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10.06.2016

Off the Wall?

Last spring, after moving into the new house,
Mom and I went shopping at the Down Home Spring Sale,
held at the home of Don & Peggy Arbenz.
Several years ago, I wrote about their GORGEOUS antique store in Orange, CA - 
they have since closed the store, but sell at shows and at their own events.

I really love their style,
(I've posted about some of their store's Fall and Halloween displays)
and just knew that we would find some things at their sale
that could be incorporated into our home... and we did!

One of the (many) treasures that came home with us was 
HALF of a tall, weathered wood porch post!
(It had been split lengthwise and has a totally flat back)
As soon as we saw it, we envisioned it as a coat rack in our entry hall:
Okay, well.... to be honest, we pictured it hung vertically... on another wall...

But the more we looked at it, the more we realized that 
this position limited the capacity for holding things -
including decorative things that change with the season.
( You see where I'm going with this, right?! )
So in the end, we moved the position from vertically beside the door 
to horizontally behind the door
(the door would be on the adjacent wall to the left of this photo)

Once hung in place, 
we gathered up a variety of interesting metal hooks from all over the place, 
and screwed them into the wood:
Top Row: 'faucet' hook - etsy . 'JOY' hooks - World Market
Bottom Row: vintage hook - ReStore, WA . silver metal hooks - Hobby Lobby

Find more coat hooks at World Market . HobbyLobby . 

It's a terrific drop zone right inside the door, along with being nice to look at!
The look and content will change with each season, 
making this as much an art gallery as it is a coat rack 

I'm working on a rustic 'Welcome' sign to hang above it, 
and you can see that one of my refreshed chalkboards ended up here, too!

9.29.2016

Perfectly Imperfect

This is so easy it's ridiculous...
but that's the best part!
Because whether you have old fall decor pieces that have lost their appeal
or you ran across a steal of a deal at the thrift shop,
paint covers a multitude of sins... and a whole lotta' UGLY.

Like, um, those badly-painted ceramic pumpkins in the 'before' shot.
Sorry, but those be UGLY!
But at a buck each, I couldn't pass them up. I have a weakness for a bargain.

My PLAN was to paint them to look like galvanized metal.
Great idea - but I am just really short on time right now.
They sat on the floor in my studio (see before shot, again) for two weeks,
staring at me as if they were demanding to be 'fixed'. 
One day, I'd had it. I was really sick of looking at them.
So I went to the garage, grabbed a can of semi-gloss white paint, 
and slapped two coats of paint onto the pumpkins.

LO and BEHOLD: fall decor  - that looks like I just got it at HomeGoods or Target!

I just used some leftover trim paint. Not a new can of spray paint.
(tho if I had HAD a can of that, I probably would have used it instead).
Craft paint would work, too - heck, FINGER paint would work!

The thing is, it's not perfect. 
I can see the imperfections and bumps from the OLD paint job,
and the brush marks from my 'slap-dash' paint application.
However, I.DON'T.CARE!

Once those freshly-rejuvenated babies were put into a display in my entry,
the flaws aren't apparent at ALL. They look absolutely FABulous there:

... and that's a lesson I apply to life, as well as decorating:

Nothing's ever going to be perfect. 
But it can still be fabulous when we make the most of it.

I'm far from perfect or flawless, and most of my projects and decor aren't, either!
I'm not in this to impress anyone or monetize my blog, 
but to share and inspire you to just TRY your hand at new things.
It's probably not gonna' turn out perfectly.... 
but if you don't tell anyone, they probably won't notice anyway!

So, dear readers, dig out the ugly decor stuff you're hiding
and give it a simple coat of white or black or neon orange paint - 
because sometimes you can make a big change in just five minutes.

PS: read the story of 'Jack', my other white-painted ceramic pumpkin

One last thing:
Thank you to the lovely ladies who ordered pumpkins yesterday...
I appreciate your enthusiasm and support over the years, 
and am happy that you were able to snag the last of the Originals!
Bless you all <3 

9.25.2016

lost and.... FOUND!

Remember these lil' babies?!

After selling my neutral-hued and orange Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins for five years, 
I released a limited edition of them in PINK in 2013 - and you LOVED them!
(thank you from the bottom of my pumpkin' shaped heart <3 )

Recently Janet at Shabbyfufu shared one of her own photos of my pink pumpkins,
the one you see on the lower right corner of my image above,
and her readers were clamoring to get some of their own...
I couldn't oblige, as making them in quantity makes my carpal tunnel flare up
(and Deb is not happy when she is in pain!)
That's a big reason why I stopped making them to sell after 2013, and offered my tutorial.
The other reason was that my Dad was undergoing cancer treatments,
and time spent with him was way more important than making pumpkins.

Well.... I have a bit of good news for anyone hankering to get their hands on
a couple of my pumpkins: I FOUND SOME!


;)
Yes, you have a chance to get one of the last sets of 
my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins in PINK, 
right here on the homewardFOUND blog!

 Tuesday Morning September 27 at 8 AM Pacific Time,
I'll have SIX SETS ONLY for sale here on the blog!

