Creative Decorating for a Tuesday

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Use two (or three) tablerunners horizontally across a table. Gives you a different look and they can double as placemats.

marthastewart.com

So let's just say that it's Tuesday (because it is :-) ) and you're looking around your house wondering what little thing you could do today to shake up your decorating a bit. Just a little. Not much. Just something fun or different that you may not have tried before. The list of things you could do is actually unending, but here are some ideas...

If you've never layered art on your fireplace mantel, why not try it for a different look?...

myhomeideas.com

If your artwork is too small, make it bigger by attaching a thin piece of painted wood to the back like Just A Girl did for her spring mantel...

Paint a chalkboard on a door...

Country Living Photo Keith Scott Morton

We've talked about painting the backs of bookshelves and papering the backs of bookshelves, but why not make it a little more interesting by doing a little of both and mixing up the patterns?...

idealhomemagazine.co.uk

Arrange your books by color...

Style At Home

Paint a funky mirror a fabulous color...

marthastewart.com

Add some lace to your favorite pillow...

Style At Home

Mix up your bar stools with different finishes or paint colors...

Style At Home

Update your family photos and make them a focal wall in one of your rooms or hallways...

myhomeideas.com

Think outside the box on a new way to accessorize your dining room walls. This dining room wall would be a great one to use for inspiration!...

Photo by Michael Partenio via House Of Turquoise

Paint your front door a bold or just different color...

houseandhome.com

There was a question in the comments on my decorating with mirrors post on whether I knew how to make a new mirror look old. I actually didn't, but found some sources that do....

e-how article How Do I Faux Antique a Mirror?
marthastewart.com How to Antique a Mirror
HGTV.com How To Distress a Mirror

Have an awesome day!

Bringing The Outside In DIY Style

Country Living (Designer Annie Selke - Photo Laura Moss)

Hi everyone!

I know. A week already since my last post. It's been a good one (and I hope yours has been too), but busy without much time to blog. But I'm back with what I think is probably the last post on bringing the feel of the outside in (at least for now). You know how easily I get bored when I do too many posts in a row on one topic :-). Some of these ideas are literally bringing some of the outdoors in and some are just inspired by the outdoors.

Succulents in vintage ice cream dishes is one of the ideas in the Country Living Creative Floral Displays slideshow (photo Charles Schiller)

Country Living shows you how to make a terrarium from old picture frames (craft by CJ Hughes)...


Moon Tree Handworks shows you how to make a terrarium lamp from a jar...

Make some moss boxes with Southern Accents (Photo Thomas J. Story)
There are some cute ideas in Country Living's 10 Things to Do With A Bucket of Flowers slideshow.

This image reminded me of my crazy daisykin! :-) (photo Frances Janisch)

Add some floral fabrics to your scheme. They could be in the form of window treatments, slipcovers, table runners/placemats, or as simple as these pillows from BHG.com that are made from scarves.

A DIY floral pillow from diyideas.com.

Add a paper flower to the INSIDE of your lamp shade. The tutorial is available on Sunset's website. (Photo by Rob D. Brodman)


Learn how to make these wall vases at Sunset.com (Photo: Rob D. Brodman)

Embellish a window shade with leaves, flowers, twigs, birds, or whatever else you can think of to bring the outside in. (myhomeideas.com Photo Thomas J. Story)


A tree pillow made with buttons from BHG.com


Cute hangers with woodland images by Matthew Mead at diyideas.com. Pattern downloads and instructions on site.


Black-and-white plant photography from BHG.com's Decorating With Natural Elements


A very inexpensive way to make a statement. Frames can be left up all year long and items swapped seasonally, etc. (diyideas.com)


Leaf Shaped Table Runner from marthastewart.com. Tutorial here.


Leaf art from diyideas.com


Leaf-motif screen. I really like the versatility of this screen idea. You could rotate what is in the frames depending on the season/your mood/decorating scheme. Complete instructions at marthastewart.com


Ferns in bottles (Midwest Living Photo Kim Cornelison)


or on pillows... (diyideas.com)


or as art (Midwest Living Photo Kim Cornelison) ...


or on your table (Country Living Photo: Thayer Allyson Gowdy)

marthastewart.com makes a bookend from a seashell...

and candles in seashells...


Use shells in creative ways in your tablesetting (housetohome.co.uk)

Frame bird images with these bean frames from marthastewart.com


Green living expert Danny Seo (dailydanny.com)was inspired by a $2,000 version of a birdcage chandelier that he saw in an antique store and created his own for $15...


Adorable bird mobile for a nursery or baby shower from SPOOL


The bird pattern and directions are available on their site


marthastewart.com shows you how to make this stone spa mat...


yes, I MADE that, made this very realistic looking felted stone rug out of wool remnants...!

I'm thinking that a stone chair may not be very comfortable, but it LOOKS pretty cool, doesn't it? (Marie Claire Idees Magazine via Poppytalk)

Stone placemats (kaboodle.com)
Floral and Pebble felt pillows from Woman's Day (Photo: © Paul Whicheloe) ...


Have a great day!

Bringing the Outside In - Branches and twigs

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Midwest Living Photo Kim Cornelison

I started to put a post together on bringing the outside in and realized there were really too many ideas for one post, so I decided to break it into separate posts. Today's (as you've already seen) is ideas for decorating with branches and twigs. Enjoy!

Twig and candle centerpiece from Sunset (Christina Schmidhofer, Peter O. Whiteley)

Driftwood coat rack

Sunset (Rob D. Brodman, Jess Chamberlain)

Twig coat rack from Pottery Barn

Another take on branches in a vase...

Sunset Photo Lisa Romerein

A simple branch laying on the mantle...

Sunset Photo Lisa Romerein

or a couple in vases...

Sunset Photo Daniel Hennessy

Branch lampshade from Woman's Day. Complete instructions on their site.

Twig chandeliers...

houseandhome.com Photography: Kirsten Hinder

House Beautiful photo: James Carriere

Painted branch floor lamp

Southern Living Photo Robbie Caponetto

or table lamps

Sunset Photo Lisa Romerien

A driftwood lamp in this living room designed by Frank Roop (House Beautiful photo credit: Francesco Lagnese) I like the way they added what looks like a ribbon detail on the lampshade.

Metallic silver twig lamp collection from ZGallerie

Twig curtain rod (diyideas.com)...

Branch headboard...

houseandhome.com Photo Donna Griffith

Birch wall panel from Martha Stewart. Tutorial here.

Giclee branch prints from Ballard Designs

Potted twig placecard from Martha Stewart. This is actually a wedding idea, which could obviously be used for a dinner party too, but I think it would be cute to incorporate these into a spring/summer centerpiece choosing words that would be fun or meaningful to you. Tutorial here.

Twig serving set at Pottery Barn

A twig table in this bathroom designed by Newell Turner (House Beautiful)

Another take on a twig table via The Style Files

Okay. Probably not many of you have need for a wedding cake and one with this type of theme would probably narrow the field even more, but you have to admit it's a pretty cool idea. Who's idea? Martha of course! :-) Go here to see how they did it.

What do you think? Will you be using twigs or branches in your decor?

Have an awesome Wednesday!