Family Room Styled Shelves-Coastal Style

May 1, 2017April 26, 201710 Comments

Happy May Day! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Our weather is really warming up and I can’t wait for the summertime! I’ve been thinking about redecorating in the entryway to reflect summery things, so that’s on my to-do list. Summer reminds me of even more seashells (you didn’t think I had enough, did you?)and the beach, pink flamingos, lanterns, and all things California. What do you use to decorate?

I realized the other day that I had never let you know who had the most votes for our tablescapes. It was actually a tie! But we didn’t have too many votes, so I would say we all won! Lauren created Pink Summer Chic, Haley did Retro Turquoise Chic and mine was Seaside Charm. It was fun to see what we could all come up with! Thanks to all who voted!

Now on to today’s post. I hadn’t shown anything of my family room since we moved in. To be honest, it’s not very put together. It’s kind of become the dog hang-out room, but I have styled the mantel and the shelves, so I thought I would share those today. Someday, I want to whitewash the brick around the fireplace and really clean-up the inside, but that is going to have to wait for now. I’m really glad the mantle and shelves are white though. One less thing to paint!

I added this old aerial picture from the refinery where my dad worked. I’ve always loved this picture. It hung in my parents garage for years and I finally talked my dad into letting me have it. I painted the frame black and it was ready to go. I also added shutters to the sides. A small lamp, topiary and glass insulators were added for depth and interest.

When styling shelves or mantles, try to use different heights in the items you choose. The lamp wasn’t quite tall enough for my liking, so I used a couple of old books to make it higher. I also set the insulators on different height candlesticks.

I added a few coastal items to the shelves. I tried to keep it really simple and not over pack it. There are several coastal accents, plus other personal items. I also used a little bit of a green and blue theme.

Adding in different heights and textures creates a pleasing look. These are two of my favorite pictures of my girls.

Love the simplicity of just a basket of old books. I displayed the book pages, but using the spines to add color would look great too.

More books, a seashell, a twine wrapped bottle and a little wooden shoe. I love the little touch to my Dutch heritage! And it was turquoise! It was meant to be!

I added in a few California gardening books along with my whale tail. I also placed my glass fishing balls in a metal basket.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I appreciate each and every one of you! It always makes my day to read your comments too, so be sure to let me know you visited!

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Hallway Bathroom Makeover-Rustic Nautical

April 3, 2017April 2, 201718 Comments

Can you believe it? I can finally show you one of the rooms in my house? It’s taken me long enough! This isn’t a complete renovation, just a makeover. The biggest item changed out was the floor. So here we go!

We have to start with the before. Isn’t it pretty? There was brown carpeting in front of the sink and linoleum in front of the shower and toilet. The medicine cabinet and mirror were a nice 1970’s touch. The light fixture wasn’t too bad, in a retro kind of way, but we wanted something more updated. The baseboards were some kind of rubber stuff I didn’t even know existed. The toilet and the faucet were recent updates, so we left them. We also changed out the knobs on the vanity so they fit in better with the new updates.

The first thing to go was the carpet and the old linoleum. We had it torn out before we even moved in! We lived with the cement floor for a couple of months and finally got the tile put in. We thought we had enough of the leftover flooring, but we didn’t. Which is okay, because I really like this grey 18″ tile we found at Home Depot.

Lauren and I painted the room before we moved in also. We used Benjamin Moore Simply White, which is what we used in the whole house. As you can see, we also took out the mirror and medicine cabinet that was from the 1970’s. We added in the pallet mirror that Steve made last summer. We also used pallet wood for the baseboards. Steve cut them all to fit and then I stained them and nailed them in. I love how they tie in with the mirror and give the room a rustic look.

I loved this idea when Haley showed it to me! We found the dock cleats at Walmart in the sporting goods section, tied some rope on and it makes a great towel holder.

We also found this amazing hanging light to replace the old one. It’s actually very similar, just a little more updated.

Haley made this whale string art, which is the perfect addition to the room.

I added another rope towel bar on the other side of the room with a fun turquoise and white striped towel.

I also created this California chalkboard subway art that perfectly compliments the room.

The small hand towel is perfect for a teenagers bathroom! I really like how this room turned out! It’s so much more my style and feels clean and fresh. Now on to the next room!

Papering the Wall with Barnwood Wallpaper

March 20, 2017March 19, 20178 Comments

Good Monday morning! I hope everyone is safe after some of the storms going on lately! We have had beautiful weather and now it is raining again. Not that I am complaining-we need it and this will probably be the last big storm. We won’t get much of a spring and will go right into summer. Are you ready?

