New England interior design and home decor | DIY
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DIY / 01.02.2022

Hi Friends! This past month has felt like the longest month ever! January is always rough for me. Christmas is over and winter is in full gear here in New England. I am not a winter person. January started with us all being exposed to "C" (don't even want to type the word ha!) on Christmas Eve and then the first week back to school, my son contracted the virus. Somehow the rest of us escaped it, but we all had to be home and out of our normal...

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DIY / 11.05.2018

This table was given to me from my mom not long after we moved into this house. I love the solid wood turned legs and thought it had great potential for our little eat-in kitchen area. Right away, I decided to paint it white. I really wanted that farm table look but wasn't sure what to do about the top since it wasn't a solid wood top. It's a composite-type material with a laminate coating so I couldn't sand it down and stain it. This is the only photo...

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DIY / 15.02.2018

Before my second son was born, my in-laws gave me this dresser to use in the nursery. It was perfect to hold his clothes and use as a changing table. When he started rolling over and moving around a bunch, we moved his changing pad to the floor and used another dresser in his room for his clothes. I started thinking where I can use this and thought it would be a great piece for the dining room to hold table linens. It was a golden oak color...

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Crafts, DIY / 21.12.2017

When the Hearth & Hand with Magnolia line came out to Target, I loved the simplicity of the juniper wreath.  For $20 each, that's not bad but I knew I could make something similar for much less. Supplies needed: • embroidery hoop (around $1) • hot glue gun • jute/hemp twine • greenery stems ($3-$5 on sale) • scissors • floral/wire scissors (*Note: I have floral wire in the picture but I actually didn't end up using it) Start by separating the embroidery hoops. I used the inner rings that didn't have the metal piece. Next, cut a few sprigs of greenery...

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Crafts, DIY / 15.12.2017

If you followed the blog for part 1 of the Christmas home tour then, you might've seen the farmhouse craft paper scroll sign in the picture below. Here's a list of the supplies you'll need: • 1 roll of brown craft paper (usually sold at Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, craft stores, even dollar store sometimes) • hot glue gun • jute/hemp twine • pencil • black marker • wooden dowel • scissors First, take your roll of craft paper and start rolling it out while rolling up some of the bottom to make a scroll. Roll it out just...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 12.09.2017

When we first moved into this house, we lacked furniture since our previous home was smaller. One of our kind neighbors was updating her home and gave us several pieces including this dining table. The table is a great, solid piece that was well loved over the years so it needed a little TLC. Here's a closeup of the before finish. I started by stripping the old finish with our power sander. I used a 60 grit sand paper with the orbital sander and it worked great! *Side note: If you're in...

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DIY / 06.06.2017

If you're like me and frequently browse Pinterest, then you know that coffee bars are all the rage. Since we moved into our new house, I've had one area in our kitchen setup as a coffee bar. We have a small counter space and cabinet to the left of our fridge that seemed perfect for all of our coffee supplies. Here's a photo from the day we were moving in to give you an idea of the setup I'm talking about. Here's a better view of the area I'm referring...

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DIY / 23.04.2017

One of the first changes I couldn't wait to make on our house was our front door color. My mom always told me that your front door should be the focal point of your home and that it should be warm and inviting. Not only is it a great way to make your home more inviting but it's also one of the easiest and budget-friendly ways to give your home a boost in curb appeal. When we first moved in, our front door was painted a burgundy color which wasn't...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 13.01.2015

Okay, so I'm certainly not the first blogger to make one of these but I loved the idea and wanted to try making one of my very own. I've pinned a tutorial on my DIY Pinterest board on how to make one, but the one I went off of is over at The Idea Room. I built mine slightly different but used the same measurements. The employees at Home Depot are great about cutting everything for you too! :) Supplies: Two 5.5 inch, 1 x 4 poplar wood boards (ends) Two 31.5...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 22.12.2014

I always love receiving Christmas cards from friends and family this time of year. However, I never felt like I had a good, large enough spot on our walls to display them. I started thinking about how I often see them nicely clipped onto twine horizontally which I don't have room for so I though why not just hang it vertically? All you need is a long piece of twine, a tack/nail, and some mini clothes pins that you can find at any craft store (I got mine at...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 10.12.2014

I don't know about you but I've been loving this black & white stripes trend. I've seen them a lot lately in fashion, office supplies, Christmas cards, etc. My inspiration for this project was this Kate Spade planner which has the stripes and gold accent text. I found this wreath at a local thrift store and it was already gold but I thought you could easily get the same look by picking up one of those little twig wreaths from Michaels or another craft store and spray painting it gold. Then, all...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 03.12.2014

In a previous post, I told you about a window that I purchased from a local antique store. It was the perfect size for a specific area on our wall. Well, I finally finished it and have it hung. Here's how I made it: First, I removed the old hardware and cleaned it up. Then, I touched it up with white paint. I used Benjamin Moore's White Heron because that's what I had on hand and it actually matched well so I was happy. I though about distressing it but the wood...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 27.10.2014

I had been looking for a wicker chair that wasn't too expensive for some time when I finally came upon this one while driving. It had missing wicker in a few small spots and the red color didn't quite fit in with my decor but it wasn't anything I couldn't take on. Here's the original wicker chair. Not terrible but certainly not great either. See the missing wicker? It took some brainstorming to figure out what I could use to replace the missing wicker pieces. My first thought was skewers but those...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 18.09.2014

When we first were married, we had little to no furniture so we went to A LOT of yard sales. We found a few treasures and a lot of junk. Among the treasures was this butcher block table that we bought for $5. When we bought it, the bottom part of the table was white but it had a lot of stains on it so I quickly painted it. This was one of my first stabs at it where I used Rust-Oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze. This wasn't bad but it was too...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 13.08.2014

First, I measured the piece of wood for the sign which was 24 in wide by 6 in high. Then, I laid out the text in a 24x6 document on the computer. I used Adobe Illustrator but you can use any word editor like Microsoft Word. Next, I reversed the text in my document (so it read backwards, I'll explain why below) and then printed it on two 8.5x11 pieces of paper and taped them together since I can't make really large prints with my printer. To distress my sign,...

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DIY, Uncategorized / 08.08.2014

I love the look of an old shutter and there's so much you can do with them! My father-in-law picked me up this old, green shutter and I knew there were so many possibilities with it so I got to work. First, I gave it a good sanding! It really needed it because the painted was chipping all over the place. This shutter actually made me a little nervous because I'm sure that nasty, green paint had lead in it so I made sure to use a mask and gloves. Next, I...

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