Staging & Decor Archives

Seven Easy Steps To Stage A Powder Room Or Bathroom Like A Pro

Posted on December 7, 2020 by admin

Why should I care about staging my bathroom or powder room for sale (or entertaining), you ask? And I’ll tell you (because that’s sort of just what I do): This is the one room where your party guests, or potential buyers, are going to (probably) spend some alone time.

And you know what? They’re going to look, and they’re going to notice: how clean is it? How cluttered is it? You know what else they’re going to do? They’re going to look through your stuff. (Trust me, they will).

They’re also going to, hopefully, relax and feel like they might want to stay a while. Stay tuned and I will guide you through bathroom decor ideas, bathroom cleaning, and staging.

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.

Your bath guests are looking to see if you’re Miss Piggy or Mary Poppins (practically perfect in every way). And although I don’t always like being Mary Poppins, in this case you should DEFINITELY be aiming for perfection and cleanliness and not being a disgusting, egotistical, irrational character that denies that she is anything less than absolutely perfect. Nobody likes Miss Piggy.

Ideally, your bathroom should be pretty… but, even if it’s not, you can still stage it to create a welcoming, spa-like space that will wow potential buyers and guests alike.

If you missed it, check out our post on How To Create A Historic Looking Bathroom In A New Home. You’d be surprised how economical making a gorgeous bath can be if you DIY it!

Here are the easy steps to stage your bathroom or powder room like a professional (with a complete source list at the end):

How To Create A Historic Bathroom In A New Home — Staging A Powder Room Or Bathroom Like A Pro

Deep Clean and Declutter.

I can’t emphasize this enough: This is the single most important step of bathroom staging. Scrub that sucker until it shines. I’m talking, rubber-gloves-and-buckets type cleaning.

I recommend unloading the vanity and reorganizing it (people will definitely look through your cabinets and drawers during a showing… but also during a party). If you unload the countertops and all of the floor items, you can wash and shine to your heart’s delight. In a bathroom, it’s okay for it to smell “bleachy”, it just tells people it’s clean.

Pay special attention to the toilet (that part right behind the seat hinge where hair and BLECH accumulates), under the rim, the toilet seat (above and below), in front of and behind the bowl, and the floor (and wall) around the commode.

Stock.

Provide:

plenty of toilet paper and a stock of extra rolls in the cabinet/drawer: this is a great time to splurge on a new freestanding toilet paper holder that you can take to the next house (if you’re selling)
spare toothbrushes and toothpaste in a clearly marked container (I like bamboo toothbrushes for my guests that are both biodegradable and compostable). You just never know who has goat-butt breath and is looking for rescue
ladies’ toilet essentials in a basket in a cabinet/drawer (in various sizes and shapes)
toilet cleaning brush and plunger: If you have room to keep the toilet cleaning brush and the plunger under the sink, that’s the best place for them (out of sight but accessible in case someone needs them). I don’t want anyone feeling mortified because they clogged the uncloggable toilet or made an unsightly mess in the toilet with no way to remedy it. (For staging, if you can’t hide it, put it somewhere else. They take all the magic out of the beautiful, photo ready bathroom)
Mrs. Meyers Peppermint Handsoap, hand sanitizer, and lotion
pretty, drapey (but also functional) towels: we love these Hitit Jacquard Yarn Dyed Turkish Hand Towels With Tassels in our new bathroom (say “no” to those stuffy, creased towels people are afraid to dry their hands on)
reading material in a water hyacinth magazine basket: keep these within reach of the toilet, but not so close that they soak up overspray from the commode
a lined, clean trash can

De-stock.

Lock up your medications
Lock up your medications
Lock up your medications

I’m not even going to get into this. Just please, do this one thing for me. If you fail to heed this advice: not only could your medications disappear, but I also find it to be a massive invasion of privacy when people are checking out your medications in your cabinet. AND THEY WILL.

See again: People will snoop. Put your stuff away.

Hang Fantastic Art

Bathroom wall art is an often overlooked item in bathrooms. You’d be surprised how an amazing piece of art in an ornate frame can make a whole room feel upscale (even if the room is just meh)… or how a bunch of little art pieces can make a bathroom feel a lot like your Great-Aunt Betty (Bless Her Heart) decorated it in 1978 (with add-ons from the entire decade of the 80s at which time she declared it perfect and never changed another thing ever again). I prefer one big piece to many little ones: it seems to make the room feel bigger and much more clean and uncluttered.

Looking for an economical way to DIY your own masterpiece for your wall? Check out our post on The Easy Way To DIY Breathtaking Landscape and Scenery Paintings.

The Easy Way To DIY Breathtaking Landscape and Scenery Paintings

Flowers or Greenery

An orchid is a fantastic choice for bathroom staging… it doesn’t take up much countertop space and is easy to care for. It adds a dramatic flair and I just love ours in the new bathroom (like the brave woman that I am: I sent Rainman to the grocery store with directions to buy a tall, skinny flower arrangement and he NAILED IT). For staging, I also like a single palm frond or even a small branch, attractively arranged (just make sure these are bug free before you drag them inside!).

I prefer the orchid because no one harrasses me about it, like they do with the branches. (“Is that a tree branch?” “Where’d you find that tree branch?” “What’s with the tree branch?” “Is that a tiny snake on that tree branch… just kidding ha ha ha ha.” You see why it’s easier to just buy a plant).

Staging A Powder Room Or Bathroom Like A Pro

Buy A New, Pretty Shower Curtain

Seriously, when was the last time you inspected your shower curtain? It might be icky. If you haven’t thought about it in a while, it probably is. Even if you clean everything, if that shower curtain is greenish… that sends the buyer a message that you’re not taking care of the house (and will send them running out of there like an Alfred Hitchcock movie). Our bathroom here is quite masculine in design, so we went very feminine with the art and accessories to balance it. The clean, white, cotton ruffled shower curtain we used in this room is absolutely perfect and very economical.

During a recent party I may, or may not have, tucked the new shower curtain into the tub so it didn’t get peed on by the guests that were partaking. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

Scent Your Space

Even once you have deep cleaned, sometimes there are lingering noxious gasses in the bathroom. There are three good options: If you’ve read our Showing Day Checklist, then you already know that the ultimate scent for home buying is Apple/Cinnamon. I guess it takes people back to the smell of grandma’s apple pie or something. We use:

Air Wick Apple and Cinnamon Plugins (which I like for parties because it keeps working for longer)
Glade Apple Cinnamon Spray (which I like for showings, and I used an entire can just before we left for each showing)
Oil diffuser: This is varsity level sexy for entertaining. We like our black stone oil diffuser especially for a small space like the bathroom

Also, make sure your guests/prospective buyers have access to Lysol, Febreze, or Poo-pourri, or something to prevent them from dying of embarrassment if your shrimp, spinach, sausage, garlic cream sauce doesn’t agree with them halfway through the evening.

