Christmas can be the most joyous time of year. Or it can be a fireball of anxiety and chaos. This year, I choose joy. So if you’re also craving a Christmas that’s just a little more laidback and fun-focused, you’ve come to the right place! Here’s how I let loose and let my family enjoy the holiday without all the micromanagement of years gone by.

There was a time in my life when I had two Christmas trees; a fancy tree the guests were allowed to see and a family tree. The fancy tree would always be front and center in my home for hosting our annual HOA’s Holiday Party.

That tree was pretty fancy and I was fancy right alongside it. (see more of the fancy tree here: Traditional Holiday Decor On A Budget)

Then we sold that house and downsized into a historic California Bungalow. With only 1200 square feet of living space and a lot less storage space than our suburban home, I decided to cut our Christmas tree allocation in half. Downsizing Christmas to one tree for the whole family meant that I had to completely re-think the way I approached decorating our Christmas tree.

If I was going to make sense of the collection of mismatched, vintage, and handmade ornaments from my wife’s youth plus allow additions that my daughter makes every year, I had to lean into it. The result?

A COLORFUL, FUN, + NOSTALGIC CHRISTMAS TREE

The first year we leaned into the family Christmas tree was 2019 and we haven’t looked back since. Here are the elements I use to make our family tree feel intentional and not haphazard:

Since Christine’s family celebrated each year with hand-crafting Christmas ornaments, we decided to carry on that tradition with our own daughter. Every year, we add a new ornament to our tree that she has made or painted herself. The collection, which we plan to pass along to her when she moves on from our home, started with her six month old handprint salt dough ornament and shows off a bit of her evolving personality every year:

They’re not perfect. She’s pretty young. But part of the joy in accepting the nostalgia of Christmas is letting go of perfection and just allowing memories to happen (more on that later but don’t worry I’m a neurotic and too much laissez faire can be detrimental to my brain).

As our family evolves, so do our hobbies and interests. We’ve begun marking each of our own personalities and tastes with fun new additions to the tree. We call this The Personality Collection. One of us picks or receives a new ornament every year to mark a milestone event, a thing we really love, or just something funny we saw in a store. Last year, our daughter was hellbent on getting a rocket ornament so we had our local gift shop order one for her (shout-out to the ladies at GiftHorse for never laughing at me when I ask for something wild).

This year, I added a super special and sentimental ornament to the tree. It’s the first time I’ve added anything that felt like it came from my childhood and not my wife’s or my daughter’s childhoods, despite being brand new.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know about the long-standing joke that, because I grew up on 90s public television, Tom Silva is my dad and Martha Stewart is my mom. It’s funny because my personality is a lot like a combination of those two and also what eight-year-old gets up early on Saturday to watch This Old House?! This one. Me. I did that.

Last year, I entered a giveaway on Instagram to win a set of hand-turned and painted ornaments made by Tom Silva and his lovely real-life daughter, Kate. I won a set and now I get to stare at these beauties every Christmas:

Simple creamy white globe ornaments (plastic!) fill any holes and provide additional contrast against the dark greenery of our tree. These are probably ten years old so at this point, they basically are vintage!

AN ARTIFICIAL TREE THAT LOOKS REAL

For years, I believe that I had to buy a real tree to get that perfectly vintage look. I was wrong. I admit it.

A few years ago, we bought the older version of this tree and letmetellyou. It’s showing a bit of wear and does need some fluffing after being stored every year but even so, I will hold onto this tree for as long as I can because IT COMES PRE-LIT and it has plastic-tipped branches that look so real.

It comes in three pieces that click and lock together to automatically connect power. I don’t have to find the end of the strand of lights to connect to the next one. The second all three pieces are in place, it’s ready to light up via the little foot peddle on the floor or the handy remote that controls all the different color and twinkle pattern settings.

You also read that correctly. The lights are LED so they’re energy efficient and they don’t get really hot like traditional Christmas tree lights. Just look at all the color options!

POM POM YARN GARLAND

I purchased two skeins of this pom pom yarn from a local craft store almost a decade ago. It’s since been discontinued but I did find a wired version that’s still available. You can purchase that here.

Even if you can’t find the exact yarn I use, you can still employ the method with a chunky yarn or a traditional acrylic sweater yarn that’s been knotted to look like pompoms. Either way, you can save a ton of money by using non-garland garland on your tree AND you can tie bows on your gifts with your leftover yardage (yarnage?)!

Because the yarn is really thin, you want to drape it around the tree for a bigger impact. This way, it’s taking up more visual space than it otherwise would if you just spun it in a circular pattern around the tree.

The next step is to add a tree skirt to cover that ugly fake tree base. Eventually, it will be disguised with wrapped presents but until I get around to procuring and wrapping said gifts, I use another cheap hack:

Every year, we spend about $15 on a new ornament for the family and another $5 on a kit for our daughter to make her own. This method has saved me time and a ton of money that I don’t spend on changing my Christmas theme each year.

My tree isn’t the most visually stunning Christmas tree you’re going to see today and I don’t want you to think that I’m implying my method is the best method. Christmas, to me, is about joy. Our family’s colorful, fun, and nostalgic Christmas tree brings me so much joy. I hope it’s brought you a little joy and some inspiration as well.

Here are links to the items I’ve talked about in this blog post and some fun ornaments to get your collection started:

You
can see all of the creative Christmas trees my fellow bloggers and
friends have created by clicking the links below:

 

 

 

Monday

 

 

Casa Watkins
Living // Up To Date
Interiors // Mocha Girl Place // Kate Decorates // House of
Hipsters // Monica Wants It

 

 

Tuesday

 

 

The Happy Housie // SKG Designs // Delineate
Your Dwelling // Cuckoo 4 Design // Room Bloom
Design // My Sweet
Savannah

 

 

Wednesday

 

 

Iris Nacole // PMQ For Two // Stacies Spaces // Rebecca Propes // Liz Morrow
Studios

 

 

Thursday

 

 

Au Petite Salon // Taryn
Whiteaker Designs // The Honeycomb
Home // Daly Digs // T Moore Home // Love Your Abode

 

 

Friday

 

 

Haneens Haven // Our Fifth House // Seeking Lavender Lane // Two Twenty One // Amber Oliver // Zig and Company

From here, head over to Yuni’s post at Love Your Abode and tell her I
said “hello!” She’s a doll. If you don’t know her, allow me
to introduce you to one of your new favorite people.

The post A Colorful, Fun, and Nostalgic Christmas: My Home Style Christmas Tree Edition appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

This is our second Christmas in the California Bungalow and we’re continuing the tradition of our themed Christmas porch decorations. This year, since the house is black, we’ve gone full rainbow with our porch and yard decor. Here’s how I created a festive and fun front porch on a budget …

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

CHRISTMAS PORCH DECOR: for historic homes, it’s all about nostalgia

Because our California Bungalow is nearly 100 years old, I like to honor the age of the home and our neighborhood by creating holiday porch themes that speak to the way the neighborhood has changed. While I don’t ever set out to completely mimic a 1920s home or shop, I do like to imagine the traditions of the neighborhood with my porch themes.

You can see how I decorated the porch last Christmas with a lodge theme and homage to Tennessee, our home state, here: A Tennessee Christmas Porch

It’s been a year and A LOT has changed about our bungalow. In fact, nearly everything has. You can read all about our tornado rebuild here: 2020 Tornado Rebuild.

