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Make It Easy:  fun, quick decorating ideas to share  |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
 Posted - May 26 2007 : 10:17:34 PM
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let us know some of your fun (and quick and easy) decorating ideas that you have come across ..
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2007 : 07:24:11 AM
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Well, if you can paint your rooms, that is the best buy overall. I don't have a lot in my house, but the color seems to offset that. It makes such an impact. I also paint using all the tones on one card, so the rooms seem to flow. Also, I paint ceiling usually two shades lighter than the color on the wall. Unless you want drama, this softens the room.
Group like items together. I had various paintings/pictures around the house, nothing looked right so I grouped a bunch on one big wall and it looked so much better. I like this look with mirrors too.
I once saw in a magazine they had wrapped up some of their books in pretty wrapping paper on the shelves. It was cheap an chic at the same time.
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2007 : 08:12:18 AM
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oh yes .. paint makes all the difference! i attempted painting a room MYSELF once .. and it was a disaster! our walls are log and off-white everywhere else .. would love to do 'grocery bag brown' .. but am afraid it would darken the cabins even more! but a 'paint job' is on the 'to do' list soon though!
i love olde books wrapped in vintage homespun! thanks for the great ideas! xo
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2007 : 08:13:29 AM
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green leaves in olde bottles. try and find a bunch of olde small medicine type bottles at a flea market ... walk about your yard and find interesting leaves .. and put a leaf or fern in each bottle .. line them up on a window sill .. or run them down the center of a table. simple but sweet! xo
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2007 : 10:28:38 AM
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Well, I just tore up the carpet in my craft room, painted the floor black (Yes! Black!) decoupaged pictures of things I liked from magazines added a few polka dots and sealed it all in with acrylic poly. Cute, cheap and didn't take long at all. :) I also clipped my curtain to the rod with clothespins. It was virtually a no-sew project. Gotta love that.
Karin
Wherever you go, there you are.
Come visit me at:
www.madrekarin.etsy.com
www.madrekarin.blogspot.com |
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goneriding
True Blue Farmgirl
1599 Posts
Winona
Central Oregon
USA
1599 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 07:10:43 AM
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I get the Jo-Ann fabrics coupons in my email and use them to buy things to make for my 'house'. I live in a huge 5th wheel now, size of a small house!
I have made curtains from scratch for windows cuz I like to 'customize' them. Altho in a pinch, will buy curtains.
Will buy anything Amish, soap...pot holders...you name it.
Cheap plants from Wmart or get clippings from friends and family.
Blow favorite camera photos up and frame in a simple (read: cheap) frame from either the thrift store or Wmart.
That's all I can think of at this minute!
Winona ;-)
Don't sweat the small stuff...
http://goneridingagain.bravehost.com |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 08:15:06 AM
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karin .. those sound great! i have a friend in new york who glued antique postcards and envelopes to the floor just below where her mailbox is located in her door! so cute!
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 08:16:27 AM
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i put ten colorful frames (a buck each) in our grandchildren's bathroom .. i'm going to print out 'beach' pictures for them OF them playing in the sand and swimming .. their bathroom has a 'seashore theme)
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 08:49:42 AM
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Karin I love the idea of the floor.. & the black.. it sounds really cool!
i love Decoupaging things.. Just about ANYTHING!
I did one of the Dog Kennels.. ( Big Plasitc ones..) & this was a BIG dog kennel for one of my Big old Girls.. She slept in it at nite in the house.. but it was so..Big..& ick & cluncky looking sitting right there in the living room.. so.. out coumes the pretty Scrap book paper.. & the glue.. & Viola' Jewel had a beautiful new bed!! I did the same thing to the top of an old Sewing cabinet that was in horrible shape.. & when the cabinet just was in such awful condition It wouldn't stand on it's own anymore.. i finaly had to pitch it.. but before I did.. I removed the top & keep the pretty side up.. & made the bottom nice & fluffy & covered that part with matching fabric.. Stapeling it.. & finished it with upolstery tacs.. Now my neice Zoey has a pretty writing desk to sit on her lap!..
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - May 29 2007 : 09:55:16 AM
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More bottle ideas. I save any jar or bottle that is smallish and/or an interesting shape. The rest get recycled at the landfill, or I use them to store nuts etc. But the little ones look lovely with one or two flowers, a little bit of a weed, or even grasses. I group them on tables around the house, or run them up the stairs (every other stair), place them in windows and so on. It's a nice way to make something of nothing, you know? To draw attention to an otherwsie overlookable small piece of nature: too insignificant for a bouquet, but on its own, set off in its own little spice jar or whatever, a real treasure.