Spa Look Trick: We like to break up back of door spaces with hooks, and either a white spa robe or a pretty tasseled towel. We like the Pestemal Fouta Grey and White Turkish Cotton Bath/Beach Towel with a pretty monogram on it.

Accessorize

Skip the bathroom sets. They come across as really matchy and unimaginative.

We like pretty, artisan soaps in a fancy ceramic pedestal dish. I like to provide lots of options for hand washing, so we have bar soap, liquid soap, and hand sanitizer available so there is absolutely NO excuse for not washing hands. Our favorite, aromatic artisan made goat milk soap is from Viney Creek Farm and I highly recommend them!

Bathrooms are best kept minimal with regard to accessories: other than soap, just a couple interesting items are needed:

We have an antique jar filled with sharks teeth, a small glass pitcher with twinkle lights, the Orchid on one side and the soaps on the other. You seriously DON’T need to buy anything for this. Shop your house and you’ll find something wonderful.

Holiday Decorating Tip: Give your bathroom a little love… and keep it generic (especially if your house is on the market). Some green lighted garland and twinkly Wine Stopper LED Twinkly Fairy Lights inside an antique bottle will go a long way!

Here is the complete source list for our bathroom staging:

Brushed Brass Freestanding Toilet Paper Holder

Cordless Remote Control LED 11.5″ Picture Light

Ruffled, Cotton Shower Curtain

Hitit Jacquard Yarn Dyed Turkish Hand Towels With Tassels

Mrs. Meyers Peppermint Handsoap

Water Hyacinth Magazine Basket

Canvas With Vintage Frame: Easy Canvas Prints and Craigslist

Pestemal Fouta Grey and W hite Turkish Cotton Bath/Beach Towel

Fancy Ceramic Pedestal Soap Dish

Wine Stopper LED Twinkly Fairy Lights

Bamboo Toothbrushes

Check out our Ultimate Pre-showing Checklist for Selling Your Home Fast! This is a great guide for how to quickly prep your house on Showing Day!

What are some of your favorite ways to stage a bathroom? Let us know in the comments below!

Cheers!

*Legal stuff:

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How To Create A Historic Looking Bathroom In A New Home

Posted on December 2, 2020December 19, 2020 by admin

One of the biggest challenges living in a new, or newer, home is making the house feel like it’s been there forever: lived in, loved, cozy, warm. I know. I’ve been there. I am also CURRENTLY there… We’ve been trying to accomplish this task room by room here. It’s slow going (because Rainman has to go to work… which is super frustrating and also QUITE INCONVENIENT WHEN WE NEED TO BE RENOVATING OUR HOUSE) but we did finally get to our downstairs bathroom remodel.

The neighbor had the audacity to remark to my husband that he thought our downstairs bathroom was fine and that time would be better spent fishing. I haven’t egged his house yet, but I’m considering it. Do people still TP houses or is that frowned upon? Asking for a friend.

And the bathroom?

It. Is. Awesome.

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.

As usual, the budget did not allow for me to hire a bathroom contractor (bathroom remodeling near me is SUPER EXPENSIVE- but, isn’t everything?). Apparently, every tradesman in my area has a ton of work and they can charge whatever they want to show up and work on your house (and that’s a BIG IF you can get them to show up).

Of course, it’s not like Rainman would hire out something he is “perfectly capable of doing himself” even if they can do it in under a decade, unlike us.

But… I feel like we got this amazing project done well under the average cost to remodel a bathroom because we did it ourselves (other than the plumber, who I begged Rainman to hire and ended up saving us probably about a week in work time) and I LOVE that we saved the money.

As most of you know: kitchen and bathroom renovations are the most expensive rooms in the house to remodel, but we managed to do this pretty reasonably, because I’ve been working on this for A WHILE. I’ve been sourcing pieces, researching,… cough cough… and buying stuff for this bathroom for about two years (and the guest room that was temporarily storing all of the construction stuff has finally breathed a sigh of relief and been emptied out again).

Long story short: how did we do?

This. Is. My. Favorite. Room. We’ve. Ever. Done.

Seriously. I am absolutely, 100% in LOVE… and have captured EXACTLY my design style. It doesn’t have a name.

It’s just me.

Without further ADIEU, here is the mood board we started with:

And the bathroom I was trying to take from boring and forgettable, to awesome…

I’m actually really lucky, because at no point did my darling Rainman suggest any silly things like, “this room is perfectly okay as is.” Or any other such nonsense. I believe he has truly embraced his fate in being married to someone who can’t just- for the LOVE OF GOD- leave well enough alone. I honestly don’t know why he puts up with me.

BEFORE (also see “Zzzzzzzzz” in the dictionary):

AFTER (and the clouds parted…):

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here are some fun construction photos:

Don’t be discouraged by our two-week timeframe… we had to self-isolate for two weeks because we had a possible COVID exposure… so I very smoothly suggested that a lockdown would be an EXCELLENT opportunity to renovate the bathroom (for which we just happened to have all of the supplies)… This cut our normal construction time from about ten years per project to finished in about two weeks.

I think renovations are a lot like having babies: you only do it again because you forget how painful and messy it is. But, you keep doing it because the end result is AMAZING (even if the process involves pain, bleeding, and occasional screaming). I’m trying to remind myself of that because the ENTIRE downstairs is in a state of construction mess.

Also, the six year old has done 5000 drawings watching Youtube videos. She loves it when we’re distracted. Insert mom guilt.

For those of you who have ever renovated a bathroom, you already noticed the water damage (NEVER, EVER PUT A WOOD FLOOR IN A BATHROOM). And you were already thinking, “I wonder if they have any extra plywood on hand for that subfloor because I bet it has rot.” And you’d be right.

You noticed the color is different than the mood board? Yes, I changed my paint plan at the last minute (like THAT’S never happened before). I decided to go with Benjamin Moore’s Smoke Stack Gray. I think it’s going to have the cozy feel I want anyway, because the room is very small and I’m painting EVERYTHING the same color (ceiling, walls, and trim).

But, here’s for the really fun part: FINISHED!!!

One of the best ways to save money on your sink vanity is to do an antique dresser vanity conversion. Vanities are super pricey, even the junky ones. So, why not build a beautiful custom one that’s not only WAY cheaper, but also way more awesome in every way?

You can look for an antique dresser made into a bathroom vanity for sale (lots of people sell these on Craigslist), or you can just find the dresser and customize it with a smashingly fancy white porcelain vessel sink basin and any fixture you want.

This dresser was only $40, including the carrara marble vanity top. The Kraus Vessel Sink was $141.49 and the Kingston 6-inch Adjustable Center Wall Mount Kitchen Faucet was $117.49 (pretty AMAZING for a solid brass wall faucet). You simply CANNOT find a vanity that’s not MDF garbage for that price.

I was the most surprised by this incredible faucet: I had no idea it could be that cost effective and be so beautiful. Check out some close ups.