Most notably, our house is now BLACK!!! We love the look of the black paint on the bungalow but I do worry that the black could lean boring at best and morose at worst. So I’ve made a conscious effort to showcase how black can actually be a fun house color by using accents that contrast against the black. Most notably, I installed green light sconces and painted the windows in Chinese Red by Sherwin Williams for contrast.

Since Christmas is meant to be fun and festive, there’s no better time to really pull out all the colorful decor and let this black house shine. Luckily, we’re a gay family with a five year-old daughter who loves color so we already have a ton of rainbow decorations that we display year-round.

KEEP CHRISTMAS DECOR CHEAP: Shop the Dollar Store + DIY

I really didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on decor that will only be displayed for a month. So I opted to hit up my local dollar store to find some large scale accents that would pair nicely with my candy shop theme. Here’s what I found and what I DIYed –

In order to make sense of the rainbow decor at Christmas, we opted to go with red and white accents that felt more like the holidays and less like everyday decorations.

I found these sweet stockings and tree skirt at the dollar store and knew they’d look great with the other colorful accents we had already.

Since we don’t have a fireplace on the porch, I mimicked the look by adding the stockings to the front of the bar cart we keep out here to store garden tools. I used clear command hooks, made for securing Christmas lights, to dangle the stockings from the top of the table.

Using the same general concept as last year’s Vintage Lodge Sign, I created a custom sign for our porch based on the Chuck’s Sweet Shop items we’ve found at Williams-Sonoma through the years. Our daughter’s nickname is Chuck, so it just makes sense that we would honor her in this way. You can see the full tutorial for the retro-style sign here: DIY Vintage Sign: How To Get The Authentic Old Advertising Look With Paint

White and black pair so well together and give such great contrast that they’re easily visible from the road. So I grabbed a handful of these oversized felt snowflake placemats from the dollar store to create a playful snow effect. I used the same clear command hooks to affix them directly to the house.

You know I love dangling objects from the porch ceiling to create a layered effect, see my previous post about last year’s hanging Ornaments: Christmas Porch Decorations: Oversized Ornament DIY (From Trash!), so I decided to carry this idea into this year’s porch by creating hanging snowballs that look like real flurries.

I used white string, a standard needle, and jumbo and extra large cotton balls to create the snow flurries. It’s an easy DIY that requires no real tutorial. Simply thread the string through the center of each cotton ball until you’ve reached your desired length. Make sure to space them randomly. I attached them to the porch ceiling by tying the end of the string around a clear command hook.

The varying length and placement gives the effect of a real snow storm. Especially when it’s windy. Just make sure to place them far enough apart from one another that they don’t bunch up in the wind. That can create a mess.

USE VINTAGE-STYLE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS with modern efficiency

I’ve long wanted some large bulb christmas light strings to decorate with but I was always too nervous to buy authentic ones as I worried about house fires and energy efficiency.

Luckily, LED bulbs have come a long way and they’re pretty inexpensive now. I found two 25’ strands of colorful retro bulb lights worked perfectly to hang around my windows. I placed a nail in the two top corners and then secured the strands to the sides with clear command light hooks. Just go ahead and buy those in bulk because they are a real holiday decorating workhorse!

You may recall I used the same lights upstairs to decorate my daughter’s work station:

See the full post here: Holidays In The Kid’s Workspace: Adding Schoolhouse Style For Christmas

I love how the bright colorful Christmas lights add additional festivity to the windows without overbearing the entire porch.

At night, they’re especially festive as they glow inside our living room.

USE WRAPPING PAPER FOR CHEAP DECOR

You can jazz up anything with a roll of inexpensive wrapping paper. As long as your porch is covered, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the wrapping paper to hold up all season long.

I wrapped the square side table that always sits out here in a rainbow stripe paper (that’s now discontinued, I’m sorry to say) and added a bow to make it look like a gift. Empty shipping boxes got wrapped in coordinating paper and I used an old grocery bag, filled with the felt tree skirt I found at the dollar store, to look like a gift bag from our “shop”.

Remember to go bigger outside as it’s harder for people to see small items on your porch.

A LITTLE KITSCH GOES A LONG WAY

It’s 2020. This year has been trying. We all deserve a little extra smile. So this year, we decided to finally give in to our daughter’s requests for inflatable yard decorations. We added this 4 ft tall inflatable Santa as a meaningful gesture to our neighbors.

And what rainbow themed porch would be complete without a giant rainbow unicorn? I mean, really. Obviously, our five year-old picked this one out but we do love how it matches the other decorations so well.

Since we want to travel to see our extended family for Christmas, we’re currently in quarantine to keep them safe. I’m bummed that we can’t greet our neighbors as they walk by the house but having these decorations on the lawn does make me feel like I’m giving them something to smile about this holiday season.

While we haven’t reached Full Griswold Status yet, our home does cast a lovely glow in the evening for our neighborhood that’s been through so much this year.

The inflatables have internal lights that cast even more of a glow across our street.

GET THE LOOK: COLORFUL BUNGALOW CHRISTMAS PORCH

* affiliate links help keep my free tutorial blog running *

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I hope our colorful Christmas decorations bring a smile to your face too. Remember to pin this post on Pinterest in order to refer back to it as you work.

If you recreate these easy DIYs, tag me in your post on Instagram @tmoorehome so I can share it!

I’ll be back soon with more ideas for decorating for the holidays. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T 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 Colorful Christmas Porch: Vintage Candy Shop Theme with Rainbows appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

When it comes to decorating for Christmas, I try to stay cheap. After all, these are items that I’ll only use one month a year. So I love a good DIY Christmas project and I’m always looking for fun ways to re-use items that would otherwise go into a landfill. For this Christmas Upcycle, I turned my kid’s deflated toy balls into oversized ornaments to hang on our front porch! It’s an easy and cheap trash-to-treasure story. Here’s how I did it …

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

CHRISTMAS PORCH DECORATING TIP #1: GO BIG

When decorating your front porch, keep in mind that little objects don’t work well. While we can fill a vase with standard ornaments for the living room, it’s hard to see these small touches from the street. So whatever you do on the front of your house, remember to MAKE IT BIGGER than anything you’d put inside.

Last year, I decorated our front porch in a Log Cabin theme. I used large Edison light bulbs instead of standard twinkle lights and doubled up the garland for an added effect. The result was a prominent decor theme that people could see easily as they walked or drove by the house.

You can see the full details and photos of that porch here: A Tennessee Christmas Porch.

I even DIYed my own vintage-style lodge sign. You can see how I created that here: DIY Vintage Sign.

The most fun DIY I tackled for this front porch was creating three giant ornaments to hang in a grouping from the porch ceiling.

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Years ago, I purchased three oversized Christmas ornaments from the dollar store and painted them with a classic red to match my decor. At the time, I was using them inside as a wreath alternative on our powder room door in our hold house (pictured above). For that application, they were the perfect size. But then we moved into a new house and no longer had a door on which I wanted to display this arrangement.

However, I did think they’d be adorable on the front porch as floating decor. But when I installed them outside, the impact was low. They were just too small to make a large statement on the porch.

CHRISTMAS PORCH DECORATING TIP #2: Group Small Items for LargeR Impact

When you really want to use objects whose scale isn’t big enough to really make an impression from farther away, there’s a solution! Make a large grouping or vignette of those items. That gives the illusion of one large item.

With the ornaments, the grouping of three was still too small to be impactful from the street. So I knew I needed to add more ornaments. I just didn’t want to spend any money on this project, so I started thinking about objects I already had that I could use to fake the look of Christmas ornaments.

