photo credit: grongar on flickr
Friends, meet Lauren. She’s our featured guest blogger who has some really great ideas about decor in your home that comes from outside. I mean, seriously, how easy is that? Dear high end home decor stores: Thank you for your beautiful displays but I can actually get what you’re selling by walking about 5 steps from my front porch. You with me, here?
Fall is the time of year when nature is abundant outdoors. But as the weather gets cooler, you may decide to bring some of the outside in by incorporating nature into your décor in the form of centerpieces and earthy artwork. Here are four ways to bring a little bit of nature into your home this fall and winter.
1. A Centerpiece
Photo credit: Eden Pictures
A centerpiece display is a great way to add a focal point to a room, whether you decide to place it on the fireplace or the dining table.
Fall is full of color and beauty, so your centerpiece should contain a mixture of the season’s most beautiful elements.
Choose a bowl where you can add your favorite pieces of fall. Rustic, earthy colored bowls work well at this time of year, but a see-through bowl is equally as appealing as you will be able to view the contents easily. Then, all you need to do is head out into the great outdoors and start foraging. Look for interesting shaped leaves in stunning colors, earthy twigs, pine cones, conkers and wind fallen fruit such as apples and pears. Arrange your findings into an eye-catching display in the bowl, and then display it proudly for all to see.
You could even scatter jewel-colored leaves down the centre of your table like a runner, and place tealight candles (in holders) in the gaps in between the leaves* for a casual, romantic look.
2. A Wreath
Photo credit: theogeo on Flickr
An attractive, handmade wreath to attach to your door is a fantastic way to make the most of bounty of fall. There’s no reason why wreaths should be reserved just for Christmas.
Making a wreath is incredibly easy. Once you have the basic framework you can make your final design as elaborate or subtle as you like!
Head out toward a woodsy area and gather a good amount of twigs. Choose ones that bend easily without snapping. Avoid any with sharp spikes or thorns. Start with one twig and intertwine it around another. Repeat with each twig, until you create a circular shape. Keep going until your wreath has some bulk and depth to it, and when it feels secure. The hedgerows and trees in autumn are brimming with berries, so add a few berries to the wreath to give it a warming color. Pine cones look amazing nestled within a wreath and don’t forget that ribbons and bows can all be added too!
3. Artwork
Photo credit: Tomoaki INABA on flickr
One of Mother Nature’s most splendid treasures has to be fall leaves; the colors are just beautiful. Enjoy autumn leaves inside the home by making your own artwork.
Go hunting for your favorite leaves seeking out maple reds, vibrant yellows and dazzling golds. Press the leaves in the page of a book until they are flat. Next, take a picture frame and carefully glue the leaves onto a white backing, to be mounted inside the frame (similar to THIS). You can hang the leaf pictures in any room of the home, to remind you of this beautiful time of year. As well as using leaves, seek out unusual flowers and seed heads to add to your picture.
4. Fall Bunting
Photo credit: Forest Wander flickr
Fall is a time of celebration. It’s the time of year we are grateful for the gains of the harvest, as well as a time to reflect on the joys of nature that come with the changing seasons.
Celebrate this time of year by creating your own bunting, which you can drape across the ceiling or hang down from a lamp or door (like THIS). Get a long piece of string and carefully attach leaves to the string at intervals, by either threading the leaves through or stapling them to the string. If you’re using bunting bought from a store, then attach leaves to the triangular shapes on either side, by using glue or staples. Hang up, and enjoy!
Lauren is the in-house blogger for www.ashbrookroofing.co.uk. Her favourite season is autumn and she starts preparing for bonfire night in the UK well in advance of the actual day (her Guy Fawkes parties are notorious in her home town!) When she’s not busy imparting roofing knowledge she enjoys running, cooking and reading a good book.
I’m so excited to share Part 3: DIY Home Renovations. There are some really really cool ideas that are simple and can be inexpensive.
Just in case you missed it:
Part 1: Packing
Part 2: Cleaning & Repairs
If you are moving into a house that needs a little TLC or if you’re selling a home that needs a bit of updating to make it stand out among the rest, this post is for you.
