We renovated our entire 100 year old house in one fell swoop… therefore when it was time to paint the interior, since every single room needed to be painted, every single room’s paint’s colors needed to be determined. Selecting a whole house of paint could feel a bit overwhelming to some, but I see… [Keep Reading…]
Repurposing a Doorway
While we did do a floor plan change on the 2nd level of our 100 year old house, I’m all about keeping as much integrity and being the most efficient of a renovation project in a space, if it makes sense. However, I won’t allow something to hold the renovation project’s creativity hostage either…. [Keep Reading…]
French Knot Wreath Pillow Tutorial
A few years ago I remember seeing at Pottery Barn a pillow with branches and red berries embroidered on it creating a red berry wreath on the front of the pillow. Instead of purchasing that one… I decided to create my own version of a red berry wreath pillow. I changed it up a bit… [Keep Reading…]
Valentine’s Day Decorating Inspiration
I want to encourage you to check out a couple of past posts that I think are full of inspiration to pull from for this year’s Valentine’s Day decorating! In our former house, I decorated the mantel with these elements:
A Lesson in Identifying Furniture Age
In the entry area of our living room, in our 100 year old house by the stairway, is a small sectioned off part of the room. On the end wall of that space this vintage breakfront secretary with bubble glass now sits. It fits so well, it looks like it was made for the… [Keep Reading…]
Touring: Snug Harbor Farm
On the outskirts of Kennebunkport, Maine, on Western Ave. (appropriately named since Kennebunkport is on the eastern coast of Maine, so pretty much everywhere from there is in a Western direction) is one of the quaintest, if not THE quaintest nursery greenhouses I’ve ever visited. Come along with me as I share a quick tour… [Keep Reading…]
How to Make a Chandelier Longer
I’ve been wanting to move the dining table away from the wall in the breakfast room, but felt stuck because of where the chandelier was hanging and the chain and wires on it were too short to swag over to where I wanted to place the table. Finally I decided to try my hand… [Keep Reading…]
Why I Blog
Here’s a glimpse into my personal life as I explain a little as to why I blog in the first place… Being the author of a decorating and DIY blog has opened up an avenue of design for me that I couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. You see, I’m a self-made… [Keep Reading…]
Track Lighting Why I Love it!!
Well, in a word… Versatility! Track lighting offers fantastic versatility, both by the placement of the lights, but also because it’s user friendly in the installation. Here are some rooms I’ve installed track lighting in and you might just be amazed in the versatility track lighting really does offer… to start out with, here’s a… [Keep Reading…]
Winter Walk and Repurposing
It’s January, up here in NW Wisconsin, which means we’re in the throws of winter. Some folks in the south just can’t figure out how we live with temps like this… It will frequently dip below zero in January. On those days, I tend to stay in. But we’ll also have plenty of days… [Keep Reading…]
Hanging Terrarium
It’s January in NW Wisconsin, that means cold… but one of the best ways I know to ward off the winter blues is to garden. Obviously there won’t be any gardening outside these days up here, but indoor gardening will work just fine, and these charming hanging terrariums are perfect for that! Here’s where to… [Keep Reading…]
Miniature Fairy Garden
Here’s a great way to introduce children to a little bit of gardening… with a miniature fairy garden! My 10 year old (she’d for sure want me to correct myself here and say almost 11 year old) granddaughter has really been wanting to experiment with planting indoors and has been quite inspired with a few… [Keep Reading…]
Creating Vignettes and Arrangements
There are a lot of things I love, but I’ve learned, just because I ‘love them’ doesn’t mean that I can necessarly live with them very long… like Christmas decorations. I love decorating for Christmas, but (just as much!) I love putting away all the glam, glitter and red and green decorations. As lovely as… [Keep Reading…]
Old Fridge Facelift DIY Chalkboard Cover
Here’s a wonderfully creative idea if you find yourself with an old fridge that works great, but isn’t so great looking… Why not make an old fridge facelift DIY chalkboard cover! Yep! That’s what my son and daughter-in-law did in their kitchen, and now, I think it looks better than a new fridge could have…. [Keep Reading…]
Storing Christmas Decoration Bins
It’s the same for me every year… I love decorating the house for Christmas, but once Christmas is over, I can’t wait to get the Christmas decorations cleaned up and stored away, waiting to be re-opened in 11 months bringing with them fond memories and a few surprises as I’m reminded with what I bought… [Keep Reading…]
Displaying an Outdoor Nativity
Last year we displayed the outdoor Nativity scene on the front porch, but it just looked a bit too cramped and didn’t do it justice. So this year we put it in the front yard. Here are a few details we had to change… We’ve had these nativity people for several years, probably 10 years… [Keep Reading…]
Antler Candle Holders
Last week I showed you my attempt to embellish a deer antler mount for a Christmas ornament on the wall. So continuing on with that antler idea, I made these antler candle holders and learned a few more things along the way…
Deer Theme Winter Wonderland
A pair of glitter deer are the center and central focal point of this year’s Christmas display on the built-in sideboard, but here are a few more details about this fun deer theme Winter wonderland vignette…
Deer Antlers for Christmas
I’ve been loving decorating with deer themed things this Christmas, so I thought how perfect to actually use real deer antlers for a Christmas decoration too! Nope, hunters we are not, so we didn’t come by these antlers that way… But they are real, and here’s how I did get them and what I did… [Keep Reading…]
Christmas Nativity Collection
Displaying a collection can be a little tricky… sometimes whatever the collection subject matter is, it can look a bit busy, losing all the original visual interest of the items… Here are some ways I’ve displayed our Christmas nativity collection this year to try to avoid that.
