Guest Blogger: 5 Fresh Ideas for Decorating with Air Plants

Today we have a guest blogger from Modernize! Enjoy these fun and simple ways to freshen your home with some greenery without all the dirt and mess! 

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Let's face it, gardening with traditional plants is downright messy. With all the soil, amendments
and fertilizer necessary, growing plants indoors may not be your favorite past-time in the world
— especially when bugs show up. When you still want the beauty of nature without tracking soil
everywhere, air plants are your solution. With their exposed roots, they pull moisture from the air
instead of a soil mound. Decorate with air plants to get the most out of these unusual species
and add a bit of nature to your home.

1. Create a Candle Centerpiece

Take a look at this candle gracing the table. Although the birdcage surrounding it is elegant, the
table is missing a natural element. Use an oval tray as a centerpiece, placing the candle in the
center and surround it with air plants. You literally arrange them around the candle with no
soil necessary. You'll simply need to spray the plants with misty water periodically (experts also
suggest immersing the plants in water once a week for 15-30 minutes) to keep their roots
happy. Conversations start immediately over the dinner table with these decorations.

Via Zillow Digs

Via Southern Living

2. Frame Them as Artwork

Those frames up there look lonely, so fill them with air plants. Add some wire mesh into the
open frame for root support. Fishing line works perfectly as a connector between this mesh and
the plants. The foliage will appear to grow out of the wall when you're done creating the frames.
Fill all of these frames or sporadically decorate a wall with just one framed piece. Vertical
gardens are incredibly powerful decorations for a visual treat.

 Via Zillow Digs

Via Hubpages

3. Simulate Chandeliers

While this air plant looks like a jellyfish come alive, you can use this upside-down idea to create chandeliers. Take several rectangular containers with complementary colors. Add your air plant
to them, using fishing line to hold the roots to the container. Attach the container upside down
over a table, dangling it just like a chandelier. Add as many other "plant chandeliers" around the
first one for a distinct natural look in a sitting or dining room.

Via Houzz

4. Try Container Gardening

Take almost any container out of this image and make it into an air plant garden. Remove all the
container's contents and add a colorful "soil." Because the soil is truly for aesthetics, go crazy
with texture. Sand, pebbles, rocks and other items are perfectly suited to this container
environment. The plant itself could be the focal point, or add small accents around it. From
another contrasting air plant to a piece of rolled wood, the container garden is more than unique
with some imagination.

Via Zillow Digs

5. Create a Rock Sculpture

It's okay if you don't have this elaborate crystal for your air plant. Any rock type you find is
perfect for the project. Fit the plant's roots into rock crevices to make it appear as if it's emerging
from this substance. In reality, use that fishing line again to make the plant secure against the
rock. The roots can wrap around the rock in time, but the initial creation needs more support.
Place these decorations in bathrooms or guest rooms for a grand effect.

Via Houzz

Looking for more home decor ideas, tips and inspiration? Go to Modernize!

By Jane Blanchard

Do you wanna see the nursery??

Before we even found out I was pregnant, I had visions of what I hoped our little one’s nursery would eventually look like. I had the Pinterest board and the sketches; essentially just a dream of what a sweet baby’s nursery could be even when he was no more than a prayer. When we found out that we were officially going to be parents in the Spring of 2014 my dreaming turned into planning: weeding through the pins, picking out paint, and making decisions that would make our sweet boy’s nursery a comforting space just for him. 

The vision was to have grey walls, white wainscoting, natural wood accents, with orange detailing scattered throughout. Thankfully, that is exactly what we ended up with! We mixed modern furniture with rustic accents and simple solids with bold patterns. We wanted some interest without the room feeling too busy because before we know it our little boy will have toys strewn about and that will be busy enough!  

Rob and I had such a blast taking my sketches (which at one point were taped all over the nursery door!) and making them into reality. We built the side table for the glider, re-crafted the floating shelf, installed the new closet system, and made the wooden arrows above the crib. We had so much fun working on these projects knowing that they were for our little boy!