Take your home from “meh” to “luxe” in no time.
Seriously, you don’t have to be talented at all. You just have to know how to read directions…and not many at that. Click on your favorite images to see more about each project.
Let’s get started!
NEW KITCHEN BACKSPLASH
Source: Lovely Crafty Home
Create a stone backsplash with “Airstone”. You buy the stones, add adhesive and literally stick it to the wall. Check out how Lovely Crafty Home did it. (scroll down a bit to see the kitchen)
FRESH KITCHEN CABINETS
Source: The Lettered Cottage
I won’t pretend that all The Lettered Cottage did was paint their cabinets. They did a full kitchen makeover but it’s all DIY. First things first: Paint those cabinets. After seeing the steps they took in order for their kitchen to go from “before” to “after,” I’d like to live with them. Would that be weird. They have the CUTEST house. IT’S ALL DIY!
STONE KITCHEN ISLAND
Source: House Honeys
From the “Why didn’t I think of that” file, House Honeys took their typical-looking island and made it look like a high-end vacation home. I could totally see this in a house celebrities go to ski in the winter. I mean, come ON. It’s so cool! This, too, is Airstone. Adhere the stones to the island. Done and done.
GRANITE-LOOKING COUNTERS
Source: DIY Network
Oh, I’m sorry, you thought this was granite? Nope. It’s a DIY paint job, friends. I’m talking “paint with a sponge and dab the colors together” type of process. Love DIY Network for this simple how-to.
MOSAIC TILE BATHROOM MIRROR
Source: Centsational Girl
Centsational Girl has turned a basic-looking mirror into a work of art. I’ve also read that you can purchase adhesive tiles from a hardware store and line them along the edges. Whatever your choice, you’ll have a killer-looking mirror.
MODERN FIXTURES
Source: Entirely Smitten
No matter what your fixtures look like (bathroom, kitchen, hallway, whatever), you can spray Rustoleum spray paint on them for a completely updated look. Now I want about 500 cans so I can go nuts on my house. We’re talking toilet paper holders, faucets, lights… See what Entirely Smitten did!
SHOWER UPDATE
Source: Style With Cents
This is something that NEVER occurred to me to change. I would just keep looking at the brass eye sore and decorate around it. Dear Style With Cents, you’re changing our world (and saving us money from avoiding that house with an ugly shower).
ROCK TUB
Source: Lovely Crafty Home
Remember Airstone from a few pictures up? It’s baaaaaack! Lovely Crafty Home, I need to stop right now and get myself an entire truck of this stuff. I’ll live in a stone house by the time I’m done. I want to even put Airstone on my half wall from the living room to the kitchen. Look at this spa-like tub! It went from completely typical to appearing expensive.
MODERN VENTS
Source: The Frugal Homemaker
While you have your Rustoleum spray paint out, why don’t you just grab the vents and paint those, too. The Frugal Homemaker had some tired looking vents (eh hem, so do I). After a quick spray, the vents are tired no more.
NEW-ISH DOORKNOBS
Source: Live Love DIY
Gee, guess what kind of paint does this awesomeness? Live Love DIY went nutty (just like I would) and painted her doorknobs, furniture handles and more. It cracks me up to see someone similar. Changing those gold doorknobs are a must. Let’s all do it. Wanna?
A WELCOMING ENTRANCE
Source: 320 Sycamore
Talk about curb appeal. 320 Sycamore changed the look of their home entry by getting rid of the screen, adding paint to the door, accessorizing with the cute little numbers and adding a punch of color with the flowers. Gah. We think this is adorable!
What else needs a bit of sprucing up at your home?
Cheers to moving, right? It can be an incredibly awesome and overwhelming situation all at once.
You’ve packed everything up, leaving the cleaning materials out, so you’re looking at an empty house that you need to clean and make look shiny new. Did you miss the packing tips and how-to’s? Click HERE to read Part 1: Packing.
First things first: When using any sort of cleaning solution, it needs time to activate. Thanks to tips from the W Hotel chain (pretty much perfection when it comes to customer service and cleanliness), we’ve learned to let our cleaner sit about 5 minutes before scrubbing.
