Be cheap yet chic when decorating your space!
Happy weekend, everybody! What are your plans? I think I’m just going to take it easy because it’s been a whirlwind week! Here are some things I’m loving from around the Web…
1. I am IN LOVE with this paisley headboard. How could you ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
2. Ahhh, milk glass.
3. I’d love to have cocktails on this striped porch.
4. I have to get this pillow! It’s so fitting for my life!
Photo from Pinterest
Having just returned from staying in a rental home for three weeks, I got to thinking about ways to make a rental home feel like your own home away from home. Most rental homes are pretty sterile in their decor: no family photos, candles, or comfort items.
Photo from Pinterest
I think the way that my family and I stay in our vacation rental is pretty unique: we essentially bring our real home with us! The length of our stay (usually 3 weeks to a month) definitely makes us want to make our vacation home more comfortable and home-y, so we bring along items that remind us of home. These are some of the items you can bring along to have the creature comforts of your normal home:
1. Candles: I often find that rental homes that haven’t been aired out can smell kind of weird and musty. I always bring several different scented candles from the Trapp Candle line. Water and Lilly of the Valley are my favorite scents. This makes your rental space smell like your home and create a nice ambience.
Photo from The Bridal Party LLC
2. Bring pillows and blankets that you use at home: It may be hard to squeeze these into your suitcase, but you’ll sleep so much better if you have your favorite pillow with you! I always used to miss sleeping in my own bed, but now that I bring my favorite pillow along, I feel a lot more comfortable!
3. Framed photos of loved ones: This may sound kind of extreme, but I think if you have room in your suitcase, you should pack some framed photos of the loved ones (or furry pets) that you’ll be missing while you’re away.
Photo from Pottery Barn
4. Cooking supplies: Every vacation rental home we have stayed in never has the right cooking supplies that we need. My mom is a former caterer, so we love to gourmet it up sometimes. We always pack a cutting board (we don’t want to use the one that’s been cut into a million times by other strangers…gross), measuring cups, sponges, spatulas, whisks, and tongs. There’s a designated “cooking suitcase” for us that contains all of the kitchen supplies we could possibly need.
These are just a few of the things we bring to make our vacation rental home a bit cozier. What do you bring? I’d love to hear some suggestions!
Every time I think of pillows, I think of that scene in Along Came Polly when Jennifer Anniston questions Ben Stiller’s overuse of throw pillows on his bed. While I agree that too many pillows on a bed just makes for a ridiculous routine when you have to make the bed, I don’t think you can go wrong when it comes to having pillows on a sofa, settee, chair, bench, or window seat.
Photo from Joanne Clothing, Champagne and Strawberry
Pillows can add the perfect pop of color, pattern, and texture that a room needs. I love seeing pillows of different shapes and sizes on a sofa. They are such a great way to show off your personality and add character to a space. These are some of the pillows I’m lusting after! Of course, a monogrammed pillow was included!
Photo from Horchow
Photo from Luxury Monograms
Photo from Etsy
Happy Friday to y’all! What are your plans for the weekend? Some of my good friends and I are hosting a baby shower for one of our longtime friends…I can’t wait to share pictures of the decor with y’all! I’ve been carefully planning and plotting for the past two months to make sure everything looks perfect.
Here are some things I’m loving from around the Web…
1. My little brothers and I always made blanket forts around our home when we were younger. Ours never looked this good, though!
2. This DIY tutorial looks so easy to do! Goodness, what would the world be like without spray paint?
3. This bed looks so neat, but what if you move a lot when you sleep? Makes me nervous!
4. I was recently shopping at Target and saw these amazing bedding items. I think it’s time to do a bedding overhaul for me! Excuse the black bands…I couldn’t move them out of the way without undoing the entire packaging!
Throw Pillow from Target
Primary Colors Flowered Bedding from Target
Paisley Bedding from Target
Hip hip hooray, it’s the weekend! I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve been in dire need of this weekend! I’ll be finishing up my rooms at the veterans’ home all weekend…do y’all have any exciting plans? Take a look at what I’m loving from around the Web right now…
1. I was shopping in Target the other day (okay, not shopping, browsing), and I came upon these amazing dusty pink chevron striped pillows. I am in love!
