Wall Art Over the Couch

Since we have renovated our family room, I have not had any luck finding artwork to go over our couch.  It's a pretty big size wall and couch so I needed to do something that would make an impact.  After shopping around with no luck, I decided to create my own wall art.  To do this, I needed to decide what size pictures that I wanted to hang.  I decided to do 8 x 10 pictures, because I wanted to be able to update them very easily.  Once I made that decision I could purchase my frames.  All of the frames that you see here are from Ikea.  After knowing the measurements of my frames, I could choose how many would best fit across the couch.

The next decision was to decide on the pictures that I wanted to frame.  Believe it or not this was the hardest part.  After long consideration, I chose the pictures and developed them in sepia tone so that the coloring in the picture didn't have to compete with my decorations.  Once you have your pictures framed, lay them out on the ground because you need to balance your pictures out.  Give consideration to what the subjects are and try to spread out like pictures.

This was such a fun project and I love being able to share my memories when people come over and visit.

Dressing Up a Light Fixture

Today I would like to share with you a quick and unique way of hiding the chain on your everyday light fixture.  I used a burlap cover in my dining room, but you could use any fabric.  You can make the fabric as tight or as loose as you desire.  With having a smaller section of chain, I didn't want to use too much fabric so I loosely wrapped the chain.  To secure the fabric together, you can use small buttons about an inch apart.  This is a very quick and easy project that you could do to dress up any light fixture.

Kitchen Series: Window Transformation

For the last day of my Kitchen Series, I have decided to share my window transformation with you.  To see what the window looked like before click here

I wanted to create a more open look to the window.  In order to do this I created a curtain that would open to let more of the window show.  To start, I found a fabric that would be light but also have a print on it.  The next thing that you have to do is decide on the length of the curtains.  Lastly, and to me the most important part are curtain rings.  Without them, your curtain will not hang as nicely and will not slide across the curtain rod as easily either.

I usually always leave the curtain open, but it is nice to have the ability to close the curtain as well.  It still keeps the window open, but also adds a little bit of privacy to your kitchen.

I hope you enjoyed my new Kitchen Series and as always if you have any questions, please email me.

Kitchen Series: A Decorating Extension

As you know, my kitchen is a little smaller.  With this, I have had to be a little more creative when planning out my kitchen decorating.  Our kitchen leads to our family room through this hallway that was always empty.  I couldn't extend the cabinets any further so instead I decided to add this hanging utensil decoration.  Adding this piece to the wall made the kitchen seem that much bigger.  It took your eye to a wall that was always ignored and now it has become a useful area.  If you are interested in creating this in your home, remember to keep whatever you decorate with slim to the wall.  The last thing you want to have is one more thing to maneuver around.  You don't have to use something like this either.  You could simply hang some decorative hooks on the wall and achieve the same look.

Not only did I create an extension to my kitchen, but this has become a very useful decoration to me.  With having my oven mitts so readily available it has been such a help with cooking.  It has also cleaned up some space in my drawers which everyone could use in a kitchen no matter the size.

Coming up next in the Kitchen Series is my window transformation!

Decorating a Dining Room

Hello all!  

Today I am going to share my tips to decorating a dining room with you.  For my dining room, I used neutral colors so that I can decorate for any holiday or dinner party and have the entire room still flow nicely.  I used floor length white curtains on the sliding glass door, dark wood furniture, and a neutral brown rug to tie the room together.

To make the room appear larger, I added two of the same mirrors side by side to give the look that the room is wider than it is.  This is such a great tip for any small room.  It's also a great way to reflect light around the room.

I love having the chalkboard in my dining room.  I use this for holiday messages and dinner menus when having guests over.  To see how I created this chalkboard click here.

There are many different ways that you can decorate your table.  One of the ways you can decorate your table is with your dishes for the meal and drinks.  I have stacked up the plates on the chargers and placed them on the end of the table.  This is a much more informal way of having a meal.  I have also placed ready made drinks out with a pitcher.

We were so lucky to have this beautiful sliding glass door in our dining room.  The natural light it provides is great, plus it really opens up the room for us.  However, the hardware that came with the door was showing its age.  To see how I re-purposed the hardware to an oil rubbed bronze finish click here.

Our dining room table fits six people.  When having guests over, it is important to only have the amount of chairs out for the amount of guests you have.  You don't want to clutter the table with chairs that are not needed.  Your space will seem more open and clutter free without the extra chairs.  I have set the table for four so I simply removed the other two chairs.

 Thanks for checking out my dining room.  

If you are looking for more inspiration, check out the link below to see more dining rooms at Thrifty Decor Chick.

