Bookshelves, Bookshelves, Bookshelves

DIY Frosted Sun Jar

There are probably a million uses for these DIY sun jars. You can use them around your house, for parties, to light up a patio, or even to take camping. You can by similar ones from stores like Urban Outfitters, but it's much cheaper to make them yourself. And you can try different frosting sprays (some craft and hardware stores sell them in different shades, like light pink and blue) and if you can find a pre-assembled solar power cell, or if you're better at putting things like that together than I am, you can try to make them with different colored lights. 

You'll need a mason jar with a clear glass lid, a small solar garden light, adhesive, and glass frosting spray. 

Start by spraying the inside of the jar with the frosting spray, making sure that you don't get any on the lid or the solar light won't charge. Then take the solar cell you put together or harvested from the garden lamp and use the adhesive to glue it to the lid. Let it dry and put the top back on. Put your jar in direct sunlight and you're done! It will glow all night long after you've let it take in the sunlight for a day.

Room Focus: Kitchen

Get the look:

Table- French country parquet-top dining table, $1,099 at Wisteria.

Chair- Kayla desk chair, $299 at Pottery Barn

Chandelier- Regal French chandelier, $249 at Wisteria.

Get the look:

Runner- Diamond Light Blue/Ivory indoor-outdoor rug, $110 at Dash and Albert Rug Company.

Bistro 6 Light, $185 at Schoolhouse Electric Co.

Light: Bensen pendant, $149 at Pottery Barn.

Chair- $199 at Crate and Barrel.

Bench- Village black armless bench, $399 at Crate and Barrel.

DIY Crayon Art

These are being sold on Etsy for around sixty dollars a piece, but you can easily make them yourself. It’s cheaper and a lot more fun, plus you can cater them to the color schemes in your home instead of following the typical rainbow pattern. You can choose which crayons to use and melt them into different patterns and shapes. Try melting the crayons around objects like cookie cutters—or just paper cutouts to get the look you want.

You’ll need a canvas, a hot glue gun and glue stick, a hair dryer, lots of crayons (at least two boxes of 64 crayons, maybe more depending on the size of your canvas), and lots of newspaper to protect from splatters.

First pick the colors you want to use and line them up across the canvas.

Use a glue gun to make a line of glue down each crayon (if you want a certain part of the crayons to show be careful not to glue the wrong side) then press them down onto the canvas with the tips facing down.

Then line your floor with newspaper (the wax will splatter some—this will keep it from getting on your floor!) and stand the canvas up so the crayons are facing downwards and the wax will fall in the direction you want it to. It’s easiest to prop it up against something flat, like a wall. Just be sure to protect it from splatters.

Use the hair dryer (on low or high settings, you can alternate) to melt the wax by pointing it directly at the tips of the crayons until they begin to run. Then keep doing this until all of the colors are melted. You can go back over crayons that didn’t melt as well as you’d like, or that didn’t make it all the way to the bottom of the canvas.

And there you go! You have a piece of artwork that matches your space and your taste, and you made it yourself. All for under fifty dollars!

A Great Conversation Starter

Get the Look

Serena and Lily Salvaged Wood Bench. Can be found here.

If you love the look of this salvaged wood bench from Serena and Lily, but don't want to pay the $995 (plus $150 for shipping, bringing the total cost of this bench to at least $1,145...) you'll love the great, and much cheaper, alternatives I found online.  

Why I love Etsy:

This bench is also made from salvaged wood, and can be found here.

This bench (also salvaged!) is listed on Etsy by the same seller. 

This one is a little more expensive at $280, but still a lot cheaper than the original from Serena & Lily. It's for sale on Etsy by TrueConnection, a seller who deals mostly with salvaged wood for benches and furniture. They also have some really great wedding signs that you can have personalized! 

French Style Home from Traditional Home Magazine

This home was featured in Traditional Home Magazine for its elaborate design and beautiful furniture. If you like the style but don't know if you could afford it, look below for some great pieces I found on Etsy!  

