A Few Changes for the New Year

Hi friends,

There will be a few changes coming to the blog coming in 2015, namely, the name! Welcome to "From the Carriage House".  When I started my blog initially, I thought I'd be sharing photos and stories about my family.  As you know, that isn't the direction this blog has gone. I love to share home decor, design ideas, printables, parties and more. I wanted a name to better reflect that as well as some other projects I'm working on.

"From the Carriage House" will also showcase some of my hand painted signs and designs that I've been recently creating from my garage carriage house. :)  Here's a sneak peak of the type of projects that I've been having fun working on lately:

I wish you all a Happy New Year! 

Thank you for hanging out with me here at Mom and the Blonds. 

I'm looking forward to spending 2015 with you From the Carriage House. 

God Bless! 

Simplicity, less is more, and so on...

I just love going to someone's house who has decked all their halls for Christmas.

However, I feel overwhelmed at times with seasonal decorating.

I want my family to enjoy a festive house too, but without a stressed out mom.  I have pared down my Christmas decor to 3 tubs in recent years. They are even labeled in priority 1, 2 & 3. So if nothing else happens, stockings and such will be pulled out of tub #1 without much hassle. Everything I used this year to decorate can fit into one tub!



We pulled the pre-lit Christmas tree out of the basement in the beginning of December and have enjoyed an unadorned tree for the first part of the month!

This weekend I added two rolls of burlap ribbon (one plain, one plaid), our simple star, and some paper banners. And I am DONE! And totally ok with that. In fact, I think I really, really like the simple tree this year. It is somewhat refreshing.

I was inspired by Home by Heidi and this post for the paper banners. You can print beautifully designed banners from the Just Destiny blog, but I wanted to try out the print and cut feature on my silhouette so I made my own.

I am trying to find the motivation to pull down the "THANKFUL" banner I made last month and replace it with something for Christmas. I'm also ok with the idea that it can stay put for a while. :)

Two Christmas pillows, a simple tree, garland & stockings on the mantle, and gingerbread houses made by my little blonds are just enough for this family to enjoy without feeling like it will take days to undo.

Merry-Simply-Decorated-Christmas to you!

For some Christmas inspiration
check out the Nesting Place.

Thanksgiving 2014

Thank you for joining me here as I share things happening around my home. 

Enjoy your time with your loved ones this Thanksgiving Day.

Decorating with Windmills (Inspiration)

As I mentioned recently, we picked up this windmill over the weekend. 

We plan on hanging a portion of it in the living room. 

Here are a few inspirational photos I found on Pinterest. 

   

 

Can't wait to see if we can hang ours...

Rusty Windy Decor

I'm still enjoying this painted wheelbarrow that greets us as we pull in the driveway.  I'm hoping next spring/summer I can have better luck with flowers planted in it, but for now, it is doing a good job holding pumpkins.

Just beyond the wheelbarrow is a little bit of rusty goodness we picked up this weekend.

This windmill was originally on a homestead about 30 miles away approximately 100 years ago!  

I found it for sale in my neighborhood via a Facebook selling group. 

This summer I saw a portion of a windmill hanging in an antique shop for sale.  We live in an area famous for wind & wind turbines, so I thought it would be fitting to decorate with a windmill. I immediately fell in love with the idea but not the price tag.  This one I found this weekend was more affordable…but a lot of work to get ready to hang. 

 I'm thinking we will hang a portion of about 7 blades on our extremely tall wall in the living room.

This windmill has a story to tell.  

There are areas with rusty repairs…

and with bullet holes!

I told my husband he could veto this whole idea since I will be leaving it up to him how to get it up on the wall. He was on board though, and this rusty beauty came home with us yesterday.

Fall 2014

A tiny bit of autumn has arrived, thanks to Albertson's.