Then I remembered a stash of old sports balls that were destined for the landfill.

HOW TO DIY OVERSIZED CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

MATERIALS NEEDED TO MAKE YOUR ORNAMENTS FROM TRASH

plastic bottle caps
gorilla glue
fishing line or sturdy string

old sports balls, 6-12” diameter
spray paint in desired colors
drill

STEP ONE: Gather + Clean Old Toy Balls
It’s okay if your kid’s old toy balls are deflated (I’m hating every sentence I’m typing right now, just so you know). As long as they maintain a generally round appearance, you can use them! Clean them up in order to assist the spray paint with adhesion. Allow to dry.

STEP TWO: Paint
Once they’re dried, you can proceed to painting them. I opted to paint each of them the same color as the ornaments I already had on hand. This helped to create bigger impact as a grouping. However, you can opt to paint them in colors that coordinate with the decorations you have.

hot tip: place the balls on spray paint lids to raise them while painting. Allow to dry.

STEP THREE: Gather old bottle caps
Did you know that plastic bottle caps cannot be recycled?! I know. It’s appalling. So I dug into my trash and found some old soda caps and one really nice iced tea cap to use as the ornament top. Clean them up and allow to dry.

STEP FOUR: Drill small holes in caps
While the balls are drying (cringe), use a small drill bit to make holes in the tops of the bottle caps. The hole will need to be big enough to fit your string or fishing line through but not so big that a knot in the string will slip through.

STEP FIVE: Add String
You’ll want to use enough string that you can secure a little inside the cap and have slack for hanging at a visible height on your porch. I attached roughly two feet of string to each cap. Secure with a knot.

STEP SIX: Secure Caps to Balls
I used a ton of glue because I was worried it wouldn’t properly adhere in the cold. By turning the bottle caps upside down, I got the best adhesion to the balls.

STEP SEVEN: Hang Ornaments
I used these command hooks that are specifically designed for attaching light strands. They’re clear and tiny so you don’t see them at all!

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Remember to vary the length and depth of each ornament for larger impact. You could also hang them on a line at the edge of the porch for a floating garland effect.

I hope you enjoyed this true Trash-To-Treasure Christmas story. Remember to pin this post on Pinterest in order to refer back to it as you work.

If you recreate this easy DIY, tag me in your post on Instagram @tmoorehome so I can share it!

I’ll be back soon with more holiday decorating ideas. Until then, stay safe and sane.

xoxo
Teri

HOLIDAY DECORATING ON A BUDGET ISN’T 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!

NEED MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATING IDEAS + INSPIRATION?
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The post Christmas Porch Decorations: Oversized Ornament DIY (from trash!) appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

Like so many people, we’re terribly bored at home this Christmas season. After days of virtual school, my daughter doesn’t want to look at another screen in her downtime. So I’m coming up with low-cost ways to keep her entertained while feeling festive for the holidays. Here’s an easy way to repurpose all those cardboard boxes into a fun craft for kids. Bonus points: You can make this a tradition and use it as a kid’s Christmas table activity for your pod family to enjoy! Here’s how I created gingerbread house placemats that double as holiday decorating fun for kids …

*this post contains affiliate links + advertising*
I get a commission when you buy through my links that goes towards the costs of hosting this free tutorial site.
Site operating fees are expensive but my commission costs you nothing. thanks for your support!

We have a holiday gingerbread house family tradition. Every year, my wife buys a pre-baked gingerbread house kit that she and our daughter craft together. This year, our five year old chose the Barbie Dreamhouse Gingerbread kit and it was a mess!

That got me thinking. Couldn’t there be an easier way to get into the Gingerbread House game without all the sticky frosting and candies? Because, let’s face it, half of that kit goes directly into my kid’s mouth anyway.

As I was cleaning up the living room and breaking down boxes to recycle, I realized brown cardboard looks a lot like the gingerbread we were just using. The color is even an exact match!

There are a ton of ways to create decorations for the house that aren’t edible. The only real limitation what that you’d want the look of the white frosting. What could we use to mimic that look?

That’s when the real dream house was born:

No Mess Cardboard Gingerbread House Craft Tutorial

supplies needed:

glue (if 3D desired)
string
misc adornments
pompoms, sequins, etc

cardboard boxes, varying sizes
white household trim caulk
craft paint
cutting tools: scissors, box cutter, rotary blade

STEP ONE: Prep your cardboard box

Remove all the packaging tape and disassemble the box until it lays flat. remove all the jointed edges, if creating a 1D house. Then cut the box into rectangles with a box cutter or scissors. I actually used a rotary cutter and placed the cardboard onto a cutting mat to protect my work surface. Any one of these methods works fine.

STEP TWO: Create a roof guideline

Measure the piece of cardboard and mark the exact center of the top of your board. Then mark the board at the roughly 1/3 point (where you want your roof pitch to end). This will assist you in getting the roof angle exactly perfect.

STEP THREE: Cut your roofline

Create a roofline by using a straight edge (or a scrap piece of cardboard that’s long enough) and connecting the center mark to each of the side marks. Then slice the cardboard along these lines.

STEP FOUR: Add “Icing”

Apply a line of caulk to the roofline, door, and windows to mimic the look of frosting. If you want the look of a snow-covered roof, apply the caulk liberally using a flat application tip (or cut your tip at an angle).

Allow caulk to dry and your work here is done! Now you can gather materials for the kids to use as embellishments.

DECORATING THE GINGERBREAD HOUSES

I gathered rainbow-colored beads, some string, lots of glue, and markers. I even created paper gumdrops using construction paper and a hole punch for the kids to decorate their houses with. A three-hole-punch works fast for this. I folded the construction paper into strips in order to make as many gumdrops as quickly as possible.

I made multiple gingerbread houses to keep the kids in our Pod Family busy while the adults celebrated Christmas together. A simple roll of wrapping paper acts as protection for your table in case the glue gets crazy.

I also added paint pens and a tub of decorating embellishments I found right before the party for extra Christmas cheer.

GET THE SUPPLIES FOR DECORATING:

some of these items may not be suitable for all children. you know your child best. use caution.

Gingerbread House Craft Party Table Setting

In an effort to encourage the kids to eat first, I set our table with the gingerbread houses as placemats for the kids to eat on. I used the green, red, and white pieces of plastic kid’s tableware from our collection to add extra Christmas charm.

DIY Gingerbread House Party Ideas: Get the kids involved in the festivities with this fun holiday themed table. After they eat, let them decorate their own cardboard gingerbread houses.

Make it extra festive with a Hot Cocoa Bar for kids. In addition to the cocktails we put out for adults, we always add a Christmas Cocoa Bar for the kids to enjoy! Of course, we supervise the cocoa-making and we always allow extra marshmallows.

SUCCESS!! These days, it’s hard to get a few minutes of time with adults and I’m happy to report that my Gingerbread House Craft Party was exactly what we needed to allow the kids time for fun while the grown-ups enjoyed talking, laughing, drinking, and generally not being involved for a whole hour!

I hope this easy craft project gives you the same result! Remember to pin this post on Pinterest in order to refer back to it as you work.

If you recreate this easy DIY, tag me in your post on Instagram @tmoorehome so I can share it! In fact, send me all your parenting wins this week. I need the motivation to keep going.

I’ll be back soon with more ideas for decorating for the holidays. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T 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!

