Showing posts with label Home Decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Decor. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

DIY Wall Art

     I had originally planned to forgo decorating a room for the baby. Then, Tennyson arrived and I began spending lots of time in the room. Soon enough, I desired to add a few touches that would give the space a little excitement. I wanted to create a space that was his. I also wanted it to be appealing to me while we were in there for the many nursing sessions.   I now have a little list of projects to spruce up the space a bit. The first on the list was to hang some wall art on those boring white walls.
   
     Of course, that posed an opportunity for a DIY project. I frequently say that I my home would be decorated faster if I didn't take a DIY approach to everything, but the creative/crafty side of me insists that I do. A couple of advantages to creating my own wall art, though, is that it is often much more affordable to create pieces than buy them and they're always able to be customized. For Tennyson's room, I chose to do a large canvas piece with a saying and then three small pieces that were more of a nursery theme. My two main colors for his room are gray (my favorite color) and orange (we're TN vol fans). I then added some navy blue to add an additional color element. The pieces are simple but yet add a lot of personality to the room! (Plus, only cost me about $12.50 for the canvases and paints. Hooray!).
    
Tennyson's "Room":
     This saying is a familiar one from the internet (ie pinterest). Nonetheless, my heart does desire these two statements to be true for him. 


     He loves to look at this one! I will have him against my shoulder and he will stretch his little neck to see it. 
     This is the original idea piece for setting the color scheme. 
     Alphabet painted in all the room colors. His initials are highlighted in blue. 

Additional nursery style canvas pieces are available in the Etsy shop! (Customized colors and silhouette available upon request)


Other areas of our home with my DIY wall art:

 Upstairs hallway
(The three piece tree painting was also previously available in the Etsy shop. Additional listings available upon request.)
Current Living Room
     This one says, "If we have family, then we have everything" and includes our wedding date and Tennyson's birth date. It's been a great reminder during difficult times that we are not lacking in life as long as we have family. We choose to make family our priority. 

Previous Living Room
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This post is #2 of the "52 Projects" series! 


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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A Touch of Fall

     Can't you feel it? The fall is here! Fall is by far my favorite season. It's just so cozy! The trees and ground become clothed in a beautiful array of warm colors. The crunch of fallen leaves beneath my feet immediately brings back memories of jumping into leaf piles as a kid. Delicious pumpkin favors infiltrate coffees, scones, muffins and cakes. The brisk breeze beckons me to pull clothing layers closer around me. There's a sweet feeling of comfort and joy to the season. 
   
     It is this sentiment that I excitedly bring indoors with simple touches of decor. I prefer to be on the minimalist side of possession ownership. Too much stuff to purchase, store, and upkeep tends to overwhelm and stress me. Plus, it's important for me to maintain an appropriate level of stuff for our small space.Therefore, I maintain a specific number of totes for holiday or seasonal decor. I have two for Christmas items, and one for all other holidays or seasons. If the designated tote would be exceeded, then I don't purchase something or find something to get rid of. Keeping a strategic number of storage totes fitting to the storage space has been a key way to decrease clutter while still enjoying partaking in festive fun like decorating. 

      I really enjoy adding touches of fall to our home with a few simple pieces. The only addition I made this year were the fresh gourds and pumpkins, which won't be stored. The rest of the items were purchased in years past. Decorating is even more delightful when the cost is minimal to nothing at all!

Welcome to our home! This is our entryway. There is an indentation in the wall on one side that creates a shelf of sorts perfect for garland. I rather find the touch of garland and a door hanger to be quite warm and welcoming. 
The easiest and most affordable way to dress up the dinner table is to change the table linens. I created my everyday table look with versatility in mind. The gray tablecloth and burlap placemats coordinate well with just about everything. The look of the centerpieces can be changed by simply switching out the contents of the jars. For fall, I decided to use popcorn kernels. I also added some fall theme napkins (coming soon to the Etsy shop!). 
I love the look of a vase of flowers, even if they are fake. For the fall, I pulled out my pretty springtime stems and replaced them with a couple of fall bunches. The little ceramic pumpkin was one I painted at a paint-your-own pottery shop years ago.  (This is our downstairs bathroom used by guests).
Finally, this pictures sums up the sentiment of the season. It's just so cozy! I simply added some mini pumpkins and guards and unshelled pecans (which we had already) to one of our serving dishes. A centerpiece for only $6 for our living room!
     Decorating seasonally doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. Simply find a few key pieces! Now that the decorating is done, I believe some yummy fall baking is in order! 

