My Must-Haves for a Cozy Fall Porch

It’s finally my favorite time of year. Fall is here! There is just something about fall  that feels like renewal. I don’t know if it’s just the break from the smothering humidity we get in the south, but I feel like I can breath again. With that feeling comes along the need for change. And the need for salted caramel lattes from Starbucks. Oh. My. Word. Have you ever had one of those things? Forget the pumpkin bring me the salted caramel.

Anyway, since we like to spend time on the porch, especially this time of year, I decided to give it a fresh new look and share my “must-haves” for a cozy fall porch.

1. A seat big enough for two. A bench is perfect for a porch. They’re typically small but still big enough for two. I painted this one with three coats of plain old white paint that had been sitting in the basement for-ever. I used this to paint it. 

This thing is where it’s at! It’s the Graco Spray Station 1900. My brother-in-law gave me this for Christmas and I will be forever grateful. It would have taken days to paint all those slats by hand.

2.Pillows! Pillows are really a must-have in any situation though, right? I made all of these (except for the sequin pillow and the large brown and white pillow) from leftover fabric remnants and an old shower curtain.

3. A cozy throw. Perfect to curl up in on a chilly night while reading a good book. I picked this one up at TJ Maxx. It’s soooo soft.

4. A tray. You have to have a spot for your coffee or hot chocolate. Or wine. ;) I made this tray from an old picture frame and pretty wrapping paper.

5. Pumpkins! Is there anything more fall than pumpkins? I could go crazy painting and decorating pumpkins but I limited myself to just two. I spray painted these then blinged them out a little. I added a monogram to the black one using nail trim. For the white one I spray painted the backs of some iron-on leaves and hot glued them to the pumpkin.

So do you think I missed anything? So looking forward to hanging out on the porch as the nights get cooler! Happy Fall Ya’ll!!

Linking up at some great blogs this week. Hop over and check them out! Liz Marie Blog / A Stylish Interior / The Shabby Nest / Start at Home / Suburbs Mama / DIY Showoff / Rain on a Tin Roof / The Blissful Bee / The DIY Dreamer / Simply Designing with Ashley / One Project Closer

Bedroom Makeover: A Much Needed Change

Hey y’all! Hope you’re all having a great week. Mine has been a little rough. We had to say goodbye to our sweet little Lola. She was our furry baby and it was devastating to have to let her go. But I won’t dwell on that. I just want to say that we are so thankful to have been blessed with her in our lives and we SO appreciate all the kind words and prayers from everyone.

Anyway, I had been planning to give our bedroom a much needed freshening up and after what happened this week it seemed like the perfect time to just get in there and get it done. It was a GREAT distraction. There are still a few more things I want to do, like paint a white wall, add some artwork, and add a new light fixture and some accessories. But I did get a lot done and now it feels fresh and crisp. Exactly what we needed. 

Check out these before pictures.

This is what I’ve done so far. 

• Painted the bamboo chair in white and gold. Covered the seat cushion in a grey/white greek key fabric. 
• Reupholstered the headboard in a bright white fabric and added a nailhead trim. I used a table cloth from Target. 
• Replaced the wooden storage bench with an upholstered ottoman. 
• Pulled the white duvet cover from the guest room and kept the Nate Berkus indigo pillow shams. (If you’ve been following for a while then you know I was determined to use some of that indigo blue bedding). 
• Added one of my DIY Gold Painted Pillows along with some other new and old toss pillows. 
• Added a new rug from Garden Ridge. 
• Hung a set of mirrors above the bed. I found those at Target. I was trying to create the illusion of a taller headboard. 

I totally believe that if you make your home a happier place you’ll be a happier person. That was pretty much the goal this week, to make our home a happy place to be.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a beautiful weekend!

Linking up to some fab linky parties this week.

Liz Marie Blog

If It’s Not Baroque

The Shabby Nest

Suburbs Mama

DIY Showoff

Rain on a Tin Roof

Homecoming

The Blissful Bee

A Stylish Interior

$40.00 Bathroom Mini-Makeover

Recently I mentioned that Garden Ridge just opened up in the neighborhood. On my recent shopping trip I found tons of great things to be had but this is one of the few things I actually left with.

I love love love ikat or anything ikat-ish and lately I’ve been feeling indigo blue. When I saw this I knew that I wanted to use it in the upstairs bathroom. Especially since I already had this paint sample from Lowe’s.

I picked  it up when they were giving away free samples in the spring. I had been thinking about using it to paint a small cabinet that I wanted to use in the bathroom and when  I found that shower curtain I knew it would be per-fect.  Except I’m not using it as a shower curtain. I bought two of them to use as panels over the window shades.

This is the bathroom before. This cabinet was all kinds of wrong in here. Too tall and not a great color.

And now!

Here is a before and after of the small cabinet.

This cabinet used to be in the downstairs bathroom but that’s going to be getting a big makeover soon. OK , so that’s not all.  I also made some simple DIY art.

The one on the left is a card that we received with one of our wedding gifts and the one on the right is a picture from a wedding magazine that I had from planning our wedding. I already had the frames but one of them did get a coat of spray paint.

 I love turning personal items into artwork. Especially a card, since I know that underneath the glass are the sweet words of a friend.  (FYI, we got married six years ago.)   I also hung a DIY sunburst mirror on the wall above the bathtub. It’s so fun! It peeks out from between the shower curtains.

