Living In Less

    I do alot of organizing and cleaning for people and the one thing I notice is how much stuff we seem to collect.  Stuff that seems so very important.  Stuff that someone gave so and so a half a century ago and although it is tattered and dirty, sitting in a corner of your basement, you can't seem to part with it.  So much stuff, there is hardly room for the people who live in the house. 

    Does any of this sound familiar?  Are you a pack rat or a minimalist?  Do you love a big house or something small and simple?  This week's posts are all about living in less.  The small home.  It's not for everyone but sometimes,  it's fun to flirt with the idea of living a simple life.

Here are some great small homes!  There is a big movement in the United States towards smaller homes.  It really does make sense, but it's not for everyone. 

There's small...

Photo Courtesy of homeliving.net

Photo Courtesy of geminiweb.com

Photo Courtesy of busyboo.com

And then there's TINY!!

My personal favorite...A Shipping Container!!!  Photo Courtesy of inhabitat.com

I could move right in to this house!  Photo Courtesy of designbooom.com

140 Sq. Ft of great design!  Photo Courtesy of realestate.msn.com

So, what do you think?  Is a small home for you?  On Wednesday, I will show you some of the great design ideas that make a small home work.  You really have to think outside of the box!  See ya soon...

Pillows

Want to really change things up but don't have the budget for an entire redesign?  Try changing the pillows or adding pillows if you don't alread have some.  They don't have to cost a lot and better yet, try to make them yourself?

To save money, I have purchased clearance pillows at discount stores then re-covered them in my own fabric.  They are often less expensive than buying pillow forms. 

There are so many fun embellishments you can add to a simple pillow to really dress it up.  In many cases, you can even use fabric glue to secure your design rather than sewing. Here are some ideas below. 

Ric Rac is wildly popular right now and can be found in lots of colors and sizes

Felt is a great idea.  Recycled sweaters can also make a great sweater and is very inexpensive

Applique and bright colors

What room doesn't deserve a little ruffles and flowers

Pillows are a simple change and a great way to experiment with different colors and patterns with little investment if you decide it wasn't exactly what you were looking for. 

College Days

Do you have a student headed off to college?  Here are some ideas for decorating that awkward dorm room.  Lots of times, the walls are cinder block, the beds are metal and the rooms are small and sharing a room may not be something all that desirable. 

Keep the bedding bold and bright!  Use patterned sheets and again...lots of fun pillows!

Don't forget to pick up bed risers or bricks to lift the bed up for added storage below.  Using a decorative sheet, add a bedskirt for a clean look

Oftentimes, you can't do much with the walls but this is a great idea.  Embroidery hoops with fun fabrics stretched into them and arranged on a blank wall makes for a great way to dress up the wall.  Use Command Hooks to keep them secured to the wall.

 Mini Christmas lights add a nice touch of ambient lighting and also provide a great place for young adults to clip their favorite pics with friends.

 Vinyl is another great way to dress up a wall.  They are easy to place and easy to remove without damaging the wall.  Don't have a fancy machine to cut your own vinyl designs?  No problem, you can buy rolls of vinyl then handcut your designs.

 Create your own unique art on canvas.  Any simple design painted or drawn with marker.  It helps define your space and creates a place of your own.

Bookshelf Makeover

Making over these bookshelves was a fun project.  My favorite thing to do in the world of Interior Design is to re-purpose things a client already has.  Check out the before and afters of these beautiful bookshelves.

Before.....

After...

After clearing out all the shelves, we wallpapered the back with this awesome damask print in a pale blue and silver!  It was easy and added so much dimension and interest.

Can you spot the changes we made?  Adding groupings of things created a bolder statement than all the small things that got lost on the big shelves.

I will try to break down what we did.  In the before, she had a vase of some beautiful red and gold hydrangeas but they were lost in the shelf.  I took it apart and added it to small shallow bowls to use as book ends on the upper shelves.  It repeated the flower wreath sitting on the bottom shelf of the opposite corner. 

