The holiday season is officially upon us and I’m fully decking the halls. My first project of the season has been spreading the Christmas (and generic Winter!) cheer to my neighbors. I achieved Neighborhood Elf Status by decorating our front porch.

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Today, I’m showing you how to decorate a historic home’s facade for Winter with my Tennessee Christmas theme. It’s really log cabin decor but since I’m a Tennessee gal, humor me.

I’ve also joined a group of fantastic bloggers to show off their porch and outdoor holiday decor.

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First things, I’m going to admit that the outside of our house isn’t looking great these days. Just before it got cold, I removed the storm windows and doors that were blocking the view of our home’s original historic details. Then it got cold and I couldn’t patch and paint the holes that were left behind. Right now, we’re stalled. So all I really can do out here at the moment is decorate. Everything else will have to wait until Spring.

We purchased this house in July 2019. For more details on why and where we moved, check out this blog post: Our 1924 California Bungalow Home Tour

Luckily, the front facade looks just fine when you step back a little bit. Plus, by decorating the porch for Christmas, I’ve essentially distracted the eye from even noticing the blemishes on the siding. It’s a two-for-one deal!

THREE EASY WAYS TO DECORATE YOUR FRONT PORCH FOR CHRISTMAS

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USE vintage holiday decor

Even the least sentimental person would have a hard time staying cool when they’re faced with adorable reminders of the winter season from their childhoods.

This vintage sled is a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law. I’ve used it in my porch decor for the past five years and it always gets the most comments. Sprucing it up this year, I hung a simple white scarf and a mistletoe ball from the top to give it a little holiday cheer.

I’ve been showing snippets of my porch on my Instagram Stories and I’ve had so many people message me to let me know about their childhood memories of Rock City! If you’re not familiar with the Rock City barns, you probably never travelled through the south as a kid. They were everywhere!

My Rock City birdhouse was a perfect Tennessee addition to the porch and it even ended up giving me a color scheme.

This past Halloween, we installed a large sign over the bench on the porch and it looked great! It added such personality to an otherwise boring space on the wall. So I knew I would need to fill this space with something charming. Since Lookout Mountain and Rock City go hand in hand, I decided to dub my porch the Lookout Mountain Lodge when I created this vintage style porch sign for Christmas.

The crate is a family heirloom from Kentucky (my wife’s family hails from Southern Indiana / Louisville). While it’s not Tennessee, it does look perfect out here and it’s holding all of the items I removed from our porch and replaced with Christmas decorations.

GIVE FAKE CHRISTMAS GARLAND A REALISTIC LOOK WITH TREE CLIPPINGS

Every window and the door frame is covered in greenery. I also filled the pots on my front porch with greenery, pine cones, and wood slices to fill the space and bring in nature.

While it might look expensive, it was actually incredibly affordable. Why? Because I customized cheap store-bought Christmas garland by adding clippings from our own tree and a fallen branch at our neighborhood park!

Because I used evergreen stems and branches, from far away, all the garland looks full, natural, and real! I simply tucked the real branches behind the faux garland and used floral wire to join the two together.

ADD SOME COZY FOR CHRISTMAS

No matter where (in the Norther Hemisphere) you live, Winter is going to be colder than Summer. When we think of Christmas, we imagine plush throws and evenings by the fire, no? Since your outside is cold, why not warm it up with some plush throws?

I love to be outside and I don’t want a little chill to stop me from enjoying my front porch. So every Winter, I use inexpensive but nice-looking throw blankets that I use for outdoors.

Hanging untraditional Christmas lights on the front porch also helped to cast a cozy glow. Instead of stringing small twinkle lights, I opted to use our existing patio lights and save some money.

With all the vintage elements, I think these Edison bulbs really just add another layer of nostalgia to my front porch decorations. I also live in a historic home that could feasibly justify these lights all year long. So I may not even need to take them down after Christmas!

I completed my porch as part of the Festive Christmas Porch Tour, sponsored by Amy of Atta Girl Says. Here are the details on all the bloggers who are showing you how to decorate your outside spaces today.

Please go show them some love and let them know how you feel about their ideas and decor.

More Christmas Porch Inspiration

Be sure to visit all the participating bloggers for festive decorating inspiration for your front porch, patio, sunroom and screened-in porch.