One of the easiest ways to add depth to walls (and get rid of that horrid new house feel) is to add moldings. I wanted this already small room to feel cozy, but not claustrophobic. By painting everything one color, it feels bigger and taller. We added picture frame moldings, chair rail, and put in new baseboards. We were able to reuse the crown molding.

And that fantastic art? It’s DIY. Check out the Full Tutorial On The Easy Way To DIY Breathtaking Landscape and Scenery Paintings.

We pulled out the hardwood (why why why would you ever put wood in a bathroom???) and traded it for this gorgeous Travertine Field Tile in Ivory Honed (18″X18″). It is breathtaking but EXTREMELY finicky to install. We cracked two tiles during installation. The end result: SO WORTH IT. Travertine tile (limestone floor tile) is timeless and I made sure to pick one without the peachy/pink hues that I hate.

The commode we already had (we have upgraded every toilet in our last two houses to the American Standard Champion 4, because it is the UNCLOGGABLE toilet). It’s also very attractive, so win win. This just required a removal to put down the floors and a reinstall afterward.

In this shot you can see the antique Hall Tree I found on Craigslist for (I think) around $100. It was painted in a robin’s egg blue, and it was no small task getting all the paint off, but I used this paint and varnish remover, and that helped tremendously. I absolutely ADORE how it turned out (and that I can use the hooks for towels).

One little problem, though. It is ENORMOUS.

Remember Mr. “That Bathroom Doesn’t Need to Renovated” from next door? Well, as penance I asked him and his son to come over to help hang it. This involved he, his son, and my husband squeezed into this tiny bathroom, holding it up, and trying to line the bolts up with the holes we had dry fitted.

I was balancing on the toilet lid behind them, waiting with the drill to drive home the bolts as soon as someone signaled they had a bolt lined up.

So, Rainman says, “I think it’s in.” And, without hesitation, I leapt into action… RAKAKAKAK… and drove that bolt home…

Smashing Rainman’s finger between the mirror and the brick.

We might have to work on our communication.

But, I’m betting the neighbor probably won’t mess with me after that. I feel like the head of an organized crime family. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Then there’s my son, who is apparently NOT afraid of me. He thought I needed to replace the mirror part for one less “antiqued” (which he brought up no less than thirty-seven times prior to installation). Pffffft. What he doesn’t know yet, because he’s an amateur is that this is the perfect party mirror: everyone looks lovely in it. He’s just not old enough to appreciate the beauty of an imperfect mirror.

How about those awesome Veneer Bricks from Old Mill? This is the third time we’ve used these (the Castle Gate color) and they are absolutely FANTASTIC. They are 100% authentic brick, just thinner and easier to install. We went with a medium gray grout this time to achieve the antique look we were going for and I’m absolutely over the moon with how it turned out!

Watch for our installation tutorial coming soon!

So, by now you’ve noticed those Dreamy 2 Light Sconces With Smoke Crystals. Yes, I’ll be buying more when they are in stock again. They match our RH Rococo Chandeliers (in smoke) perfectly, but with a much smaller price tag.

And more pictures of my “Smithsonian bath,” (as my sweet sister dubbed it).

Here is the complete source list for our bathroom reno (and staging items):

Old Mill Brick Veneer, Castle Gate

Smoke Crystal Two Light Sconce

Vintage Hall Tree Mirror: Craigslist

Kraus White Porcelain Vessel Sink

Kingston Brass Wall-Mounted Faucet

Dresser With Carrara Marble Top: Craigslist

Travertine 18″ Field Tile In Honed Ivory

Paint: Smokestack Gray, Benjamin Moore

Brushed Brass Freestanding Toilet Paper Holder

Cordless Remote Control LED 11.5″ Picture Light

Ruffled Shower Curtain

Hitit Jacquard Yarn Dyed Turkish Hand Towels With Tassels

Mrs. Meyers Peppermint Handsoap

Water Hyacinth Magazine Basket

Molding: Lowe’s

Canvas With Vintage Frame: Easy Canvas Prints and Craigslist

So what do you think?

Can you see doing something like this in your bathroom?

Check out more fantastic projects and design inspiration on the blog!

Cheers!

*Legal stuff:

I am honest about my experiences with different products and write because I enjoy it. I do however, have the opportunity to earn money for my writing, also.

This site also contains affiliate links through //Commerce/Sovrn. //Commerce or our Publishers may be compensated when you click through links on our site.

The Easy Way To DIY Breathtaking Landscape and Scenery Paintings

Posted on November 30, 2020 by admin

I have been hunting for antique oil and acrylic landscape paintings for about the last five years. These have always been notoriously hard to come by anyway, but since they’ve become wildly popular in the last year or two, my situation has not improved. The price for these antiques has gone way, way up and I certainly can’t afford the collection I really want. Modern landscape artists are seeing huge gains in the price of their artwork as oil and acrylic landscape paintings trends in the home decor stratosphere- good for them, but not so much for me!

But, did you know that you could easily create your own knock-off landscape paintings and art that look like antiques? Did you know that you can create the paintings for about $25? By using acrylics, which I find much easier to use than creating a watercolor landscape, the process becomes much more simple!

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.

If you’re a little bit creative and willing to try your hand at it, there’s a simple, super easy way, to create your own masterpiece painting without paying the prices that landscape artists demand!

Step One: Find a landscape photo on your phone or something not copyrighted online that you like the look and feel of.

Step Two: Print the size you want from a Discount Canvas Company. They’re always having sales, and we bought these for less than $20 each. It doesn’t have to be a clear photo, and it’s absolutely okay for it to be grainy.

I purchased four that I had sitting on my phone of the ocean a few minutes away and the tidal creek near our house.

This is the photo canvas I’ll be using to demonstrate the painting:

Step Three: After you’ve unpackaged the canvasses, paint the front of each canvas in a cross-thatch pattern (X) with a large brush using Clear Gesso. It appears white, but trust me, it will dry clear. The idea is to make sure that you’re filling in all of the tiny crevices on the canvas so you won’t need to layer your paint as much.

Tip: Make sure you’ve pulled off any loose hairs on the brush so they don’t stick inside the gesso.

This is what your canvasses will look like after you apply the gesso, but before it dries:

Here is the one I will be painting with the gesso applied:

This is what it looks like after it dries. Totally clear, though you can see the faint cross-thatch pattern.

Now you are ready for paint!

Step Four: Get out your acrylic paint, brushes, water for rinsing brushes, palette, and (optional) adjustable easel. If you don’t have an acrylic paint set: I use Liquitex Acrylics and you can get a basic set of colors relatively cheaply. I like mixing my own colors so I have a small set of mostly primary colors. They also save forever if you keep the caps tightly closed: I’ve had the same set for more than a decade and the paint is still good.

Tip: I like to start with the lighter sections and move to the darker sections. Then you can always come back and add highlights in lighter colors or details in darker colors.

