Category: Seasonal & Holiday Decorating

Cheap and cute decor ideas for all seasons.

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

Published on by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

This past Friday we, er Ben, installed the kitchen sink and adjoining cabinets.  Then he called it a night.   First order of business on Saturday: install the stove cabinets and range.  So, Ben hauled out our old clunker and brought in the box with the shiny new stove.  We carefully unwrapped the packaging to discover this:

Yep, a dent on the right side.  Fortunately, this will be hidden behind the cabinet.  Speaking of cabinets, here’s the new beauty sandwiched between two drawer large bays.

Isn’t she pretty?!?  I love the sleek stainless, the industrial style handles, and the huge top.  But installing this baby wasn’t a snap.  The old gas line came out of the floor right behind the left back leg, so the range couldn’t tuck tightly against the wall.  And we encountered another issue because we’re planning on two-inch thick countertops.  Our counters will make the cabinets 1 inch taller than average counters.  The adjustable range legs only go up to one inch.

As a temporary solution until we install the counters, Ben placed the range on wooden blocks.  After the counters are installed, we’ll search out a better solution.  We’re thinking of buying furniture legs for a less trashy custom look.  But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Now let me brag a little.  First, I love the front left burner.  It’s three-tiered and gigantic.  And the grates cover the entire top to maximize the space.  Oh, and if we ever want to get fancy, we can flip the grate insert for easy wok cooking.  But, the best part is something I didn’t even know about.  Smarties at KitchenAid designed the range to sit just above the counters for a seamless surface.

No more junk falling down the crack.  Wait, that sounded bad.

And here’s what everything looks like right now from the back door.

We’ve got cabinets, but only one drawer installed so far.  But, everything is functional, so we’re a okay.  Now I’m itching to get the rest of the drawers in so I can get everything out of the guest bedroom and start organizing.  Nerd alert.

We’re chugging along, but we still have so much to do.  How about a list to show what’s left to do:

  • Install the new dishwasher, which we’re hoping to get on Thursday
  • Sand the ceiling and walls smooth
  • Build the five remaining drawers we’ve waited on (we needed to see how things were in place before we could build one drawer in the dining room, the trash can pull out, and the under the sink drawer)
  • Fill, sand, prime and paint said drawers
  • Install every drawer, 16 total
  • Buy the wood for the counters which should be in tomorrow
  • Haul the wood slabs to a cabinet shop to have them sand both sides smooth
  • Cut the wood to fit and install the counters
  • Hang the upper cabinets
  • Add decorative face trim to all cabinets for a smooth, pretty, even front
  • Fill, sand, prime, and paint all cabinet faces
  • Build the drawer and cabinet fronts, including two glass front doors
  • More filling, sanding, priming, and painting of the cabinet fronts
  • Install the drawer fronts and hardware pulls
  • Prime and paint the kitchen and living room.  Probably the dining room too.
  • Add lights: sconces, recessed light halos, and the rope lighting
  • Trim out the posts and door frames
  • Add crown molding to the top of the cabinets
  • Decide whether we want to add decorative trim to the vent hood or paint it to match the wall color
  • Install the pretty new marble tile backsplash
  • Put everything back in place and enjoy

Miss a step in our renovation progress?  Read through these posts to get up to date.  

In addition to the kitchen updates, we thought we’d share our Halloween fun.  How ’bout a peek at our pumpkins first?

The eye on this guy popped out while carving, so we made it look intentional with some pumpkin guts hanging out.  Kinda looks like a pig in Angry Birds, no?

He’s just happy.

And this guy’s up to no good.

While we went Trick-or-Treating, Ben was busy installing a few drawers.  We’ll share as we finish more.

Fantastic Fall

Published on by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

So far this fall, we’ve had my family in town visiting, Vincent’s fourth birthday party, we’ve started our kitchen remodel, and our sister-in-law and niece just left yesterday to move to Alaska.  We’ve been busy.  Too busy to think about fall decorations, I’m afraid.  Recently though, I did sew a few fall pillow covers and rearranged the entertainment center for a different look.  When fall rolls around, I love to look at the pretty red, orange, and yellow leaves.  But, I’m not a huge fan of red in our home.  I can tolerate orange in the right application, but I love yellow lately.  Knowing that, I decided to use splashes of orange and yellow mixed with jewel tones and dashes of metallic gold.  Wanna see?

First, I sewed new pillow covers from Pier 1 place mats I already owned.  I dug around in my button stash to find gold buttons.  Sewing the pillow is very similar to a normal envelope closure pillow.  Just add buttons.  The teal pillow behind I made using left over fabric and covered the old inserts.

Total cost so far?  Zero dollars.  I still have to dig out my pine cone wreath.  And probably my Halloween decorations while I’m in there.

I used more left over fabric to make pillows for the living room.  The teal velvet fabric I bought last fall at Hobby Lobby.  The color pops against an orange pillow I stole from my office.  A mix of patterns, textures and colors tickles my pickle.  (That’s what Vincent says).

