Adding Touches of Spring to the Living Room

Hopefully, we've finally put winter behind us!  Even if it makes another appearance, I've brought spring into the house anyway! Spring has always been my favorite season, even as a child.  I couldn't wait for green grass, birds chirping, baby animals, and sunshine after a long, harsh winter on the farm.  Maybe that's why I tend to decorate with spring-like home decor all year round?

Stylish and Budget-Friendly Organizational Tips for Craft Rooms and Offices

Do you long to have a craft room or an office that you can store all your hobby-making materials, paperwork, and miscellaneous office supplies that is unique, stylish, but budget-friendly at the same time?  I know I did... for years!  I was fortunate to get my dream craft room at our last house, which I shared HERE and I'm pretty lucky that there is small room right off of the foyer in the rental where I could set up shop!  If you've been dreaming of an organized office or craft room, but think it takes hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in furniture and organizing supplies, then I have a few tips that will make you think otherwise... 

Tried and True... DIY Products I Love!

Although I normally share furniture before/afters, room reveals, tablescapes, etc, I've been wanting to share some of the little things that have made maintaining a home and working on projects easier for me.  I've mentioned before that I'm sort of a "product junkie" because I love to try all types of paints, cleaners, tools, topcoats, etc. to find out what works best for me.  When I find myself reaching for a certain product frequently or am completely amazed at it's effectiveness, I mentally take note so I can pass it along to all of you!

Happy New Year and the Top Ten of 2013

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  It's always fun to go back and take a look through the blog and some of the projects that were completed over the year and see which were more popular than others.  I thought I'd compile a list of top-ten viewed blog posts that I posted in 2013...

Details in the Dining Room

As I mentioned last week when I shared my Green and Natural Thanksgiving Tablescape, I promised to share the details, sources, paint color, etc of the latest dining room makeover in our rental house...

Budget Bedroom Makeover for a Rental Home

While I'm still working away on my dining room makeover, I thought I'd share my oldest daughter's room that has been mostly completed for a while now.  It just need a couple of little things finished up before I could take pictures...

Fall in the Dining Room... 5 Easy Fall Centerpieces

Five fellow bloggers and I are sharing "Fall Around the House" today!  In case you missed it, six talented blog friends shared their inspiring Fall decorations yesterday...  Make sure you check them out as they are beautiful!  Fall is one of my favorite seasons as I love the colors, crisp air, fresh apples, and since moving to North Carolina, it's a wonderful break from the hot, humid summer weather.

Summer Showcase of Homes - My House Tour

There have been some beautiful home tours this week on the 2013 Summer Showcase of Homes!  Have you seen them yet?  If not, I put together a full list of all the home tours through yesterday HERE.  Today is the last day of the tours and I'm happy to be included among such talented women.

House Listing Photos

First of all, I want to thank all of you for the encouraging comments on my last post about having to move again!  I am still a bit down about it, but I feel better after reading your thoughts on moving. I thought I'd quickly share some of the photos from the MLS tour that my realtor gave me permission to use.  There are actually quite a few rooms that I never did put up on the blog because they just weren't finished (for me) and because we've only been here a short time.  I also made a few changes for the sake of staging and many of the chandeliers were swapped out. 

Moving On...Again!

This is one of the more difficult posts that I've had to write and I've gone back in forth on how and when to write this post.  I think I've typed and re-typed it several times... I try to keep my blog strictly about home decor, DIY, furniture projects, etc as I know most readers aren't too interested in my personal life, but the time has come to let everyone know about some personal changes that do affect the blog, etc.

Our house back when we moved in...

As of this weekend, our house will be officially for sale.  Those of you that follow my blog will know that we haven't lived here very long and that our family relocated from the Pacific Northwest to the Raleigh, NC area a little over a year and a half ago.  That wasn't our first move, in fact, we've had to move three times in the last three years due to job changes, so the fact that we have to put our house up for sale and move yet again is not exactly good news for us.

A Little French Room...Updated

Time for a little update!  Do you remember a year ago when I first shared my youngest daughter's "Little French Room"?  Back then, it looked like this...

The big furniture pieces were in place and despite wanting to keep the room simple, it felt like it still needed something.  At the time I posted the room, I had picked out some white ruffle drapes from Target, but just hadn't hung them yet.  Boy, do window treatments always make a difference in a room...

Lily's Garden Room

I've been so busy working on projects for the house this past week!  Between painting hallways, tons of landscaping outside, scrubbing down the screen porch from top to bottom, and numerous other essential (but unexciting chores), I've hardly found time for fun projects.  I did get a huge sideboard stained and painted and is waiting on new hardware and finally got to put the finishing touches on my middle daughter's room...

Powder Room Makeover

Have you ever painted a room and known almost immediately that it's just not what you want?  Well, that was me a little over a year ago in my powder room.  We'd just moved into our new home and I was wanting to re-paint almost every room in the house and the paint costs were adding up quickly.  With all the other things that I was buying for the house, I thought I'd save a bit and use some left-over paint...oh, why didn't I just get pick out the color I wanted?

Cottage-Inspired, Casual Easter Brunch and Spring Tablescape

Easter is just less than a month away!  It still feels like winter in North Carolina this weekend and I'm hoping the weather turns as egg hunts are much more enjoyable when it's warm!  Despite the cold weather, I brought in fresh flowers to help it feel like Spring and put together a simple, cottage-inspired Spring and Easter brunch tablescape that I hope inspires you for the upcoming holiday...

Rug Shopping Tips on a Budget

One of my blogging goals this year was to get a budget decor series completed that shares some of the tips and tricks I've learned over the years that has helped me save thousands when decorating my homes.  Depending on the size, etc of my rooms, I normally spend only $500-$1,000 top-to-bottom for furniture, accessories, window treatments, etc and my kid's rooms are even less. While part of that is due to using re-furbished, secondhand furniture, there are always items that need to be purchased new and I'd thought I'd share my shopping tips with you starting with rugs.

Some Framing Projects, Bringing in Spring, and a New Rug

I'm one of those who pretty much decorates for spring all year around.  From my garden-inspired Christmas tree to a living room and dining room that I always try to keep light and airy, spring just makes me feel better...I'm not a winter person at all!

DIY Bench Tutorial

First of all, thank you so much for all your sweet comments on the master bedroom reveal I shared last week!  I mentioned in that post that I'd be sharing a tutorial on how to make the bench that my husband and I put together for the end of the bed.  I meant to get it out sooner, but it's been a long week around here.  The bench is a pretty simple building project that can come in handy if you can't find the right look or size of bench for the end of your bed, entryway, etc (or just want to save some money and build your own).

Master Bedroom Reveal

At last, I can finally call my master bedroom complete and I love it!  Welcome to my personal escape... I do have three little kids.  There's is quite a bit to share, so grab that cup of coffee and get comfy...

Living Room - Dining Room Tour and Q&A

I finally finished packing up all the Christmas decorations and I have to admit, it feels nice to have the house back to normal again.  The live trees and fresh greenery were getting pretty dried out and I just wanted to get  everything cleaned up!

A Year in Review - Favorite Projects and Posts of 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!  We had a great time around here with a full house for Christmas dinner and out-of-town guests for several days.  Before I start breaking down the Christmas decorations, I wanted to share a recap of some of the favorite and most popular posts of 2012. Since I started blogging regularly during the 2011 holiday season, 2012 is pretty much my first full year of blogging and sharing projects.