Adding a lamp to the shelf adds a beautiful spark of light and depth. 

We brought the vases up from the hearth and placed in a grouping by the wreath and typography sign.   This grouping provides a statement that the shelves were lacking. 

I love the simple florals on the coffee table.  The repetition is a bold move yet simple at the same time. 

These shelves pull the room together in a big way!  Adding the paper to the back of the shelves is a simple and creative way to dress things up.  For more tips on bookshelves, go here.

Bookshelf Designs

Here are some unique book shelf ideas to spur your imagination!

Hanging bookshelf (photo from homedesignfind.com)

Random books on a wall (photo from downgraf.com)

This fabric sling is an awesome idea, especially for a child's room

This isn't for everyone but a fun idea nonetheless (photo from couplemagic.com)

I love the idea of a less traditional shelf.  Old Dresser drawers make this arrangement of shelves incredibly unique with a great story to tell.

 Try to step out of the usual and ordinary and try something new and exciting.

Bookshelves

Bookshelves

They are either functional...

Or decorative

Bookshelves are revealing.   They speak volumes of your life, your personality, the things you know or want to learn, places you've been and people you love.   When I go into a home, I love looking at the bookshelves.  They may just be my favorite thing in anyone's house. 

Bookshelves are often the center of a room or tucked in a quiet, unsuspecting corner of the house. 

Whatever you want your bookshelves to say about you, here are a few simple tips to consider when decorating all those fabulous shelves.

• The goal of a decorative book shelf is to keep the eye moving from one shelf to the next
• If the shelves are movable, try going for an asymmetrical look rather than lining the shelves up
• Go bold when mixing accessories with the books. 
• Keep collections and like items with like items, especially if your collection is small in scale
• Remember to keep the shelves balanced.  Don't let one shelf hold heavy, overpowering items while a shelf below is dainty and sparse.
• Decide how you want to arrange the books, mix it up.  Stand some upright with an attractive book end and stack others
• Don't be afraid to use books as risers to place an attractive accessory or small picture frame on. 
• You can arrange books according to color, size or genre. 

Join me on Wednesday for some really cool book shelf ideas.

Dressing your table

The kitchen table.  What does yours look like?  Is it a fancy, rare wood from a far away land or the same table you bought as a newlywed couple, now looking a little worn and well used with a cornucopia of great memories surrounding it?

Regardless of the size or style of the table, new or old you need to dress it!  A dressed table helps to complete and anchor a room. 

Here is a really great DIY project you can do for pennies and under 10 minutes!  Seriously.  It will take me longer to explain it than it will for you to make it!

I found these really cute place mats at TJ Maxx for $3.00 in the clearance area.   I loved the crisp white and bright yellow.

I laid them all out to make a table runner then used fabric glue to attach the petals together

Done!!!  Sorry, I couldn't get this picture to load correctly but if you tilt your head just right...

Here is another table runner I made quite some time ago.  I love the story behind it.  My grandma, when she was little, use to sew her own clothes.  With the scraps of fabric, she would make a yo yo.  She had taken all these little yo yos and sewn them into squares.  After that, she put them in a trunk and forgot about them.  A few years ago, I came across them and she let me take them.  I sewed each of the squares together and it has been my table runner for a number of years.  It's bright and adds so much to the table. 

Here are some more ideas of table runners you could easily make.

Table runners don't always have to run the length of the table.  It's fun to switch it up.  (photo courtesy of sdoople.info)

How about this for a rustic look?  Little slices of wood!!!  Tons of work but really fun! (photo by thisnext.com)

I love this idea.  So often we have heirloom pieces but we stash them away in an old box and never look at them again.  Imagine the stories and history in a table runner made from Grandma's old doilies?  Vintage tea towels would be awesome as well.  (Photo by apartmenttherapy.com)

Now, go and dress that table!