The beauty of this process is that it doesn’t need to exactly match your photo. Try doing an impressionist painting, then try one with a more blended look. A great way to achieve a foggy landscape look is to blur your eyes over the photo and try to mix the edge colors.

Tip: Try mixing some of your colors with gesso if you need them to remain wet for longer (if you want to blend the edges). It also makes the colors slightly less opaque.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCAjv9T45Cw&w=560&h=315]

Step Five: Paint! Turn on some relaxing music, pour yourself some hot tea, and get to mixing colors on your palette and painting!

Tip: Don’t be afraid to try different brushes and strokes! The beautiful thing about acrylics is that you can layer over the top if you don’t like it!

Step Six (Optional): Scour craigslist/letgo/Facebook for the perfect gold frame. I frequently find BAD old art with great frames, so this is a fantastic way to upcycle those frames into something wonderful for your wall!

Tip: If you want to really do this on the cheap: find your frame with matting FIRST, and order the correct sized canvas to fit. You can paint the matting to match and then you don’t get into expensive items like new matting.

What do you think of our “masterpiece”?

Congratulations! You have just created your first landscape painting and you can proudly hang it on your wall!

Cost Breakdown:

Canvas: $20

Craigslist frame: $60

New Matting and Assembly from Michael’s: $160

Art Light (Optional): $73.95

Total: $313.95 (Yes, I absolutely recommend buying your frame before the canvas to cut out the re-matting cost!)

How about one more with that pretty light on?

What do you think?

I would love to see how your paintings turned out!

Want to know how to Stage Your Bathroom for real estate or for entertaining? Check out our simple guide!

Follow along with us on the blog for more great DIY tutorials and design inspiration! Cheers!

*Legal stuff:

I am honest about my experiences with different products and write because I enjoy it. I do however, have the opportunity to earn money for my writing, also.

This site also contains affiliate links through //Commerce/Sovrn. //Commerce or our Publishers may be compensated when you click through links on our site.

How To Stage Your Kitchen Like A Pro

Posted on October 2, 2020October 22, 2020 by admin

I have officially reached the end of Pinterest. I have saved every kitchen that I love in my kitchens folder. I AM NOW READY TO START RENOVATING MY KITCHEN. (Do you think he heard me?)

As you already know: I am ALWAYS in design mode on my own house and looking for ideas for clients. I’m also sort of a real estate junkie and I make it my business to know the local market and am always scouting for real estate deals! What do those things all have in common? KITCHEN OBSESSION. (Yes, I love that million dollar home but the kitchen… IS… AWFUL).

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.

Yes, I am obsessed with kitchens. Recently, as I was staging for photographing our project in Vermont, something occurred to me: STAGING IS EVERYTHING.

Check out the before and afters on our Vermont Kitchen Project!

Whether you’re entertaining or showing your house that’s on the market, staging is the make it or break it of beautiful (or even MEH) kitchens. If you sift through your Kitchen board on Pinterest, what you’ll discover is that the ones you REALLY love are staged really well (which is why you saved it, whether you realize it or not!). They have been tricking you all this time… You saved a beautiful flower or branch arrangement that happens to be in a kitchen. But, you saved it, which is the important take away!

Don’t believe me? I’ll show you!

This kitchen, though probably stunning in person, would be a washed out BLAH in photos without the greenery and fruit. Notice how the big tin bucket with branches anchors the right side of the photo.

Just like the photo before, this kitchen is stunning. However, it has the potential in photos to appear too monochromatic and kind of cold. The branch arrangement, once again, anchors one side of the photo.

Look carefully… If you removed all of the accessories, would this space be very memorable? It’s not that it’s not an amazing kitchen, it’s breathtaking. But, in photos, it really needs some visual interest to look like a DREAM kitchen… which it certainly does here. They have arrangements on both sides here providing an interesting frame.

Would you save this photo? Of course you would!

And, wait, if you saved it… SO WILL YOUR FUTURE BUYERS! They’ll save it to their Pinterest board and obsess about it until they make you an offer over asking price and want to move in, like, yesterday!

So, how do we do that, Campers? Well, I’m going to tell you. I promise.

Step one: take everything off the countertops. Take everything off the shelves. Then add a few, specific things and shop your own stuff!

It’s really that easy: I’m going to show you how and provide links for everything we used here! Altogether, we spent $350 on staging, not including dishes (shhh, don’t tell!!!) and here is how it turned out:

Before and After Pictures of Grandma's New Vermont Cottage Kitchen: Sponsored by Lily Ann Cabinets and designed by @callsigndesign on Instagram and @slavetodiy on Pinterest. — Before and After Pictures of Grandma’s New Vermont Cottage Kitchen: Sponsored by Lily Ann Cabinets and designed by @callsigndesign on Instagram and @slavetodiy on Pinterest.

A mirror in a kitchen you say? I say YES. A blank wall in between two windows was begging for a mirror. Mirrors brighten small spaces and reflect light. Win, win. Scale it BIGGER! (Unexpected can be GOOD and in this case, it’s kind of awesome). If you have a tiny kitchen, or a dark kitchen, I’m talking to you.

This mirror we found on Craig’s List for $60. (“If you stalk long enough, you will have success,” I always say!)

Kitchen Herb Kit from IKEA: The Complete Kit For Staging Your Kitchen Like A Pro

Don’t judge me. I have a thing for herbs in the kitchen, and this one wasn’t going without! The rails and bins are from the Kungsfors IKEA Collection. They are both beautiful and functional, and make the kitchen feel that much more cozy. The window is wider than the rails so we used scrap lumber and a Kreg Jig to install them.

Fresh herbs in the kitchen say, “There is some serious professional chef level cooking going down in this kitchen. You must buy this house.”

Don’t want to deal with hanging all those spice racks? Some fresh herbs tied with ribbon on the counter (in front of the chopping block) serves the same purpose for photos.

HOW CUTE IS THIS???

Demijohn: I’ll admit, I’m a little bit of a demijohn snob. What is a demijohn, you ask? I’ll tell you: What is a demijohn and how to use it in your decorating… I like them enough I wrote a whole post about them, because I’m an obsessive nerd. We found this perfect little demijohn at Hobby Lobby for around $20 and it’s perfect for this application!

Candlesticks: Also shown here, these TOTALLY AWESOME real Iron Candlesticks from Hobby Lobby are about $20 each (which I just went on and purchased more of because they’re on sale). Score!

Tree branch: Scalped right out of the woods on the kitchen property. FREE! (Visualize the clients AND Rainman looking at me sideways on staging/photo day walking toward the woods with pruning sheers in hand… “Where are you planning on putting a branch that big, Griswold?” But, I’ll leave it there, and keep it PG).

And that’s all you need for the corner of the island! As the photographer moves around, move your arrangement around so it’s anchoring the outside frame of the picture.

