The Money Pit: Summer Porch Makeover

It seems like forever and a day since I wrote any posts about this old house, and that's a shame because we've been doing TONS of projects to it over the last few years to spruce it up and make it our own.  Back when we were still house hunting, one of my main requirements was that we have a large porch.  When we decided to buy Matt's parents old house, I was thrilled that it met that criteria with flying colors.  We have a beautiful screened in sleeping porch that actually runs the whole length of our house.  It's one of the best features in the spring, summer, and fall months.  Whenever we are entertaining that's where people tend to congregate.  That's why it's surprising that I've never taken the time to really thoughtfully decorate and create the space.  It's always been an odd, mis-matched grouping of furniture/storage area.  This year I decided to do a whole makeover on our awesome outdoor space, to make it as beautiful as it is functional.  Here's my inspiration.

From top left corner:

1. For seating we've always had random folding chairs that we can pull out, but I spotted these great wooden club chairs at World Market.  The best part is you can change the canvas anytime you want.  I chose red and yellow to match the color scheme, a stylized version of primary colors, and I'll be adding pops of gold here and there.  Image from World Market.


2. A bright turquoise patterned rug will add a pop of color to our concrete floor. Image from rugsUSA.


3. Succulents and greens in fun, eclectic white containers. Image from Accent Decor.


4. Brightly colored tables will bring a pop of yellow.  Spray paint has been my best friend lately, I've been re-vamping tons of furniture pieces with it.  Image from Etsy.


5. I love the palms, black and white stripes, and pops of yellow in this outdoor space. Image from Cottage and Vine.

Ahhhh, so excited.  Can't wait to share our newly decorated space! 

xo - Emily

Decorate: DIY Home Decor Projects

It's another round-up of fun posts that I created over on Paper Muse Press.  Not to brag, but it's a pretty great blog, and if you like anything related to cooking, home decor, DIY, weddings, basically all facets of lifestyle, it's one you must check out.  But now moving on from that shameless plus, I'd like to share a few of my favorite projects from the past year.  There's nothing like a home decor project, whether very small or large to spruce up your space!

Probably one of my favorite pieces of artwork in our home (and one of our most pinned projects) this antique window came out of our basement during the remodel.  I decided to spruce it up and add it to our newly refreshed bedroom.  On a side not, I can't stop painting things gold, it's a problem.  See the Antique Monogrammed Window Artwork post for the step by step.

Nothing adds a bit of personality to a table quicker than chargers, and these were made out of the simplest material out there, plywood.  Paint them any color you want with various patterns, and whoola, a customized tablescape.  The best part is you can paint the opposite side a different color, or the whole thing for a whole new look!  Pop on over and check out the Plywood Charger DIY post. 

I love a good ombre dye project.  I mean who doesn't really?  I decided to try out this craze with some very simple, no sew curtains in bright beautiful turquoise blue.  See my Ombre No Sew Curtain DIY here.  

I'm a huge vintage lover, and piece that's handed down from family members is even more special.  This old stool used to belong to my grandmother, and I decided to give it a refresh by covering the seat with some new oil cloth.  See the Vintage Stool Makeover here.  

And last, but certainly not least, the Washi Tape herb garden.  Washi tape is so fun, and it comes in a huge variety of colors and patterns, so it can be used for almost any project.  It's been stubbornly chilly here in the midwest, so I haven't even begun to think about planting my garden yet.  However a simple solution?  An indoor herb garden to tide you over til it warms up outside, made even more adorable with washi tape decor.  See the Indoor Washi Tape Herb Garden DIY here.

Thanks for checking out all my favorite home decor projects.  I hope you'll follow me over on Paper Muse Press for all my DIY projects, recipes, and more!

xo - Emily 

 

DIY Projects: Thanksgiving Decor

I'm not hosting Thanksgivign this year, but it doesn't mean my mind isn't running rampant with lots of fun ideas for what I would do to decorate our table.  I've been sharing a few of them around the internets.  They're super duper easy (like anyone can do them), and look like you spent hours and hours on them.  It's all about groupings of simple to make items, which is key if you're busy cooking a Thanksgiving feast. Pop on over and check them out! 

Here's the Fall Leaves Vases that I shared over on White Table Style.

 

And the super simple Squash and Taper Candle DIY on Paper Muse Press.  

Hooray for Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to gorge myself on delicious food, and spend lots of time with family and friends!

xo ~ Emily

The Money Pit: A Sea of Zinnias

So as promised the zinnias have bloomed, and despite this brutal heat have continued to spring up.  I think one of my very favorite things about this flower is that each one is truly individual.  Different colors and variations, each one's a little piece of eye candy.  

And here's a few of the other lovely blooms popping up to say hello...

I finally have my own scabiosa's in the garden.  They're some of my favorites!

And as always some cute nuggets, just because...

love, emmy-ray

The Money Pit: In the Garden (Summer 2011)

So I always complain to my husband about people who don't update their blogs, saying things like "why even have a blog", and "how hard is it to just update once a week?".  However low and behold, look who I've turned into, the once a month poster.  My apologies friends.  The good news, it's all due to being incredibly busy with tons of projects, and it's just plain silly not share them here, right?

I'll ease into things with some shots from around the house and in the garden that I took last week.  I really, really love my camera (a Canon Rebel T1i), and often forget how much I like taking pictures just for fun until I get around to snapping some shots.  I'm by no means a photographer, but with the image quality this thing produces it's hard not to "get into it".   

