Decor |

Antlers as Home Decor

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Christy

I’ve been a little bit obsessed with deer antlers lately. I think Terry started it when she found that amazing wooden stag/deer head for her baby’s nursery {here}.

That little baby is pretty, sweet, too!

I looked on Craigslist and mostly found stuffed deer heads. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to take that plunge yet, although I come from a family of hunters. Mostly I remember being scared. to. death of the stuffed deer head at my grandmother’s house when I was little.

I did find one box of antlers, but they wanted $50 for them! Then I remembered that, as mentioned above, I come from a family of hunters. I’m smart like that. I called my uncle, who lives in Michigan, and who just happened to be coming for a visit. He brought me four antlers, or “sheds” as they call them (because the deer shed them and they find them in the woods). I think one set–the four-pointers–were from one of my cousin’s deer, but they separated them for me.

Here’s what I did with two of them:

It isn’t rocket science; I just incorporated them into the decor on our shelves.

They’re mostly white, but the bases are knobby and rough. I just used them as-is.

I had to move them higher on the shelves because the dogs went crazy over them and I’m sure would have chewed them to bits by now if I had let them. I guess that makes sense.

I’ve seen the antler chandeliers, but I’m not a huge fan of those. I think I like this look better…it adds a little interest but doesn’t overwhelm the style of the room. By the way, remember that white duck that started out bright blue? I like him much better this way!

What are you favorite natural decor pieces? Turtle shells? Coral? Or are you an antler fan, too?

Thanks for stopping by.

Pin It

Posted in Home Inspiration | Tagged antlers, art, Decor, deer, horns | 1 Comment

Christmas Vignettes (and My Kitchen and Laundry Room Trees)

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Christy

Our family Christmas tree in my living room is not very glamorous, but that’s okay. I let my kids decorate it every year, and it’s covered with homemade ornaments of every shape and color. I love to look at other people’s beautifully coordinated and styled trees {take a look at my friend Andrea’s trees here and here}, and maybe one year I’ll have one, too, but for now, the point is that my kids enjoy our family Christmas tradition, even if that means we wind up with a Charlie Brown tree!

To compensate, I have a small tree in my kitchen and another one in my laundry room. Why not?

I love my laundry room tree. It sports a scrap of blue and white ticking stripe fabric around its base, jute twine as “roping”, tiny clothespins as ornaments, and bars of Fels Naptha soap as “presents” under the tree. I also borrowed from my daughter’s doll house, and so you see the wash tub and board, sewing basket, scissors, and little washer and dryer as part of the decor. Last year, I used a measuring tape as garland; this year, I kind of liked the twine. Does anyone else have a tree in their laundry room, or is it just me?

The kitchen tree is nestled in an old Ritz cracker tin (I got that idea from Andrea–thanks, girl!). I’ve collected kitchen-themed ornaments for several years–my favorites are my mixer, blender, and coffee pot, although my kids are fascinated with the tiny cheese grater and flour sifter!

I didn’t really go over the top with Christmas decorations this year {simplify!}, but I did jazz up our coffee area a bit. The colorful Christmas subway art is a free printable from Tammy Mitchell photography, and you can download it {here}.

I used one of my homemade banners/garlands over the open shelving in the dining room. You can read about my “Merry” garland that I used in my outdoor decor {here}.

The vintage decanters always sit on top of my dining room buffet–for the holiday they just got jollied up with a little sign.

My thrift store silver candelabra is sporting festive red wreaths (I tried one on the Venus de Milo’s head, but it didn’t quite fit).

The vintage Santa mugs were my grandmother’s (that’s a picture of her as a little girl on the top shelf).

I decorated the dresser in my front entry for the holiday, using white and silver.

The powder room got a little touch of Christmas, too:

Did you do more or less than you usually do this year when it comes to decorating for the holidays?

We’re sharing this at Rhoda’s Christmas Vignette Party, be sure to stop by and see all the fun!