For this next corner I borrowed some items that belonged to the client (shop your own house!)… The little silver tray I used to hide the cord from the lamp. The little vases and tiny plant were also hers, and they look adorable in the spice cabinet!

And that lamp? I looked at about 500 lamps before I found this one with just enough fancy and just enough cottage-style to be convincing. And after I spent hours looking… I finally found it no place other than Amazon: The Perfectly Sized French-Style Countertop Lamp for around $30. (Some of the other sites are REALLY proud of their lamps and I’m just trying to be reasonable here).

The little oil paintings with gilded frames were a bit of a splurge and I found them on Ebay. I’m pretty sure there are some fairly convincing knockoffs at Target if you don’t want to be too extravagant and you’ll ultimately achieve the same look.

Notice how we moved the demijohn and candles for this shot? We moved them just enough so they’re anchoring an uninteresting side of the room and creating balance.

Every time we changed the camera angle, we repositioned the candles and spun the branches so they looked nice and full, but also just wild enough to be wonderful and daring.

Another angle for good measure! (Aren’t those fat candles just the coolest? Also on Hobby Lobby, if you’re looking).

Now, if you haven’t mastered the art of the shelfie, here’s a quick crash course:

Arrange in threes and in triangles. Okay, so we have a couple “twos” but it’s all about balance.

Here, everything but the new blue stripe dish towels and the White Pantry Soup Bowls and Plates from Williams Sonoma the client already had! It’s just a matter of arranging them in a pretty, uncluttered way.

There is a triangle of “tall items” and a triangle of bowls and a triangle at the top of crocks and teapots.

Believe it or not, those shelves used to be the temporary stair treads to the basement. You can find the black metal shelf brackets here if you’re looking to open up some space on your own wall!

Is your kitchen atrocious and preventing your house from selling? Check out our ideas on The Best Ways To Transform An Outdated Kitchen On A Tiny Budget.

Butcher block, cutting boards, and charcuterie boards, (Oh My)… How To Stage Your Kitchen Like A Pro. Designer: @callsigndesign (Instagram). Photographer: @loganbspring (Instagram). Cabinets @lilyanncabinets_ (Instagram)

The perfect cutting/charcuterie board corner: every one of these the client already had!

The Cambria Stoneware Kitchen Utensil Holder was from Pottery Barn but I think they may have been discontinued in that color. We displayed her wooden spoon collection in them and I think they look perfect!

Shades of blue created perfect, subtle pops of color in our staging. Wouldn’t you like to do some cooking in this kitchen?

If you’re in the market for quality RTA cabinets go to Lily Ann Cabinets and use offer code SDIY2018 to get 5% off! (The cabinets pictured are Grey Shaker Elite).

Have a house on the market? Download The Ultimate Home Showing Checklist FREE on how to get ready for and nail your real estate showings!

Can you think of some other important parts of staging a kitchen? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks for hanging out today! Cheers!

*All photos by @loganbspring on Instagram

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I am honest about my experiences with different products and write because I enjoy it. I do however, have the opportunity to earn money for my writing, also.

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Before and After: Grandma’s New Vermont Cottage Kitchen

Posted on September 27, 2020October 5, 2020 by admin

Who doesn’t love a good before and after reveal??? We teamed up with Lily Ann Cabinets to do this awesome project for my mother’s forever home and I’m super happy with how it turned out. We used their RTA Cabinets, Lily Ann’s Grey Shaker Elite (and you’re going to love them!).

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.

The kitchen turned out beautifully and the carpenter was super impressed by the quality of the RTA cabinets. That helps a LOT when the carpenter happens to be your brother AND he’s a meticulous and dyed-in-the-wool wood snob.

Quick story:

My family has been playing musical houses for almost my whole life (I’m an army brat). So, when my mom finally decided to pick a house and stay in it, my sister reached out to me to help with the kitchen design (they were really busy renovating the whole rest of the house). The place had great bones, but was really ugly. One little problem: I am in North Carolina and they are in Vermont. To any lesser team this would’ve been a problem (working with family and from a different state… what could go wrong???).

I sent my initial design which was nixed by my incredible carpenter brother who wanted to knock down walls and move stairs (who am I to argue with that?). So, I worked up a moodboard and completely new design and sent it to my sister and brother.

Then there was the issue of finding a cabinet company that wasn’t going to break the bank. I looked and looked, but everything I liked was super expensive! And since I had added a huge island, the cabinet total had about doubled. Then I stumbled across RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets. I found them on sale (even though they were already significantly cheaper than the other cabinets I had found before the sale), and I sent the company my design. My brother said, “that’s fine, but you guys are putting those cabinets together.”

Almost ALL of this was carried out without me physically at the property because suddenly there was a pandemic. Yup. Perfect timing. I corresponded with a Lily Ann kitchen designer in Michigan that was working from home and had the details and 3d renderings in just a few weeks. A skeleton warehouse crew got our order out and it was delivered about a month and a half after we first contacted them.

Back to the house: imagine my delight when my brother (who had said NO WAY was he assembling RTA cabinets) called me to say he had assembled and installed them and the quality was amazing. Oh, and they went together super fast. I was in shock. I will save the rest of that story for another post. This is a simple before and after, remember?

If you love this look, you can find these cabinets from Lily Ann Cabinets. My readers can get a 5% discount by using the offer code: SDIY2018 at checkout!

Grandma got to see her almost finished kitchen on her birthday in July and I think you’ll appreciate the video (it still makes me cry every time):

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYK1UD7tQXY&w=560&h=315]

All that was left (after the first reveal) for install when we arrived in Vermont (two months later and on re-scheduled trip number three) was hardware, the backsplash, the shelves, and crown molding. Still, five full days of install while trying to persuade my six year old to do her virtual school independently was a bit challenging. And, to be perfectly honest, my brother had told me the quality was good, but the cabinets were even better in person. The finish was beautiful and I quickly realized there was nothing “discount” about these cabinets other than the price.

The after photos were all taken by @loganbspring on Instagram, so give him a follow! I think you’ll love his work as much as we do!

Drumroll please!!!!

This is looking through the front door at the door that went down to the basement:

Before and After Pictures of Grandma's New Vermont Cottage Kitchen — Before and After Pictures of Grandma’s New Vermont Cottage Kitchen: Sponsored by Lily Ann Cabinets and designed by @callsigndesign on Instagram and @slavetodiy on Pinterest.

Here is the front door now:

This is looking from the corner of the kitchen back at the front door:

We couldn’t REALLY get this “before” shot because of the wall, but you can see where the new front door is now (the wall started roughly where the island begins):

This is standing by the front door, looking at the kitchen.

And here is the after:

This is a shot of the space after the walls came down, but before the staircase was moved:

And after:

And just for fun, here are some more detailed shots of the kitchen we took during staging:

This was quite the journey, but it was all worth it to see how happy my mom was at the end. What do you think of our design and renovation? What is your favorite part? Please let us know in the comments below!

