Collecting: Antique Car Horns
I have two antique car horns, and I’m looking for a third, so I guess I’m collecting antique car horns now. I’m pretty jazzed about it! Every once in a while, when you visit this blog, I want you to not only leave with inspiration, but some random trivia to impress your friends and family with, too. It’s the least I can do for you, right? Here goes… Antique car horns were first used in Britain in the 1800s. It was a matter of safety when self-propelled vehicles started sharing the road with horses, wagons, and people. By the late 1800s, motorists were using horns, bells, and whistles to alert…
New Bedroom Rug
My Christmas present was a new bedroom rug, and I am OBSESSED. Obsessed might be an over-dramatization of my feelings. My new bedroom rug does make me smile every time I walk into our bedroom, though. I think my heart sighs contentedly too, but I’m not sure if that’s a real thing or just what I imagine my heart doing in there besides, you know, keeping me alive. The biggest surprise to me (Yes, I can still surprise myself.) is that I chose a rug with some dusty reds in it. I am old enough to have lived through the early 2000s, when everyone was painting an accent wall in…
Coffee Table Mashup
Today I have a coffee table mashup story for you. I’m so cool that when I decided to use the word mashup I had to Google it to determine if this slang was written as one word, two words, or hyphenated. So cool, indeed. Wait. Do the cool kids say ‘cool’ these days? I should probably ask my 13-year-old, but I’ve already reached my daily quota on eye rolls. Anyway, you might be wondering what a coffee table mashup is. It’s when you combine different coffee table parts to make a new coffee table. A top from one coffee table, a base from a different coffee table, and bada-bing bada-boom,…
Small Updates in the Kids’ Bedrooms
I thought I’d razzle-dazzle you with some small updates in the kids’ bedrooms today. Way to oversell it, huh? While the big stuff for home renovation is fun to watch and blog about, I think it is the small, meaningful updates that really make a house feel like a home. Yes, I really do believe this stuff I spout. Ha! We’ve lived in so many places where we couldn’t renovate or even paint. Home is definitely what we made of it in that moment  – from the memories that we made there to the small touches that made that house feel like us. The kids’ bedrooms have always received priority…
On the Hunt for Rocking Chairs
I’m on the hunt for rocking chairs! How’s that for a random tidbit? I have more random tidbits if you want some. My mind is a veritable playground of randomness. I have been thinking for months about how we should or could use our sunporch. It’s a long, narrow space broken up by five doors (two sets of French doors and one exterior door). The French doors aren’t centered on the sunporch, so that complicates the spacing a bit as well. The sunporch is so narrow that I can sit with my back against one wall and my feet can touch the other wall. Yes, I’m tall, but my height…
Vintage Ethan Allen Chairs for our Living Room
There has been a change in our living room! Vintage Ethan Allen chairs are now providing cush for our tushes! I’ve been idly on the hunt for high-quality chairs for our living room. I wanted chairs that would stand the test of time from a style and quality perspective, but also be comfortable to sit in. Comfort is VERY important around here! I loved the look and function of the recliner chairs I bought for a quick fix in our living room, but I also regretted that purchase. The recliners just didn’t feel sturdy enough to stand the test of everyday, heavy use. That’s the difference between cheaply made and…
Three Ways to Decorate with an Antique Splitting Wedge
Today, I’m going to show you three splitting wedge decor ideas. A splitting wedge for decorating? Seriously? Yes, seriously. You guys know I will decorate with most anything. If you’ve never chopped wood, it’s hard work. Let me get you up to speed. Splitting wedges come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are used to help split large logs into smaller chunks when an ax alone can’t get the job done. For the purposes of today’s post, I’m decorating with a rusty, weathered diamond splitting wedge. I should clarify that the diamond part of a diamond splitting wedge usually refers to the shape, as it can split wood…
Antique Nail Caddy Fall Centerpiece
My husband thinks an antique nail caddy should be used for…wait for it…holding nails and screws. I think an antique nail caddy should be used as a fall centerpiece. It’s not as if there’s a right or wrong choice here, but my choice is more right. Right? Glad we agree. The first step in creating an antique nail caddy fall centerpiece is to find yourself an antique nail caddy. I found ours in our garage full of, you guessed it, nails and screws. The antique nail caddy was left here by the previous owner. In a roundabout way, he left us all the nails and screws that were in the…
Add New Ribbon on an Old Picture Frame
I recently saved an old picture frame by adding new ribbon to it. It was one of those highly satisfying, but unexpectedly annoying projects. By that I mean my expectation was this craft project would take five minutes. In reality, the train veered off the track on this project, went down an embankment, and an hour later the train was dented and crushed, but I saved the cargo and called the project good. Gee. Dramatic much? I realize sharing my experience in this way might dissuade instead of motivate you to try to add new ribbon on an old picture frame. That’s not my intent. My intent is to encourage…
Found Decor in Previous Homes
I’ve found decor for my home in many different places including dumpsters, barns, sides of roads, and in a variety of the homes we’ve lived in. In my experience, people often leave items they no longer want in a house when they move out. It’s not like anyone ever calls these junk leavers to come back and get their broken ladder. Or whatever it is they left behind. No, we just grumble about it and continue moving into our new home. In my case, I grumble about it. Then I get excited about it when I realize I might be able to do something with that junk. Then I write…
