Shopping Tips for Finding the Perfect Home Decor!

While out shopping, I saw this lantern and I knew it was exactly what I needed for the table by my stairs. It's always so exciting to find something your looking for!

Shopping for accessories can be overwhelming! Especially when you're pacing through the isles of  stores like Homes Goods or Hobby Lobby. Below are a few tips to help you sort through the hundreds of décor pieces to find your the right home accents for your home!

1. First, comb through Instagram, magazines, Pinterest, and online photos of rooms you like. 

2. Ask yourself: Do you like modern, traditional, or more rustic home décor styles? 

3. Decide what colors and styles you're drawn to. How do those colors and styles make you feel? Is there a certain store you just love and want to your home to look like?

4. Save pictures you love and look closely at how they decorated the details in the room. What did they put on that coffee table? What type of rug did they use on the floor? What kinds of colors did they use in their pillows? 

5. Then before you go to the stores, decide what specific items your going to look for, using your saved pictures as inspiration. It will cut down on time.

6. Know your budget. Decide if you rather spend money on several less expensive items or put all your money towards a piece that you absolutely love!

Happy Shopping!

Budget Friendly Ideas for Refreshing a Room!

Every January, with the start of the new year, I like to make little, budget friendly changes to my home decor! It has to be on the cheap because we’re just coming off of Christmas where I normally over spend. (Oops don't tell the hubby.)

Some of the easiest ways to update any space is by painting an existing piece of furniture, painting decor already have, and buy a few new accessories - like a new rug. 

I'm going to share with you what I did to get it to look like the photo below. 

 I bought a new sofa about a year ago from Rooms to Go, but never really updated the room to go along with the new sofa. So, the first change I made was to update my coffee table. I sanded it down a bit, filled in the nicks with wood putty, and then spray painted it from black to white! I used a spray paint with a satin finish called Rustoleum - which I bought at Lowe’s. Because of the table's classic design and solid wood construction, there was no reason to buy new even if I had money in the budget. I purchased it from World Market over twelve years ago and it's been a staple in our home ever since. And now it has a clean, crisp, fresh feel! 

Next I dusted off an old black pair of wood candlesticks from my decorator closet - that I bought  Hobby Lobby a few years back. Then I spray painted the candlesticks white and will probably  distress them in the future for a more farmhouse look. (The wood ones replaced the silver ones - the silver ones were from Home Goods.)

Another change I added was to replace the rug under my coffee table. I've had the old aqua rug for the past five years and I wanted to switch to a neutral color. 

Rugs USA was kind enough to send me this gorgeous gray 5'x8' Tallahassee Floral Jewel Medallion Rug in grey.  It has the look of a stylish expensive rug - but so easy on the budget! A win-win! Plus, I love how it lightens up my entire room, and goes perfect with my newly painted coffee table and candlesticks. 

 I also placed fresh flowers in a mirrored vase for a pop of color. When the flowers die- I will replace them with silk flowers of a similar color, to maintain the fun color.

For low cost pillows, I went to my local Home Goods and picked up a few new ones with patterns. 

(I love mixing and matching patterns in my pillows because it creates dimension and interest.) I incorporated the new with the old and still created an entire new look!

I hope you find these decorating tips helpful as you update the space your in!

Check out the "Before and After" photo!

Hosting a Christmas Dinner Party

Tonight was a special night! I had the wonderful opportunity to speak and host dinner at my home for forty women from my church. It made me so happy to see so many beautiful faces. Our theme for the night was "We are like Snowflakes, Different in our own Beautiful Way." It's good to remind ourselves how beautiful, special and unique we each are

Living Room Update!

So after five years it was time to replace our living room sofa, two chairs, and rug. The chairs were stained and ripped - (I have five kiddos after all), and the sofa had water stains from constant cleaning from a one year old that loves to draw all-over EVERYTHING! 😉 I still love the stylish look of my old living room. The elegant linen nailhead sofa and two linen tufted wingback chairs were stunning. However, it just wasn't working for our family of seven. 

Sometimes as a designer, you have to be practical. In fact, that's the number one rule when working with clients. You have to make the space you're designing functional. Any space has to be able to meet the needs for what it's meant for. A gorgeous perfectly designed room will not work if the client can't use it properly. 

These new stone colored sofas totally fit  into my budget and gave me seating for almost my entire family. Plus, the fabric is more durable with small children. And did I mention how much more space we have by taking out the left chair? 

The coffee table is the same- we just turned it 90 degrees. We are going to paint it white and distressed in a couple weeks. And the rug, I love the rug, it pulls the room together. The pattern and gray color pallet gives the room a fresh updated look!

Small and simple changes can make a huge difference! But the biggest difference is how I feel. The new room feels more inviting for my family and friends. 

And that's when you know you make the right decorating choices! :)

It's all About the Neutrals for Fall

So when people think fall colors, they tend to think of: orange, brown, reds and golds. I know that's what I think of-the colors of changing tree leaves. Well this fall the stores, decorators, and Instagram  homes are filled with a new, different set of fall colors! Creams, whites, mints, sage greens are being displayed everywhere- thus creating a new refreshing look and a take off off the modern farmhouse home decor trends.

My the color scheme in my home is already set in those colors- so I couldn't wait to try out this new fall color pallet! And you know what? I LOVE IT!! So here's a look of my new fall coffee table decor. (I can't wait to decorate the rest of my home in theses colors!)

How To Get the Look:

I used faux lamb's ear and natural looking mint green foliage, and intermingled it with a large sage green pumpkin, cream plastic pumpkin, and small off white and mint porcelain pumpkins. The small pumpkins I found at the dollar spot at Target!! It was a great find! Then a incorporated sprigs of faux white wild flowers for a little more interest and depth.