Once again: If you love this look, and want to pay less for awesome cabinets, you can find these cabinets from Lily Ann Cabinets. My readers can get a 5% discount by using the offer code: SDIY2018 at checkout!

Special thanks to my brother and sister for all of the hard work and making it so easy for us to look good!

Thanks for joining us on our adventures! Cheers!

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Slavetodiy.com is a paid affiliate for Lily Ann Cabinets and received discounted products to provide this review. As always, our opinions are honest and we promote only quality products that we use ourselves.

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The Dark and Moody Fireplace Update

Posted on January 17, 2020January 31, 2020 by admin

If you follow us, about a year ago I started thinking about the fireplace (and how NOT enamored with it I was). I dug up some fireplace inspiration in the hopes that I would find something awesome and reasonably cost friendly. The thing is, we have some really pretty millwork around the fireplace, but over the fireplace is an awful TV space, meant for one of those gigantic tube TVs. Aside from the part where it a terrible waste of space, it is a complete eyesore, as well.

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The more I looked, however, the more I realized that I have REALLY expensive taste. The fireplaces I love would require a complete gut, a big mess, and a LOT of money (like upwards of $3000 just for the fireplace surround). So, the alternative is to keep what I have and build upon it. I came up with a design that I think I’m really going to love, that’s very US, and added to it a bit. Rainman is going to kill me when he sees what I added to the project (but ultimately he’ll love how it looks).

This is what we’re starting with (the before):

The Dark and Moody Fireplace Update, Before We Started

Okay, so it’s not really that bad. I should stop my crying and just stay with what I have, right? (insert evil laughter). We both know that’s not going to happen. And, is there a reason that I’m showing the whole wall and not just the fireplace? Oh yes, there is. But, we’ll get to that.

Right now, it is a very classic-ish, plain fireplace with some pretty mill-work and a crazy, giant opening up top. This is a shot of it with the cabinet doors that I ordered from Cabinet Door World. So, yeah, you can make cabinet doors (pretty easily), however, with no working wood shop currently, and very little time, I ended up ordering them instead. The quality is very good and the ordering process was easy. I got them exactly the size of the opening, so I’m sure we’ll need to do some sanding once we dry fit the hardware.

For the color we chose Benjamin Moore’s “wrought iron” and I think it will be fantastic. I’m planning on using it for the cabinets we’re moving out of the kitchen into the mudroom area, also, so this will be a good test run. Check out the tutorial on how we used a great, super cheap spray gun to paint the cabinet doors!

Project tip: We were painting over a semi-gloss, so we sanded with a sanding block first, then wiped down the whole thing and let it dry before painting (a good three coats because of the color!).

The cabinet hardware, from House Of Antique Hardware is still backordered, so I will update once that comes in and we get the doors up, but for now, I couldn’t WAIT to show you how amazing the fireplace looks with a fresh coat of paint! Drum roll, please.

It blows my mind sometimes how much a simple color change can transform a space! (And yes, I’m planning on painting the walls… but there are more dining room projects that have to happen first, like the new doors and the stone veneer on the wall to the left of the fireplace… Welcome to my project A.D.D.)

And one more, just because I’m so in love:

Project Update:

You’ll remember that we weren’t actually done, I just had to show you the paint because I was way too excited. The most difficult part of the project was still to come: actually installing the doors over the fireplace.

A quick word of advice: If you have to work with your spouse, find something that works for you. I find a combination of wine and a mute button work best when he’s doing something for me. I throw in some compliments and thank yous about the awesomeness of his work and shut my mouth. If I have the urge to OPEN my mouth and say something, I open it and insert wine. It has worked out pretty well thus far and has yielded tremendous results.

I ordered the doors so they exactly fit in the opening. That means that in order to account for the fact that the opening is not square and unlevel areas on the mantel, the doors had to be dry-fit, then trimmed down. Now, let me tell you, this is the most Rainman-iest project in Rainman land. It also means that we couldn’t paint them until they were fitted and trimmed.

Full disclosure: I love this man.

First, was the problem of explaining why we needed to build trim above to act as a stop for the doors and fill in the dead space above when the doors are closed. It’s not that he doesn’t understand my “I don’t want a gap above the doors”, it’s just that explaining something conceptually doesn’t always translate to something concrete in his brain. So, a little while later, he devised a solution.

“YES, my love, that will fill in the gap. It’s perfect. What’s the next step?” (sips wine)

Back to Rainman Land:

This installation involves a plumb-bob, multiple levels, obsessive measuring, remeasuring, shimming, shimming again, dry fitting, shimming again. Measuring again. Splitting the difference. Rainman muttering about the lack of squareness in the opening. Let’s just say that I may or may not have started drinking before 5 PM that day (but once again, in my hurry to slap it up there and be done with it, I’m quite sure it wouldn’t have been so downright balanced and lovely in the end).

After it was shimmed (I don’t mean to undersell the length of that process), I held the doors while he aligned the hinges (more wine, more wine, more wine), and eventually, after much careful sanding and trimming, the doors were hung, and had all the clearance they needed to open and close.

Now, we are waiting on it to be not blustery weather so we can take the doors down and paint them. And then we will actually be done.

Update: Finally painted!

Check out our post on how to use this awesome little paint gun and get that professional, WOW finish! You can find the paint gun we used, the critter spray products siphon gun, on Amazon.

I’m really fond of drum rolls, so let’s do that again. Here’s a shot with the doors on and DONE!

And one with the doors painted, on, and CLOSED. WOOT! (Can’t see the TV, can ya, Russ?)

It may seem like a small thing to other people, but this project has been on the list for a long time. It’s just a matter of making it a priority and having the time to do it. But, of course, that makes each little change that much more awesome!

Here is the breakdown:

Project Cost:

Benjamin Moore Paint and supplies: $96.66
Two Cabinet doors: $149.57 (delivered)
House of Antique Hardware 2X Pair of 9″ Smooth Iron Flush Mount Spear Strap Hinges: $43.94

Total: $290.17

And just for fun, let’s see that before and after one more time:

It sure is amazing what some doors, paint, and a light fixture can do to a room, right??? And, here’s a shot with what it looks like with the dining table and chairs (which will soon be replaced, but that’s a story for another day!).

I would love to see before and afters on your own paint projects! Thanks for playing with us and, of course, cheers to all of your updates in the New Year and check out more project awesomeness on our blog.

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Charcuterie Boards: Easy Appetizers For Holiday Entertaining To Wow Your Guests

Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by admin

I know you’ve been stalking those beautiful Charcuterie Boards on Pinterest and Instagram, don’t lie. I too am LOVING the whole concept, and we recently hosted a Black Friday Party and just SLAYED the appetizers, presentation and all. I’m going to show you what we did, where we got our supplies and show you how they all came out- you can totally do this!

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So, one of the things I was wondering when I gathered all of the goodies to make the boards (which we MOSTLY did with platters, but it’s the same concept) is if they would actually get eaten. To my surprise, people REALLY did dig in and eat just about everything but the garnish!

