Decorating Archives - Page 15 of 67

Fabulous Fall Home Tours

Welcome to the Fabulous Fall Home Tours! The tour features 8 fabulously talented bloggers who have opened their homes up so you can get inspired by some beautiful fall decorating. If you are just coming in from Sarah’s house, it’s nice to see you. Wasn’t her home gorgeous? Stick around, we have a great line up of talented bloggers who have graciously opened their homes to you.

These are the other bloggers who are joining in today:

Here’s a warm cup of coffee with a little pumpkin spice added to it. Won’t you come on in.

Like that little garden flag? Shh, I’ll tell you a secret: it’s made from a Dollar Store placemat and here’s the tutorial. Luckily my cotton fall wreath survived being stored for a year. I added a few more colorful leaves and hung it on the door.

Yesterday I gave a tour of my dining room with its beautiful fall tablescape and coffee bar. If you want to peek in the dining room, I’ll wait right here.

Come on into our mudroom. This is our friend and family entrance. No one uses the front door much. Feel free to kick off your shoes and get comfortable if you want. We all walk barefoot around here.

Several years ago I built that shoe storage bench using kitchen cabinets and some discarded shelves.

The coat rack was also made with reclaimed items. Can you guess what they are? You’ll have to read the tutorial to find out!

By our front door is a fun colorful little set of drawers. I transformed this old IKEA cabinet into one of my favorite furniture pieces in the house.

Let’s head to the kitchen, shall we? The kitchen is one of my favorite rooms in our house. Not because I love to cook, but because this room gets lots of daylight and I love all the changes that were made to the space. For example, I built a bay window seat with storage to allow us more room in the kitchen.

I also added all the planks (aka shiplap) and they cost me next to nothing. You can read how to DIY your own plank walls if you want to add shiplap to your home! A few years ago I faux painted that table to look like driftwood. It has held up pretty good.

I vowed not to spend money on flowers and greenery this year. It was fun challenging myself and it forced me to go outside and “shop my yard!”

The results were abundant amounts of greenery using plants I don’t usually think of for home decor (like monkey grass blooms and fern clippings.)

If you asked me what is my favorite element in my kitchen, it would be my reclaimed lumber open shelves. These babies are my pride and joy. I found the lumber at a local reclaimed lumber shop and painted the corbels myself to make them look old. Then I carefully drilled through the tile to hang the shelves.

My DIY wall-mounted hutch is the place we hide all the paper clutter. I have a spot for everything here.

Step right through the doorway into our living room.

I have a confession to make. I cheated and bought one bunch of calla lilies at the grocery store. But, who could turn these down? They bloomed in the perfect fall colors!

I waffled on ordering this yellow chair from La-Z-Boy a few years ago. I’m so happy with this chair because it works well with a lot of different color palettes.

On the other side is our white leather recliner, also from La-Z-Boy. This is the chair that everyone fights over because everyone wants to kick back and relax in it.

I found a stash of forgotten framed photos in our attic and decided to display them on the bookshelves.

That’s my mom and me in the bottom picture. She looks like a teenager!

On a whim, I stuffed some white mini lights under some silk leaves.

I’m enjoying the cozy touches in our living room and it makes me want to curl up on the sofa with a warm drink.

I hope you enjoyed my Fabulous Fall Home Tour! It’s time for you to head over to Katie’s at Addicted 2 DIY. She’s waiting for you.

These are the other bloggers who are joining in today:

September 29, 2017/16 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Decorating, Home Tour

Fall Tablescape and Coffee Bar

Fall Tablescape and Coffee Bar

Welcome! I’m so glad you could join me today. I enjoyed taking a little time off from my investment house projects to decorate the house for autumn. It’s always fun to twitter around and create a beautiful tablescape. Last year’s tablescape had plenty of orange, yellow and pink accents. But this year I chose a palette filled with blue, green, and accents of purple that complimented our fall hydrangeas. I also had fun adding a little coffee bar. Won’t you come on in and stay for a while? I’m brewing some fresh coffee and have baked pears for you to sample. Don’t forget to help yourself to some coffee.

Several years ago I sold our old dining room table and decided to build my own rustic farmhouse table. I love it and kick myself for not making this table sooner. It was a fairly quick build, you can find my tutorial to build your own farmhouse table here.

(I’ve included affiliate links in this post. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links.
There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Right before I started decorating, I received my monthly Sand Dollar Lane Box. Inside were several items including the chalkboard and magnetic zinc frames you see on the tour. In addition, a little wooden desk box and some other pretty little things were inside the box. I am particularly enamored with the little gold magnifying paperweight and a small whale dish that brighten any space. (Did you spot them above?)