NEED MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATING IDEAS + INSPIRATION?
THESE ARE THE MOST POPULAR THIS WEEK:

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YOU’RE MISSING OUT

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To make sure you never miss a single DIY project or great deal, sign up for my weekly newsletter:

I won’t share your information with anyone. Ever. I promise.

Thank you!

* this site contains affiliate links + advertising*
I get a commission when you buy through my links that goes towards the costs of hosting this free tutorial site.
Site operating fees are expensive but my commission costs you nothing. thanks for your support!

MORE IDEAS FOR KIDS

The post DIY Cardboard Gingerbread Houses: An Easy Kid’s Christmas Table Activity Idea appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

Finding vintage home decor can be expensive and time-consuming. When you’re in a pinch and you don’t want to search all over for the perfect antique piece to match your historic home, you can fake the look. Here’s how I turned an inexpensive stool from Ikea into a viable fake family heirloom with paint, mod podge, and wrapping paper …

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

When decorating my own home, I am cautious to add pieces that are unique. Now that my home has a more modern look after our tornado rebuild (more on that here: Our Tornado Rebuild), I especially love the juxtaposition of old home decor with the new, modern lines. Here’s how we display our collections of antique and vintage finds in our bonus room:

You may also recall the antique bathroom scale I added as wall decor in our newly finished downstairs bathroom:

If you’re wondering where I source for vintage accessories, you’re in luck! I wrote a whole post about vintage and antique items for bathrooms: Finding Vintage Accents For A Historic Bathroom Renovation

The easiest way to find things that aren’t showcased in every third house you see on Instagram is to shop for antiques and vintage home accessories at local thrift stores and antique malls.

Buuuuut… we’re in a pandemic and it can be a little scary to go out into the world right now. So today, I’m showing you one easy idea for making a new item look aged with character using very cheap materials you can find online.

IKEA STOOL WRAPPING PAPER DIY

supplies needed:

• plain wooden stool
• paint – latex
• craft paint brush
• wrapping paper
• mod podge
• scissors
• business card or credit card

STEP ONE: don’t assemble stool
Pull out the step pieces as those are the only ones you’ll be working with to adhere the wrapping paper.

STEP TWO: wrapping paper template
trace the steps onto the back of the wrapping paper + cut out the pieces to fit

STEP THREE: apply adhesive to top of steps
I used mod podge as my adhesive and you will want to as well. Cover the entire top side of the step with mod podge. Be liberal. This will dry eventually.

STEP FOUR: apply wrapping paper
Place the paper face side up on the stool. Trim excess if needed. Then use a business card or credit card to smooth out any wrinkles or air pockets.

STEP FIVE: apply finish glaze
Apply a layer of mod podge over entire top of step to finish. Repeat entire process with all steps.

OPTIONAL STEP: Paint stool
I opted to paint the entire stool black but you can leave it natural wood or finish with a lacquer.

IT’S CALLED DECOUPAGE!

This technique isn’t new. I certainly didn’t invent it myself. The art of Decoupage has been around forever. Literally, it’s traced back to East Siberian tomb art.

The term decoupage literally translates to “to cut out from something”.

How My Decoupage Stool Is Holding Up: A Year Later

I originally created this stool as part of my craft room project last November. It’s been a year and this stool has been through some stuff (remember that tornado? yeah. it was in the hardest hit room).

This stool is a hard working member of our family. While it hangs on the wall in the kitchen, it’s often used throughout our entire home every single day. We use it to reach our overstock items on the shelves in the bathrooms.

The stool also comes in handy for small painting projects and touch-ups around the house. I use it often to dust the ceiling fans.

Although it’s looking a little dinged up and has some paint spatter, that weathering only adds to the character.

When we’ve had people over, they often see it hanging on the wall and ask if it’s an antique. That’s a real sign of a good fake!

GET THE LOOK: VINTAGE STOOL DIY

I’ll be back soon with more ideas for decorating your historic home. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T 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!

NEED MORE HOME IDEAS + INSPIRATION?
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Featured

How Does a Virtual Home Design Consultation Work? (And Why Can’t I Just Use ChatGPT?)

Should You Wallpaper Your Bathroom? (Yes.)

Infusing Historic New Orleans Character Into A Boring, New-Build Home

Designer Obsession: Vintage Kilim Rugs

Free Design Ideas: Decorating With Rust and Rose Colored Home Accents

Summer Rental in Nashville, TN’s Coolest Neighborhood

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The post Ikea Step Stool Hack: Faking The Vintage Look With Wrapping Paper appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

Last Winter, we were asked to take part in our neighborhood’s Annual Home Tour. Since we’d only been in our bungalow for a few months and weren’t planning to renovate, the interior wasn’t much to look at. To make up for our home’s lackluster appearance, I decided to go all out on the front porch holiday decor.

I built the theme around a vintage-looking lodge sign I DIYed with some paint and a piece of MDF. Here’s how I did it…

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Thanks for your support! xoxo

By the time winter rolled around last year, our 1920s bungalow was looking a little sad and neglected out front. I knew I could make the front porch look more authentic and vintage by adding lots of greenery and Christmas decorations.

Once I added plush fabrics and vintage-style Edison cafe lights, here’s how the final Holiday Porch looked:

Our little bungalow looked even more charming at night –

You can see the full reveal with every little detail here: A Tennessee Christmas Porch: Decorations For Winter That Play Up The Nostalgia

GATHERING INSPIRATION FOR YOUR VINTAGE SIGN

Since I’m a Tennessee Native, I wanted to really honor all that my state has to offer in the Winter. In order to do this, I decided to incorporate an old sign I remember seeing in my childhood on trips through the Chattanooga mountains into my porch decor. It took some google investigating but I finally found a picture of the sign online:

This sign was a lot more intricate – and racially insensitive – than I’d remembered but I knew I could get the general look and feel of a roadside lodge sign for my front porch if I just incorporated a few of the details without trying to entirely replicate the entire thing.

If you’re looking for DIY vintage sign inspiration, I recommend a Google image search that includes the following: Your Locale + Roadside Lodge + Vintage. Here are some of the image results I got when I used this method:

Your vintage sign doesn’t have to be a lodge either. You can Google literally anything that matches your theme. For instance, here’s the search “Tennessee Vintage Candy Store Sign”:

And if I ever decided to do a Vintage Toy Shop theme for Christmas, I would absolutely style my sign after Nashville’s oldest and best toy store, Phillip’s Toy Mart. Their sign is so adorable:

Once you’ve landed on your theme and old sign inspiration, here’s how you can get your DIY sign to look authentic and old:

HOW TO DIY A VINTAGE SIGN THAT LOOKS OLD

MATERIALS NEEDED TO BUILD YOUR SIGN FROM SCRATCH

artist’s paint brush set
putty knife

1/8” thick piece of MDF, cut to desired size
acrylic craft paints in desired colors
painter’s tape

STEP ONE: Base Layer
Paint a base layer over the entire MDF board in white. This will act as a primer so your additional layers of paint will be vibrant and the MDF doesn’t soak them up. Allow to dry completely.

STEP TWO: Accent Color Layer
Next, paint the entire board in the color you want to be exposed during the chipping process. Choose this color by considering what colors would have been popular at the time of your sign’s original creation. You want this color to be in stark contrast with the rest of the sign. So if you plan to add black accents around your lettering, use a color that is bright. If you’re planning a red sign, you may want to consider using white or blue during this phase.

For information on historically accurate color ways, you can refer to Sherwin William’s Historic Collection.

