Home Decor Archives - Page 17 of 58

Wallpaper Wonderings

A while back, my good friend, Lacey, showed me this gorgeous wallpaper that she’d spotted on West Elm’s blog, Front & Main. She’d contemplated putting it in several spaces and (being the supportive friend that I am) I wanted her to also put it in several spaces. To be quite honest, I wanted to use it in my house from top to bottom, but it was definitely her thing, and wallpaper is so damn expensive that I thought I’d live vicariously through her.

That was literally two years ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. When I showed off my new home bar, I told you guys that I wanted to use it in there, Finally honing down the need to use it on every square inch of my walls.

So I decided to just go for it. I hopped online to order and after doing some quick math, realized that it would take me six rolls (and $200) to do my tiny little 8 x 3 room. And that didn’t even count the adhesive, the tools, and the labor to get it up. I backed off of the ‘checkout’ button and gave this some thought.

Could I do a similar effect with paint? Would that be crazy hard? I would get to choose my own colors if we went that route. It would also save me over $175. Could I really pull this off? Do I even want the words faux finish looming in my house?

So here I am on a Thursday. Weighing my options, racking my brain, wondering if I’m crazy for not just going for the real deal.

Tell me… Am I nuts to consider painting this effect? Or should I give it a go?

P.S. If you love home projects as much as I do, you’ll die over the fact that we’re doing our last summer renovation giveaway with Home Depot and we’ve teamed up to give away a $500 gift card to the Home Depot! GO ENTER NOW!

My DIY Laundry Room Reno

IN Home Decor WITH 306 Comments

I let you guys know that just last week, I began the transformation of my laundry room. I wanted it to go from downright disgusting and cramped to a place where I didn’t have to rewash if a wet sock fell onto the floor (before I would have immediately placed anything that touched that floor back into the washer).

I shared my inspiration, but what I didn’t share is that this post comes complete with the opportunity for you guys to win a $500 Home Depot giftcard exclusive to House of Earnest readers AND the chance to enter to win a $5000 laundry room giveaway from the people at Tide, Maytag, and The Home Depot. Amazing, right? For the $5000 laundry room reno sweepstakes and for a sneak peak at Jenny Komenda’s tips for a successful laundry room redesign, click here! For the House of Earnest exclusive $500 giveaway, there are entry details at the bottom of the post!

Ta-da! I am in love. I took my inspiration pretty verbatim. I wanted something clean and soothing with a little bit of drama, and everything from floor to ceiling needed replaced. I mean everything.

I choose a dark color for the walls which is balanced out by so much white trim and the beadboard. Very straight-forward shelving which holds way more than you’d ever expect, and new light fixture and flooring rounded out the reno. We busted out this bad boy in just 7 hours and $300. Can you believe it? Keep on reading for more photos, complete breakdown, and giveaway details.

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Peak Summer Style

IN Home Decor WITH 3 Comments

High summer means soaring temps and sizzling nights. The best color to keep you cool during the day, but maintain amazing summer style is white… everywhere. I love a flood of white can be serene and peaceful, but sexy and bold when done with a hint of shimmer. What’s your favorite peak summer style?

white handmade art West Elm $199, side table/stool Serena & Lily $375, stitched pillow West Elm $30, gold botanical card Biscuit Home $4, fin vase West Elm $59, toulouse white platter Crate & Barrel $25, alvo stool Shop Horne $375, elephant bowl and cover Biscuit Home $40, matte white and gold desk lamp Shop Horne $575.

Shop this entire ‘White Hot’ collection at Keep.com!

Laundry Room Reno Plans

IN Home Decor WITH 10 Comments

I have something to admit to you guys. I’ve been totally holding out on you. I’ve posted so many updates to my house, including a full house tour, but I’ve never shown you the most terrible, embarrassing room to exist – my laundry room.

Now, this room is just a little half-flight of steps off the kitchen, basically under our stairs that lead to the second floor. With the age of the house, a space to retrofit laundry is a total afterthought and it’s evident with how tiny and ill-fitted this room is. It’s seriously terrible, and we’ve been living like this for 6 years. The floors are 30 year old (yellowing) linoleum, the paint is builder grade beige, and the light is an exposed bulb. That’s it. No good storage, no shelves, no hanging or folding space.

I’m finished ignoring this space. I’d like to have a laundry room that isn’t terrible to be in and isn’t crazy embarrassing when I open the door to grab something from the pantry.

I’ll admit, I was mostly inspired by the recent laundry room reno done by Jenny of Little Green Notebook, so I’m making quick plans to make the most of this forlorn space.

Here is the plan:

Paint walls this beautiful slate color called Refuge from Sherwin Williams
Install Beadboard and molding around the room
Replace terrible old linoleum with new vinyl tile (perfect for a laundry room, inexpensive, and good for non-level floors)
Repaint all white trim
Install a light fixture
Amp up the organization with an Elfa system, baskets, broom hooks, and a drying rack.

Now, everything in an ancient house is much harder than it should be, so although my plans are pretty simple, I’m hoping to get started asap to give myself enough time. I’ve been challenged by the same brands behind Jenny’s reno (Maytag and Tide) to do my own renovation story and have already committed to a complete date of August 6th. Scary, right? We’ll see!

I hope you see you back here on the 6th for the big reveal!

p.s. We have something else (big) going on this week! 12 other bloggers and I are engaged in a craft challenge that we will be showing off this Wednesday. I cannot wait to show you what I’m making!

Buy or DIY: Basket Case

IN buy or diy, Home Decor WITH 7 Comments

I saved this photo of a little breakfast nook a while ago and keep looking back at it and what I focus on every time are those baskets. I love how simple they are and how they add just enough pattern to a serene space in simple black and white. There have been a lot of photos lately in both catalog and magazines featuring this trend, and I’m totally on board. Maybe up the stairwell?

You can buy some really awesome african baskets and do a similar thing, but I have a few plain baskets sitting around and have been thinking about painting them. So it’s here that I ask you – would you buy? or DIY?

To buy three baskets will run you around $100 total, but the DIY is under $20 (probably cheaper if you can find some baskets at thrift shops). This is a simple one for me, I think I’ll do a little of both! Some of my creations mixed in with some African originals. What would you do? Do you even like the trend as much as I do?

Please share!

*See the ‘BUY’ baskets on my Keep board, black and white, purchase the ‘DIY’ supplies: Basket, tape, paint.