Dining room "re-decorating"

We have lived in this house for over 2 years now and have been using the same 4-seater table that I acquired right out of college. This is not a bad thing, as it's a perfectly good table, and it certainly has held a lot of memories for us. It just wasn't large enough for the space, and it was time to get something new.

Decorating with thrift store finds

I took advantage of my spring break last week to take a little spring break from blogging as well. I am back now, feeling refreshed, and ready for my next break. I'm kidding. Sort of.

During my spring break, I had a dentist appointment in the next town. While I was in town, I managed to squeeze in a little trip to my favorite thrift store. i love ducking into thrift stores and antique shops. It's like a treasure hunt- you might end up empty-handed, or you might hit the jackpot. You just never know. I didn't find a whole lot, but I did find three really neat things. I found a glass water carafe that looks like a milk bottle, a silver platter, and a darling miniature pitcher and bowl wash set.

Spring decorating

I love spring time. I love how everything comes back to life after a bare, bleak winter. I love seeing all the new baby animals and watching the trees and flowers begin to bloom. 

Since I can't live outside, I like to bring as much of that brightness and liveliness into my home by decorating for spring. Last year, I decorated more with the holidays, but this year, I wanted something that would last through St. Patrick's Day and Easter, and carry us on into summer. 

"Antique" tool bin

Most of us can't afford a lot of real antiques. This leaves us no choice but to get creative, and get creative we shall.

I recently found these cute toolboxes in the "outdoor" section of a local dollar store. Two of them came home with me.

Farmhouse style

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I am in love with farmhouse decor. I'm really in love with farmhouses, but we just moved a year and a half ago, and I'm pretty sure we couldn't afford an antique farmhouse anyway. And if we could, we would have to buy one that needed A LOT of work, and well, we both work full time and the renovation would take several years to complete. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to disguise my 2008 Ranch house (which I love, by the way. Not complaining) as a modern farmhouse.

Emorie's big girl room: a stenciled shelf back

We are currently creating a "big girl" room for our 3 1/2 year old daughter. We have been slowly but steadily working on this room for the better part of a year with the idea of slowly transitioning her into the bigger room. When we were expecting late last year, we began working a little more quickly on the room. When we miscarried, we kept creating the room even though our nursery wouldn't be needed.

It's here! 2014 Christmas House Tour!

I hope everyone is doing well. I have finally finished all my Christmas decorating and I couldn't be more pleased with the result. I probably did more decorating this year than ever and I love how it looks. I will be a little sad when it is time to take it down and pack it all away. Currently excluded from the tour are our master bedroom and bathroom and our nursery.

A Christmas-related DIY

I love apothecary jars. I have been wanting to buy three of them for quite some time, but I can never seem to find them on sale for a good price. And that's a problem, when I want to buy three or more of them.

It all started with a trip to the Dollar Tree this week. I already had a tall vase similar to this one:

A cheap DIY: Burlap framed gallery

We had this small, blank wall behind our front door. The previous owners had a coat tree here, but I was afraid it would clutter up our living room and discourage family members from hanging up coats in the coat closet. I wanted to do something, though, and I kept coming back to something simple and something reflective of our family.

I love monograms. If you have been to our house, you know there is no shortage of items with a "B" on them. We have my daughter's name hanging over her bed, a "B" hanging over our bed, a wreath with our initial on the front porch... the list goes on and on.

I knew I wanted to do a burlap monogram.

Throwback: Christmas 2013

Last year was our first Christmas in our new house. I love Christmas, and I wasted no time putting up four trees and decorating every room in the house.

Re-purposing: Bookcases

You know what I'm a little in love with right now? Book cases. They look great, they add storage, they're easy to customize, and you can use them in every room. 

We have two of them in our office. 

High/low knockoffs: West Elm

Tomorrow morning, I will meet and begin teaching a brand new crop of eighth graders. My summer passed quickly, but it was a good summer and I'm happy to be teaching again. I'm even more happier to be continuing my blog series on high/low knock-offs.

This week, I am sharing my top five West Elm knock offs. They are, as always, in no particular order. Prices are included. 

5. West Elm Glass Jug Table Lamp,  $169

Impromptu projects: my office book cases

Do you ever get bored and just decide to tackle something in your home? It could be a decorating project, a building task, or just re-arranging a room. I did just that yesterday.

The book cases in my office have been bugging me lately- they seemed so cluttered and boring. I took everything off of them and started from scratch. I cruised Pinterest for ideas and found the lovely bookcases of two blogs I read on my Bloglovin' feed- Thrifty Decor Chick and Centsational Girl. Granted, my finished product looks nowhere near as fantastic as their finished products, but I do think they look less boring and cluttered than they did before.

Here is my before shot:

Yes, I know. It could definitely be worse.