Movin' On!

Have you ever moved to a new (to you) house?
Have you scratched your head and wondered 'How am I gonna' make THIS work there?'?

Have you had nightmares about what you need to buy for the new place?
I have a plan to help you with that!

I hinted in my first post last month that there were some big things ahead this year...

things that spurred me to come out of my 'Blogging Break'. (missed that post? it's here ) 

Mom and I have been working on something since October

that will take a huge leap forward at the end of March.
So huge that EVERYTHING will change for us...
we're moving on into our future!


What's that? You wanna' know what this huge thing is?
Oh, okay, sure.... it's.....

After relocating from Orange County to the Temecula area at the end of March, 

we'll be taking on the utterly exciting task of decorating a brand.new.house!

We've got Pinterest boards and file folders and brains overflowing with ideas.
We've got color palettes and landscaping ideas and wall treatments inhabiting our dreams.

Our plans mix Mom's style with MY style, to create 'our' style...

which is a little bit farmhouse, and a little bit beach house,

a little bit contemporary, and a little bit industrial, a little bit rustic, and a little bit feminine!
 

Here's where homewardFOUNDdecor comes in:

I'm going to be sharing our process of
* making design choices for the house
and what inspires us as we mix our two styles

* deciding what furniture to KEEP and what to let go

* how to re-think, re-design, and re-use items in new spaces
* giving an empty, new builder home a vintage vibe with easy projects

 My goal is to inspire you and give you ideas for your OWN home - 
whether you move to a new location or you just rearrange what you have where you are!

Yes, we'll be buying a few new things...
but our plan is to re-use, re-purpose, and re-design as much as we can.
It's about inspiration, and ideas, and hands-on fun.
You've seen my Mom's house in the Thrifty Tropical Weekend Makeover series,

and now you'll be able to see how we totally change the look for the new house!

We're calling it 'Project HOMEward'...
and hope you'll join us here each week... we've got a lot to share with you!

(Yes, I'll still be sharing my seasonal decor ideas and projects, too!) 
Coming up next: the options/finishes we chose
and the first thing we bought for the house!

the Language of Love

 Contrary to just about everything I share here on homewardFOUNDdecor, 
the truly important things in life aren't decorating or crafting.
The decorating and crafting have always been - for me, anyway -   
the way I show people that I love them...

The kids' rooms were always cute and fun and bright and happy, with handpainted furniture and murals that expressed their own style. The house was always clean (ish!) and decorated because I wanted my family to be proud of where they lived. The birthdays and special days of the year were greeted with simple decorations and fun food at the breakfast table (like pink milk and pancakes on Valentine's Day). The 'big' holidays like Halloween, Christmas, and Easter were celebrated with fun traditions and decorating.

ALL of those efforts on my part resulted not just in happy moments and lasting memories, but in a deeper meaning that leads my now-adult offspring to do the same things for their own kids.
This has become a 'language of love' for our whole family,
and nothing could make me happier.

My Mom started it all when I was a girl, and I added to it... as have my kids. It's not about money - because we've never had a lot of that - but about using what you have, being creative, and investing time and effort into doing things for those you love. For me, the BEST gifts ever were the handwritten, handpainted, handdrawn cards made for me  by my children and grandchildren.

Sometimes, the simplest things can mean the most.

 There's another 'hand made' gift that is the very best one I ever received:

Valentine's Day 2015 came in the midst of some very hard days.

My Dad was fighting the battle of his life - FOR his life - against cancer.
He was weak, and tired, and spent a lot of time in his comfy chair downstairs. He wasn't going out of the house anymore, so I asked him if I could find a card for him to give to my Mom on Valentine's Day... he said yes, and I did. (I ended up overwhelmed by tears in the card department of the local CVS store, on the phone with my little sister to give me the strength to find a card expressing the love of a dying man for his wife of 35 years...) I gave him the card, he signed it, and gave it to her a few days later. 
She loved it. She still reads it from time to time.

And then, when I awoke on Valentine's Day, I found little notes taped to my bedroom door, my office door, my bathroom mirror, and my laptop:


... little love notes for me, from my Dad. 

He had written them on scrap paper and come upstairs to tape them where I would find them.

Handwritten love notes from my Daddy...
there isn't anything more precious to me now,
no other Valentine that could mean more than these.

Just a few short weeks later, on Easter morning, my Dad passed away.

I moved those notes to the back of my bedroom door, and I see them every single day. They are a constant reminder of his love, and of the effort it took him to climb the stairs to put them there for me. 
He gave me all he had to give... his love. And it is more than enough.