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

DIY Weekly Menu Board

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/reiner/331732019/

      Welcome to the first post of the "DIY Dining Room Decor" series! Over the course of this week I'll be sharing five easy and budget-friendly projects to add to the organization, function and style of the dining room. Today we're going to focus on one of my favorite aspects of decorating- organization!

      If you have been reading Reviving Homemaking even for a short period of time, then you will know that in our home we first prepare for weekly meals by menu planning. When we married and I began to figure out how to manage a home, I quickly decided that menu planning was a priority to learn. I could not tolerate coming home from a long day at college and/or work to be faced with the question of, "What should I make for dinner?" I would become so aggravated at needing to prepare a meal I didn't have the energy to do, didn't have all the ingredients I needed when I needed them (which prompted additional costly trips to the store), or gave up by going out to eat (which again, is very costly). The solution was menu planning. 

       For us, menu planning is all about knowing what we need to prepare meals and by when we needed it. I account for everything in our menu plans, including healthy and fresh snacks. I perhaps over plan, but I'd rather have good options available than to turn to junk foods or fast foods. There will be another post in the future on exactly how we've come to create our weekly menus, but for now I'm going to focus more on keeping those menus organized. 

       What's better than an area that is happily organized? Happy organization on display! In a previous post, I demonstrated how we were able to turn bookshelves into a pantry. Although functional as storage, the unit itself and organization of it also serves as a decorative element in our kitchen. Our menu board serves likewise purposes of function and decor. Once we have determined our menu for the week, I then find the matching card or write a new one if the recipe is new. Some weeks we flip back through the cards for ideas on what to plan. Easy!

         Creating the menu board is also very easy. It requires just a few simple supplies and steps.  

Supplies needed include: cork board (I re-purposed my jewelry board), ribbon, wooden letters, paint (for wooden letters & cork board), index cards, binder clips, push pins, letter stickers. 

1. Paint cork board desired color. If you wish, you could attack fabric to the board instead of painting it. Paint the wooden letters as well. 

2. Cut ribbon the width of the board. Cut a second piece of ribbon a few inches less than the length of the board. 

3. Attach ribbon to board (in a "T" position as pictured) using hot glue. Glue the shorter, horizontal ribbon completely. The long, vertical ribbon needs to be glued only at the top and bottom so that the clips will attach in the middle. Glue the letters to the board as well.

4. Determine 4-5 spots on the right side of the long ribbon for storing used cards. Be sure to space them apart enough so that they don't overlap. Above those marks, use the letter stickers to spell out the meal occasion (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks). I have an extra spot at the bottom of mine that is unlabeled and is used for blank cards.

5. Cut the index cards in half. Use the binder clips to attach cards to at least seven places on the long ribbon (for each day of the week). Use other clips to keep used cards stored to the right. 
6. To use, just clip one card of each meal occasion to the appropriate place on the long ribbon. When done, then move them to the right and clip cards for the new week's meals to the long ribbon.   

       And that's it! Having a menu planning is a must for me. I can rearrange it as needed throughout the week, but some base from which to work is nice. Even nicer is the menu plan nicely organized and displayed on our dining room wall.


Linked up at: Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Growing Home, Far Above Rubies, Time-Warp Wife

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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

How To Make a Tablecloth From a Sheet


     When we moved into our current home, I decided to change my color scheme up a bit.  I had previously done bold primary colors and now desired some cooler tones. The new color scheme also allows me to incorporate my favorite color- gray! My current room project is our dining room. I wanted to replace (or at least have a second) the red tablecloth with a gray one. I soon discovered that gray is not a very popular color for a tablecloth, or, at least, not as popular within my desired price range. I then discovered the local discount store was having a white sale. I found a king size set of sheets for $20 and instantly envisioned the set being transformed into a tablecloth and seat cushions. The pillowcases will be used to make pillowcase dresses to send to organizations like Dress A Girl Around the World. That's a lot of material and potential for the typical price of a single store-bought tablecloth. 

       The skill level for sewing a tablecloth from a sheet is that of beginner. If you can sew a straight line, then you can do this project. The most difficult part for me was my sheet material being rather thin and lacking in structure. This is one area in which the rougher tougher sheets are better than the "luxury." 

