet, he is already making home in our hearts as we wait for his arrival.  It's fun to think about him crawling around and getting into everything this time next year!

The shelf in the kitchen.  I made the NOEL frame last year as well and then used some of my living room items and spruced them up for Christmas and put them here.  It's fun to do things a little bit differently every year.

And last but certainly not least, our Christmas tree in all of her glory.  My very favorite part of Christmas decorating.  Full of trinkets and sweet ornaments that tell stories about who we are.  I love our tree!

 

I'm all decked out for Christmas - how about you?!