Click Here

Complete Kitchen Renovation

When my husband and I were deciding on the house that we now live in, we knew that we would need to completely renovate the kitchen.  It's a small kitchen, but that wasn't even a problem for us.  It was very outdated, the appliances didn't work very well, and the layout wasn't very functional.  We took the room down to the studs.  This was a lot of work, but it was well worth the expense and wait.  By doing this, we were able to rearrange the appliances, add new switches and plugs, and expand the doorways.

Here are all of the before pictures...

And now for the after pictures...

When we began to put the room back together, the first thing that we had to decide on was our cabinets and layout.  I chose to go with cabinets from Ikea because they have an enormous amount of selection between style and color.  With our kitchen being smaller, I knew I would have to choose my cabinets wisely.  We had to put them together ourselves, but it really wasn't bad.  I also chose to get our butcher block countertop from Ikea as well.  Our appliances are Frigidaire Gallery from Lowes.  There's nothing like new appliances.  I still have to add my backsplash.  Once I do, I will be sure to share the pictures with you.

I don't like to overcrowd a window with decorations, because after all you want to be able to open and close it.  However, I do like to dress it up like everything else.  When putting the trim around the window, I added a ledge to the bottom so that I would have a place to set my little decorations.

I saw this in a magazine before and really liked it.  Not knowing if they purchased the letters finished or unfinished, I knew I had to create them myself.  I bought the letters from Joann Fabrics and spray painted them white to match the cabinets.  I chose a simple font, but they have others as well.  With the letters being leaned against the wall they can be removed at any time.  I also like to decorate in ways that are not very typical.  I didn't want to have a typical paper towel holder.  Instead, I took this wire basket (painted it black) and threw a couple of paper towel rolls in it.  

I always try to incorporate decorations that tie in either colors or feels of a room.  That is what I did with these containers here.  It brings the black and the white together into one piece which makes the connection between the two colors.

These shelves were a must to incorporate into my kitchen.  I love how on the top I can display different dishes  and the bottom I use for towels and baskets.  In the baskets I have chip clips, measuring spoons, etc.  Having these baskets lets me free up some space from my drawers which is always needed.

Keeping with not liking typical uses of items, I found this white strainer at HomeGoods one day and thought it would be really cute to sit on the counter and put different fruits in.  It is not something that I keep out all the time, but it is a nice accent when I do have it out.

I hope you enjoy my complete kitchen renovation.  It took a lot of time, but it is so nice having everything just the way you want it.  If there is anything I missed and you have any questions for me, feel free to email me.  I would love to help you create your dream kitchen too!

PotteryBarn Inspired Clock Wall

I was shopping around at PotteryBarn one day (I know...what's new) and I saw this clock wall that they had arranged above their counter.  I instantly fell in love with it.  After making sure nobody was around, I took a picture of it with my phone.  I'm sure no one would have cared if I took a picture, but what can I say I was a bit of a chicken about it.

As soon as I got home, I started planning out where I could recreate something like this.  I decided to create my clock wall on my upstairs landing.  It's such a big empty wall that always bothered me, but I could never find the right size artwork.  

Here is the wall before...

At the top of the landing, I have this window that I was looking to give a refresher to as well.  

Here is the window before...

After deciding on a place in my house to create this clock wall, I had to start finding materials.  I already had a round clock that I would use as my starter.  One thing that I found so unique about my inspiration was the over-sized pocket watch.  I knew that without that, I wouldn't be as happy with the final outcome.  I knew that PotteryBarn sold that pocket watch so I could always use that as a back up, but I really wasn't looking to spend that much on this project.  While at one of my usual HomeGoods trips, I found this red pocket watch clock.  I wanted all of my clocks to be black, so I decided I would just paint this one and not push my luck.  

Here is the clock before...

I used Rustoleum paint and primer in one semi-gloss black paint to paint this clock.  I covered the glass with paper and began to spray paint it.  I chose to do three coats of spray paint because it was such an easy painting project, but two would have been fine.  

Here is the clock after...

Once I had all of my materials I could begin my layout.  I bought all of my picture frames at Ikea.  I could choose from a variety of sizes and they were all very inexpensive, which I like.  While I was there, I also picked up another small clock.  Now that I had all of my materials, I could begin my layout.  The first thing I did was to measure out how large I wanted the artwork to be and recreate that measurement on the floor.  Then I could begin placing the clocks and frames where I wanted them.  Once I decided on a layout, I could see how I needed to print my pictures.

Instead of buying clock prints, I took my own pictures.  I had a few clock pictures from an old decoration that I used before, so I decided to take pictures of the actual artwork.  I took the pictures from all different angles and closeness to create different looks.  After I had my pictures printed and placed in the frames I began to hang them.  While I was doing this project, I decided to change out my light fixture that I have been wanting to update as well.

Here is my wall after...

 I wanted to have more unique window curtains because the space was lacking color.  I really liked the pattern and color of these mixed with the dark blinds.

Windows after...

Thanks for visiting!