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Twenty Dollar Tuesdays: Decorating Mantels

August 3, 2010 By

Right now I’m in a decorating lull. I’m not doing much for a few reasons:

1. First of all, I have a couple of large projects in the planning stages, so I’m trying to bank my decorating budget for a bit to save up for those.

2. I’m leaving our summer decor up for a bridal shower I’m hosting mid-August, which I’ll tell you all about in a few days!

3. And thirdly, we’re starting to gear up for Halloween (yes, already…you just wait!), so a fair amount of my creative energy  is going towards planning everything that will be involved there. (P.S. I think “creative energy” makes me sound like a crazy hippie dance instructor or something…)

This all means I’ve been doing a lot of looking lately and not much actual decorating. But the great thing about this activity? It’s FREE! The hubby, in particular, loves this aspect. Today, I’ve been particularly fixated on mantels. The mantel in our living room is my favorite spot to decorate. I remember watching my mom decorate our mantel with the seasons when I was a little girl, so it only makes sense that it’s now my favorite. I espeically love the mantel in our house. It’s this big stone thing that isn’t square, but is kind of tucked in a corner. It’s very unique. This is what it looks like empty, just waiting for me to get my hands on it:

Disclaimer: Please ignore the yellow walls. I hate them and hope to paint them VERY soon.

After trolling the web for a bit, these are some of the things I’ve found that I really like:

The Lettered Cottage

This first one (above) is from Layla at The Lettered Cottage. If you haven’t checked her out yet, do so NOW! I love the solid white with the pops of green. Simple and homey, but not overdone. Just my style!

The Lettered Cottage

Okay, this one is from The Lettered Cottage, too. Clearly I’m a bit obsessed. But once again, it’s simple, but fun. Dare I say “spunky”? Wait. Can a mantel be spunky? I’ll let you ponder that one while I move on.

Country Living

I just love the oversized letters on this mantel. I bet you could do this look for $20!

Centsational Girl

Here’s a Halloween-y take on mantel decor from Centsational Girl. Love it!

Thrifty Decor Chick

Okay, one more Halloween mantel, this time from Thrifty Decor Chick. Can you tell I’m getting excited for Halloween?!?

Nesting Place

And last, but not least, is this one from Nesting Place. Lovely, lovely. And her kiddos helped her decorate (they painted the canvases on either side).

Okay, I think I am properly inspired! Now…what to mentally decorate next…

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The Man Cave.

May 21, 2010 By

So I apologize for being MIA. It’s been a cRazY week! Not only have I been trying to get the Man Cave wrapped up, but we’re having 40-50 people over (Navy thing) tomorrow night!!!!  Ahhhh. Oh yeah, AND we’re providing all the food and drinks!  AAaaahhhh. Luckily, my sister Caroline has been here and she’s been an extra pair of hands. My hubby has been doing the shopping, yard work, house clean up for the party, while Caroline and I have been putting the Man Cave together.  Even with her help, I’ve been up till 1 or 2 am every night this week!  Yikes. Needless, to say, I’ve needed a lot of caffeine to power through my work days!!!

So, I tell you all this, not for your pity (okay, a little for your pity), but mostly because I’m going to reveal the Man Cave pictures tonight as it’s FINALLY finished! BUT…I’m not going to show you all the details until this weekend. Because, my friends, it’s 1:09am!

If you’ll remember, here is what the Man Cave looked like before. It was sad and pitiful and we didn’t spent time down there because it was sad and ugly.

And here is the before desk area:

And with some painting help from the hubby:

And lots of supervision from Caroline:

Here is what it looks like now!

As for the budget, I came in slightly over $300, which includes all the paint. We did, however, altready have the couch, entertainment center/dresser, bookshelf, and we just recently purchased the desk on craigslist. (But I did paint the bookshelf and desk). There are still a few things I’d like to purchase, but I’m pretty happy with where the room is now.

It was also a really neat project, because although my hubby helped paint the room, he knew nothing else about it. He hadn’t seen any of the new purchases or the painted furniture, and he knew nothing about my design plans. Muahahah. So tonight, I totally surprised him with the completed room. He was so excited, and it was so much fun to give him such a neat room–he deserves it!

And with that note, I’m off to bed! Be sure to stay tuned this weekend to see just how I did it all!

-This American Wife

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Obsessions

April 26, 2010 By

I have a new obsession.  Well two new obsessions.  Obsession number 1.  These boots:

I’m not quite sure why I have a sudden obsession with cowboy boots.  But one minute I was casually looking for a cheapo pair of cowboy boots to wear to a Western bar (long story), and the next thing I knew, I was utterly smitten with these puppies.  Problem is…they’re $260, which is way more than I usually spend on shoes.  I’m typically a Target/ Payless kind of shoe purchaser, so $260 is a bit out of my typical shoe purchasing comfort zone…plus there is the fact that I’m not really a cowboy boot wearing person.  Either way, I’m smitten.  I need someone to convince me that these are not a good investment. Because right now, all I can think about are these boots.  Well, these boots AND

This stuff–Obsession number 2:

“That’s beadboard!” you say.  And I say back to you “Ha ha!”  Because you would be wrong! It’s beadboard wallpaper, available for a fraction of the cost of beadboard.  It’s embossed, so you still get the texture of beadboard, but it’s much cheaper!  Neato, eh? Here’s another pic:

Pretty awesome, eh?  You can order it yourself here. Now think about how cool I would be if I wore those boots IN a newly beadboarded room…

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CURTAINS!

April 25, 2010 By

When we moved into our house a year and a half ago, we were somewhat relieved to find that the previous owner left her window treatments. Since we were new homeowners who had recently purchased a washer/ dryer/ fridge/ bedroom set, we decided to keep the window treatments she left since they were okay, and leave that expense for another day.   Well my friends, that day is here. And I couldn’t be more excited!  Here’s what the windows in our living area looked like before:

The living room:

The dining room:

The kitchen:

Like I said, they aren’t awful, the rods and finials are on the ornate side, which doesn’t exactly jive with the rest of our style.  And while I do like the red curtains, the green curtains don’t  coordinate with anything else in our living area and they had definitely seen better days.

I ran to Pottery Barn and my hubby did the labor:

And this is what I have now!

Living Room:

Dining Room (I’m recycling the old curtains from the living room here…):

And my favorite, the kitchen:

I love this print!!! I’ve never been brave enough to use a print on curtains in my home, and I was pretty nervous about it.  But the nice thing about this little eating nook in our kitchen is that the decor in this room doesn’t change with the seasons as it does in the rest of the house, so I don’t have to worry about having the curtain coordinate with all my seasonal decor.

The other thing I really like is that you can see this room all the way from the front door, and it’s really quite striking to see this gorgeous print right when you walk into our home:

I just LOVE IT!  I’m so excited to be able to cross this major purchase off of my list of wants for the house! Don’t you just love that feeling?!?  Let me know what you think!

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