CLEANING TIPS
CARPET AND FURNITURE SPOT REMOVER
Supplies:
- Small spray bottle
- 1 teaspoon dish washing liquid
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Clean absorbent towel
- Clean sponge
Quick steps: Dab stain, mix concoction, spray, dab. Watch. Dab again. Stain gone.
For full directions on how to clean the spot, click HERE.
DEEP CARPET STAINS
Supplies:
- White vinegar
- Rag
- Iron
- Water
Quick steps: Spray rag with vinegar and water (1:2). Place rag on stain and put hot iron on rag for 30 seconds.
For full instructions on how to clean the spot, click HERE.
CLEANING MOLD FROM TUB AND SHOWER
Supplies:
- Bleach
- Cotton beauty coils
Quick steps: Dip coils in bleach, line the moldy area with it. Let it sit overnight. Pull coils up. Mold gone.
For full directions on how to clean the mold, click HERE.
DISHWASHER DEEP CLEAN
Supplies:
Quick steps: Clean out the bottom of the dishwasher, take a look at the drain and then put a glass of vinegar in the top rack. Run the dishwasher with the hottest water possible.
For full directions on how to clean your dishwasher, click HERE.
SINK AND DRAIN CLEANER
Supplies:
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Liquid dishwashing soap
- Rock salt
- Lemon or Lime
- Ice
- Rag
- Toothbrush
Quick steps: Wet sink then add baking soda. Create a paste. Scrub. Rinse. Soak paper towels in vinegar, line sink, let sit for 20 minutes and then rinse & dry.
For full instructions (which I did a horrible job at explaining), and directions on how to clean your disposal click HERE.
WINDOW CLEANING INCLUDING THE TRACKS
Supplies:
- Vinegar
- Qtips
- Paper towels
Quick steps: Wipe your window down. Dip Qtip in vinegar and get down deep into the tracks. Run the paper towel over the tracks and in crevices.
For full instructions and how the BEFORE picture turned into the AFTER, click HERE.
CLEANING KITCHEN CABINETS
Supplies:
- Microwave
- Sponges
- Rubber gloves
- All purpose cleaner
To clean your cabinets, first heat a slightly damp sponge or cloth in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds until it’s hot.
Spray the cabinets with an all-purpose cleaner containing orange oil then wipe off the cleaner with the hot sponge.
CLEANING A SHOWER HEAD
Supplies:
- White vinegar
- Plastic baggie
- Rubberband
- Rag
Quick steps: Fill a baggie with vinegar. Wrap full bag around shower head and secure with rubberband. Let sit. Remove. Wipe shower head.
For full instructions, click HERE.
CLEANING BLINDS
Supplies:
Quick steps: Combine equal parts water and vinegar. Put sock on hand, dip in mixture and swipe.
For a full how-to, click HERE.
CLEANING GLASS STOVE TOP
Supplies:
- Baking soda
- Hot water
- Rag
- Gloves
- Windex
- Paper towels
Quick steps: Dust stovetop with baking soda. Dip rag in almost hot water. Rid rag of water so it isn’t dripping. Place rag flat on top of baking soda dusting. Sit for 15 minutes, scrub and give it a final wash with windex.
For full instructions (and safety notes), click HERE.
CLEANING DRIVEWAY STAINS
Supplies:
- Pour-N-Restore
- Hard bristle brush
Quick instructions: Read the back of the bottle. How’s that for quick?
For a how-to based on another person’s experience, click HERE.
HOME UPDATE TIPS
FIXING SCRATCHES ON WOOD
Rub a walnut over wood scratches. That’s it.
PAINTING PERFECT TRIM
Use a large spackle knife to keep your paint in line, especially with trim. For more, click HERE.
NAIL HOLE QUICK-FIX
Take Dove bar soap and rub in a circular motion over a nail hole. See how it’s done, HERE.
Part 3 of the 3-part moving series will be posted this week.
We’ll walk you through some simple, DIY projects that will turn your home from average to luxury. We all want great looking houses but many of us can’t afford to do a complete renovation.