I'm mixed this new fall decor with my everyday ZGallerie alligator coffee table tray and silver Home Hoods candle sticks. I'm still decorating other spaces in my home- here's another photo.

Fourth of July with a BANG!

Fourth of July is the ultimate summer celebration! And it a great time to celebrate our nations's Independence day with family and friends. I have several family members coming over for a swim party and BBQ- and I couldn't wait to put up my July fourth decor! Plus, I have such fond childhood memories of July 4th- and decorations were always apart of them! My Mom and Grandma always had flags in yard, bunting banners hanging from outside windows, and cut out stars on the kitchen walls- all to make the 4th extra special!

Here's the scoop where I got everything: All the banners came from Target. The lantern and throw pillow are from Home Goods. The colorful fans are from Party City. The star decor I purchased from the Dollar Store! Can you believe it? The July fourth printable I printed out from Pinterest and then put in a white frame I already had. I decided to mix up new and old decor. The red, white and blue paper circles I already had from my son's birthday party a couple years ago (I originally bought them at Party City). The glitter star is from Hobby Lobby. The darling July 4th printable I found on pinterest via the36avenue.com. The blue and red stripe banners I bought it target a few years ago. The "Love" I just picked up at JoAnne's for $9.99. Put it all together and it works! Happy Fourth of July everyone!

I hope y'all have fantastic Fourth!

A Peek into My Home...

Hello Friends!
I've had so many emails from people asking what my home looks like when you walk in. SoI'm sharing a peek inside my home!

I love light neutral colors and white trim work. You can find it through the house.
I must admit it's kind hard keeping the linen chairs and sofa clean with five children, but they're pretty good about following the house rules about mommy's furniture.

My husband built the hall tree/mud room area. I love how it looks, but better yet, I love how we use it all time!

This is just a a peek into the Parson's home. I'll share more photos later of the kitchen, dining room and others soon!

A Texas Style Teen Bedroom

My daughter is a true Texas teen- she loves cowboy boots, country music, saying y'all, and rustic decor! So it was only natural that she wanted her bedroom to have a some southern flair!

The biggest challenge was keeping to a strict budget! I only had a few hundred dollars to transfer this gal's room! So, believe it or not we took a stab at Goodwill for a dresser- and we found the perfect black one complete with mirror - and for only $75.00! It needed a little TLC -so we touched it up with some paint. Then we went to Hobby Lobby for all the rustic decor. They had everything we needed - the wall signs, the letter K, the tray and boxes. We also got the puffs from there and used fishing line to hang them from he ceiling. The black Parson chair and gray throw I already had, and we bought the ya'll pillow at Hobby Lobby as well. 

I wanted bedding to fit the style of the room, yet easy on the budget. We found all the pieces at At Home. In my opinion it's not worth spending at ton of money on a teenagers bedding-espically a girl. Because what I have found over time is the bedding easily gets stained with make up, writing utensils or food. I did add layers of types of bedding (comforter, and two quilts) to make the bed look fuller. 

My daughter's favorite part of the room is the silk sunflowers we got at Michaels. She says she wants sunflowers at her wedding someday. 

She loves the room and I love it too! And the best part we stayed in budget!

Pops of Color in the Living Room

So I'm so excited to show you a client's beautiful home I've been working on! This room has all the stylish trends going on including: aqua, navy and gray-some of the hot colors for 2017!

 We started with a gray and white color pallet- then added the the navy, coal and aqua as the accent colors with accessories.

My client had bought the Ikea Ektorp sofas two years ago with white slip covers- but they just didn't stay clean with five kids and a dog. She constantly found herself washing them every other week. So we updated them with brand new the gray covers- they're turned great! They're so classy and they stay clean!

The pillows needed have pops of colors to accent the darker couches- so navy, white and coral became an ideal combination. Texture also played a role in what pillows were chosen because we wanted to convey interest and depth. The pillows came from Etsy and Pottery Barn.

For the coffee table decor we started by making a trip to At Home (formerly know as Garden Ridge). The lantern was the first thing picked, and then the rest of the decor fell into place! The aqua vase and picture frame also came from At Home. The unique decorator books were purchased on ColorMille. 

With five children, she also needed a durable, washable coffee table. So this one from Wayfair did the trick!

This custom made "this is our happy place" sign from The Rustic Sparrow Shop. It has such a beautiful message and really pulls this space together. It also creates such an uplifting presence in the room.

Next up is decorating the fireplace mantle- and there are already big plans in the works for it! I can't wait to share!

Making an Old Tree New Again

One of the most popular trends in christmas decor is having a flocked Christmas tree with different types of ribbon and embellishments. While flocked trees are beautiful, it's not always possible to ditch your perfectly good Christmas tree for a new one. So I've discovered a great way to achieve the "Pinterest" look without breaking the bank!

My Christmas tree is about 10 years old and all green. I needed to freshen it up! I really wanted to make it look more like a flocked tree, so I went and bought a few large flocked tree pieces, or stems, from my local Michael's Craft store and stuck them in the tree. Then I bought smaller pieces of flocked different shades greenery to add more dimension to my tree.

Tall Christmas tree toppers are all the rage, so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought these red tall sprigs. They originally had lime green in them, but I took it out and just used the red. I also used silver floral stems to fill in the top and make it look more dramatic. My garland came from Hobby Lobby about four years ago. It too was just solid green, so I added all different types of floral stems with different shades.  I also added several ribbons with different patterns and colors for more interest. I also used decorative mesh to help fill in empty spots where the tree might not be as full.