when your home is your canvas
Lookee what I found on Craigslist for 30 clams!
A beautiful chandelier that I’m going to paint and put in my bedroom. (That is after it “cures” for a while in my garage with my other projects-in-waiting.)
Can’t decide…white, black or other?
Don’t want it to be too shabby chic. We’ll see…
Edited to add: My friend Claire says silver. BRILLIANT! Silver shall be. (After adequate curing time, of course.)
Doesn’t it even sound fun? Capiz!
I have been thinking about a capiz shell chandelier for my living room for a while now, but being broke and all, that hasn’t exactly made it to the top of my priorities list.
Until I saw these…
And thought, wouldn’t these look fabulous in this doorway, 3 on each side?
I wrote about this room and it’s lack of seating here.
So back to the capiz!
Wouldn’t they look fab? They’re on sale for $14.99 per strand at West Elm. $14.99 x 6 = no way do I have that much to spend on capiz!
($89.94 for the math types. Not including sales tax and shipping.)
(And I really did consider not linking to them so all of my trusty readers don’t buy them up while I’m searching for spare change and the TV remote in my couch cushions. But I’m not mean like that. If I can’t have them, someone should!)
So I decided to use the amazing powers of my resale license to search the internets for capiz! wholesalers, because I’m certain that the entire strand cost about $0.03 wholesale. Now that was quite an experience. I was astounded by the variety of craptastic stuff made with capiz! Just google “wholesale capiz shells rectangular”. In fact, let me google that for you.
While you can buy everything from a capiz! tissue box cover to a capiz! toilet seat, I could not find the rectangular shells I was looking for. Apparently West Elm commissioned those directly from Mother Nature herself.
Well, we’ll see what happens. Maybe I’ll hit the lotto and feel OK about spending almost 100 smackeroos on sea shells.
Or I could listen to my friend Claire, who says, “Go for the luxuries in life! The necessities take care of themselves.” Not the soundest financial advice I’ve ever received, but it sure is the most fun!
I’m finally joining the drop cloth curtain revolution that is making its way across Blogland, like here and here and quite a few other places. Official name is the Internet Bloggers Drop Cloth Revolution (IBDCR). Viva la revolucion!
With two 8-foot tall windows in our family room and not much more than an $8 budget, I thought drop cloth curtains would be a terrific option, plus I love the grey-beige color and believe it or not, they look like linen!
Of course I forgot to take a before pic, so let’s just jump right in…
Click on the photo to enlarge
These curtains are so simple, just about anyone could make them!
Step 1. Buy 6′ x 9′ canvas drop cloth. I purchased 4 at $9.97 each from Home Depot. Get out clearance curtain rods ($12.97 each) from garage, where they’ve been “curing” for a year.
Step 2. Wash & dry drop cloths. Iron drop cloths.
Step 3. Hang curtain rods.
Step 4. Attach curtain clips to drop cloth panels. If panel is too long, fold a length toward the front of the curtain to the desired length (see photo). Slide rings on to curtain rods.
Step 5. Stand back and admire your handy work!
Did you notice? No mention of a sewing machine anywhere. This is a no-sew project!
Don’t they look fabulous? Really dresses up the windows, giving them a touch of class. and really warms up the room! No one would ever guess they weren’t linen!
Click on the photo to enlarge. And no, the left curtain rod is not uneven…that’s just the camera angle!
So, I added gorgeous window treatments to two 8-foot windows for less than $65. Plus, these curtains were so quick & easy, I might move on and use them on the sliding glass door in the kitchen!
Edited to add – This project is the first 2011 House Goal that I’ve completed. One down, 11 to go!
A while back, I found this in the trash in my neighborhood…
It was a sweet gift from the decorating gods, because I had recently seen what Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors had done with a mattress spring, and I wanted to try my hand at decorating with one.
Well, don’t know if you know this about me yet, but usually I allow my finds to “cure” for a while. The mattress spring was no different. It sat in my garage awaiting inspiration for a solid 6 months!
Then this weekend, inspiration struck, when I found this fun piece at Bed, Bath & Beyond…
I love vintage advertising style and I have a standard poodle, so there was no walking away from this one. Plus I had a $5 off coupon, so it was a done deal for about $15.
But before I bought it, I did ask myself where I would put it, because I don’t buy anything new for the house if I don’t think I have a place for it.