Rose bush in our back yard, and no I didn't alter the colors, they really are just that bright and lovely.

The first zinnia buds of the year.  I grew them from seeds and there's going to be a million of them.  I'll share more pics once they start blooming.

The day lilies are O.O.C. this year, some are almost 5 feet tall.

Matt arriving home from work, and the also gigantic rudbeckia growing next to the garage.

Red asiatic lilies and coneflower buds.

And some gratuitous dog pictures, just because I can't help myself...

Thanks for touring my garden.  What are you growing at your house/apartment this year?

love, emmy-ray

 

The Money Pit: Our Christmas House

I know, I know, I'm way behind posting something Christmas related, but hey I'm still in the spirit of the holidays so bear with me.  I love decorating for holidays, and not just Christmas, but I didn't go all out this year like I usually do.  Thankfully this year was super busy with jewelry orders, so it didn't leave me too much time to decorate.  However here's a little peek at our Christmas home.

Tiny tree with vintage ornaments.  This was Matt's only Christmas decoration when he was a bachelor.

Ornament and yarn wreath.  I made this puppy a few years ago and I still love it.

Christmas Cards!

In our house the tree isn't just for decoration.  It's a bit cluttered, but in the best way with ornaments in all shapes and sizes that all have memories attached to them.

Here's a few of my favorites:

and this awesome working vintage tree topper that I found last year at a flea market.  Score!

Love, emmy-ray

The Money Pit: Water is not a Homeowner's Best Friend

A few months ago we started smelling a musty aroma coming from the fireplace area.  Thinking it was just the old chimney that needed a good scrubbing of course we ignored it.  One day I went to clean off the mantle and noticed that one of my Hammerpress prints had some waves in it, you know the kind that paper gets when it gets wet and dries.  I went to pull the print down from the mantle and a 6 inch long piece of paint from the wall came along with it.  Much to our dismay there was water coming in from somewhere, the source of which we still haven't exactly uncovered.  So my lovely mantle that I worked so hard on went from looking like this...

to this...

I had tried to decide to repaint the 6 inch rip, as we were having a lot of friends over last weekend for a party.  However instead I ended up ripping a gigantic portion of peeling paint off.  Don't ask me what happened, I think I blacked out.  So what to do?  I came up with a temporary solution..

I stapled up some vintage fabric.  This way until we discover where the damage is coming from we can hide the peeling paint, and also the fabric is washable and of course easily removable.  Wah lah!

love, em

The Money Pit: Homemade Rug

I'm back at it again, re-arranging and decorating, which is one of my favorite things after all.  I decided after we inherited my grandparents dining room table, that I no longer wanted another table in our breakfast nook.  It seemed a little redundant to me for our current lifestyle, that is considering that we never used either table for anything other than storage space for our junk.  

I moved my vintage sectional into the spot, which creates a cozy sitting space.  My next big project is to make a slipcover for it that will help it match the kitchen a little better, probably in a red and white pattern.  However the space felt a little empty.  What was missing?  A rug.  After hours of scouring the internet and finding that what I wanted was going to cost me an arm and a leg I decided to go ahead and make my own using a heavy canvas fabric and fringe I found online.  

I bought a drop cloth at the hardware store to back it with and to give it a little more weight.

The final results (picture red and white patterned couches).

I think Ollie approves.

love, em

The Moneypit: Changes to the Kitchen

We're making some changes to the kitchen and I've been seeking out inspiration.  I want to put a sitting area in our breakfast nook, as we have only used the table that resides there once or twice to eat on, and we now have a complete formal dining room.  Plus whenever we host parties the kitchen is the place where most people like to gather and socialize.  

However I've been having trouble finding a interestingly designed sitting area for a kitchen.  Most are rather generic and boring, so I guess I'm left to my own devices.  But while browsing over at Apartment Therapy I did come across this lovely retro piece of renovation.  Gah, I die!  I'm loving everything about this space:

 

Isn't it adorable?

love, em  

Before and After: Housewarming Table

My friend recently bought a new house.  She's had to do a lot of work on it to get it to the point where she can move in, and it's been a long and troublesome journey for her.  For a housewarming gift I wanted to do something that would be extra special.  She's an art history major, and all around lover of all things hand made.  I think she owns more of my jewelry than any other person I know.  

My original idea was to paint some pots and put plants in them.  The plants were all on sale so I thought, maybe I should get a table for the plants, and then I though maybe I should just paint the table.  

I found this table at a local antique store.  It was not expensive but I liked the detailing on it, such as the top edge and the bevel on the lower shelf.  The wood laminate on the surface was starting to peel off from water damage, so I just went ahead and began ripping.  I was going to get rid of all of it, but thought it might be an interesting design element.

 

I sanded and spray painted it an off white satin.

I painted all the "exposed" areas of wood in a bright gold.

I painted some floral silhouettes in a deep Prussian blue color.  I referenced one of my favorite pattern makers, William Morris for some inspiration. I wanted it to look like this was what was underneath the top layer when it was pulled off, kind of a buried treasure.

 

I added some detailing in white.  I'm really happy with the results I think the white outlines really make it pop, however I almost liked the plain silhouettes more.  What do you think?

    

 

Finished with the plants I bought for it.  I hope she likes it!   

For the Love of Flowers: Leftovers

One of the best parts of doing floral arranging?  There's never a shortage of leftovers to enjoy...