Such an easy way to display black and whites. Or instagram photos that you have printed up.

Pecan Cobbler? Stop the world.

photo: Benjamin Stelly

The Ways We Are Perfect : Richella is one of the first people I met through blogging, her oldest son just graduated from Duke University, this is her post on mothering, and children.

sadly, unsourced

Let Them Come Home

Becoming Home: A Photo Tour, I’m a little bit in love with this blog. A family of 5 living in 665 square feet. Be sure to read this.

Lessons in a Boy Fort also from Carmella @Assortment, thinking about small

One Thing Your Daughter Doesn’t Need You to Say and 12 Things Your Daughter Needs You to Say –these posts written by my sister went viral this week

Ashlee Raubach photography see more here

A Helpful Guide to Becoming Unbusy @ Becoming Minimalist

Remember the cubes I found at Walmart a few months ago? I updated one as soon as I took this photo but had to hold the post until today because ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape wanted to sponsor it. I think I have a roll of Blue Painter’s tape in every room of our house so this was an easy ‘yes’. A triple win if you will.

Supplies:

• A slipcovered cube ottoman from Wal-Mart ($15)
• Paint: it really can be any kind since you are using such a tiny amount. I used Valspar Eggshell mixed with some acrylic to create a custom color (a coral I actually like!)
• ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Brand (I used 1.41 width but any width is fine)
• Paint brush or sponge
• Upholstery tacks (optional)

This is such an easy and fun project that really can be used in any room. I’m always looking for inexpensive little stools and ottomans and this $15 find was a no-brainer. He was a little dull so I dressed him up with paint and upholstery tacks.

I wanted a simple abstract design so I winged it and taped and painted a line, removed the tape immediately and moved onto another line until it looked like it was done. No measuring, no worrying, just making quirky little angles. It kind of goes with the whole 80′s vibe my house has been feeling lately.

I have a whole other ottoman I think I’ll stripe in a few weeks.

The great thing about the BlueTape was that I could tape over the not quite dried areas and it didn’t mess up any previously painted lines–perfect for impatient people like me.

Here’s the step by step:
1. Gather your supplies and put everything on a cleared off surface
2. Use two strips of Scotch BlueTape to tape off one line at a time at the desired width while the slipcover is still on the ottoman
3. Paint between the taped lines
4. Immediately remove the tape
5. Repeat as many lines as you want–no need to wait for the paint to dry before you start your next lines, the BlueTape doesn’t stick to or smudge the paint
6. For extra bling push in some brass upholstery tacks at the intersections of the lines, if you have small children, skip this part, these tacks can be pulled out if you are persistent

It’s the perfect little addition to the not quite finished guest room.

Here are some other ideas you could create from a plain cube, paint and BlueTape:

Joss & Main

Lamps Plus

Overstock : this one is for the overachiever

My very favorite way to DIY (DIMy?) is to simply embellish or update something I have, or something I’ve purchased so that it looks custom or quirky or more personal. I usually don’t spend much money so if I hate it, that’s okay. And then I share it here, not because I think everyone needs to go to Walmart and buy the exact same cube and paint it the exact same way, but because I think everyone should look at what they have or what they see in a fresh way and make it their own. Go forth and create!

This post is a collaboration with ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape, but all words and opinions are my own.

Be sure to visit  ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Brand Pinterest page, or Visit ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Brand on Facebook and ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Twitter Page

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Vintage Lamp Makeover

Chalkboard Markers on Picture Frames

DIY Painted Coral Vanity, now that’s a pretty coral!

Just a quick note to let you know that I’m at Disney World with my husband and boys at the Social Media Moms Conference put on by Disney. I know my last two posts have generated comments that some of you want to see a response to but we’ve been on vacation since Thursday and I won’t be able to get to the responding until the end of this week.  I hate waiting so long but I’m taking this week off. Whether you loved the rabbit pelts and office changes or think I’m a crazy person, I wish you a very happy mother’s day!

Love you all no matter what, and thanks so much for stopping by!

To the internet, my office looks like this. And mostly this. But it hasn’t looked that way in a long time. I sold the rug at the Big Sale in October and moved the mirror up to the boy’s room. The antelope head is part of the gallery wall.

For the past few months my office has looked like this. I found a mirror on clearance for $30 at Home Goods and I’ve been meaning to paint it. So finally I cleaned up my office and found an inspiration color in my Come Thou Fount canvas.

I do what I always do when I’m painting something small, I mix up all my colors until I get something I like. But once I put the mirror in my office it was too light. So I painted over it and then it was too mauve. So I painted over it and then it was too light pink, so I painted over it and then it was too strawberry.

Currently, it’s still strawberryish. The sun’s been behind clouds for what seems like months, so I’m not going to make a decision until it comes out again. So here it is today. The color is what it is not because it’s my perfect choice but just because I got tired of painting. It doesn’t have to be perfect for me to give up for a while.

Instead of getting mad and crying to my husband and asking him to paint it for me and feeling dumb, and throwing the mirror away and whining that nothing ever goes my way, I just know that this is part of the process. I’m not ruining it, and I still like it better. And when the mood hits, I’ll find that perfect coral.

I still love my white slipcovered sofa. But the one part that takes the worst beating is the arms. I’m hoping to re-slipcover the sofa soon, it’s been three years and many washes and lived on hard: it’s dingy. But this winter I tried out a little temporary fix and it worked even better than I hoped. Warning, rabbits were harmed in the making of this post.

This past Christmas while at Hobby Lobby I found a stack of rabbit pelts. They were $11.99 so I bought one with my 40% off coupon from the app and once I brought it home, it worked so well that I went back and bought another one.