2. I love the simplicity of this set up. A Saarinen table and chalkboard walls? Perfection, if you ask me!
3. The use of primary colors in this room is so great! Sometimes I think primary colors can look like a little kid’s playroom, but this looks elegant and chic.
4. This is such a great thing to remember when decorating your home or entertaining in it.
Photo from Pinterest
I have recently fallen in love with Bargello needlework, a design that is also known as a “flame stitch” pattern. I think I like it because it looks like a faded version of Chevron stripes.
Photo from Decor Arts Now
I’ve recently purchased two chairs with this pattern to be used in the veterans’ home. The first is an easy chair with shades of blue, navy, and purple. The other is a rocking chair with a peach and coral color pattern. They’re so pretty and I think they add such spunk to a space!
Chair to be Used in Nautical Room
I did some research about Bargello needlework and found that the name “Bargello” comes from a set of chairs in France that had this pattern, thus it has been known as Bargello since then.
Photo from Rittenhouse Needlepoint
Traditional designs are very colorful, and use many hues of one color, which produces intricate shading effects. The patterns are naturally geometric, but can also resemble flowers or fruits. This is a difficult stitch to master because of the layering required to achieve the multi-hued look.
Photo from Satin Moon
Okay, y’all, I have two rooms left and I have no idea how I want to decorate them! I have the bedding, but I don’t know what I want the rest of the room to look like.
Elephant Pillows
For Room Number Four, I have these great elephant print pillows I want to use, but I’m not sure what my other design elements should be. I’ve thought of framing maps (or using maps to make a faux headboard) and postcards to make it somewhat of a “destination” room. I don’t want to be overly theme-y, but I do like to have a central focus for a room.
For Room Number Five, I found these great pillows that will add such a great pop of color to the room; however, I have no idea how I want the rest of the room to look. Help!
Paisley Pillows
Soooo, help a sista out! I’d love any suggestions, ideas, comments, links, et cetera to help me create an overall design scheme for these last two rooms. I can’t wait to hear what y’all suggest!
Photo from Pretty Little Things for Home
A little known fact about me: I love bunk beds. Although I didn’t have one when I was growing up, I did have a bunk bed during my sophomore year of college. I thought it would be a pain to climb in and out of bed (especially for my early morning classes), but I actually loved it! My top bunk felt like the forts I used to make when I was little with lots of pillows and blankets.
While they’re commonly found in children’s rooms, bunk beds are a great space-saving option. They tuck neatly into a corner, leaving plenty of floor space. They’re not only space saving, but wallet-saving as well! I found this bunk bed on IKEA.com for $159.00. I would paint the wood white and add fun, colorful bedding. Make sure you follow the directions carefully when assembling these beds or hire a professional to do the job to avoid a collapsing bed!
Did you have bunk beds growing up? Do you still have them for you or your children? I’d love to know!
Photo from Decor Pad
My love for yellow knows no bounds. Whether I’m wearing it, looking at it, or decorating with it, I am absolutely, positively, 100 percent obsessed with the color yellow. It’s so happy and cheery. How could you possibly have a bad day after looking at something yellow?
Photo from The Tum Tum Tree
While I don’t think I would go overboard and paint an entire room yellow (I did that when I was nine and was in love with sunflowers…it got old really fast), I love bold splashes of the hue in a room. Think pillows, window treatments, or a side table painted yellow.
The variety of shades that yellow comes in allows for a complete mixing and matching of this amazing color with other colors (I’m a sucker for anything navy blue and yellow or white and yellow). I’m loving these rooms and the way yellow was incorporated.
Photo from Gap Interiors.
You may think of quilts as grandma-esque, but you can use them in different ways besides as your standard blanket or comforter.
Find an old quilt, cut it up, and use the fabric to make pillows! I did this with an old quilt I found at a garage sale and the pillows are a great addition to my window seat nook.
Make a fort. If you have small children (or if you want to feel like a little kid for a day), use a quilt to make a fort in your living room. Drape it over chairs and pretend away!
Use the quilt to cover a bench or cushion. An old quilt, well-worn, well-loved, and soft, is the perfect material for a comfy cushion.
Most quilts have such a rich history. When I find them at garage sales and thrift stores, I always wonder who made it and what each pattern or color represents. If you’re like my family, we have tons of old quilts that have been passed down from generation to generation. Go look in your attic, basement, or long forgotten trunk to see if you have any of these gems!