Also linking up to:

Pin It

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Home Tours, Winter | Tagged Christmas, Decor, kitchen tree, laundry room tree, silver, vignettes, white | 4 Comments

Dressing Up my Front Table with Fall Decor

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Christy

**Don’t forget to enter our notecard giveaway HERE; the giveaway ends Tuesday, September 25, 2012. (GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED)**

I do love Fall, and Saturday was the first day of autumn so it’s officially here! I love when it’s cold enough that I can sleep with the windows open at night, although my husband and I are still working through some temperature control issues that remain the most serious threat to our continued domestic bliss. I enjoy having to wrap up in a blanket to sit on the screened porch, and the fact that I don’t even sweat when I walk the dog in the early morning! Fall means hot tea in the afternoon, a pumpkin spice candle burning on the counter, hot soups and comfort food for dinner, and most fun of all, changing things up to bring a little bit of autumn into my decor.

Here’s my front entry table, dressed up for Fall:

I have a mantel in this house, in fact, I have a really huge one, but hanging above it is my most prized possession–the stained glass window from the church in which my parents were married. So I never decorate the mantel itself, because it just takes away from the beauty of the window. So I content myself with decorating the dresser I use in my foyer for each holiday.

Here’s a picture of the stained glass window when it lived in the formal living room in our old house in North Carolina. I feel like even the simple Christmas decor in this photo was too much:

My front hall is painted a taupe-gray, and the white chippy dresser that I snagged out of someone’s trash is set off nicely by the wall color. A dresser in the foyer may sound strange, but it holds dining room table linens and even a few extra serving pieces. The painted mirror is from a thrift store (read about its transformation HERE) and cost me all of $8. The dried hydrangeas are from my neighbor’s bush back in North Carolina, and the gumball pinecones (does everyone call them that, or is it just me?) are from our back yard when we lived in Virginia Beach. Why, yes, thank you, the movers do think I’m completely crazy for having them pack and move dried flowers and pinecones when we move!

The dough bowl was a wedding present from some wonderful friends of my mom and dad’s who lived on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Sometimes it holds fruit in my kitchen, and sometimes it even holds bread dough, but it’s perfect for fall decor.

An apothecary jar holds mini pumpkins and gourds. Some years it holds pinecones, and some years I mix it up and use white pumpkins. This year I’m trying to use what I have, so these are faux pumpkins and gourds (I find that the real ones sometimes get moldy when they’re in covered containers–yuck!). A burlap strip cut off a feed sack brings a bit of brown into that piece.

The “Welcome Autumn” sign was on clearance at TJ Maxx last year for $2 and I thought it would be fun and add a little color to the wall. I had intended to try a burlap runner on the dresser top, but I seem to be running out of feedsack, so perhaps I’ll use canvas drop cloth material instead–it’s the right color, after all!

We’ll be posting some more of the fall decor in our three houses over the next couple of weeks. Happy Fall, Y’all, and thanks for stopping by!

Sharing at~

Centsational Girl

Pin It

Posted in Autumn/ Fall, Home Inspiration, Seasons | Tagged apothecary jar, autumn, Burlap, Decor, dried flowers, Fall, foyer, front entry, front hall, pinecones, pumpkins | 14 Comments

Turquoise, Pink, and Purple Bulletin Board

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Terry

Big Girl Bedroom with New Custom Made Cork Board

My son’s very best girl friend recently turned 7. Hannah the Banana is a sweet girl near and dear to all of our hearts, especially my oldest son’s. They grew up together, born a couple months apart, and have been connected ever since. It is such a sweet relationship, one that I hope never changes.

Her amazing mama turned her little girl room into a stylish big girl room as one of her birthday gifts. I, of course, wanted to be a part of this transformation and thought that a bulletin board would be the perfect accent piece and a special gift for a growing girl. With new bedding ordered and a color palette of turquoise, purple and pink I quickly got to work.

I have done a few bulletin boards around my house and love to see how a bit of fabric and glue can really change up a cheap cork board. Since this was a gift, I wanted to create something a bit more special. HomeGoods sells amazing framed bulletin boards, so that was my first stop. They didn’t have the color I wanted so I simply spray painted the board bright turquoise.

Bright Turquoise Frame!

