welcome, winter...

my personal word for this next year is light 

along with the many meanings that word encompasses.

 i often hear people talk about how dark winters are -

yet after we remove the holiday decor, our homes feel lighter. cleaner.
(and yes, some say emptier.) 

but do we really want to fill them up again with a lot of stuff? 
why not welcome the new year with the lightness of a refreshed home?

i'm embracing the aesthetic of lightness and simplicity this year,

as well as a renewed focus on the beauty of nature in every season.

that's going to affect the way i approach my own home decor

and by extension the content i share here to inspire you.

as i plan and create new projects for the upcoming season,
i'm asking myself questions about how i want my home to feel,
how i want to feel IN my home, and how i can inspire you
to create a home you love to live in.

continue reading to see where i'm heading...

paint palette eggs!

this one came to me one day while i was going through my bins of spring decor.

back in 2020 i made some simple Easter eggs with varied finishes on them,
and as i saw those in the bin, i realized that their shape was very much like
the paint palettes that artists use... and a new creative idea was born!

...continue reading for this easy project

(and to see what those 'paint palettes' are REALLY made of!)

show 'em some love!

just poppin' in with a recent discovery in my files...
this project didn't make the blog last winter
and since I'm not currently making new things,
 I thought I'd share it for your Valentine's Day inspiration!

we've all become familiar with offering a little 'thank you' to the many service people
who deliver food and goods to our homes - especially during a pandemic.
our isolation is made more comfortable by them bringing us what we order online.

last year, I created one with a Valentine theme
from an old wall mailbox, all 'shooszhed' up with hearts
to express my gratitude to our USPS, UPS, FedEx, and Instacart delivery people...

continue reading to see how!

sweet sparkling new year!

we arrive at the end of the year, and the start of a new one...

we've made it, and that's cause to celebrate!

whether you gather with family, friends, neighbors, or a special person tomorrow night,
or spend a blissfully cozy evening alone in a bubble bath or watching The Ball drop,

i have a few last-minute ideas to share for making your New Year's Eve sparkle!

speaking of lifting spirits, continue reading for more...

sweater-wrapped gifts

when i choose a theme, my mind runs rampant with ideas

to incorporate that theme in every possible part of my decor.

case in point: the presents shown above.

it's not enough for me to deck the halls and mantels and doors and tree

in my preferred colors and materials...

i have to make the gift wrap match, too! LOL

this year i found three different ways to incorporate sweaters into my gift wrapping,

to coordinate with my Sweet Sweater Season theme...

continue reading for more inspo & info!

it's a 'Sweet Sweater Season' holiday!

well, here we are, friends.... the holiday season is upon us!

i've been giving this year's theme a great deal of thought over the past months,

and have come up with something that isn't what you might expect to see.

i've decided to COMBINE holiday decor with winter decor!

combining two seasons into one ('holinter'??!)

means simplifying and focusing on creating decor that isn't specifically 'holiday'...

the goal is to S T R E T C H the decor impact from December all the way into February
so that i don't have to spend two weeks at the start of a new year
dealing with taking down the holiday stuff and putting out all-new winter stuff.

i really don't need more stuff.
i want less not more work after the holiday season!
i want more time for fun days on my brand new calendar,
and more time for reading and long winters' naps by the fire. or pool. whatever!
and this season, i'm making it happen.

are you in?! 

...continue reading for some sweet sneak peeks!

last-minute 'pumpkin party' decor

ever wondered how deb's muses work?
here's an example of the crazy ways things connect in my brain:

while in the process of cleaning up my studio
(an Herculean task, let me tell you....)
i found a plastic bag filled with some yellow paper party supplies
that i had picked up while out thrifting - and promptly forgot about!
the paper goods were immediately removed from the bag,

and tucked into a drawer where i keep all of the scrap paper & magazine tearsheets
so i wouldn't forget about them again - i'm in that drawer at least once a day.

just hours later, i scrolled through social media and saw a photo of a big fat bow,
thought 'that's cute', and kept scrolling. then i stopped.
in my mind, the big fat cute bow merged with the paper party supplies,
and became 'a pumpkin party' in my imagination...
pumpkins bedecked with ribbons and bows in a 'party' setting.

the combination of the two - plus some stickers and more party decor - 
turned out cheerful, happy, and so easy to create
and it took me just minutes to assemble the vignette shown above...
which makes it a PERFECT last minute decor idea,
and a great 'no carve' pumpkin decorating project for kids.

continue reading for the details...

farmhouse may-keover: bedroom

i've spent all month sharing the farmhouse makeover with you,

with a tour from the front porch to the powder rooms

to share ideas for a quick decor touch up.

last but not least, let's visit the main bedroom...

and guess what? since my friend is smarter than me,

there are BEFORE pics!

continue reading to see how we added artful style to her new 'nest'...

farmhouse may-keover: guest baths

we don't generally think of decorating a bathroom.

