Please add your email address below to receive the free drawing plans and resource list. Share this link with any friends that might be interested as well. Take care!
Mudroom Drawing Plans and Resources
Yes, please send me the plans and resources!
Spring Home Tour
When I was asked by April from House By Hoff and Krista from The Happy Housie if I would like to participate in the “Seasonal Simplicity” home tour, I thought what a fantastic way to celebrate the start of this time of year. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to represent new life, optimism, and the changes that take place outside that all occur at this time of year. Budding branches, a fresh feeling, and learning something new were all at the top of my list to help welcome spring.
If you are here by way of At Charlotte’s House or any of the other talented bloggers on the tour, welcome, and thank you for visiting me!
Learning how to arrange flowers was a fantastic way for me to kick off the spring season. Doing it with friends made it even better!
I have a passion for teaching and the home, and teach the “everyday home designer” that design isn’t about a look, but a feeling. A feeling that is about emotion and simply put, feels right to you and your home. It is that “something” when you walk into a space that just feels right.
The feeling you want to create in your home (hint, it has a lot to do with your personality) has basic design elements that you can choose to communicate that message consistently. Making design decisions for your home becomes intentional, easy, and something that you are happy with for a long time.
In my kitchen you can see evidence of the feeling I created in the space. Timeless, simple, and welcoming are the words I used as a guideline for the design elements that I chose for the room. By using these words as a guide and their design framework I was able to make decisions with intention, rather than make decisions on what the latest trend was at the moment.
As I noted above, I wanted to create a fresh feeling in my home to help celebrate the spring season. Pastel greens, fresh greenery, and forsythia branches were all ways that I created that feeling in the space.
Please provide your email address below to receive the mudroom drawing plans and resource list.
Mudroom Drawing Plans and Resources
Yes, please send me the plans and resources!
Please be sure to visit the next stop on the Seasonal Simplicity Home Tour, my friend Jennifer from Town and Country Living, and all of the other homes on the tour for more inspiration!
Monday
House by Hoff / The Happy Housie / The Turquoise Home / Maison de Pax / Refresh Restyle
Tuesday
The House of Wood / Simplicity of the South / Place of My Taste / Tidy Mom / That’s My Letter
Wednesday
Sincerely, Sara D. / at HOME with the barkers / Paint Me Pink / Nina Hendrick Design Co. / A Burst of Beautiful
Thursday
Just a Girl and Her Blog / Cherished Bliss / At Charlotte’s House / House 214 Design / Town and Country Living
Friday
Cassie Bustamante / Robb Restyle / Erin Spain / My Fabuless Life / The Wicker House
Winter Porch
I enjoy decorating for the holidays, and have found that I like to integrate the seasonal aspect within my holiday decorating. Once the holidays come to an end I take down the decorations, but keep up the more seasonal items. I now see a lot of the decor more as a winter scene, and am happy to enjoy the hard work put into it for a little while longer.
I am naturally drawn to a classic and timeless feeling with a hint of elegance. I see natural elements as the perfect way to depict these feelings in any season. Whether it is winter, spring, summer, or fall you can always find a bit of nature to represent the season.
We lived in the south for some time growing up. During the holiday season we would go on tours of old southern homes that were decorated in Christmas past. This meant a lot of fresh greens, fruits, and other natural elements incorporated in the decor. Often times during the tour you would be greeted with a beautiful fruit display located above the front door. I was always fascinated with the welcoming gesture and wanted to incorporate the decoration on my own front porch this winter season.
With the help of my husband, a video, and lots of apples the project was under way. I was so pleased with how it turned out. The best part is that once the apples are removed we can use the piece again next year and create an entirely different winter scene.
A quick tip… I love the look of boxwoods in urns, but sometimes don’t want to purchase a plant for the season. What I do instead is cut my own boxwood branches or buy cut pieces from my local nursery for a couple of dollars. I then place the stems in leftover dirt to create the look of a boxwood. Easy and a lot less expensive!
If you are visiting by way of Danielle, thank you for stopping by on the tour. I hope you all enjoyed the visit, and learned something that you can take with you.
Receive My Free Email Course!
Learn how you can finally decorate your home the right way and to receive my blog updates and teachings.
“Feel Home” with my Friend: Sarah Gibson
I am starting a series of posts about a few of my friends and how they “feel home”. Some I have met in person and some only in the online world (hopefully that will change one day!). I want to show you how different types of people create different feelings in their homes by choosing design elements that communicate that feeling best.
