Rustic & Woven

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Summer Living Room

Whenever I come across a picture of a room I like in a magazine, or on Instagram, or wherever it may be, I always imagine that whoever decorated that room conjured up a vision in their head and then went to work executing it flawlessly – just the way they had planned out in their mind.

And if that really does happen for those people, I want to know their secret, because I promise you it does not happen for me.  Very rarely, anyway.

Instead, I usually stumble my way through, working with things on the fly and making it up as I go.  Sometimes, things fall into place nicely. And then sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle.

This time around it was a struggle.

I hauled so many things up from the basement and nothing was working for me.

I think at one point I sat down amidst the pillow covers and candlesticks and vase fillers and said, “I hate decorating”.

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Subtle Spring Details

Spring?

We finally have a few nice days coming up before a return to chilly weather – but the calendar tells me spring is upon us, so I have been slowly refreshing things inside.

When the spring season comes around I usually like to introduce little pops of green and softer colors and textures around the house. I’ve never been big into pastels, but anything in the family of white, ivory, beige or even a light gray, feels light and fresh to me.

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I Needed a Side Table

Reason number 451 old crates are the best:

They make perfect little side tables.

I mentioned  I was in this weird place of not really knowing what I want to do style-wise around here.  I can feel a shift taking place, but details are still a little fuzzy, so while I’m figuring that out I’m trying my best not to bring in a whole lot of anything new.  This house if FULL of stuff, and I’m craving space and simplicity so impulse buys are not the best idea.  Nevertheless, I needed a little table to sit next to the chair in the living room.  Mostly because I always have something to drink nearby. Water…coffee…wine…I always have something to sip on – and what good is plopping down in a chair if you have no place to set your drink?

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Pretty Winter Mantel

You all are such an easy bunch to please.

In my last post I asked what you wanted to see here and based on the feedback, what I thought was boring you all to tears is exactly what you come here for.  You like seeing simple and easy ways to change things up  – no big budgets or messy renovations required.  That my friends, I can do – you are coming to the right place!

I think we all like the feeling of less clutter and open space at the start of a new year. It’s refreshing, rejuvenating, and I, for one, find it so much easier to just think and breathe when I’m not surrounded by a lot of stuff.

So every year when January rolls around I crave spaces that feel open, airy, and fresh, yet still maintain that warmth that makes you want to snuggle in on those cold winter nights.

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Cozy Christmas Living Room

When one of your best friends flies in for the weekend from D.C. and you find yourselves on the couch, in your pjs, gabbing away by eight o’clock every night it can only mean one of two things:

A) You’re getting old

or

B) You’re living room is feeling too cozy this Christmas to be bothered to leave.

I’m guessing it’s option “A”, but I’d much rather like to think a little bit of “B” played a factor too.

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Rustic Christmas Dining Room

I tried something new last year and brought out less “Christmas” stuff and opted instead to use some of my favorite everyday things with just a little Christmas sprinkled in.

Such an eye-opener.

Not only was my decorating time cut in half, but I ended up with a look that was a little less cluttered, yet still festive and cozy.  Not to mention, the take-down was an absolute breeze.

I loved the simplified look from last year so much that I embraced the same thought again this year.

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Removing Old Veneer

I mentioned on Wednesday that my cute little typewriter stand (read it here if you missed it) came with a wood top that was not in the greatest shape.

One half was worn and slightly stained and pretty much exactly how I want all my old wood pieces to be – this also happened to be the only portion visible when I spotted it buried beneath a bunch of stuff in the shop.  But on the other half (the hidden beneath a pile of stuff half) was the cracked, splintered, peeling remains of the original veneer. I had never removed veneer before, but half the work had already been done for me, so I figured I could probably handle the task and decided to bring that table home and just go for it.

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Vintage Typewriter Stand

I’ve been keeping a little secret from you.

About two months ago I bought a new bed.

It’s been…what…two years since I first started talking about finding a new bed for my bedroom?  Something like that, anyway.  And I finally went ahead and did it. But I’m kind of wondering what the heck I was thinking, because I don’t really think the bed I chose was the right choice.   I’m blaming the poor decision making on a broken heart.  My head just wasn’t in the right place.

But today isn’t about the bed – we’ll get into that another day – it’s about a nightstand (but you’ll get a tiny sneak peek at the bed in here too).

Because as soon as I put the new bed in the room, I knew I needed new nightstands.  I also knew I wanted them to be vintage in look and feel and dark gray or black in color.  I had one stand (in the basement – of course!) I could paint, but I needed something to go with it.

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Rustic Fall Living Room

How many Pumpkin Spice Lattes have you indulged in already this September?  I’ll admit that I have had a few.

When exactly did pumpkin spice become an obsession?  Did we all of sudden discover the deliciousness of pumpkin flavored everything in the past few years?  I swear, before then the only time you heard about pumpkin was in a pie.

Or maybe I just never paid attention.  Either way, I’m not mad.  I love all the pumpkin flavored things.  All of them.

Pretty much if it involves pumpkins, or boots, or falling leaves, or cinnamon, or apples, or really anything that would even slightly evoke the feeling of the fall season, I am all over that.

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Creating a Fall Mantel

Do you like displays to be perfectly symmetrical or do you prefer them to feel a little more random and casual?

I definitely fall into that random and casual category.

But just because a display is casual and a little random, doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be balance.

But creating that balance can be a little intimidating, right?

If a candlestick is on the left, does a vase look okay over on the right? And if three books are stacked up over on the right – how many books should be stacked up on the left?  Should there be books on the left? And what about that empty space…

We’re such over-thinkers, aren’t we?

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