A great redecorating idea for me is to just take everything out of the room and start over. It's amazing how creative you can get with an empty room. You can re-use much of what was already inb there, but it often wants to go back differently, and looks fresh. Whatever doesn't make it back in can go to the consignment shop to raise money for paint or a new lamp. Speaking of which, a terrific way to jazz up a room is with small backlights behind things. There are some great lighting gadgets on the market today that use very little energy, and the effect can be so dramatic.
Karin, I love your bl;ack floor idea! I've been wanting to do that in my kitchen, believe it or not. Maybe with a painted "rug" in the center -- for an overall Eastern European folk-art look, like much of the rest of our house. Have you found it easy to keep clean? What paint did you use? Was there any prep work involved? Do tell! |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - May 29 2007 : 10:29:29 AM
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Here is a picture of my floor. It was hard to get a shot without the flash interfering as it has that glossy poly on it! It is very easy to keep clean- just sweep things away. Which is a blessing when you have dogs that shed and shed and shed!  All I did was to seal the floor with primer, paint it black with porch and floor paint and seal it. Ease-peasey! I love this room so much now, that I find excuses to just go in there and sit and read or plan out new ideas.
Karin
Wherever you go, there you are.
Come visit me at:
www.madrekarin.etsy.com
www.madrekarin.blogspot.com |
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - May 29 2007 : 10:53:29 AM
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i thought of this last night while in the Kitchen..
We had not done anything with the counter tops for the longest time..
i just couldn't decide what i wanted to do with them.. & for all sorts of crazy reasons.. just didn't want to invest in spending alot on the counter tops where I'm living right now..
So I have lived with plywood counters for like two years now..
( yes.. i know..this is beyond stubborn.. probably leaning towards something more..)
so.. i decided that i needed to do something last year before the Holidays kicked in & i had a house full of people looking at my plywood counter tops..
I tore up brown paper bags & glued them to the plywood.. Then covered that with several layers of polyerethene!
Beautiful! What a really unique look I have now in the kitchen.. !
I really love it.. So I've had it going on 8 months now I think.. & it seems to be holding up just fine! I had considered gluing other things down at first too .... like photos of family & friends all eating.. but after i got the bags all put down I was so happy with the results.. i didn't want to chance ruining that with something more..so i stopped..& my counters aren't all that large anyway....So more..may have really been too much in that space!
i do love doing things out of the ordinary though.. I am now working on my back splash.. But i still need more 'material'.. SOOOOOOOOoooo.. if anyone has any spare Bottle tops just lying around.. feel free to pass them on!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - May 29 2007 : 1:02:48 PM
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| Hey Karin, thanks for the know-how! I'll ponder the project. Your decals are quite a custom touch! |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - May 29 2007 : 1:08:00 PM
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| Kathie, what a clever idea! I've seen something like that on those decorating shows where brilliant professional interior designers do over a room in someone's home, but usually, it's something like using colored tissue paper or even newspapers on walls, in lieu of wallpaper. Your idea is clever on a whole other level! I like the idea of using something so thoroughly associated with a kitchen, something so utterly homey, as grocery bags. Good for you! |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - May 29 2007 : 1:17:06 PM
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Karin, that's adorable! I wish I knew how to decoupage...wonder how that would hold up to four dog's paws?
I collect old linens, among them, I have a passion for white hankies, and have a gazillion of them just sitting around in my closet. I haven't found curtains that I liked anywhere for our newly remodelled bedroom, and I wanted something "homespun", that also lets in light. I originally thought of a simple piece of pretty lace tablecloth, or dresser scarf, but I hit my collection of hankies. I ironed and lightly starched 9 hankies, and tacked them by each corner to make one large square panel (mine has 3 across, three down). I added those cool little hanging clips that you can hang tea towels with?? and hung them across a matted pewter tension rod inside the casing. I did it for both windows, and still have a million hankies left. It's great because I can push the "panel" aside when I want to let the day in, and it creates lovely shadows with all the different designs in the lace and cutouts of the hankies.
We are also in the process of ripping up our living room carpet and painting our old wood floors in large khaki and cream colored stripes. Let you know how that turns out!
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - May 30 2007 : 2:00:55 PM
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Thank you Rosemary.. i really do like it.. & wished i had done it a long time ago!!!
Karin.. the floor is awesome! Lots of fun..