     

All the furniture was either imagined and made by Rob and I or was handed down from our childhood bedrooms. The white crib and glider (though reupholstered) were Lindsey's as a girl and the chest of drawers was Rob's. We are so thankful for our awesome Moms (and Dads) who took such care of these pieces for so long! 

   

This nursery has turned out to be my favorite room in the house for two reasons: it came out exactly how we imagined it would and it's our son's room. We are so thankful that our prayers were answered and he is now here with us! It's an amazing feeling to love someone so deeply that you haven't even met yet, I wanted things to be perfect for him. It struck me that as we were building a place for our son, so is Christ preparing a home for us in Heaven (John 14:1-7). Heaven: how much cooler is that!

Currently, Baby Rebhan (only one week old in the picture above) doesn't sleep in his nursery overnight but we spend time in there every day and we love to rock together in the glider. As I type, our son is smiling and cooing while he sleeps in his bassinet in our bedroom. We aren't sure when the final transition will happen but we are so thrilled that he has such a cozy space to call his. 

Where is it from??

>>> Area Rug: Home Goods

>>> Toy Basket: TJMaxx

>>> Fox and Alphabet Pillow: Tootie and Tallulah's

>>> Sheepskin Rug: IKEA

>>> Crib Sheets: Target

>>> Bedskirt: BuyBuyBaby

>>> Love You To The Moon and Back art: Tootie and Tallulah's

>>> White Frames: Target

If I missed anything, or you have any other questions feel free to comment below or send us an email!! 

we've rearranged

So the living room, our most lived in and "in-flux" room, has been rearranged once again - shocker! It was feeling a little too closed off with the couch creating a "wall" between the living room and dining room. I guess it's a live and learn situation: we broke down a wall in order to open up the space and then we placed the couch in a way that the room felt closed off again. Well last weekend I looked at Rob and said "Would you mind if we did some moving" - those have to be his least favorite words. I know this is especially true because I always ask while we are watching some kind of show or movie; all I can do is sit and think about is how I don't like the space i'm in; meanwhile, he is innocently watching and enjoying whatever flick we are watching!  

To remind you what we had going on before, take a look at the picture below - tv against the wall, couch creating a wall, coffee table, chair in corner and an open wall to the left. From this angle you can't even see a bit of floor! 

It definitely goes well enough and there was plenty of room to walk by to the left of the couch but it was just not "right!" Away we went with moving, we tried a couple different arrangements before we ended here. 

The angles are a little different (and the second photo was taken at night) but the feeling in the room is much more open! We were able to keep the television and buffet where they were, the large city scape art was just moved up a couple inches to accommodate the couch and the floor lamp stayed put. After moving the couch we realized that by using our coffee table as a side table under the window (top left) we were able to save a lot of floor space without losing any surface space! And look, you can see the floor! 

Overall, much nicer and (hindsight) it should have been set up like this all along. It's a nice configuration for conversation as well as tv watching and there is a lot of open space for extra chairs when we have people over! 

The dogs love it too, we had my cousin's little girl over the other day and it gave them plenty of room to play!! They got some major lovin' that day! 

        

I know some of you will think i'm crazy, and I think that of myself a bit for even thinking it, but I think I am going to repaint the room. There is still something off about the space; it's a little too warm with the furniture that we have. I won't go back to white, that was too cold but I may offset the warmth a bit with a soft grey... I don't know yet. Painting is such a huge undertaking but it's worth it. I think we will live as is for a bit and see what I decide with color before making any hasty decisions. 

Any color recommendations for this room? What color would YOU paint it!?

some color inspiration

Walking into a paint store, looking online at colors or shopping at home depot (with their terrible lighting) is an overwhelming event when you are in need of paint for your home. It's so hard to think about a two to five inch square as a color that will cover your whole wall.