The language of love is time. It's effort. It's thoughtfulness.
Maybe to you, it's a cupcake, or a card, or a perfect door wreath and mantel. Maybe it's a date, or a diamond, or chocolate and champagne. We all want to be shown love in the way that makes us feel special and loved, and to show love to those who are special to us.
For me, it's the little things done with a caring heart that mean the most

 Whatever you do to show your love this year on Valentine's Day,
may it be from the heart.

Even if it's simple post-it notes... because you just never know.

 .

Lampshades to LOVE

 I just can't leave well enough alone...

 I usually buy my home decor items - like lamps - at thrift stores and garage & vintage sales,
and they usually come with lampshades.
Thing is, I never like them! 
I love the lamp base, which is why I buy it,
but then I always have to add something or deconstruct something to do with the shade
to make it something I can live with... or sell.

Like MOST of my projects, it's not really complicated...

The lamp on the left has a perfectly acceptable shade, right?
I thought so too, but when I sat it in the vignette in my vintage decor booth*,
all of the lovely detail of the three 'candles' beneath that shade became invisible.

I knew I had to do something, so I looked around me to see what I had to work with...
and my eyes stopped on those rusty, crusty wire garden baskets 
hanging from a chandelier over the table.
There was one more of them sitting under the table, and I grabbed it,

flipped it over, and sat it on top of the lampshade (shown on the right).

The wire brought out the metal tones of the three 'candles' under the shade,
and the whole thing looked a lot more 'vintage' - easy-peasy.

This lampshade started out as a simple wire frame from a thrift shop.
I tore strips of red ticking cotton fabric and found some vintage red velvet ribbon,
and simply tied loops of each around the frame.
I think it took me a whopping 15 minutes from start to finish.

I like my projects to be 'Fast, Cheap, & Easy'TM!

MORE inspiration:

view more of my lampshade transformations

a super-quick lampshade treatment

one of the most drastic lamp transformations ever

I've used chandelier crystals, metal shoe trees, wire waste baskets,
aprons, vintage piano player music rolls, belts, stencils, sheet music,
vintage linens, wallpaper, vintage ceramic tea cups, and more
to 'foof' up lampshades over the years...

a few that I gathered up in 2013 to share here on HWF:

 I hope you find inspiration for your own unique lampshades here!
Have fun creating!
...we'll leave the light on for ya'... ;)

shared online:
one project closer | creativity unleashed

shabbyfufu | share it one more time
 .

the Romance of Pink

 I'm just gonna' leave these riiiiiiight heeeeeeere......

 I came across these beauties that I snapped a few years back
at The Vintage Marketplace show...

the show entry display, created by the very talented Miss Monique,

is so lovely and romantic

that I thought it would be a perfect way to welcome in February!

InstaGrammy

I'm new to the Instagram game, but sure having fun!

I'm intent on mixing things up over there, 

sharing content that reflects many facets of me:
my retail store design & display styling projects,

the DIY seasonal home decor inspiration that I share here on hWf,
(including my favorite color - Rose Gold - and sparkling chandeliers)

and fun snaps from when I am at Disneyland!

Once in awhile, I even pop in a shot of my four adorable grand kids ;)

I guess that makes me an 'InstaGrammy'

Today was pretty fun...
I shared a pic of Mickey Mouse with his arm around me for #National Hug Day

and a bit later I was notified that THE OFFICIAL MICKEY MOUSE had replied! 
(he really DOES give great hugs, you know!)  

Check out my IG feed in my sidebar >>>

I'd like to invite you to follow me on Instagram... 
and if you leave me a comment below with YOUR Instagram name,
I'll follow you, too!

Find me on social media:

My Rose Gold Obsession

Just before Christmas, I was overtaken by a fever...

don't worry, I'm not sick. I'm just a bit obsessed with the color Rose Gold!
... forget what Pantone says, THIS is MY color of the year!

One day I dug through my files and drawers and cabinets and magazines,

and pulled out all kinds of tearsheets and miscellaneous 'stuff' 

that was in any way related to this warm, soft light pink/copper hue.

Then I put it all together and created a real 3-D 'mood board'
(remember how we used to do that BEFORE Pinterest?!)

I photographed the layouts, and turned them into Pinterest-worthy photos!

Then I re-designed every.last.brand.graphic that I use online
because this happy, sparkling, rosy hue just resonates with me right now...

you might say I've put on rose-gold colored glasses ;)

I had a lot of ideas for projects on my mind,
but no time at all to go out and get the paint or start anything. Until today!

 I got my hands on a few cans of THIS sweet stuff...
* I highly recommend Krylon Metallic Paints. They look REAL. *
(non-sponsored endorsement)

and then I went a little bit *mad*, actually:

I had this rough-surfaced metal laser-cut 'D' in a drawer, just waiting for paint.
One very thin coat and she's shining shimmering splendid!

continue reading for more...