Next was finding the perfect fabric to cover the cork. Her new big girl bedding had lots of bright colors and patterns with a bit of a Moroccan feel to it. I felt that I needed a neutral fabric to match her new bedding but I didn’t want a solid white. I found this amazing fabric with a circular patterned print that worked perfectly with her bedding.

Spray Glue works wonders on cork boards... I really love that stuff.

I tacked the corners of the fabric to hold it in place while the glue dried.

I wanted to add a border and found this hot pink pom pom trim that I fell instantly in love with. It still has that Moroccan feel but it is also playful and girly. I didn’t want to choose something too grown-up for the border as she is only 7. My girlfriend and I embrace that our kids are growing up, but we also want to enjoy each phase. I definitely wanted something that reflected her maturing style but I also wanted to keep it age appropriate. I am in no rush to for anyone to grow up fast ! I think the pom poms are a sweet touch of fun and color.

Hot pink pom pom trim makes the perfect statement!!

I finished off the pom pom trim with some silver accent tacks.

I felt that I needed to include some fun push pins to tie it all together. Since I already had these silver pins on hand, I figured that I could jazz them up for her girly board. I had some extra pom pom trim and cut off a few poms and hot glued them to the top of the pin. I also purchased a .99 cent flip flop bedazzle kit from JoAnn Fabrics a while back and loved the idea of adding some flowers and jewels to this piece. I simply separated the jeweled flowers from the set and hot glued those to the top of the push pins, which added a bit of whimsy to the board.

Creating custom push pins to match this fun big girl bulletin board

I also had purchased a wooden “H” to personalize her board. I wasn’t sure what to do with it but I wanted to have something hanging on the board when we presented her gift. I had lots of purple glitter and some clear spray paint top coat. It was as simple as that!! I stapled some ribbon to the back of the H and hung it center stage.

I simply covered the "H" with Mod Podge and then sprayed a clear top coat to ensure the glitter wouldn't come off.

Here is the final product hanging in her new and improved big girl bedroom. Check out her new bedding and adorable her peace sign artwork. She is growing up, as is her fashion forward style!

Big Girl Bulletin Board

Thanks for stopping by!

Posted in DIY, Kids Rooms, Organization, Real Spaces | Tagged bedroom, bulletin board, Decor, Decorating, girls, Pink, Purple, Push pins, Turqoius | 7 Comments

Home Tour(s) Here at Magnolia Lane

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Amy

Wow! What a big day here at 11 Magnolia Lane.

First off, if you are stopping by from Southern Hospitality, we are SO glad to have you! Sweet Rhoda is featuring Christy’s former home in North Carolina (the historic home that inspired our blog name, Magnolia Lane). If you would like to see more, you can see the extended tour of that home HERE.

And, since today is our day to be the “stop of the day” at the Karen at Home’s Home Tour, today you can also see both Christy’s current home and my (Amy’s) current home. It’s like our own little Magnolia Lane Home Tour!

We just want to say a big thanks to both those ladies for featuring us today.

While you are here, don’t miss our spring giveaway of this cute burlap tote bag, just click the image to enter.

Click and enter to win this personalized Bag!

Both Christy and I moved last summer, so our homes are both still works in progress. Christy, being a military wife, has a talent for moving in and making her house look like she has been there for years.

Without further ado, here is Christy’s new home in Tennessee:

Enter through the welcoming front porch, where the cushions are changed out with the seasons, so there is always something new to see.

Here’s the porch in the fall…

And, here’s the winter decor on the porch…

Continue into the Front Hall (note the Goodwill mirror that got a DIY remake?)

Here’s the Laundry Room with stenciled walls, a repurposed flea market cabinet and vintage enamelware. {See more HERE}

Now, we’ll head to the Kitchen…

Christy remade this room on $600, including painting cabinets and the tile backsplash, making dropcloth curtains and hanging new lights. Click HERE for Part 1 of the makeover, then click HERE for the second generation of the re-do a few months later.

Through the sliding glass doors you step onto the screened porch. This is Christy’s favorite place for a glass of wine in the evening, or an al fresco meal in warm weather.

Now we’ll head upstairs to the kids’ bathroom, which she redid with board and batten.