To alleviate any pains of paint purchasing on your part, we have put together a fairly comprehensive paint palette for any style of home. I know people who would use every color in one category and others who would mix the categories up! It's all about your personal style and what makes you LOVE your home.

Before we show you our choices, we wanted to share some advice that we learned a while back: It's easy to fall into the trap that every room in the house should be a different color - even if they look good in the scheme of "matching" - but in reality all those separate colors create some serious home A.D.D. ha! Use a color to complete two adjoining rooms (ie. kitchen and hallway) to create some serious flow for your home!

We decided to use Benjamin Moore as our source. We love the quality of Benjamin Moore paint and have known these colors to be pretty true to their swatches. Needless to say, any color from any company can change based on the individual circumstances: primer used or not used, base color, wall condition/type, etc..

We compiled six different categories for your inspiration!

 COOL BOLDS

COOL NEUTRALS

WARM BOLDS

WARM NEUTRALS

WHITES

BRIGHTS

Imagine these colors not only on walls, but trim and ceilings, as accents, back splashes, furniture and more!

What's your favorite and where would you love to use it!?

feeling pinspired part deux

I would love to commit to a once a week craft or Pinterest inspired project but the reality is that I won't ever live up to that commitment. Not only because sometimes time gets away from me but also because I will run out of places to put things! I think, instead, I will just create a series of posts that are "pinspired" (like this one here). This way, they will all be organized, you can see if these projects are something you would like to try yourself and I don't have to lie to you about getting a post up each week! Deal? Deal.

This week I did a project for which I have had the materials for months. I like to have somewhere to stick notes that is a little more specialized than the calendar or the fridge, where things can get lost in the shuffle. So while watching Alias (the third to last episode, OH MY!) I decided to complete this project. 

Ikea sells cork hot pads for 2.99/pk of 3 and you just can't beat that price! I decided, after seeing a similar idea on pinterest, to use these to make cork boards for our kitchen. 

This project felt free because it took me so long to use the hot pads after buying them but in reality it cost me a whopping 2.99+tax. 

I used two t-shirts from Salvation Army that I had bought for another project a year ago and they just happened to be the right colors for my current use. All the other materials were things I had on hand and waaalaaa another "free" project! 

      

I opened up the t-shirts at one of the side seams and then looked for an interesting part of the shirt. After finding what I wanted, I laid the hot pad on the shirt and roughly traced a 2 inch border circle onto the shirt. Once it was outlined, I removed the hot pad and cut out the circle. 

      

I used the hand staple gun, with 1/4 inch staples, to fasten the material to the pad. I placed a piece of cardboard on our coffee table just in case of any rogue staples. Because the material of the shirts was nice and stretchy, I was able to get a nice smooth edge around the circle. 

I used one shirt for one circle and the other shirt for the other two cirlces, with plenty of material left over in both shirts! 

To hang them on the wall, I used a small piece of yarn knotted at both ends and secured them with two staples. These cork boards aren't heavy at all and adding notes won't add much weight so this hanging method is plenty sturdy! 

We decided to hang them in our side entrance hallway. Because of the way the stairs turn at this entrance, we are able to see these at eye level from the kitchen but they are above our head on the landing. It's a perfect spot so we don't forget important things as we are walking out of the door! 

   

As you can see, we haven't done anything in this area of the house yet: yellow door, cream organizer, etc... all to be addressed at another time! 

This was a nice little project that took me about twenty minutes once all my supplies were gathered and I even got my first note! He's my "most favorite" too! 

Have any of you put your own spin on something you found on Pinterest?

seeing how far we've come

We always have an up-to-date list of what we've accomplished so far on the blog, but sometimes it's fun to take a look and compare the pictures of the original house (at move in) with our new and improved look in each room. The first picture of each "series" is the original, pre-move-in look and anything that follows is what we have done to the house! It's exciting to see it put together this way and really see what the differences are - let me tell you, paint is our best friend - i've said it before but it is amazing what a little paint can do!

