decorating
Dining Room Hutch and Incorporating Kid Art into Home Decor
The daytime high temperature dropped to 71 degrees this weekend in greater Atlanta and it was like “okay, it’s chilly! Time to make soup!” I’m not even joking. Don’t worry, it’s back up into the 80s now. All joking aside, I’m ready for Fall! It’s the middle of September and I’m itching to start pumpkin-fying everything. Before I do, I thought I’d take some pictures of how my dining room hutch looks right now. I’ve shown you the dining room built-ins, which are on the wall to the right of the hutch. I’ve also shown you the opposite wall where I’ve kept things very neutral. This hutch backs up to our…
Good Luck Horseshoe
Update: Huge shout out to Knock Off Decor for featuring my horseshoe! Shocking news. I subscribe to a few magazines. While I love all things digital, I still savor turning the pages of an actual magazine or book. It’s a feeling that can’t be replaced. A couple of weeks ago I was flipping through the September 2015 issue of Better Homes and Gardens when I saw this: Gold horseshoe. COME TO MAMA! I can’t really tell if it’s mounted on that book or if it’s just Photoshopped to be the same color. No matter. I was stuck on the gold horseshoe. I just needed a horseshoe. Small hitch in the giddy-up. If…
Pine Cone Birdhouse Bookends
The other day while on a creative sojourn through Joann’s (I can sojourn now, as long as I’m back by 2:30 to meet the school bus), I decided I needed to jazz up the bookends on the shelves in our dining room. Spray painting them ‘champagne mist’ was no longer enough. Sometimes ideas and inspiration come to me in convoluted ways. I’m just thankful that this time I was in the paint-it-yourself-trinket aisle instead of the all-things-wedding aisle at the craft store. Through a few leaps of illogical logic and some creative mind-bendery, I decided I needed birdhouse bookends. I started with two of these very generic wood birdhouses (similar). I…
Where’s Your Happy Place?
The Junk Whisperer has a “this is my happy place” sign on the outside of her potting shed. It does beg the question. Where is your happy place? Have you ever thought about it? I’m guessing a lot of people would say the beach or the mountains or the lake is their happy place. I used to think my happy place was standing outside the car for that 5 seconds of quiet after you buckle your screaming toddler in the car and shut their door. Of course, that 5 seconds and a few deep breaths does go by so quickly before you have to open your car door and get on with the…
Hiding a Router and Modem in Plain Sight
When we moved into this house we set up our Internet connection in the easiest spot for the Charter Internet guy, which was in the basement. It worked great. Until it didn’t. Isn’t that how it always is with your Internet service? If I was into conspiracy theories… So, last weekend my husband got up early and tells me he’s going to move the router upstairs. In my un-caffeinated, still-in-bed state, that’s all I heard. Router and upstairs. He was literally moving the router 6-feet straight up. I thought he was going to leave everything plugged in where it was and run the wire directly through the basement ceiling/living room…
Outdoor Decorating with Farm Junk
My stepmom has put in countless dirty, filthy hours cleaning out old barns and sheds on the family farm. God bless her. There have been piles for Goodwill, piles for scrap metal recycling, piles for burning. Then there’s the pile she’s kept. What’s in it? Old lights, saw blades, tractor seats, mole traps, springs…the usual. Why does she keep these things? Well, she’s the Junk Whisperer. This wall is on the back of the garage. A spot that nobody, but her and my dad are going to see on a regular basis. When I arrived in Oregon this summer, this was simply an empty wall with a flower bed on the…
Vintage-Looking Animal Prints – Free Printable
A couple of weeks ago on our trip to Oregon we visited the WildLife Safari in the small town of Winston. The highlight of the Wildlife Safari is actually driving through the safari with your windows down. In some instances the animals were close enough to the driving path for a few really great photo ops. Now, when the ostrich came a little too close and decided to peck the car, the windows were definitely UP for that encounter. Here’s a photo I took of the American Bison. His coat is looking a little sad in the original photo. Here he is all vintage-y and with a little haircut. I’m seriously considering…
Birdhouse on a Post
This is a birdhouse post about a birdhouse on a post. (Prepositions are little, but mighty.) In this particular instance, it is not so much a house, but a bird chapel. Preach it little birdies. If you have or find or make an amazing birdhouse, you don’t always have to hang it in a tree. No sir. Bring it closer, make it a part of your outdoor decor. Stick it on a post! My stepmom secured this bird chapel her super-talented brother made for her on top of an old 4×4 fence post. To get the fence post to stand upright without putting it into the ground she cut four…
Tractor Seat Art
I’m lucky a gal. When I go “home,” I actually get to go back to my childhood home. Yep, I grew up on a ranch. Cows, hay fields and lots of memories. There are also a lot of country treasures to be found on the ol’ homestead. My stepmom rescued these 2 old tractor seats and gave them new life as wall art. She’s a clever gal! The metal flowers came off of a piece of art my stepmom found at Kohl’s – on deep clearance, of course. She liked the flowers, but said they were attached to a weird, tacky piece of tile. It took a while for inspiration to…
Patriotic Table
Last week at Target… That’s how all of my good stories start. So, last week at Target, I picked up some vinyl placemats. I have no intention of using them as placemats, but that’s a story for another day. Before I embark on my little placemat project, I thought I’d use them as a table runner to help get us in the mood for the 4th of July. I also bought myself roses for the first time in my life. They are from Trader Joe’s. I pretty much use whatever excuse I can to go to Trader Joe’s because a $5 bouquet of flowers really floats my boat. Red roses signify love, which…
