decorating
8 Fresh Ways to Repurpose a Piano
As a pianist, it pains me to say this, but it can be hard and expensive to get rid of an old piano and you might need fresh ways to repurpose a piano. I truly wish everyone had the space for a piano and wanted to learn to play, but I also understand why this instrument can be a burden to move, maintain, and learn to play. We own a baby grand piano that I hope to pass down to my kids one day, but we unexpectedly became the owners of an old upright piano too. When we purchased our current home, the previous owners left their piano in the…
Blanket Ladder With DIY Brass Leg Tips
I recently discovered you can buy thin sheets of brass and now I want to cover EVERYTHING in brass. My first project was jazzing up a blanket ladder with DIY brass leg tips. This DIY brass leg tips idea should be transferable to almost any blanket ladder style. You don’t need to have rescued a rotting wood ladder covered in dirt and spiders from under a deck in a house you were renting as I did. I wouldn’t blame you if you did though! Here’s how I made the brass leg tips for my blanket ladder: The thin brass rolls I ordered come in different sizes. My roll is about…
13 Fall Wreaths Now That It is Finally September
It is finally September, which means it is now socially acceptable to slap pumpkins on everything, including your front door wreath, and celebrate fall! Never mind that it still feels like summer in my part of the world. The seasons don’t change of their own accord. We will them into existence, especially fall, with our pumpkin spice-flavored lattes, cereal, candles, muffins, coffee, milkshakes, and deodorant. Yes, pumpkin spice deodorant is a real thing. I swear. Not to mention all the effort that goes into placing mums and hay bales on suburban front porches and taking the family on weekend apple picking excursions. If all of that doesn’t make Mother Nature…
DIY Charging Bench for Electronic Devices
If charging all the electronic devices in your home has become a chaotic nightmare of jumbled cords, let me introduce you to my DIYÂ charging bench for electronic devices. It’s a way to hide all of your charging cables and devices in plain sight. It’s my answer to the kitchen charging drawer because I’ve always wanted one of those, but we’ve never had a spare kitchen drawer with outlets in the back. I won’t promise this charging bench will eliminate all the cord chaos, but it can help you hide it. That’s half the battle! A charging bench can be made from any bench that has a hidden storage compartment. The…
In Praise of Oil Lamps
Until our last power outage I had lived my whole life without knowing the joy of an oil lamp. Don’t get me wrong, I love my battery-powered lights too. My cell phone flashlight? Couldn’t live without it. A little candle ambiance? I’m here for it. But the oil lamp? That’s something different. An oil lamp and a bunch of lamp oil was left in our Colonial Farmhouse when we purchased it. I don’t know why we hadn’t bothered to use it until two weeks ago when the power went out due to a bad storm. Again. Trees, overhead power lines, and high winds are a predictably bad combination. *sigh* During…
3 Reasons to Love Tiffany Style Lights
Tiffany style lights can be cool in your home or office! Before you roll your eyes and click away, consider these three reasons to love Tiffany style lights. Reason #1 to Love Tiffany Style Lights: They aren’t trendy right now. I know Tiffany style lights aren’t trendy right now and that is part of their charm. It’s easy to wake up one day and realize your house looks very similar to everyone else’s house because we’ve all been shopping at the same big box stores that want us to buy whatever they’ve determined is in style right now. That said, I like a Target lamp as much as the next…
In Praise of a Church Pew for Home Decor
How many of you have spent hours of your life sitting on a hard church pew? *raises both hands* I wonder at what point someone said, “Hey! You know what would make the dear preacher’s long sermons even better? A cushion for this pew.” I would have added cup holders too and I don’t mean those itty bitty ones for the communion cup. But no one asked me! I recently got stuck in the purgatory I affectionately refer to as Facebook Marketplace in search of a church pew to use as decor in my home. Who knew there were so many church pews for sale? Ironically, I didn’t want the…
Updating Our Home With Antique Hardware
We have been replacing “modern” door and cabinet hardware with antique hardware in our Colonial Farmhouse and it is surprising how big of a difference it makes to the overall look and style of our home. I’m using the term modern very loosely. In a house that is 240 years old, anything in the last 100 years could be considered modern. Most of the hardware we’ve replaced is probably 20 – 30 years old. I doubt it was installed as a style statement, but more of a practical response to a “this cabinet door no longer stays closed” situation. This modern hardware didn’t look bad. It didn’t look good. It…
3 Mirror Makeovers to Try
Mirror, mirror on the wall, which of these three mirror makeovers is the fairest of them all? That’s right! I have 3 mirror makeovers to fuel your creative juices today. All my hopes and dreams would be fulfilled if you take one of my ideas and make it your own! Here are 3 mirror makeovers to get your ideas flowing: MIRROR MAKEOVER #1: DIY ROPE MIRROR If you can use hot glue, you can make a rope mirror. All you need is a round mirror, rope, and hot glue. I’m using 3/8-inch sisal rope for this project and 100-feet of it should cost less than $12. That’s WAY more rope…
Black and Blue Outdoor Furniture
Our deck is sporting black and blue outdoor furniture. Did that sentence make it sound like our outdoor furniture rumbled after school? While most of our outdoor furniture is second-hand and was in rough shape when I found it, it is looking decidedly better after a little spray paint session. I’ve also done some outdoor furniture switching around in an effort to only keep the things we use. There will be a quiz at the end, so pay attention. To that end, the table in this below picture from October 2020 was set out by the side of the road and now has a new home. It came with the…