STEP THREE: Base Lettering and Outline
Add your first layer of lettering to the sign by freehand or using stencils with a pencil. Then go over the pencil with a contrasting acrylic paint color. This color will be prominent in your sign so make sure it’s one you want to highlight.

I chose blue and then outlined the letters of “LODGE” in black for additional contrast.

STEP FOUR: Remove Random Layers of Paint
Once your paint has dried, cover the entire board with strips of painter’s tape. Press the tape firmly in place and then remove it all in one strip. This technique will allow for further weathering in the next step.

STEP FIVE: Faux Weathered Effect
Use a putty knife to chip away additional pieces of the accent layer. Press lightly and move the knife against the grain of the exposed paint stripes created by the previous step. This technique should remove your accent layer of paint in a way that looks like it’s been chipped off over time. Remember to remove some of the paint on the lettering as well in order to create additional weathered effect.

STEP SIX: Final Background Color
Carefully paint the entire sign with the color you wish to use as your background. Use caution to paint around your lettering so as to not cover it entirely. You can leave portions around your lettering exposed to the accent color for a more realistic look.

STEP SEVEN: Accent Lettering Base
Using a pencil, sketch your lettering by freehand. This will give a more authentic look. Then trace your sketch with your final accent color for contrast. I used red in order to contrast against both the blue and the yellow.

STEP EIGHT: Dimension
Add dimension to your accent lettering by painting a shadow in black around the bottom and left sides of the lettering. This will make your sign legible from farther away which is particularly important if you plan to use this as porch decor.

HANGING YOUR VINTAGE SIGN

I installed my sign on the front porch with a piece of chain. In order to do this, I drilled a small pilot hole in the top of the sign with a 3/16 drill bit. Then I placed a bead of gorilla glue into the hole and screwed the cup hooks in place before it dried.

The result was a sturdy sign that stayed in place on my porch all winter long!

Since the decor wasn’t overtly Christmas-themed, I left my porch decor in place until February.

I hope this helps inspire you to make your own Vintage Sign. Remember to pin this post on Pinterest so you can refer to it later. Just hover over the image below and click the little red P button.

I’ll be back soon with more ideas for decorating for the holidays. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T 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!

NEED MORE HOME IDEAS + INSPIRATION?
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The post DIY Vintage Sign: How To Get The Authentic Old Advertising Look With Paint appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

If you’re joining today from Making Home Base, welcome! I’m so happy to have you joining us! Chelsea showed you adorable updates from her daughters’ bedroom and now I’m going to show you how you can carry that same fun holiday vibe into your kids’ home workspaces as well.

Whether your child has a dedicated classroom in the home or just a place they like to color or read, here are some simple ways to incorporate their interests into decor for the holiday season.

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

Our daughter is headed back into a virtual learning environment and we’re a little bummed. We know she’s going to miss all the fun holiday activities she would otherwise have participated in during Kindergarten. So we’re giving her a fun, new workspace where she can learn and feel inspired.

Come see how we’ve added some holiday cheer to help boost her enthusiasm about learning from home…

CREATING A SPACE FOR KIDS TO LEARN FROM HOME

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way fast: THERE IS NO SCENARIO IN WHICH I EXPECT ANYONE TO TACKLE A MAJOR RENOVATION JUST TO MAKE ROOM FOR VIRTUAL LEARNING. The photos you are about to see are going to show you a massive transformation from Before and After.

As luck would have it, our home was hit by a tornado two weeks before Nashville shut down for the pandemic. The renovation you will see was a necessary rebuild to our 100 year-old home. Do not remodel your home based on a temporary situation. And take my advice – don’t renovate your home during a global pandemic. Decorating is fun. Having contractors complete work in your home whilst also trying to socially distance your family is terrifying. Hang curtains instead.

The extent of the tornado damage required us to rebuild the entire second story of our home. The BEFORE photo shown above is from the real estate listing. We purchased this historic bungalow in 2019 with plans to restore it over time. You can read more about that here: Our 1924 California Bungalow: Full Home Tour.

As we rebuilt, we decided to raise the roof ridge by two feet and to add an additional 600 square feet onto the back of the house in the form of a large dormer. The dormer you are seeing today is the original dormer at the front of the house. It had originally been a part of our daughter’s upstairs bedroom but was made into a play space off the central upstairs hallway during the rebuild.

Since we’re still unpacking our boxes, this space has been relatively empty and useless for the past three months but we knew it would make the perfect spot for an impromptu homeschooling room for our kid.

The plan for this little nook was always to turn it into an arts and crafts space for our self-proclaimed artist daughter. And what to artists need? Horizontal space for drawing and writing, of course! It just so happens that’s exactly what she needs to be able to learn alongside her classmates in a virtual school environment too! So this little update will be handy for now and serve a longterm purpose as well!

Major renovations aside, there are lots of easy ways to create virtual learning spaces for kids. Use what you have. Buy a desk if your budget allows. Or build something custom on the cheap like we did:

We purchased a hollow core slab door from our local home improvement store and ripped it down with a table saw in order to fit it tight along the wall. Using scrap MDF 1x4s from our recent bathroom moulding buildout, we created a bracket system along the wall on which the slab could rest. Then we nailed the slab into the braces from the top in order to secure it permanently to the wall.

The result is a floating shelf-style desk that doesn’t budge even with the most vigorous crayon drawings.

If you’re not looking to permanently affix the desk to your walls, you can also find inexpensive table legs on which you can rest the table top and secure with screws. Just make sure your end result is a desk that’s no higher than 30” off the floor. Here are some cute options:

DECORATING KID’s WORK SPACES FOR CHRISTMAS

I’m no elementary school teacher so I had to really channel my inner Mrs. Frizzle when trying to decide how to decorate my daughter’s home learning room. I thought back to my own childhood and tried to remember what the classrooms of yore looked like. Minus the dinosaurs (hahaha.. I’m an older mom but I’m not that old).

My fondest memories of school were those when the teacher would let us come to the chalkboard and write our answers in front of the class. I know a lot of people have anxious memories about those moments but I’m a show-off and a people-pleaser so they always made me so proud.

That’s when I remembered a thrift store find from two years ago that has just been sitting in our garage, collecting dust!

This massive chalkboard was only $4 at a local thrift store and although I didn’t have a direct need for it at the time, I knew I’d one day be able to show it some love. I love Schoolhouse style and nothing says schoolhouse like an actual artifact from an old school!

The original chalk finish was scratching off and stained. A quick coat of Rustoleum Chalk Board Paint (it’s tintable so I had mine tinted green) made it look brand new! I left the wood frame in kind of funky condition to show its age.

Using large stencils, I traced the outline of “Holly Jolly” with a chalk pen.

Then I went back over the outline with a thick chalk layer and turned the chalk on its side to shade in the letters.

A simple strand of vintage-style colorful Christmas lights acts as a garland across the top of the chalkboard. I used Command Clear Mini Light Hooks to secure the lights to the wood. These will come off easily at the end of the season.

Since this little nook opens to our newly-created bonus room, I wanted to make sure the vibe stayed the same. We like a lot of vintage tchotchkes and colorful accents for decorating. This chalkboard fits right in!

The result is a space that’s both functional and really welcoming for my daughter. She really loves it!

On the wall opposite of the chalkboard, I used the same Command Hooks to hang metal clips on which she can display her school work and artwork alike.

