Design Inspiration Friday: The Entry Corner Nook

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Coming into a house is your first glimpse and feel of the home. I love how each of these entries has a corner and they've done something unique. This top one is a favorite with that velvet settee, the herringbone brick floor, and the molding. Oh and those urns- complete package!

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Style Me Pretty

I love all these vintage family photos.

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House and Home

Don't you love the idea of a dresser with sailboats on top?

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I love the tailored skirted table in this nook. 

These images are great inspirations for our home since we are looking to spice things up in the entryway this year. This weekend, we should be getting some wood and doors delivered for our basement. Did I tell you that we're my husband is going to start working on putting up walls down there? I'll show you how it's coming along soon. Have a lovely weekend!

The Folding Screen and Silhouette

First of all, welcome to my blog if you are coming over from I Heart Organizing. Glad you stopped here! I'm working on making different projects in our home and this is where I'm documenting it all. Keep coming back to see tutorials, tips and things I'm working on.

Children's bedrooms are fun to decorate especially when you have your children's input about what they want their room to look like. Our daughter Lauren helped me decide on the color and she helped paint her room. When I brought home the folding screen, she helped pick out the fabric too! This girl loves color and is very artistic so we want her room to reflect her beautiful personality. I'm showing only some of the room since this is still a work in progress (some other furniture in here needs to be painted).

Two great projects which have enhanced this room are the folding screen and silhouette picture. I talked about the folding screens in this post.

 You can see we have a gallery started on the wall with some of her artwork up there (more to come). 

Making a silhouette portrait has been on my crafting bucket list for awhile so it's nice to have something done for the new year. Here's how I did it:

                                   1. Take a profile shot with as much light as possible behind the person.

2. I went to the edit section of Picassa and made the picture into a pencil sketch. You really just want the lines of the profile to stick out the most. With editing you could even lighten most of the dark behind the person. In Picassa, you can crop the image and make it a bit larger. 

3. Carefully cut it out and paint or use a sharpie. I painted mine black, but I love silhouettes in different colors too. I did one in pink for my daughter's tea party . Also, using card stock paper is best since it can handle the paint better than printing paper. 

Now for the screen: Here's the before shot when I brought it home from the thrift store. It was cute, but not the color we wanted and the hinge needed to be fixed. I took out the backing and swapped out the pink fabric for the citrus green stripe. When reupholstering, just hold the fabric tight as you are stapling so that you don't get creases. My husband fixed the hinge for us and now all three pieces are together again.

This room is starting to take shape! I really like how these projects turned out. Making a silhouette portrait is a great way to customize your home and bring in some character (it's also a cheap thrill since it won't cost hardly anything). Also, putting the screen behind the bed brought in a great layering effect. Have you ever put a folding screen behind a bed? Or done a silhouette portrait? Do tell. 

Paint- Watery by Shermin Williams
Screen- Thrift Store (I think it was a Pottery Barn Kids)
Fabric on screen- Fabric.com
Owl pillow- T.J Maxx
Garland- Rifle Paper Co.
Quilt- treasured gift from Grandma
Floor lamp- vintage, yard sale find, spray painted white
Bed- Thrift Store find, painted

I'm liking up this post to:
Not Just a House Wife
The Shabby Nest
Thirty Handmade Days

Pinkies Up!

Darlings! We had a very fun tea party birthday for our daughter this past weekend. The girls enjoyed eating tea sandwiches, decorating sugar cookies, and stamping fans. I want to show you some of the details. 

 I used sheets and wrapping paper as our table linens. Wrapping paper is my 'go-to' table runner for any birthday party because once the party is done then you can just throw away the sticky mess that was on  the table. I found this gold striped one at Target.

The herbal teas were put in labeled mason jars and I made a lemon strawberry cake for a dessert. The banner I got here. I made a silhouette of our birthday girl and posted it up rather quickly, but I think it turned out nice. Tomorrow, I will show you my trick on how to make these. 

My dear friend Andrea made these amazing lemon tarts for the party. She has an incredible food blog and has a tart recipe similar to the one she made here.

The girls had fun decorating paddle fans with stamps and a pencil eraser to make dots.
Overall, it was a sweet themed birthday party. Do you chose themes for your children's birthdays? I think when there is a theme to the party it is easier to do unique decorating, food and activities.

Design Inspiration Friday: Painted Interior Doors

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Many designers paint their interior doors a color or black because it gives the room and door a more sophisticated look. The idea really harks back to old historical homes. When I think of painted doors I think of black doors in pre-war London, Colonial times, or Jane Austin time period. I recently painted our front door on the inside a black and it's made a big difference (I'll show you soon). I plan on painting more doors in our home and rounded up some beautiful examples.

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Even painting the trim around a white door gives a room a richer look.


                                                      LGN
Jenny transformed a plain door by adding molding and then painting the whole thing a bright yellow. Genius!