Color blocking is a hot trend, and it’s easy to do.  I rummaged through my fabric stash and found eggplant and yellow scraps, so I pieced them together and sewed an envelope closure back.  Insert pillow form and done.  Still at zero dollars.

Our entertainment center has rocked the same green and blue theme since spring, and things needed to change.  Not wanting to spend any money, I scoured the house for fall-ish elements.

Here’s a breakdown of new items:

1.  Natural wood tones.  A wooden sculpture from Target several years ago, a wood vase, and a carved stump add warmth.

2.  Metallic gold and brass accents.  Nothing says fall like gold if you ask me.

3.  Pressed leaves taped to a piece of white card stock is quick, painless and free art.  I had some leaves pressed in a book from last fall that Ben’s cousin, Handy Sammy discovered.  I completely forgot until that moment and decided to put them to good use.

4.  Tweed and felt leaf bowls from last year.  Just for texture and color.

5.  I pulled yellow books off the shelves to group together for more color.

It’s not perfect, but it was free.  And it changed the view.

What have you done to decorate for fall?  Are you a fan of red?  What do you think of the jewel tone twist for fall?

P.S.  We’ll be back this afternoon, so come again.

Falling for Autumn

Published on by Our Humble Abode1 Comment

Even though summer hasn’t officially come to an end, Labor Day seems to signal fall’s arrival.  Kids are going back to school, temperatures are dropping and warm clothes are coming out of storage.

We thought we’d kick off the unofficial start of fall with a round-up of our past fall projects.

Felt and tweed leaf bowls take only a few hours and scrap fabric.

A tree stump makes a quick and easy outdoor side table.  If you like the looks but want to use indoors, clean it up a bit before bringing it inside.

Craft a pine cone wreath to hang in your house on greet guests at the front door.

Gather leaf-shaped dishes, brass accessories, fall colored napkins, and nuts to assemble a festive table setting for your next party.

Use nuts, dried leaves and hot glue to create turkey place cards.  Cute enough to use throughout the fall, not just Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite fall craft?  Are you glad fall is officially around the corner?  What is your favorite aspect of fall?  The cooler weather?  Pretty colored leaves?  The return of football?  Sending your kids back to school?

Summer Swap

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Typically, I’ll decorate the house for only a few holidays and seasons.  Nothing major, usually, just a few decorations.  We don’t have a mantle, so our decor switches are few and far between.  Fall and winter we have cozier, darker fabrics, blankets, and pillow covers.  Spring and summer require bright, cheerful colors and lighter weight bedding.

Our spring coverlet is from Ikea.  It’s not as heavy as our duvet, but not too light for the cool weather.

Our summer blanket is from Target.  It’s a simple, light weight knit blanket with a waffle weave texture.

You’ll also notice I swapped the green shams for pink ones for more color.

Because you can’t see the floor in these pictures, I thought I’d give you a glimpse into our daily lives.  Behold, Ben’s side of the bed.

Yep, a shirt, shorts, green circle toy (one of the boys brought that in, not Ben), small bowl, phone charger and unplugged alarm clock.  Ev likes to turn the music on and off and usually sets an alarm to go off at midnight while playing around.  And, I’m too lazy to tuck his bedding in every day.  Somethings just aren’t worth it.

What seasonal changes do you make?  Just bedding?  What do you have on your side of the bed?  Tons of junk like Ben?

Independence Day

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Happy fourth of July, my fellow Americans!  Enjoy this fabulous day off!  Wishing you a relaxing day off from work, enjoying a barbecue, fireworks, a parade, and sparklers.  Perhaps you’ll listen to an Americana song or two, like God Bless the USA.

{via Pinterest}

Inspired by an idea we saw on Pinterest, we decided to make flour stars on our grass.  I taped four pieces of cardstock together and cut out a simple, uneven star to use as out stencil.  Using a basic flour sifter, Vincent and I started making stars.

In pictures, the stars in the grass are more noticeable than in person.  So, we switched gears and made stars on the sidewalk.  Vincent had a lot of fun helping.

We continued, placing one star per square of sidewalk.

They’re not perfect, but lots of fun for the kiddos.  Everett even got in on the action.

Yep, tons ‘o fun!

Until I took the flour away.  Then, he screamed like crazy.  Until I picked him up.  And got flour all over my jeans and black shirt.

If you’d like to see more than my flour covered lower half,  check out my mug in the summer 2011 Fresh Home Magazine.  Someone pinch me.  I can’t believe my face is in a glossy.  If you’ve never heard of Fresh Home Magazine, you should check it out.  It’s a really DIY, budget friendly mag with tons of inspiration.

You probably guessed we were on vacation with the lack of commenting, Facebook and other blog related things.  And, you’re right.  More to come later this week.  We’ll be back to the regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, sharing our current garden.  Don’t get too excited because it really isn’t that fantastic.  Sorry to get your hopes up.  Until then, enjoy the festivities and a day off from work, hopefully.