Easy Decorating Tips

I've been helping a few people with some projects lately and they usually tell me they just don't know where to start when it comes to decorating a room. There is no perfect way to decorate and often I find myself using one method only to end up starting back at the beginning because I become too overwhelmed. Decorating is an ever evolving process but there a few simple guidlines to follow in case you get stuck.

Tip #1: Repetition.

I find this tip is easily used in a few different ways. The trick is to create cohesion somewhere. Whether in the finish, color, or shape if you link the objects together somehow it wont look like a jumbled mess. A good example would be candlestick holders. Choose a bunch of different shapes and sizes with the same color or finish. You could place them on a mantle or coffee table for a center piece.

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Tip #2: A Punch of Color

Maybe you are unsure of a color scheme or have trouble using bright colors in general.

The best answer to this problem is to choose one vibrant color as an accent to give the impact you want without a whole room full of it. Pick an over scaled piece of colorful art or offset your neutral furniture with a lively chair to brighten up your space. It's always best to use this tip on items that are removable in case you grow tired of it.

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Tip #3: Add a Little Life

Sometimes I'll get done rearranging a room and feel like I'm missing something. I have to remind myself that a room doesn't just revolve around a sofa, pretty pillows and some art on the wall but also has to feel natural and livable. And for me, nothing says that better than a vase of fresh flowers or beautifully potted house plant. You'll be amazed at the warmth a simple plant can add to any room.

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Tip #4: Create an Accent Wall

Now I'm not saying every room in your house should have one designated accent wall and for some people, accent walls just aren't their thing. But if you have one wall in your house that you just can't figure out what to do with, this is worth a try. And let me clarify this, don't just paint it a bright color and call it good. Use this space for something fun and innovative. Maybe use multiple black and white photos with colorful frames. Or put that old scarf collection to use by framing them. There are lots on unconventional things to use that will make people wonder why they never thought of that in the first place.

Tip #5: Find a Starting Point

Picking one design and running with it seems to be harder than it looks for me personally. That's why I find it easiest to have a starting off point that I can refer back to when I begin to stray. Most of the time I will find one piece that I love and will build off that. It can be art, a vase, even a piece of furniture. For example, I created this mood board solely off this pillow I found on Etsy here. And remember it's OK to stray from the original idea.

I hope a few of these tips will help!

 Don't be afraid to send me an email if you have a decor question or two!

Bathroom Update: Stage 1

 I kind of mentioned something about updating our bathroom not too

long ago which forced me to sit down and create a to-do list.

For the most part, this is what the bathroom currently looks like:

I plan to break it down into 2 stages. First step will be mostly easy changes. These changes include things that don't require a lot of sweat equity. Stage 2 will include more time consuming changes. Because lets face it, when I tell my husband we need to remodel the bathroom, he's not exactly the first person to whip out the crow bar and a hammer. And when we break it down into small groups, it's more likely to get done.

 Here are my easy changes:

1. New Paint. So far, all this bathroom has known is the color blue. The original color I painted on the wall over 5 years ago was strait up, simple blue. Then I repainted the walls a gray-blue. As for the new color, that's still to be decided. But I'm leaning towards an off-white. Some people call that boring, I call it clean and simple. Especially since my home has experienced a multitude of colors that I have  thrown on the walls through out the years.

2. New Accessories. I kind of had a subtle eastern bohemian vibe going on (which I still don't mind ) but I'm hoping to infuse a more classic, clean aesthetic into the space. If you recall a few post back, I picked up some gray and white striped towels form JC Penny's and I will be using those as well as other neutral towels for texture. I also plan to purchase a new window covering to replace the one I made. More than likely I will be sticking with the roman shade style as it seems to work pretty well in the bathroom.

3. New pendant lights. The story behind my current lights is pretty similar to many other of you first time renovators out there. We purchased our cookie-cutter fixtures from a big box store only to create a hatred for them not even a year after they were installed. That led me to completely remove the ugly glass shade and stick an over sized bulb in its place. Classy? No. Practical? Eh, for the time being and I think I can easily say that time is up!

4. New Mirror. I Suppose you could consider this one of the largest accessories in the room and my current mirror definitely gives a lot of impact. As much as I love my gold tiled mirror that was a birthday present from my husband, it must be replaced. In effort to keep things stream lined around here, I'm hoping I can pick up something from HomeGoods or even a thrift shop to become a replacement. (In case anyone is wondering, the mirror is still available for purchase from Pier 1 Imports. Click here for direct link.)

Keeping myself on the right track with this project, I decided to pick out my pendant lights and get them ordered. I found a reasonable amount of affordable options through out my search so I thought I would create a little round up of some of my favorites. My budget was $100 or less per pendant so all of these options are just that. The pendant I ended up ordering is #2, the Stephan pendant from Ballard Design. I was lucky enough to order them while they were running a 15% off your purchase sale so I got them even cheaper!

1. $88.20

2. $89

3. $57.97

4. $99

5. $71

6. $68 (On Clearance!)

7. $39.97

I'll get more into the second phase of my bathroom project when it gets closer to that time.

Until then, I will keep you updated on how Stage 1 is going!

DIY : Over Sized Horse Print

Welcome back from a productive weekend (well, for me at least) And when I say productive, what I really mean is I managed to scratch one tiny thing off my never ending list of projects. So overall, I'm feeling pretty good.

Which leads me to today's post, make your own over sized horse art!

Now you could easily replace the horse with anything you choose. I simply went this route because:

1. I love horses, ride horses and occasionally get thrown off horses.

2. They make for pretty good art.

Keep in mind, I'm not the most tech savvy person and there might be an easier way to have done this but I'm keeping it simple and using editing programs available to the masses. So all you photoshop experts out there, please don't make fun of my free editing program skills.

So this is the picture I started out with. It was taken last summer out in the pasture, hence the lush greenery that is nowhere in sight at the moment in the great state of Wisconsin. My model happens to be an 8 year old paint named Cheeko. He enjoys apples, fresh grass and trying to be king of the herd.

I pretty much did the whole editing process in Picmonkey.

First step is upload your picture and find the overlays on the left sidebar. Choose the geometric option, then the rectangle.

Next, stretch the rectangle from one corner of your picture to the other so it will cover the whole thing. Then change the color to white as this will be your new background color.

Once your page is completely whited out, locate your overlay toolbar and click the erase tab.

In the erase option, adjust your fade just enough to make out the object in the picture that you will be outlining.

Now comes the fun part.

Think back to your younger school days when you used the paint program to create pretty pictures. Those skills will come in handy right about now because you're pretty much erasing part of the white overlay to outline your picture.

Remember, this picture will be enlarged quite a bit so it pays to be meticulous. 

It helps if you zoom in and work on small portions at a time. 

When you're all done, adjust the fade back to full strength and your picture should look like this:

I added a few effects to my photo to give it an aged look and saved it to my desktop.

Next step: Choose a printing location.

Sam's Club is where I chose to print my picture but I know Walmart offers the same printing options if you are not a member. I simply uploaded my photo, cropped it into 2 prints (front of the horse & back) and selected to print as POSTER prints, not regular photo prints. This saves lots of money and the quality is just as good. I chose the largest size they offer and it came to a little under $10 per print.

And in case you're wondering, the frames are from Ikea.

This whole project costs me just under $70. Not too bad for "2 " pieces of art.