Have any of you tried out the new removable wallpaper? I found this at Walmart and thought I would give it a try. This is not like the old glue wallpaper, thank goodness! I have scraped enough of that stuff off to last a lifetime! This is more like contact paper. It has a back that peels off and you stick it to your wall or whatever else you want to use it for. If it goes on crooked, just peel and re-stick!

Here is the one I got and another similar one with turquoise in it. Love!!

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I wanted to paper one of the walls in the front living room. The barn door/window is on that wall, so I really can’t put anything else there. This really added a lot of character. I have even had a couple of people think we actually put wood up! It looks so great!

It took 2 of us to put it up, well 3, if you count Rozy. Haley would start of the top and I would hold the rest of it to make sure it lined up and slowly peel off the paper backing. We used rulers to make sure all the bubbles were out and the paper was smooth.

The top and bottom were trimmed with a razor blade. That really was it! It went up really easy and it has stayed up! I really love how it looks!

This is where the barn door/window slides over it. I love that you can see it through the window. It really reminds me of an old farmhouse or beach-house.

Looking towards the front door that I painted turquoise, my favorite go-to color. See the little white thing on the carper? That’s Munchy’s ice-cube she didn’t finish. 🙂

I’m so excited how this room is turning out! It feels so light and fresh!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

New Gallery Wall in the Dining Room

March 13, 2017March 12, 201714 Comments

Hi everyone! Did you all have a good weekend? I drove up into our mountains with Haley and enjoyed the beauty up there. It was so nice and green and the water in the river was flowing. I love the sound of the water running over the rocks. It’s so relaxing.

I have been trying to complete lots of little things around the house, but nothing is quite finished or it’s not enough to be blog-worthy. We have just about completed the entryway-I am painting the floor this week. Probably won’t get the stenciling done right away, but at least it will look better. We have had quite the adventure with the light fixture. I was going to order the one on Amazon, and then thought I would just see if there was anything similar at the local stores. I found the hanging lights where you can add whatever shade you want and thought that would work instead. There are so many pretty shades! But then we couldn’t find what we needed to hang it without it being too long. I also realized I already had a drum shade from the old house. We finally took everything back and found the ceiling fixture we needed and now it is finally up. That’s what happens when you try to be creative and not have something everyone else does! 🙂

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I did manage to finally hang up some pictures on my dining room wall. I took everything out that I had and laid it all out on the floor. It stayed like this for an embarrassing long time. Here are just some of the pieces. I played with the different pieces until I found the way that looked best to my eye.

Here’s what I came up with. You can see I used different shapes and different types of textures. Using different textures allows you to have a more neutral wall, but not look boring.I also try to use odd numbers, whether on the wall or in a vignette.

On this side I used a metal diamond shape piece, a round rattan mirror and a square canvas.

Here I have a metal star, and wooden frame with a printable in the middle and a metal round piece that was actually a charger plate I found on clearance at Target.

Here is my favorite piece! I know it’s a little early for summer weather, but I am ready!

Here it is with the table. I love adding pattern with tablecloths and then adding items to the centerpiece. Using a tray helps things together and creates a vignette.

I added everything to a tray which helps create a focal point. It’s also easy to move out of the way if needed. I added a little bit of beach and a little bit of spring.

Well, one more thing to check off the list. This week is the entryway floor and the baseboards in the hall bathroom. I still don’t have anything over the couch in the family room, but oh well. I’m still on the search for the ‘perfect’ thing.

Hope you all have a great week! Talk to you next time!

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Here are some other posts you may want to check out!

Fall Front Porch with Pumpkins

October 17, 2016October 16, 20164 Comments

Good morning! I think fall has really arrived here in Central California! At least today!! Our weather will go up and down at least until Halloween. But for today, it is nice.

I was able to pull out some things to decorate my front porch. I decided to decorate with all things pumpkin! I got out all the different pumpkins I have-fabric, plastic, ceramic, wooden, big and little.

I made this pumpkin window box last year at a Home Depot event. I filled it with a turquoise painted pumpkin, a few small faux pumpkins and some fall leaves.

The big twig pumpkin is my favorite! The orange pumpkin is just fleece covering a roll of toilet paper. One of my girls made this years ago. I made the sweater acorns last year and the ‘Gather’ sign.

A few more pumpkins with a bright striped pillow (I used the same one last year! :))

I draped a cozy blanket over the chair for those chilly mornings or evenings. Another painted pumpkin, a glittery one and some leaves look festive.

We have a huge oak tree in our backyard and it drops lots of acorns in the fall. I glued them onto a piece of twine and draped them across this old door and window.

Henrietta , my hedgehog, made an appearance too!

I hope you all have a wonderful fall day!!

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