Here’s a better view, can you see the pretty paperweight on the shelf above? I might need to feature it more next time. The bowl the apples are in was in my subscription box last month. Leen really knows how to pick some cute farmhouse coastal decor!

When I received the chalkboard in the Sand Dollar Lane Box, I knew I wanted to make a fall words chalkboard sign. I don’t seem to spend as much time making chalkboard art anymore, so this was a fun little activity. As inspiration, I used some of the lessons I learned in the Busy Girl’s Guide to Handlettering Course. And because I love sharing, here is the free chalkboard art printable available for you to download here (print it our use it as a template for your own art.)

This year’s tablescape is relatively simple. I built a rustic painted trough to display hydrangeas in, making a beautiful centerpiece.

Then I used a pear and a loropetalum clipping at each place setting.

While decorating the dining room, I decided not to buy any flowers or greenery this year. I had two reasons for this decision:

I struck out finding seeded eucalyptus anywhere. I might need to order some from a florist. (Anyone have a good resource?)
I wanted to challenge myself to use what I have. You know what? I was amazed at how much greenery I was able to harvest from my yard!

Ferns, loropetalum, monkey grass and the hydrangea bushes were overly abundant this year. The clippings from them worked nicely in my fall decor. I encourage you to take a look in your yard, you’d be amazed what you can use for fresh greenery!

Usually we use the hutch in our dining room for a hot cocoa bar during the holidays, but I decided it would be nice to create a little coffee bar to enjoy for the fall. Who doesn’t love a pretty coffee bar? (Especially if you make your own frothy healthy coffee at home.)

I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for the Fabulous Fall Home Tours. I’ll be joined by seven more of my talented friends!

See you in the morning.

Wall Paint Color in this room is Benjamin Moore Elmira White.

September 28, 2017/6 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Build It, decor, Decorating

Build Your Own Trough Centerpiece

Green and purple hydrangeas in rustic wood trough. Build Your own Rustic Trough Centerpiece tutorial.

Build Your Own Wood Trough Centerpiece

Wood trough centerpieces are very popular right now and for good reason! They will work with any seasonal decor. Add grass and eggs and you have instant spring decor. Add sunflowers and you have just decorated your table for summer. Add pumpkins or dried hydrangeas for a pretty fall centerpiece. And for the holidays, tuck in pine boughs and pine cones.

But, if you’ve ever tried to buy a wood trough, you probably noticed the prices can be upwards of $50 or more. That’s hogwash! Let’s Build Your Own Trough Centerpiece for less than $10!

Materials:

1″ x 6″ x 6′ Pine board
1″ x 4″ x 3′ pine board
Hammer or Nailgun
1 ½” finish nails
Miter Saw
Wood glue
2 Clamps
Pencil

Cut list:

2 – 1″x 6″ x 32″
2 – 1″ x 6″ x 3 ½”
1 – 1″ x 4″ x 36″ (we will cut this to size during the tutorial.)

Instructions:

Cut your lumber to the dimensions above. Leave your 1″ x 4″ for now.

Set up the sides of your trough and one end around the base piece (1″ x 4″ x 36″).

Set the second end on top of the base and mark where to cut the base piece to fit inside the sides and ends of the trough. Cut the base to size.

You should now have two long sides, two ends, and a base.

Run a line of wood glue along the bottom of the sides and ends where it will meet the base.

Set the sides and end pieces around the base and clamp in place.

Nail the sides into the end pieces.

Nail the sides into the base piece.

Optional, use a planer or rough sandpaper to round the edges of your trough.

Sand the trough smooth.

Congratulations, your trough centerpiece build it complete! That wasn’t hard was it?

Leave your trough raw. Or stain and paint it to give it a rustic look by following my video tutorial below!

Add some flowers or seasonal decor and put your trough centerpiece on your table (or mantel or anywhere you want to display it.)

Do you like this trough centerpiece? What would you display in your’s?

I’ll be back later with a full tutorial on how I create the perfect aged and distressed look on my trough. See ya’ later alligator!

If you liked this tutorial, I know you’ll love this collection of 71 Practically Free Scrap Wood Projects!

Pin for later!