We’ve got ants. A lot of them.
Holy frick! These mother-lovers multiply so freaking quickly, it makes my head spin.
I went near our organized pantry tonight to grab a snack a healthy treat and saw a bunch of ants marching one by one. Ummm…NO! I hate bugs especially if there are a lot of them. I get all psycho when a bug comes near me. In my house…crazy pants are ON! I’m going to kill these suckers and get rid of their nest. No way will they take over the inside of my house.
Sure, there’s probably sticky apple juice somewhere on the floor that I’ve missed or a leftover chip tucked in a corner but that’s not enough to bring the outside in.
After doing a little research on Pinterest for DIY ant killers and some looking around online, I found some quick and easy tricks.
Just grab your grinder or average black pepper shaker and shake it where you see ants.
You can even put some near their entry point.
Avoid the “in the house” part altogether. (Source: Small Notebook)
If you have pets or kids, skip this step. If not, mix some bleach with water.
Make a light solution and fill cracks and crevices.
If you have carpet or, really, anything nice – skip this. So, really, this isn’t a great idea.
Eliminate from the nest. Boil them out. It’s a free solution.
Pour it into the anthill. Do this multiple times. Seems easy. I haven’t tried it.
1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar
2T of Borax
Mix and get rid of the ants. (Source: Crafterhours)
Ants don’t like strong scents.
You can make your house smell good and deter ants by placing cinnamon sticks
in your pantry (eh-hem, note to me), doorways, kitchen, closets, drawers, etc.
Cloves work the same way cinnamon sticks do. They are fragrant and ants no-likey.
(Source: Small Notebook)
I seriously love the smell of eucalyptus. I think I was supposed to be a koala. Gah, that sounds so stupid.
Place this in the doorways, near a window, etc to deter the ants. They don’t like the smell of this, either.
Same deal as the cinnamon, cloves and eucalyptus. Mint is fragrant.
How great would it be to have this planted at your front door?
Your guests would think your house smelled soooo good! Ants not so much.
I was chatting with an exterminator in my neighborhood (yeah, I really know how to have a good time) and he was telling me that, at his house, he uses DuPont Advion. He recommended purchasing it on Amazon (LINK HERE). Mint, cinnamon, eucalyptus and borax is fine and good but I’m going to gel these suckers OUT OF MY HOUSE!
I had to share while I’m obsessing over getting rid of ants. No bug (big or small) will take over my house. I live in the south so it feels like a losing battle. Bless my hearrrrrt.
Comment below with your recommendations.
Have you tried any of these or do you have BETTER ideas?
If you ever came to my house pre-pantry purge (pictured above), there’s NO FREAKING WAY I would have opened the pantry in front of you. I would have pretended that everything was as clean as my house looks on the surface. Side note: I wouldn’t let you go upstairs, either. Instead, I’ll distract you with offering a drink or a great TV show.
Seriously, I look like trash and this is completely embarrassing to show…if I didn’t do the PANTRY PURGE 2012.
Time spent: 3 hours
Money spent: Less than $50
Creative talent: $0
The process is simple and it will save your brain (and money -there are treasures to be found in this mother). Here’s how to go about the pantry purge:
Shopping list –
- Plain bins (multiple sizes) $1 each at the Dollar Store
- Clear “jugs” $1 at select dollar stores or $2-something at WalMart (yeah, I said it)
- Chalkboard labels at Staples (Martha Stewart Collection) or make your own. Tutorial HERE by twelveOeight.
- Garbage bags
- Determination
Instructions –
- Grab multiple garbage bags
- Grab something to drink
- Make some space
- Empty the entire pantry
- Organize food by category
- Clean the pantry floor and walls
- Dispose or donate any food you aren’t interested in putting back
- Start placing the categories in bins to see what will go where
- Get yourself all sorted out and start putting the food away
Tip: leave a little extra room in your pantry. Like, don’t stuff it full because you will have to grocery shop at some point or you may go on some baking binge and need a place to hide put your cookies.
I had a friend tell me to check the pantry in 3 weeks to see how it looked. Well, friend, here it is. BOOM!
There you have it.