        Below is a tutorial for making the tablecloth. If you would prefer printable versions of the tutorial than follow either link below.



Tutorial: How To Make a (52"x70") Tablecloth From a Sheet
1. Begin by washing and drying your material to account for any shrinking. Next, iron the material. 

2. Lay material out on a large flat surface. If you have an existing tablecloth, then you can lay it on top, and use it as a size guide. You will then measure one inch extra around all sides to allow for a 1/2'' hem.  If not using a guide, then measure out a rectangle that is 53'' x 71''.


3. Cut out measured amount.  

4. The edges will be finished with a 1/2'' hem. A beginner's tip is to use a fabric glue stick and disappearing ink pen to ensure all parts align properly. Using the disappearing ink pen, measure and draw a line 1'' and then a second line1/2'' from the first around all edges. This acts as a guide for folding the edges and making sure they are straight. The corner markings will also be helpful in creating the mitered corner. 


5. Fold edge of material to meet first line marking. The folded section will be about 1/2'' wide. Do the same for all four edges of the material. (It may be helpful to add some glue and then iron to keep it in place). 


6. Next, fold the tip of the corner corner piece to the innermost crossing of the line marks. Press the bottom edge of that fold with an iron to maintain marking of the edge. (I've demonstrated it with a dotted line in the photo below). 

7. Unfold the corner. Cut along this line. This will reduce bulk within the corner once sewn. 


8. Ever so slightly turn the raw edge of the cut corner under (towards wrong side of material) and secure by ironing it in place (may be helpful to add a dab of glue). 


9. Fold one edge of the tablecloth material so that the corner edge of the cut corner meets the innermost crossing of the marked lines. Do the same for the other side.  


The corner edges should meet and now look like this. 

10. Fold side edges again to meet innermost marked line. You should now have a 1/2'' hem and mitered corners all around the material. 


11. To finish, simply top stitch 1/4'' along the perimeter of the tablecloth. 


12. You will probably want to add a waterproofing to the material since spills are bound to happen at the dining table. Scotch Guard is a common product for waterproofing. You could also just lay a clear vinyl tablecloth over everything while eating. 


Finished!


One of the fun aspects of having a solid tablecloth is the potential to change up the look with various centerpieces and even cloth napkins. Textiles are fantastic for adding a lot of color and life to home decor while still being budget-friendly!

Linked up at: An Original Belle, A Mama's Story, The Alabaster Jar, The Modest Mom, What Joy Is Mine, The Better Mom, Far Above Rubies, Time-Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Growing Home A Mama's Story, The Alabaster Jar, The Modest Mom Blog, What Joy Is Mine, The Better Mom,  Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Home Tour: Laundry Room

   {These posts may be more for family who live states away and are interested in seeing our home, but perhaps there may be some ideas here and there that could be useful or interesting to others as well. :) }

       I'm continuing to find ways to decorate and organize our townhome one room at a time. I previously shared our Entry, and now our Laundry Room Closet is complete.  Even though it's just a little closet, I wanted to add a few touches that add cohesiveness, organization and some fun. 
   Since this space is the first seen upon entering the living area of our home, keeping the cluttered look to a minimal was one of my goals. I'd rather not look up to see a mess when entering my home in the event I neglect to close the closet doors. 

      There's not a whole lot of fancy smancy decorating going on here. My goal, though, is to be able to add touches to each room without a lot of expense or permanence (ie wall painting). I didn't take a "Before Picture," but you can imagine bottles and other laundry supplies just sitting scattered along the shelf, no soap/softener dispensers, or wall art. It was the standard storage/laundry closet. 

 The Details


      I purchased two 2.5 gallon drink dispensers for my laundry soap and fabric softener. I make our laundry soap and use diluted apple cider vinegar as fabric softener, and these containers are perfect for the quantities made in each batch. (You can find the recipes and read more about this homemade approach to laundry on the "Laundry Management" post). 
     