The backside leather acts like a non-slip rug gripper and naturally sticks to the arm. Plus, anyone who sits on the arm cannot help put pet the soft rabbit fur. It’s the perfect non-grandma arm protector.

I admit, I’m probably politically incorrect and all the Rabbital Rights Activists are going to email me and tell me how horrible I am. But I figure if Hobby Lobby carries it, I’m probably okay.

I’m a little slow. Even though I like to think I’m really picky about what I pin on Pinterest I was surprised at some of the rooms I’ve pinned. It took me a year of Pinterest using to realize that just because I pinned a space didn’t mean I wanted to actually live in the space. The difference doesn’t matter all that much until you are searching for inspiration for a room in your own house.

I love the top photo. In many ways it’s my style, it’s eclectic and rustic and unexpected. It’s one of the very first rooms I ever pinned. The room is beautiful and there is nothing at all wrong with it. But a few months ago when I was looking for room inspiration for the bonus room, I really looked at this  picture and even though I’m immediately taken with how pretty it is, there’s not much in that room I actually would use together in my own house.

Things I like:

• the wall of shingles
• the scale of the bird art
• coral, blue and yellow
• the natural light

Things I realized I wouldn’t do in my house

• I need some pure white in every room. I have no idea why. This room has no white and I want to give it Crest White Strips. I’m sure it’s a sign of my decorating immaturity.
• the floor lamps seem too precious and weak. But I love the hint of blue.
• I need a big fat surfacey coffee table. Love the red stools for a little addition to a real table.
• the chair doesn’t beg me to sit in it.

This is not about figuring out right and wrong and decorating rules. Oh no. This is about figuring out what it is that you and I individually can use in a space in our current season of life. Consider starting a fresh board that only has rooms with ideas you would actually be able to walk into and live with, not rooms that are just pretty in a photo. I’m guessing you are probably ahead of me on this.

I liked the photo up there at the top, but I didn’t like the room–for me.

House Beautiful

Here’s an example of a photo I love and a space that I could walk right into and live in. I’m sure I’d deformalize it a touch just with my imperfect stuff, but this room is very inviting and I could see it helping me make some decorating decisions if I were re-doing our family room.

What about you? Have you noticed a difference between liking a photo, and actually liking the idea of  living in a room?

Have you seen Darlene’s Ditto posts? She features an inspiration room and then points out things she likes an would incorporate–it’s a great practice to help us think through what it is we love in rooms that we see.

It’s no secret I’m a huge Lisa Leonard fan. Yes, I adore her jewelry and her shop and love giving her items as gifts, but even more, I admire her as an artist. Lisa knows the art of risk. Every time I visit her blog or her shop, I find something new.

She started out stamping jewelery and now she offers silver, pewter, brass and gold.

Also, I love everything about the photography at her site. The staging, the lighting, the artistry, the attention to detail. You know how I’ve talked about how over time, I hope my house changes? Because that means I’m growing and changing too? I feel the same way about Lisa’s shop. It changes over time in all the right ways. And lucky us, the fact that her shop is ever-changing means that our wardrobe can always be assisted by a little bit of wearable meaningful beauty.

I hope you enjoy this special discount from Lisa right in time for Mother’s Day!

use code: nestingplace15 for 15% off your order

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create a terrarium for mom from Nicole Balch at Front & Main

Read more about terrariums here

How to plant a succulent container garden–lots of videos photo: unsourced

create a fairy garden via Sally J. Smith

Read more about fairy gardens here

create an herb container garden photo: Balcony Gardner

Why We Need Both Roses & Thorns

photo: the pink pagoda  featuring Flowers by Carolyne Roehm,

Frame a memory for mom: An Alternative to Hoarding or Purging: Frame It!

bread box container garden from BHG

Help mom create a little work space. Maybe it’s elaborate or just organizing and prettying up a desk. Edie wrote about her workroom.  This room is ahead of her time.

Dear House

Tomorrow is the last day to get $640 worth of home related ebooks for $29.97.

The download process is quite simple, here’s a screen shot of what it looks like:

I clicked on the one that’s squared in, 28 Days to Hope for your Home and it downloaded in about 1.5 seconds. Super fast. PLUS, if there are ebooks here you don’t need, you can load them on a flash drive and give them to Mom as a gift, as long as you delete them from your computer after you load them.

My sister’s coming in town tonight and I’m so excited. What do you have going on this weekend?

I found this macrame plant hanger at the Goodwill for $3. In the winter I had different lanterns hanging from the hook, with a rope and pulley system and I loved it, but I wanted something different for spring. So took it down and just waited. I waited to see something–when I wasn’t looking for it, because that’s always how it happens.

I also have my beloved burro’s tail succulent. I LOVE this plant. I can totally ignore it and it still lives.

Here it is January of 2012. It’s grown a lot. The only problem is it’s super easy to break off all of the little stems.

Here’s the carnage. I put some of the pieces into a bigger plant’s dirt, just to see if they’ll root.

And I know ultimately it’s a better decision. I only had a few months before the plant got too long for the pot. Now it can grow for feet without hitting anything!

What’s s your latest thrifting find?

Slowly, my thoughts on home are shifting. It’s always been that way. I remember once my mom came over after not visiting for a while and suddenly exclaimed in what seemed like a funny accusation, “you’ve changed your style”. And I remember thinking, I sure hope so.

I’m not wearing the same exact outfit that I was 10 years ago. And neither is my house. But I do have a few great pairs of jeans that have stood the test of time–just like my sofa with the slipcover and every dresser in our house, many things can evolve with you. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I want to be mindful of the what and why of things in our home.

My thoughts on stuff continue to change too. Want to go a little deeper with me? Join me at (in)courage and let’s chat?