A simple paper ring garland and construction paper letters encourage her to get into the holiday spirit even if her dress indicates she’s feeling the wrong holiday.

I’ve teamed up with some of my talented blogger friends who are also sharing their fun and festive spaces for the Holiday Home Tour – Kid Edition. Please be sure to check out all the adorable kid spaces and trees decorated for the holidays!

MONDAY

Two Twenty One // Love and Renovations // Lemon Thistle // Stacie’s Spaces

The Organized Mama // Design Improvised // Inspiration for Moms // Bright Green Door

TUESDAY

Making Home Base // T. Moore Home // Casa Watkins // Up to Date Interiors

Living Letter Home // Home on Poplar Creek // DIY Decor Mom // Kate Decorates // The Goat Abode

Next, you’ll definitely want to head over to see what Stephanie from Casa Watkins Living has up her sleeve. Her style is so graceful and lovely. I know you’re going to adore how she updated her daughter’s bedroom with a festive theme for the holidays!

GET THE LOOK

Featured

From my family to yours – Have a Holly Jolly Holiday Season!

xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T 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!

YOU’RE MISSING OUT

Not all my updates are big enough to warrant an entire blog post.

To make sure you never miss a single DIY project or great deal, sign up for my weekly newsletter:

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• 
  How Does a Virtual Home Design Consultation Work? (And Why Can’t I Just Use ChatGPT?)
• 
  Should You Wallpaper Your Bathroom? (Yes.)
• 
  Infusing Historic New Orleans Character Into A Boring, New-Build Home
• 
  Designer Obsession: Vintage Kilim Rugs
• 
  Free Design Ideas: Decorating With Rust and Rose Colored Home Accents
• 
  Summer Rental in Nashville, TN’s Coolest Neighborhood

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The post Holidays In The Kid’s Workspace: Adding Schoolhouse Style for Christmas appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

Do you have a sturdy piece of furniture that’s showing its age? I know the feeling. Our daughter’s dresser is over ten years old and while it’s still holding up strong, the wear and tear of four moves + life with a toddler and two cats was making it look like a piece of junk. So today, I’m showing you how to remove factory stain finishes from wood furniture to breathe new life into your old stuff. Here’s how I turned a 10 year-old Ikea Hemnes dresser into a cute statement piece for a kid’s bedroom …

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We’ve now owned our historic California Bungalow for eight months and we’ve barely even begun renovations. Since our daughter has had a hard time adjusting to the new house, we decided to make her bedroom a priority for 2020.

you can read all about how and why we downsized here:

We Are Downsizing: Why My Family Is Choosing Life In A Smaller Home

Our 1924 California Bungalow: Full Home Tour

We’ve already made great progress in her room so far. At the beginning of February, I showed you how we upgraded the 1980s can lights for a more modern look (How To Replace An Outdated Can Ceiling Light Without Rewiring). Then we painted her wood floors with fun stripes to give a cottage appeal (Painting Hardwood Floors). Now, we’ve moved on to furnishing the space and I’ve shown you how we created a fake wood stain on laminate furniture (How To Stain Laminate Furniture – A Paint Trick For Changing Fake Wood Colors).

Here’s her bedroom on move-in day:

After a new coat of paint on everything, here’s how the room looks now:

The pink paint on the walls is a playful touch against the red window trim and blue and white striped floor. Overall, the vibe for this room is going to be colorful and modern. I want a whimsical look for my rainbow-loving child but I also need to make sure this space works with the overall style of our home.

Her old dresser, with its dark wood stain, isn’t just looking a little frazzled. It also doesn’t really fit the style of our current house.

My daughter’s Ikea Hemnes dresser: it’s held up over time but the past decade of use has left a lot of marks on its finish.

HONEST REVIEWS OF IKEA HEMNES FURNITURE

this isn’t sponsored by Ikea but the following contains affiliate links

I can’t praise this Ikea furniture line enough. If you’re looking for sturdy and classic furniture on a budget, the Ikea Hemnes line is my go-to choice. The lines are simple, making it blend easily into modern and traditional rooms alike. Unlike a lot of the cheap MDF and laminate pieces you may imagine when you think of ready-to-assemble furniture stores, the Hemnes line is built of solid wood.

I’ve used different furniture pieces throughout my own home for years! You can see how I customized the Ikea Hemnes TV storage unit in my last home’s bonus room here: Don’t Replace Your Furniture. Update It Instead!

I’m also a massive fan of the Ikea Hemnes shoe cabinets! I’ve owned these shoe storage pieces for seven years and four moves. They’re such workhorse pieces that I’ve managed to find a spot for them in every home I’ve owned over the past decade. Here they are this past winter in our California Bungalow:

Because the Hemnes dresser is so sturdy and reliable, I really didn’t want to get rid of it. It doesn’t make sense to trash a solid piece of furniture just because the finish or style isn’t exactly coherent with the rest of the room.

Instead, I opted to refinish the dresser by removing the existing stain on the drawers, replacing the hardware with wooden number pulls, and painting the frame and top.

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Here’s the finished look:

The trickiest part of this dresser makeover was removing the original dark wood stain from the drawers to reveal the beautiful pine wood grain underneath. It took a lot of trial and error but I finally figured out how to easily remove the thick laters of mocha stain without using chemical stripping tools.

Here’s the process that worked best for me:

HOW TO REMOVE DARK STAIN FROM WOOD

MATERIALS NEEDED TO REMOVE WOOD STAIN

palm or orbital sander
sandpaper: 60, 120, and 360 grit

Before you start, you want to thoroughly clean the wood finish to remove any oils or sticky residue. I used vinegar and water to wipe down the entire surface after a complete vacuuming and dusting.

STEP ONE: choose the right sandpaper grit

For complete removal of the existing wood stain, you’re going to use three different grits of sandpaper. The sandpaper grit refers to the gauge of the paper. In other words, the lower the number, the rougher the paper will be on surfaces. You can buy each grit of sandpaper separately or you can purchase a multipack that includes a variety of different grit sizes for your project.

My palm sander allows for full sheets of sandpaper to be cut down to fit. However, some orbital and palm sanders require specific types of paper that are pre-cut to the exact dimensions of your sander. Be sure to refer to your sander’s guide to determine the specific type of paper you’ll need.

You can refer to the image above to act as a guide throughout this project. This will assist you in determining which sandpaper gauge to use for each step.

For removal of the finish, you’ll use a rough 60 grit sandpaper. To remove the wood stain, your preferred sandpaper will be a medium 120 grit. For fine sanding and finishing, you’ll need to have a fine 360 grit paper on-hand.

STEP TWO: remove the finish lacquer

Furniture that is stained is often covered with a clear finish layer that seals in the stain. The first step to removing the stain is to remove this finish layer.

For removal of the finish, you’ll use a rough 60 grit sandpaper. Run your palm or orbital sander in even strokes across the wood. The end result will be a cloudy look. That’s what you want. This assures you that you’re properly cutting through the finish lacquer.

STEP THREE: sand out the stain

Now that the lacquer has been removed, you can sand the wood down to its original color.

For removal of the stain, you’ll use a medium 120 grit sandpaper. Run your palm or orbital sander in even strokes across the wood until you’ve removed the wood stain and the natural color of the wood and grain shows.

STEP FOUR: smooth the wood

The final step to removing the stain is to smooth the surface of the wood. Having used rough and medium grit papers, you’ll find the surface is rough to the touch. This could result in splinters and will certainly inhibit your ability to re-stain the wood in an even coat.