     I've had a tendency to neglect to flip the pour spout back down (off) in the past and the result was a messy soapy floor. This time, I've learned my lesson and positioned the bottles directly over the washer so just in case my mind wanders mid-task the liquid(s) will simply go into the washer. Perhaps one day I'll catch onto the greater lesson of being a little more attentive and a lot less distractible...ohh..shiny. Oh yeah, so anyways. ;)
    On the left side of the shelf is all of the laundry supplies. Instead of a collection of bottles, mesh bags, stain remover and other supplies scattered along the shelf, I purchased two canvas storage bins to contain everything. The bins add some color and permit a more cohesive look by decreasing visible clutter.  
     The long shelf offers much more storage space than I have laundry supplies, and so I utilize the right side for some kitchen items. The kitchen is a step away from the laundry closet, and so it makes a great spot for storing large items like our juicer, ice cream maker and fondue pot. I also have all our reusable shopping bags (the black bag in the picture) stored here. This makes it convenient to grab some bags on our way out the door to the store. 
     
     The sides of the washer and dryer are great spots for storing slim items like the ironing board and drying rack.

     Finally, I wanted to add some kind of interest piece to the space at the top of the room. I saw the phrase "Laundry Today or Naked Tomorrow" in vinyl lettering online, and thought it was pretty cute. I had debated between this phrase and another one, and the responses I received on the Reviving Homemaking Facebook page indicated this one was the winner. I rather enjoy the comedic effect it has. However, to purchase the vinyl lettering in the size I needed I would have had to pay around $20-$25, which was not exactly what I had in mind in terms of budget for this space. Instead, I found some canvas at a local discount store and added some paint to create my own take on it for only $7. (yay!) I chose to use the colors of the canvas bins, and rather like how painting my own has brought additional color and fun to the space. 

     And so, room number two is complete! Now, on to the next room which will be the dining room. I have several DIY projects going on in that room, and am really excited about how it will all turn out. (It looks fantastic in my imagination! haha). 

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Linked up at: What Joy is Mine, The Better Mom, A Mama's Story, The Alabaster Jar, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Women Living Well, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, We Are THAT Family

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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Home Tour: Entry

     My husband and I are now settling in our third home (and state!) in the last two years. I had previously decorated a bit here and there in our homes, but remained hesitant to really commit or invest too much with knowing that we would potentially move. This time we are here for at least the next several years which means my creative self gets to add all those lovely touches that I've been imagining for my home. I'm still working with white walls and a small budget. Nevertheless, I'm excited to tackle our little townhome one room at a time! These posts may be more for family who live states away and are interested in seeing our home, but perhaps there may be some ideas here and there that could be useful or interesting to others as well. :)

     First room completed is the entry. It's the first impression to our home and so I wanted to start there. The front door actually opens into this hallways and staircase which then brings you to the front door of the main living area. There's nothing too special about it, so I wanted to add some fun and function to this small space. 
      
Before decorating
Picture on left: Front door looking up towards door that enters main living area. 
Picture on right: Door at main living area looking down towards front door. 


After decorating
Picture on left: Front door looking up towards door that enters main living area. 
Picture on right: Door at main living area looking down towards front door. 


The Details
We added a bar with hooks (Ikea) to serve as our coat rack. The rack is also a handy place to keep our umbrellas. Below that is an idea that I implemented from my Pinterest boards (see links below for the sources of inspiration). The shoe trays were super simple to create. Just pour large rocks (Walmart) into the trays (Ikea)! Snowy or wet shoes can be left here before entering further to keep the floors from getting messy. 





     Along the side of the stairs is a little shelf feature in the wall. This space could be ignored or it could be used for fun seasonal decor. Currently, I'm loving the look of the leaf garlands (Hobby Lobby)! In just a week I'll switch it out for some Christmas garland with scented pine cones and cinnamon sticks. There's also a little hook on the door, which is great for a little door hanger. It's fun having the wreath outside and something a little more whimsical on the inside. I may have too much fun decorating for holidays and seasons in this little spot!


I then decided to add a welcoming quote or saying somewhere in the entryway. I found vinyl letters (Hobby Lobby) that said, "May all who enter as guests, leave as friends." I thought this conveyed the heart I hope my home to represent. It also is the saying that is hanging outside my Grandmom's door, and so seeing the saying also reminds me of her. 


My hubby has been amazing at patiently listening to my ideas through my creative excitement, and then wonderfully helps me put it all together! 
 

      So, so far that is our little home. I think the entry looks so much more inviting and cheerful now than it did before. Next, I'll focus on sprucing up our dining room! Wee! :)

 Sources of Inspiration:
DIY River Rock Boot Trays
Pebble Boot Tray
Creative Solution for Messy Winter Boots 
DIY Rock Boot Tray

Looking for more ideas?
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