September 22, 2017/1 Comment/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, decor, Decorating

DIY Tile Centerpiece

The holiday season is just around the corner, and there’s nothing quite like time spent with your friends and family gathered around the table. I know sometimes it’s all you can do to produce a delicious spread for your guests – details like a fancy tablescape are asking too much. Lucky for you, this DIY tile table centerpiece is the perfect solution for creating a gorgeous centerpiece that is easy to decorate and switch up for whatever occasion gathers your friends and loved ones around the table.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Tile
Grout
Loctite Mirror, Marble, and Granite adhesive
Construction Adhesive
Grout sponge
Decorative molding
1/4″ plywood
Polyurethene
Sponges
Stain
Grout float
Spacers
Tile sealer
Table Saw or Circular Saw
Pencil

(That material list may seem long, but hopefully you’ll have a few things laying around already. And luckily, most of the materials are inexpensive.)

Instructions:

Step 1: Layout your tile on the 1/4″ plywood and trace around the perimeter to mark your desired size centerpiece. (I used 6″ x 6″ ceramic tile and 1/8″ spacers.) You can use any type of tile, but cement tile would look fantastic here! Cut the plywood to size using your table saw or circular saw.

Step 2: Seal the plywood with polyurethane or other varnish.

Step 3: Apply the Mirror, Marble & Granite Glue to the back of your tiles. (Typically mortar is used to set tiles, but adhesive is less messy and perfectly fine for this application.) Do not use regular construction adhesive as it may stain or seep through the tiles.

Press the tiles firmly in place, separating with tile spacers. Let the adhesive cure for about 24 hours.

Step 4: Time to grout the tile. Follow the instructions on your grout container to mix grout to the desired consistency (usually like thick peanut butter.)

Spread the grout over the tiles. To get the grout into the space between the tile use plenty of grout and hold your float at a 45 degree angle. Scrape the float across the face of the tiles, packing the grout into the seams. Follow Brittany’s tutorial for grouting tiles if want to see a video tutorial.

Step 5: Wait 10 minutes for the grout to set, then gently wipe off the excess grout with a damp sponge. Be careful not to wipe the grout out of the seams.

Step 6: After about two hours clean up the haze on the tiles with a damp rag or cheesecloth. Continue wipe down the tiles until they are clean.

Step 7: Cut the decorative moulding pieces to fit around the sides of your tiled plywood tray. (Stain or paint the moulding pieces per your style.)

Adhere the wood moulding around the border of your plywood using construction adhesive.

Use clamps to hold the pieces in place while the adhesive cures.

Use grout sealer per the instructions on the packaging to seal your tiles and grout.

Step 8: Put the tile centerpiece on your table and decorate it up!

Obviously, this centerpiece can be easily customized to whatever look and size you like. Maybe consider one row of larger size tiles instead of a double row. Or a mosaic of smaller tiles would look amazing.

Besides looking attractive, tile makes for a good place to place hot dishes and protect your table top.

Pin this idea to share or to store for later:

That’s it! Be sure to share pictures if you make one for yourself. Thanks for reading, and happy entertaining!

~See More of Sarah’s Tutorials ~

September 20, 2017/1 Comment/by Sarah Home

arts and craft, decor, Decorating, Trash to Treasure, Upcycling

DIY Burlap Bulletin Board

Hello, Pretty Handy readers! I have a quick and fun project for you today! We’re going to make DIY Burlap Bulletin Boards together, hooray!

I love displaying pictures around the house, but sometimes I don’t have enough frames. Then there are the frames I have with broken glass. In the spirit of not throwing anything away (and finding a way to upcycle everything), I turned one of those glass-less frames into a burlap bulletin board. And it looks perfect next to my Ikea Ivar cabinet hack and DIY mail organizer.

Ready to learn how to make this easy DIY Burlap Bulletin Board? Great, let’s go!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Picture frame – size of your choice
Cork roll
Burlap fabric – I got this gold thread burlap fabric from Joann’s
Hot glue
Spray adhesive

Optional:

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut cork to the size of the cardboard backing in your picture frame. Glue it onto the cardboard using spray adhesive.

Step 2: Cut burlap fabric 2 inches wider than your cork on all sides. Attach burlap on top of the cork using hot glue to secure the burlap to the back of the cardboard backing.

Step 3: Place the burlap bulletin board into the frame.

Feel free to add a little more character by stenciling a pattern on one side. (I chose to use red and gold craft paint to bring out the gold thread in my burlap fabric.

That’s the easy way to create a DIY Burlap Bulletin Board!

Use your bulletin board to display picture, notes and reminders. Personally, I use it to pin school calendars instead of letting them get buried in the pile of other papers.