Then I remembered this section of the wall…
…that has been begging for something for a long time. I had thought about putting the mattress spring there, but it needed a little something.
A little something like the poodle print.
So I hung the mattress spring, making sure it was level…
…with a couple of screws in anchors.
To make the shiny silver screws less obvious against the rusty mattress spring, I just colored them with a brown Sharpie marker.
Then I placed the canvas where I wanted it, hung it with a nail in the wall, through the open area in the spring, and voila!
The perfect frame for a fun print!
I just love it! Isn’t it adorable? Decorating with found objects is great fun!
Linking up here…
Update…exciting news! This project was featured on Whisperwood Cottage!
Recently, I’ve been trying to add a touch of mod to my vintage-pottery barn-shabby chic style. Not a major makeover. Just a hint, to mix things up a bit and add something unexpected to my decor.
So, I went shopping in my basement, where I found a totally fab brown acrylic lamp that was in my home staging supplies. Bought it on clearance for a steal at Target – a mere $13 – and all I had to do was add a lamp shade. Bought a $15 shade, also from Target.
Here’s what it looked like before…
Nothing terrible. OK, so the shade does still say “90’s,” but other than that not too bad. At some point I’ll probably try to find a small drum shade for it and find another place for it.
(And in the keeping it real department, see if you can find the blue laundry basket that tried to hide for the photo…it’s like the decorating version of finding Goldbug in a Richard Scarry book!)
New and improved, with a touch of mod…
Ah, sweet decorating relief…welcome to 2011!
I’ll be adding more pops of mod throughout the house and will post them soon.
Be sure comment about how you’ve modernized your style. And share some links too!
This Thanksgiving I hosted the Thanksgiving dinner and had a total of 11 guests. Not a huge production, but certainly more than my usual 3 person deal.
As always, I wanted to create a special tablescape, but using things that I have around the house. Plus, this year, in addition to making it budget friendly, I wanted it to reflect the more austere times that we and many families are experiencing. Not too sparse, but nothing extravagant either. So, I went with a combination that I frequently rely on…shabby chic with a touch of whimsical & mod.
As promised, I used the same tablecloth as last year and the year before. And no, I didn’t iron it…I’m not that kind of girl! Besides, that’s part of the “shabby”!
I mixed 2 sets of dishes and tied the dinner and salad plates in fun ribbons that I’ve had since forever…
The ribbon takes care of the whimsical…
…and the mod…
The delicate blue glasses are vintage – they were my mom’s from before I was born.
The “centerpiece” is comprised of repurposed Classico pasta sauce jars, filled with a tealight and topped with ribbon, further contributing to the shabby chicness…
But best of all were the family we were blessed to have joining us at this table…
Here’s wishing all of you a warm and wonderful holiday season, filled with the love and laughter of family and friends!
When I redecorated my teen daughter’s room almost 2 years ago, I placed 3 frames on one wall, because she really wanted to hang pictures of her & her friends.
Well, because after 2 years I got tired of waiting for her to add the pictures and looking at this…
…2 of the frames with the original picture that came with the frame and the 3rd frame on the floor collecting lots of dust and hair product overspray.
I finally took matters into my own hands and decided to remedy the problem, since it doesn’t look like the friend photos are happening any time soon. So, I removed the picture frame girl photo and replaced with 3 different scrapbook papers that match the colors in her room, and that I already had on hand.
Here are the closeups…
Super cute & easy! And cheap, since I already had the paper on hand. Plus, my daughter likes it! Good stuff all the way around!
(If only I could show you pics of the rest of her cute room, but I’m afraid the Health Department will recognize it and condemn it! Maybe after she goes off to college next fall…)
I have a little birdcage that I decided to fill with mini-lights. Mine is a decorative birdcage, but you could use a real birdcage as well. However, the bird should probably not be still living in the cage. And it’s just a recommendation, but if you’re using a real birdcage, you might want to remove the newspapers, bird seed, and of course the bird poop. But you knew that!
So, I bought 2 boxes of white mini-lights – 100 lights per strand, for $2.49 each…
Because the plug on the mini-lights was too large to fit through the bars on the birdcage, I fed an extension cord through the bars.
To give the mini-lights a little height, I placed a glass jar (upside down) in the base of the birdcage, then messily placed the 2 connected strands of mini-lights into the cage around the jar and on top of the jar. An alternative to using the jar would be to use an additional strand of mini-lights.
