a home decor blog, making it pretty one space at a time
Happy first day of spring, friends! Anyone out there who decorates for spring?! This is one of my favorite holidays to decorate for because I am in major celebration mode that winter is over and the blossoms are blooming on the trees and the sun is out! I have 5 budget friendly ways for how you can decorate for spring (and some reasons to do it).
print / bowl / camera / tray / round gold mirror
If you’re living in a super affordable place, chances are that you have a kitchen that needs renovating. And if you’re anything like me, the thought (and expense!) of making the updates sound terrifying! I’ve known since we moved in to our condo (8 years now) that our kitchen needed all kinds of changes, but I’ve been scared of even thinking about it. How expensive would it be? Who wants to live through the mess? Where do you even get started? Well, I finally pulled off the bandaid and I’m here to tell you that you can do it! Even though you might be scared!
For months I’ve know that I wanted to do a kitchen renovation in April for the One room Challenge. But I put off planning or even thinking about it because I felt scared. Talk about feeling like a failure of a DIY blogger! If I was scared to do a project how was I supposed to teach others to do one? I felt a little frozen- not ready to move forward, but I knew I desperately wanted a new kitchen!
Here’s how you start a renovation if it seems overwhelming- inspiration. Inspiration is the “why” behind tearing up your house and life for a few weeks. Having a vision for how it’ll look will help you focus on the outcome instead of the fear. I was scrolling though Facebook a few months ago when I stumbled upon the most beautiful image-
Do you ever see the perfect Instagram flat lay? Your eye just loves it and you can’t help yourself from double tapping! Well I have a secret for you, it all has to do with the backdrop! This is the foundation for your photo or the canvas for your art. I know that sounds like a bunch of pressure, but guess what? This is something you can make yourself, even on a budget!
Here are some of my favorite Instagram backgrounds-
Inspiration Images via 1 / 2 / 3 [Read more…]
On the blog I like to answer questions I get on email/social media all of the time. One of the most common is “how did you put up the picture molding?” “Did you do it yourself?” I am working on my bedroom and so I figured that I’d use it as an excuse to show you how I put up picture molding. First of all, a before of my bedroom: 
Sure this view is pretty, but the truth is that one wall was still grey because I didn’t have a big reason to update it. I have two projects in my house making me crazy (I’m sure I’m not the only one right?!), and this was the one I decided to tackle first.
When we first bought at our house (8+ years ago), I could picture decorative molding adding some personality to the home. Last year, I finally bit the bullet and did the project. I remember being terrified to start. I had NO clue what I was doing. What if it didn’t work out? I was scared of failure, but it is one of my favorite projects I have ever done. It’s a pain to do, but it adds so much character! It designates zones in our house. I honestly love the effect it gives. This weekend, I decided to put the last of it up in our bedroom (unless I change my mind and put some up in Don’s room). I have a friend who wants to do the same project, and so he requested that I video it. I have two blog posts on how to put up picture molding (part one and part two), but no video. So I went for it!
Good morning! Don turned two this past weekend so we threw him a construction birthday party. It’s so bittersweet watching him grow. He’s so fun and independent, but he’s so much more a toddler than a baby now (speaking of baby, here’s Don’s birth story if you feel like ugly crying with me). Anyway, Don loves anything construction lately- excavators, backhoes, cranes- they’re his favorites! So a construction party just made sense!
First up, we started by buying Don some gifts. I looked through a ton of stuff that I thought he’d love and here are my favorites-
A few months ago, I made some free home decor printables and I was blown away at how popular they were! So I decided to make some more. I only made ones that I’d want in my house- because they’re actually in my house ;)! So I hope you love them too!
Let’s be real for a second- I have had a tough week. I won’t get into it, but some things happened to me and I am in the process of deciding what to do next- do I rise above or move on? I’ve always been a big lover of quotes (my favorite Pinterest board is full of them) from wise people to guide me when the going gets rough so a lot of these hit home for me. First up, Old Doors won’t Open new ways (please enjoy the illustrated version of my dog and how cute he is!!!):
At my job and at home I do a lot of arranging of accessories. This is my favorite part of the decorating process because it’s where you really see a space come together! As I have been decorating over the years, I have come up with a formula of items that work together to complete a grouping of accessories (p.s. this information and much more on how to accessorize is included in my free ebook). As I’m decorating, if I don’t like a display I go through this quick check list and ask myself what I’m missing. Here’s my cheat sheet to getting a gorgeous display:
You put those items together, and you have a beautiful display!
[Read more…]
Guys, I love holidays. I think that it’s because it is something different that breaks up the monotony of everyday (which I especially appreciate during the winter)! St. Patrick’s Day growing up we would always have green food thanks to my awesome mom. I remember in Kindergarten we built a trap for a leprechaun and I was SO excited to go to school the next day to see if we caught it (spoiler alert- he made a big mess, but we didn’t catch him 😉 ). I decided to throw a little St. Patrick’s Day party for my little family because I really want Don to love holidays too! I decided to do more with rainbows then all green. I really wanted a fun backdrop that pulled the rainbow theme. I first thought a rainbow pinata, but then remembered how much I love the dot wall from Oh Happy Day’s studio:
Image via Oh Happy Day (which also includes a tutorial for how to paint this wall)
She made her wall with paint (in 22 colors!). I wanted a similar look, but removable. So I bought crepe paper from Paper Mart, used my 3″ circle punch, some scissors (I’m IN LOVE with these Eiffel Tower ones), and tape (this is the cutest acrylic tape holder– and super affordable!).