To smooth the wood, you’ll use a fine 360 grit sandpaper. Run your palm or orbital sander in even strokes across the wood. Use caution to go slowly and even out the surface. Check the wood as you sand with your hand. By running your hand over the surface, you’ll be able to determine when you’ve sanded the surface enough to get a smooth finish.

STEP FIVE: clean the wood surface

Once you’ve determined the wood is smooth and even to the touch, you’ll need to clean the surface to remove the dust. This will ensure your new stain or finish coat will apply evenly.

I used a dry dust cloth to wipe the surface.

STEP SIX: apply new finish

Since the wood is now back to its natural state, you’ll want to apply some sort of sealer or finish product in order to protect the wood surface from moisture.

You can use a clear polyurethane, a stain with a built-in poly, or any wood finishing product.

I opted to finish the wood with a wood conditioner and sealer. Typically, Howard Feed N Wax is used for butcher block countertops and cutting boards. I like this finish because it seals the wood with a natural beeswax product. Since this is going into a child’s room, I wanted the finish to be as safe as possible.

STEP SEVEN: install new hardware

Once your new finish has dried, you can install the drawer hardware. The original knobs from this Ikea Hemnes dresser are timeless and classic. You can absolutely reinstall those. Or you can choose new knobs that better match your personal style. Here are a few budget-friendly hardware options that I really like;

I opted to create my own dresser knobs for my kid’s dresser. I used wooden blocks left over from my daughter’s wooden number puzzle to fashion pulls for the dresser. First, I glued them on. Once the glue was dry, I drilled into the back to create a pilot hole for a screw to permanently secure them.

Here are some number puzzles and other wooden items you could use to create the same look;

You can use this glue and screw method to attach any type of wooden object to the dresser for use as a knob. Just make sure the depth of the item allows for easy grabbing with small hands.

In the end, this Ikea Hemnes dresser looks vintage and fun for a kid’s room.

Now, this 10 year-old dresser looks brand new and ready for a whole new life!

The Ikea Hemnes line is my favorite basic line of furniture. It’s versatile and sturdy. Just make sure you’re strapping those dressers to the wall for safety. Read more about avoiding tip-over accidents here: Ikea’s Safer Homes Campaign.

The line comes in tons of finish options. Here are my favorite pieces from the Ikea Hemnes line:

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:

Now, a confession: This post is going live in November of 2020. However, it was actually written in February of 2020 and was slated to go live as part of my daughter’s bedroom makeover for the 555 Room Challenge. After I captured the photos for this project and finalized the post on February 28th, our family left for a little week-long getaway in Florida.

On March 3, our home was hit by a tornado while we were away. I never got to photograph the final room for the 555 Room Challenge so you’ll never see a reveal of that makeover. You can read more about the tornado here: How We Are Rebuilding After The Tornado

I’ve struggled with the decision of whether or not to post these projects that never really got completed. On the one hand, there will never be a final reveal of this room. So there’s no way to show you how everything worked so well together. I’ll never be able to show off the work I put in.

Having endured the loss of her home and stability during a pandemic, our daughter has matured a lot over the past nine months. She’s no longer the four year old who wanted cotton candy pink walls and vibrant primary color accents.

Her new bedroom is a reflection of that maturity. The blush pink has been replaced by dark fuchsia and vibrant orange. After months of living without most of her belongings. she’s opted to get rid of the large dollhouse she once so treasured. It’s been replaced by a vanity table where she stores her great aunt’s vintage mirror and brush. Family heirlooms are important to her now.

One day soon, her new bedroom will be finished and I’ll show you those photos. But for now, here’s a glimpse into the bedroom she and I designed together last Winter:

These photos aren’t styled. They were taken as a trial run to see how the light worked in this room. But I think you’ll see a true glimpse into how her life was in this space for the short time she had it.

In the end, I decided to publish this post as a final homage to the brief life we had in this home before we had to gut it.

I know there’s a lot of useful information for people in this project. I know it can be helpful.

If nothing else, it can also stand as a testament to my daughter. One day, maybe she’ll look back at this space she’ll never remember and smile at how much our love for her shone through.

I’ll be back soon with more updates on our home’s rebuild. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T 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!

YOU’RE MISSING OUT

Not all my updates are big enough to warrant an entire blog post.

To make sure you never miss a single DIY project or great deal, sign up for my weekly newsletter:

I won’t share your information with anyone. Ever. I promise.

Thank you!

* this site contains affiliate links + advertising*
I get a commission when you buy through my links that goes towards the costs of hosting this free tutorial site.
Site operating fees are expensive but my commission costs you nothing. thanks for your support!

NEED MORE HOME IDEAS + INSPIRATION?
THESE ARE THE MOST POPULAR THIS WEEK:

Featured

• 
  How Does a Virtual Home Design Consultation Work? (And Why Can’t I Just Use ChatGPT?)
• 
  Should You Wallpaper Your Bathroom? (Yes.)
• 
  Infusing Historic New Orleans Character Into A Boring, New-Build Home
• 
  Designer Obsession: Vintage Kilim Rugs
• 
  Free Design Ideas: Decorating With Rust and Rose Colored Home Accents
• 
  Summer Rental in Nashville, TN’s Coolest Neighborhood

The post Ikea Hemnes Dresser Makeover: Removing Dark Wood Stain appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

It’s week two of the 555 Room Challenge and today I’m showing you how I updated two IKEA chests. The catch? They’re not real wood. Here’s how I changed the wood tone from a white washed grey to a modern blonde wood without sanding or ruining the laminate finish. Plus, an update on my daughter’s bedroom design with exclusive sneak peeks on how the room is coming together!

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

Interior Design involves a ton of evolution. Sometimes plans change. Sometimes (especially in my own home), designs get scrapped altogether when a new idea comes to mind. This week, my four year old daughter’s bedroom design completely pivoted when I found three major inspiration pieces at a serious discount!

The first moment of clarity in her room came while I was installing her new rug over the freshly painted striped floors (that tutorial will be on the blog next week).

I didn’t really love the way the rug was working with the existing items in the room: the painted wood floors and pink walls. If I was going to move forward with using this rug, I really needed something to tie the light pink wall color in with the bright colors of the rug.

That’s when inspiration struck via a set of sheets and a pair of curtains.

While I was sourcing ideas for a client’s playroom design, I stumbled upon these really cute sheets with a rainbow plaid pattern. Recalling how much plaid we have throughout the rest of our home, I was instantly enamored with the idea of bringing in a masculine pattern to counteract the polka dots in the rug. I ordered them immediately.

Then I recalled a floral curtain panel I’d seen pretty early on in my design concept building. When I first saw the curtains, I nixed the idea of using them because I’d planned to paint a floral motif in a mural on the wall behind my daughter’s bed. At the time, I’d planned to keep her bed against the solid wall directly adjacent to her door. Once we started putting the room back together, I actually changed my mind and decided to try her bed under the wall of windows that faces her doorway.

We placed the bed there and she loved it. I also loved how much more space this gave her to play in the room. So we decided to leave the bed on the wall. Since this would require curtains, I knew the floral curtains I’d found on clearance at Crate & Kids would be the perfect substitute for a floral wall mural. At $30 each, they weren’t as cheap as the mural I’d planned but they were still a bargain! So I ordered them promptly.

Bringing even more red into the room made me so happy because I’d found these modern chairs to use for her desk area and loved the way the red played off the pink paint color on the walls.