(a gut job, remodel, demolition - sure)

sometimes, though, a 'cosmetic' makeover 

completed with some simple decorative accessories is enough...

as part of the process of giving my friend's house a budget-friendly new look,

i spiffed up her two powder rooms with a few basic styling tricks.

continue reading to see a refreshing change...

farmhouse may-keover: dining room & kitchen

go ahead, you can sit and stare at that beautiful view...
i sure did while i was there! 

the view from my friends' front porch is stunning, 
and that's what you see when you look out the bay window in her dining room - 
also visible from the living room. 

today's post shares the things we did to start refreshing her dining room,
and moves into the very simple ways we gave her kitchen a fresh look... 

continue reading for some 'fast, cheap, & easy' decorating ideas!

farmhouse may-keover: diy 'artful' chair

you may have noticed that i glossed over something special in my last post...
something sitting in the living room, next to the fireplace mantel.
it's a chair. it's furniture.... but it's also SO much more!
it's art. it's personalized. it's whimsy.

i'm a strong proponent of including a touch of whimsy in every room.

but what IS whimsy?

it's personality. charm. a unique 'something' that no one else has.

it could be a thing, a color, a pattern, an architectural oddity in the room

that just catches your eye the moment you walk in - and makes you smile.

when my friend mentioned an idea that she had to me,

i KNEW it would be a showstopping addition to her home.

i knew it would be the whimsy she craved and a perfect finishing touch

in her newly refreshed living room.

so we wasted no time in getting started!

continue reading to see the before, during, after (and afterafter!) of our re-styled revived chair!

farmhouse may-keover: living room

i'm structuring this 'MAY-keover' series of posts
as if you are walking into and through my friend K's farmhouse...
first, you saw her grand front porch and welcoming entry hall
(link at end of this post)

today, we'll focus on her living room

and all of the simple changes made that completely transformed it...

continue reading to learn some easy tips for re-styling a room on a budget!

farmhouse may-keover: front porch & entry

spring is here, it's MAY - 

and that means it's time for another budget-friendly DIY MAY-keover series!

this time, i helped a friend redecorate the farmhouse she inherited from her parents.

her Dad built it, her Mom loved it, and now it's hers...

and i wanted to help her express her own style, to make it her HOME.

she's given me permission to share the changes we made with you,

and i know you'll find inspiring and usable ideas!

continue reading to see some of the simple, affordable ways we added style

to this beautiful farmhouse...

upgrade a serving tray with a dollar store placemat!

spring is arriving, summer is on the horizon...
and hopefully this year, those seasons will bring opportunities to entertain again.
you can never have enough serving trays, that's for sure!

this idea makes use of a simple, cheap material to give any tray a refreshed look.

continue reading to see how easy this is!

when life gives you lemons...

for the first time in the five years we've lived in this house,

our lemon tree yielded fruit!

i'm not sure if it was just that the tree is finally mature enough to bear fruit,

or if it was the strange regimen of digging coffee grounds and eggshells into the soil all year

along with the citrus tree fertilizer and Miracle Grow a few times...

but something stimulated the growth, and we got 16 lemons this winter!

you know what they say: 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade'?

well, *i* say, 'when life gives you lemons, DECORATE with them!'

and i did!

continue reading for some easy tips...

(even if life didn't give you a lemon tree or lemons!)

'paint chip' inspired painted dresser

i always say that paint is a magical ingredient in decorating....

it can change things faster and easier than any other element!

i recently envisioned a new paint treatment for an item i've had for years

(actually, it's been in my family for THREE generations!)

and am so happy with the results.

continue reading for the reveal!

dollar tree vase makeover

even the smallest details matter...
when i saw these two funny little bud vases at Dollar Tree,
the sunshine yellow caught my eye.
the bottom half of them were not at all my style, however.

i bought them anyway!
 it's so easy to give store-bought items a quick makeover...
a few artful dabs of paint quickly remedied the problem,
and these vases now fit my palette and style perfectly.

continue reading for the before and after...

a warm welcome

i've been busy creating a fresh look in our entryway -
it's a small area and so easy to change!

addressing the change of seasons was an easy task:
color offers warmth and a happy welcome this utilitarian area.
by incorporating a few soft touches, some interesting textures and elements,
and ways to tackle the detritus that often gathers here in this 'drop zone',
it's gone from a pass-thru area to one we notice and enjoy a bit more.

as usual, i didn't spend a cent to restyle this area - 
i shopped the house and pulled a new look together for nuthin'!

continue reading for some simple decorating tips...

painting the globe...

today i'm sharing a project that uses the OTHER 'color of the year',
Ultimate Gray.
(since most of my recent projects have been all contained Illuminating Yellow,
i thought it was time to give the second color some attention!)

i finally came up with a way to restyle an item that i've had tucked away for years...
it was a banged-up, scratched, faded (but not in a good way) paper world globe,
and using gray and white paint to transform it was the perfect solution to update the look.
note: this is a globe from the 1990's. not vintage or antique. not valuable.

now it fits into my decor, and is a sweet reminder of special people each time i look at it.
isn't that better than keeping something stashed in a closet
because although it means something to you, you don't know where to PUT it?

continue reading to see the before, during, after... and AFTER!

more embellished hearts!

the last two 'embellished' hearts i have to show you are quite simply
 'junk makeovers' of an old glass heart-shaped dish and another heart-shaped tin.
and one of those includes an easy-peasy way to add glitter to ANYTHING!

a tiered tray (made by stacking white dishes from the kitchen!)
holds a pretty yellow and white assortment of hearts - with a touch of gray -
and i love how cheerful it is in my studio 'photo spot' by the faux fireplace.

enjoy my last Valentine decor post!

continue reading to see a few 'before' and 'afters'...