Front Yard:

• Move house numbers to other side of door
• Re-do porch and walkway
• Re-landscape - Sod front yard
• Move mailbox
• Install flag and hang it
• Repaint the exterior of the house
• Repaint front door
• Repaint shutters

Back Yard:

• Dig out old garden beds
• Weed existing garden beds
• Remove white rocks
• Move hydrangea bushes away from house and to the back yard
• Decided what to do with shed - tear down and rebuild
• Install raised garden beds
• Plant vegetable garden 
• Re-finish swing
• Change fabric on swing and bistro set seats

Living Room:

• Change out curtain rods
• Hang new curtains
• New rug
• Paint living room / choose color
• Create walkway between living room and dining room
• Replace baseboards
• Hang art
• Paint inside of front door
• Add lighting

Dining Room:

• Change out curtain rods
• Hang new curtains
• New rug
• Re-upholster dining room chairs / choose fabric
• Hang art
• Organize closet for more storage
• Change closet door to be a glass "china cabinet"
• Paint dining room / choose color
• Baseboards
• Choose and hang light fixture

Hallway:

• Hang art
• Change the coat closet from a rod to hooks
• Change the shelves in the linen closet - real wood instead of pressed wood
• Paint the ceiling / choose color

Bathroom:

• Take down original shelving behind toilet
• Hang new shelves and decorate
• Hang Shower Curtain
• Re-attach fallen tiles in shower/tub
• Add hooks for towels and robes
• Organize closet behind door with baskets
• Replace sink pedastal with vanity style
• Replace fixtures / toilet paper holder / towel bar

Spare Room / Den:

• Paint den above chair rail / choose color 
• Change out curtain rods
• Hang new curtains
• New rug
• Arrange collage wall
• Hang art
• Add hanging bar to the inside of closet / maximize storage
  

Kitchen:

• Paint jars and cubby
• Build butcher block table
• Install new cooktop
• Hang pot-rack
• Install new hood
• Tile behind cooktop
• Hang art
• Paint underside of cupboards 
• Add shelf above cooktop
• Add knobs to cupboards

Finished Basement:

• Replace carpet in basement
• Remove carpet from stairs and re-trim
• Paint basement / choose color
• Complete ductwork that connects to living room vent

Laundry Room / Unfinished Basement: 

• Clean existing shelves
• Build laundry organization
• Create shelves for Rob's tools / work bench

Upstairs / Bedroom:

• Strip the carpet from the stairs
• Refinish stairs with a pallet wood look
• Hang curtains
• Organize closet
• Replace carpet upstairs
• Hang art
• paint ceiling
• paint walls
• new bedding
• create a bed platform

Thanks for keeping up with us!

Until next time,
Lindsey 

three look-books on a budget

Hello everyone! We're running with a different kind of post today - trying to get some creative juices flowing!

I always love having all my ideas in one place, so today I decided to put together three look-book pages from some of my favorite places. These three pages are budget friendly to inspire you and get some creative juices flowing for all of us!! I am so excited by the items I was able to find for all three categories: Under $25, Under $50, and Under $100!!

Now of course there are so many more items that could have fit into these categories but these are the things that struck me most. I wanted to show that it isn't hard to find beautiful items that bring character and color to your home on three different, very wallet friendly budgets! 