The only criteria for my featured friends is to be a talented, willing to share their home, and willing to open up about who they are and how they feel home. Not too much to ask, right?!?! Let’s get started!
Please meet my friend Sarah. Sarah is a designer and the talent behind the blog Room for Tuesday. We met on a business trip that we were both asked to take part in with Polycor, a natural stone fabricator. The first time I saw Sarah, I noticed her friendly smile right away. I also quickly took note of how after a long day of travel, her appearance was still so very well put together. Me on the other hand, not so much. We started chatting right away and I knew the friendship would continue long after the trip came to an end.
Sarah and her husband have made their way to Utah where they are currently renovating a mid-century ranch style house. Prior to this move, they resided in a 1920 bungalow style home in Ohio, which is where the pictures in this post were taken from. The feeling of this house reminds me of my first impression of Sarah, friendly and put together.
Sarah describes her personality as decisive, nostalgic, and effervescent. All of these traits are evident in the feeling that she created in her home. They are characteristics that make up what I call the strong, welcoming, and fun feeling.
The animal hyde and natural wood elements seen on the dining chairs and blinds are all design elements that communicate a more welcoming feeling.
I asked Sarah how she wanted her home to feel and her response was the following. “I want my home to feel curated, balanced, interesting, inviting, and unusual. These are all things that are important to me, and I want my home to reflect these qualities. I suppose when designing my home and filling it with furniture, decor, and objects I love, my objective is to create a place that is unique to myself and my family. I love mixing classic, timeless design with unexpected vintage pieces to give my home personality”.
I love how Sarah placed a fun element in her hallway using this floral pattern wallpaper. The pattern is scattered and larger in scale, which makes it feel fun, but the color palette is more warm and muted which falls into the welcoming feel. She also kept the space welcoming by using a vintage runner which adds a sense of history and has a warmer tone as well.
The architectural elements of Sarah’s home fall more into the authentic feeling. She and her husband made some design decisions that complemented that type of feeling. The kitchen cabinetry, floors, and molding are all choices made to honor the roots of their 1920 bungalow style home.
In this space, the lines of the coat rack, bench, and light fixture contribute to a more edited strong feeling. We also see the welcoming feeling in the texture of the basket and a nod to nature seen in the pillow, art, and animal heads. The animal heads add a little bit of fun to the space as well.
I just love this image of Sarah’s dog. Perfection!
Sarah is such a kind person and I am grateful to have met her. She wanted to gift you with something, so she thought her grandmother’s recipe for “the best sugar cookies” would be perfect for this time of year. Sarah was also nice enough to share the story behind the recipe, which makes me eager to get in the kitchen, gather the ingredients, and start baking!
“My grandmother makes these every single holiday. She makes hundreds and sometimes even thousands of cookies! She passes them out to everyone. Family, friends, neighbors, fellow churchgoers, the mailman, and anyone who will accept her tin of cookies. The recipe is from her old elementary school teacher and she still has the original copy. She said she remembers her teacher making these and passing them out to everyone in the community and at the single room schoolhouse. They’re so popular, she always runs out! Every time I make these, they remind me of her compassion and generosity to others.”
If you would like to meet my friend Sarah and learn about her e-design services, no matter your location or the scale of the project, you can visit her here.
I hope you enjoyed this first piece in my new series, “Feel Home”. I can’t wait to introduce you to my next friend in the series and share with you how they feel home.
Take care,
[jetpack_subscription_form title=”Subscribe To Blog” subscribe_text=”Sign up to receive updates and get a FREE Timeless Feeling Design Plan!”]
“It’s Not About the Perfect Home”
Do you have a list of things that you hope to accomplish some day? Whether you have them in the back of your mind or actually have them written down, they are there, and little by little you work towards them in one way or another.
When I discovered Karen and Zandra from Little Yellow Couch I just knew I wanted to take part in what their philosophy was regarding the home. In their own words, ” It’s not about the perfect home. It’s about creating moments that delight you amidst your everyday life”.
Their past guest list includes Grace Bonney from Design Sponge, John and Sherry Petersik from Young House Love, and many many more. So, when I was asked to take part and be a guest on their podcast, Style Matters, I was beyond thrilled. To listen to the full episode, please see below.
Oh, and the icing on the cake was Karen and Zandra had asked to teach a segment on my new and live (that you take on your own schedule) course, Creating a Timeless Feeling Home. It really has been a wonderful and rewarding collaboration. The best kind in my mind!