Atta Girl Says // The Frugal Homemaker // House of Hawthornes // Southern State of Mind

2 Bees In a Pod // The Chelsea Project // Virginia Sweet Pea // T. Moore Home

Top Row: Our Crafty Mom // Postcards from the Ridge

Bottom Row: Cottage at the Crossroads // Worthing Court // Major Hoff Takes a Wife

MORE SEASONAL DECORATING INSPIRATION

Ready to make some updates in your home? Check out these posts to get you started.

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DECORATING AN OLD HOME ON A BUDGET ISN’T ALWAYS EASY BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.
Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

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The post A Tennessee Christmas Porch: Decorations For Winter That Play Up The Nostalgia appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

I revealed my patio makeover this week and everyone loved it! To continue the theme of cheap backyard improvements, I’m showing you other people who got whole new outdoor vibe without pulling out the jackhammer or sledgehammer.

In case you missed it, here’s my project reveal: Park Inspired Backyard Makeover

PEELING + SPLINTERED DECK TURNED BEACHY COTTAGE OASIS

If you have a wooden deck that has seen better days, don’t commit to tearing it down until you see this amazing transformation from Jenna at Jenna Kate At Home. She just might inspire you to work with what you’ve got!

See the transformation: Decorating Ideas For a Small Deck

REPAIRING + RESURFACING CONCRETE PATIOS

Before you run out and grab a gallon of that boring grayish blue porch paint we’ve all seen a million times, consider this: Christine from Where The Smiles Have Been found a product that masks cracks in concrete and functions as a durable stone coating. So you may never have to repaint the porch again after you use this!

See how it works: How to Repaint a Porch with Rollable Stone Coating

RENTER-FRIENDLY DIY PATIO

If you know Ariel at PMQ for Two, you know that she and her husband lived in various military base housing units over the years. Since she couldn’t completely renovate those homes, she became a pro at adding inexpensive but custom touches that made a big difference. This patio is no exception! She used inexpensive (but boring) 12×12’ concrete pavers to build a patio where she and her family could spend summer evenings.

See how she did it: Painted Patio Tiles Makeover

PAINTING COLORFUL STRIPES INSTEAD OF A RUG

Loving color this summer? Yep. Me too. Amber Oliver gave her back patio a serious pep talk with turquoise and yellow. Even if these aren’t the colors you’d paint your own patio, I love love the idea of painting stripes. I might mellow it out with khaki and green. That would look so fancy!

See the before + after: Our Patio Makeover – Color Changes Everything!

MAKE A WOOD DECK LOOK NEW WITHOUT PAINT

When I reached out to my blogger friends to show me their best patio and deck makeovers, I fully expected to see a ton of painting, staining, and resurfacing. I did NOT expect this transformation from Vineta at The Handyman’s Daughter at all. I had no idea you could make super old and worn-out looking wood appear brand new with just a good cleaning!

See what she used: Transform your Deck with Deck Cleaner and Brightener

RESURFACING A POOL DECK + RETILING A CONCRETE POOL

I grew up with a funky above-ground pool in my backyard. I am a HUGE FAN of pools. In fact, if I could do literally anything to my home, my first goal would be to install a covered pool in my backyard. But pools are a lot of maintenance. ESPECIALLY CONCRETE AND TILE POOLS. So while this may not be applicable to everyone, I do want to show you guys that it’s possible to update and solidify the area around your pool. Just like Joy from The Aspiring Home did during the Spring 2018 ORC.

Here’s how she did it: Backyard Pool Makeover

RESURFACING A WOODEN DECK WITH DECKOVER

This is the product I used on our patio makeover (you can get the full details from my makeover here). But I was lazy and didn’t give you a step by step tutorial. Instead, I highly recommend that you check out the guide from Marty at Marty’s Musings. She’ll walk you through every bit of the process.

See the tutorial: Wood Deck Restoration with BEHR Premium DeckOver

BONUS TUTORIALS: DIYs from my own blog

I’ve created a ton of DIY tutorials for mimicking the look of higher-end designer home goods on a budget. So here’s a little directory of projects from my blog that you can tackle:

NEVER MISS A SINGLE MONEY-SAVING POST

YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS + I’VE GOT ANSWERS.

Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

xoxo
Teri

The post Outdoor Living Space Revamps: Budget-Friendly Patio + Deck Makeovers You Can DIY appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

DIY RENOVATION PROJECT

You guys know I’m never one for long listicles or massively overstated blog titles. So when I tell you that these 10 kitchens are going to persuade you to save your renovation dollars, you might want to listen.

