The period after Halloween and pre-Christmas can be a little tricky for front porch decor. So let’s talk about transitioning your entryway! Lanterns and lush florals are my favorite way to strip out the spooky and lean into an elegant Thanksgiving vibe. Nothing adds a glow quite like fall lantern decor. In this post, we’ll explore the best places to shop for outdoor lanterns, tips and tricks for positioning them, and how to get maximum impact at minimal cost.…
Part art, part daydream, maps are powerful sources of inspiration. They help you plan, explore and learn. In fact, if it were up to my husband, they might just cover every wall in our home! We love to decorate with maps. People usually think of maps as functional tools, but we choose them for their design potential. So, let me share a few clever ways to use geography in YOUR home.…
Room inspiration can come when you least expect it. In this case, our bedroom design started with sea gulls. Yup, much to the chagrin of my husband (who calls them garbage birds)… I spotted a beautiful bird painting in the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby. Just looking at it made me happy. It was like going to the beach without leaving the store. Plus, it was just $23!…
Transitional spaces are often the “ugly ducklings” of our homes.
Hard to define and a challenge to decorate, they languish vacant and forgotten. I’ve used transitional spaces in my home to store moving boxes, surplus shoes and unused exercise equipment. There is a better way! So, what exactly is a transitional space? Quite literally, it’s an area of connection—that joins one room to the next.…
Want to see inside? Yeah, we did too!
One of my family’s favorite vacation activities is seeking decor inspiration from Parade of Homes-type tours. It is SO refreshing and energizing to see style influences from another area. In particular, we love to draw ideas from the beauty and originality of high-end homes, then translate that style into something more affordable and realistic we can use in our own rooms.…
Are you hoping to bring your dream kitchen to life, but aren’t quite ready to dive into a major renovation? The cost and time-investment for a kitchen update can be daunting. Never fear—you can get a refreshed look without a total revamp. Trust me, I’ve been there!
When we moved from Wisconsin to Indiana, we left behind a “dream kitchen” in our “forever” house.…
Have you ever stepped into a space that just oozed tranquility, where you instantly felt calm? It’s no accident—it’s by design. This soothing master bedroom started off as a bland box with a rather low ceiling, but careful color choices, cozy textiles and the right furniture choices have transformed it. Add in an unexpected DIY touch, and it’s now a welcoming sanctuary.
This master bedroom retreat is my mother’s latest renovation.…
The battle for the one office space in our home lasted just five minutes.
I lost—or should I say willingly relinquished? As a professor, my husband can fill an entire room with his books, binders and research. There’s no doubt, the office should be his. However, I’m now working remotely several days a week and need a functional space too. Here’s the challenge: The only option for my office is the living room.…
There is nothing better than a great bookshelf or étagère (the French term for a set of hanging or open shelves used to display collections) to add warmth to your room. But bookshelves can also look like a cluttered, frenetic mess if you’re not careful. Have you noticed when reading design magazines or touring parade homes that the most stunning rooms always have well-edited shelves?
Has anyone else felt deeply inspired, but also completely overwhelmed when beginning to plan your nursery? A quick search on Pinterest, Houzz, Instagram and Google yields so many amazing ideas, it can be difficult to chart a course. Plus, if you’re addicted to HGTV and décor magazines like me, you will get pulled in even more design directions. So, what to do? How to start?…