Hi Guys! Our family went to Miami, Florida at the end of January and I thought I would share with you the highlights. I like to do my trip recaps here for two reasons- so I remember these trips my family takes and to share with you some tips for traveling with kids. I’ve done two of these before- our trip to Cancun (when Don was 11 months old) and our trip to California (when Don was 18 months old). If you have kids those ages- they have some great tips that made the trip smoothly for us.
For reference, Don was 23 months old for this trip. We decided to go to Miami to visit some friends that moved there recently. 2 other friends also joined us on the trip, so this was a friend trip with one kid :). We scheduled a 6pm flight because Don usually goes to sleep at 8pm and we thought that would give him the most sleep possible. While we were waiting to board, we heard an announcement that the flight was oversold and that they needed 4 volunteers to take a later flight. Because of sky miles, we had only paid $300 for all three of us to fly and they were giving $800 vouchers for each seat (Don had his own seat). Well, you guessed it, we took the later flight. We choose to stay in the airport for the 6 hours until the next flight because we had been dropped off and security is such a pain at the airport. They gave us a food voucher so we had dinner and then Don slept while we waited for our flight. Don was awesome on the flight and slept 90% of it (this post has my best plane tips for little ones that we reused). But when we got to Miami at 7am, he was not happy. We had breakfast and then went to Jungle Island where Don loved feeding the birds and seeing the animals. But when he wasn’t playing he was crying. It was a rough first day.
His face in this photo makes me laugh- haha! His water bottle is from here. We love that it doesn’t leak and has a straw.
We headed to our hotel and loved the location- it was right off the beach and was so cute. My favorite travel tip is to stay in a suite! It takes more work to find one in our budget, but being able to have a second space to play while baby is sleeping is everything. This trip we also tried really hard to stay in beautiful spaces that were inspiring and it was one of my favorite aspects of the trip. We had dinner on the beach with all of our friends and it was SO fun to be in warm Miami with our besties. I’m not going to do a play by play of each day, but here were our favorite things we did (that are totally kid friendly):
Don’s bib is from Copper Pearl. He still drools a ton and we love these for being cute and dry 😉
The Everglades– we took an air boat ride to tour the Everglades. Don was free and they provided him a life jacket. We loved seeing alligators up close (but not too close 😉 ). The boat was smooth and Don loved it. I only wish I had brought him better ear protection (adult ear plugs are provided, but didn’t fit his ears well).
Don’s moccasins are from here and we love them! These are great for traveling and super comfy
My swimsuit is from Rad Swim (so flattering- I love it!)
The Florida Keys– we spent one night and two days in the Florida Keys and we loved it. If I were to do this trip over again I would spend more time there. We loved the architecture of the Colonial candy colored homes. It was just so beautiful and we were obsessed with the pink William Skelton Home that we stayed in. Our friends all stayed with us (the only time that happened on this trip) and we had so much fun! There was a private pool and plenty of space so we could all have our own rooms, but there were rooms big enough that we could all hand out together. It was in walking distance to tons of food places so we walked to dinner. We also rented bikes and loved using those to get around since parking was a pain. There were tornado warnings while we were there, so we didn’t do anything in the ocean. We saw Fort Zachary and loved touring the fort and playing on the private beach. We stopped in the Pennekamp state park in Key Largo for a quick hike. There was a little play place off the water that Don had a blast playing in. We loved eating in the Fish House in Key Largo (get the key lime pie!).
Don’s shorts are from here. His burger shirt is from here. My dress is from here
Wynwood– We stayed in the art district of Miami, Wynwood, for a few nights. I blogged about our Air BNB here. We loved walking around seeing the wall murals and taking pictures of them. I would definitely recommend this!
The Beach- We had a full beach day on South Beach. Also since we stayed so close to Hollywood Beach, we went there daily. I actually preferred Hollywood Beach because it was free to park at our hotel (haha, I’m so cheap- but parking in Miami is a pain! And expensive) and was more low key. Walking around South Beach was fun though. We bought Don sand toys and he could have played on the beach all day everyday. We loved eating at Nexxt Cafe on South beach. The food was delicious and the ambiance of the outdoor dining was amazing.
Amelia Earhart Park– We loved taking Don to this part. It has a petting zoo and he is obsessed with goats. There’s also a ton of other things to do and see (hay ride, water skiing). We had dinner at Flanigans and loved it. Don got the Mac and Cheese and gives it two thumbs up 🙂
Travel Tips for 23 month olds (or 2 year olds- I may be in denial haha)-
We had the best time and were a little sad to come home. We loved Florida (especially during Utah’s yucky winter).
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I created a Valentine’s day tablescape so my husband and I could have an early Valentine’s Day. When I was setting it up, I kept thinking, this is missing a cute garland. I’ve really fallen in love with West Elm’s garlands- I even bought one for my holiday decor.
This one is no longer available, but they have a cute Happy Birthday one
So I made my own! I think it added the perfect touch for the background:
Sources (of what’s available): table, pink plate, gold flatwear [Read more…]