Christy also upgraded her master bathroom with an IKEA bookcase that was trimmed to look built-in, plus a new chandelier and new decor. You can see the whole room HERE.

The master bedroom with office/sitting room–we just revealed this room HERE this week!

Isn’t it amazing she has been living there only about 9 months? Next up is her pantry that is currently getting a complete overhaul. This is her former pantry in NC (you may have seen it on Pinterest), what will be next?

*******

While it’s hard to follow all her fabulousness, this is my new home. We relocated to the coast of Virginia this fall, moving into a newly built home.

Here is our Front Porch recently decorated with new spring décor.

We live on a former sand quarry that’s been converted into a fresh water lake, and we just love our view. With a lake and a wide front porch, it’s a dream come true.

Come on inside and see our dining room…

Our dining room is on the small side but has a nice view. We recently moved our former kitchen table in there, and it has become a great space for coffee in the morning (when it’s too cold for the porch), or a quiet dinner. We found we really never used the formal dining space so this has been a good solution.

This picture was taken with our former table still in the room, but it gives you an idea of the lake view from this room.

The dining room connects to the kitchen through the butler’s pantry. I have some big plans for this space that I hope to kick off in the next few weeks.

Here is our Kitchen. You can read more HERE. We did the greatest amount of customization here; we had a crazy tight construction timeline (3 months) so we were limited with what we could do thanks to cabinet lead times. We did hold out for marble for the counters and reconfigured the appliances to accommodate a larger 36″ range. I also added in the open shelving shortly after we moved in.

Here is the Breakfast Room with recent updates. A full post is to follow, but since we switched our breakfast and dining tables we are happy to have the extra table space in the kitchen.

Into the family room from the kitchen/breakfast area…

And, here on the other side of the family room, is our well-loved (and often used!) sitting area.

Upstairs you will find my kids’ bathroom. It was a standard builder bathroom, but I recently added stripes and board and batten to make it more interesting, the post is HERE.

Right next to it is my daughter’s pink and white room, her bed faces the lake (out the window) and she has a play table on the other side.

I have a long list of projects (right now we are focusing outside on landscaping and putting in our vegetable garden), so it’s a work in progress around here.

Thanks so much for visiting with us today! And again we truly appreciate that Rhoda and Karen allowed us to share our homes with you.

May you truly enjoy all of the joy and blessings of this Easter season~

Linking this post up to~

Tuesday’s Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Pin It

Posted in Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Real Spaces | Tagged Decor, house tour, kitchen, pantry, room, southern hospitality | 13 Comments

Tree Trimming Inspiration Board & Stamp Winner!

Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin

A little Holiday decorating inspiration!

AND….the winner of the PSA Essentials Custom Stamp Giveaway (via Random.org) is HOLLY who said:

One random act of kindness that my daughter Chloe and I are planning on doing is donating her very loved stuffed animals to our local Children’s Hospital. She has outgrown them and instead of throwing them out (well, some we did because the were “too well loved”) we are donating them to children who will continue to love them very much.

What a wonderful idea! Holly please let us know what custom stamp you would like. And, a big thank you to all who entered!

Posted in giveaways, Inspiration Boards, Random Kindness, Uncategorized | Tagged Decor, giveaway, holiday, stamp, tree trimming | Leave a comment

A Natural Thanksgiving Tablescape–Pine Cones, Berries, and Dried Flowers

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Christy

We’re hosting Thanksgiving here in Nashville this year, so I needed to come up with a quick (and informal) table before the family arrives. My goal was to use what I have rather than buying new. With the exception of the champagne-colored chargers (a cross between gold and silver, and therefore more versatile, IMO), I succeeded.

My best helper was in charge of making the place cards.

I didn’t use my formal china this year–just my everyday white! I did use the good silver, the “everyday” crystal, depression glass for bread plates, salt cellars (my kids love those tiny spoons), and apothecary style spice jars for individual vases. My decorations are all natural–pine cones, osage apples, spanish moss, berries, d’Anjou pears, and dried hydrangeas. I gathered most of them out back, although I will admit that I carry my favorite huge pine cones around with me when we move (the movers were convinced I was crazy!). I apologize for the pictures–we’ve had nothing but rain the last few days and there’s NO natural light to speak of.