1. Temple Jar I in Coral - Joss and Main - 17.95

2. Temple Jar II in Yellow - Joss and Main - 20.95

3. Nate Berkus Stoneware Vases - Target - 12.99 & 17.99

4. Threshold Round Mirrors, 3pc - Target - 24.99

5. Elephant Hook - One Kings Lane - 12.00

6. Threshold Decorative Maze Pillow - Target - 19.99

7. Nate Berkus Arrowhead - Target - 7.99

8. Threshold Jackson Frame - Target - 14.99 (up to 29.99 depending on size)

9. Threshold Faceted Vase - Target - 24.99

1. Threshold Demijohn Vase - Target - 44.99

2. Sanibel Stag Bookend (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 48.95

3. Azteca Pillows (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 39.90

4. Metal Sunburst Mirror - Target - 34.99

5. Bali Toss Pillow - Target - 30.50

6. Nate Berkus 12" Tray - Target - 34.99

7. Mika Pillows (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 39.90

8. Gloria Bolster (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 49.95

9. Ikat Table Runner - One Kings Lane - 29.00

1. Etoile 12" Pendant - Joss and Main - 84.95

2. Threshold Honeycomb Accent Table, Gold - Target - 79.99

3. Threshold Slipper Chair, Charcoal Heather - Target - 79.98

4. Tivoli Wall Sconce - Joss and Main - 52.95

5. 3 Piece Elephant Set - Joss and Main - 59.95

6. Handmade Chrome Porcelain Garden Stool - OverStock.com - 99.99

7. Milla Magazine Rack - Joss and Main - 55.95

8. Henriette Table Lamp - Joss and Main - 67.95

9. 3 Piece Tavern Counter Set - Joss and Main - 98.95

If you are not a member of Joss and Main or One Kings Lane I would highly recommend signing up; you can click on either of the following links for an invite! No, I am not getting anything for promoting these sites... I would honestly just like everyone to have a membership (which is free) to find so many beautiful and unique items for your home! Things move fast on these two websites and items only last days so make sure that you keep checking back. 

I hope that you were able to find some inspiration - I sure had fun putting together some look-book pages for you all! 

Until next time, Lindsey 

bedroom upgrade: step two

Last week we finally changed our mindsets about our upstairs, bungalow style bedroom and decided that it should be just as "finished" as the rest of the house. Our first step in that process was getting some new bedding - a simple change that made a nice amount of difference while we were still living in a very large, very white room.

Step Two: Painting the angled ceiling

This past weekend we resolved to getting some color up on the walls / ceiling of the bedroom. Now, it's not as simple as picking a color and simply painting the four straight walls because as you can see in the "original" image above, the shape of the room is not typical. The angled shape creates an overbearing amount of white ceiling when left white. Merely painting the limited wall space isn't a strong enough contrast in a room of this size. In light of this, we decided to switch things up a bit. 

We chose to use the same color that we used in the dining room: Benjamin Moore White Water which I snagged for $10/gallon. When we painted the dining room, the color read a little more blue that we would have hoped but we still ended up loving the contrast it created. We thought having that nice "light blue" feel on the ceiling of the bedroom would be nice and cozy without feeling too heavy. 

After edging in along 22 edges and around 2 light fixtures, not only once but twice (gotta have good coverage!), I was feeling the ceiling painting pain. There is a lot of ladder standing when there are that many edges!! 

When I was ready to start rolling, I made sure to tarp below where I was working. It's amazing that the tiny little paint drops get all over everything - myself included! I channeled Dexter (the tarping not the stabbing) at some points during the process, but all in all got the impression that it would be very hard for him to do all that tarping and wrapping on his own - always a critic. 

After two coats of paint and some death defying balancing over the stairwell shown above, the ceiling was painted and the room was looking cozier than ever! 

   

The color, which read blue downstairs, now reads completely grey up in the bedroom. Crazy how paint can trick you! We weren't disappointed though; the white pinstripes of molding along the middle panel add depth and character that would have been lacking had we been able to just paint the whole ceiling as one smooth surface. So far, we are pleased! 

We have more plans for the bedroom but they are constantly changing and morphing with every task we take on. For now, we are loving the warmth of the colored ceiling and our new bedding! You'll just have to wait and see what is next. 

Until next time, 

Lindsey 

***It's always so fun when I am painting to have Rob come into the room I am working on and express his thoughts, usually along the lines of "Wow!" or "Looks great!" Since he promises that he is a terrible painter, he hold the dogs at bay to keep them from becoming my next paint project and comes to see me with moral support and an occasional Diet Coke! Gotta love that team work!