An angled brick edging adds a nice cottage charm to the planting beds, but also serves a purpose. As you can see in the 'before' picture below, the soil and mulch of the circular garden I just finished re-doing, (you can read that 'Before and After Circular Garden' post here) easily spilled over the edge onto the sidewalk before I put in a brick ... Keep Reading...
SIMPLE DECORATING TIPS
Before & After: Circular Garden
Looking at the 'before' it's hard to believe how cute the 'after' of this 'before and after circular garden' could be! I've added shopping links for you in the post as well as all grouped together at the end of the post. A few weeks ago I shared how antsy I was getting to be able to get out and start the landscaping around our home. (At that time I was ... Keep Reading...
Transplanting Stella D’Oro Daylilies
To transplant Stella D'Oro daylilies is super simple, in this post I'll show you just how easy it is. A few weeks ago I shared that now as the whole house renovation dust has settled, I had time and energy to focus on the gardens and landscaping... (you can read that post here) then it snowed LOL! That was a momentary set-back... Spring has finally sprung and ... Keep Reading...
Kitschy Aquarium
This is a totally fun, kitschy aquarium DIY project that you have to have just the right spot for. I just happened to have that exact spot in the lower level hallway wall by the kid's playroom/family room. Here's a little background to this project... if you want to just skip ahead to the actual project, roll on past this paragraph. :) We used to have a ... Keep Reading...
Shutters (do’s & don’ts)
Thinking of sprucing up the exterior of your home with some shutters? (get ready... here comes a 2 minute rant!!) Please, please, please read these shutter do's and don'ts before you start! Hopefully then you can avoid the same mistakes so commonly found with shutters in the Midwest!! I've traveled across the USA, coast-to-coast, East-to-West and ... Keep Reading...
Sew a Dog Kennel (Bunny Hutch) Fabric Cover
Have a dog kennel that needs a little dressing up? Maybe this dog kennel (bunny hutch) fabric cover will work for you too! One of our granddaughters has a very sweet, indoor, pet bunny. (By the way, bunnies can be litter trained and this one is...) When our granddaughter comes to visit us, she'd love to bring her bunny. We finally figured out a way for that to ... Keep Reading...
Vintage Wicker Planter Spring Arrangement
Here's a quick half hour project... Making a vintage wicker planter spring arrangement for the front porch! The vintage wicker planter is a little distressed. It was that way when I bought it, and I kind of love the vintage-ey feel of that distressing. I actually bought it from a friend, back when we lived in our last house, a 100 year old house, (here's the ... Keep Reading...
Garden & Landscape Inspiration
We've had a wickedly long and fierce winter this last year... but the snow has finally melted and the hope of spring garden and landscape work is just around the corner. I've done no gardening since we bought this house and I'm looking forward to it! I have some ideas of what the design could be, but I'm still searching for garden and landscape ... Keep Reading...
Before & After Living Room
Here is the before and after living room renovation post! Finally, I'm able to be posting the before and after posts of our whole house renovation. A few months ago I started with the front hall and the closet transformed into a library, (here is that hallway/library post). Then, a couple weeks ago was the front entry before & after post, (you can see that ... Keep Reading...
12 Tips to get Mustard Yellow into Your Home
Are you a fan of the ever growing in popularity mustard yellow? Me? Well, I am, and I'm not! I've gone through the color mustard yellow a few times in different formats in my house, same with the color red... I'll think I love it, fully embrace it, but then if I made too big of a commitment with it, it seems to wear me down and I don't like it anymore. In this ... Keep Reading...
Before & After Front Entry
Finally, I can start to show you the end results of our whole house renovation... starting at the front entry! We bought a late mid-century house that lacked character, but sits on a wonderful double lot, (on the edge of town) that borders 2 ponds. It's a sweet location and the house being an empty slate, (in my mind) was a bonus. Here is the page where you can ... Keep Reading...
New Sheets!!
This is a fun post to write, because it means we got new sheets! Don't you just love it when you get a new set of sheets? It's one of my favorite simple pleasures in life. The folks at California Design Den contacted me to see if I was interested in them sending me a new set of sheets for a review here at Simple Decorating Tips. Uh... Heck yeah! What have I ... Keep Reading...
Tin Interiors
Tin interiors are so popular right now... It's easy to see why. There is something that is intriguing about tin when it's used in an unexpected way. I love it when a full wall is treated with tin, but sometimes that is just a bit too big of a project. Here are a few ideas to bring in a tin interior without having to do a full blown renovation project. Over the ... Keep Reading...
Incorporating Vintage & New Light Fixtures
I have loved incorporating vintage and new light fixtures at our house. If you're new to the blog, about 18 months ago we bought a fixer upper that was a late model mid-century. Too late for the super cool mid-century styling we all think of. In fact, this house mostly lacked any interesting character. It was a blank slate for me! Yay, that's what I love the ... Keep Reading...
Tips on Forcing Bulbs Indoors
Forcing bulbs indoors is something I've always wanted to do myself. In the past, the closest I've come to forcing bulbs is either to buy the already potted up and sprouting tulips at the greenhouse, (You can read that post here) or to put bulbs, like paperwhites into a container with rocks and water on the bottom. Though that is still fun, I really wanted to try ... Keep Reading...