And, you know what’s so COOL? I got almost everything for the boards from Costco (and since Sams carries many of the same things, I’m betting you could shop this same list there).

The other coolest thing: I gave her all of the stuff and my daughter made all of the boards so I could finish cleaning and setting up the rest of the party. It’s so awesome having artistic kids!

Charcuterie Boards: Easy Appetizers For Holiday Entertaining To Wow Your Guests

Step One: You don’t actually need those $200 boards. Use different cutting boards and platters you already have. Have some antique silver or pewter platters? Those work, too! I have a ton of little ramekins that I use for sauces etc every day and these work PERFECTLY in this instance to hold sauces or juicy things that you don’t want soaking the surrounding foods (nobody likes soggy crackers).

Step Two: Shop your list!

Get something to put all those dips and goodies on: We shopped Costco for crackers (we like Carr’s Water Table Crackers), Hawaiian Rolls, Artisan Breads, mini Naan bread, Stacy’s Pita Chips etc. These are to make little sandwiches and sample sauces, cheeses, and meats.

Salty foods: Black, green, and kalamata olives. Cocktail dill pickles, marinated artichoke hearts, stuffed tomatoes/peppers (Costco has a Charcuterie platter with these already made!), marinated mushrooms, and heart of palm.

Fresh, colorful foods: Cherry or grape tomatoes, cranberries, grapes, kiwis, strawberries, blueberries and pomegranates. Try to find good ones that are in season!

Cheeses: Costco has an artisan cheese section by the wine. Get an assortment of stinky cheeses, soft cheeses, marinated mozzarella balls, etc. Try some new ones!

Meats: In the same section as the cheese there are artisan and fancy meats: pepperoni, prosciutto, and smoked salmon. I went WAY overboard on meat. Keep in mind how big your platters are!

Garnish: Herbs are great for garnish to add a little green in places that need it.

Sauces and Dips: We used tzatziki, hummus, spinach dip (Knorr vegetable dip with fresh chopped spinach instead of cooked), cream cheese and red chili pepper spread (for the salmon).

Crunchy foods: We used pine nuts, but you can do little bowls of walnuts, pistachios, etc, also.

Preparing: It’s really tough to time this right, but with a little common sense, you can get these out just as your guests are arriving.

Tip: Not feeling creative? Use a picture from Pinterest and copy the board (the greatest form of flattery!).

Start with your crackers and room temperature items (black olives, nuts, etc). Then move to cutting the cheeses and meats (when you’re done, stick them back in the fridge to keep them cool until you’re ready to add them to the platters). Next add the cold fruits, the cheeses and meats, and finally the cold sauces and dips in ramekins.

The last thing you should be doing is toasting your bread just before the guests arrive!

Tip: Use clean, white flour sack towels to wrap over your warm rolls to keep them warm and moist until people start digging in!

Arranging: The idea is to keep sets of complementary foods next to each other. On the smoked salmon platter we had the chili jelly and cream cheese and water crackers nearby to build a little sandwich on.

If you have something especially unusual or you just like labelling things, you can make little Alice in Wonderland signs “Try me on a cracker with red jelly and cream cheese!” These cardholders on Amazon are super cute and reusable!

Displaying: I like using all of my serveware! If you have cake stands, etc, get those out and put your desserts on them. It gives the table different heights and depths.

For fun centerpieces (that don’t take up a ton of room) check out these wine bottle cork fairy lights to put in your saved wine bottles- at about fifty cents apiece you really can’t go wrong! It gives the table some additional interest, height, and color!

These little porcelain ramekins are awesome and we use them for individual dipping sauces all the time. They have been super hardy and durable!

As you can see, I use the platters as a centerpiece and layer around them. We almost always have deviled eggs (because they’re MY favorite) and adding pies makes for a fun evening paired with your favorite wines and spirits. That beautiful wooden cake stand comes with a pretty glass dome and I use it all the time! The egg plate and four bowl server are both from Pottery Barn, but unfortunately I don’t think they’re available anymore.

For more ways to use your saved wine bottles, we have a Great Wine Bottle Post on upcycling! And those low white porcelain serving bowls with the bread and crackers are one of my new favorite brands: Dowan on Amazon, their stuff is sturdy, well made, sourced responsibly, and sturdy!

Do you have favorite goodies that you serve around the holidays? If you have combos you love on charcuterie boards, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!

Check out more great content on our blog!

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

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How To Use All of Those Wine Bottles You Saved

Posted on November 25, 2019June 16, 2020 by admin

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I collect things with some vague notion of re-purposing them in the future. Well, I’ll have to admit, I may have let the wine bottle collection get a little out of hand. So, I came up with a few ways to use them and even smuggle some of them out of the house, legitimately. Check out this inspiration and maybe you too can get your collection under control.

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.

The first step was gathering all of my collected bottles in one place and doing a mini-inventory. With the few ideas I had, I needed to sort them by shape, size, and color… and of course figure out what I was gifting and what I was keeping for me.

How To Use All of Those Wine Bottles You Saved

Having a usable workspace in the guest bedroom gave me a little time to be in work on this and not have to put everything away again.

1: Holiday Decorating

The first thing I did was weed out the bottles that I want to keep. I like interesting shapes and, of course, different heights, etc. I like a varied collection that adds interest in the display. I did a test order of some SUPER inexpensive fairy lights and used a few of the bottles in my fall decor.

Saved Wine Bottles: How To Use Them This Holiday Season: As you can see by our cork collection, we’re committed to the process

They are really pretty! But, the real thing I’m looking forward to is seeing them in the Christmas decor. I think these will look spectacular on the stairs, especially once I get all of the greenery up! I used to sometimes think big foyers were a waste of space, but the look during the holidays makes it all worth it!

Now, we’ll see if the cats leave them alone. My guess is I’ll have some smashed glass to contend with, but we’ll see.

Here they are with some eucalyptus/fir garland! What do you think?

2: Holiday gifting

I’m always in search of Christmas gift basket ideas throughout the year, and I found a brilliant way to make my problem someone else’s. For my “extras”, *cough *cough, I’m going to do gift sets with tabletop wine bottle lanterns. There are very reasonable wick kits on Amazon to make these, and with bottles of lantern fluid, and a cute wrap job, what’s not to like? If you want to go SUPER thrifty, skip the lantern fluid and basket… a bottle with wick kit, a pretty ribbon, and a handwritten note works just as well!

3: Backyard lanterns

I’ve seen these lanterns mounted with brackets on backyard fences and I dig that too (especially with our evening mosquito problem)! I found some brackets that I am going to try with the smaller bottles around the interior of the pool enclosure and see how it looks, and more importantly, if it works. Of course, you can bring your bottle down to the hardware store and just fit the pieces together there. I had to laugh, finding these for sale without bottles was challenging. Me: Um, we’re good on bottles.