& entertaining for a little guy while your busy too.. Kind of like a "Where's Waldo" on the sewing room floor!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2007 : 3:51:20 PM
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I like to switch how my living room looks by putting out different blankets or putting away all the blankets. It is amazing how much that can change how a room looks. That or just pulling my drapes back in a different way or tying their sashes differently.
Alee |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2007 : 6:08:51 PM
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alee . you are so right .. new (or fresh)paint changes the look of a room .. switching out summer and winter looks with accessories! (i'm just NOW putting away my mittens and gloves and scarves .. my favs .. that i had hanging on a hook!)
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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Justimagine
Farmgirl in Training
47 Posts
Kate
TX
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - Jul 10 2007 : 3:40:44 PM
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I had lunch at a friends house last week and she had done the cutest thing in her bathroom! She had hung a ladder horizontily from the ceiling above her bathtub. It was an old wooden ladder with round rungs and had been painted white and distressed with sandpaper to look old and worn. Then she had bunches of dried flowers hanging upside down from the rungs...and the cool thing was that the dried flowers had all been given to her over the years by her children and she had saved them... how cute is that? I could just imagine lying back in a bubble bath and gazing up at those dried flowers and remembering the special times that brought each little bunch... Kate~
"...out of the heart flow the wellsprings of life"
Proverbs 4:23
See what's springing up from Kate's heart today at www.Kate-Wells.com |
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2007 : 09:03:51 AM
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| Something I saw at a nearby country-themed restaurant and have always wanted to do: they have old tin cups (with handles) nailed up one at each top corner of the windows and have a long piece of material for a curtain. The handles on the cups hold the curtain. It makes a nice swag at the top. I really think this would be neat for my kitchen. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2007 : 3:01:52 PM
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What a cute idea!! Oh my gosh! I am going to have to try that!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora! |
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2007 : 3:54:23 PM
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That does sound really cute too.. doesn't it??
Did i ever tell you all what I did in my living room?
I LOVE quilts.. ANY quilts.. no matter what the shapen or condition..
& i have alot of them.. & am always looking for ways to display them.. some of them though are in really sad shape.. & are pretty delicate.. you know. nearly falling apart.. but hold some great memories for some one. once upon a time!! So i do try to show them all off..
ok.. well i have take apart this thing I found.. I do think it may have even been intended for either a Quilt stand.. Or.. possibly even a drying rack.. it was hinged.. & had two seperat sides.. equal sized.. Took the hinges apart.. hung it by hooks on either side of my living room Window.. you know.. sort of like a Shutter but INSIDE the living room.. not outside naturaly.. & each shutter has maybe three spokes on it.. & i have hung quilt on them each.. so.. My INSIDE shutters are just beautiful old quilts.. Beautiful window Treatments!!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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corporatefarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
389 Posts
Tamara
Pikeville
TN
USA
389 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2007 : 10:13:48 AM
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Here is a couple of ideas
Once we had a old refrigerator that needed to be updated really bad. I lightly sanded it and covered it with contact paper. People thought I had a designer frig.
One of my daughters had a room where the pillows were made out of old jeans we would cut off the legs ( save for fringe quilt, sew the bottom part shut and stuff the waist with polyfil and then sew up the top super cute. The girls would sometimes embelish the pockets
Wild flowers in quart jars dress up every room!!!
there is a seed to plant in every heart |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2007 : 11:55:30 AM
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Along the same lines as saving interesting bottles, I also put flowers in drinking glasses that have gotten a crack or chip. It's nice not to have to throw away a favorite glass.
Sheets and table cloths make great panel-type curtains for a long window. The sheets already have a channel sewed at one end that goes over the rod. I have some beautiful white linen table cloths clipped onto tension rods for my living room curtains.
I like to display small things, like dried flowers or shells, in a row of canning jars (the old kind, with glass lids). They look nice and it keeps them from getting dusty. I've saved the dried flowers from my wedding bouquet this way. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2007 : 6:58:32 PM
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Amie or Anyone-
If you ever need white sheet- email me and I can send them to you for the price of postage. I get the for free from a nice hotel here in town and they work great as curtains or drop clothes or whatever! :)
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora! |
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a rose
True Blue Farmgirl
443 Posts
Linda
Waterford
NY
USA
443 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2007 : 3:36:24 PM
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Alee, I would love to have white sheets. Are they just flat, and are they double bed size?
Linda
Remember me as a rose. |
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Make It Easy: fun, quick decorating ideas to share |
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fun, quick decorating ideas to share