The PayPal purchase button will be on the right sidebar for your convenience.
Sold only in sets of 3 - varied sizes, pink tones, and knit textures in each set.

important stuff:
Shipping included, to continental USA addresses only.
Limited quantity available. No holds - Purchase required at time of order.
All purchases final. No refunds, no cancellations. No custom requests/orders.
Sale will cease immediately when available quantities are sold.

I'll see you here Tuesday!



9.22.2016

If Walls Could Talk...


There are a LOT of model homes here in Southern California!
Every builder creates a jaw-dropping, show-stopping block 
of every model they offer in every subdivision - to entice buyers.

Mom and I looked at a LOT of model homes when she was deciding to buy hers.
I've been touring model homes all of my life, since my teens, 
because I love seeing how they are decorated. I love the details. 
I love the designer touches that you can't get in a house -  they are 'for inspiration only'. 
And that's EXACTLY what I use them for!

Case in Point:
The WALL TREATMENTS at three new neighborhoods' models nearby,
built by Pardee Homes (who built our new house).
I saw the models earlier this month, and was impressed with
the interesting textures and patterns on the 'builder boring' walls:

Painted Wood
See that first photo up above, with the board & batten wood paneling?
I think that's what we're going to add to a niche in our entry hall.
We can't use shiplap, because the horizontal pattern will make the already long hall look longer...
so I think the vertical B&B pattern will be the best solution.

Stained Wood
I especially like the wood flooring applied to the back of an entryway cubby unit:

Stained Wood ON THE CEILING!

Paint

Photographic Mural
(it's a photo of a rusty train car)

'Wood Look' Ceramic Tiles

Brick

Stuck on what to do with YOUR walls?

Head over to some local model homes and get inspired!

9.09.2016

Easy Chalkboard Makeover!

A year and a half ago, I discovered a HAUL of FREE stuff behind a store...
(don'tcha' love it when that happens?!)
There was a HUGE 12' tall 4' wide white hutch with shelves
which I donated the hutch to Laura's House ReSale Store, where I was creating visuals.
(the store ceiling is over 20' high so that thing works perfectly in there!).

And then there were THESE babies:

Two chalkboards that were a bit worse for the wear,
with peeling paint and dirt for DAYS.
I kept them anyway! They've been in storage ever since.

I got inspired recently, and pulled them out of the garage for a makeover...
after I cleaned them, repainted the black chalkboard surface with flat black paint,
and covered up the dark red trim with flat white paint,
I got to work on the lettering.
Here's a simple way to do the lettering:

Determine what you want to say, and what font to use, and how large it will be,
then print or draw it onto plain white paper - use pen or pencil.


Flip the paper over, and use a white crayon to color across the back 

of entire area where the words are on the front.
(Make it a pretty thick coat of crayon for it to work best.)
Flip the paper back over, carefully set it in place on your chalkboard surface -
wherever it is that you want the words to be situated - 
and then use a pencil or ballpoint pen to trace back over the original lettering.


Put as much pressure as you can on it without tearing the paper OR moving the paper.
When you've traced the whole word, carefully lift the paper straight up.
You'll have a perfect outline in white crayon of your lettering.

Now just fill it in with white paint (if you want it permanent) or with white chalk.
I used very small brushes to apply flat white paint on mine,
then I added detail using a black fine-point sharpie marker:
The 'Menu' chalkboard now hangs next to our kitchen pantry,
and the 'home SWEET home' one is in our entryway.
They add a crisp counterpoint to all of the neutrals in the decor,
and offer a place to personalize greetings for our guests! 

(pinnable images)

Want another easy chalkboard project?

Check out my tutorial for creating a chalkboard, below:
my secret? use a sheet of cement tile backer board!
sand well and paint it with several coats of flat black or chalkboard paint, 
then drill holes in the corners and screw into studs in your wall.

I used a piece of an old wood gutter as a bottom rail, to hold chalk!


It ends up looking, feeling, and SOUNDING exactly like 
an old slate chalkboard when you write on it!
(RETREAT was my former business in the vintage industry)

shared online:


Cupcakes & Crinoline | Project Inspire{d}

8.31.2016

* pumpkin palooza! *

Wow, is FALL really here already?
ok, well, it's not the 'official' beginning of fall, but
it's time to break out the fall decor...

Here at homewardFOUNDdecor
that means scrounging up materials from all over the house
and turning them into something fun to decorate with!

I've got loads of fall decor ideas for you here in my blog archives,
including tutorials for my signature & original pumpkins:
My Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins (designed 2007)

My Original Glass Globe Pumpkins (designed 2011)

Faux Concrete Styro Pumpkins (tutorial shared 2014)



Painted Pumpkin Pails (designed 1994)
... and my versions of

Yeah, I know - that's more than the '6 projects' touted in the graphic above!
Once you get me started..... ;)

My OWN pumpkin decor includes the very FIRST Sweet Sweater Pumpkins I ever made! 
Yep, I've been storing and using them since waaaaaay back in 2007.
I'll be putting those - and newer versions - out soon....