I painted the corners of the little leaning mirror (on the right) with Rub n Buff in Silver Leaf AND I painted the frame of the medicine cabinet mirror in the same color. The wooden letter that’s behind the sink (it’s hard to tell in the photo but it’s a Q) was purchased in the clearance aisle of Hobby Lobby for $.75.

I’m thinking the wall still looks a little empty so I might go ahead and just turn that into a gallery wall. Otherwise, I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. All in all I only spent around $40.00 to update the bathroom by using mostly things we already owned. That’s my kinda makeover.

Oh I should mention, the original makeover of this bathroom was done several years ago by my husband and his brother. New flooring, faux concrete counter….those guys can do anything. Seriously they could have their own show. 

Happy Weekend!

You can find me linking up this week at the following awesome blogs.

Suburbs Mama

Liz Marie Blog

The Shabby Nest

DIY Showoff

Give Me the Goods Monday at Rain on a Tin Roof

The Blissful Bee

 

Here I Go Again

I’m back at it again. Making more design boards for the bedroom. I still haven’t decided if I want to leave the room painted Bittersweet Chocolate or repaint it a lighter shade. Lately I’ve been finding myself drawn to white rooms. There is just something so fresh and clean-looking about a white room.

It makes me think of that song by the Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces. Except in my brain it goes, WHITE Open Spaces. Yeah, that song is gonna be stuck in your head all day. You’re welcome. Anyway…..what I’m thinking about now is leaving one wall Bittersweet Chocolate and painting the rest of the room a soft white. Maybe ;)

Here is my latest design board for the bedroom. 

This is the plan:

• Reupholster the headboard in a coral ikat fabric.

• DIY some white window panels with some type of gold border.

• Hang some antiqued mirrors/frames. 

• Bring in my DIY capiz shell chandelier from our little home office.

• The indigo blue will come from the Nate Berkus bedding I already own. (I know what you’re thinking but it’s working in my mind.)

• Buy one of these chests I found at Garden Ridge. 

These chests are all $199.00 or less! So happy they moved into the neighborhood!

The white dresser is from my guest room and I should be able to pick up some mirrors and picture frames at a thrift store for practically nothing.

That’s the plan for now. Just gotta get it done!

I Have No Idea What I’m Doing

Here I go changing my mind again. I just CAN’T decide what I’m doing about our bedroom.

I was going for something like this.

decor pad

So I painted the room Bittersweet Chocolate.

But then I found this bedding.

Nate Berkus

I fell in love with it and was thinking I wanted to mix it with some pretty yellows but that just wouldn’t work with the Bittersweet Chocolate.

Plus I’m still not over my obsession with coral-y pinks. So I put this together on Olioboard.

I love this paint color called Storm but I really don’t want to paint again. I know, I’m all over the place. So my dilemma: Do I work with the Bittersweet Chocolate or paint the room? Again.

Color Palette Crush

Nate Berkus

I went out and bought this Nate Berkus bedding set on a whim. I had been looking for something new for a while since I had painted the bedroom. We had just been using a random assortment of blankets since I hadn’t bought anything new in a while. A long while. Then one day while we were at work one of the kitties had an “incident” on the main comforter and I just couldn’t get past it. There wasn’t enough bleach in the world. I know, gross right? Well that’s real life. Just sayin’. Anyway. I went to Target  just to get something new and clean. Style wasn’t necessarily my main concern.

Normally this isn’t a color I would use but I loved the print (and it was marked down to a clearance price) so I grabbed it. Once I got it on the bed I LOVED IT. However, since I had recently painted the bedroom Bittersweet Chocolate by Benjamin Moore it was feeling a little dark and I knew it still needed a few touches of bright colors.  I was thinking about a bright yellow and I just happened to come across this in Veranda Magazine.

Veranda 

I died. (I was channeling Rachel Zoe there). Ok, I didn’t die but I did totally drool over it.

Then I found this.

Porter Design Company

Oh and would you just look at this.

Southern Living

Then I remembered I already have this adorable yellow pillow in this Robert Allen print.

Robert Allen

So I threw that on the bed and , oh yeah, I love this new color combo. Have you ever used yellow and navy? Leave a link in the comments below. I would love to see it!

What I’ve Been Doing

So I haven’t posted anything in a while but it’s because I’ve been busy working on some things and by that I mean frantically trying to finish the dining room.

For example, I have been testing some paint colors.

Tropical Bay

Baby Seal Black

Though I LOVE the Tropical Bay I’ve pretty much decided to go with the Baby Seal Black. I think it will be kind of dramatic in an Elle Decor kind of way and give me the “rustic chic” vibe I’m going for. Plus it’s just so fun to say Baby Seal Black.

I’ve also been working on this.

Oh yeah…look at all that floral-y carved business. This was gifted to me by the way. Thanks Anjie! This is a Lane piece and it’s in really great shape. It just needs a little fabulizing. So excited about the extra storage I’m getting with this thing.

And…..I’ve got plans for this guy in the works.

Small plans, but plans. This was gifted to me by my very generous Father who refinishes furniture (more on that later). Someone had given it to him but he had no use for it.

So yeah, I’m also working on some accessories and all this stuff is for the dining room. My goal is to have it finished by the end of the month. The only thing I’m still not sure about would be the curtains. I’ll be back soon and hopefully with a finished dining room!!

Thoughts? Comments? Post them here!