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I GOT CATFISHED 
by a piece of furniture

Have you ever purchased something online thinking it was absolutely the perfect color or wood tone to go with your decor only to discover when you view it in person that the color is actually a little “off”?

Last weekend, I bought a set of Ikea chests from a seller on FB Marketplace. In photos, the stain of the wood looked perfectly suited for our modern aesthetic. But once I got there to pick them up, the wood stain looked more whitewashed and kind of farmhouse-y. I bought them anyway, assuming they were covered in a wood veneer (a super thin cut of real wood) and I could just alter the stain color. 

BOY WAS I WRONG.

Once I started to sand the back section of one of the pieces, I realized they were comprised of laminate. There was no real wood grain and therefore, I couldn’t just re-stain them. (If you have a piece of furniture that has a wood veneer, here’s a great tutorial for staining wood veneer).

Since I really wanted the wood look to go with our existing decor, I didn’t want to paint them. Instead, I had to get creative. 

HOW TO “STAIN” FAKE WOOD + LAMINATE FURNITURE

MATERIALS NEEDED TO STAIN LAMINATE WOOD

latex craft paint (I used Unicorn Spit, as it’s made specifically for this application)
clear glass mixing vessel
water
craft paint brush for mixing
cloth rag

STEP ONE: Find an inspiration wood tone + compare it to your furniture.

This was a really easy process for me because I have a lot of existing furniture that already has the yellowish pink stain I was hoping to achieve. If you don’t have an existing piece already, head to your local home improvement store and browse the wood flooring samples. These are free, so you can take them home with you to see how the tones look with the other finishes in your home.

Once you’ve determined a color you want, compare your desired wood tone to the current tone of the laminate wood. What does your inspiration wood have that your current piece of furniture is lacking?

STEP TWO: Mix paint colors to create the base of your “stain”.

For this application, a stain is really just a thinned out paint. So you’re going to create a paint color that adds exactly the missing tones you need to make your furniture appear more like your inspiration piece.

Since my laminate piece looked whitewashed, it was missing the colors of the wood. I knew I would need to add a lot of yellow, a little red or pink, and tone it all down with a touch of brown so it didn’t look like an orange stain.

Since you’re not a machine and no two batches will be identical, you’ll want to fill a small container with a lot of paint so you don’t have to make an additional batch. I used a glass yogurt jar and filled it with paint to the halfway mark.

STEP THREE: Add water to thin your paint mixture + create a translucent “stain”.

Because laminate is essentially paper and plastic that’s been applied to MDF, you’ll want to keep the stain mixture relatively thick. This is because plastic is nonporous and therefore can’t absorb water like real wood can. If you apply too much water, you will ruin the finish. Remember that water removes stickers and you don’t want to remove the laminate from your furniture.

Apply just enough water that your paint mixture becomes transparent but not so much that it looks like water. I chose a 1/2 and 1/2 measurement that gave me the consistency and transparent qualities of cream (versus milk).

STEP FOUR: Apply first coat of “stain” to laminate furniture.

This is where you want to proceed with caution. Don’t get overzealous and start soaking your laminate with the stain. Simply dip the rag lightly into the stain mixture and then squeeze out any excess drips. You want your cloth rag to be damp with stain but not wet.

Apply the stain using long strokes, following the direction of the existing wood grain. The difference in wood tones may not be super obvious at first and that’s okay. You’re going to apply this method until the desired tone is achieved. Patience is key to not destroying your laminate with an over-application of liquid. Allow the stain to dry completely before proceeding to additional coats.

STEP FIVE: Apply additional coats until wood tone matches your inspiration.

My desired wood tone was achieved in just two coats. However, for darker or lighter stains, you may find that your furniture requires three or four coats. Have patience and know that with each layer of stain, you’re edging closer to your desired outcome.

If you begin applying the stain and find it isn’t matching your goal wood color, go back to step one and add additional colors to your existing stain base as necessary.

FAQ: CAN I CHANGE THE WOOD TONE ON ANY LAMINATE FURNITURE?

This process should work with any desired stain idea. If you want to go lighter, you just need to add white to the base instead of brown. For going super dark, like creating a mocha stain, you may find you’ll be adding black and brown to the base. Just play with colors until you get the general tone you want and then add more paint to your base as you go, if necessary.

Don’t fret about getting it right the first time. As long as you don’t over saturate your laminate, you’re not ruining your furniture. The tones can be changed. If you find you’ve gone too dark, use a clean damp cloth to remove the finish as quickly as possible.

For my piece, the end result was subtle. I got rid of the grey and white undertones and ended up with two chests that look a lot more like the midcentury style furniture we have throughout the remainder of our home.

I added the white drawers back into the chests and I absolutely love the look of the crisp white against the blonde wood! I’m still deciding if I should apply a paint treatment to the edges of the wood trim. For now, though, I really think they look sharp next to my daughter’s bed.

I’ve completed this project, and the can light installation I showed you last week, as part of the 555 Room Challenge. During this home decor challenge, I’m joining a group of talented bloggers to complete one room in five weeks!

The goal is to spend less than $500 and show you 5 different DIY projects that you can incorporate in your own home. For this project, I’m overhauling the first room I should have focused on in our new home: Our daughter’s bedroom.

Click the images below to see what projects all the other bloggers are up to this week:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

We still have four weeks to go in this challenge and I have a slew of DIYs coming up. These Ikea chests have helped me work out a better clothing storage solution for my kid’s upstairs attic bedroom.

This coming week, I’m finishing up the floor painting and I’ll have that ready to show you next week! So make sure you come back to see how I’ve used leftover wall paint to create a durable floor paint! Cheap is awesome but free is best, right?!

SHOP THE PRODUCTS + MATERIALS I’VE USED

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DECORATING 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 How To Stain Laminate Furniture – A Paint Trick For Changing Fake Wood Colors appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

It’s that time of year again! The Cookie Swap Party invitations are rolling in. Usually, I panic about what I should bake and bring to these cookie parties but this year, I’ve figured out a very simple process for decorating cookies that make my cookies look super professional! Here’s how I faked baking expertise using an easy family sugar cookie recipe and some melting candy.

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First, allow me to be honest for a moment. I am not a baker. I don’t like the mess and I’m terrible at the precision required to get a good outcome when you bake.

Luckily, my wife has a family recipe for sugar cookies that is so easy even I get good results when I bake them!

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Aunt Judy’s Easy Sugar Cookies

• prep time: 15 mins
• cook time: 15 mins
• total time: 30 mins

Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 4 tsp milk
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. cream shortening and sugar together.
2. add vanilla and egg to mixture and beat until fluffy.
3. add milk and stir.
4. add dry ingredients and mix until blended.
5. roll dough and cut into desired shapes.
6. bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

These cookies are delicious but they’re not incredibly sweet on their own. Since I’m a mess when it comes to decorating with frosting, I decided to try a new way to give them the sugar-y taste this year.

Using this method, I was able to decorate two dozen cookies in under 15 minutes!

Please check out these other bloggers who have great ideas for baking and decorating cookies during the Cookie Swap Blog Tour:

A Small Life

Brand Spanking You

Modern Envy Interiors

Houseologie

Made by Carli

Casa Watkins Living

Bloom Wild with Bari J.

Blake Hill House

Katrina Blair 

Rebecca Propes

@ohsojo_

Happy Holidays and here’s to a fun new tradition!

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!

The post Easiest Cookie Decorating Ideas appeared first on Fortune House Shop.