I planted various pumpkins (white, heirloom, etc) hoping to have some beautiful additions to my fall decor. Some plants grew…some pumpkins started to grow…but none survived. Something kept breaking them off the vine.  So, I am happy to have spotted these at my local grocery store.  They make a cute centerpiece for my tiny kitchen table.

Progress in the Master Bedroom!!

Several months ago I posted my inspiration for our master bedroom.

 I'm happy to report some progress has been made in transforming our room!

We ordered this headboard from Target. It is stunning!

Source: Target

I would like all white bedding someday. 

At this time, we are using this set from Ikea until I can commit to all white.

Source: Ikea

One of my favorite additions are the Harrison Bedside Task Lamps from Pottery Barn.

  

Source: Pottery Barn

I actually bought different lamps first from another company because I didn't want to spend $129 on each one from PB. The lamps I ordered practically fell apart as I was unpacking them (paint was chipping off during assembly, etc).  After sending back those lamps ASAP, I decided to go ahead with what I really wanted, the Harrison Lamps.  I decided on the smaller ones for $79 each. They are made very well. Love them!

I'm still loving my Farrah curtains from Target. Below you can see how all the fabrics are working together.

I like the variety of patterns and scales. 

I've incorporated the Braemore Ankara Pond fabric on the cushion to the blanket chest, but I haven't had the time inspiration to sew any pillow covers yet.  I also need to paint the chest…sometime!

Source: Online Fabric Store

The to-do list is still long (paint baseboards, find new area rug, install light fixtures, etc), but I do love the way it's coming together.

Source: Home Depot

Speaking of light fixtures, we have two of Hampton Bay Four Winds ceiling fans in our living room and two more waiting to be installed in the master bedroom. (If you're not a fan of ceiling fans, you can stop reading here.) These lights are actually good looking. The glass is white (so many have yellow/amber glass).  The blades have grooves that remind me somewhat of bead board. The chains hang from the sides instead of the center. That all adds up to a much more attractive ceiling fan in my opinion!

Dingy Door & Daydreams

The front door should welcome your guests, not scare them off! :)

Our dingy, white door has been on the list of things we'd like to upgrade since we moved in.  We're not a fan of the arched window or the dents and dings.

After living here for 5 years with minimal $$ for remodeling, I realized I can still dream of a new door while improving the one we currently have for the price of a quart of paint. (I wish I would have thought of that sooner!)

In those "dreams" we would have a real wood door, but for now I had to pick a paint color that would coordinate with our current white and green exterior.  Red doors are fun, but not my thing. After contemplating many colors, I chose a grayish-aqua that wouldn't fight the green and white, and it is like a sneak peek of the color scheme inside the house.

After a good scrub, I painted the door Behr Cloud Burst.  It is a lovely shade that is just a little darker than a duck egg blue. It was an easy decision since I already fell in love with this color after painting my pantry door.

 

Indian Corn Wreath

Now to hunt in the basement for the leftover white paint to finish off the trim around the door...

And for more "pinspiration" for outdoor improvements, see my board here. :)

Don't forget to embrace what you already have!

Brightening a Dark Hallway

I'm not a fan of long hallways. I love that our house barely even has a hallway!  It is the length of a linen cabinet and a doorway.  However, like most hallways, there is no natural light making it very dark.

First thing we did to update the hallway was change out this brass beauty for a more pleasing fixture.

We chose a smaller scale school house light from Home Depot. 

Mid-Summer Happenings

Around the yard…

A few close ups of the "pretty"

4th of July Star Banner

The 4th of July is almost here!  I recently made this star banner to dress up the fireplace. 

Accidents Happen

Paint Choices, Mistakes, and Happy Accidents

Before we talk about paint, lets talk about moulding.
The previous owner installed tall baseboards in our home to replace the short, builder basic. Yay! Thank you, previous homeowner!

Wheelbarrow Transformation

This old broken-down wheelbarrow has been hiding in the back yard for several years now.

I love the rust but not the yellow. 

I decided spray paint would be a quick and easy fix.