Dried hydrangea centerpiece with scattered pinecones.

I used canvas painter’s dropcloths as tablecloths for the table and the buffet, and tied the sides up with jute twine. My table’s extended to 12′ right now and I realized that I can’t find my super-long tablecloth–but this worked great with the color scheme, anyway.

The buffet will be a resting place for food on Turkey Day, but for now it’s holding random items.

FYI, the “B” pumpkin was on sale for 80% off at Hobby Lobby this past week, making it $5. Score! The “Thankful” subway art can be printed at Over the Big Moon here, and there’s a darling banner that you can print out, too (mine’s hanging above the buffet).

We’re going to enjoy a piano concert during our dessert.

More hedge apples (osage apples) from my backyard–I am obsessed!

The head of the table–see the gobble, gobble on the place card?!

Sorry about the glare from the chandy in this last picture…one day when I share the dining room I’ll have to show you the hideous fixture that was up there before I scored this Ballard Designs Grande Claire off Craigslist for $100.

All it needs now is the turkey!

We are so very thankful to God for all of His tremendous blessings. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving with your families!

Linking up to:

Posted in Entertaining, Events, Holidays | Tagged Decor, drop cloth, holiday, pinecones, setting, table, tablescape, Thanksgiving | 11 Comments

More Fall Front Porch Decor–Just in Time for Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Christy

I’m really looking forward to Christmas, but I like to give Thanksgiving its due. That can be hard, sometimes, when the Christmas stuff is in the stores in AUGUST, but I love Thanksgiving, and I think it’s one of our country’s most meaningful holidays.

My Halloween decor isn’t very different from my Thanksgiving decor, because we don’t do the whole cobwebs-and-spiders thing for Halloween. We do carve pumpkins, and I put out luminarias (just white tealights in Ball mason jars) to line the sidewalk and the steps for the trick-or-treaters, but other than that, things don’t change very much at our house from October 31st to November 1st. No wonder, then, that I felt the need to jazz things up a bit today. Here’s how the front porch looks after I tweaked it a bit…

Can’t see anything from this far away? Don’t worry, the close ups are next!

My seating area is shown below. I have a glider, two chairs, and a little table. The glider is from Walmart (about 15 years ago) and the chairs were $5–for both–at a yard sale. I have to give them a coat of spray paint every spring. We love to sit on the front porch in the evenings with a glass of wine and watch the kids playing. My son and his buddies are usually throwing the football in the front yard, though, so one of us might have to jump in as referee.

I change the colored cushions out a couple of times a year. Obviously, the orange ones are in rotation right now, but the red ones will have their turn beginning the weekend after Thanksgiving. As we were sitting on the porch on Halloween, passing out candy, my husband asked me why we had so many cushions! Sometimes I’m not sure that he “gets” my vision! As an aside, I buy the cushions from a great Ebay seller (click here for a pillow giveaway), and they are pretty reasonably priced, as well as being completely weatherproof.

Below you’ll see my “window to nowhere” on the porch wall, and the hanging candle-lier (is that a word?). I usually light the candles when we’re sitting on the porch, and they get a color change to match the season, too. The white ones I had out this summer kept melting and wilting off sideways–we had a HOT summer in Nashville! The metal “B” is from an online store, and I added vinyl polka dots to match the cushions.

I have two of these pumpkin topiaries flanking either side of the front door. Usually, I buy the real Cinderella pumpkins and stack those as topiaries, but in this house there’s enough of an overhang that these faux ones won’t get wet. The black planters are filled with petunias or impatiens all summer

To the left of the front door, I have a basket filled with extra pillows (take that, honey! and the watering can. I’m not watering much of anything right now, so I filled it up with some sprigs from this cool bush with purple berries in our backyard. We back up to woods, and there’s a lot of interesting greenery back there.

By the way, I think I stole the pillows in the basket idea from Amy’s porch post. Even though she’s in Virginia and I’m in Tennessee, we decorate our homes in a shockingly similar manner, and if wasn’t for this blog, no one would notice!