I put the cage back together and voila!
A quick and easy birdcage lamp!
Now for a couple of tips…
First, although you may be tempted to try LED mini-lights since they use less energy, I recommend using the traditional mini-lights. The LED lights are super-bright, and not in a good way. More like in a migraine-maker kind of way. Ask me how I know…yup, I tried them, and the glare and color of the lights was way too harsh, then had to go back to the mini-lights.
Also, I have the birdcage lamp plugged into an outlet that turns on with a light switch on the wall, which is convenient, so I don’t have to be plugging in the lights. Just flip the switch and the birdcage lamp is on.
If you don’t have the luxury of a plug controlled by a light switch, you can use an extension cord that has a foot switch. No need to bend and plug!
Showing off this lamp at the White link party at Funky Junk Interiors.
A great low-cost decorating trick is to use twigs & branches that you can gather up on a walk in your neighborhood. Imagine that – decorating as exercise! That’s my kind of workout!
I picked up the large branch in this vignette after a windy fall day in our neighborhood…
The birch branch above our entertainment center holds some sentimental value for me, since I cut it from the lovely birch tree in front of our old house in California, because I wanted to take a part of that home with me. Now it adorns our family room and I can see it every day.
With 2-story walls, the birch branch serves more than just a sentimental purpose. It also “caps” the vignette on the entertainment center, and grounds the whole thing, otherwise your eye would go all the way up to the ceiling, where there’s not a whole lot to see, aside from an occasional dust web.
And hey…don’t be too jealous of my Sauder entertainment center! I keep fantasizing about replacing it, but a replacement entertainment center never seems to make it to the top of my grocery list! Maybe some day a beautiful piece will find me when I’m out garage sailing or dumpster diving!
Don’t forget that you can also create a tablescape using twigs & branches. This was from a past Thanksgiving, when I spray painted some gnarled roots & branches for a free but lovely holiday table display.
OK, I probably should have ironed the tablecloth before creating the tablescape, but it was all about the juxtaposition of sophisticated mod and rustic!
So don’t think you have to spend big bucks to adorn your home…just take a walk on the wild side and bring some nature indoors!
Showing off my twigs & branches at the sticks, twigs & branches link party over at Funky Junk Interiors.
I’ve been reading a great blog that I love – Funky Junk Interiors.
Funky Junk Interiors blogger, Donna, is inspiring in so many ways. First, she’s made living small an art form by transforming every day junk into fabulous interior decor.
Even more than that, Donna has overcome adversity, yet she’s still cheerful and upbeat, and inspires so many through her blog.
More recently, she’s inspired me to complete a project I’ve been putting off with her “Gitter Done” challenge. What was the project?
No Sew Curtains!
While my bedroom has blinds, I wanted to add some curtains to soften the harsh look of the blinds and hopefully to prevent some draftiness in colder weather. And I wanted to do it simply & inexpensively.
So, a couple of months ago, I purchased 12 yards of unbleached muslin, cut in 3 yard lengths. Unbleached muslin is typically inexpensive, and this was no exception at $1.99 per yard. Plus I had a 40% off coupon, so including tax, my total was just under $16 for 4 curtain panels. Not too bad.
(Then my fabric sat in the bag, um, “curing” for a couple of months.)
Last month I found 2 clearance curtain rods for $9.76 each.
But here’s the best part of this project (aside from not spending a whole lot of money for glamorous window coverings)…I pinned the curtain panels on to the rod with fabulous vintage brooches. A couple were my mother’s, and a couple I picked up here and there over the years.
So finally, after months of contemplation, the big reveal…
A close up of the individual brooches…
Since I’m trying to live small, you may wonder why I even bothered to spend the money on the curtain panels. Why didn’t I just spend no money and keep things as they were?
Well, if I continue to live in this house, these curtains will last for years. So for less than $40, I’ve created curtains with staying power for two windows.
And, if at some point I decide to sell my home, the curtains will give the bedroom a more elegant look, one of the many things that can help sell a house at a good price. (Of course if I sell the house, I will replace the brooches with some that aren’t family heirlooms!)
But most of all, I love them, and they make my bedroom so peaceful! There’s nothing quite like retiring to a peaceful bedroom at the end of a long day. And that’s worth $40 to me!
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