Architects: Leslie and Steve Ronald


Photographs by John Granen


Home of Marcia and William Bond


Photo Source: Traditional Home Magazine

Get the look:

All of the above can be found here. Etsy also has some great mirrors like the one this home has on the mantel, and some great one of a kind pieces for low prices. 

Beautiful Bathroom Designs

I love the wood paneled walls in this first bathroom! They give the room a really clean look, and while most bathroom walls are the same flat surface, maybe painted a neutral color that doesn't clash with the shower curtain, this bathroom is more unique. Not to mention the white color scheme throughout the rest of the room that makes it even more of a relaxing space. 

Backyard Getaway

This backyard getaway was a wedding gift from Heather Cameron's husband, who took apart an old potting shed in their backyard and turned it into a glass roofed greenhouse. Heather then decorated the inside of the greenhouse with vintage inspired pieces, vases, ruffled pillows, chandeliers and white painted furniture. 

She told Country Living in an interview about the renovation, "I never had time to use the shed for its original purpose as a place to pot plants. I like it much more now as somewhere to escape to and curl up with a book, paint, or visit with friends."

 

Photos courtesy of Country Living and can be found here.

Designer Color Palettes from Better Homes and Gardens

Better Homes and Gardens recently asked designers to share their favorite color palettes to freshen up a room. These are the top nine color schemes that came out of their suggestions. You can find the paint to match the colors you like on BHG's website:

                                                              Better Homes and Gardens

Purple Room

This bedroom set would be great with dark purple walls and a mixture of dark gray sheets and blankets with purple accents like decorative pillows or throws, or with a nice combination of dark gray walls and purple bedding. I love the combination of dark shades of gray and purple! They work so well together. And soft whites and neutrals compliment them perfectly. 

Chandelier: High Fashion Home, $131

 

Sofa: High Fashion Home, $2,659

Bed: High Fashion Home, $2,439

Dresser: High Fashion Home, $999

Table Lamp: High Fashion Home, $169

Chair: High Fashion Home, $599

Table Lamp: High Fashion Home, $279 

High Fashion Home has some wonderful purple home decor to match this room, and Etsy has some great finds for much lower prices. I found this great bench for under $100. It would look great at the end of the bed pictured above, in a walk in closet, or in front of a vanity: 

With a room like this you can also play around with little details like light switches and door knobs. The room is so unique that a plain white switch and a silver door knob will stand out. You can find one of a kind light switches and door knobs at Etsy for great prices, like the one below.

Vintage doorknob from Etsy, $30

Martha Stuart Color Palettes

I absolutely love Martha Stuart's color schemes. Her website has everything from full menus, recipes, ideas for entertaining, crafts and interior design. I go to her site for color palettes all the time, sometimes for inspiration and sometimes for confirmation that the colors I like will work well together. The best thing about it is that once you've decided on your colors you click on a link to buy them directly from Martha Stuart's line of paints and you don't have to worry about trying to track them down or find a shade that closely matches the one you want. How easy is that?

Lately I've been obsessed with her focus on "Sophisticated Neutrals." Her website even has them organized into color schemes:

Brown Gray 

Creamy Neutral 

Moleskin Gray

Purple Gray 

Putty 

She also has a huge selection of palettes by color, brightness, shade, or room. Really helpful when you're trying to decide what kind of colors you want, and there are always pictures to inspire you to design a room that you'll love. 

French Cottage Design

I really love these designs from Layla Grayce. They're simple but really beautiful, and you can mix and match almost anything from their site without having to consciously make sure they work together. They're all very neutral colors that would be gorgeous in a French cottage or farm house type home. Or, if you're looking to add some cozy new pieces to your apartment Layla Grayce has some wonderful odds and ends for any room. If their products are a little out of your price range (some of their simple pieces can cost a few thousand dollars) then Etsy is a great place to find products with a similar feel for a much lower price.

I found this great chair on Etsy for a little over one hundred dollars.

All of these great pieces are also on Etsy for around thirty dollars a piece. Etsy also has some great vintage furniture that you can buy and restore for your home or leave as is for a great antique feel. The site has old dressers, tables, and chairs that are perfect for buying to paint or reupholster to match any room. 

 

That's all for tonight! I hope you like it. 

Lauren