I didn’t want to leave the mailbox out of the fun, so I put up a couple of grapevine wreaths and wove some of the unknown purple berry plant into them. My vinca died last week when we had a hard freeze, so I yanked them out and put a few mini pumpkins in the empty space until I find some pansies.

I think my next post will show the screened porch, but let me leave you with this picture as a sneak peak–I am so pleased with the very cool live decor I’m finding right in my own backyard!

Can you even believe those hedgeapples (aka osage oranges)? I just love them–and they smell so good!

Happy Fall, Y’all! Thanks for stopping by.

**Don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a pair of red and green polka dot pillows–perfect for decorating for Christmas!! Giveaway runs 11/21-11/27. (GIVEAWAY CLOSED)**

Linking up to:

Pin It

Posted in DIY, Holidays, Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Real Spaces | Tagged Decor, decorations, Fall, front porch, grapevine, Halloween, holiday, Orange, pumpkin, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, topiary | 13 Comments

Nautical Bathtub Valance

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Terry

Easy Shower Valance

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on transforming my son’s generic white bathroom into a yacht club loo.

My first order of business was to add some color. Choosing a paint color has never come easily to me and paint stores truly overwhelm me. As we all know, you can love a color on a paint chip but it can be a very difference experience when brushed all over your walls. I wanted a nautical inspired bathroom so I found a lovely shade of navy that ended up looking fabulous against the white tiles (Phew).

My second project was to create a valance over the tub. Years ago, while searching for inspiration at model homes, I saw a valance and fell in love. 5 years later I am finally trying it out and I wanted to share my quick and easy nautical valance with you all.
Lastly, I do want to share that I am in no way shape or form a seamstress. My sewing skills are mediocre at best but since this was a simple rectangle design with three simple pleats, you don’t really need to be great on a sewing machine to end up with fabulous results. I also know that there are probably “proper’ ways of assembling a valance however, I typically don’t follow the rules and just dive in. So jump in, the water is fine and my nautical valance looks pretty darn good for a novice!

Things you will need to make your valance: Measuring tape, fabric scissors, sewing pins, 2 x 1 piece of treated wood to hang valance on (same size as valance width), (2) elbow brackets, (3) wooden dowels (same size as valance), staple gun, fabric glue, fabric accent ribbon and approx. 2 yards of fabric (probably less).

Step One:

Measure, Measure, Measure! I simply measured across the top of the shower, which was approximately 5 feet across. You want extra fabric on each side of the measurement so you can have a nice straight hem. I already had chosen my fabric so I ordered 1 3/4 yards to cover the length of my shower plus a bit extra for the right and left hem. I also went to Home Depot and asked them to cut a 2 X 1-inch piece of pressure treated wood as well as three wooden dowels. I also picked up 2 elbow brackets (in the hardware aisle), which I will use to secure the valance to the wood and ceiling.

Step Two:

As I mentioned early, I really don’t follow the rules and typically jump right in so here we go…. I simply measured out the exact width of the shower, tucked the extra hem fabric over on right & left side and began pinning everything in place. I also folded over about an inch on the bottom to create an even and finished look. At this time I also measured out three equal pleats and pinned those in place.

(There are three pleats in this picture although it may be difficult to see them, as the fabric is dark)

Step Three:

Time to sew. First, I stitched the bottom hem as that didn’t have any of the pleats and it was the easiest to manage. Then I stitched each side hem including the pleats. Lastly, I stitched across each pleat (approx. 3/4 inches above the bottom of the pleat). You will insert the wooden dowels into that area so you will want to leave one end open to insert the dowel.

Step Four:

I decided that I needed a little something else as I have the navy walls and the navy fabric so I wanted to add some red trim. I didn’t want to sew it on so I just used fabric glue. Such a simple, no sew solution.

Step Five:

Place the wood at the top of your valance (on the back side of your material). Fold over the material and staple the material to the wooden taught. Screw in the elbow bracket on each end of the wood. You will then screw that elbow bracket into the wall of your shower placing the top of the wood flush against the top of the showers ceiling.

Here is the final product accentuated with a white shower curtain. I still have to decorate their bath with some nautical accents but I am really happy with how the valance has transformed their bathroom into a taller and more sophisticated room.