A few months ago, as I was planning my own small kitchen makeover, I began researching projects that other bloggers had already tackled in their kitchens. I put a call out to some of my favorite people and boy oh boy, they showed up for it!! I was looking for a few shining examples of kitchen makeovers that I could show you and ended up with over 50 gorgeous kitchen projects bookmarked in my browser. There is so much talent and creativity out there that I had to narrow it down in a big way.

The good news? I’m still plenty inspired to tackle my impending kitchen refresh and I’m positive you will be too!

OUR KITCHEN’S BUDGET MAKEOVER

We’ve already made great strides in our own kitchen and we haven’t replaced any cabinets, counters, or the backsplash! What have we done? Well, we immediately removed the stuffy floral window coverings, painted over the original green paint, and replaced our broken appliances.

To make the lighting more energy efficient and aesthetically appealing, we replaced the old can lighting with these LED bulb inserts. Then I replaced the can over the sink with screw-in can light adapter kit (found here) and a cute water hyacinth shade (found here). I also painted the island Midnight Blue by Behr.

Here’s how the kitchen looked when we bought it just two years ago (photo courtesy of Nashville MLS):

Aside from the “Help Wanted” sign that is seriously cracking me up, I don’t love anything about that space. I can’t believe we bought this house and were all “yeah, it needs basically nothing” because that image tells a different story. More like HELP NEEDED.

So, see? We’ve already made a lot of progress in this kitchen. The remaining details we need to update are really just about our market. We want to make sure we align our home with other upscale homes in the area, so we plan to update the countertops, cabinet hardware, and backsplash before we list it.

You can read more about our decision to move here and see my Real Estate Evaluation Guide to determine which changes are best for your own market here.

You probably noticed there’s a glaring omission on that list of improvements we plan to make: The kitchen cabinets. Yep. That’s right. We’re leaving them. While they’re definitely dated (original to our 1997 home), they’re also sturdy, function, were upgraded with slide out drawers, and are in fantastic shape. All they really need is a little cleaning and some new pulls to look brand new again. So why would we rip them out?

In fact, this has me thinking: If we were planning to stay in this home any longer, would we tackle a full renovation and tear out the cabinets? I actually don’t think so. I think, despite the fact that the layout of this kitchen isn’t exactly ideal, I wouldn’t want to spend the money. I’ve seen so many kitchen remodels recently that didn’t cost a ton of money and look fantastic. And since cabinets are the biggest expense in a new kitchen, rivaling only appliances, this is a top way to save some cash.

Here are the kitchen renovations that I find absolutely admirable. And not a single one of these bought new cabinets, thankyouverymuch. Click images to see the full posts and tutorials.

FARMHOUSE KITCHEN ISLAND WITH BARNWOOD ACCENTS

from Leen & James at Sand Dollar Lane

MODERN WHITE KITCHEN WITH MARBLE TILE AND EXTENDED CABINETRY

from Jennifer at The Craft Patch

MODERN + MOODY KITCHEN REVAMP

from Alexis at Persia Lou

RETRO KITCHEN REFRESH

from Michelle at Weekend Craft

A TOTALLY SALVAGED KITCHEN

from Salvaged Sister & Mister

CHALK PAINT KITCHEN CABINET MAKEOVER

from Erica at Dwell Beautiful

DIY RANGE HOOD BUILT OVER EXISTING CABINETS

from Carli at Made By Carli

A KITCHEN WITH TRIPLE THE STORAGE (AND STILL NO NEW CABINETS)

from Wendi at H2O Bungalow

WEIRD HALF-WALL TURNED GORGEOUS BUILT-IN KITCHEN DETAIL

from Rhoda at Southern Hospitality

A COMPLETELY RECONFIGURED KITCHEN USING EXISTING CABINETS

from Sherry + John at Young House Love

Now if that last kitchen, with the seriously out-dated 1960s cabinetry, doesn’t get your creative juices flowing, I don’t know what will.

You just go check out those awesome kitchens while we work hard over here, laboring over our current renovation projects; the kitchen, master bathroom, bonus room, garage, laundry, and outdoor spaces. That reminds me – I’ve gotta go!

HAPPY RENOVATING!

xoxo
Teri

ADDICTED TO DIY?
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YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS + I’VE GOT ANSWERS.

Commenting on this post is disabled after 24 hours so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out! xoxo

The post 10 Kitchen Cabinet Transformations That Prove An Expensive Kitchen Renovation Isn’t Always Necessary appeared first on Fortune House Shop.