Thrifty Trends-Sprucing Up Your Laundry Room

Does your laundry room (or closet) need a little sprucing up? Visit my friend Taylor's blog The Daring Dandelion tomorrow where I'm talking about some thrifty tricks that can make a big difference in such a utilitarian space. Chores are more fun to do in a beautiful room!

2016 Thrifty Trends

I'm talking about some of the top home trends of 2016 on my friend Taylor's blog today! Go check it out HERE

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Happy Decorating,

Aubrey

You can find me here:

My Website

(where I post inspiration photos daily)

and

Instagram

Thrifty Trends-Christmas Details

I'm featured on my friend Taylor's blog today talking about thrifty ideas for holiday decor 😊 check it out here! http://thedaringdandelion.blogspot.com/2015/12/thrifty-trends-holiday-decor.html

Furniture Project

So my mom is starting to redo the entire look of her house in preparation of a possible addition and renovation. Which I'm also helping her and my dad out with! Yay!! Anyways, here's a furniture piece I painted for them. I apologize for the crappy before photos...I get so excited that I always forget to take them till I'm already working on it. 

Here's a before without the cabinet doors 

Here's a little trick...I always put hardware in plastic bags, separated by where they go (I.e. Right door knob and hinges, drawer knobs...etc). In my experience, old furniture hardware can sometimes shift over time making them a "custom" fit to their specific spot. If you don't label, it can be a heck of a project just fitting things back together.

I sanded everything down to the original wood and then I did two coats of a black paint with velvet finish and stained the top. I lightly distressed the edges and then I used finishing wax to seal it (which I love because it's not shiny but it looks very finished). 

I love how it turned out!

And here's the after!! (not staged and not great light...my bad haha)

Thanksgiving!

So my husband hates anything Christmas before Thanksgiving. He says he feels bad for Thanksgiving that stores and people just skip over it with decorations and try to speed up the season that already goes way too fast. And I have to say I agree with him! While I do love enjoying Christmas music and the cozy decorations, there is something so exciting about the day after Thanksgiving. Pulling all the bins out of storage, tromping through the woods to cut down a tree and something so sweet about listening to holiday tunes for the first time of the year. It's definitely a tradition of my family's that I want to continue to pass down.

Anyways...this post is all about Thanksgiving! I mean how can you not love this holiday when it's mainly about the amazing food! Add in the parade, football games, family time and pie, well I think it's just perfect! It's a week till turkey day and I have a few tips on how to decorate your house to celebrate and get in the Thanksgiving mood before we hit Christmas season!

I'm all for inexpensive and simple decor. My house consists of baby punkins scattered around with candles, simple white vases and a little burlap banner I got from the dollar section at Target a couple seasons ago. Plus a cute little wooden wreath with some colorful leaves woven through it on my front door.

Another great idea that I usually like to do is switch out my frames with free Thanksgiving/Fall printables. Here are some great examples

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I love that these are free and can add just a little something to your home for Thanksgiving! Just type in Thanksgiving printables on Pinterest and you'll find all kinds of amazing things from art prints and table settings to "give thanks" cards to fill out and activities for kids. So fun and there's something for everyone's style!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Moving

I thought I'd take the time to introduce myself a bit since I'm kinda starting this blog thing over.  

Hi, I'm Aubrey and I live in Fort Collins, CO with my husband and 6 month old little girl. My husband got out of the military in May and we move back home from Hawaii :( I miss it! and we've been staying at my parents house ever since. We've been so thankful to have a place to stay while searching for a place to live since this market is absolutely insane...apparently everyone wants to live here. We didn't qualify for a lot of rentals and the ones we did, would be snatched up before we could even apply. My parents played with the idea of buying a place for us to rent from them but that was even crazier as people were listing way too high and offers were often done in 24hrs and $20,000+ above list. 

Anyways, we were going a little crazy but still knew that God had it handled and we would find the place that we were meant to be in. And then we found our cute little townhouse!! It's a little more than we'd like to pay and the cabinets are in pretty rough shape but we have everything we need, it's the perfect amount of space, there are some really fun features and our landlord is super cool.

Our movers are coming tomorrow and I am so excited!! I can't wait to get in and set everything up and decorate again. I'm sure it will be quite the adventure with a little baby rolling around...like today when I hauled in a vacuum and bags with her in the carrier up those stairs. I probably was quite the sight. And I will be honest...

I struggle with wanting everything to be done right away. Which makes me lose the value and fun of the process which, I think I love the most. I'm not sure if it's anxiety or expectations or what but I don't want to rush it this time. I'm really trying in this house to simplify. I only want what is useful or beautiful to be there. If I'm getting it just to fill a space...I don't want to get it. I'm trying to really work on just being. And if we don't need it, then I don't buy it!!!

I'm interested to see how all of our ragtag furniture will fit inside this house. Thankfully, we have a garage if something doesn't work. Those items will probably get makeovers and get sold just an fyi ;) I'm excited to make this home really us and put my time and energy into projects that up the value in the home and our life. 

Here are some before pictures from the listing and I'll probably add my own photos in other posts. Woot woot! Here's to new projects and a new home!

This is the master

This is the baby's bathroom (ours is similar except we have a walk in shower...and our landlord put in new vanity lights)

Living room (from the kitchen)

Kitchen

You can look forward to pictures of the half bath, the baby's bedroom, our bathroom and the eat-in kitchen. And of course all my future projects throughout our home :)

Decorating with Cinder Blocks

Some of you probably just shuddered at the thought of using cinder blocks to decorate but if you know me, I'm all for using cheap (preferably free) materials in ways that you wouldn't normally think of. You can find cinder blocks at your Restore or a garden store or even sometimes on the side of the road. So hear me out :)

I like this because you're not actually using the blocks as the planters so that you can trade them around if needed. This would be great on a deck or sun room. Perfect for herbs!

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I like this one too (apparently in front of a fancy home store in London!) Just line the blocks with plastic and make sure they can drain well.

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There are more decorative blocks out there and with a simple coat of spray paint, they would be perfect for adding an extra little shelf for more storage. Now who doesn't need more storage in their lives!? Just make sure to secure them well and that they aren't too heavy for what they're on top of. You could maybe paint the other pieces the same color so it looks a little more cohesive...unless you like the contrast..that's cool too.

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Ok this one isn't actually cinder blocks but you do use cement pavers and pallets which can be found in the same places and give kinda the same look or idea. Plus I love the idea of having a little bar out on your deck that doesn't take up a lot of room. Just be sure to properly secure the pallets together...don't want to blocks (or your wine) to come tumbling down!

Source-this page has some amazing info and tips about pallets and 

how to work with them properly and safely

There are a ton more ideas like outdoor seating, lots of different planters and even bed platforms and shelving. Be creative!! Use what you have or can easily find to create something that's tailored just for you!