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I really love the element of a surprise of color. This pocket door looks amazing with the rug and the gray tones in the kitchen.

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I've seen a lot of black millwork painted around doors and think this is an amazing look too without it being too dark since there are all the window panes.


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             I'm crazy about this rich green and nail head trim.


                                              Design Sponge

                                     Lovely Life

                                                   Manhattan Nest

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                    Now who's inspired to paint a door? I know I am. Have a lovely weekend!

Tea Party Preparation

We love Birthday parties at our house. Even though we have four girls we have never had a tea party birthday theme, but this will all change soon. I made this little invite by tracing a teapot from our tea party game. What better way to celebrate a winter birthday than have a tea at high noon, darling! Here are some of the inspirations for the party.

                                                 
top left/ doilies   top right/ botanical garland
middle left/ craft- paper fans  middle right/ pretty fan decorations
bottom left/ cake with flags  bottom right/ tea cups galore

I'll post pictures this coming week of the party. Pinkies up!

D.I.Y Fuller Curtains

 I have to admit sewing is not my favorite thing to do. However, I can sew (sort of) straight lines so that means I can sew curtains! In general, you can save money by making your own curtain panel and it's pretty simple. There are many tutorials on how to sew curtains or not sewing curtains using a fabric tape. I really like this one tutorial. However, what I want to share is a

TIP 

on How To Make Your Curtains Fuller:

Buy twin white flat sheets for the liner (you can get cheap ones at Walmart for $5/per sheet). A twin sheet will cover the average 54" for fabric width. Major time saver folks! Since a sheet is already sewn you don't need to do any extra sewing except for attaching the sheet/liner onto the fabric. My friend, Chelsey, told me this is how she sews her curtains and it really cuts your time down in sewing when things are pretty much ready. 

                        You might have to cut a little extra off the side like I did, but overall it's so much easier.

I didn't even iron the sheet for you, but you can see how nicely it hangs!

The fabric is from fabric.com called Felton River by Swavelle Mill Creek. It's an indoor/outdoor fabric so it will stand up better to sun damage and cleans easier. 

Once you get the sheet on back, the curtain hangs better, is protected from fading and it doesn't take too long to sew it on the back. Have you used a sheet on the backs of your curtains before? 

Design Inspiration Friday: Kitchen Counter Stools

I am starting a series for my Friday posts titled Design Inspiration Friday. I really like the idea of one day a week focusing on a different topic of design or furniture so let's get this party started!

Since we moved into our home I've been trying to decide what I will do about our bar stool situation in the kitchen. We don't have matching counter stools currently and I haven't been in a rush to buy anything yet. I guess I'm still working on whether I want a punch of color or more of a neutral look. Do you feel that it takes some time to debate about a piece of furniture too? I rounded up some inspiration for us. 

Country Living

I really love the look of these Parisian bistro style stools with their geometric design. 

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Sarah Richardson

Blue chairs or stools with a matching blue counter base has a wow effect.

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Color is always a great option.

de Giulio 

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House Beautiful

Simplicity is always classic.

Alice Lane

Absolutely Beautiful Things

I decided to not even look at anything upholstered since I know what that would look like in a week with young kids. No thank you! What I need is a counter stool that is practical and wipe-able for children. I really like to look at Craigslist for awhile before I go out and buy a piece of furniture. On Craigslist you can find something unique for a good deal or paint some bright color over a chair that needs updating. Have you found the perfect counter stool for your kitchen? 

D.I.Y Chalkboard

I want to share with you an easy way to make a large chalkboard. First of all, I adore how versatile chalkboards are and how they can make your room feel catered to any event or regular living. We made our chalkboard before Christmas and used it above our mantel. 

Then, I put this up for New Year's:

I discovered at Home Depot they make pre-cut chalkboards that are only $10 and ready to frame. My husband made a simple frame using 1" x 4" pine boards and cut 45-degree angles with a miter saw. Once the boards were cut we adhered them to the chalkboard using liquid nails. We clamped the boards overnight. After everything is adhered then you can paint or stain the boards. 

What we used:
1" x 4" pine ($20)
Liquid nails  ($4)
Clamps  (You'll use this to hold down the glue overnight)
Pre-cut chalkboard at Home Depot ($10)
stain or paint frame (I used a walnut stain that I sanded down)

I decided to stain the boards to give it a rustic feel. After I stained the boards, I wiped them down with a cloth to rub in the stain in a bit more. Then, I sanded the boards until I got the result I was looking for. Here I am in our beautiful unfinished basement- which holds much potential, but is also a great work space for projects right now.

We've been using our chalkboard now for our menus too, which I think makes the everyday meal feel a bit more special. Chalkboards look great in any room. Don't you think? I know we'll be making more of these easy chalkboards for other rooms especially since they are quick, easy and affordable to make. Have you ever made a chalkboard?