Home Decor Archives - Page 17 of 57

Laundry Room Reno Plans

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.

Mats Make The Difference

IN Home Decor WITH 10 Comments

For years I couldn’t quite put my finger on what made my framed photos and gallery walls look, well, bad. I thought that blowing up the photos themselves to be bigger was the answer, but that just resulted in some poor resolution photos and they still looked so cheap hanging on the wall or in a focal place like on the mantle.

It was recently, I’ll admit, that I bought some frames with BIG mats and realized this was the solution. Even a very small photo, like the two 4 x 6’s above, look great surrounded by clean white mats. And the size of the frames take up more wall real-estate!

It’s easy to see after the fact, but I struggled for a long time with how to make family photos not look so dinky. I got a few of these gallery frames on the cheap from Target, and they make all of the difference in the world. Even with handmade art or children’s art, they upgrade the look from tchotchke to gallery ready.

Do you have some photos in need of an upgrade?

White and Relaxing

IN Home Decor WITH 5 Comments

I love finding a good home that mixes comfort and style. The super tight color palette in this Swedish home helps it to be visually easy on the eyes and seem super relaxing. That pool certainly doesn’t hurt either.

I saved the bedroom for last because it really struck a chord in me. The blue and white color scheme with hints of black, the very relaxed feel, and the bedside sconces gave me a newly calibrated vision for my bedroom.

What are you feelings on this home? Do you love it as much as I do?

source

Lucite Bookend DIY

IN Favorite Projects, Hand Made, Home Decor WITH 17 Comments

You all know by now my difficulty to adopt too much color into my life and my house. I made these amazing bookends earlier this year and although I love them, they won’t do in every room in my home. I needed something sleeker, neutral. I dreamt up these acrylic and gold bookends and after making them, I like them more that I ever anticipated.

These bookends totaled out at around $9 for the whole thing and boy are they cute!

They’re minimal and chic, let the books show off their colors, and are so easy to make. Here’s the full tutorial and material list. [Read more…]