They also work brilliantly as tabletop outdoor lanterns.

4) Watering your plants!

With a wine bottle, and a terracotta watering spike, you can forget about your plants for weeks and they’ll still be going strong! These are essential for people like me, who have trouble not killing plants inside.

Winebottlewaterer

I know if I don’t get this wine bottle habit under control I will never hear the end of it. So, here goes!

Do you have any great uses for wine bottles? Please share in the comments below! And, of course, check out more great content on our blog!

Cheers!

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Classic, Elegant Christmas Decor Inspiration and Ideas on a Budget

Posted on November 21, 2019 by admin

I’ve been sneaking Christmas decor out of the closet, but I guess I’m not super stealthy. The thing is, I don’t have a lot a lot of energy, and I really have to pace myself. So, if everything but the tree is up before Thanksgiving, so be it. This is my favorite time of the year, and the little white twinkling lights just give me the Christmas feels! So, here is what I have done so far:

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The exterior: If it was up to me, we’d be done. I have wreaths with red ribbons and window candles with automatic light sensors and flickering flames (for about $5 each, I thought these were a steal). Okay, maybe some lighted garland around the porch would be cool, but, we’ll see. Clark Griswold is already harassing me about adding more lights, but I’m standing my ground.

Classic Christmas Decor: Wreaths with red ribbons in the windows and window candles

This is a great example of the unpredictable weather in Coastal NC: My roses are still blooming, my hydrangea leaves haven’t wilted yet, my Christmas stuff is out, and there are still tons of leaves falling.

This is a close up of the basic wreaths: Very basic but should hold up well outdoors, and they were cheap enough that it won’t break my heart if they’re ruined. They’re perfectly matched with the window candles!

This is a great example of “be where you are.” I am not in love with my fireplace set up currently, but it’s where we are, so I just decorated the crap out of it. I am REALLY proud of my garland I put together, with a willow/eucalyptus garland combined with a basic fir garland (if you don’t have any of these, go to Michael’s after Christmas when they’re pretty much giving them away. They’re on racks on the wall and I got the basic lighted garlands for about $5 each. The faux silver dollar eucalyptus and preserved roses arrangement I added as an afterthought and I love the combo. (Check out our great post on how to preserve roses!)

This awesome Ethan Allen Vase I use for every season with different stems because I ADORE it! The faux cranberries make a gorgeous, simple seasonal arrangement (tip: open them outside and let them air out a little… they have a heavy chemical scent but are beautiful once they’ve breathed a little they’re great!).

For the story of why our turtle inspires us, check out the story on Our Instagram!

And finally, I’m still in work on these faux eucalyptus mixed garlands, and there is a great garland tutorial on our blog so you can make your own much more cheaply than buying them! And I’m just loving the cool led cork-bottle fairy lights, if you’re looking for what to do with all those bottles you saved.

How To Make Your Own Eucalyptus-Fir Mixed Christmas Garland For A Fraction Of The Price

I would love to hear what you think about our Christmas style in the comments below! Do you have any Christmas decor traditions at your house?

Check out more of our decor and project inspiration over on our blog. Cheers!

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Mashup Monday 10: 10 Inspired Christmas Mantels You’ll Want To Copy

Posted on November 16, 2019 by admin

As I was starting my Christmas Mantel this year, I started looking for Pinspiration (and Insta-inspiration) even though I sort of knew which direction I was heading. I am totally crushing on Silvery Dollar Eucalyptus and did all of my staircase railing garlands in a Eucalyptus-Fir combo (Garland Tutorial Here), but I felt like I wanted to kick up the mantel garland a little bit.

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Here’s a slice of my mantel with a lighted Fir-Willow-Dollar Eucalyptus Garland.

Mashup Monday 10: 10 Inspired Christmas Mantels You'll Want To Copy — Mashup Monday 10: 10 Inspired Christmas Mantels You’ll Want To Copy: Slave To DIY 2019 Mantel

If you’ve been here before you know I’m sort of a traditional girl and I’m not a farmhouse lady at all. In any case, here are ten of my favorites if you’re looking for inspiration!

This first mantel has something I will never achieve: a well arranged greenery adorning a fantastic black fireplace. I do NOT have the arranging gift, but this one from Kristine Hall on Instagram (@restoringlansdowne) is absolutely incredible. And the best little owl!!! I just love it.

The next one from B. Michelle on Instagram (@deckthehalls365) is balanced, classic, and has roses (you know I’m a sucker for red roses). Simple greenery, lanterns, and metallic patina pinecones. A+. I may have to bring the roses out!

Mastering the art of the swag is an absolute gift and Jodi Bond (@houseonasugarhill) nailed it. A simple, round gold mirror and fantastic alternating-height candlesticks make for a simple and elegant mantel. I just want to curl up!

What I love about this next one is how warm and homey it is. It’s rustic, and simple. The authentic greenery and old-fashioned stockings sort of taking me back to being a kid. Well done from @ChristmasHeartandHome on Instagram.

You know why I dig this next one? Tammy (@VintageWhiteFarmhouse on Instagram) has made a very plain room INCREDIBLE. Take away her decorating style and that fireplace surround might even look dated. But, NO, it’s charming, tasteful, and cozy! Her curtains look just like my DIY Restoration Hardware Knock Off Velvet Curtains and that table is to die for… oops I got sidetracked. The Christmas mantel is perfection, and flanked by two oversize arrangements, it’s JUST RIGHT. The punky brewster greenery mantel is so well done (I have mad jealousy). Classic candlesticks… just awesome!

I gotta tell you, I am a sucker for white lights and greenery. This is monochrome white at it’s absolute best, balanced with 50 different white textures (and a fantastic light fixture, builtins, and enviable coffee table). Love from Erin (@MyTexasHouse on Instagram).

The problem is, even when gold is OUT of style (which it’s not) I love it, and having an amazing gold mirror to cap it all off certainly helps. I love the simple gold infused garland and white/gold combination. Cheers to Jasmin @thedecordiet on Instagram. Why is it all these Texas chicks have a strong decor game? Must be something in the water!

Another incredible gold gilded mirror to cap the mantel and a magnolia leaf, fruit, and fir drapey garland that’s just to die for from Suzanne Zingg (@suzanne_zingg on Instagram). The mixed height/texture/finish/size candlesticks are so well done against crisp white millwork. Classic and eclectic!

My favorite color combo is green and white (it’s sort of where most of my decor lives) and I just adore this mantel from @tuftandtrim on Instagram. White hydrangea mixed with greenery and dollar eucalyptus (totally crushing on this combo!!). Even with the farmhouse hints it’s classicly done, with warmth for the whole family.

This mantel I saved for last because I adore the way she did the greenery and how balanced the whole look is (oh, and little white lights). Lori (@thehumblehaven on Instagram) did an exquisite job on her mantel!

Do you have a favorite mantel style (or pet peeve)? Share in the comments section below!

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